"Ahh!" Aiden's voice sent William, who was already tense and nervous, screaming. "Kiddo, y-you're awake?" William stammered.Aiden rolled his eyes and started giving orders. "Idiot. I've been awake for a long time. Look ahead. Press the accelerator down all the way. Turn the car as much to the left as possible, and force your way through. Otherwise, we're both doomed!"Aiden initially wanted to pretend to be asleep, but this man didn't seem the least reliable. Although it was obvious the other party was driving their way, he still hesitated and didn't go full speed ahead. Aiden was terribly anxious."Huh? What?" William's jaw dropped. He looked ahead and realized that he ought to follow Aiden's instructions.Without thinking too much, William held onto the steering wheel tightly. "I'm going to make a rapid turn. Sit tight!"Vroom, vroom, vroom! The roar of the car's engine echoed throughout the dock. The vehicle headed toward a gap on the left, and just when it seemed they would
The one-eyed man didn't believe what Aiden said at all. He gradually lost his patience and directly picked up Aiden by his collar. "Kid, you better start telling the truth, or I'll hit you just like how I hit him!""L-Let him go!" William pressed himself onto his feet and tried to stop the one-eyed man. In the end, he was sent flying with a punch."Let me go, or you'll be in deep trouble!" Aiden shouted angrily. He fought as hard as he could, refusing to get into the one-eyed man's car."Shut up, kiddo. You deserve a beating!" Just as the one-eyed man was about to slap Aiden across the face, a car suddenly sped over and crashed into his car, sending it flying."Damn it! Who the hell…" The one-eyed man began cursing, but his knees went weak the moment he saw the car's registration. He directly went down on his knees and didn't even dare to make a sound.Aiden took the opportunity to set himself free. He slowly walked up to the heavy, off-road vehicle and looked directly at the driv
Aiden stroked his chin and furrowed his brows as he seriously contemplated the matter for a while, looking just like a tiny grown-up. When he was done thinking, he tiptoed and held out a hand for Mr. Q to shake, solemnly telling him, "Since you're repentant of your mistakes, then we can be friends. A pleasure to meet you. Your guidance will be much appreciated."The man's frozen lips arched up ever so slightly without him noticing it. He even bent down his body involuntarily so that he could get closer to the kid. "Pleasure to meet you too," he replied in a deep voice. "Your guidance will be much appreciated as well."Aiden was outstandingly tall for a four-year-old boy, but standing in front of a man who was well over six feet tall still made him look tiny in comparison, as he was not even as tall as the man's long legs. Yet the sight of them together standing side by side made such a comical contrast that they looked inexplicably cute together.Everyone around them, including Wi
The car soon arrived at the infamous Carmine Pawnshop. The place was rumored to be a treasure house, filled with displays of rare treasures, curious cultural antiques, exotic animals, and other peculiar paraphernalia from all over the world.Nevertheless, the actual pawnshop did not occupy a large area at all. In fact, it was just a simple building. It did not even have that many guards surrounding it, so it looked no different from the other buildings in the area.The car drove into the pawnshop's private garage. Mr. Q parked the car and turned to Aiden, and asked him in a leisurely tone, "Are you sure you want to go inside? You do know that anyone who's stepped into Carmine Pawnshop gives up control of their own fate, don't you?""I'm just a kid," Aiden replied chirpily, blinking his big bright eyes innocently, "so anything I say doesn't count. As for you being in control of my fate, you'll have to ask for Mommy's permission before you can do that."Aiden had always been an exper
"Well, about that…"Aiden's eyes darted around as he contemplated the question. He figured that he could not possibly let this man know that he was the villain Stefan Hunt's son, since that would lessen the chances that he would want to be his mother's helper.With that in mind, he told the man in a serious tone, "My daddy is Liam Osborne. You do know him, don't you? Mommy told me that he's not too shabby himself. He's the future heir to the Osborne family, which is one of the Great Eight of Beach City. Mommy also said that with the combined strengths of the Osbornes and the Everhearts, defeating the Hunts is only a matter of time!""Is that so? Hmph, your mommy is pretty ambitious, isn't she?"Mr. Q's words sounded especially curt and surly, as if he was upset about something.'Briar Desrosiers, you sly woman! How dare you lie to me?!'But it's fine,' he thought. 'It doesn't matter whether this kid has the blood of the Hunts or not. As long as he's Renee Everheart's son, then th
Meanwhile, her useless brother was indolently lying on the couch, sound asleep. His clothes were still in perfect order. Not even his hair was the slightest bit ruffled up!There was no need to guess. There was definitely nothing "interesting" going on last night at all!Leia sighed. These two had been dragging it out for close to ten years now, yet they were still stuck in this ambiguous "friend zone" after all this time. She was almost irked to death thinking about it!"Ahem!" Leia dragged her feet into the room and yanked the curtain open, flooding the room with bright sunlight. "Wake up, both of you! Time to get up!"Liam woke up with a grimace and promptly got up to his feet and grabbed his sister from the back by the collar of her shirt."You little shithead!" he hissed. "So you finally opened the door, huh? You're getting too bold for your own good if you have the audacity to play this kind of stupid prank! If you didn't think that I'd teach you a sore lesson today, then yo
