They went to a restaurant that featured a very refreshing and elegant environment. At first, both Xavier and Zack did not get along well with each other, but after that lawsuit, they became good buddies and had a very close relationship. "Mr. Rosenwell, let me raise a toast to you. I would've been ruined if it weren't for your eloquent speech that helped me win this case. My father would've had a field day, beating me to death!" Xavier held his glass of wine up to Zack. However, Zack never forgot about Renee, his boss. He hurriedly said, "You don't have to thank me. I'm just my boss's employee. I wouldn't have fought in your case without her permission." "That's right! Let's toast to Renee!" Zack raised his glass of wine to Renee and said half-jokingly, "I won't see you as a young married woman who doesn't know anything. I'll call you... Ren. What do you think?" While talking, he sang casually. "Ren, you're my darling... You're the moon high up in the sky..." Hearing that
"Hmph!"Stefan's expression became even darker, and he even snorted in disdain.As for why he was angry, even he couldn't tell!It's just that, whenever he saw Renee being close with another man, he would feel angry!"What are you snorting at? Bro, you said you're not jealous, but your face simply screams jealousy..."Xavier explained, "Yes, I used to dislike Ren, but that's only because I thought she was a scheming woman who clung onto you and wouldn't let go, a parasitic flower that could only survive under the shelter of the Hunt family. I thought she was a hindrance to you finding true happiness...""But now that you're divorced, I realize that Ren is actually really capable. Not only does she manage the Hunts and Co. and the Azure Group remarkably well, she now wants to get land from me, presumably to do something big. She's not a soft and weak parasitic flower at all, but a strong and unyielding poisonous flower!"Before Xavier had even finished praising Renee, Zack immedi
The car arrived at Everheart Manor. Xavier stopped the car and looked around. "This place is pretty nice, but it's not very lively. I even heard it's haunted and that's why the previous owner moved away. Aren't you scared staying in such a large place by yourself?"Renee smiled and said, "What's there to be scared of? Humans are much scarier than ghosts. I'm not even scared of humans, so why would I be scared of ghosts?"She unfastened her seat belt, opened the door, and was about to get off the car.Xavier stared at her and suddenly felt like he wanted to spend more time with her. He couldn't help but ask cheekily, "Aren't you going to invite me in for a cup of tea?"Renee turned around with a gentle smile on her face. She said calmly, “Sure. I happen to have some high quality Earl Grey."Her smile was like a blooming red rose, charming and brilliant. It captivated Xavier...Xavier suddenly became shy. He moved his gaze away unnaturally and cleared his throat. "Don't mind if I d
Xavier asked further.Renee smiled and did not answer. She merely lowered her head and sipped her tea."If you won't tell me, I'll just look it up myself."Xavier took out his phone and typed in the relevant keywords in the search engine. He quickly got the answer he was looking for, which he read out loud, "The language of sunflowers is: “You're the only one in my eyes”... Is that how you feel about Stef?"Renee turned away and stared at the sea of sunflowers, maintaining her silence.Xavier was very untactful and insisted on getting to the bottom of things. "So you actually love Stef that much. He's the only one in your eyes. I thought you just loved his money and status!"Renee shook her head and denied it, “Correction. I used to love him so much that he was the only one in my eyes. Now, I've woken up from that dream. I realize now there are plenty of fish in the ocean. I've already vacated my heart; it's ready to receive the right person when he comes along!""Hold up!"Xa
Xavier took a deep breath and said casually, "Nope. I only smell tea.""No!" Renee's senses had always been sharp. She frowned and said, “I think I smell smoke, and it's really strong!""Smoke?"Xavier inhaled again, and this time, he could indeed detect the smell of smoke, but he did not think much of it. He waved away her concern and said, "Who cares? Maybe your neighbor's having a barbecue party.""I'll go outside to take a look."Renee could not sit still any longer. She immediately stood up and went out of the tea room to investigate."Ah!"What she saw shocked her.The ground floor was on fire, and the fire was spreading to the second floor along the stairs. The entire house was filled with smoke."Holy crap, why is the house on fire?!"Xavier was shocked too.The fire was getting fiercer and seemed to have spread everywhere. The staircase was made purely out of wood, so it had completely caught fire and looked like it was about to collapse."What should we do? We hav
Xavier climbed out of the window with Renee on his back.Due to the weight he was carrying, every step he took was careful and laborious. His arms needed a lot of strength just to hold on...Smoke billowed, and flames raged, “pursuing” them like the Grim Reaper.Xavier moved down one step at a time. Sweat dripped down his face like rain, wetting his clothes. Bulging veins could be seen on his handsome face that was flushed red from using too much force. He was obviously having a really difficult time and was rapidly running out of stamina.They were now between the first floor and the second floor. The blazing fire was above them and the hard ground was below them.Xavier could have just jumped down if it wasn't for Renee. However, with Renee on his back, he could only descend step by step, which meant that they were escaping rather slowly.They were stuck in the middle at the moment, unable to move up or down. They did not know what to do.Renee was touched and felt bad for Xav
