His eyes lit up beneath the mask. Although he was intentionally making these seductive remarks, it didn't seem like he was fooling around. On the contrary, he seemed to mean every word he said.In that instant, Renee was nearly convinced. When their gazes locked, Renee felt a jolt of electricity coursing through her body. She instantly came to her senses and sighed while she shook her head. "Tsk, tsk. Look at you. You're very professional, and you know the right things to say, but… At the end of the day, it's all fake. My ex-husband died. Even if you looked like him, you'd only look like a dead person."The man's stiff lips curved upward. He was smiling playfully. "You seem very sad. You must have loved your ex-husband a lot. Were you devastated by his death?""Not quite!" Renee burped. She then lay down on the couch and looked up at the ceiling. "I just feel… That it happened too suddenly. It's like finding out the author had stopped writing just as you arrived at the most interest
The next day, Renee woke up with a terrible headache. 'Damn, being hungover is awful… I'm too old for this! I shouldn't drink so much next time.'Renee stretched a little, threw her blanket off her, and got out of bed. A flash of yellow caught her eye, and she turned to see a bouquet of sunflowers, her favorite flower, next to her pillow. There was a card beneath it, and she picked it up curiously."Good morning, sunshine. I hope you felt better after last night. You're always welcome to come see me again… XOXO, your confidant."Confidant?!Renee could only remember bits and pieces of last night, but even those few memories made her blush.She knew she had a lot of alcohol, and had a fantastic time with Leia. In the end, Leia paid for a male escort for her, and she happily accepted her friend's gift. They'd kissed, and…Renee's cheeks turned red, and she shook her head vigorously. She didn't dare think about it anymore.She quickly looked down, and upon realizing her clothes wer
Leia gripped Renee's shoulders, staring intently at her. "Unless you forcibly slept with him, what you're worried about couldn't possibly have happened… So tell me, did you sleep with the escort? If you did, I'll probably have to pay him more than seventy thousand!"Renee's cheeks turned red. "I-I don't think so." To be honest, Renee wasn't sure if they slept together or not, but the kiss definitely happened. She knew it because she felt the same way when Stefan kissed her!Despite being in her twenties, Renee had only ever kissed and had sex with one man - Stefan. That's why she wasn't sure… Was that how all kisses felt?"What do you mean?" Leia instantly felt something was amiss. "Did you really sleep with him after getting drunk? If you did, I'll believe you've truly moved on from that scumbag!"Renee had no choice but to come clean. "To tell you the truth, I think we kissed while I was drunk. It felt like I was kissing Stefan—it was so familiar…"Renee stared at her best frien
The moment Renee saw the man's face, she felt a great sense of loss.He was definitely attractive. He had soulful eyes, a pointy nose, sexy lips, and a defined jawline… Everything about him was perfect. Although he looked like Stefan in almost every aspect, he wasn't Stefan. She really had hallucinated him! Renee wanted to laugh.She should be glad that Stefan died because it saved her a lot of trouble. On top of that, she no longer had to worry about her children being taken from her. She probably only hoped he was alive because she was drunk!"Thanks for making me feel better last night. It really helped." Renee smiled politely at Isaac, then turned to Leia. "Let's go.""Huh? Are we leaving already?" Leia asked in surprise. Her friend was so unpredictable sometimes! A second ago, Renee had insisted that the man felt familiar and gave her a sense of security. However, when she was in front of him, she tried to run away. He was almost as handsome as Stefan, so what was the issue
Renee felt warmth bloom in her chest when she saw her son waiting for her. She bent over to hug Aiden, but he took a step back and put his hands on his hips sternly. "Mommy, you didn't come home last night. You misbehaved. Tell me the truth! Where did you go?""Umm, about that…" Renee felt a little awkward and didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell Aiden that she got drunk at a bar and spent money on a man, could she? Aiden would definitely lose all respect for her!"I finished work late, so I spent the night in the office. Sorry for making you worry, Adie." Renee picked up Adie and muttered an excuse, feeling a little guilty. After all, Aiden wasn't exactly gullible. As expected, Aiden took a deep breath before taking a few sniffs. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Mommy, you're lying. You reek of alcohol! You went drinking last night, didn't you?"When Leia heard this, she immediately came clean about what had happened. "That's right! I asked your mother out for a drink las
Aiden pouted and said firmly, "From now on, I'll do my best to find Mommy a husband. He'll share Mommy's workload, love her, and protect her!"Renee felt her heart warm when she heard this, and she couldn't resist kissing Aiden's cheek. "Adie, you're the best, but work isn't that tough, and I have you to love and protect me. That's more than enough, so you don't have to find someone for me.""It's different!" Aiden clenched his fists, trying to get his point across. "I'm your son, not your husband. What you need now is a husband, and that's why I need to find you one."Renee stared at Aiden, at a loss for words.Leia burst into laughter, and grinned at Renee. "In my opinion, you should just let Adie find you a man. If he does find you a knight in shining armor, he'd also be finding a father for himself. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone? I'm sure Adie's judgment is better than yours; whoever he chooses can't possibly be any worse than a certain someone, don't you th
