Just as Renee was wondering if she should just allow Francine to take the kids with her, the old woman's voice turned unusually serious. "Ren, I know you still hold resentment towards the family. I know you hate my son, and you hate me too. I understand that we were horrible towards you, but Grandpa Timothy has always treated you with nothing but sincerity, hasn't he? He always treated you like you were his own granddaughter, right?""I will always remember the kindness he showed me," Renee admitted."So please, can you go along with it just this once? For his sake? We just want him to be happy."Renee remained silent.Seeing that the woman wasn't giving in, Francine sighed. "You might not know this, but the old man's health is deteriorating rapidly. The doctor said he wasn't even sure if he'd make it through winter this year.""What?" Renee felt her heart sink. "But didn't Grandpa Timothy go through a heart transplant surgery? It went really well too! So why…""Child, have you a
"Oh, to think you were just saying how I'm the only woman you'd marry! And now I'm not supposed to know about your family matters?" Renee burst out sobbing. "Have you ever wondered how I'd feel if Grandpa Timothy passed away all of a sudden?!"Stefan flashed her a cold smile. "How would you feel? You think everyone in the Hunts is evil anyway. You avoid all of us like we're the plague!""Stefan Hunt, you jerk!" Renee stormed over to him and raised an arm to punch him. However, she remembered that he was currently injured, and couldn't bring herself to harm him. Instead, she merely yelled at him in a fiercer tone, "Who do you take me for? I'm not a cold-blooded monster like you! You know how much I love Grandpa Timothy, and you know I see him as my second grandfather! Why did you hide his illness from me?! Do you want me to feel guilty for all eternity?!""And what can you do about it?" Stefan's gaze was hostile, his voice disdainful. "It's not like anything would change after you
'Wait, did he find out that I was in a fake relationship with Mr. Q?! We did really well in playing the role of a loving couple to fool the kids though… No one should know about our fake relationship apart from us! Unless… Mr. Q decided to come clean with Stefan Hunt about this for some reason. If that's the case, what is their relationship with each other? What secrets are they hiding?' Renee's mind was working overtime thinking about all this."What are you thinking about?" Stefan asked."N… Nothing.""Really?""Of course!" Renee clicked her tongue, feeling guilty. "I mean what I say. Why would I ever lie to you?""Okay then." Stefan looked at Renee with a knowing smirk as if he saw right through her. He knew exactly what she was thinking at that moment, but he knew he couldn't let her find out about the truth. If she did, she'd definitely beat him to death."What do you think about my suggestion, Stefan? If you agree, let's pay the old manor a visit, for Grandpa Timothy." Rene
The '81 Curve' was the most difficult route in the area, with several risky turns, and was a natural racing course. The road had 81 turns in all, thus the name.Many underground racers enjoyed racing there, and as a result, many died there too. Although racing was no longer permitted on the track, many people still went to race there at night. Renee was one of those courageous individuals.Stefan grinned as he looked out the window at the greenery that flashed past him. "You can go as fast as you want; I'm not as weak as you think. You don't have to hold back in front of me."Renee used to hide her real feelings in order to be the ideal wife in front of him. The more she strived to be flawless, the more he loathed it, and it had created a tremendous gap between them. He couldn't fall in love with someone who buried her emotions behind a mask, but he was so passionately in love with her now that she had ceased caring about his opinion and was genuinely herself."I read somewhere that th
In Hunt Manor, Timothy was overjoyed, and his eyes welled up with tears as he saw Francine bring Aiden and Abigail home."Kids, this is the grandpa I mentioned. He's the Hunt family member who likes your mother the most and who your father fears the most." Francine gladly introduced Timothy to the children. After interacting with them for a few days, she had come to understand their thought process—anyone friendly to Renee and hostile to Stefan was an ally.She had become their ally by criticizing Stefan on occasion, and she hoped that by introducing Timothy in such a way, the children would warm to him.To Francine's delight, her plan worked. Aiden, who was usually cautious, approached Timothy on his own.He raised his head and looked at Timothy's wrinkled face, then gently hooked his finger around the old man's wrinkled finger and murmured, "Great-grandpa, I can tell you're a good person. Thank you for looking after my mother."When Abigail saw this, she went up to her brother and ha
"Yes. That's exactly what I mean." As Timothy listened to them, tears welled up in his eyes, and he felt a surge of pride. "It's no surprise you're Ren's children. You're both very intelligent, and your thinking is very mature. Your emotions are also stronger than your father's. It's the Hunt family's good fortune to have gotten such good genes from the Everheart family."Alexander was astounded by his grandchildren's intelligence, but he wasn't about to give in as he protested feebly, "Dad, Stefan's genes aren't bad either. If the children supposedly inherited their mother's emotional intelligence, they must have inherited their father's intelligence as well.""Nonsense!" Timothy rolled his eyes at Alexander. "Did you know Ren is a top student? She skipped grades and pursued her master's and doctoral degrees in the most difficult subject, physics. Stefan cannot compete with her—he's only good at business."Renee had wheeled Stefan into the living room just as Timothy was criticizing h
