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… I don't know! I really don't know!" The makeup artist's face was flushed, her eyes rolling back. She felt like she was about to faint again."Are you still trying to hide the truth?" Justin continued flexing his fingers. He was certain that the makeup artist who suddenly wanted to modify the size of the gown must be aware of the truth.With her eyes rolled back, the makeup artist begged him, "I'll tell you…! Please let me go! I'll tell you everything!" Hearing that, Justin slowly released his grasp.The makeup artist finally got a chance to breathe. She kept taking deep breaths and almost cried because of her terror. "What should I tell you?" She truly knew nothing."What?" Justin's gaze grew fierce."Oh, I remember it now…" She drew in a cold breath and hurriedly said, "A handsome guy came not long after you were gone. I think he's Mr. Hunt. When Ms. Everheart saw him, she was very…"She paused, trying to find her words. "She was very…?" Justin urged her. This was the
Meanwhile, Liam and Leia became vigilant when they saw that scene."What are they doing?" Liam walked past the guests enjoying the fun and stood between Alexander and the two guards. He faked a smile and said, "We're the guests you invited sincerely. Is this how the Baldwin family treats their guests?""Guests?" Austin got off the stage and strode toward them. Although he was smiling, coldness gleamed in his eyes. "Have you ever seen any guest steal the hostess?""You can't say that, Sir Baldwin..." Liam smiled and added, "How could you be sure that it must be the Hunt family?""Who else could it be?" "This is just your guess. They've always been here. Even if they wanted to do that, they couldn't. So… You should act fair and square, given your noble identity. Shouldn't you find fault with the culprit instead? Isn't that more reasonable?" Liam looked at Austin. Although he was younger and came from a family weaker than the Baldwin family, he was still domineering.Besides, his
Alexander took a deep breath and analyzed logically, "This wasn't Stef's style. If he wanted to snatch her away, he would have done it openly in front of everyone. But this trick was cunning and dishonest!""Yes, you're right, but this is a special case. If he didn't use a trick, his woman would marry someone else. It's normal for him to be restless." Although Francine agreed with Alexander's analysis, she felt that Stefan could do anything if it concerned Renee. Naturally, he would stoop this far. "Regardless, we have to leave," Alexander whispered to Francine, sensing danger. "Austin has always been decisive and cruel. Since Stef humiliated him, I'm sure he wouldn't let Stef off easily. We're in danger too.""Is it that serious?" Francine looked at Austin, who was standing on the stage. He coldly ordered his assistant about something. It seemed like he wasn't that crazy. "I don't care what he'll do. We have to get out of North City right away because this city is controlled b
"What?! She's gone?" Justin's face fell immediately. He grabbed the collar of the person who came to inform them and demanded coldly, "What do you mean?! Why is she gone for no reason?""We… We don't know!" That person looked at Justin while trembling and reported everything. "When we got there, we found no one else in the makeup room except the makeup artist lying on the ground. We didn't see Ms. Everheart, either. We don't know what happened!""Something must have gone wrong with her!" Justin pushed that person away without hesitation and rushed toward the makeup room."Hey, Justin! What are you doing?" Sophia watched Justin disappear in front of everyone. She wanted to pursue him but failed.Everyone below the stage fell into an uproar and discussed among themselves endlessly. "The bride went missing all of a sudden! Did her ex-husband come for her?""It's possible. They were once madly in love with each other. Plus, the Hunt and Baldwin families were in conflict for many yea
On the surface, everyone felt that Justin was passionate and respected the bride well. However, only he knew that he was just terrified. He was afraid that the reality might exceed his anticipation. He was terrified to find that he was betrayed in the end when he had trusted Renee that much and treated her so sincerely."Justin, what's going on with you? How could you talk about that at such a time like this? The most important thing now is to make her come out and have this engagement ceremony. We should do the guests justice. If not, everyone will laugh at us after we've kept our dignity well for so many years!"Sophia couldn't understand his hesitation. They were just going to urge Renee to appear. It had nothing to do with their patience or ability to take good care of Renee.Both Alexander and Francine looked at each other in confusion."Dear, did you do anything?" Alexander asked Francine softly.If Renee suddenly failed to attend the ceremony, it might have been Francin
Renee was furious—he was ridiculous!"You won't allow that?" She snorted and looked at him as if he were crazy. "Who do you think you are? You can't meddle in my life!""I'm nobody, but I know that I don't want you to marry another guy." The man approached Renee, wanting to catch her."Stay away from me, or I'll get somebody! You should know how powerful the Baldwin family is in North City…" Renee spat coldly. She did not want to make things too ghastly, so she wouldn't alert the Baldwin family if she could help it. The man sneered wickedly. "Yes, the Baldwin family is strong. So? Even if they're strong, they can't fight against my cunning means!""What do you mean?" A bad feeling gripped Renee. She wanted to ask more questions, but found herself dizzy. Her surroundings became blurry. "I'm so dizzy! What…did you do?" The next second, she staggered and fainted.He firmly caught her and whispered, "You've suffered a lot, so I'll let you rest a bit.""Ah! You… You…" The make
"You flatter me." Renee smiled, sadness in her eyes. She recalled the day she was about to marry Stefan many years ago. The young female designer responsible for her makeup had praised her the same way. At that time, she had recently lost all her family members and was gripped with excruciating pain. Her waist had been much slimmer. She looked pitiful but bewitching. "Don't worry! Master Hunt is a great man. He'll be nice to you and protect you. You guys are a perfect match."Renee remembered that the makeup artist used a makeup blender to soak her tears and firmly told her that. The artist at that time also felt that Stefan would be her protector for the rest of her life. Renee had a crush on Stefan for many years. He was the ray of light that had saved her from her despair. Although she was strong, she couldn't help but regard him as her savior. At that time, she never imagined spending the rest of her life with someone else other than him. Many years passed since then. Sh
Twenty minutes ago, Renee's gown was accidentally splashed with wine. Hence, she changed into a spare slim-fit strapless gown. The long gown reached to the floor and was full of shining diamonds. It set off her curvy figure and made her appear like a noble princess from a painting. Unfortunately, her waist was too slim, so the gown didn't fit her well.The young woman who was responsible for Renee's makeup patted her chest and said confidently, "It's fine. I'll tighten the waistline a bit. Leave it to me! I'll get it done in ten minutes.""Are you sure?" Justin couldn't hide his amazement as he watched Renee, who had changed into a new gown. He cleared his throat and said, "I think this is already perfect. It's fine even if you don't adjust the waistline."He felt that Renee was the most perfect woman no matter how she appeared. She would always bewitch him, even if she was just wearing slippers and casual coats.If his parents hadn't insisted on getting a renowned designer t
Liam looked certain. "The Baldwin residence is strictly guarded. Plus, Austin owns military power. If the Hunt family wants to take Renee away, they'll have to fight the Baldwins. Things will get very hideous. But if they use a little trick, they don't have to waste any manpower to take her away. Why wouldn't they do that?""So, you're saying that Mr. and Mrs. Hunt fought against Justin's parents to purposely attract others' attention and to cover for Stefan. They wanted to give him the chance to take Ren away secretly.""That's very likely."Liam nodded. Else, he couldn't figure out why the decent Alexander and Francine would do such an indecent thing in front of so many rich and powerful people. After all, the Hunts would be ridiculed for what they had done just now if it got exposed. It was such a great price. They wouldn't have to make such a great sacrifice if not for their son's lifetime happiness."If that was true, the Hunts are just too cunning." Leia shrugged. She fou