Amidst the tension, they arrived at Water Dock.Xavier smiled ambiguously at Stefan. "Stef, why don't we have a friendly competition? If you find her first, I'll accept the fact that she's yours and will forever consider her out of my reach. However, if I find her first… I'll make my move!""Whatever," Stefan replied nonchalantly."You're the most generous man in Beach City!" Xavier exclaimed before opening the door and hastily getting out of the car. He immediately started searching for Renee.Stefan, on the other hand, slowly got out of the car and smoothed out the wrinkles on his high-end suit. Like an emperor on tour, he scanned the surroundings arrogantly.Water Dock's antique market was the largest antique market in Beach City.Since it was located at a strategic intersection between several countries, many valuable treasures were smuggled and sold there. As a result, many local traders became wealthy. Likewise, with increased wealth came an increased crime rate. The area a
Xavier instantly deflated.Renee was indeed not like ordinary women. She was way too smart. She could easily see through him. It wasn't as easy as he thought.Never mind the other stuff—Xavier had spent the entire evening running around the dock, and he couldn't even find Renee. Defeated, that was when he finally went to Stefan to gather some intel.Feeling a little awkward, Xavier tried to change the topic. "Stef, what are you doing? You're holding a bamboo tube. Are you performing a magic trick?"Stefan ignored Xavier and started to focus on shaking the bamboo tube.After five or six shakes, a bamboo stick fell to the ground.The old man picked it up and read the text on the stick, and a complicated expression emerged on his face."What are you looking for, young man?" he asked."I want to know if she and I still have a chance," Stefan said coldly.Needless to say, by 'she,' he was referring to Renee.The old man let out a long sigh. "The breeze comes and goes; the beginnin
After finishing his sentence, Xavier ran off the same way he did before."How childish!" Stefan rubbed his temples and shook his head speechlessly.However, he was a little worried that something bad might happen to Renee. He stood up and prepared to leave.The old man stopped him. "Young man, that is your friend's fate. You don't have to get involved. Why don't you stay here and browse through these treasures? Perhaps, something you buy might one day become the thing that brings you and the love of your life together."It was strange. Whereas others would've thought this old man was making nonsense up, Stefan trusted him and stayed. He scanned the things on display, and that was when a silk object caught his eye.To be more precise, the art on the silk object caught his attention."How much is this?" Stefan asked."Since you and I met by fate, I'll sell it to you for a dollar. Consider it as a payment for drawing the bamboo stick." The old man then put the silk object in a box
Stefan murmured to himself, "Renee, oh, Renee. You're such a pain in the ass. You're going to be in deep trouble once I get my hands on you!"The casino was huge. People gathered in large groups in each area, but there was one particular area with the greatest number of people. Eager gamblers surrounded a round casino table as they made excited cat-calls.Stefan instantly knew something fishy was going on, and he quickly strode over.Unsurprisingly, there was a young woman all tied up on the table.The woman barely had any clothes on—the white silk dress that concealed little of her skin was extremely thin, while a feathered mask covered the upper half of her face. Curled up into a ball in the corner, she was evidently trembling.Stefan felt a tightness in his chest. He clenched his fists and prepared to charge forward.That's because he could tell the woman's facial features were nearly identical to Renee's despite the feathered mask she was wearing.She had the same pointy nos
"Watch out!" Stefan shouted from the edge of the crowd.After all, this was someone else's turf. Xavier's behavior was too conspicuous, and he was putting himself in a passively dangerous situation."You actually have an accomplice!" The man discovered Stefan and gave instructions to another group of security guards. "Capture him and shoot him right away!""How dare you?" Xavier, who was relatively calm in the beginning, instantly lost his cool.He gently put Renee down before glaring coldly at the man. "You can be rude to me, but you're asking for trouble if you talk to Stefan like that!"The man was dumbfounded by Xavier's reaction.He'd met fearless people before, but none audacious to such an extent. Xavier was practically dicing with death. How was Xavier brave enough to provoke him like this?Without saying a word, Xavier delivered a kick to the man's stomach. "Get on your knees and apologize to Stefan!"Stefan felt a little speechless. 'You can get on your knees, but tha
