The furious Liam nagged Leia nonstop and complained on the phone. "How dare you! Who gave you the guts to do this? Tell me where you are right now if you don't want me to rain hell on you!""I can't tell you, Liam. I promised Ren to keep her return a secret. Only God knows. No one else must know.""Leia! Cut the crap! Do you think I won't do anything to do you?"Liam gritted his teeth. "She's been going viral all morning. Everyone has been talking about it. Anybody online would know that Ren's back in Beach City!"Leia knew it was impossible to keep it a secret anymore and opened her hands helplessly. She told Renee, who was beside her, "See, Ren. That's my brother's usual attitude toward me. His true character is just like a late-stage bipolar person. His gentle, patient, and nice persona in front of you is all a facade…""Who are you talking to? Is Boss right next to you?"Liam instantly tensed up in extreme nervousness. His grumpy voice softened at once. Liam said softly, "Bos
Renee was unperturbed by her recent stint in the trending news. After washing up, Renee wore a black dress and light makeup, ready to visit her parent's gravesite.Today was a special day. It was the ninth anniversary of her parent's death."Do you need my company?" Leia asked thoughtfully."No. I can deal with this myself." Renee was away from Beach City for four years. It was her first time back and the first time she'd be paying her respect to her late parents. She had a lot to speak to them alone.She got into the same red Ferrari from yesterday and sped all the way to the cemetery.It was the height of summer in August, but the gravestones that lay silent among the lush grass in the cemetery were cold and quiet all year round.After parking her car, Renee put on her black sunglasses and headed to her parents' graves with a white daisy bouquet.However, despite arriving early, she was surprised to see that a fancy bouquet had already been left in front of the grave. The bo
“Ren, it really is you! I finally see you again.”The man was none other than Renee's despicable uncle, Elon Barnes.“You again?”Renee snorted. "Leave me alone, you lowlife. Every time I come to visit my parents, you're always here.”“Sigh, you're right, Ren, I am a lowlife. But thank god, I come here to wait for you every year and now I finally get to see you again...”Elon wiped away his tears and said, "You have no idea what I've been through all these years. I missed you so much!”Renee sneered, "Missed me? More like you missed my money.”“Ugh...”Elon rubbed his chin, feeling a bit awkward.“What's the matter? You've already finished the 7 million dollars Stefan gave you four years ago?”“Oh, those? They're long gone!” Elon waved his hand and said regretfully, "I thought I'd use that money to invest in the stock market and make even more money, but luck wasn't on my side... I lost it all in the last two years. I've lost everything.”“Is that so? Well, it's none of my b
“You have Stefan's number? That's surprising.”Renee was indeed surprised.The Stefan she remembered was distant, indifferent, and unfriendly. He would not give others his phone number easily, nor would he arrange work for his friends and relatives.She did not expect him to take special care of his ex-wife's uncle!While waiting for the call to be picked up, Elon said with some pride, "Well, we're family, and I'm his elder after all. He would at the very least show me this much respect.”Unfortunately, reality soon hit Elon in the face.The phone rang for a long time without being picked up. He called again, but this time, it was instantly disconnected.Renee crossed her arms and couldn't help but snort. "Yeah, I can definitely see how much respect he's showing you.”“Ahem!” Elon awkwardly cleared his throat and explained, "My nephew-in-law is a CEO, so he's a busy man. I'll call him again in the afternoon. He usually answers. Even if he doesn't show me respect, he'll show you
Mandy Barnes was Elon's only daughter. When she was a little girl, she followed Renee everywhere. She was very fond of Renee.Unfortunately, when Elon turned on the Everheart family, he forbade Mandy to keep in touch with Renee, or the two of them would have been even closer.Elon's house was located in an ordinary community in the Eastern Third Ring District, It was a house of about 80 square meters that had three bedrooms and a living room. It was an ordinary house, but it was very cozy.When Renee entered the house, her aunt, Hannah Johnson, was cleaning some vegetables in the kitchen, while her cousin, Mandy, was singing in her room.“Guys, look who's here!”Elon shouted with a booming voice and a smile on his face.The mother and daughter came to the living room. When they saw Renee, their eyes almost popped out in surprise.“Ren! It really is you! I've wanted to see you for so long! This is awesome!” Mandy gave Renee a big hug and said excitedly, "Ren, we haven't seen each
The voice that Renee had not heard for four years was still as cold and distant as she remembered it to be.Renee listened quietly, with a calm expression and no inner turmoil.“Umm, M-Mr. Hunt, sorry to bother you...”Elon did not expect Stefan to pick up this fast, so he got nervous and stammered incoherently, "It's like this... My niece, Renee, just got back to Beach City today. It's a real surprise to see her again after she disappeared for so many years. You've taken good care of me in the last few years, so I want to invite you to my house for a meal together with Ren. You...”“There's no need.” Stefan, on the other end of the phone, refused without any hesitation or emotion.After that, without saying anything else, he hung up the phone.“But Mr. Hunt... Mr. Hunt?”Elon called out to him a few more times but the only response he got was the sound of a disconnected call.He tried calling again, but it seemed like Stefan had blocked him.“Ren, don't mind it... Mr. Hunt mu
Now, she had been through storms and hell, and was riddled with wounds and scars. There was no way to go back to those innocent, carefree days now...“Ren, look at you and your mother back then. You're both so beautiful that you glowed. You look completely different from us, as if your genes have mutated.”Mandy had come in at some point. She sighed, looking at the family portrait.“Nonsense. You're beautiful too. As expected of a girl from our Barnes family.” Renee turned around and held Mandy's face, which still had some baby fat, in her hands while praising Mandy from the bottom of her heart.Mandy's facial features were not stunning, but they were very soft and lovely, and they drew people in.It was a face that would do very well in the entertainment industry because it would be popular with the general public. She was blessed!“Hehe, I agree with that. I'm beautiful too. Let me tell you a secret, Ren. I'm actually an influencer that has over two million fans online. My ID
“I've seen it.”Stefan was working at his desk. He replied calmly without lifting his eyes.Four years had left no trace on his perfectly handsome face, except it was maybe even colder now.“You... you've seen it?”Elijah found it hard to believe. He boldly said, "No way. If you've seen it, there's no way this is how you react.”The trending topic was about Renee Everheart, the woman who had disappeared for four years and the woman Mr. Hunt could not stop thinking about for four years. This was his reaction?!Stefan finally raised his head. He slowly put the lid back on his pen and twirled it with his long fingers. "How should I have reacted?”“If you had seen the trending topic, you would have gone to meet up with Ms. Everheart already. At the very least, you should be so excited that you would be freaking out... There's no way you would remain this calm!”Elijah was emotional and puzzled.“What does she have to do with me? Why must I meet up with her just because she's retur