Aiden put down the envelope and looked at Briar calmly. "Who are you? Why are you here at Stefan's office?"His questions only invoked Briar's guilt."I…"Now, she was almost sure that this boy was Stefans's son. Not only did he look exactly like the childhood Stefan, but he carried the same strong and confident aura his father had! "Adie, I am your Mommy's good friend. You can call me Aunt Briar."Briar was all smiles as she approached Aiden gradually.She could only be sure that this kid was Stefan's. As for his mother, she was still unsure if it was Renee.Stefan was so outstanding. There were countless women who wished to bear his children. It might not be Renee, after all."You are Mommy's good friend?"Aiden's chubby but handsome face showed a confused expression.His mother had only talked about one best friend, Leia Osborne, his Aunt Lei. He had never heard of her having any friends named Briar.However, he heard that Aunt Lei often cursed a woman called Briar, sayi
"Aunt Briar, don't you like me?"Aiden blinked his eyes like how his sister, Abigail, always did. He tried hard to act cute with the same intention as Briar, to gain her trust, as he knew that it was her who worked with Bad Daddy to bully Mommy. Therefore, he needed to find a way to teach this woman a lesson!"I…"Briar couldn't bring herself to even say that she hated this little kid the moment she looked at his adorable face."Aunt Briar, can you pat and hug me? You are just like my Mommy. I like you very much!"Aiden beamed and held Briar's hand.Briar was instantly defeated. She failed to restrain herself and cupped Aiden's fair and soft cheeks and said, "How can I not like you? You’re so cute! Don't worry. I will take good care of you. Why don't I take you somewhere to play later?""Sure. You’re the best!"Aiden continued to hug Briar tightly while plotting a small plan in his mind.She indulged in the feel of Aiden's soft cotton-ball-like cheek, unwilling to let go.She
A week later, Renee recovered well from her leg injury. She was now able to get her cast removed and was discharged from the hospital.Liam, Leia, and William came to pick her up."Today is such a good day. Our Boss can finally remove her cast and come back to life with full blood in her veins. We must celebrate this!"Liam was apparently excited and even thoughtfully prepared a wheelchair for Renee."Of course! I have booked a restaurant and prepared a surprise for Ren. I think that she will like it!" Leia said in suspense, smiling like a flower in full bloom.They drove to the restaurant Leia had booked in advance.The feast on the table made Renee drool. She couldn't wait to dig in."Take your time, Boss. Don't choke yourself."Liam patiently cut the steak for Renee and put them onto her plate quietly as if he was taking care of a child. He did everything so meticulously.He could not help it, as he cared too much for her. He would not allow her to be hurt even a bit, so he
Leia tried her best to play matchmaker. William also strongly agreed. "Ms. Everheart, just act spoiled with Mr. Osborne," he encouraged. "I'm sure no man can resist it when you do that." "Yes, just do it!" Leia clapped and encouraged Renee. However, Renee appeared to be in a dilemma as she stood there awkwardly. She did not make a move after a long time. It was not difficult for her to act spoiled, and she had experience with it. However, she couldn’t force herself to do it when the other party was Liam… Liam saw through her dilemma, and his handsome face showed a tinge of sadness, but he hid it just as quickly as it appeared. "That's enough. Where did you get the guts to pick on your elders? Do you still want to hold your wedding at the end of the month?" Liam scolded the two sternly. With that, William and Leia reluctantly dropped the topic. Liam asked Leia, "Didn't you tell me you prepared a surprise for Boss? Why haven't you brought it out?" "Be patient. Just wait
Renee's heart skipped a beat. "Margaret, what happened?" she asked gravely. "Calm down and tell me slowly." "I felt that something was wrong just now, so I forced my way into Adie's laboratory, but I… I found that he wasn't there. I looked around the island, but I still couldn't see him. He's so young. Could some bad guy have taken him? Ms. Ren, what should we do?" Margaret cried profusely and described the incident with a shaky voice. Renee had left the two children in her care, but a second of carelessness caused her to fail to realize that the child had gone missing. She wished so much that she could just kill herself now as an apology, not to mention Renee blaming her. "What did you say?" After Renee heard Margaret's words, her heart twisted painfully. Her mind then went completely blank. Both Aiden and Abigail were of the greatest significance to her, her sole motivation to strive hard and live on. However, Aiden disappeared just like that, and it was hard to tell w
Margaret walked into Abigail's small bedroom and called the little girl, who was still lying in her tiny pink bed. "Hmm… I'll talk to her another day. I want to sleep." Abigail curled up and retreated into her blanket. She knew that Renee would interrogate her sternly, but she promised Aiden that she would never expose his whereabouts. She could offend neither, so… she chose to hide. "Abby, be good. Your mommy has to ask you something very important. Come out now!" Margaret tried to persuade the small bundle that was balled up under the sheets. "No, I'm sleepy, and I want to sleep! Tell Mommy to call later!" After that, Abigail made snoring noises and softly said, "I'm sleeping, so I can't hear you guys." Margaret appeared slightly awkward. She tried her best to pull aside the blanket that Abigail was under, but the little girl had wrapped herself as tightly as a burrito. Consequently, Margaret failed to pull it aside. After a few failed attempts, she was so exhausted
Those two troublemakers were so bold! "Abigail Everheart, just you... wait and see. I'll get your brother back now. I think it's been too long since I taught you guys a hard lesson. You’ve become so bold and fearless!" Renee was so angry that she lost her rationality. She then clenched her fists in front of the phone and cracked her knuckles. Abigail blinked her large, round eyes. She looked naive and innocent. "Mommy, didn't you promise you wouldn't get mad? Your nose will grow longer if you lie, and you'll age faster too. If you want to teach us a lesson, you'd better hit Adie. I'll lend you a ruler." "You didn't tell me what you know, and you tried to hide it from me. Of course, you guys deserve a beating!" Renee wished she could jump into the screen and give Abigail a proper beating for treating Renee like a fool all this time! Alas! Her son and daughter were extremely witty. They were a handful. Aiden had an extremely high IQ, while Abigail had an extremely high EQ.
