"What are you even saying? I literally just had a good night's sleep. Nothing else." Renee said as she placed the sunflowers into a glass vase.The yellow sunflowers looked golden under the gentle sunlight, giving off a soft scent. These flowers were just right, as it wasn't too sharp, like a rose, nor was it too simple, like an orchid."You know, I didn't expect this at all. I guess this is what they mean by 'don't judge a book by its cover', but that little escort is a professional therapist!""He was able to come up with an accurate analysis with just one drawing! He's also a master hypnotist too! I just… feel really secure and comfortable with him."Just then, Aiden opened his bedroom door with a fuzzy teddy bear in his arms, walking out to the living room groggily."Mommy, you're finally back… I heard from Aunt Lei that you were very busy and had to work overtime. You must be tired…"The little one then gave Renee a big hug, patting her on the head as if she was the child no
Renee turned around and found that the person speaking was one of her ex in-laws, Stefan's cousin, Charlotte. Back then, Charlotte was the one and only beloved princess of many, and she would always view Renee as a thorn in her flesh. Hence, she naturally never treated her with respect. However, ever since Renee got a divorce, she no longer tolerated this so-called princess' behavior and taught her a few lessons as a result. Thus, Charlotte started restraining herself as well.It had been four years since the two saw each other, so bumping into each other now felt quite unfortunate."It really is you! And here I thought I was hallucinating!" Charlotte exclaimed. She was wearing extremely expensive attire, consisting of Chanel clothing, with a pink Hermes purse that likely cost thousands, and a pair of beige colored heels, which were limited-edition Givenchy. It was as if she was deliberately trying to flaunt her wealth to the world.Renee looked the woman up and down. She foun
"You'll have to check your abilities before you try to attack me. If you dare to act rudely again, you'll be sorry!" Renee warned as she loomed over the woman, her expression as frosty as ice. Charlotte instantly deflated, lying on the ground a mess silently. She thought to herself, 'How is this woman even cockier than before?! It's been four years, so hasn't she learned to tone down a little?! It's like I can't afford to offend her at all!'Could it be that her lover gave her the ability to act so recklessly?'"You wicked lady! How dare you bully my mommy? I'll bite you!" Charlotte's son, Casey, immediately lunged over crazily, opening his mouth wide open as he grabbed onto Renee's arm."Let go of my mommy, you mad dog!" Aiden was not an easy target either, as he angrily pushed Casey to the ground, then sat on top of him."How dare you bite my beloved mommy?! I'd say you don't treasure your teeth, so let me pluck them all out for you!""Wahhhh, Mommy! Mommy, save me!" Casey wa
Although Aiden was asking a question, he was clearly forcing the principal to pick a side. He just couldn't let his mother get bitten and endure such humilition for no apparent reason. He had to get justice for his mother.The principal cleared her throat, and put on a solemn expression, revealing her stance in front of everyone."Adie, I understand the situation now. You were right to protect your mother, and you were very brave. But you were too reckless and violent when trying to do so. I think you weren't being rational, and that you were technically just as wrong as Casey here. What do you think?""You're right, Miss Principal. I was wrong." Aiden nodded as he blinked innocently, then turned to Casey with an apologetic attitude. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you just now."The principal was absolutely in awe of his understanding and emotional intelligence. This had also change the minds of many surrounding parents, who were quite judgemental a while ago. They even s
"You… You…" Charlotte felt as if her pride was crushed entirely at this point. Her eyes reddened as she shouted, "Do you think I won't dare to do that?! I'll have you know that my husband loves me a lot! If he finds out that me and my son are being mistreated like this, all of you here will have to pay!"Renee huffed coldly. "If he loves you so, have him come over to stand up for you. I'd really like to see just how powerful this man is for you to act as if you won't face any consequences.""That… If you insist, then! Just wait!" Charlotte decided to go with the flow since it was quite hard to defuse this situation right then. She dialed Zachary's number, speaking in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Babe, someone's attacking me and Casey! Come over quickly. You have to stand up for us!"Back then, her husband would not prioritize her in the slightest, especially being a womanizer. He just so happened to be nearby the kindergarten due to a business meeting. Hearing that his son was
Everyone froze, especially Charlotte, who didn't know how to read the room. She grabbed Zachary's arm and mumbled, "What are you doing, babe? At least stand up for Casey and me! Why are you kneeling in front of this woman?!"She's just a lowly commoner now, and my brother kicked her out after she cheated on him! This woman is a sinful cheater! So how could you kneel for her? What happened to saving your dignity? Are you not worried you'd get bad luck for doing that?!""The fuck do you mean by bad luck?!" Zachary was so mad that he slapped Charlotte across the face. "You idiot! If it weren't for Liliana Schneider back then, our family would've been destroyed long ago…""Everything you get to enjoy now, the food we eat, the purse you're holding, the shoes Casey is wearing… we can only afford all of that because of our saviors, the Schneiders! If you dare to disrespect them one more time, I'll f*cking divorce you!"Charlotte covered her swollen cheek with one hand, and retorted, "How
