''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
The computer screen glowed with a white light in the dark room.Stefan replayed the surveillance footage from Redwood Mansion over and over again. He wanted to see if the tragedy happened because of Renee's arrogance, as Briar claimed.Stefan tapped the forward and backward buttons again and again. He repeatedly watched how Renee humiliated and pushed Briar. He watched how indifferent Renee was as she watched Briar lie in a pool of blood.Stefan's eyes were glued to the screen. His face was tense with anger. At last, he hissed a low curse of disappointment in the silent darkness. "Damn it!" Stefan never thought of Renee as someone evil. She was just a willful woman with a strong sense of self. However, this video really hit him hard. He never knew she could be so vicious and hurt an unborn child like that!As Stefan struggled to restrain himself from losing control, he took out his phone and called Elijah."Bring Renee to Sutton at once," Stefan ordered coldly, "She must apologi
Stefan was so angry that he wanted to choke Elijah to death. He narrowed his eyes and hissed, "How could she just vanish into thin air? That's ridiculous!""Right? We've tried searching all we could but failed to track Ms. Everheart's whereabouts… By the way, Ms. Everheart's nanny Margaret disappeared along with her…"Elijah sighed repeatedly and apologized. "Mr. Hunt, I've tried my best, but I can't help. If you don't believe me, you'll have to do it yourself!"Stefan didn't hesitate and immediately took a private jet back to Beach City.Stefan firmly believed that anyone alive would leave a track of activity. 'That's impossible. How could she have completely disappeared? Unless… She's still in Beach City!' thought Stefan. He did not mind using all the power he had to find her.Stefan sent more men to search all of Beach City. He also had Christopher and Xavier use whatever method they could to search for her.Xavier had recovered by this time and was discharged from the hospita
"I mean it literally," Stefan confessed with an expressionless face and steady breath.Anyway, the baby and Renee were gone. It did not matter anymore whether the secret was kept or made public."W-what?" Xavier gapped in shock.Christopher had a similar reaction to Xavier's. He spent about ten minutes sorting out the whole story. After a good while, he finally let out a long sigh. "Stef, you're such a fool. It must be aggravating."Stefan said coldly, "I'm fine. My late brother saved my life. I have to give my all to fulfill his last wish, but unfortunately… I can't do anything!"Stefan slammed his fist hard on the table. His eyes were slightly red. It was clear that he felt very guilty about Tristan."Of course you're fine. It's your wife who suffered!"Xavier could not help but fight for Renee. "If you feel responsible for Tristan's death, so be it, but why did you have to hurt Renee? You did so much for Briar and her child, but what about Renee? She was married to you for fo
"I almost choked her to death. Did I go too far?" Stefan asked."Yes and no." Xavier was an outsider and said impartially, "Considering your usual behavior, choking someone wasn't the worst thing I've seen you do, but… I think hurting Renee was a little too much."Xavier had never seen the usually sober and sensible Stefan in such distraught in all their years of friendship, heartbroken to see the state Stefan was in despite finding his actions maddening. Therefore, he toned down his words."She deserved it!" Stefan's calmness evaporated instantly like a long-dormant volcano that erupted suddenly. His voice was cold. "It's only fair to repay a life with a life!"Xavier took a step backward in shock and grimaced. He ridiculed, "Okay, fine. It's fair. So are we spending so much effort to find her for you to continue choking her to death?"Stefan hissed coldly, "We'll talk about that when we get her back!"Xavier and Christopher exchanged a glance, smiling. They shrugged and shook t
"No, I'm not!" Liam raised his hand to swear. "Trust me. They're just best friends. They're not in that kind of messy relationship. Both of them have a guy they're madly in love with.""I see." Amber watched how Renee and Leia fooled around intimately with each other in the cell. They looked like they were about to kiss! She shook her head and said, "What a pity! They look so lovey-dovey, better than many novels I read about where the women love each other.""You're hopeless!" It was rare for Liam to see such a straightforward and cute side of Amber. Amused, he poked her forehead and sighed. "Stop reading those messy novels! It's harmful."Their actions were loud and finally attracted Renee's attention in the cell."Liam!" Renee, pressed to the chair by Leia, couldn't escape. Finally, she grabbed a chance to leap up and walk to the door.Well… It wasn't a door. Rather, they were iron bars preventing them from escaping.The decoration and facilities in the room weren't bad. Be
Liam tensed up when he heard that voice. He quickened his pace and rushed through the corridor, toward the cell where Renee and Leia were locked up. Suddenly, he became flabbergasted and his face stiffened. For a long time, he couldn't regain his wits."Hey… What are you guys doing?"On a table lay barbecue, jerky, beer, and fruit platters. Meanwhile, both Renee and Leia were playing cards. Leia ran after Renee, then pressed her on the chair and said seriously, "Hey, gorgeous. You can't run away! You got the card for kissing me, so you have to let me kiss you. If not, you're trying to disobey the rules of the game!""Help! Help me…!" Renee kept resisting, amused and befuddled. "Get away from me! I'm a desperate woman who likes men! I can't kiss you! If I kiss you, I'm going to have nightmares… Oh, just kill me! Is there anyone who can save me?" Liam wasn't the only one standing at the door. Amber was also with him since she was following him. Watching Renee and Leia's antics,
"Hurry up and explain to her, then!" Amber said hurriedly. "Matt, you're close to her. You know Ms. Everheart and Ms. Osborne would never do that on purpose. Try to persuade her to let this go, and then you can immediately set them free.""I don't have a say in this." Mateo shook his head, pretending to be helpless. "You know how much Luneth dotes on her son. Ms. Everheart pinned him to the ground and beat him up. His head got injured and started bleeding. I heard it's a large cut with a lot of stitches. We can't let it go just like that.""But you can't—" Amber wanted to say more, but Liam interrupted her. He looked at Mateo, his eyes cold and fierce. "I know you set them up. Just be frank. Why did you do that?" "See?" Mateo sighed. He pretended to be aggrieved as he looked at Amber. "The guy you like is sinister. I kindly helped him, but he didn't thank me. He even accused me of setting this up… He always sees the worst in people. He criticized me in front of you and sowed di
Liam immediately noticed something wrong. He asked Mateo fiercely, "What do you mean?""Calm down." Mateo put away his gun and placed it back around his waist. "They broke the rules and barged into the orchard. Plus, they hurt Luneth's child. So, I locked them up for the time being."He appeared calm, as if he was discussing what he had eaten for dinner. He didn't feel that he had been over the line. "Go to hell!" Liam finally failed to hold himself back. He rushed over and grabbed Mateo's neck fiercely. "You can harm me, but how dare you harm them!"At the same time, Mateo's subordinates raised their guns and aimed them at Liam. The recently eased atmosphere immediately became tense again."Hey, don't!" Amber, all tensed up, braced herself to try and stop them. Even so, she was mentally exhausted."What? You want to strangle me?" Mateo was fearless. He grinned deviously and teased, "Cool it. I just locked them up, but they didn't suffer. They're fine. If you harm me, though, I
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