"That seems to be the case." Leia nodded. In comparison, she seemed much calmer, as if she was used to that kind of incident. "Are you sure that a four-year-old kid came to Beach City alone?" "Technically, he's four years and three months old." "But... How is that possible? He's a four-year-old kid. How did he do that? Why are you so calm? Aren't you worried that he may meet bad guys?" "It's abnormal for such things to happen to other four-year-olds, but not Adie. It's not the first time he did such a thing. Previously, he would run away from time to time. His mother would catch him and teach him a hard lesson, but consequently... he became better and more skillful at running away. It's so hard to stop him from doing that. Ren can't do anything about him!" Leia appeared proud when she mentioned her genius godson. She confidently said, "What's more, you don’t have to worry that he'll be bullied. He's quite capable and amazing. They'll be pretty lucky if he doesn't torture th
Liam hit the nail on the head. "If you informed Xavier to join the rescue, you must be lying. It's illogical! But it's weirder if it's the other way around. He should have informed his buddy to come to the rescue instead of the guy's rival in love. Am I right?"Justin leaned against the seat and said calmly, "How strange. Why is it illogical if I informed Xavier to come here?""If you learn that your beloved woman is in danger, you'll come to her rescue immediately instead of wasting time with your rival's buddy. Telling your rival is risky, too. He might even snatch the chance to save the damsel in distress. Am I right?" Liam analyzed logically, his logic irrefutable. Justin spread his hands helplessly. "No wonder you've been Phoenix's lackey for so many years. You're meticulous. Yes, I found out from Xavier. He hoped I could come with my men to fight the fort. He knows that among many families, only mine could acquire such a powerful rescue team."In the past, among the thre
Previously, Liam felt that Benjamin was very kind to his daughter Amber despite his aloofness. Amber should be his weakness. Gradually, Liam learned that Benjamin was a naturally aloof man who always weighed the pros and cons. No one would ever be his weakness unless it affected his interests. If Amber were truly his weakness, he would first consider her lifetime happiness. Instead, he cared about his interests and reputation. He had quickly agreed to let Amber marry an unsuitable match. "He has no weakness…" Justin touched his chin and frowned contemplatively, then sighed. "It'll be very hard to handle him if he has no weakness. He's crazy and desperate. If we fight him, I'm afraid things will be out of control.""No, we won't fight him," Renee said calmly. "Plus, he has a weakness. It isn't a human, but his interest and power."Liam spent a long time to find that out, but Renee saw through Benjamin the first time she confronted him. At that time, Amber challenged Benjamin to
"It's because Phoenix and I share a telepathic connection!" Justin remained carefree and sounded ambiguous."Telepathic? Why didn't you say it was a tarot reading?" Liam glared at Justin grumpily."Do you take me as a kid? Stop using such a bizarre excuse! If you share that with her, you would be the one who had kids with her."Justin's expression grew hideous because of Liam's nasty words. He complained to Renee, who was sitting beside him. "Phoenix, your lackey is fierce as if I'm indebted to him. He and I don't hold grudges against each other. Plus, I saved him. Why does he find me an eyesore?""Don't take him too seriously." Renee remained indifferent. "He's just worried about me and that you might hold some bad ideas about me.""Well, his worries aren't wrong." Justin didn't hide his feelings for Renee. "Yeah, I do have feelings for you. I wouldn't waste so much time and make such a huge effort to come here to rescue you if I don't want anything to happen between us… Now th
"What do you mean?" Renee was confused. She looked toward the soldiers, and found them familiar. "They're… They're…"Justin didn't reply to her, and instead said to the high-spirited team, "Don't just stand there! Salute!"The soldiers saluted Renee in unison and shouted, "General!""General? Me?" Renee asked in disbelief, her eyes widening even more. "Of course!" Justin smirked and added, "Did you forget? This is the wedding gift my grandpa got for you. He's been training them recently. Now, it's finally the time to make great use of them. They performed well this time and didn't embarrass the Baldwin army.""Oh, I remember that…" Renee instantly remembered how that army came about.Back then, she occasionally went to North City with Justin. The entire Baldwin family liked her, especially Austin. He insisted on her getting married to Justin and gave her the most elite army team as a wedding gift without any hesitation. At that time, Renee loved that team very much. She also s