Even though she had not seen it with her own eyes, Renee had heard a lot of rumors. Everyone kept saying that her grandmother was a strange woman and that she had carried the Schneider family to glory with her own strength to become the top family in North City. Back then, whether it was the Hunt family from Beach City or the Baldwin family from Sutton, all of them were subordinates of the Schneider family.But such a legendary family had been extinguished by unknown forces within a month.Since then, the Schneider family declined in North City, and eventually, the legend became an actual myth.Strangely enough, although the Schneider family fell, the Everheart family rose. Some said that the rise in the Everheart family's reputation was thanks to Liliana's manipulation behind the scenes.But decades later, the Everheart family also fell tragically, ending up with the same fate as the Schneider family!Renee had almost no recollection of her grandmother and only recalled that th
"That's..."Charlotte's words left the principal in a dilemma. When Monte Perry was established, the family committee had jointly proposed a rule to raise the school's admission threshold and ensure the student population's quality.Over the years, the kindergarten had strictly enforced this rule and did not accept children from single-parent families.Even though the school's principal appreciated Renee's decent and kind-hearted stance and liked Aiden's intelligence and cuteness, she couldn't make a special exception before so many parents."What's with your hesitation? As the kindergarten principal, you can't always break the rules, can you? Children from single-parent families are problematic and have flawed characters! Having them attend school with children from normal families will definitely affect the regular children! We can't let that happen!"Charlotte spoke with such righteous indignation, and the parents around her also fanned the flames by agreeing with her stateme
"I don't know how to tell you. I'm sure you can understand." Renee could not bring herself to say more because it was a humiliating privacy. She might as well keep it to herself."Let me guess…" Justin's gaze grew sharp as he went straight to the point. "The man in your story is Stefan, isn't it?" Silence washed over Renee as she kept her head bowed. It was a silent approval.Justin burst into reckless laughter, which was scary. He looked down at his cut wound and laughed pathetically. "This is why he could make you fall in love with him, and I couldn't. I'm too cultured compared to him.""Don't say that, Haze!"Seeing how defeated Justin was, Renee became uneasy. "It isn't written in the stars for us. Plus, I've fallen in love with Stefan a long time ago before I even got to know you. I also rely on him physically and psychologically. I can't control my feelings. It's not something we can change. We…" "Stop!" Heartbroken, Justin pushed away everything in front of him and s
Time passed by. Gradually, the pain knocked some sense into Justin. He no longer wanted to take advantage of Renee."Let me get you some water." Renee had no idea what she could do for Justin. After some contemplation, she got to her feet and poured him a glass of water.Finally, she studied the room closely and found that it was a wedding room as Justin had mentioned. Everything was set up according to her preferences, which she had occasionally mentioned to Justin. For example, she loved keeping some ceramic ornaments on the bedside cabinet and hanging some seashell wind chimes at the windows. The entire room was painted in beige and green, which were her favorites, too. Beige gave a sense of warmth, while green gave a sense of gloominess. All of those details became the perfect wedding room for Renee.If everything went on smoothly, she would spend most of her time there, and he would be her life companion. Unfortunately, there were no ifs in the world.Renee handed the gla
Renee covered her lips, her tone filled with disbelief. "I…cut myself." Justin leaned against the corner and frowned deeply. He was in deep pain."Why did you cut yourself?" Renee was scared out of her wits and grew more sober. In her panic, she threw herself at him and tried to stop his bleeding.Justin reacted aggressively as he waved his dagger and warned fiercely, "Get away from me! Don't touch me!" "I…" Renee paused, too afraid to act recklessly. She pointed at his wound and said, "I'm just worried about you. You're bleeding. It must hurt a lot. Why did you hurt yourself?" "It's better to be in pain!" Justin gnashed his teeth and said in agony, "The pain will knock some sense into me, so I won't act like an animal and lose control of myself.""I see…" Stunned, Renee was moved to tears. She understood why he cut himself. Surprisingly, he wanted to stay sober and not be controlled by the drug in the wine.He could have used her to satisfy his desire, and she would never b
"You're playing with fire!" Justin leaned close to Renee's ears and said fiercely, "What do you think there is in the wine? Maybe I'm not someone who will take liberty on women, but I can't promise that the wine won't make me so." "So, you're saying that the wine…" Suddenly, Renee realized the wine was not as simple as she thought. She also understood why Rose had behaved in such a mysterious manner. "Stay…away from me!" Suddenly, she became frightened and wanted to keep some distance from Justin. She knew that people could not be trusted completely, especially under the effects of chemical reactions. Things would certainly get out of control. Justin probably did not want to do anything to her, but both of them would lose their minds under the effect of the wine and do something that would fill them with regret. The only way to prevent such an incident was to avoid each other."You want to stay away from me, but it's too late now. I'm no saint. I'm just a normal guy!"Just
"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