"Oh my god, Stef, you're finally here! I've called you hundreds of times! You didn't even pick up a single call! Chris was that close to sending his special forces just to find you!" Xavier exclaimed. Waving towards Stefan, he had donned a dashing suit, with his hair neatly slicked back. Stefan, however, was expressionless and calm. "Doesn't the wedding start in the evening? What's the rush?""Of course, we're in a rush! We're his groomsmen! We have to welcome the bride, and we need to take a group photo together too! We have so much to prepare!" Xavier gushed as he impatiently dragged Stefan backstage. "Go clean yourself and change into a better suit! Your current look is too casual. It's like you're just here for a vacation!"As the two reached the dressing room, Christopher could be found facing away from the door, staring at the beautiful scenery outside the window. He was wearing a white suit, his dashing features enhanced by a light touch of makeup. His gentle and elegant
Having paced around the dessert section for quite some time, Renee began to feel her stomach rumble. She hadn't eaten anything yet.At the time, she was scarfing down a piece of mousse cake, as if she intended to join an eating competition. There was even still some cream stuck to the corner of her mouth, which made her look somewhat adorable.When someone called out to her out of nowhere, she lifted her head, and her eyes met Stefan's gaze that loomed over her.She found her current state rather embarrassing, so she quickly tidied herself up, putting on an elegant act. "They forced me to take this cake. I didn't really want to eat that much…"Christopher smiled, seemingly fond of this side of her. "Looks like our employees are pretty responsible… Don't worry, though—we've hired the best bakers, the best of the best, to make these desserts. They made sure to choose the ingredients well so it wouldn't be too fattening either!"Stefan's hands were snug in his pockets. He stared at R
Christopher continued showing enthusiasm in inviting the woman.Renee thought to herself. 'It is his big day. It'd be rude of me to kill his joy.'Hence, she decided to agree. "Alright then!"At the same time, she turned to look at the lovely desserts lined on delicate tin trays. She gulped as she thought. 'Goodbye, my delicious desserts. I'll come back to you for sure! I promise!'Stefan noticed this, making the corner of his thin lips curve slightly."Wait." Stefan turned to Xavier, who was starting up the car."What's up, Stef? Don't tell me you're not close with your ex-wife now, of all people?""I'm just a little hungry. Let me get something to eat." The man responded coldly and strode towards the dessert section in the garden.After a short moment, Stefan brought a tray full of different desserts. There were milkshakes, cream puffs, mousse cakes, strawberry pudding, and more.Christopher and Xavier looked utterly shocked, their eyes widening and their mouths agape.Xavi
The cream puff in Renee's hand fell, as her face was painted in a layer of red. She wondered, 'Is this guy okay? What the hell is he even saying?!'Stefan, however, looked calm and serious as he gazed upon her. "You said the same thing when you were biting on my lips last night, you know?"Xavier let out a dry cough, reminding them. "Oh my god, Stef, in broad daylight?! Rein in that wild side of yours, will you?!"Christopher smiled softly and added. "Could it be that you two have been pretty 'wild' with each other last night?"Stefan shrugged nonchalantly. "She's the one who was being 'wild.' I'm the victim here.""Stefan Hunt!!!" Renee yelled. She was so embarrassed that she wished she could disappear into thin air right this minute. She wanted to deny it, but she couldn't, especially with the solid evidence the man had on her. 'If this guy were to expose that dashcam footage out of spite, I'll be doomed!'Ah, whatever! I'll just keep quiet! I'm not going to fuss over such
As knowledge and strength were both valued; the challenges included martial arts, mathematics, physics, chemistry, literature, history, philosophy, etc.The first challenge was related to literature, as the bridesmaids requested the men to recite the entirety of Act 2, Scene 2 in Romeo and Juliet. They chose this because it was a touching and well-known love story fitting for a wedding.The groomsmen consisted of ten handsome, smart, and wealthy heirs, some of whom had completed their postgraduate studies abroad. Yet, everyone was utterly dumbfounded upon hearing the challenge. 'What the heck? Who would randomly memorize an entire play for no reason?!' They all thought in their heads."So none of you can do it?" One of the bridesmaids smiled cheekily. "Fine then, I'll give you the option to bribe us. Starting from eight thousand dollars!""Yep, okay! Right away!" Xavier took his phone out, eager to participate. "You should have said so earlier! Why would we waste our time on some
Everyone turned to look at Stefan, expressing disbelief. Most knew about the messy history between these three, after all.It was already quite surprising that Stefan attended the wedding in the first place, but now that he even took part in these wedding games, it resulted in everyone finding the man rather forgiving.Stefan pressed his lips together, remaining silent and standing still. He looked like he wanted to refuse. The atmosphere felt tense and extremely awkward in an instant.Realizing that they were going to be late, Xavier started panicking and sighed deeply. "Stef, we know this is crossing your boundaries…""But we have no choice. Didn't Cecy say she feels guilty about wronging you? That's why she wishes to hear your blessing! I'm guessing she'll be leaving the door shut till you speak up. Why don't you just… fulfill her wish. Just this once?"Christopher furrowed his eyebrows. "Xavier, don't push Stef. He should be the last person to ever do this!""But…" Before X
