Stefan did not expect to find 300,000 active users on this forum, which placed it in the top five most active groups on the entire website.He foolishly thought that this was just a small interest group, but it seemed that they were as big as an army. It was no wonder a single live stream was able to put him in the headlines.Stefan continued scrolling down the page, his eyes completely focused on the screen.[This is so sweet! Just look at them! Look at them!][Oh my god, my precious little Renee is looking at that bastard with such loving eyes!][They’re definitely the opposites attract trope! The cold tsundere CEO, Stefan Hunt, loves his wife just as much as she does!]The forum was incredibly active, and new threads containing old stories, photos, and theories would pop up every few minutes, all revolving around Stefan and Renee’s relationship. This was the first time Stefan realized that he actually had this many pictures with Renee. Moreover, he noticed just how deeply in
“Cough! Cough!” Renee, who was drinking a glass of lemon water when Stefan asked the question, started choking.‘Am I hallucinating? Isn’t this stone-hearted prince being too direct? This is too unlike him.’“Don’t be a narcissist. Who even told you that?” Averting her gaze, Renee denied ever loving him with guilt gnawing in her heart.“Everyone has been telling me that. They said you loved me very much,” replied Stefan with a grin that unconsciously widened.Plenty of women have confessed their love to him. Some even tried to seduce him with their bodies. He would always be annoyed by them, let alone develop feelings for them. On the other hand, he enjoyed being doused in this Renee’s love. For some reason, it gave him a sense of achievement.“Oh please, you know I was acting during that live stream. Those people are blissfully unaware of what was actually happening,” Renee answered nonchalantly. She did not intend to reveal her true feelings. It was the only way she coul
Renee’s mind went blank and her body stiffened up. Although she had slept with the man once, this was the very first time they had kissed.As she expected, his lips were cold as ice, but they made her burn up intensely. Renee’s clenched fists slowly loosened up as she closed her eyes, allowing herself to get lost in his sudden embrace…A few minutes later, a man’s voice came from one of the corners, “Alright, we can wrap this up now!”Soon, the restaurant’s lights were once again switched on.Renee was finally brought back to reality as well. She quickly pushed Stefan off of her with a look of disgust.‘What just happened?‘Was I out of it just now? How could I have kissed my future ex-husband?!’Thinking to herself, she immediately wiped her lips clean with her hands, but this action made Stefan rather upset“What are you doing that for? I could tell that you enjoyed it, you know?”Renee tightened her fists, suppressing the urge to beat the man up while questioning him. “Wh
"What else is there?" Renee turned around, staring at the man's hand around her wrist, her expression as calm as still water. "Would you like to return the favor, Mr. Hunt?"Stefan was silent as he stared at her coldly. His deep gaze held a million unspoken words. Renee boldly stepped forward, and her face was now inches away from his. Her lips curved into a smirk, and she whispered mockingly, "You’re famous for holding grudges, Mr. Hunt, so why pretend? If you're upset, just get even and slap me."Naturally, Stefan didn't lift a finger. Instead, he looked at the people around them, silently commanding them to leave.Soon, they were the only two left in the large restaurant.Stefan let go of her, and exhaled deeply. "I never wanted to use you… I may have been lying when I said I loved you, but I truly am sorry for hurting you."The light of the chandelier accentuated the man's beautiful features, making him look like some kind of ethereal being. He was so near, yet so far."Are
"With who now?" Renee couldn't understand a single thing Leia was saying. She didn't really take Leia's screaming seriously, since she had always been quite dramatic."With Stefan Hunt!" Leia screeched. "Girl, if you really slept with him, I'm going to be so disappointed in you… I know I used to support the two of you, but that cretin crossed the line! Didn't you say you wanted to divorce him? How could you sleep with him?!"Leia was only angry out of concern for her best friend. She didn't want Renee to get hurt again."Who said I did that?" Renee felt awkward, realizing Leia must've watched the livestream from last night. "It was all just for show. Sure, we might have kissed, but I also got to slap him as compensation."Renee didn't find the kiss much of a sacrifice, as it was great being able to slap Stefan across the face. 'Damn, that felt so satisfying!'"Oh, so you slapped him… Nice one, Ren!" Leia exclaimed, then turned serious again. "But that's still not a good enough rea