"Quiet down." Stefan cleared his throat and declared, "I have good news."Everyone turned to glare at him.Timothy, in particular, seemed unsatisfied and irritated every time he saw Stefan. "Are you even capable of giving me good news? It's most likely horrible news!"Francine had the same annoyed expression on her face as she waved her hand dismissively. "Your grandfather and the grandchildren dislike you. Renee dislikes you as well. Why don't you go into your room and wait there so you don't spoil our mood?""What do you have to say?" Alexander urged him frustratedly. "Make it quick. I'm too busy peeling walnuts for my grandkids to squander my time." He fed a peeled walnut to Aiden and then to Abigail as he talked, then told them gently, "Adie, Abby, you should eat more walnuts to keep your brain healthy. Don't be like your stupid father, who does things without thinking."Stefan was stunned. Since Aiden and Abigail arrived, he'd lost all his status in the Hunt family. They only saw
"Then you two have agreed to lie to me!" Timothy saw straight through their plan, and sighed deeply. "You know I won't live for long, so you decided to put on an act with him to avoid having any regrets?""No, Grandpa. You've overthinking it!" Renee protested."I know your personality, Ren. You've always put others before yourself, so it's not surprising that you'd do something like this. As much as I hope you and Stefan will return to the way you both were before, you must forgive him, fall in love with him again, and be content with him first."After advising them, the old man said seriously, "Look into my eyes and tell me you've forgiven him and fallen in love with him again.""I…" Renee unconsciously looked away from his intense gaze as guilt consumed her and glanced at Stefan for assistance. "You should ask him, Grandpa. He is aware of everything.""I knew you wouldn't believe me. Fortunately, I came prepared." Stefan scoffed, then pulled out a document from his pocket and proudly
"Can I wake her up?" Stefan seemed to be asking them and himself. He shook his head in self-hatred. "I'm afraid I'm the reason why she wants to escape this world. She must hate me to the core and refuse to see me. She might know that I'm here, so she's avoiding me and refuses to wake up."He recalled how much he had harmed her. He was not confident to wake her up, let alone face her."Yes, you're sinful, ut you must be held accountable for it!" Justin could not bother to waste his time talking to Stefan. He pushed Stefan into the ward instead. "You made her so angry, she's in a coma now. So, you have to wake her up. If she doesn't, you can't leave the ward!""Agreed!"Jovan was standing on the other side. He and Justin seemed to have formed a barrier and refused to let Stefan back down.After some contemplation, Stefan decided to face the music. He closed the ward door and quietly went to Renee's bed. It was the first time he was alone with her after a long time."You're tr
Unsurprisingly, Renee remained irresponsive. Justin gradually grew depressed. Before, he was confident. Seeing that he was getting no response from her, his confidence waned. Undeniably, he was probably not that important to her. If not, she wouldn't remain indifferent. She would have sensed that he was around. "I got it. You don't need me." Justin smiled helplessly. He felt pathetic too. He took a deep breath and finally stood up to exit the ward."How's it going?" Stefan asked.He kept waiting outside the ward, paying close attention to it in hopes that Renee could wake up. He also felt that Justin could bring Renee wonderful things and hope. She would wake up when she sensed that Justin was calling for her. "Hmph! Isn't it obvious? Of course, he couldn't wake her up!" Jovan casually leaned against the bench in the corridor, not even looking up. He sounded vicious. "He's just a backup guy. Of course she doesn't care about him! She's not in love with him." Justin glared at J
Stefan remained quiet as he calmly watched Renee. He extended his hand to touch her face but retrieved it before he could.She used to be the woman he was familiar with and the one he had hugged and kissed countless times, but now, he didn't even dare to touch her. "I think she doesn't even want you here. She must hate you so much and is disappointed in you. She'll be even more pressured if you stay here, and it'll push her further from this world. So please, get the hell out of here if you want the best for her!"Justin could not hold himself back from scolding Stefan. If Jovan was telling the truth, Stefan must be aware of the fact that Jovan was holding Renee hostage. Yet, he remained indifferent and feigned ignorance. He didn't even care if Renee was fine. What a cruel bastard! Justin was disappointed in Stefan. He wanted nothing more than to see what was really on Stefan's mind."Take good care of her." Stefan did not want to defend himself. He glanced at Renee, relucta