Leia wholeheartedly believed that life should be lived to the fullest, without stress or misery. That was all she wanted for her best friend. At the very least, she didn't want Renee to give up on romance at the young age of thirty all because of a selfish scumbag!"Isaac has another performance in a few days, so why don't we go back then and have a good time? Also, I heard that The Blue Inn hires handsome new performers every few days or so. They always fight for the top spot, so if you get bored of Isaac, we can always find you someone else. You know, I think we should try to view relationships the way men do. We should only care about their appearance, and never get emotionally invested. That way, we'll never get hurt, right?"Renee chuckled, her eyes gleaming with mirth. "Leia, what happened to you? In the past, all you talked about was undying love; you'd even pray for a man who loved you with all his heart. How did you come to this sudden realization?""Well, I guess it was wh
The person on the other end of the line was none other than Jovan, the madman who had been making headlines in the business realm as of late.In the past, Renee used to think that he was an idiot who relied on his status in the Hunt family to live a lavish lifestyle. However, after that incident, her impression of the man changed.Anybody who came from a rich family and managed to carve his own path in the cutthroat field of business couldn't possibly be an idiot. In fact, people like him who pretended to be fools were the hardest to deal with!Renee didn't want to waste her time on him, and ended the call without saying a word.As usual, she browsed financial websites to check the latest financial news.To her surprise, Stefan, who used to be the business circle's favorite subject, was now the person everyone hated. Comments like 'Hunt Enterprise's CEO, Stefan Hunt, is suspected to be dead. What lies ahead for Hunt Enterprise?', 'Mr. Hunt is having a good time out there while Hun
"I'm so thirsty!" The burning sensation of the wine made Renee thirsty. She wanted to drink some water.In the dark, she heard some rustling. The next second, something was on her lips. It seemed to be someone else's lips. She wondered if someone had secretly kissed her."Who are you?" Renee grabbed the person in front of her and interrogated angrily, "How dare you kiss me without my permission! Do you know who I am? I'll cut off your lips!""Let's see if you can do that or not." The man sounded dull and drunk, but he was also overbearing.Although Renee was drunk, she could discern who it was. She called out in the dark and tried to confirm her doubt. "Haze…?" "Yeah, it's me," Justin admitted, but he did not plan to let her go. He used a more overbearing manner and trapped her between him and the door."What do you want?" Renee panicked. She wanted to kick him away, but she did not resist when she learned that it was Justin. After she had done so many things to hurt him, s
The servant walked forward with trepidation and helped Justin back to his room. Austin's eyes were dark. He whispered to his assistant, who nodded and immediately carried out his order.After two glasses of strong wine, Renee felt dizzy and could not stand steadily. "It's weird. Is this wine this strong? I just had two glasses of it, but I feel quite dizzy." It was hard for her to exit the hall. She could not stand properly, so she supported herself against the wall."Ms. Everheart, you didn't seem well. Let me help you to get some rest." Austin's assistant caught up to her and stood behind her. He even sounded respectful. "It's… fine. I can go back to my room." Renee waved; she didn't want to trouble others. Besides, she did not want others to see how miserable she was. She had assumed that she was good at drinking and would not get drunk, but it seemed like she had overestimated herself. After two glasses of wine, she became quite drowsy. She would not easily leave if s
Renee blinked and smiled brightly at Justin, asking him, "Are you worried about me?" "No, I'm not worried about you!" Justin said angrily. "I don't want you to get killed here. I can't explain it to your brother and kids. It's hard to handle the three of them."He was not lying. Although he had befriended Quinton, Adie and Abby might make a scene there if they realized that Renee had drunk so much wine at the party. They were witty, always full of ideas.Hence, it was better not to cause trouble. Before they could make a scene and things get out of control, Justin must stop Renee. He wasn't worried about her at all. "So, you're not worried about me?" Renee's gaze turned dull as she sighed. "It looks like you didn't forgive me. So, I must drink this glass of wine." Something was wrong with Renee, or perhaps she just wanted to torture herself. It seemed like she insisted on drinking the wine. She swung off Justin's hand and gulped down the wine."You're out of your mind!" Justi