"You should stop watching dramas." Stefan scoffed. "I've been living in the opposite unit for four whole years. If anyone's a stalker here, it's you.""What did you say? You… live in the other unit?" Only then did Renee notice that the door to the opposite unit was ajar. She awkwardly scratched her head, wishing she could dig a hole in the ground and hide.'So he wasn't stalking me… He actually lives here! Oh no, I called him all sorts of names earlier… It feels like I'm the narcissistic one here, assuming that he was stalking me like that!'Stefan's sharp gaze scanned her room nonchalantly, and finally landed on her bedroom door."Your bedroom looks pretty different from mine." Stefan walked towards it, intending to head inside.Suddenly, Renee remembered that she had a pile of books about parenting still lying on her bed. She thought, 'If Hunt sees them, he'll find out about my pregnancy!'"No!" She screamed as she stopped him, right before he got to the door."Let me through,
Stefan furrowed his eyebrows, picking up the call with a scowl."Mr. Hunt, the infamous hacker, Haze, has arrived at the Hunt Enterprise main offices. He said he can find out who Phoenix is, and he would like to see you now.""Oh?" Stefan instantly got to his feet upon hearing this.He wondered. 'So… that hacker who made a fool out of Hunt Enterprise is finally going to be unmasked? Interesting!'"Tell him to wait for a while, I'll head over right now." Stefan hung up and started straightening his clothes. The sudden coldness and hostility on his face were such a stark contrast to the passionate expression he had on earlier.Having been so close to the man while he was on the phone, Renee had naturally overheard the conversation as well.She had actually intended to meet with Haze for quite some time but never had the opportunity to. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, she couldn't possibly allow herself to miss it."Leaving already, Mr. Hunt?" Renee asked softly as s
A man dressed in black clothing was there, his legs set on a desk as if he were some kind of young delinquent. He was turning around in the revolving chair he was sitting in nonchalantly, clearly not showing any respect to the others in the room.He was wearing a cap that covered half of his face, only revealing his sharp nose and thin lips.He was, in fact, the one and only idol to many within the IT field, the four-year consecutive champion of the Global Hackers Union competition, one of the two legendary figures amongst all hackers—Haze."Please wait just a little bit longer, Mr. Haze! Mr. Hunt will be right with you any time now!""You must be tired from all this waiting! Here, let me give you a massage!"Having been given the honor to meet their idol, many employees from the technical department were gushing over Haze, with some even asking for photographs and signatures. It was quite a desperate sight."Don't you all have work to do?!" Elijah was the first to witness this a
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
"Uh…" Amber looked like she was being put in a difficult position. She found it impudent for a man and a woman to be alone in the dense orchard at night. "What's wrong? Is it inconvenient?" Liam frowned, puzzled. He felt that Amber was purposely avoiding him after expressing her desire not to marry him and making Mateo her groom instead.Before, she would always put on her favorite dress and stand at the entrance of the fort, looking eager no matter how late Liam and Benjamin returned from their work.Usually, she would carry a small bamboo basket containing the tea she brewed and dessert or food she had painstakingly prepared. When Liam returned, she would excitedly welcome him and inquire after him. Lately, she no longer did that. When Liam occasionally ran into her in the fort, she would bow indifferently at him and quickly brush past him as if they were merely acquaintances. They seemed distant.Honestly, Liam found it unfamiliar. He couldn't get used to the fact that Amber
"I don't know. Why don't you ask the guards to get us some fried chicken and French fries? Didn't Mateo say that we can ask the guards for food?" Renee said.Leia's anxiety eased as she relaxed. She turned around and got out of bed, then gestured at the guard and ordered quite a lot of food. Meanwhile, Liam accompanied Benjamin to West River in the morning for a negotiation that yielded a good result. Benjamin's attitude had improved. He didn't demand an explanation from Liam about the affairs between Liam and Amber, and didn't ask about Renee or Leia either. Liam was delighted. He carried the unique desserts he had bought at the local market for Renee and Leia to enjoy. Upon arrival, he found that they were not in the room. "Weird. Where did they go?" Liam looked around, but found no sign of Renee and Leia. He casually asked a servant, but the servant stammered and insisted on not knowing anything. Anxious, Liam kept looking for them in the fort. Coincidentally, he ran into