“That's right. Although the Everheart family is in ruins, we can still afford to feed you. As long as you say yes, I’ll definitely welcome you into the family with a grand wedding!” Renee fought back a smile and joked with him.She was certain that the egoistic Stefan would never agree. He might even get so mad that he'd beat her up on the spot.That way, she could claim to be the victim and prevent the Hunt family from claiming that she was cold-blooded and refused to give them a chance!“Are you sure you're willing to marry me?”Stefan raised his head and looked straight into Renee's eyes. He asked softly.“Uhh... S-Sure!”Renee could not figure out what he was thinking, so she could only nod guiltily.“Okay, I agree.”Stefan agreed without hesitation.“Ahem!”Renee and Francine were both shocked. They could not believe what they were hearing.“What... What did you say?” Renee carefully verified.Impossible, absolutely impossible!She must be hearing things!“I said, I
That was because, if she did not escape soon, she might actually be tempted to accept his offer...Especially the last promise. No woman could resist that.Think about it. After coming home from a tiring day of work, there's a stunning beauty waiting for you at home. He would make your stomach, mood, and body feel great. It would be better than winning the lottery!“Stefan, let's be honest with each other. What's your goal? If it's the children, I advise you not to waste your time. Just file a custody lawsuit and let the judge decide.”With the last trace of reason in her mind, Renee pushed the man away and calmly asked him.“No, my goal has never been the children,” he said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, as his eyes bore into Renee's. “Then what's your goal? To torture me, get revenge on me, and finally destroy me?”“Am I so heinous in your eyes?”“Of course you are. Other than that, I can think of no other reason why you would lower yourself to this level.”Renee looked
“I'm glad to hear that.”From behind his unique mask, Mr. Q looked at Renee with complicated eyes. He said meaningfully, "Remember, you made this choice yourself, so you can't regret it no matter what, okay?”“No regrets.”Renee nodded again to assure him. She left herself no way back and bet everything she had on this decision so that she could have a fresh start.Regardless of whether the ending would be a happy one or a terrible one, she would have no regrets!“You're aware of my situation, I presume? I've sworn to never take off the mask, so the way we obtain the certificate will be a little different.”“How so?”"Give me your documents. I have special connections that will let us obtain a marriage certificate directly."“But...”Renee was a bit dumbfounded. "Are you really gonna wear this mask forever? Even after we get married? Even when... even when we sleep together?”“My face is disfigured. It's a humiliation for me. I won't let anyone see it. If you mind, we can end
“Without showing up?”"That's right. Someone will photoshop our pictures together, get everything done, and mail the marriage certificate to you. You can then see what I looked like before I was disfigured."“I... I see.”Although it was strange, Renee could not suppress her excitement. Without much hesitation, she handed over all her documents.It felt like she was handing over her turbulent life to the man. From now on, she would be living her life with him and the children!After they said goodbye, Renee returned to the Hunt Villa.She was in a good mood. She felt like she had embarked on a new chapter in her life.No one knew about her second marriage, so there were no flowers, no blessings, and no grand wedding, but it made her feel incredibly secure, at least more so than her first marriage.She may not love Mr. Q, but she missed the time she spent living with him and the children. The feeling of being a peaceful, ordinary family was something that Stefan could never give
“A delivery?”Renee was puzzled. Was it her marriage certificate? It's done already?But she gave Mr. Q the address of her apartment. It wouldn't be sent to the Hunt Villa.She glanced at Stefan, who was sitting on the sofa. She hesitated to speak.She did now know how he would react if he saw the marriage certificate... Would he fly into a rage or would he remain expressionless? She suddenly found herself a bit curious.“Why are you looking at me? Are you receiving something illegal?”Stefan tried probing her.“Of course not. I'm a law-abiding citizen. I don't have anything illegal.”“Then why do you look so guilty? What's the delivery?”“It's none of your business. I have no obligation to tell you.”“Are you sure it's none of my business?”“Of course it's none of your business!”“Then don't come looking for me afterwards.” The look on his handsome face was unreadable, and his tone had hidden meanings.Renee thought he was behaving strangely, but she was too eager to se
