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
Renee froze. She looked at Stefan with puzzled eyes, not daring to move an inch.Her fair cheeks were blushing so hard that it was visible to the naked eye.‘What... What's the meaning of this?’Stefan seemed quite at ease. He looked straight ahead and said faintly, "Sorry, grabbed the wrong thing."After that, he moved his hand to the gear lever and smoothly adjusted its position from neutral to drive.The sports car whizzed along the road.It moved fast, like Renee's heartbeat!She only realized after a long time that she... just got teased?"Stefan, did you just flirt with me?"Renee tilted her head to the side to look at the man who was focused on driving. Her cheeks were puffed with anger, looking like a little squirrel. It was very cute.Stefan raised his eyebrows and stared at the woman with a smile on his face. Instead of answering, he asked, "What do you think?"Renee rubbed her chin and, after thinking about it carefully, said with a serious expression, “I think yo
Stefan naturally did not stop the car. He said coldly, "Everheart Manor has been reduced to rubble. If you don't go back to the Hunt Villa, where else can you go?”"Anywhere, as long as it's not the Hunt Villa!" Renee's attitude was firm. “I can rent or buy a house. The world is big. There's definitely somewhere I can stay!”"That will be unnecessary!" Stefan's attitude was also very firm. "You still own half the property rights to the Hunt Villa, which means it's also your home. In a few days, I'll transfer the other half of the property rights to you. After that, it'll be completely yours. You can then do whatever you want with it. You can live in it or you can sell it, I don't care."Since he had said that much, Renee decided not to argue with him any further.After all, the Hunt Villa was worth over a hundred million dollars. Stefan was just casually giving her a hundred million dollars. If she kept complaining, it would feel a bit ungrateful.However, Renee still retorted fai
Lydia did not expect Stefan to be so protective of Renee. But now, she naturally did not dare to say anything else. She quietly packed up her things and left.Before leaving, she took advantage of Stefan's momentary absence to threaten Renee. "Hmph, don't think you've won! You're just an ex-wife who got dumped. You're gonna show me no mercy today? Then don't blame me for casting stones at you tomorrow. You just wait. Your peaceful days are coming to an end!"Renee sneered. "I knew you would never change that easily. You'll never take orders from me willingly. Then isn't it perfect that you won't have to serve me anymore? If I hear another grumble from you, you won't even get your severance pay.""I'll remember this, Renee Everheart!" Lydia gave Renee a hateful look and left fuming.As soon as she left the villa, she called Francine."Madam, you must right this injustice! Renee Everheart is such a cruel woman! She's bewitched the young master and occupied the villa. Not only did sh
Of course, Renee herself was not looking that much better.This was no time to be willful. Renee tried her best to calm herself down."Okay, let's tidy up and go to the hospital together."The two went to different bathrooms and quickly washed themselves.But the awkward thing was, because neither of them lived there, they naturally did not have any spare clothes there. They had to come out of the bathrooms wrapped in towels.Renee walked out of the bathroom, wanting to find some casual clothes to wear.Stefan also had the same idea.So, the two ran into each other in this awkward manner.Stefan looked at Renee unabashedly, from her wet hair down to her toes.As for Renee... she was even more unabashed. Besides ogling Stefan, she even felt the urge to run her hands over him."Stefan, have you been going to the gym again recently? Look at those abs. They're like the abs of a fitness coach."She could not help but recall the days when she took care of the “quadriplegic” Stefan
Francine could never have imagined that her son, who was always cold and serious, would flirt with Renee, the harbinger of tragedy, in her presence. This was even more surprising to her than seeing aliens on Earth."Stef, what's the matter with you? You wouldn't even look at her twice in the past. Why are you being so intimate with her now? Don't tell me you're actually trying to seduce her?"Stefan shrugged, neither admitting nor denying it.This made Francine even more aware of how serious the matter was.If it was Renee who was making advances on her son, it would make sense to her, but now, it appeared that it was her son who was making advances on Renee. This made her, the mother, feel ashamed and lose her moral high ground."Son, did you get brain damage, or did she put a spell on you? Do you even know what you're doing? Why are you seducing this harbinger of tragedy?”Francine had a short fuse. Angered by Stefan, she started hitting him.While pounding at him, she yelled,