Renee shook her head and frowned. She asked Xavier solemnly, "You weren't the one who spoke just now. So… Who else came with you?" They were tied up just now, so Renee could not see who threatened their enemies behind them. However, she was sure that Xavier didn't come alone for the rescue."Who else do you hope came with me?" Xavier smiled and asked Renee curiously."I don't hold such hope. All I know is that no matter who came to save us, they wanted some value in us in exchange," Renee said, her tone calm but her words cruel.Of course, one person would appear in her mind. Yet, she was too timid to hold such hope. Besides, that wasn't his voice either. Someone else must have come with Xavier. "Who else could it be? It must be someone powerful to outflank Macsen's men. I'm sure you know who that is," Leia said meaningfully. "He finally did something good.""Stop saying nonsense since you don't know." Xavier tried to stop Leia because of the complicated situation. It couldn't
"It's you?" Leia's eyes went wide. She looked at the man before her in surprise. Everything happened so suddenly, making her seriously doubt if it was her illusion before she got killed.It was none other than Xavier, her only regret before she died. "Yes, it's me!" Xavier hugged Leia, feeling sorry for her. He kissed her lips, which had gone pale because of her fear. He kept kissing her as if he had finally found the treasure that he had lost. Surprise and sadness overcame him. "Luckily, I came in time. You're still alive… I'm sorry to have made you suffer. I'm a useless boyfriend!"When his passion grew, he ignored the rest and kissed Leia passionately."Mm…" The kissing made Leia dizzy. She frowned in embarrassment and turned away. "What's going on? What are you doing here?""I got news that you're in trouble." Guilt gleamed in Xavier's eyes. "I should have paid more attention to you. I wasn't worried when you told me that you went on a trip with Renee. After all, she's
While Macsen was talking, his subordinate reached Leia and grabbed her neck with one hand. A light was reflected on the shiny machete; it seemed he was about to slash Leia.Frightened, Leia hunched and screamed in terror. "Ah, no! Save me, Liam! Ren, save me!" "Stop!" Reia yelled at Macsen, anxious. "What do you want to let us go? Tell me, I'll do it!"At first, she was carefree. She was fine even if she got killed and couldn't be bothered to resist. However, she grew restless since her friend was about to be harmed. She would rather take Leia's place. "Stop stalling for time. You've used this trick too many times tonight. Do you think I'll be fooled again?" Macsen sneered. "You're too vicious and nearly bit off my neck. I'm just avenging myself!""Then, you're asking for trouble!" Renee's gaze grew sharp. "Listen. If you harm her, you'll die very miserably right away!""Hahaha! Stop bluffing!" Macsen laughed. "People who can save you now can't even protect themselves. Plus, th
"What?" When Leia heard that, she swallowed and her hair stood on end. Although she didn't know what it meant, using human skin was terrifying. "You guys look confused. I'm sure you don't know what that is…" Macsen was calmer since his neck was bandaged. He said generously to his subordinate, "Come and explain it to them. Prepare them for fear that the lamp might not be bright enough because they're too nervous.""Okay, boss!" Macsen's subordinate nodded. He walked to them and said arrogantly, "Well, we'll use a machete to skin people from head to toe to make lamps. The light from these lamps is blurry and beautiful. It's a top and valuable item.""That's crazy!" After listening to that explanation, a chill ran down Leia's spine. She gnashed her teeth and said to Macsen, "Are you out of your mind? That's a crazy habit! Aren't you worried the victims might come demanding your life in the middle of the night?"The people here were used to a human lamp, so it became common among th
The three of them rolled their eyes in unison and looked speechless."Look, Liam. She's the top love-struck idiot. She'll never learn though she'd suffered much." Leia shook her head and sighed. She felt sorry for Renee's bad luck and disappointing actions.Although Leia was a love-struck fool herself, she was better than Renee. She would quickly retreat if she found anything wrong unless the guy shamelessly pestered her. Also, he had to show his sincerity. Only then would she forgive him. Renee was way worse. She suffered countless times because of one single man, but she didn't even hate him. She even wanted to ask him if they could start over.No one could be as "humble" as her.Renee used to be a bright and awesome figure, and it seemed like there was nothing she could not resolve. Yet, she lost herself several times because of a man. It infuriated Leia. Leia was not alone in feeling that way. Liam shared her sentiments and gnashed his teeth furiously. "Seriously, I wonde