Realization finally dawned upon Stefan, and he found himself not knowing how to react. 'How did this woman draw the conclusion that I'm sad?''I did look gloomy just now, but it wasn't because of Cecilia.'Instead, he was simply reminiscing about his marriage with Renee. He realized that the entire event was too rushed and dismissive. There wasn't a single thing that could be considered a good memory. Regretting his lack of attention then, he even went as far as to plan a whole new wedding in his head, hoping that he could get back together with the woman someday…However, he obviously wouldn't tell her the truth. On the contrary, he took the chance to mess with Renee. Putting up a perplexed face, he said, "Yeah, I'm so upset that my heart hurts, and I'm so angry that they would do this to me! What do I do?"This made Renee sympathize with the man even more, patting him on the head as comfort. "Don't be sad, cheer up… In my opinion, the best revenge is to live a better life tha
Everyone was utterly shocked. Stefan’s action was similar to a bomb, causing an explosion in everyone's heads.That was because the rest had always known Stefan as a cold, calculated, and low-profile person. They thought he would never even dream of participating in a public display of affection, let alone displaying a kiss in public."Mmh!" Renee's eyes widened as her mind went blank. She instinctively tried to push him away but remembered she was supposed to help the man out.'If I struggle my way out, I'd be humiliating him, right?'With that, she chose to accept it, despite her initial unwillingness…Stefan's focus and burning passion completely disrupted her once-placid heart. As though she had been thrown into an oven, her face burned up as she started reciprocating his advances…"Yes! Exactly! So sweet! So sexy! You two should be an example to all the couples here!" The photographer was excited, to say the least, greedily capturing the moment as rapidly as he could.The c
Sophia hurriedly asked Renee."Uh…" Renee flexed her fingers; she couldn't bring herself to lie. She wondered if she loved Justin. She couldn't tell.A large part of her reason for choosing Justin was because she didn't hate him. Sometimes, she felt that he was her soulmate. If she had to start a new romance, she hoped it would be with him. At least, she could be intimate with him and could imagine sleeping in the same bed with him. "I got it. You don't love him." Sophia saw through Renee at a glance. A long sigh escaped her. "We're all sports of fate. If we insisted on him marrying you when your family was ruined, the ending might be different.""Did you guys know me at that time?" Renee asked curiously.She had heard Justin mention that before, but she assumed that he had purposely talked nonsense to set up a good image. Since Sophia had admitted, it seemed to be the truth."Of course!" Sophia smiled and added, "Your family was prosperous at that time and was famous at North
"Well, he…" Renee averted her gaze and waved. In the end, she gave an ambiguous answer. "He's tired and is lying down, so I came to have dinner with you.""I see…" Hearing the explanation from Renee, Sophia was disappointed with her son. Justin could run a marathon for a few miles, but he unexpectedly tired easily when he needed to hold on for a little longer. It was a rare chance that might never happen again. Sophia was rather disappointed, let alone Renee. Sophia tried to save face for her son. "Don't take it to heart. He's usually strong. Maybe he likes you so much that he…got agitated.""I didn't take it to heart," Renee said seriously. "I can understand him. After all, he's a young man. I taught him a lesson, too. I believe that he'll be careful from now on.""Yes, we should give the young man a chance!" Austin chimed in.They enjoyed a pleasant dinner together.Sophia held Renee's arm and said, "Are you tired? If you're not, let's take a walk in the garden. I'd like t
"Baby…baby Baldwin. He'll be the baby for every Baldwin!"Austin was always a solemn man, but he grinned heartily when he thought about his future great-grandson. He didn't look serious at all. "Baby Baldwin? Don't joke around. I think we need to come up with a name that has a good message." At first, Jack didn't join their conversation because he found drugging others a very shameful trick. Still, he couldn't help chiming in when he heard them talk about the baby. "What kind of name has a good meaning?" Sophia sounded dissatisfied. "I think the name we got for Justin isn't good. It made him wild and uncontrollable, like the wind."Her son was always insensible and casual, and she felt that it was most probably because of his name. Justin was as fickle and unmanageable as the wind. He always stayed away from home all year round, and was incredibly rebellious."I agree. Justin isn't serious since we didn't get a good name for him, so we need to be careful when picking a name fo