With a smile, Stefan slowly got up, walked behind Renee, and teased, "Or maybe I still have an important place in your heart, so whatever you do—even if it's just opening a small package—you're concerned about how I would feel?”“Stop being so full of yourself. I stopped caring about your feelings a long time ago.”“Then what are you afraid of? Open it in front of me. It doesn't contain anything illegal, right?”Stefan was both mischievous and unrelenting. "If it does, then I have even more reasons to know what's inside. I live with you, so I don't want it to get me into trouble.”“Fine, fine, you win.”Renee could not stand him. She raised a hand and said, "If you really want to know what's inside, then I won't hide it from you. I just hope that you can remain calm after you see it and not fly into a rage.”Although she was not sure how Stefan felt about her, she was certain that he wanted to remarry her.She could already imagine the scene. He was confident that she would rema
That was because the man in the marriage certificate photo was not Mr. Q at all, but Stefan Hunt! Even the name of the husband was Stefan Hunt!“What's the matter? You just got married, so shouldn't you be happy? Why do you look so pale?”Stefan crossed his arms and asked with a smile on his face.It sounded like an inquiry, but it was more of a mockery. He was mocking Renee's naivety and ignorance.“What... What did you do?”The marriage certificate in Renee's hands suddenly felt as hot as lava. She quickly threw it to the floor. She was on the verge of a mental collapse.Stefan calmly bent down to pick it up. His slender fingers carefully wiped the dust off it. He looked at the wedding photo with deep eyes. His smile was gentle and profound.“Look at our photo. What a beautiful couple. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call us a perfect match. We're meant to be together.”“Shut up!”Renee covered her ears and yelled at him, "Do you think this is funny? I can make hundreds of
But he simply moved his fingers slightly and easily pulled her back into the abyss!Stefan's smiley eyes gradually turned cold. They were now filled with dangerous intent.“At a moment like this, he's the one you care about, huh? I underestimated your feelings for him.”“Of course you underestimated our feelings! That's because you're a cold-blooded animal! You don't even have basic human emotions, so how can you understand other people's feelings?!”Renee was filled with intense fury. She wanted to pounce on him like a mad dog, biting and tearing him to pieces.But she was also aware of the fact that, the more she lost control, the more satisfaction he would gain.The only thing that could truly hurt him was the feelings between her and Mr. Q.After all, for a person without emotions, that kind of blow was a "critical hit"!“Even if you used despicable means to achieve your despicable goal, he will still have my heart. As long as our hearts are together, it doesn't matter whet
Renee grinned, satisfied after a long rest. "Why didn't you sleep a bit longer? This bed is comfortable and fluffy." While talking, she behaved like a fish as she extended her limbs and rolled around in bed childishly. In comparison to her calmness and ease, Justin behaved gingerly and did not dare to move as he lay in bed."Do you have any idea what had happened? We aren't dreaming. We're lying in the same bed," Justin said.He was certain that Renee was not fully awake. It explained why she was that composed. Otherwise, any normal woman would get out of bed with a start and keep screaming if they found herself lying in a man's bed."I know!" Renee said. After having a great time rolling around, Renee faced Justin with her head on her arm while lying on her side. "I wanted to drink wine to say sorry to you guys last night, but your family drugged the wine. You drank the same wine when you tried to stop me. We were controlled by the drug and were locked up in this room. T
Renee instantly understood what Justin meant by that. It turned out that the incident was just a part of the Baldwin family's plan. If she left, the Baldwin family would not easily let her off the hook.Justin still cared about her at a time like that, which moved her. "Thank you. You're great." Renee cried; she had no idea how to repay him. "You don't have to thank me. I'm not so great, either. I just hate that they always pester me." Justin purposely sounded relaxed. He finally calmed himself down as he casually grabbed some bandages to bandage his wound. Then, he lay in bed.He slept on one side of the bed and said to Renee, "It's late. You should rest early. This bed is large enough. If you don't mind, you can lie in bed too."The bed was large. It was more than enough even if Renee and Justin lay there."I…" Renee hesitated briefly before she finally got in bed. She trusted Justin. If he wanted to do something indecent to her, he would have long done that. He would no
"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