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,
His unconditional protection of Briar was a merciless trample on her feelings. She was ashamed and felt bad for herself for having loved such a man!"You two take your time. I have something else to take care off, so I'll be leaving now."Renee did not want to stay any longer. More importantly, she had to go check on Xavier.After taking two steps, she turned back and told Stefan, "You better hide her well, Mr. Hunt. If I manage to find her, I might make the lie come true. After all, I wouldn't technically be breaking the law if I made a person who's already dead disappear.”Of course, Renee only said that so that Stefan would keep Briar Desrosiers under strict control and not let her come out to do dirty stuff again.As long as Briar behaved herself, Renee naturally would not make a move either.Unfortunately, her nonchalant warning actually brought disaster upon herself...After Renee left, Francine finally snapped out of it."From what she said, Briar is still alive?""Hmm.
"She's not ideal, but she's the best person available!" Francine could not help but sigh. "You're almost thirty, but you've never socialized with that many women. Briar is too much of a hypocrite, while Cecilia's relationship with your good friend is complicated. After thinking about it long and hard, there's no better candidate than Renee. There's no problem with her except for her family background."But more importantly, I heard she's quite capable. She quietly started a company, became the president of the Electronic Technology Association, manages a law firm well, and even stole the biggest customers of Hunt Enterprise... She's not the pretty but useless woman that I thought she was. I've always had an appreciation for capable women. This new her is perfectly qualified to be your wife!”Stefan had rarely heard his picky mother speak so highly of anyone, let alone Renee. He was glad to hear it.After all, the conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was a problem that
Stefan was pretty unhappy. "Didn't you just say a good horse will never turn round to graze on an old pasture? Why are you suddenly doing a 180? Aren't you embarrassed?"Francine pursed her lips and said arrogantly, "I am, but I don't want to miss out on a good woman. Besides, the reason I was so opposed to you being together before was mainly because you didn't love her and I didn't want you to suffer in a marriage without love. But now, things are different...""How?""Because you're interested in her now!" Francine confidently said, "All these years, very few women could catch your attention. Since you've finally found one who could, of course you need to hang on to her!""I'm not interested in her!" Stefan denied it coldly."You know better than anyone if you're interested in her. You don't have to convince me..." Francine sighed and revealed a helpless expression, "Although I still don't like her very much, if you do, I'll try to. I promise I won't treat her badly or call her
"Cecilia didn't confess anything..." Christopher continued, "I just think, based on what I know about you, that you wouldn't be the kind of person to do that kind of thing. One, you have no motive, and two, it's not worth it for you."Renee snorted coldly. "Yeah. I have no motive, and it's not worth it for me. You can see such obvious things, but Stefan Hunt can't.”"Stef's a bit naive. He doesn't truly understand the complexity of the human heart.""Yes, just like an idiot."The two could not help but smile at that. A thousand words were exchanged in those smiles.Xavier was lying on the hospital bed with one leg hanging in plaster, unable to move. He was in a terrible state and was extremely agitated.When he saw Christopher and Renee walk into his ward, he called out at them like a drowning man clutching at a straw, "Thank god you two are here. Hurry up and get me out of here. This place is like a prison. I can't stay here for a minute longer."Christopher frowned and said se
"But I want to..." Xavier hesitated while looking at Renee, looking very pitiful."You want to play video games, right? You can't!"Renee's attitude was firm, like a disciplinary teacher."Hmph, whatever!"His hopes crushed, Xavier angrily covered his head with the blanket and went to sleep.The way he was fierce but scared at the same time was kinda cute.When he heard that they were leaving, he quickly pulled down the blanket and asked, "Renee, you said you're going to take care of me. Is that true?""Of course." Renee did not hesitate. “You saved my life. Isn't it natural for me to take care of you?"But let me make this clear. I'm not a very patient woman. If you keep being difficult and refuse to cooperate like you did earlier, I can't promise I won't beat you up!”"There's no need to worry. As long as you're the one taking care of me, I'll definitely cooperate."Xavier went back to sleep.Christopher watched all this with a somewhat complicated expression."Mr. Jacobs
"I'm so thirsty!" The burning sensation of the wine made Renee thirsty. She wanted to drink some water.In the dark, she heard some rustling. The next second, something was on her lips. It seemed to be someone else's lips. She wondered if someone had secretly kissed her."Who are you?" Renee grabbed the person in front of her and interrogated angrily, "How dare you kiss me without my permission! Do you know who I am? I'll cut off your lips!""Let's see if you can do that or not." The man sounded dull and drunk, but he was also overbearing.Although Renee was drunk, she could discern who it was. She called out in the dark and tried to confirm her doubt. "Haze…?" "Yeah, it's me," Justin admitted, but he did not plan to let her go. He used a more overbearing manner and trapped her between him and the door."What do you want?" Renee panicked. She wanted to kick him away, but she did not resist when she learned that it was Justin. After she had done so many things to hurt him, s
The servant walked forward with trepidation and helped Justin back to his room. Austin's eyes were dark. He whispered to his assistant, who nodded and immediately carried out his order.After two glasses of strong wine, Renee felt dizzy and could not stand steadily. "It's weird. Is this wine this strong? I just had two glasses of it, but I feel quite dizzy." It was hard for her to exit the hall. She could not stand properly, so she supported herself against the wall."Ms. Everheart, you didn't seem well. Let me help you to get some rest." Austin's assistant caught up to her and stood behind her. He even sounded respectful. "It's… fine. I can go back to my room." Renee waved; she didn't want to trouble others. Besides, she did not want others to see how miserable she was. She had assumed that she was good at drinking and would not get drunk, but it seemed like she had overestimated herself. After two glasses of wine, she became quite drowsy. She would not easily leave if s
