"Of course it's normal—she thinks I'm a controlling pervert, so she wants to stay far away from me. I guess I should just be grateful that she doesn't want to kill me." Quinton looked up at the clouds and smiled bitterly. "Maybe she's just biding her time waiting for the perfect opportunity to deliver the final blow."Renee shook her head. "Quinton, stop. Let's just find Joanne and make it clear to her—""I would happily sink into the ocean with her if it happens again." Quinton interrupted her, his gaze distant. Renee was scared by this sudden change in Quinton. She needed to find Joanne as soon as possible and clear up their misunderstanding, but Joanne had disappeared. Even the doctor had no idea where she went, so it would be like finding a needle in a haystack."Quinton, buck up. We'll come up with something and find her." Renee started the car and turned on the GPS. "Do you know if Joanne has any friends in Beach City? Who's the most likely person she'll go to?" "She doesn
"Baby?" Quinton's gaze turned cold, and he sneered, "That was my last regret. That baby was a sin, and had no right to come into this world, but she foolishly wanted to deliver it… I would never have let her do such a stupid thing."Quinton's sudden change scared Renee. She swallowed nervously, feeling like she was walking on eggshells. "But why? Since you and Joanne cared so deeply for each other, why didn't you want a child with her? Why—""Shut up!" Quinton shot her a fierce glare. "Stop asking about it! If you really cared about me as a sister, you wouldn't reopen my wounds just to satisfy your curiosity!" After that, he got out of the car and stormed off.Speechless, Renee helplessly watched him leave. She could tell that this was what was troubling Quinton and Joanne. However, only they knew the real story, and if they refused to talk about it, it would torture them forever as it grew worse.After dwelling on it, Renee felt that she could only resolve this issue after locatin
"How do you know my favorite fruit is kiwi? We must be quite close if you know that much," Stefan remarked casually as he smiled and ate his kiwi."Yes, you're right. You nearly killed my brother, and I nearly killed you. That must make us close, right?" Renee rolled her eyes and said."That's right, so we're even now. Can we let bygones be bygones and just move on?" Stefan suddenly demanded, which reminded Renee of Jovan's shameless behaviour. It seemed like after Stefan received Jovan's blood, he inherited some of his characteristics too."I nearly broke your neck but you're forgiving me so easily? Are you still the petty man I knew?" Raising her brows, Renee asked."What about you? Do you forgive me?" Stefan asked instead. But Renee averted her gaze and said nothing."Why aren't you answering my question?" Stefan smiled and urged, "Do you still hate me or have you forgiven me? Tell me." Renee looked up and met his gaze. "Is it important?""Yes, it is." Stefan nodded eager
Renee's response did not surprise Stefan, and he scoffed, "Why did you even come to see me if you hate me? You even pretentiously brought so many supplements. It's hard for me to believe that you're not here to kill me instead." Renee glared at him. "I don't bully the weak, and I already said that we're even… but it doesn't mean I've forgiven you.""You baffle me…" Stefan leaned back with his eyes closed, letting out a deep breath. "You can pick up where you left off. I won't resist, and I promise that I'll die for real this time.""Don't drag me into this! Just open the window—I'm sure you can kill yourself by jumping off this eighteen-storey building," Renee uttered grumpily. She felt that she was too soft-hearted if she could speak so nicely to such a wicked man. If it were someone else, they would have slapped him hard. "So, you came to see me even though you hate me… What is it you really want?" Stefan opened his eyes and stared at her shrewdly, not beating around the bush.
"They?" Stefan frowned, finding her words very interesting."Yeah, you know that my brother just got out of a coma. His character has changed, and he isn't as violent as he used to be. He even told me that he'll give up on the feud between you two… I just wanted Joanne to meet him to clear their understanding," Renee told Stefan sincerely. She felt that Stefan was not an unfeeling person despite his wickedness. If he mediated the conflict between Quinton and Joanne, it wouldn't affect him at all, and they would owe him big-time. Of course, it was a good bargain. "That's your assumption." Stefan narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Men are very good at pretending, and they'll do anything to get what they want. He was once Joanne's closest brother, but you know the despicable things he did to her." Men knew men; there was no guarantee that Quinton had changed or whether he was just faking it. Besides, Joanne was the most pitiful woman Stefan had ever met, and she'd got into this mess becau
Francine initially wanted to scold Renee, but upon seeing her dejected expression, her heart softened. She couldn't bear to say anything harsh to her, and said instead, "I know that Stef nearly died in your hands again. I don't know what he's done to make you do this to him repeatedly, but you were once my daughter-in-law. Do me the favor and stay far away from Stef for his sake. Don't you see accidents always happen when you both get close to each other? The both of you might love each other truly, but you're not suitable for each other." Francine sincerely liked and admired Renee, but unfortunately, she was not fated to be with her son. Francine felt that she had to break them up for the sake of Stefan's health.Renee nodded calmly. "Don't worry, you don't have to remind me. I know that I should stay far away from Stefan but sometimes I need to come to him for urgent matters. It's alright, I'll give you my word now that I'll never see him again unless I'm forced to.""R–Really?" Fr
