"Great! Quinton, you're the best." Renee heaved a sigh of relief and gave Quinton a bear hug.Leia chimed in curiously, "Ren, where are you going with Liam? It sounds so mysterious. I want to go too!"Liam stuffed a drumstick into Leia's mouth and said irritatedly, "You're just a kid. Stop meddling in the adults' business. Eat more and grow up."Leia's eyes bulged in anger, and she removed the drumstick from her mouth angrily. She glared at Liam and snapped, "Liam, I'm only a few minutes younger than you. Stop acting like a kid!" Liam could not help laughing and said cheekily, "The only child I see here is you!"The others burst into laughter as Leia hurled the chicken drumstick at Liam, missing him entirely.Leia became angrier. "Help me settle this, since we're three pairs of twins with mixed genders. Why are Ren and Abby's elder brothers so warm but my brother so mean? He always bullies me!" Liam explained, "That just means you should reflect on yourself."The others laugh
The plane touched down at Goldshire the next morning. A long row of cars waited at the exit ostentatiously, as if they were welcoming a diplomat."Liam!" A man in sunglasses and a floral shirt waved at Liam from afar. He even held a toothpick between his teeth, which was visible with his wide grin. His skin was tanned, and he was thin and tall. There were two dragons tattooed on his arms, and it was clear that he wasn't someone to be trifled with."Matt!" Liam waved back heartily, and whispered to Renee, "That's Mateo Harrison, the subordinate my master values the most. He's cruel and fierce, so everyone in this city is afraid of him. If you want to win my master's trust, you have to win Matt over first."While he was talking, Mateo walked over to Liam. Mateo hugged Liam enthusiastically, smacking the latter's back playfully. "Kiddo, you're back! Looks like you still have a heart, eh? Master always talks about you, so he's going to be so happy you're back.""Of course! Master is li
"I'm not nervous. It's just that... I think things are getting interesting now." Renee had left that circle for many years, so she rarely experienced risky situations like this. She suddenly felt like she had entered an adventure game, and adrenaline was pumping in her veins. Benjamin lived in the center of the fort. Although the large reception hall was not as luxurious as a five-star hotel, it was still magnificent, with plenty of armed guards around.Benjamin sat at the main seat in the reception hall, looking like an amiable old man in a casual floral shirt. He even had a white beard. When he saw Liam, he smiled happily. There were five men of different ages sitting beside him, and all of them looked intimidating and dangerous. They were Benjamin's foster children, just like Mateo. There was only one woman in the hall, and she was wearing a white traditional suit, looking charming and delicate. Renee felt curious just looking at her, and tugged on Liam's sleeve as she asked,
Benjamin ignored Renee's greeting, a prime example of male chauvinism. Renee was told to sit at a neighboring table with a group of strangers. She did not even get to speak to Benjamin.On the other hand, Liam was treated very well, and was asked to sit at Benjamin's left.While eating, Benjamin and Liam had a very happy chat.It was clear that he liked Liam very much, and wished he had a son like him. Liam behaved obediently the whole time, making Benjamin very happy.When it was almost time for the feast to end, he glanced at Renee, and pretended to ask Benjamin casually, "By the way, Master, where is Joanne? Why didn't I see her?" Both Joanne and Liam escaped from the red-light district together. They had become Benjamin's disciples at the same time, but Joanne chose to stay while Liam wanted to leave.Back then, Benjamin valued Joanne just as much as he valued Liam. She should have been promoted to a very high position, but Liam hadn't seen her around, which was strange.
Mateo nodded and glanced at Renee before he explained, "The people who dare to doubt Master will have their tongues cut off and lips sewn shut. After that, they will be locked up in dungeons until they die."Renee unconsciously swallowed, in disbelief at how cruel this old man was. Such a ruthless punishment was almost as bad as the punishments Quinton used."What are you waiting for? Hurry up and execute her!" Benjamin barked, unable to stand the sight of Renee. "Wait!" Liam immediately stood up and begged for mercy for Renee. "Master, it's my girlfriend's first time being here, so she doesn’t know the rules. Please let her off the hook this time. I promise that she won’t do it again. I spent quite a long time trying to win her heart. Besides, I respect you very much, so I brought her to you. Please do me a favor, okay?" "Fine, just this once." Benjamin sneered before he ordered, "Lock her up in the dungeon first. I'll release her after negotiating with Liam."Although Liam cou
Renee was held by armed guards and pushed into a remote place in the fort that was surrounded by a lot of guards. "How dare you offend Mr. Jenkins! If not for Mr. Osborne, your tongue would have been cut off by now! Stay in there and reflect on yourself." The guard fiercely pushed her into a small, dark room, which was the so-called dungeon. The door was closed again, and Renee felt her throat tighten in the tiny room, like she was being strangled. "Who’s there?" There was movement in the furthest corner, and Renee immediately realised there was someone else in the dungeon with her."You're new here?" The person leaned back against the wall and stared at Renee. Renee couldn't make her features out in the dark, but her voice was eerily toneless.Renee frowned and asked tentatively, "Could you be... Joanne?" She vaguely heard that Joanne was locked up in the dungeon too. Besides, there were practically no women around, so it was very likely that this person was Joanne. "You're ne
Joanne clenched her fists so tightly that her long fingernails dug deep into her palms. "It depends on who the angel meets. If an angel meets another angel, then it'll be heaven. But if the angel meets a demon, it'll go to hell... He was the one who sent me there!""Miss, you... Wait a minute..." Renee's mind was a mess. Feeling bewildered, she asked Joanne in confusion, "You betrayed him and stabbed him, but you also said that he was a demon who pulled you down to hell… Is that right?""Yes, that's right." Joanne nodded vigorously, unashamed of what she had done."Well, you're being unreasonable. How can you shift the blame to him?" Renee argued."What do you know? No one knows about my past with him, so none of you know how he dragged me to hell." "Do you mind telling me then? It seems like both of you are troubled by something… maybe I can help?" Renee felt that the woman she had heard about was not that unreasonable and ruthless. There had to be some kind of misunderstanding.
