Renee and Liam walked side by side in the hallway that led up to the banquet hall. Liam, who had been a dignified and proud gentleman outside only moments ago, had now transformed completely into a docile little puppy—all smiles and adoring glances at Renee."I can't believe those people from the Hunts dared to bully you like that!" He grumbled. "The next time they do it, I definitely won't let them off so easily!"Renee smiled slightly and teased him, "Wow, Liam… I'm used to seeing you all meek and frivolous, but when you get serious, you're actually pretty intimidating! I was shocked to see you earlier.""There's nothing shocking about it," said Liam proudly. "I am Master Osborne, after all!"However, despite his words, Liam still looked like a meek little puppy. He looked at Renee's windbreaker and commented, "But, honestly, Ren, don't you think you're dressing a little too shabbily for the event?""You have to address me as Miss," Renee corrected him. "Did you forget that yo
"Whether or not your figure is worthy of being shown in public and admired is my business and mine only." Stefan stared at Renee with burning eyes as he said that, and there was a hint of possessiveness in his tone that even he did not notice himself. "You're my wife," he reminded her. "Don't forget that. It's your most basic duty to appear as dignified as possible. Dressing the way you do now is completely indecent. In fact, you're only attracting unwanted attention this way!" Stefan thought of those men just now who had been ogling Renee as if their eyes were going to fall out of the sockets, and he felt strangely furious. He even had the urge to gauge those men's eyes out! "Put this on!" he ordered, taking off his coat and roughly wrapping it around Renee's body. "You're acting like my dad!" Renee laughed, but her charming eyes were full of mockery and disdain. "I'm not sure if you noticed that it's no longer the Victorian era, Mr. Hunt. I'm the master of my body, so if I
Inside the exhibition box shone a pink peach-shaped pendant, dazzling the eyes that saw it. "As you can see," said the host, "this peach-shaped pendant was cut from a single whole piece of pink crystal, and it was given an incredibly romantic name—Everlasting Heart…" "This is far from being a normal crystal pendant," the host continued. "Legend has it that it was specially made for the adopted daughter of the king of a small kingdom in Varangia, which means that this… is a royal treasure, ladies and gentlemen. It is absolutely one of its kind in this world. Currently, it's being valued at around three million dollars!" The host's colorful descriptions endowed the already luxurious pendant with even more hype and splendor. The audience's continuous gasps in awe were enough to show how highly regarded this crystal pendant was. Numerous ladies even cast an envious look at Charlotte. "So," Micah took Charlotte's hand and asked in a groveling manner, "do you like this surprise that
The vain Charlotte was explosively enraged by Renee's words."Are you so mad with jealousy that you completely lost your mind, you gold digger?! My boyfriend spent millions of dollars for that pendant! How could it possibly be a fake?! You know, I should wreck that foul mouth of yours for spewing bullshit!"And with that, without a thought of consideration for her reputation as a rich socialite, Charlotte stomped her feet and hurled herself toward Renee.Without a change in her expression, Renee effortlessly dodged Charlotte, which caused Charlotte to lose her balance and fall straight to the ground.The audience roared in laughter at the sight of such a comical scene.Stefan's face turned severe. The gloominess of his expressions looked like the rumbling thundercloud that warned of the dangerous rage that was about to explode.Renee Everheart… What was she going to do now?! Was it not bad enough that she dressed so inappropriately, attracting all the unwanted attention? Yet now
"This is my wedding ring, which symbolizes my marriage to my husband. Although it might not be the most priceless item here, it is still endowed with a special meaning. Now, I would like to donate it, and I hope it would garner a good price and help as many people who needed help as possible."This move instantly stirred the crowd into a flurry. How could she so easily decide to donate her wedding ring?! Some people praised her generosity and charitable nature and for not binding herself to sentimental attachment to objects. But others were beginning to suspect if the rumors about the rift in the marriage between Stefan and Renee were true after all.Stefan, who was right in the center of the audience, exuded a chilling aura that warned people from approaching him. His dashing face betrayed no signs of emotions. Meanwhile, Liam could not be more delighted. With a wicked smile, he uttered the following words as if they were cuts from a dagger aimed at Stefan's heart, "Tsk tsk tsk,
Renee could have just left then and there. After all, in less than ten days, she would be officially divorced from this guy, and they would forever have nothing to do with each other anymore.Besides, if he really did die this evening, she would inherit a massive chunk of his fortune as his wife—she would be unimaginably wealthy then!But in the end, she realized that she could not be that cruel and that she could not just turn a blind eye to this, so she returned to the auction hall. What else could she do when that scumbag was the biological father to her two children? If her children found out in the future that she had just left their father to die without helping him, they would certainly hate her forever!The atmosphere in the auction hall had almost reached a fever pitch by the time she returned to her seat."Five million!""Six million!""Six and a half million!" Celebrities and public figures from all walks of life enthusiastically raised their bidding placards. The
