Before Renee could finish, Stefan gripped her wrist firmly. "She does not need to make a choice—she's coming with me."As soon as he said that, he turned around and walked away, pulling Renee along."How dare you!" Austin lost his patience and instantly aimed his revolver at Stefan's head. "You're asking for death, you impertinent brat!"The guards around them also aimed their weapons at Stefan. As soon as the old man gave the order, the two of them would be shot to death!Renee panicked and struggled to get her hand free. "Let go of me, Stefan. There's nothing wrong with giving in sometimes! You may want to die, but I don't!"Stefan snorted coldly. "I, Stefan, am not so weak that I need a woman to save my life."Renee was speechless. 'This stubborn man… How many times have I saved you? Stop acting like you're the hero here!'Stefan turned around and looked at Austin with a smirk. "Mr. Baldwin, you can shoot me if you'd like, but the second you do, your entire army will turn int
Renee tidied herself up quickly, wanting to leave. "Oh, right. I released your mother last night, so she should be safe by now. Why don't you try to contact her to see if she's okay?""There is no need for that." Stefan, no longer exuding his usual cold and intense aura, looked very relaxed. He took off his jacket and threw it onto the chaise lounge casually, leaving only a white shirt partially covering his perfect muscular body.Renee's heart fluttered seeing this, and she gulped subconsciously.The man then took off his valuable diamond watch and put it on the table. He propped his long arm on the edge of the table, and said lightly, "My mother arrived in Beach City last night, and should be having afternoon tea with her friend now.""She arrived last night?" Renee was confused. "Then why did you go to the Baldwin residence so early in the morning?"Stefan looked up and met her gaze, the corner of his lips curving into a playful smirk. "What do you think?""I…" She bit her lip
Stefan instinctively reached to touch Renee's cheek, but stopped himself. He was usually a man of few words, but surprisingly, he was laying his cards on the table for her. "It's true. Think about it carefully; I'll come and ask for your answer early tomorrow morning." Renee clenched her fists slightly, surprising him when she just nodded obediently. "Okay." She would consider it for the sake of the two babies in her belly, as long as he sincerely wanted to start over with her. After he left, she stood in front of the huge French window and looked down at the city quietly, seriously thinking about her future. 'Should I stick through with my plan of making a fortune and reviving my family with the two kids? Or, should I go back to my past life and live under the protection of the Hunts? Do I really want to be a housewife whose life revolves around her husband and kids? It seems like both choices have their pros and cons, and there'll be regrets regardless.' As she was ponderin
"Can't you tell? Although Stefan asked me to move out of Hunt Villa, he gave me such a big castle. He removed the rose garden I planted in Hunt Villa, but he gave me this larger and more valuable one instead..." Briar stared at the rose in her hand and said to Renee smugly, "All these rose seedlings were frozen and airlifted from Bulgal. A seedling costs tens of thousands, and this garden is more than a hundred square feet. I've got countless roses, which shows Stefan's endless love for me!" Renee glanced at the endless rose garden. It was indeed stunning. "All that I can say is that the Hunts are indeed rich." Inwardly, she had to admit that this did affect her. 'Of course, I'd be jealous. I even pity myself. Now that I think about it, he'd never done anything for me even though I was married to him for so many years, so why was he indulging Briar like this? It's fine if I lost to someone else, but this is Briar, who's nothing but a cunning fox. I can't just let this go!' "The
''My belly hurts so bad. Save me... Please save me!'' Briar laid in a pool of blood with one hand on her bulging belly and the other stretching towards Renee pitifully. Renee was frightened, and took a step back. ''S-Stop pretending. I just pushed you slightly, so how could you have such a serious fall?'' She had only tried to push Briar's hand away. She did not expect Briar to fall to the ground with just a shove. Did... Did she not control her strength? ''Ms. Everheart, my belly hurts so much. I'm going to lose my child. I don't care if you did it on purpose or not. Please send me to the hospital. Please save my child!'' Briar looked pale as she begged Renee. She was in so much pain that she broke out into a cold sweat. ''I... I don't know how to save you either. I...'' Renee tried her best to calm down and picked up her phone to call for an ambulance. However, someone pushed her aside, sending her phone sliding away. She turned around and found that it was Stefan. His ha
Stefan felt like he had fallen into an abyss. He felt like he was about to die, and his expression was strained. He wanted to crawl out of the abyss, but it was too dark, and he could not find anything to hold onto. Delirious, he muttered, "Hold me!" Suddenly, a small, warm hand reached out and held his. It felt like his saviour had found him, and his tense muscles gradually relaxed.He even heard a tender voice, as if someone was calling after his lost soul. "Stefan, it's okay, I got you. You need to wake up now..." Stefan followed the voice and slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Renee's beautiful features creased with worry. "You're awake! You scared me." She heaved a long sigh of relief. Stefan had been unconscious for three days because of his hemophobia. The doctors had tried everything they could to wake him up, but nothing worked. Diagnostic tests had shown that many of his organs were failing, and if he stayed in that condition, he would have died. Re
Stefan's grip on Renee's neck tightened as his emotions overwhelmed him. At that moment, he seemed to have lost control of himself. He just wanted an outlet to release his guilt and anger, so his mind wasn't thinking straight. Renee was in too much pain to say anything. She stared at him calmly, but tears had welled up in her eyes. She could definitely fight back, but she did not struggle—she just suffered in silence. It was because Briar had lost her child because of Renee's careless mistake. If Stefan wanted her to pay the price with her life, then she would make it up to them with her and her two babies' lives. She would rather die at his hand than spend the rest of her life living in guilt. After a while, her vision started fading to black, and her eyelids fluttered. She closed her eyes in deep pain and bitter disappointment... However, Stefan could not bear to do that. He pushed her away with the last bit of rationality that was left in him. Renee gasped for air, coughin
While Stefan was taking care of some business, Briar started to go crazy again after the sedative wore off. "Let me die! Let me die!"Briar went crazy and hit her head against the wall hard. With a swollen bruise on her head, she screamed, "My baby is gone! I don't want to live anymore! Let me die!"The nurses were frantic and called Stefan. When Stefan received the news, he dropped his business and rushed over as fast as possible.Briar was out of control. Stefan grabbed her and comforted her repeatedly. "It's okay. It's okay."Briar suddenly hugged him docilely. She kept crying and murmured, "Stefan, the baby is gone… The only thing Tristan left for ms is gone…""They said my womb is no more! I won't be able to conceive anymore. What should I do? My life is finished!"Stefan silently laid Briar down on the bed. He put a hot towel on her swollen head and whispered, "Your life isn't finished. You'll have the Hunts as your biggest support.""Really?" Briar continued crying and
"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