"Dad, stop looking at me like that. You got the wrong idea. I did nothing. I just…" Sophia, feeling guilty, averted her gaze. She couldn't face anyone else at the dining table. Then she added in a whisper, "It's just that… It's written in the stars.""What happened? What are you saying?" Austin grew more solemn. Worried his insensible daughter-in-law might do something outrageous and hurt his future granddaughter-in-law, he said fiercely, "Hurry up and tell me! If not, I'm going to punish you.""Please don't! I'll tell you everything. Don't always talk about punishing me. I'm getting old, and I can't stand that."Sophia grew frightened. She retreated, ready to run away at any minute. "I prepared a head-to-toe treatment for Ren to relax. But… One of the aromatherapists made a mistake and gave a chance to the young couple. So, I think we should eat first. We shouldn't disturb them."Austin didn't let it go. "What kind of mistake?" "Uh… The aromatherapist used an arousal-induc
A sumptuous feast was served in the dining room. Both Austin and Jack had taken their seats. They were a little unhappy when they noticed Sophia return to the dining room alone."Why aren't they coming? The food is getting cold." Jack started complaining. "Is Ren that conceited? She can't be so rude for the first meal. How can she make us wait for her? This is unacceptable.""Shut up!" Austin glared at Jack and berated him. "You always eat on your own, and you never wait for me. Why are you pretending to be a good son today?""No, Dad. I think…" "Ren suffered a lot these days. I'm aware of the Jenkins family. They're inhumane barbarians. They do all kinds of messy things and are not governed by law. She must have gone through a lot there. She finally escaped from hell and wanted to take a good rest. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Stop finding fault with her," Austin said grumpily.As Renee was Maurice's granddaughter, Austin favored her and tolerated her without bo
Everyone looked at Yvette. Sophia, grumpy, asked fiercely, "What's going on? Why are you screaming? You're so rude."Yvette bowed and reported nervously, "I… I suddenly realized that there was something wrong with the spices I prepared for Ms. Everheart. There's something special in there." Anxiety instantly gripped Sophia and she hurriedly demanded, "What is it?" "Uh… It's something that can arouse people." Yvette fearlessly reported everything. "Generally, aromatherapists will take care of this kind of thing while serving customers. We'll add it for our female customers to deepen their bond with their significant others. I did the same thing this time, but it doesn't seem appropriate.""Is that so?" Sophia's fierceness immediately subsided, replaced with a gentle look. She grinned. "That isn't a problem at all. In fact, I'll reward you handsomely!" "Huh?" Yvette looked up, flattered.While the average people might generally find that kind of thing fun, it might seem disres
The next second, Renee instinctively slapped Justin."What are you doing?" Renee shyly interrogated him. "I don't know. I think I'm greedy today. It seems like a kiss isn't enough…"He held her face and closed his eyes, trying to continue with the kiss. However, this kiss was not as simple as the previous one. It was full of his desire, unlike his usual self."Mmph, you can't…!" Renee resisted and tried to push Justin away.But he grew more outrageous and stepped into the bathtub, the water soaking him. The frightened professional physical therapists stood outside and talked among themselves. Holly, the massage therapist smoothed her chest and said, "Oh, I'm embarrassed! I'm sure Mr. Baldwin didn't see anything, did he?"Nova, the top beautician, said sensibly, "You're overthinking. It isn't a big deal even if he saw anything. Do you want to hold him responsible for it? He came home with his fiancee. Stop imagining things.""No, I'm not overthinking. I'm just embarrassed. Y
"I want to take things slowly too," Justin whispered, holding Renee's cheek gently as his gaze grew more amorous, "but I'm just a normal guy. I can't take things slow when I see something like this."He loved Renee very much—he had fallen in love with her at first sight. The more time he spent with her, the more he grew to like her. Renee was devastatingly beautiful, with exquisite facial features. However, she didn't look meek or submissive, giving men the notion that it was impossible to conquer her, even if it seemed doable. In the steam, Renee's cheeks grew rosy. Her hair was tied up high, exposing her delicate neck. She looked like a seductive woman in an oil painting from Varangia. No man could resist her."We're about to marry each other. We can kiss, can't we?" Justin raised her chin, looking like a hunter who wanted to swallow his prey. "If we can't be this intimate, we don't have to marry. It means we can never fall in love with each other.""I…" Renee pursed her lips,
Justin walked quietly to the bathtub and looked down at her as if he were enjoying a plate of wonderful dessert. His gaze deepened. "You came here to spend the rest of your life with me. Plus, we're about to get married. Don't you think our bodies are still strangers to each other?"The only time that they were intimate with each other was when he kissed her as a joke, which earned him a beating from her.At that time, Justin didn't intend to do much. He just behaved like a naughty boy while teasing his beloved woman. His action didn't have the desire men held for women.But that was a different time. When he wanted to get close to her, it was for different reasons. This time, he was full of possessiveness for her. "Stop messing around! If you make things weird, we can't be friends anymore," Renee said.She didn't dare to move in the bathtub. She feigned indifference while teasing him and trying to make him regain his wits. "Friends?" Justin snorted and bent over a little. He