Stefan and Renee both went on stage. Under the dazzling light, they looked like a match made in heaven. The host discussed the issues between her and Stefan as the crowd cheered for them. Renee's sharp gaze swept through the crowd as she tried to find the problem. However, everyone seemed normal, and no one appeared suspicious. 'Did I mishear it? Or is that a prank?' she thought to herself. At this moment, she heard the host say, "Let us congratulate Mr. Hunt for successfully auctioning off the ring for fifteen million dollars, and we will have our presenter hand the ring to him." Stefan was gracefully presented with the display box containing the diamond ring by the tall and stunning presenter in a white gown. "Let's have Mr. Hunt put the diamond ring on his wife's finger again. We are all here gathered around to witness the consistent and beautiful love between Mr. and Mrs. Hunt!" The host had unexpectedly become a wedding host, as it seemed he was hosting Stefan and Re
When Stefan woke up, he realized he was lying on the hospital bed. The nurse came in and was glad to see him awake. "Mr. Hunt, you're finally awake. You've been in a coma for an entire day." "An entire day?" 'Shit!' he cursed inwardly. His blood phobia was getting so serious that he kept fainting at critical times. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was Renee getting shot. At the thought of this, his heart tightened. He grabbed the nurse's arm and asked coldly, "How's Renee? Is she okay?" Stefan's sudden movement caught the nurse off guard. "You mean Mrs. Hunt? She only needed a slight patching up. She left after bringing you here yesterday," she said cautiously. "A slight patching up?" When he heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that her injuries weren't as serious as he had imagined them to be. "Yes. after she was done, she left with Mr. Osborne," the nurse added. "She left with Liam?!" When Stefan heard this, he instantly asked to c
"No, Ms. Jenkins! If Mr. Jenkins learns you're donating your blood for another man, it'll drive him mad!" The doctor looked at Amber, too terrified to act. Everyone in the fort knew how much Benjamin cared about Amber. He would never let anyone off the hook if they harmed her, let alone donating so much blood."He won't be angry." Amber sounded indifferent. "He didn't even care about me. If it weren't for Liam, Matt would have killed me. I want to donate my blood to Liam. No one can stop me, not even Dad.""But…" The doctor was too scared to act rashly. "Do it. If not, I'll cut my veins to release the blood." Amber seemed to have anticipated the doctor's hesitation. She fished out a blade she got somewhere and abruptly placed it against her wrist. "Then, I'll die of blood loss. Is that worth it?""Oh, no!"The doctor never expected the usually gentle Amber would suddenly become so tough and stubborn. He stopped babbling and immediately started the blood transfusion. After all,
"Oh, no! Something's wrong!" someone screamed, "Mr. Osborne lost too much blood and needs a blood transfusion immediately! Whose blood type is O?" Leia couldn't hear that well. She immediately calmed down and returned to Liam's room. "There was a slight deviation when we withdrew the knife, causing massive bleeding. The patient needs a blood transfusion immediately. If not, he'll die!" the nurse announced; her hands were bloody, and she was sweating profusely. "Use mine!" Leia hurriedly dashed over, gasping for breath. "I'm his younger sister. I'm sure my blood type is compatible."The nurse shook her head and cautiously refused, "No, it's advisable not to have an immediate family member do this. There might be a negative response." "Use mine. My blood type is O." Renee stood up and rolled her sleeve, her tone firm."No way!" Leia refused, looking at Renee. "You've just recovered. I can't see you take the risk."Renee was poisoned before, and barely survived because Stefan h
"Oh, please!" Leia rolled her eyes at Xavier; her gesture was far from romantic. "We haven't been together that long. Plus, you dated Shirley for a long time. You were famous in the entire Beach City over how hard you worked to win her over. She made you fall head over heels for her. But you've never made such a big scene when you're dating me. People might even assume that you're single!""Why did you bring up Shirley again?" Xavier held his forehead helplessly. The scariest thing for a man was having his girlfriend repeatedly mention his ex. No matter what the man said, it would always end up in a fight."Why, can't I bring her up?" Leia snapped. Like a lot of women, Leia yearned to travel back in time and replace all the time Xavier had with his ex-girlfriend. She said jealously, "You can't forget about her, so you're afraid of me mentioning her. You're worried you might get exposed when I mention her.""No!" Xavier became impatient, his face looking awful. "I have many