Liam and Leia exchanged looks. They thought that Renee was still sleeping soundly, so they decided to take the call for her. But before they could reach for her phone, Renee suddenly got up without a word and calmly answered the phone."Hello, Officer. Yes, I'm Renee Everheart. Aiden Everheart is my son. Is there any news of his whereabouts?"The conversation went on for a little longer, then she finally nodded and said, "Okay. I'll be there right away."Renee's lovely face was calm and serene. There was not a trace of perturbations at all, and she showed no emotion throughout the whole phone call. Instead, it was the twins who were excited and agitated to no end by the latest development."Was that the police, Ren?" Leia asked with gleaming eyes. "Have they finally found Adie?""The officer only told me that they've caught the person who kidnapped Adie," Renee answered calmly. "As for the rest of the details, we'll have to go there to find out."After speaking, she then nonchala
The police officer in charge of recording the interview could not help looking up at Renee. He frowned and reproached, "Your son has been missing for so long, and you still wouldn't report it to the police? Don't you think you're being too reckless as the parents? Thank god the child was clever enough to report it to the police himself! Although we still haven't figured out where he is, we've caught the suspected kidnapper, so the situation might not end up so serious after all."Renee nodded repeatedly, "You're right, Officer. We, as adults, have certainly been too neglectful."But in her head, she silently thought, 'I wonder which unlucky guys had to deal with Adie this time. They should count their blessings if they didn't end up getting sold into a human trafficking ring by him!'Aiden had run away on his own many times before, so it was inevitable that he would encounter bad guys with sinister motives against him, but each time it always ended with the kidnappers calling the po
"You're trying to take revenge on Stefan, aren't you? What did he do? Why do you hate him so much?" Renee demanded.She was particularly clueless.At the very least, she felt that Stefan and Jovan didn't have a grudge even if they couldn't get along. Besides—back then, Stefan survived because of Jovan's blood.In a sense, they should be close to each other. Stefan was able to live on because of Jovan.Yet now, Jovan wanted to ruin the one he had once risked his life to rescue."No, I don't hate him," Jovan answered honestly. "I even admire him, and I'm jealous of him. He's my role model, the pride of my family.""Then, you're envious of him!" Renee went straight to the point. "You can't defeat him, so you tried to make him disappear. When that happens, you'll feel better. No one will block you, and you'll get a chance to shine."Jovan, speechless, slowly stopped smiling. Renee had accurately guessed his innermost thoughts. Since he couldn't defeat Stefan, he would let Stefan b
The thing Renee feared the most was that Jovan's action would infuriate the Baldwins.Quinton, Adie, Abby, and Margaret were still there. If the Baldwin family wanted to do something bad, Renee's family would be in danger. Her happiness was secondary. She just wanted to ensure that her family was safe and sound.It seemed Austin was full of schemes. Though he seemed to have brought her family to live with her, he in truth just wanted hostages to control her…Unfortunately, she couldn't go back in time even though she had seen through his tricks."What's the rush?" Jovan watched Renee with a meaningful smile. "Someone will handle it even if it's a big mess. Your family will be fine. My foolish cousin won't let them be in danger. At most, the two families will fight fiercely."Renee was shocked. She glared at him, and suddenly understood something. "So you did it on purpose! You wanted to watch them fight and get something from it.""That's not my concern. Once, I was more powerf
After all, Jovan was a human being. Such direct physical pain made him shake and groan. Normally, he should get angry and try all means to make her stop biting him.However, he was not an ordinary man. Although he trembled in pain, he maintained his posture and let her bite him as if he wanted to see who would give up first.Renee kept biting him fiercely, as if her teeth would gnaw through his palm. Blood oozed out of the wound. She was full of hatred, wishing to vent her anger. "Just bite me hard as long as you're happy. I'm enjoying myself too!"Jovan looked at her, whose head was lowered as she kept biting his palm fiercely. It was a bloody scene, but his words made everything sound ambiguous. Renee noticed his underlying meaning and was disgusted. She immediately let go of his palm. "Bah! Disgusting! You're sick!"Her lips were still stained with blood. From afar, it looked like a blooming rose from afar. It looked attractive on her. Aroused, Jovan held the back of her