"Of course!" Hank nodded repeatedly. The man on the ground nearly peed his pants. "Thank you for sparing my life… Thank you for sparing my life," he muttered continuously.It wasn't their fault for being so humble. The Stuart family was leagues above them. They might not care about the law when it came to grey areas like these, but they wouldn't dare go against the Stuart family unless they no longer wanted to dabble in this field.In actual fact, Xavier was only so arrogant because he had told his subordinate to inform Hank about the situation before he went there."This casino is simply too gory. I can't stay here for another minute!" Xavier covered his nose and exclaimed in disgust."It can't be helped, Mr. Stuart. This is the only way the casino can attract people. It's messy, but it's also where all things are possible. Here, you can win anything under the sun, things that you'll never be able to buy anywhere else!" Hank wasn't the owner of this underground casino. He was, at
After Stefan finished his sentence, he turned around and left without even looking at Renee."Hey, Stefan. Are you leaving already?" Xavier realized that his joke had gone too far with the joke when he watched Stefan leave. "I was only joking, and you took it seriously. Don't worry. Renee still belongs to you. Even if I rescued her, she's still yours. I won't do anything stupid!""It doesn't matter. Do whatever you want." Stefan made an 'okay' gesture with his hand before walking out of the controversial place.Xavier couldn't make Stefan stay, and he stood there dumbfounded.Was Stefan so generous that he'd give his wife away?Xavier turned around and looked at Renee, who was still tied up. She looked like a gift waiting to be unwrapped. For some unknown reason, Xavier felt embarrassed."Renee, don't be afraid. Stef is probably just jealous. He's gone. I'll have to take care of you for now."Xavier had never spoken to Renee like this. It only served to show what a gentleman he
Xavier gulped. He couldn't process what the woman just said."I sold myself to the casino, and the casino could do anything it wanted to me. I had already lost the will to live because my fate would be equally torturous no matter which man I ended up with. Thank goodness, God took pity on me and left me in your hands…" The woman was overly emotional and couldn't help but lean closer to Xavier."Wait a second. Don't come near me!"Xavier, a towering man of over six feet, backed away as if he'd just seen a terrifying beast. He intentionally kept his distance from the woman.The woman seemed visibly hurt by his response, and she stopped moving. "Mister, are you disgusted by me? Are you afraid I might keep bugging you?""No, that's not it!" Xavier waved his hands. "That's not what I meant. I just think that you're a person, not an object. You shouldn't allow others to control your life.""I get what you mean, but I've already signed a contract with the casino. If you don't want me, I
Renee understood Justin and frowned. She tore off the tape on his mouth and pinched his cheek. "You have five minutes to repent since you're awake. If you do a good job, I'll let you go. If not, I'll keep you tied up here."The scene just now was awkward for the two of them. Renee had to come up with a way to get rid of that. If not, she didn't know how to face him, let alone spend the rest of her life with him."Repent?" Justin took deep breaths and cleared his throat. Then, he looked into her eyes. "What do you want me to repent for?""You…"Justin's bold gaze rendered Renee helpless. She bit her lip awkwardly. "What do you think?" "Are you referring to me kissing you, or…me trying to make you mine?" Although Renee knocked him out, he remembered everything that happened before he fainted, including what he had seen."Yeah, you were rude. Shouldn't you repent?" Renee tried to make herself bolder. If not… She would seem unreasonable, especially when her dignity was violated.
"Inside story?" Confused, Renee looked at Sophia. "What is it?" "I can't tell you that. All I can say is the Hunt family isn't as good as you see them. Even if they've helped you, it's because they're trying to make up for their sins. You don't have to be grateful to them. Getting away from them is the best choice you made."Sophia, being from the last generation, had heard of the complicated relationships among the three families even though she had not seen them. However, she couldn't expose those affairs to the younger generation lest the worst happen. The most she could do was to remind Renee. Renee could tell that Sophia wouldn't tell her too much and stopped asking. However, she kept it in mind and decided to find the truth."Okay, Ren. Stop overthinking. Since you're here, just spend your days with peace of mind. My family is strong and can protect you for the rest of your life. Just enjoy your life with Justin.""Got it." Renee nodded, pretending to have seen it through.
