"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
Macsen got up angrily and pointed at Renee. "You nearly got me killed by biting me! I didn't even make you pay for that, but here you are, trying to accuse me. Do you think I won't do anything to you?" "Of course you will. You nearly got us killed," Renee sneered, glancing at the glass of mulberry wine. "So, it's logical that you poisoned the wine.""No, I didn't!" Macsen raised the glass of wine and leaned backward to gulp it down. Then, he glared at Renee. "I'm not such a petty man!"Instantly, the air grew tense. Liam, sitting on Benjamin's right, tried to keep the peace. "Okay, stop bickering. Since Mr. Jenkins held this party today, he wanted us to bury the hatchet. We don't have to take to heart what happened a few days ago. The most important thing is to keep peace and come up with a win-win situation."Benjamin nodded and clapped. "Liam knows me the best. He didn't take the stab for nothing. At least I can see that he's sincere toward me, Gem, and the fort.""Oh, gosh!
Three days later, Liam got better and could get out of bed.Benjamin held a party to express his apology to Renee and the others.Before attending the party, Leia held Renee's hand, frightened. "Is he plotting something?"After all, they had witnessed Benjamin's craziness. He could even kill his only daughter! It seemed unlikely that this was just an ordinary party."Don't be scared. We can fight them if worse comes to worst," Justin said casually as he walked behind them. He found a spot and sat in front of them.The army Austin had promised Renee was already on guard outside of the party, hence Justin's confidence. Besides, the Baldwin family was informed beforehand to come assist them if anything went wrong.Since he had absolute power, he was fearless."You're right. We can still fight them. I'd like to see what tricks that crazy Benjamin is trying to pull." Leia said.She stopped taking things too seriously, and casually walked into the place and took her seat. Xavier, sit
"But…" Renee insisted."This is worth it. I was able to gain Benjamin's trust and calm his anger, which in turn helped us leave. I would've done the same thing again without hesitation."Liam looked relaxed and sounded casual, as if he didn't have a close brush with death. Rather, he treated the whole thing like a game he nearly got disqualified from and in turn rewarded for. The result was worth it. He took everything as an exciting adventure rather than a life-threatening incident. "Oh, you're always so casual. What do you mean, worth it? If that knife reached your heart or the doctor wasn't skillful enough, you would've been killed. And I… I might have to watch you die just because I left things to chance!" Renee yelled.She couldn't dwell on what had happened. The memory chilled her blood, and she hated herself for being so scheming. Renee could feel herself changing. Before, she was direct, bold, straightforward, and did everything she could for the sake of justice. Now, sh
"It was just a test from my father. He had seen through people. He wouldn't make things difficult for the people who were nice to me," Amber explained.She knew what kind of a person her father was. At this point, she didn't want to keep it from Renee and the others either. She felt that it was more important to reassure them. "So, it really was a test!" Leia was enlightened, but failed to understand Benjamin. "Is he out of his mind? He didn't have to make it seem so real! If Liam didn't block the knife for you, he would have lost you!"Leia was filled with lingering fear when she recalled the terrifying scene yesterday. Benjamin's madness surprised her. He could even be harsh on his daughter! At the same time, Leia mocked Mateo's fake passion. He said so much, but he could still attack his so-called beloved woman at that critical moment.What amazed her the most was Liam. He claimed that he didn't love Amber, but he was the one who used his chest to block the attack for her. It
Amber's emphasis made both of them awkward. It seemed like Liam had flattered himself.Renee and Leia happened to run into that scene when they opened the door. Feeling out of place, they wanted to leave and hide.Finally, Renee walked over and faked a smile despite the stiffness in the air. "Hahaha! Liam, I'm glad that you're awake!""Renee…" Liam's facade faded as he blinked. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" "We did, but you guys were so absorbed in talking to each other that you didn't hear us," Leia eagerly explained.There was a screen between the bed and the door. A servant informed Liam and Amber about the visitors, but they didn't hear that since they were absorbed in their conflict.Thus, Renee and Leia were forced to watch an awkward romance. They found it stifling, just like Liam and Amber."Okay. Let's not talk about that."Liam didn't want to recall that awkward scene and changed the topic. "I was just stabbed. Stop making a big fuss over it. And don't wo
Nothing went wrong that night. Renee and Leia slept soundly after such an exhausting day. The next morning, a servant of the fort woke them up early. "Ms. Everheart, Ms. Osborne, Mr. Osborne is awake. You can visit him." "Great! Liam's awake!" When Leia heard that news, she got out of bed and quickly washed up.Renee, finally relieved, breathed a sigh. They reached Liam's room as quickly as they could. There, armed guards were around, guarding the place fiercely. "What's going on? Do they take Liam as a criminal?" Leia was furious to see it. She wanted to demand an explanation from those guards, but Renee stopped her.They had to bow down since they were staying in Benjamin's territory. It was up to him to treat them politely or otherwise. Even if they were locked up like prisoners, it was only expected.Liam had just regained consciousness and was seriously injured. If they offended Benjamin, he and the others would only suffer.Liam leaned against the head of the bed in
"I'll bring Phoenix to see my parents. If she's okay with it, we'll get married. This army is the wedding gift my family prepared for her." Justin smiled, his tone eager."Stop fantasizing! Renee won't go there with you," Xavier said. He found Justin's plan ridiculous. "I don't believe you. Has Renee ever said yes? You keep saying you were going to do something big, but you might not even get anything out of it.""It's not up to you whether she'll say yes or not." Justin was indifferent toward Xavier's mockery. He seemed to be very confident, his eyes cold. "I told you that because I wanted you to pass the message to Stefan. I'm not trying to take advantage of the situation, because I already gave him a chance to win her back.""Then, I need to thank you on Stefan's behalf." Xavier didn't take Justin seriously at all, and instead waved provocatively at him. "We'll talk about that once you make Renee say yes. Bye!"Back in the guest room, Xavier held his phone, hesitating. In the en
After a long wait, there was finally some news."Good news, everyone! Ms. Jenkins' blood matched Mr. Osborne's. Mr. Osborne is out of danger since he got a blood transfusion in time. He'll wake up soon. It's getting late, so you should all get some rest," the doctor said as he exited the blood transfusion room."Great! Liam's out of danger now!" Leia leaped happily, moved to tears. "Wonderful! I knew he'd be fine! Thank god!""Well, I told you not to worry, but you refused to listen. You were worried for nothing." Xavier was delighted, too. He watched her dotingly, happy that she had finally relaxed. At the very least, she would stop being cold to him and find fault with him.Unexpectedly, Leia still found Xavier an eyesore and glared at him. "What does it have anything to do with you? I don't want to talk to you!"Then, she held Renee's arm and yawned. "Let's go, Ren. We can finally sleep. I want to sleep with you tonight."The two friends returned to their room, leaving Xavie
"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,