The bed was around seventy inches large. Renee's eyes were closed as she moved anxiously.She thought she was still sleeping in the West Chamber, but the mattress didn't feel the same. Then, she abruptly opened her eyes. She saw a luxurious bedroom in the Paris La Nuit Club style. Above her hung a brilliant chandelier akin to the ones in medieval castles. A fragrant scent permeated the air. "You're finally awake…" A man's bewitching voice came from an inconspicuous corner. "Renee."Jovan was sitting in a luxurious chair, his legs crossed, swaying a glass of red wine. He appeared like a stereotypical vampire as he stared wickedly at Renee. "Are you out of your mind, Jovan? What did you do to me?" Renee yelled.Recalling what had happened, she abruptly sat up. Once she realized her situation, she started snarling at him. "Do you or your family hold a grudge against me? Why did you kidnap me from my engagement party?! Have you thought about the consequences? I'm sure you know h
"I… I don't know! I really don't know!" The makeup artist's face was flushed, her eyes rolling back. She felt like she was about to faint again."Are you still trying to hide the truth?" Justin continued flexing his fingers. He was certain that the makeup artist who suddenly wanted to modify the size of the gown must be aware of the truth.With her eyes rolled back, the makeup artist begged him, "I'll tell you…! Please let me go! I'll tell you everything!" Hearing that, Justin slowly released his grasp.The makeup artist finally got a chance to breathe. She kept taking deep breaths and almost cried because of her terror. "What should I tell you?" She truly knew nothing."What?" Justin's gaze grew fierce."Oh, I remember it now…" She drew in a cold breath and hurriedly said, "A handsome guy came not long after you were gone. I think he's Mr. Hunt. When Ms. Everheart saw him, she was very…"She paused, trying to find her words. "She was very…?" Justin urged her. This was the
Meanwhile, Liam and Leia became vigilant when they saw that scene."What are they doing?" Liam walked past the guests enjoying the fun and stood between Alexander and the two guards. He faked a smile and said, "We're the guests you invited sincerely. Is this how the Baldwin family treats their guests?""Guests?" Austin got off the stage and strode toward them. Although he was smiling, coldness gleamed in his eyes. "Have you ever seen any guest steal the hostess?""You can't say that, Sir Baldwin..." Liam smiled and added, "How could you be sure that it must be the Hunt family?""Who else could it be?" "This is just your guess. They've always been here. Even if they wanted to do that, they couldn't. So… You should act fair and square, given your noble identity. Shouldn't you find fault with the culprit instead? Isn't that more reasonable?" Liam looked at Austin. Although he was younger and came from a family weaker than the Baldwin family, he was still domineering.Besides, his
Alexander took a deep breath and analyzed logically, "This wasn't Stef's style. If he wanted to snatch her away, he would have done it openly in front of everyone. But this trick was cunning and dishonest!""Yes, you're right, but this is a special case. If he didn't use a trick, his woman would marry someone else. It's normal for him to be restless." Although Francine agreed with Alexander's analysis, she felt that Stefan could do anything if it concerned Renee. Naturally, he would stoop this far. "Regardless, we have to leave," Alexander whispered to Francine, sensing danger. "Austin has always been decisive and cruel. Since Stef humiliated him, I'm sure he wouldn't let Stef off easily. We're in danger too.""Is it that serious?" Francine looked at Austin, who was standing on the stage. He coldly ordered his assistant about something. It seemed like he wasn't that crazy. "I don't care what he'll do. We have to get out of North City right away because this city is controlled b
"What?! She's gone?" Justin's face fell immediately. He grabbed the collar of the person who came to inform them and demanded coldly, "What do you mean?! Why is she gone for no reason?""We… We don't know!" That person looked at Justin while trembling and reported everything. "When we got there, we found no one else in the makeup room except the makeup artist lying on the ground. We didn't see Ms. Everheart, either. We don't know what happened!""Something must have gone wrong with her!" Justin pushed that person away without hesitation and rushed toward the makeup room."Hey, Justin! What are you doing?" Sophia watched Justin disappear in front of everyone. She wanted to pursue him but failed.Everyone below the stage fell into an uproar and discussed among themselves endlessly. "The bride went missing all of a sudden! Did her ex-husband come for her?""It's possible. They were once madly in love with each other. Plus, the Hunt and Baldwin families were in conflict for many yea
On the surface, everyone felt that Justin was passionate and respected the bride well. However, only he knew that he was just terrified. He was afraid that the reality might exceed his anticipation. He was terrified to find that he was betrayed in the end when he had trusted Renee that much and treated her so sincerely."Justin, what's going on with you? How could you talk about that at such a time like this? The most important thing now is to make her come out and have this engagement ceremony. We should do the guests justice. If not, everyone will laugh at us after we've kept our dignity well for so many years!"Sophia couldn't understand his hesitation. They were just going to urge Renee to appear. It had nothing to do with their patience or ability to take good care of Renee.Both Alexander and Francine looked at each other in confusion."Dear, did you do anything?" Alexander asked Francine softly.If Renee suddenly failed to attend the ceremony, it might have been Francin