Sophia hurriedly asked Renee."Uh…" Renee flexed her fingers; she couldn't bring herself to lie. She wondered if she loved Justin. She couldn't tell.A large part of her reason for choosing Justin was because she didn't hate him. Sometimes, she felt that he was her soulmate. If she had to start a new romance, she hoped it would be with him. At least, she could be intimate with him and could imagine sleeping in the same bed with him. "I got it. You don't love him." Sophia saw through Renee at a glance. A long sigh escaped her. "We're all sports of fate. If we insisted on him marrying you when your family was ruined, the ending might be different.""Did you guys know me at that time?" Renee asked curiously.She had heard Justin mention that before, but she assumed that he had purposely talked nonsense to set up a good image. Since Sophia had admitted, it seemed to be the truth."Of course!" Sophia smiled and added, "Your family was prosperous at that time and was famous at North
"Well, he…" Renee averted her gaze and waved. In the end, she gave an ambiguous answer. "He's tired and is lying down, so I came to have dinner with you.""I see…" Hearing the explanation from Renee, Sophia was disappointed with her son. Justin could run a marathon for a few miles, but he unexpectedly tired easily when he needed to hold on for a little longer. It was a rare chance that might never happen again. Sophia was rather disappointed, let alone Renee. Sophia tried to save face for her son. "Don't take it to heart. He's usually strong. Maybe he likes you so much that he…got agitated.""I didn't take it to heart," Renee said seriously. "I can understand him. After all, he's a young man. I taught him a lesson, too. I believe that he'll be careful from now on.""Yes, we should give the young man a chance!" Austin chimed in.They enjoyed a pleasant dinner together.Sophia held Renee's arm and said, "Are you tired? If you're not, let's take a walk in the garden. I'd like t
"Baby…baby Baldwin. He'll be the baby for every Baldwin!"Austin was always a solemn man, but he grinned heartily when he thought about his future great-grandson. He didn't look serious at all. "Baby Baldwin? Don't joke around. I think we need to come up with a name that has a good message." At first, Jack didn't join their conversation because he found drugging others a very shameful trick. Still, he couldn't help chiming in when he heard them talk about the baby. "What kind of name has a good meaning?" Sophia sounded dissatisfied. "I think the name we got for Justin isn't good. It made him wild and uncontrollable, like the wind."Her son was always insensible and casual, and she felt that it was most probably because of his name. Justin was as fickle and unmanageable as the wind. He always stayed away from home all year round, and was incredibly rebellious."I agree. Justin isn't serious since we didn't get a good name for him, so we need to be careful when picking a name fo
"Dad, stop looking at me like that. You got the wrong idea. I did nothing. I just…" Sophia, feeling guilty, averted her gaze. She couldn't face anyone else at the dining table. Then she added in a whisper, "It's just that… It's written in the stars.""What happened? What are you saying?" Austin grew more solemn. Worried his insensible daughter-in-law might do something outrageous and hurt his future granddaughter-in-law, he said fiercely, "Hurry up and tell me! If not, I'm going to punish you.""Please don't! I'll tell you everything. Don't always talk about punishing me. I'm getting old, and I can't stand that."Sophia grew frightened. She retreated, ready to run away at any minute. "I prepared a head-to-toe treatment for Ren to relax. But… One of the aromatherapists made a mistake and gave a chance to the young couple. So, I think we should eat first. We shouldn't disturb them."Austin didn't let it go. "What kind of mistake?" "Uh… The aromatherapist used an arousal-induc
A sumptuous feast was served in the dining room. Both Austin and Jack had taken their seats. They were a little unhappy when they noticed Sophia return to the dining room alone."Why aren't they coming? The food is getting cold." Jack started complaining. "Is Ren that conceited? She can't be so rude for the first meal. How can she make us wait for her? This is unacceptable.""Shut up!" Austin glared at Jack and berated him. "You always eat on your own, and you never wait for me. Why are you pretending to be a good son today?""No, Dad. I think…" "Ren suffered a lot these days. I'm aware of the Jenkins family. They're inhumane barbarians. They do all kinds of messy things and are not governed by law. She must have gone through a lot there. She finally escaped from hell and wanted to take a good rest. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Stop finding fault with her," Austin said grumpily.As Renee was Maurice's granddaughter, Austin favored her and tolerated her without bo
Everyone looked at Yvette. Sophia, grumpy, asked fiercely, "What's going on? Why are you screaming? You're so rude."Yvette bowed and reported nervously, "I… I suddenly realized that there was something wrong with the spices I prepared for Ms. Everheart. There's something special in there." Anxiety instantly gripped Sophia and she hurriedly demanded, "What is it?" "Uh… It's something that can arouse people." Yvette fearlessly reported everything. "Generally, aromatherapists will take care of this kind of thing while serving customers. We'll add it for our female customers to deepen their bond with their significant others. I did the same thing this time, but it doesn't seem appropriate.""Is that so?" Sophia's fierceness immediately subsided, replaced with a gentle look. She grinned. "That isn't a problem at all. In fact, I'll reward you handsomely!" "Huh?" Yvette looked up, flattered.While the average people might generally find that kind of thing fun, it might seem disres
The next second, Renee instinctively slapped Justin."What are you doing?" Renee shyly interrogated him. "I don't know. I think I'm greedy today. It seems like a kiss isn't enough…"He held her face and closed his eyes, trying to continue with the kiss. However, this kiss was not as simple as the previous one. It was full of his desire, unlike his usual self."Mmph, you can't…!" Renee resisted and tried to push Justin away.But he grew more outrageous and stepped into the bathtub, the water soaking him. The frightened professional physical therapists stood outside and talked among themselves. Holly, the massage therapist smoothed her chest and said, "Oh, I'm embarrassed! I'm sure Mr. Baldwin didn't see anything, did he?"Nova, the top beautician, said sensibly, "You're overthinking. It isn't a big deal even if he saw anything. Do you want to hold him responsible for it? He came home with his fiancee. Stop imagining things.""No, I'm not overthinking. I'm just embarrassed. Y