With that thought, a chill ran down Renee's back as she considered her options carefully.There was no movement inside the house as if the cries for help had just been Renee's imagination."Okay. I know you're scared. You don't have to answer me. I'll kick the door open and get you out. All you need to do is expose the ugly side of that guy to my two children after this!"As Renee said this, she prepared her hands, reaching out to break down the door.Suddenly, a deadly vibe burst out from behind her, and someone reached out to catch her wrist in a deadly grip, freezing her completely in her tracks."Why are you in the restricted area of the shop?"The man's low voice gave off an eerie chill as it resounded from above her head.Renee turned around to see Mr. Q standing behind her with a cold look on his face.In the darkness of the night, the name 'Midnight Demon,' coupled with the black mask he wore, really suited his image.Though Renee was not a coward, she was still in som
Renee suddenly felt a chill run up her spine as she shoved Mr. Q away and coldly. "There's something wrong with your head, isn't there? How could you joke about something like this? I'll cut you down if you do it again!"Even though her financial strength may not compare to his, she could definitely subdue him in a matter of minutes. If he forced her hand, she wasn't about to show him any mercy!Mr. Q approached Renee again with a solemn expression as he said seriously, "I never joke. To have given birth to two lovely children like Adie and Abby, I'm sure you have good genes. It's barely worthy of me, but I'm sure if we come together, we can give birth to a child more perfect than the two. Are you sure you don't want to try?""Blargh!"Renee didn't buy it at all. She made a throwing-up motion before shooting back sharply, "Please get this straight. Children aren't the product of just one parent. That's impossible! My children are great, maybe because they got my perfect genes, and
Back then, when Renee had fallen in love with Stefan at first sight, wasn't it also because of his appearance? If he didn't have that handsome face of his, she wouldn't have foolishly waited for him for four years, and she likely wouldn't have agreed to marry him. That's why being obsessed with appearances only called for bad luck. Despite that, she was a die-hard lover of outward looks, even now!"I see..." Mr. Q said with a sigh as disappointment streaked across his face. "If that's the reason, then I really can't compare. I used to be very handsome, but unfortunately, I'm disfigured now. The scar on my face... let's not even mention others; even I can't stand the sight of it!"Renee couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy upon seeing the proud and arrogant man suddenly become so self-deprecating and downtrodden, She forced a smile on her face and comforted him, "Hey, it's okay. Men don't have to rely on looks to get a wife, you know? The treasures in your collection alone
Aiden and Abigail blinked their big, innocent eyes and immediately jumped to Mr. Q's defense."Mommy, you must have misunderstood Daddy Q! He's the most gentle and kind person I've ever met besides Daddy Liam! How could he be a bad guy?""Abby is right!" Aiden said as he rubbed his chin, a serious expression on his face. "I introduce Mr. Q to you as a husband candidate after careful consideration. You may not believe in my sister's judgment, but you must believe in my intelligence.""Well..." Renee was momentarily speechless.Disregarding everything else, Aiden's intelligence was truly unbeatable. Anyone who passed his assessment was either a super intelligent person who could beat Aiden or genuinely a good person.Currently, Mr. Q didn't seem like a good person at all. That meant his intelligence must be extremely high to have the two little children be so obedient to him."It doesn't matter if you don't believe me. Once I kick down this door, you'll understand my good intention
After hearing Chase's words, Renee became even more confident of her suspicions. She quickly pulled her two children aside and warned them, "Close your eyes first. Wait until I confirm that there's nothing inside there that's inappropriate for children, and you can open your eyes."Then, Renee turned to Mr. Q and said, "You don't have to open the door. I'm not interested in your perverted things. As long as you admit before my children that you're a bad guy and promise to stay away from them in the future, that's enough."Renee had considered many things and was worried that the pervert would attack indiscriminately if he were exposed, so she planned to take her children away before figuring out how to save whoever was inside the room.Mr. Q ignored her and ordered Chase again, "I said to open the door. Didn't you hear me?""Um..." Even though Chase was visibly unhappy, he didn't dare disobey a direct order from his boss. He pulled out the key and opened the door."Watch out!" R
"Um..." The woman hesitated to speak as if she had difficulty expressing her thoughts."If you're in any trouble, just let me know. I'll shoulder the consequences for you. But if you insist on protecting a bad person, then I won't care about you!" Renee was a little angry when she saw how the pitiful woman so quickly shouldered the blame when she'd done nothing wrong.It was precisely because of their weakness that evil had become so rampant. After all, it would "cost" nothing to be evil."No, you've misunderstood! I'm not trying to protect a bad person! I just..."The woman took a deep breath and mustered up her courage before continuing, "Fine. I don't want you to misunderstand Mr. Q, so I'll be honest. I'm a single mother, and it's been hard raising my child all alone. At one point, I couldn't even afford to eat. I had to work in a nightclub, which was filled with bad hats. I unknowingly got involved with them."One time, a client tricked me. Mr. Q and Chase saved me. They
"Mommy, Daddy Q has been busy all night. Do you know what he's doing?" Abigail asked Renee in a soft and gentle voice.The corners of Renee's eyes were slightly red, and she asked hoarsely, "What was he busy with?""You'll find out if you come with us!" Abigail said mysteriously. She led Renee to the observation deck on the second floor of the shop.The observation deck was built by the seaside at the junction of the three countries, and the view up there was breathtaking."Abby, why did you bring me here?" Renee asked in confusion as she looked up at the stars in the sky.Abigail smiled mysteriously and asked, "Do you know what day it is, Mommy?""Huh? The day? Uh... the weekend?" Renee answered with a puzzled look on her face."It's the ninth of August, which is your birthday, silly Mommy!" Abigail said sweetly."Today... is the ninth of August?" Renee suddenly realized.Today was her birthday!"Look behind you, Mommy!" Renee turned, following Abigail's finger, seeing Cha
Renee snapped out of her immersion immediately and turned around to face the man with a guarded look."What are you going to do?" Renee asked."It's simple!" Mr. Q continued whispering in her ear. "Last time, I asked you to let me take Abby as my goddaughter before reclaiming Sun Island. Now I want to add on to that...""What do you want to add? You can't possibly want my son as your godson now?!""That's not all!" Mr. Q grinned and continued whispering, "I want Abby to be my goddaughter, Adie to be my godson, and you... to be mine.""You're insane!" Renee jumped away from him as quickly as a lightning bolt, standing warily as if facing a fierce beast. "I knew it! You're like the weasel who pretended to pay homage to the chicken so that it could steal food! You only have bad intentions!"I knew you were too good to be true! You made my favorite food, baked a cake with the kids, and even set off fireworks for my birthday... It turns out you were just waiting for this! You're so gr
"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