Renee dragged the unconscious Xavier through the raging fire and managed to escape with much difficulty.She was completely exhausted. She lay on the ground with Xavier, panting heavily.She looked up at the blue sky with the cool wind brushing against her skin. Life had never felt so valuable to Renee!A fire engine approached the scene. A team of firemen got out and prepared the equipment to put out the fire."How are you doing?" Paramedics dressed in white carried a stretcher towards Renee and Xavier.Renee quickly got up and said, distressed, "I'm fine. Please help him. His leg is broken, and he needs immediate treatment!""He got injured trying to save me. You have to save him no matter what. Please..." Renee grabbed the paramedic's arm and cried.She had just examined Xavier a bit and could tell how severely hurt he was. She could clearly feel the dislocation of his right calf bone.If he became a cripple, she would never be able to forgive herself."Don't worry. We'll d
Fortunately, the painting was hung at a high spot and had not been burned yet. Stefan used the fire extinguisher to put out the fire around it and took it down.However, the so-called “map” Renee mentioned was in the bedroom upstairs, so getting it would be quite dangerous..."Get back here, Stefan! Don't be crazy! Hurry up and get back here!"Renee was shouting so hard her voice had gone hoarse.She could not sit still any longer. She was prepared to rush into the fire too.But right then, she saw Stefan charging out of the fire while protecting her father's favorite painting.His handsome face was also blackened by smoke like Renee's. He was a mess. There were various burn marks on his hands, and his clothes had holes burnt into them.He looked up at Renee and carefully took the painting out of his arms. “Sorry, I tried my best, but I couldn't find the map you were talking about."Looking at his rugged but sincere appearance, Renee's tears fell like rain. She did not even kno
"Hurry up and explain to her, then!" Amber said hurriedly. "Matt, you're close to her. You know Ms. Everheart and Ms. Osborne would never do that on purpose. Try to persuade her to let this go, and then you can immediately set them free.""I don't have a say in this." Mateo shook his head, pretending to be helpless. "You know how much Luneth dotes on her son. Ms. Everheart pinned him to the ground and beat him up. His head got injured and started bleeding. I heard it's a large cut with a lot of stitches. We can't let it go just like that.""But you can't—" Amber wanted to say more, but Liam interrupted her. He looked at Mateo, his eyes cold and fierce. "I know you set them up. Just be frank. Why did you do that?" "See?" Mateo sighed. He pretended to be aggrieved as he looked at Amber. "The guy you like is sinister. I kindly helped him, but he didn't thank me. He even accused me of setting this up… He always sees the worst in people. He criticized me in front of you and sowed di
Liam immediately noticed something wrong. He asked Mateo fiercely, "What do you mean?""Calm down." Mateo put away his gun and placed it back around his waist. "They broke the rules and barged into the orchard. Plus, they hurt Luneth's child. So, I locked them up for the time being."He appeared calm, as if he was discussing what he had eaten for dinner. He didn't feel that he had been over the line. "Go to hell!" Liam finally failed to hold himself back. He rushed over and grabbed Mateo's neck fiercely. "You can harm me, but how dare you harm them!"At the same time, Mateo's subordinates raised their guns and aimed them at Liam. The recently eased atmosphere immediately became tense again."Hey, don't!" Amber, all tensed up, braced herself to try and stop them. Even so, she was mentally exhausted."What? You want to strangle me?" Mateo was fearless. He grinned deviously and teased, "Cool it. I just locked them up, but they didn't suffer. They're fine. If you harm me, though, I
Livid, Mateo pulled the trigger without hesitation. However, he moved the gun less than an inch. The bullet passed by Liam's ear and hit an orange behind him.The fruit immediately blew up, its juices splashing on Liam's face."Aaaah!" Amber, terrified, trembled. Her eyes turned red, and she hurriedly tried to plead with Mateo. "Matt, cool it! Aren't you and Liam friends? You guys drank and chatted together in the past. You were so close to each other. How could you do this to him? Hurry up and put the gun away! If it goes off accidentally, it'll be over!"However, Mateo ignored her. His eyes were red as he glared at Liam. "Did you see the orange behind you? Let go of her now! If not, I'll blow up your head just like I did to that orange!""Is that all you got?" Liam taunted. He refused to let Amber go. He whispered to Amber, "Watch well. If he shoots me today, promise me not to marry such a man. I can use my life to knock some sense into you.""No!" Amber shook her head. Liam
