Renee's expression was grave as she stood before Timothy.The old man looked up at her innocently. "What do you mean? I've just finished reading the news."Renee pursed her lips. "You can drop the act, Grandpa. There's no way you would have been able to read in the dark, and besides… your newspaper is upside down."Renee raised an eyebrow at him expectantly.“Hmm… I…” The old man mumbled in embarrassment and adjusted the newspaper. Refusing to admit defeat, he just went along with it. "Since I'm farsighted, I'm accustomed to reading things upside down. This is actually the easiest way for me to read.""Is that right? I don't believe you." Renee was initially upset but couldn't help giggling at the old man's antics.Seeing her laugh, he gently laid down the newspaper and said, "Ren, don't blame us for doing that… We just want you back. Unfortunately, like me, you have no acting talent. Your little performance earlier might have been enough to deceive Francine, but it's not enough
Renee returned to her apartment late at night after the children had fallen asleep.Margaret heard the ruckus and went outside, wearing a jacket over her pyjamas."Where have you been, Ms. Ren? The kids were waiting for you all night.""I went to Hunt Manor to search for the children, but it was a mistake. Stefan, like the rest of the Hunt family, was unaware of Adie and Abby's existence." Renee gave an awkward chuckle. Her cheeks flushed subconsciously as she remembered what had transpired earlier."Ah, that was a misunderstanding. I heard from the kids that the person who took them is Mr. Q, the man you brought to Sun Island a few days ago. Adie followed him because he claimed Abby as his goddaughter."Margaret informed Renee of what she had learned from the children. "Mr. Q is a nice guy," she added with a relieved grin. "The kids adore him, and he treats them like they're his biological children.""Oh, so it was him!" Renee scowled and said, "What does he want? Not only does
Aiden held his small water bottle and gulped l a mouthful of water before he started talking non-stop, "If Abby acknowledges another man as Daddy, I'll be the first to oppose it, but Mr. Q is different. He's awesome and very patient with us. I asked him to cook nice food for us, and he took my word and improved his cooking skills... Do you know what's the most important thing?" "I don't know. I just know that he's not a good guy, and I don't know how he fooled you guys!" Renee was speechless. She did not know how Mr. Q, who was a villain with such a bad reputation, could make those two children so obedient toward him. Her two children were no naive fools. They were quite witty, so ordinary people usually had no way of winning them over. "The most important thing is that I heard that he's our Bad Daddy's sworn enemy. I think if you and Q work together, Bad Daddy will be ruined. He can no longer harm you!" "Why, you…" Renee opened her mouth slightly, and her anger quickly faded.
After Renee drove her two children to kindergarten, she turned the car around and drove towards the headquarters of Azure Group. Azure Group was located in the CBD core area of Beach City, only one street from Hunt Enterprise. However, Azure Group's scope was much smaller than Hunt Enterprise's. The most obvious difference was the office areas of the two groups. Azure Group had only two levels as office areas, while Hunt Enterprise had a whole building to themselves.Renee took the elevator to Azure Group, which was on the twenty-eighth floor of the office building. The developer rented that office building out, so there were a lot of companies like Azure Group in the building. In the past, Renee was the woman behind the scenes for Azure Group. Most of the time, she worked away from the office and rarely went to the building. It was the morning peak hour when she went to take the elevator that day, so the line was very long. Renee put on a mask and a pair of sunglasses. Ev
Renee appeared calm when she said to the two women, "Well, it's true that I had a divorce, but I don't think that I'm inferior to others because of it. Everyone has the right to choose their happiness; I just chose a way that made me happy. What's more... Ladies, can you guarantee that you'll never get a divorce? When you're putting me down, did it ever occur to you that you may face the same situation one day? I'm afraid you'll be much more miserable than me if it happens." "Why, you..." The two women were furious but couldn't argue. The surrounding people clapped enthusiastically at Renee's response, especially the married women who felt the same as her. Their hands soon became numb from clapping. "Good! You made a good point. Women should never look down on other women. We should unite to fight against those vulgar and crafty men instead of fighting against other women!" A woman with black glasses added on eagerly. Renee glanced at the woman and nodded approvingly. Women lik
Renee was sitting on a leather chair in the chairman's office. She had a powerful aura and a composed expression. She looked at Laura, who was sitting across from her, and got straight to the point. "You waited for me for so many days here, so what is it you want?" "Isn't it obvious? I want my shares back," Laura scoffed bluntly. Renee shrugged. "I'm fine with it. I'll transfer your shares back to you..." "No, you don't understand." Laura adjusted her glasses slightly, her gaze cunning. "Both you and I know what a bad situation Azure Group is in. I don't want shares—I want you to convert my shares into cash for me." Renee smirked and sipped her coffee before saying, "Ms. Osborne, your thought process is rather amusing. I really don't understand… What kind of bad situation is Azure Group in? Why do you want to get cash and run away?" "What do you think?" Laura said disdainfully, "It's still acceptable if Azure Group suffered losses all year round, but you persisted in building
Laura replied immediately, "Isn't it obvious? Of course, I'll pick the 520 million. Azure Group is going to be ruined, so which fool would stay? You don't even know if the company will survive until the end of the year, and yet you're talking about a year-end bonus. It'll be a blessing if the company doesn't go bankrupt by then!" Laura sneered mockingly. After all, she had worked hard for four years, but she saw no benefits. The competition between these companies was also getting stronger year by year, so it was very difficult to make a turnover. "Got it!" Renee raised her brows and said to Laura, "Sign this contract then. I'll ask the finance department to transfer the money to you later." She pushed the contract to Laura as if she had expected her to choose that option. "I didn't expect you to be so agreeable." Laura quickly signed her name and stood up arrogantly. "I'm leaving, but... I believe that we’ll meet again soon." After she left the office, one of the company staff
The girl adjusted her glasses and looked at Renee sincerely, "In my opinion, I think Azure Group has a promising future. The company isn't very big or profitable yet, but the company's vision is very inspiring. I heard Azure Group is planning to build its own production and R&D center. Hunt Enterprise is one of the few companies in Beach City that dares to do the same, so I think Azure Group will become a big company on par with Hunt Enterprise in the future. It's the right time for me to join now!" The young girl's statement made the senior employees laugh.The PR director put Renee on the spot as he told the girl, "Young lady, you're too naive. You don't know how terrible it is to follow the wrong boss. Our boss isn't a strong woman—she's just a miserable divorcee of a rich family. President Liam and Vice President Laura always supported her, but now they've abandoned ship. Don't you see why?""They ran away due to their lack of vision. I believe in my choice and Ms. Everheart's
"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