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
He was scared to continue the conversation. With how understanding Christopher was being, he felt like he would get depressed and burst into tears any moment!Calls came one after another, but Stefan did not pick up his phone again. Instead, he turned it off to get some quiet.Stefan took off his rimless glasses and leaned against his expensive office chair, looking up at the white ceiling. He suddenly felt a little tired.He rubbed the space between his eyebrows with his long fingers. The tall bridge of his nose made his face appear even more handsome, more defined, and more profound.Over the last four years, he had disguised himself as an ice-cold machine, going through his daily routine like clockwork. His life was filled with work and more work—no joys, no sorrows, no... life.Outsiders may think he was unhappy, but he actually enjoyed the feeling—the feeling of being in control of everything.'But... damn you, Renee Everheart. Why have you suddenly come back after disappear
It did not take long for Stefan to find Mandy's account on Instagram.Renee's beautiful and delicate face popped up on the small phone screen.The screen may be small, but the power of its destruction was immeasurable, like an atomic bomb.Stefan froze. His deep, wolf-like eyes locked onto the screen and his grip on the phone involuntarily tightened.“Good evening, my babies! Welcome to Cutie Pie's live stream! As you all know, the popular dating show "Heart Signal" is currently looking for non-celebrity guests. I secretly signed up for it. The organizer's condition is, whoever receives the most donation tonight will be eligible to participate in the program. Therefore, I hope you guys can support me, Cutie Pie, and help me debut in the entertainment industry!”Wearing a pink dress and a cat ears headband, Mandy made all kinds of cute moves towards the camera and worked hard to get donations.The dating show "Heart Signal" was very popular lately. Anyone who could show their face
[The goddess is pretty no matter what she does. Bring her back!][Goddesses should only exist in paradise, yet one has appeared in our mortal realm. I love her so much.]Amidst the enthusiastic praises, a disharmonious message suddenly appeared.[Pretentious woman.]Like a stone thrown into a calm lake, the message immediately sparked a thousand ripples. People in the chat lashed out at the sender.[Why don't you stream, then? Let's see how unpretentious you are.][Are you blind? You call that pretentious? She's all natural!][The message was sent anonymously. The sender must be a lewd man who covets the goddess. Get out of the stream!][Kick the lewd man off the stream! Kick the lewd man off the stream!]When Mandy saw the chat arguing, she quickly tried to calm everyone down.“Stop arguing, everyone. Also, can the viewer called Anon12538 please stop it with the baseless accusation? My cousin Ren is a very sincere person. How is she pretentious?”Unfortunately, the viewer w
Other people in the chat were shocked by Anon12358 too. Messages popped up one after another.[Oh my god, this guy is a real whale. I didn't expect that.][He's spending so much money just to chase after some girl…][Could this guy be the CEO who's trying to coax his wife?]Renee stared at the top donor's profile picture. She became even more curious about the identity behind the anonymous ID.They thought the matter had come to an end.Mandy, filled with excitement, said loudly to the camera, "The contest will end in five minutes. Thank you to the top donor for helping me get on the dating show. I'll keep my promise. I'll prepare a romantic candlelight dinner for you and Renee...”But suddenly, another mysterious person started donating like crazy too. With 160,000 dollars worth of donation, he successfully wrestled the top donor spot away from Anon12358.Everyone became really excited. The number of viewers kept climbing until it reached 50 million.“W-Wow... thank you “Shad
”Stef, did you watch your little darling’s stream just now?”Xavier rushed up to Stefan with an excited look on his face and immediately asked, "Tell me honestly, are you the stupid top donor who fell for their trick?”Stefan appeared disinterested. While flipping through the documents in his hand, he said expressionlessly, "What stream?”“Stop pretending. There's no way you didn't know about something that big. Moreover... it's your little darling’s live stream! There's no way you would miss it!”Stefan didn't even look up. "I'm busy.”What he meant was: Shut the hell up!Xavier knew Stefan would not admit it. After all, the guy had always been proud.Therefore, he snatched the phone that Stefan had placed aside before Stefan could react.“Your phone is turned off. That's even more suspicious. I have to check it!”Xavier tried to turn on the phone.“Give it back!”Stefan looked up and gave Xavier a death stare.Xavier gulped and immediately changed his mind. He obediently