"What bad timing!" Mateo's indifferent voice came from behind Amber.Amber turned around and saw Mateo with a team of armed soldiers. Terrified, she quickly put some distance between her and Liam. She stammered an explanation. "Matt… It's not what you think. Liam and I came here to look for people. Ms. Everheart and Ms. Osborne are gone. Liam couldn't find them and guessed they might be in the orchard. He wasn't familiar with the orchard and asked me to guide him."Mateo looked livid, but still cracked a gentle smile. "Silly, you don't have to be scared. I know you're prudent. He must have forced you to come here. I don't blame you."He extended his hand and beckoned Amber toward him. "Come here. You're my fiancee. You should stand with me.""I…" Amber bit her lip—Mateo was right. She kept her head low, about to walk to him.But in the next second, Liam firmly grabbed her wrist. "You can't go!" Liam held Amber's wrist tightly and shot Mateo a challenging look."When did Amb
Liam could only see through Amber's true thoughts if she showed her true self to him. "No, I do like you. I love you the most, and I want to marry you. But you neither like me nor want to marry me. You love freedom and Ms. Everheart. You love and yearn for the kind of life ordinary people like. So, I could only choose to give you up and let you get what you want. What else do you want me to do?" Amber was generally shy and reserved, but when Liam drove her anxious, she rambled a lot."Whatever I want is my business. You don't need to sacrifice yourself to grant my wish!" Liam held Amber's shoulders, acting like a kind senior. He tried to persuade her in earnest. "Marriage isn't a joke. Think it through. Do you like and know Mateo well? You won't be happy after marrying him, given the savage culture around here. And can you divorce him easily?""Matt will be nice to me. Even if he changes his mind, he'll still be nice to me because…my father is Benjamin," Amber replied.She chose
Being a sensitive woman, Amber immediately noticed Liam's displeasure. She kept her head lower and explained carefully, "I want a chance to choose again… I want to choose another person to fall in love with. You know that Matt and I grew up together. We're childhood friends. He likes me and always protects me without asking for anything back. I feel that it's happier to marry a person who loves me instead of marrying someone far beyond my reach."For the first time, she expressed the exhaustion she felt from her relationship with Liam. She no longer wanted to be the one who kept fawning over him. She wanted to give up and relax by being the one who was loved and adored in a relationship."Tsk!" Liam snorted arrogantly. "You don't know Mateo. He's not a nice guy. He's just good at pretending. Maybe it's just his means to get what he wants, but you assume that he loves and wants to protect you."Liam hadn't made that statement to purposely put Mateo down. After standing against Mate
Liam focused on holding Amber's hand and leading her through the orange grove. At the same time, he carefully scanned the ground and trees to find any related clues left by Renee and Leia."I don't care what others say, because I didn't do anything wrong," he said indifferently. "I hope you'll feel the same. I don't think you need to stop being my friend after choosing to marry Mateo. Am I not the friend you like the most?""That's different," Amber said.She followed Liam passively. At first, she couldn't adapt to it. After walking briefly, she felt better and found it easier to do. "Although I'm not good at my studies, I know men and women should keep a polite distance. You can't take my hand and sound righteous at the same time," she mumbled."Why not?" Liam retorted firmly. "When I was young, I always held my sister's hand wherever we went. I'm holding your hand because this fog is thick and the ground is slippery. I'm afraid of being separated from you. Just walk with me. St
Liam walked ahead of Amber, then turned to glance at her. He faked a smile and asked, "What's the matter? Are you worried that I might take advantage of you?" "No, of course not!" Amber quickly shook her head and pushed her scarf up. It had fallen a little. "I just find it improper," she answered softly.She looked like a typical woman from Southeast Aeos, petite and with a small face. Her skin was tanned, and her facial features weren't very distinct. She was charming and reserved, exuding a girlish pureness. She had put on her country's special traditional clothes. The thick clothes, embroidered with various patterns, wrapped around her petite body and gave her an exotic impression. From afar, she appeared like a colorful oil painting. "Hey, it's not improper. If I wanted to do anything to you, I would've done that long ago. I don't have to wait until now." Liam sounded relaxed and prudent to ease Amber's anxiety."Don't worry. I've always regarded you as my younger siste
Amber hurriedly turned Liam down. "You can't help with my affairs. I can handle it.""Well, tell me why I can't help you," Liam pressed. "I… I want to sew a wedding gown. And there are a lot of details that I need to add." Amber became competitive for no reason, and added stubbornly, "Your words aren't absolute. Yes, your business is important, but so is mine!""Oh, you want to sew a wedding gown. I can help you with that…" Liam said, relaxed. "Maybe I didn't get to tell you that I went to a small country in Southeast Aeos when I traveled around the world. I got to know a great sewing master. The pictures he sewed looked real like paintings! I found them interesting, so I learned from him. My sewing skills are probably better than yours. I can help you with that.""Really? You can sew?" Amber was full of surprise and admiration. Her eyes lit up. "I can't sew well. I want to learn from a great master too! If you can do it, can you teach me?""Of course!" Liam promised. "Can you he