"How silly!" Xavier felt sorry for Leia when he heard her words. He hugged her from behind and whispered, "I feel the same about Renee like you do. I admire her and think she's perfect, but I don't love her the way a man does.""Really?" Leia was surprised. She found it unbelievable, as she had always thought that Xavier loved Renee.She always felt that he was a man with great taste. His love for Renee was unrequited, so he kept a special spot for her in his heart. Since she was aware of that, she always avoided that topic and never asked him about Renee. If she did, he would weigh their positions in his heart. Leia felt that she had no right to ask about that since the answer was obvious."Of course!" Xavier pinched Leia's cheeks and smiled. "Men's love can be divided into many types, but there's only one kind of love for women. I love you like a man loves a woman. Do you understand?"Leia's heart started racing. She felt flattered, but she bit her lips carefully and asked, "
Leia quickly wiped away her tears and acted tough. "I'm crazy now. You shouldn't talk to me.""So?" Xavier calmly walked to Leia and spoiled her as if she were a disobedient child. He doted on her. "It's not the first day you act crazily. Plus, it's not the first time I've found you like this. It's not bad, either. You look pretty cute."Leia turned around and glared at him in confusion. Goosebumps spread across her skin. "Xavier, act normal. When did I act crazily?" "You're not always normal when you're with me. Whenever I said something wrong, you went mad. You'd go mad whenever I talked to any woman, too. Isn't that crazy enough?" Xavier spread his hands, sounding helpless. Previously, he had no idea that the seemingly noisy and careless young lady of the Osborne family would be so sensitive. She cared about details very much, especially ones about him with other women.Their arguments weren't about serious issues. Rather, it was all because of her jealousy. She would go mad
Forsty silence overcame everyone. Everyone was full of complicated emotions."I need some fresh air," Leia said coldly, rising. She silently walked past Renee and went to a deserted corner.She knew she was being impudent, and that she should never blame Renee or get jealous for no reason.However, she was exhausted after so much torture these days. She almost had a mental breakdown, and she couldn't think straight. She just wanted to see Liam safe. She couldn't care about anything else."Lei…" Renee wanted to run after Leia, but Xavier stopped her."I'll be with her. You guys should get some rest." Xavier sighed. He gave Renee and Justin a profound look before he quickly caught up with Leia.Renee flexed her fingers as she watched their backs. She trembled slightly, growing teary. "I knew it! Lei's mad at me. Even I think I'm a scumbag, let alone her… It would be better if I stopped Liam. I was selfish!""It wasn't your fault!" Justin wanted to hug Renee, but he thought it migh
Leia was leaning into Xavier's arms and trembling nervously.Renee paced back and forth at the door, looking guilty. "It's all my fault!" She flexed her fingers and bit the back of her fist, filled with reproach."It has nothing to do with you. Stop blaming yourself." Justin patted her shoulder, hoping to help her relax a bit. "You aren't a superwoman. You can't do everything well. Plus, it's hard for us to do anything under this circumstance. It's hard to control.""No, I knew that Benjamin didn't want to kill Amber. He just wanted to test Mateo and Liam…"Renee was teary as she reflected on what had happened. She felt that she could have stopped that if she was more sensitive and active."I guessed that Mateo would attack Amber and that Liam might resist, but I didn't expect him to use his body to block the knife. Is this some kind of melodramatic movie? I taught him so many self-defense techniques. Why was he so dumb? If I stopped it earlier, this would never have happened!"R
"No!"Unexpectedly, the seemingly desperate Mateo who insisted that he couldn't do it actually tried to stab Amber.At that critical moment, Liam roared and subconsciously stood in front of Amber. The sharp knife pierced his heart. For a moment, blood gushed out. "Liam!" Amber's eyes widened as her mind went blank. She watched him fall in front of her though he was initially hugging her."Liam!" Both Leia and Xavier's car arrived later than the others. When Leia got out of the car, she witnessed that scene and almost blacked out."Be careful!" Xavier held her in a hurry, anxious for her. He couldn't believe what he had seen."Liam!" Renee rushed over immediately. She inspected Liam's chest and tried to stop the bleeding for him."I'm going to kill you!" Leia went berserk. She staggered toward Mateo and pounced on him, trying to strangle him."I… I didn't mean it…" When Mateo saw the knife in Liam's chest, he instantly regained his wits. He kept shaking his head and retreating.
"None of you did anything wrong," Benjamin said icily, "but I want to know your stand. If you kill her, you don't have any worry. I'll know you're someone who can do something big."If you can't do it, it means that you aren't suited to take over my position because your sentiments will get in the way sooner or later. They'll make you an indecisive coward!""But I…" Mateo held the shiny knife and bent forward. He looked at Benjamin and Amber, then hung his head in defeat. "I can't do that.""What can't you do?" Benjamin narrowed his eyes and looked at the collapsed Mateo coldly."I can't kill Gem…" Mateo staggered and sobbed. "I grew up with her. She's kind and delicate. I'd long sworn to protect her my whole life. I can't watch her get hurt! But now, you're asking me to kill her. I can't do it… I'd rather kill myself!""Hmph! You can't even do that. If someone catches her and threatens you to betray me one day, you'll do that without hesitation. So, my worry is logical," Benjamin