"I know I shouldn't beg you for this, but you're a good person, so I think I can discuss it with you."Renee was curious now. "Please go on." "It's about Adie and Abby's custody—" Francine started, but was immediately interrupted by Renee."No, I'll never give up custody of them," Reene said firmly.Although Francine had anticipated this, she still felt very aggrieved. "Normally, I wouldn't give up custody of either of them because they're Hunts at the end of the day…"Renee shook her head and argued, "You're wrong. Biologically, only women's genes are passed down, which means Adie and Abby are Everhearts and don't have much to do with the Hunt family." Francine frowned petulantly and complained, "Stop being so stubborn. If this becomes a court case, the judge will surely give the Hunt family one of the kids.""Fine, go ahead. I have the most outstanding civil attorney who has never lost custody cases like this before. Try it if you don't believe me. The Murphy family won't be
Renee felt dejected after she came back from the hospital. When she arrived at the Everheart Manor, she found Quinton digging the ground with Adie and Abby in the large back garden. The children were jumping around Quinton happily, a thin layer of sweat on their chubby faces."What are you all doing?" Renee's heart softened and she smiled tenderly when she saw them."Mommy, look! Uncle is teaching us how to plant flowers." Abby's cheeks were flushed from all the jumping around, making her look even more adorable."Really? What kind of flowers are you planting?" Renee walked into the garden and asked curiously. "Of course, we're planting sunflowers, your favorite. Uncle said this kind of sunflower will blossom in a month, and by then, this garden will be filled with golden sunflowers as pretty as the ones in Sun Island!" Abby exclaimed, sounding a little wistful. Sun Island was where she and Adie were born, and they had so many wonderful memories there."Mommy, when can we go back
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
"This is your welcome ceremony. This hand-drum dance is to help eliminate bad luck." Leia held Renee's arm, satisfied with her arrangement. She said happily, "Listen to their song! It's a great song!""Is there a song?" Renee frowned; she felt that Leia was always doing bizarre things. She wondered how Leia could come up with such a preposterous welcome ceremony."Mm, listen carefully! It's English. You can understand it." At that point, Leia said to the Zambawi people, "Put on your microphone. And sing louder."The Zambawi people gave their cooperation. They used their typical Zambawi singing to sing the English song. While listening to the song, Renee found it very familiar. "The flowers will bloom in spring, and the birds are free. I'm still waiting, waiting for my love to come back. Hurry home!""Isn't that Spring Flowers by Curtis Harrett?" Renee finally recalled what song it was. It was a song with a happy beat. It could make people happy. The Zambawi people made th
"I don't know, either. All I ever remember from when I was young is that I led a very painful life. I once tried my best to make the Garcia family accept me. I did all the dirty and tiring jobs. I went out to work at an early age to get money for them. I also did all the house chores. "But my foster parents were never nice to me. They would always beat me up or scold me. My elder foster brother also saw me as an eyesore. He always tried to get me killed…" Quinton calmly described his past. He no longer seemed to be in pain. All that was left in him was numbness, as if he were talking about someone else.However, Renee was always in pain whenever she heard him talk about his past. She felt like she had returned to his past with him and experienced those painful things. It was normal for her to feel that way because they were twins. A lot of their thoughts and feelings were synchronized. "I suddenly recalled that I would inexplicably become gloomy many times when I was young. I
"I'm sorry." When Renee heard that from Quinton, she realized the conflict between him and Stefan had yet to be resolved. It was temporarily put aside because of her. She occasionally saw him and Stefan talk to each other and drink together, but they merely put on a show to ease her mind. Their hatred for each other hadn't been eliminated. Instead, it was growing secretly. If Renee were Quinton, she might never forgive the person who had snatched away her beloved and seized her identity. That person even ruined her face."Why did you say sorry to me? It's the resentment between him and me. It has nothing to do with you. Plus, I didn't know he was my brother-in-law then. If I knew, I wouldn't have fought him." When Quinton recalled those affairs, he realized that people were nothing but the sport of fate. If there had been no resentment between him and Stefan, Renee might not have broken up with Stefan. Their families might even get closer. "Stop bringing up the past. It's
During these days, Renee was under pressure because of her affairs. She had no chance to ask Quinton about it. Now, the long flight gave them a chance to have a deep conversation. They could talk about their woes and seek consolation."Me?" Quinton lowered his head and shook his head helplessly. "I'm still the same old me. Nothing is troubling me. I've been busy with Carmine Pawnshop. I have no time to think about other stuff.""You have no time?" Renee touched her chin and smiled naughtily. "Then, you must have been dwelling on other stuff. Let me guess… Is it the thing between you and Joanne?" "Stop asking so much." Quinton did not deny it but refused to talk much about that. "It looks like I made the right guess. You fell out with Joanne, didn't you?" Renee knew Quinton well. Generally, his work would not affect his mood. The only person who could affect his mood was Joanne, who shared a complicated relationship with him. Before Renee left Beach City, she had created a l