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
"Stop being so full of yourself. The way I see it, Adie is interested in you because you and Stefan are enemies. So, the enemy of his enemy is his friend."Renee considered inwardly whether or not to go along with Mr. Q's proposal and pretend to be a loving couple with him to fulfill the wishes of her two children.If he was a good man, having one more person to love her two children wouldn't be a bad thing.If he were a bad man, however, he would eventually reveal his true colors, and the two children would no longer be fooled."So, do you want to give it a try?" Mr. Q asked, and when he saw the hesitation in the woman, he pushed further and said, "Give me a response. The children are looking at us from afar. If we agree, they will definitely be overjoyed."Renee looked towards her children. She saw them standing not too far away, their eyes shining with expectation.Even if Renee had a heart made of steel, she couldn't bear to disappoint her children. So, she turned to Mr. Q an
After returning from Carmine Pawnshop, Aiden and Abigail were visibly happier than ever. The smile on their faces never dropped, and they pulled Renee along as they pestered her to give them new siblings with Mr. Q."Mommy, when will you and Daddy Q have your wedding? Can Adie and I be your flower girl? After you hold the wedding, we can live together as a family, then you and Daddy Q can give us siblings!"Abigail was already envisioning a wonderful life where Mr. Q lived with them. As the family's little princess, she had always been carefully sheltered by everyone. Now thinking about having future younger siblings, her little heart had also developed a sense of responsibility and the yearning to protect them."Yeah! When your relationship is stable, you should hold a wedding as soon as possible. Then Q can live with us and take care of you. He can make your favorite food, plant the sunflowers you love, share the pressure of your work, and deal with that jerk, Stefan! It's perfe
"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