"I'm sorry!" Renee blurted—she realized her selfishness."I admit that I took you as a substitute. I wanted to get out of that suffering relationship, and I didn't care about your feelings. I'm so sorry."At first, she wanted to forget Stefan and start a new relationship. And then, Justin risked his life to save her. On top of that, they were compatible in various aspects. She felt that she could spend the rest of her life with him.However, Renee realized that her actions were purely self-serving. She never considered Justin's feelings or asked about his willingness. She merely took him as a convenient tool. "No, you did nothing wrong," Justin said. "You have your choices. Likewise, I have my choices too."He stared at Renee passionately, his teary eyes filled with pain, and held her hand. "I chose you. I want to stay with you while you're trying to forget about him. I want you to be happy with me.""You…" Renee looked into Justin's eyes. His generosity, firmness, and thoug
"Mmph!" Renee was sitting beside the window, watching the floating clouds up in the sky when a sudden pain gripped her heart—as if it was clenched tight. "What's wrong?" Justin asked nervously. Sitting across from her, he could feel something wrong with her. "I'm fine." Renee shook her head and tried to soothe her stuffy chest. "My heart suddenly hurt just now. I guess it's because of the sudden weightlessness when the plane took off."Justin sighed in relief. "I've heard that some people might get dizzy or feel their ears ring because of weightlessness, but I've never heard of hearts aching.""It's fine. It's something rare, I guess. I'll feel better after a while." Renee waved his concerns away, taking a deep breath. She picked up the cup in front of her and sipped some water, and felt better. Perhaps the water had cooled her heart. However, Justin felt a little uneasy. He knew her heart wasn't his though their destination was the same."If you can't forget about him, yo
Stefan got involved with Briar. At the same time, something seemed to be wrong with Renee and she insisted on meeting Justin's parents. In short, they were lying to themselves.Xavier found it ridiculous that they would break up and date someone else, when in truth they loved each other passionately and had gone through so much together. They were just cowards who refused to face their problems head-on."Well said! I agree." For the first time, Leia and Xavier shared the same thoughts on the issues related to love. Aside from Stefan and Renee, there were many similar examples. Leia was convinced Liam was doing the same thing. She couldn't understand why they had to hurt themselves like that. It would be better to make peace.Suddenly, Xavier turned around and looked at Leia passionately, and declared with utmost seriousness, "So, we can't do that!" Having his face so close to hers so suddenly, Leia's heartbeat quickened. She pursed her lips and stood up shyly. "You're nuts
Justin walked over and tapped his wristwatch. "It's almost time. Let's go.""Okay." Renee nodded, then said to Leia, "Just go home and take good care of Liam. Tell my brother and kids that I'm fine. I'll be back at Beach City soon.""Uh…" Leia wanted to stop Renee from going to Beach City, but she couldn't find a reason to make Renee refuse. Of course, Renee had to stop the program which never responded."Fine. Take care. Call me immediately if anything happens!" Leia, enlightened, decided to respect Renee's choices. She hugged Renee and sobbed, "I hope you'll pick happiness no matter who you choose to be with!""Of course. I want you to do the same." Renee hugged Leia firmly.Then, she got into the small private plane bound for North City with Justin."She left…" Xavier muttered. He watched the plane take off for North City as he sat in the lobby, feeling complicated. He felt sorry for Stefan, but at the same time, he felt that Stefan had brought it upon himself. Being on