"Er... that..." When Renee noticed Joanne's intention of letting it all go to hell, she was in a dilemma. When a person had lost all hope, it would be near impossible to save them."If you don't leave, you'll meet a miserable end. Even if you manage to stay alive, the master will torture you. Have you ever thought about the consequences?" Renee patiently tried to persuade Joanne."Yeah, I'm aware of that but I don't care. If I was afraid of death, I wouldn't have betrayed him. I can't bear his lawless behaviour, so I hope that I can do something nice before I die to make up for the mistakes I made," Joanne said absently. She had long lost all hope to survive. When she recalled the things she did in the past, as well as the things she had experienced, she lost her desire to live. She no longer recognized herself. "You want to make up for your mistakes, so it proves that you haven't given up all hope. There's still something you can't let go of... So, don't just give up on yourself,
Justin smiled and described the children's experiences, acting like a stepfather. When he talked about the children, he made it sound like they were his biological children. Stefan didn't look so good. He felt that the glass of wine was getting bitter."Well, I'm sure kids will find everything new and exciting when they go to a new place. But they'll get bored with it when time passes. They'll love their real home better." Stefan had wanted to act relaxed and casual, but he could not stop himself from refuting when he heard Justin's provocative words. "Mm?" Leia sat beside Liam and leaned against his arm, and whispered, "What are they doing? This is weird. Are they going to fight?""It's just a competition between men. They won't get into a fight." Liam kept eating and watching the fun. He merely found it amusing. As expected, Renee was greatly admired. Although she remained silent, she would always be in the limelight. Liam was amused to see people like Stefan or Justin
"How dare you!"Stefan's words instantly made Leia speechless. She had wanted to rebuke him, but he snatched the chance from her and struck her dumb.In short, he was an utter scumbag.After a moment, Leia finally managed to comment, "How shameless!" Justin had kept silent all the while. He looked at Stefan with a scrutinizing and mocking gaze. "Mr. Hunt, I admire your honesty and self-awareness. If that's the case, let's stop being reserved and have fun together!""Yes, let's have fun together. I'm shameless, too!" Liam joined in the effort to mock Stefan. He swayed his glass of wine and faked a smile. "I've known her a long time, so of course I know what shameless things Mr. Hunt has done. I think I'd better grab this chance to tell you all of them since everyone is here today."Standing at the door, Renee was worried that Liam might say more indecent things. She hurriedly stopped him. "Pipe down, Liam!" "Got it." Liam shrugged helplessly but obeyed her.Although he yea
"Do you want to leave?" Stefan saw Renee. He was calm, indifferent, and distant. His behavior stung Renee. Renee could easily recall their lovey-dovey memories. They had both risked their lives for each other and vowed to be together forever. They had two children, too. Yet, they ended up as strangers.Although Renee was heartbroken, she became competitive. She smoothed her hair and said in a similarly cold manner, "I'm going to the washroom." "Okay." Stefan did not have anything to say. He nodded and walked past Renee before heading to the dining table. "Hmph! I didn't expect you to come so boldly," Quinton sneered.At the sight of Stefan, Quinton subconsciously clenched his fists, acting like he was about to fight Stefan. On the surface, he wouldn't act aggressively because he knew Renee would stop him. "It's not easy for the few great families to get together. It's good and meaningful for us. If I refused to come, it would make me seem heartless."Stefan kept his co
Having said that, Renee lowered her head, about to leave. She didn't even have the time to bother about Adie and Abby, and told Quinton to take them home later. Her strange behavior filled Quinton with displeasure. He blocked Renee and said solemnly, "Are you afraid? Do you want to run away? People might think that you're guilty and have cheated on your husband!""No, I'm not!" Renee refuted him loudly, then explained seriously, "I'm busy. I need to handle something right away. Plus, I'm not guilty. I did nothing wrong. There's no reason for me to feel guilty." Quinton went straight to the point. "What are you afraid of since you know you're not guilty? Why do you want to run away? He should be afraid instead!""I told you. I'm not afraid of him. I'm just…" "What?" Quinton crossed his arms and looked at Renee coldly. He wanted to get to the bottom of it.Renee came up with a ridiculous yet normal excuse. "I… I recalled that the dessert shop that I want to head to is about to