"What did you do to her?!" Stefan interrogated Jovan coldly, his eyes teary. "She isn't the kind to kill herself! What the hell did you do to her?" "Try to wake her up if you want to know." Jovan was pale. His previous sickness, coupled with his recent blood donation to Renee, made him very weak. Despite that, he refused to stop infuriating others. "Do you think I can't do anything to you? Do you really think that?" Stefan could no longer hold himself back and strangled Jovan. "I'm going to kill you! Repent for the terrible things you've done!"He couldn't imagine the kind of thing that could force the strong and stubborn Renee to resist by using such a desperate means. "You obviously won't go easy on me! I'm sure of that!" Jovan sneered. His pale face turned flushed as he suffocated from Stefan's powerful grip. "But you'd better kill yourself first if you want to avenge her! She ended up like this because of you." "What?" Stefan's face was frosty. He strengthened his grip a
Jovan slowly got up from the ground, looking incredibly weak. He whispered, "She lost too much blood. The doctor claimed she's out of danger, but…she hasn't woken up.""What did you say?" Stefan and Justin were bewildered. They couldn't process his words."So, she was the female college student who tried to kill herself?" Stefan said. He staggered after linking the information he had heard from a nurse with the things that Jovan had said."Stop acting dumb! You're so smart, how could you have missed that?" Jovan glared coldly stared at Stefan, scrutinizing him in disdain. "You were just too scared to face the truth and your woman! You're such a coward! You're an embarrassment to your family!""Agreed!" Justin added; he suddenly found Jovan useful, especially when the latter started insulting Stefan. It felt just right."Although I'm a fallback guy, I'm braver than you. I accept that she doesn't love me, and I'm willing to give it a try with her. And although this guy's a vill
Stefan frowned, doubtful. He looked vigilantly at Jovan, who had collapsed on the ground. "What do you mean by this?"Jovan kept coughing and said nothing. His lips grew pale as he sneered.Justin's eyes were cold, and he held back his urge to beat up Jovan. "Hmph! Obviously, this is a scam!"He demanded condescendingly, "How dare you barge into my territory and take away my woman! Don't you fear my family and me at all?"Jovan, filled with disdain, looked at Justin as if he was a fool. "Stop talking. You don't even have the right to join this battle."To Jovan, only Stefan was qualified and powerful enough to be his enemy."How dare you say that!" Justin was infuriated. He got down on one knee and grabbed Jovan. "Your family always says nasty things! You two are the same. If we start fighting, I'll make sure to cut your tongue first!""Did I say something wrong?" Jovan sized Justin up, ridiculing Justin with mock compassion. "Don't you have any self-awareness? You're just a fal
Stefan frowned and asked solemnly, "Aren't you a top hacker? Hack into this hospital's inpatient system. Then, we'll know where she is.""Yes, you're right." Still, Justin wanted to challenge Stefan. He said indifferently, "But you're Jovan's cousin. It's more convenient for you to make a call instead of me hacking into their system."Yes, Justin could hack into their system, but calling Jovan would be quicker. And what they needed the most was time."He and I…" Stefan sneered, flexing his fingers. "The fact we didn't kill each other is considered peaceful. He's not as obedient as you think.""You'll know by calling him."Justin had heard about the complicated internal fights of the Hunt family, but he felt that Stefan was exaggerating."Jovan is a Hunt no matter what. Plus, he's still working at Hunt Enterprise. Just call him," Justin said. "Fine." Stefan found Justin logical. His private grudges with Jovan were not important because finding Renee immediately was the most impo
Both Stefan and Justin arrived at Grace Hospital quickly. However, Stefan suddenly stopped before he entered the hospital. He looked at Justin curiously."Let's go! It's urgent. Stop standing here!"Justin hurriedly ran. When he turned around, he found that Stefan had not caught up with him. Confused, he asked Stefan, "Something is puzzling me. Don't you want me to stop seeing her? Why did you let me come with you?" Stefan narrowed his eyes and interrogated Justin suspiciously, "Did you lie to me? Or are you plotting something?" "That's nonsense! Don't take me as you. I'm not full of schemes like you!" Justin sounded disdainful. In comparison to Stefan, Justin was not full of schemes. He also looked down upon Stefan since the latter was always vigilant.Justin answered honestly, "Yeah, I don't want you to meet her ever, but I'm sure she wants to see you if she's in danger. Yes, I hate you—but I want her to be happy." He guessed that Renee must be in a serious state since Jov
"Uh…" After some contemplation, Elijah nodded. "I know what to do, Mr. Hunt. It looks like you can see far beyond the current situation. Just leave this to me.""Of course, the most important thing is to have fun."Stefan remained calm; he didn't feel like he had stepped over the line. He merely wanted Justin to learn about the cruelty of the world since Justin was always being protected so well. Whenever he did something wrong, he had to pay a price for it.Besides, Stefan merely did it for his aunt, who had taken the gunshot for nothing. When they reached a consensus, Justin came to meet Stefan. "Hey…" After a pause, he said with dissatisfaction and helplessness, "Would you like to go with me?"Stefan raised his brows in confusion."I mean, do you want to visit Phoenix with me?" Justin sighed. He looked naive, like a college student, as he confessed, "I found Jovan. I don't know why he's so good at countersurveillance. After exiting the emergency room, he transferred her to