Renee blinked and smiled brightly at Justin, asking him, "Are you worried about me?" "No, I'm not worried about you!" Justin said angrily. "I don't want you to get killed here. I can't explain it to your brother and kids. It's hard to handle the three of them."He was not lying. Although he had befriended Quinton, Adie and Abby might make a scene there if they realized that Renee had drunk so much wine at the party. They were witty, always full of ideas.Hence, it was better not to cause trouble. Before they could make a scene and things get out of control, Justin must stop Renee. He wasn't worried about her at all. "So, you're not worried about me?" Renee's gaze turned dull as she sighed. "It looks like you didn't forgive me. So, I must drink this glass of wine." Something was wrong with Renee, or perhaps she just wanted to torture herself. It seemed like she insisted on drinking the wine. She swung off Justin's hand and gulped down the wine."You're out of your mind!" Justi
The aged white wine was strong. Ordinary people would find it hard to drink a glass of it. Yet, Renee had drunk two glasses of it consecutively. It was a little dangerous. Everyone at the dining table was initially watching the fun, but they showed Renee some pity after she drank two glasses of wine consecutively. After wiping her lips clean, Renee staggered and said to Justin, "Let me toast to you now. I've wronged you the most." Justin, sitting there, said with a poker face, "You don't have to say sorry to me. We don't hold each other any grudge. After all, we can't make others fall in love with us.""No, I must apologize to you. It's for my sake." After that, Renee used a bigger glass and filled it with wine."Whatever!" Justin frowned and ignored Renee. He had no idea what was wrong with her. He had yielded and let her off, but she stubbornly wanted to keep drinking the wine.He wondered if she had forgotten the fact that she had just recovered from a serious illness. She
Suddenly, Justin became mature and stopped making jokes. He talked steadily and was no longer emotional. It filled Austin with worry because it made him feel like Justin was an emotionless robot.In comparison, he liked Justin's previous self better. At that time, Justin was simple and sentimental. He was the grandson Austin doted on the most.Sophia grinned and commented, "Dad, you don't have to worry about Justin. Men will change. Previously, he was just a childish kid even though he was in his twenties. He didn't know how to see through people's pretense. But he's all grown up now. He knows what's right or wrong. That's a great thing!" As a mother, she naturally did not want her son to get hurt. Although she favored Renee and wanted the latter to be her daughter-in-law, she would give up since Renee had let her son down and harmed him. All she wanted was to see Renee get away from her son."Yes, you're right. People need to grow up. He has grown up a lot lately, but the price
After a while, a servant quickly came back with a bottle of wine tied with a piece of red cloth. "Sir, Madam, this bottle of white wine was brewed more than ten years ago. It comes with a rich taste and is strong. I'm sure it's suitable for Ms. Everheart to toast to everyone as a form of apology.""That's good. That's what I want." Rose accepted the heavy bottle of wine. Although it was yet to be unscrewed, she could smell its pungent scent. "I won't easily let anyone drink this. Plus… Believe it or not, a glass of this wine can knock out anyone here." Rose carried the bottle of wine and walked around the table. Finally, she stopped in front of Renee. "I'm letting a sinner like you enjoy such a great thing today. You must drink all of it. You can't waste it.""Huh? Does she have to drink it all? I'm afraid she'll vomit from drinking.""People will lose themselves with only three to five glasses of this wine. If they drink half of it, they might get alcohol poisoning no matter
If any Baldwin demanded an explanation from Renee, she would not resent them."Fine, I won't go easy on you since you said so." Rose laughed recklessly, looking malicious. Everyone knew Rose was fierce and malicious. But none of them said anything, including Justin. They behaved like onlookers and wanted to see how Rose would punish Renee. "Please go ahead." Renee nodded and sounded very calm. "Don't worry. Regardless, you were the only woman my dear grandnephew had loved and wanted to marry. So, I won't be harsh on you. If not, he won't forgive me." At that point, Rose purposely paused and wanted to see how Justin would react.However, Justin merely sat there indifferently and had no intention to get Renee out of the predicament. Hence, Rose became bolder. "Well, let's do this. You've wronged not only Justin but everyone in my family. Since you're here to apologize, you should toast to all of us. Then, we can forget about this."After that, Rose turned to Austin and asked
The party started officially at night. It was a small party, and only some close relatives of the Baldwin family attended.Austin took the main seat while his son and daughter-in-law sat in the secondary seats. Justin and the others sat accordingly.After dressing herself up, Renee attended the party in simple clothes. She looked like a young lady from a great family. Adie, Abby, and Quinton did not attend the party to avoid unnecessary disputes. Renee was the only one who attended the party. When she reached the hall, the people had already taken their seats. They sized her up maliciously and studied her as if they wanted to make her pay a heavy price."Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I got here late." Renee took a deep breath and naturally greeted everyone. She appeared composed, but she knew she was rather frightened. She never panicked when she faced such a scene alone in the past. She could easily handle it because Justin would always take her side no matter what happened.
Quinton was fine even if Renee wasn't that happy. But she must lead a steady life and live beyond a hundred years old. "Quinton, I know I owed the Baldwin family a lot, even if you didn't tell me. I won't be back if not for the sake of their kindness."Renee did not hide or lie even if Justin was around. She merely wanted Justin to hold no hope in her. "How could you be this straightforward?" Quinton had purposely brought Justin along because he wanted to bring Justin and Renee together. He felt that they could still be together since things weren't that hopeless. But the disappointing Renee ruined all possibilities easily. Kindness didn't exist between a romantic couple."It's fine." Justin looked indifferent before he snorted. "I'm glad she made things clear. It's better than being ambiguous.""I'm sorry." Renee looked at Justin. Although she had made herself clear, her guilt did not diminish. She immediately expressed her guilt and helplessness since Justin did not igno