Jovan called Stefan to sound the latter out. Anyway, it would be convenient for Stefan to rush over since they were both at the same spot. "I'll be right there," Stefan said. Then, he hung up.For a moment, silence washed over everyone, as if something terrible was about to happen.After taking in the new information, Leia said indignantly, "What's going on? Why does he want to come? Isn't he too shameless? How dare he come?" Although everything wasn't discussed openly, everyone knew why Stefan and Renee broke up all of a sudden, despite how lovey-dovey they were. The reason was that Stefan had cheated on Renee.Even if the adultery was faked, it was still the cause of their breakup. If Stefan were shameful or guilty, he wouldn't have agreed to come. He was going to face Renee there with their friends and family around. Certainly, it was embarrassing. "Hmph! Why not? He impersonated me, seized my business, and snatched away my woman. Plus, he led a steady life, got married
Jovan's words made the atmosphere quiet and bizarre. "Are you out of your mind, Jovan? It's already very annoying to have someone like you here. Do you have to get another annoying guy?" Leia frowned, crossing her arms. She kept scolding him.Initially, the atmosphere was considered harmonious. It was still considered fine even if there was an annoying person like Jovan. Unexpectedly, he wanted to call another, more terrible person to come here. Things would certainly go wrong. "Ms. Osborne, you're famous for talking harshly, too. You're just like me. I love it." However, Jovan was not mad at all. He grinned while waiting for Stefan to answer the call. Generally, Stefan would not answer Jovan's call. Surprisingly, he picked it up that time."What's the matter?" Jovan purposely put it on speaker mode. Stefan sounded aloof and emotionless.Jovan sounded wicked as he calmly asked Stefan, "Do you want to join a gathering, Stefan?""I'm going to hang up if you don't say anythi
In the past, Jovan had always regarded Stefan as a coward. Stefan couldn't forget about Renee, but he kept pushing Renee to another man. It seemed like Justin was more responsible, considerate, and gentle. Of course, Renee would lead a very happy, steady, and comfortable life with such a man. At the very least, Jovan felt that he could not be that meticulous and considerate. He would only drive Renee mad just to get her attention. "Hmph! Are you trying to humiliate me or yourself?" Justin didn't find that a compliment. Instead, it sounded like smockery. Jovan made it sound like Justin was a nice guy, but would not be picked by Renee. Usually, people like that had to suffer and would not end up well."I'm praising you." Jovan was helpless because of his reputation as the villain. Although he had said a lot of annoying things, he did want to compliment Justin. His love was probably as deep as Justin's, but his and Stefan's ways of loving Renee were much inferior to Justin's.
"That's unnecessary." Justin stood in front of Renee, his face cold. He said firmly, "She's unwell and can't have wine." "Is she unwell? I didn't see that." Jovan sized Renee up before he sized Justin up. Then, he sneered, "And who are you to her? You can't stop her from having wine.""It's none of your business who I am to her. I said she can't have wine." Justin always kept peace with others, but at that moment, he was dominant. He didn't always want to control Renee, but she had drunk a lot of wine that day. It might have hurt her belly. Hence, he felt it better for her to abstain from wine lately. However, Jovan was unaware of that affair. He simply found Justin purposely showing his ownership over Renee, which disgusted him."Waiter, get her a glass of milk. She only wants that," Justin instructed a waiter, showing his consideration for Renee. "It's okay. I can have a little wine. Plus, I'm rather good at drinking. It's not easy for everyone to get together tonight. I do
They danced for around ten minutes. Renee danced to the song heartily. Her initial gloomy mood also improved.Renee drank some water and took a few deep breaths. Then, she sincerely praised Leia, "Alright. Your welcome ceremony is bizarre, but it helped relieve my stress. I like it very much!"She could tell that Leia had painstakingly prepared that gift for her. After all, it was not easy to ask the Zambawi people from primitive tribes to sing an English song. "I'm glad you like it. I did this because I wanted you to relax and stop taking things seriously. You need to stop being so hard on yourself and get rid of all the pressure!" Leia said honestly. The Zambawi hand-drum dance came with the charms of a primitive dance. Its goal was to set people free. Of course, it was suitable for Renee to relieve her stress."Yeah, your stress is relieved. From now on, you'll start afresh. This is for you. I'm sure it'll be one of your happy memories." Liam handed the previous Polaroid to