The aged white wine was strong. Ordinary people would find it hard to drink a glass of it. Yet, Renee had drunk two glasses of it consecutively. It was a little dangerous. Everyone at the dining table was initially watching the fun, but they showed Renee some pity after she drank two glasses of wine consecutively. After wiping her lips clean, Renee staggered and said to Justin, "Let me toast to you now. I've wronged you the most." Justin, sitting there, said with a poker face, "You don't have to say sorry to me. We don't hold each other any grudge. After all, we can't make others fall in love with us.""No, I must apologize to you. It's for my sake." After that, Renee used a bigger glass and filled it with wine."Whatever!" Justin frowned and ignored Renee. He had no idea what was wrong with her. He had yielded and let her off, but she stubbornly wanted to keep drinking the wine.He wondered if she had forgotten the fact that she had just recovered from a serious illness. She
Suddenly, Justin became mature and stopped making jokes. He talked steadily and was no longer emotional. It filled Austin with worry because it made him feel like Justin was an emotionless robot.In comparison, he liked Justin's previous self better. At that time, Justin was simple and sentimental. He was the grandson Austin doted on the most.Sophia grinned and commented, "Dad, you don't have to worry about Justin. Men will change. Previously, he was just a childish kid even though he was in his twenties. He didn't know how to see through people's pretense. But he's all grown up now. He knows what's right or wrong. That's a great thing!" As a mother, she naturally did not want her son to get hurt. Although she favored Renee and wanted the latter to be her daughter-in-law, she would give up since Renee had let her son down and harmed him. All she wanted was to see Renee get away from her son."Yes, you're right. People need to grow up. He has grown up a lot lately, but the price
After a while, a servant quickly came back with a bottle of wine tied with a piece of red cloth. "Sir, Madam, this bottle of white wine was brewed more than ten years ago. It comes with a rich taste and is strong. I'm sure it's suitable for Ms. Everheart to toast to everyone as a form of apology.""That's good. That's what I want." Rose accepted the heavy bottle of wine. Although it was yet to be unscrewed, she could smell its pungent scent. "I won't easily let anyone drink this. Plus… Believe it or not, a glass of this wine can knock out anyone here." Rose carried the bottle of wine and walked around the table. Finally, she stopped in front of Renee. "I'm letting a sinner like you enjoy such a great thing today. You must drink all of it. You can't waste it.""Huh? Does she have to drink it all? I'm afraid she'll vomit from drinking.""People will lose themselves with only three to five glasses of this wine. If they drink half of it, they might get alcohol poisoning no matter
If any Baldwin demanded an explanation from Renee, she would not resent them."Fine, I won't go easy on you since you said so." Rose laughed recklessly, looking malicious. Everyone knew Rose was fierce and malicious. But none of them said anything, including Justin. They behaved like onlookers and wanted to see how Rose would punish Renee. "Please go ahead." Renee nodded and sounded very calm. "Don't worry. Regardless, you were the only woman my dear grandnephew had loved and wanted to marry. So, I won't be harsh on you. If not, he won't forgive me." At that point, Rose purposely paused and wanted to see how Justin would react.However, Justin merely sat there indifferently and had no intention to get Renee out of the predicament. Hence, Rose became bolder. "Well, let's do this. You've wronged not only Justin but everyone in my family. Since you're here to apologize, you should toast to all of us. Then, we can forget about this."After that, Rose turned to Austin and asked
The party started officially at night. It was a small party, and only some close relatives of the Baldwin family attended.Austin took the main seat while his son and daughter-in-law sat in the secondary seats. Justin and the others sat accordingly.After dressing herself up, Renee attended the party in simple clothes. She looked like a young lady from a great family. Adie, Abby, and Quinton did not attend the party to avoid unnecessary disputes. Renee was the only one who attended the party. When she reached the hall, the people had already taken their seats. They sized her up maliciously and studied her as if they wanted to make her pay a heavy price."Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I got here late." Renee took a deep breath and naturally greeted everyone. She appeared composed, but she knew she was rather frightened. She never panicked when she faced such a scene alone in the past. She could easily handle it because Justin would always take her side no matter what happened.
Quinton was fine even if Renee wasn't that happy. But she must lead a steady life and live beyond a hundred years old. "Quinton, I know I owed the Baldwin family a lot, even if you didn't tell me. I won't be back if not for the sake of their kindness."Renee did not hide or lie even if Justin was around. She merely wanted Justin to hold no hope in her. "How could you be this straightforward?" Quinton had purposely brought Justin along because he wanted to bring Justin and Renee together. He felt that they could still be together since things weren't that hopeless. But the disappointing Renee ruined all possibilities easily. Kindness didn't exist between a romantic couple."It's fine." Justin looked indifferent before he snorted. "I'm glad she made things clear. It's better than being ambiguous.""I'm sorry." Renee looked at Justin. Although she had made herself clear, her guilt did not diminish. She immediately expressed her guilt and helplessness since Justin did not igno