However, Leia didn't believe that Renee would have given up on Stefan. Based on their night chats a while ago, she could tell from Renee's tone that the latter was still confused about Stefan and couldn't part with him.It wasn't long ago, but now, Renee wanted to marry someone else. It was abnormal."Yes, I did…" Renee coldly looked ahead and added, "I did just now.""What?" Leia's eyes went wide, and she didn't stop questioning Renee. "What happened just now? Nothing happened!""Let me be frank with you." Renee decided to be honest with Leia since Leia insisted on getting to the bottom of it. "Justin told me something the night he saved us. Stefan informed him and asked him to come to our rescue.""I know that. And then?"Leia had heard the same story from Justin. She and Liam kept cursing Stefan for being a dirty coward all night long. It was infuriating. Stefan didn't try to save his beloved woman, but made his rival in love do so instead. It seemed he had given up his belo
"What? You're going to meet his parents?" Leia cried in agitation when she heard that. She glared at Justin, then dragged Renee to the side to interrogate the latter."What's wrong with you, Ren? Why are you marrying someone else just after one night?" Leia pausing, finding her words odd, then corrected herself. "Oh, no! Are you going to remarry?""Justin is a good man. His grandpa was my grandpa's old comrade. Plus, his family is nice to me. And we survived this time because of the army Grandpa Baldwin gave me. I can't be ungrateful," Renee said, her tone calm and cold.Although it was ridiculous, Austin did give Renee that army as a wedding gift. She used that gift at a critical time, which meant she had accepted the Baldwin family. Naturally, she had to take her relationship with Justin to another level. "But…" Leia frowned, feeling that Renee was being impulsive. "But you were forced to use that army under that circumstance. It wasn't because you loved Justin that drove
Liam was an unruly rich heir who loved freedom, while Amber was a pure and ignorant young woman. It seemed they were a perfect match."Why did she suddenly give you a wedding gown? Obviously, she wants to marry you. Are you sure you don't want to say anything to her before leaving?" Xavier teased Liam, trying to sound the latter out.Everyone could tell that Amber liked Liam. Besides, it seemed like Liam also fancied Amber. If they parted ways, they might never see each other again. Their romance might end with a failure. What a pity! "There's nothing to say to her." Liam purposely looked aloof. "All I want is to get the hell out of here. I don't even want to waste another second here."Then, he strode into the airport lobby. Renee quickened her pace and walked alongside him. She looked at him, feeling sorry for him. "Are you sure you're going to leave like this?""I should long be gone." Liam kept his coldness, his tone impassive. "If I don't go now, I can't leave forever.""
The box contained a red wedding gown with exquisite embroidered dragon and phoenix patterns. The embroidery was meticulous, making the dragon and phoenix look lifelike. With such intricate details, it would take three to five months to complete."So, she was busy with this." Liam caressed the patterns, bitterness and disappointment hitting him hard. Amber was always busy these days and couldn't be found. She also didn't talk much to him. She claimed that she wanted to sew wedding clothes for herself and Mateo. Unexpectedly, she ended up giving the wedding gown to Liam instead.There was a card at the bottom of the wedding dress. Liam opened it and read Amber's note.[Liam, I only want to be your wife my whole life…but from now on, I won't marry anyone. I want to live for myself. I hope we can meet again when we're both strong and capable!]Her handwriting wasn't neat, and her grammar was wrong. Yet it showed her shyness, pureness, and firmness.Liam clenched the wedding gown t
"Wait, Mr. Osborne!" Hailey ran to Liam and tried her best to catch her breath. Then, she said to him, "Ms. Jenkins… Ms. Jenkins, she…""What's wrong with Amber?" Liam asked nervously. His anxious and worried expression showed that he wasn't indifferent toward her after all."Take this!" Hailey handed a plain box to Liam. "Ms. Jenkins is busy today and can't send you off. This is the gift she's been preparing for a long time. She wants you to have it.""What she's busy about? Is it troublesome?" Liam was worried about Amber. If she wanted to take over Benjamin's business, she wouldn't be able to handle it since the fort was a violent place full of fights. "It's something feminine. Please don't ask about that…" Hailey obeyed Amber's instruction and didn't explain much. She waved at Liam and added, "Take care. Don't worry too much about Ms. Jenkins. She'll be fine since she's Mr. Jenkins' only daughter.""What do you mean?" Liam held the gift with worry. "Did Benjamin find fault wi