If Megan knew that she had to compete with the others for their houses, she wouldn't have taken her time speaking to Skylar as they got off the boat earlier."It's what Mr. Jiminez usually does. I've been watching his reality shows, and I know that he loves to torture the guests with these tricks. I can't believe I'm seeing it in person now!" "Ah, you're so lucky. You kissed Mr. Stuart on the boat, and now you have a beautiful house. You're practically the winner, aren't you?" Megan was full of jealousy."How... How did you know? Xavier and I..." Leia's cheeks turned red and she immediately looked away."Do you forget that it's a live show? Plus, news spread fast. Some netizens have already cut and edited the video of your kiss, and now it's the most trending topic on the Internet," Megan said with a cheeky grin."Ah! I'm doomed," Leia wailed miserably, wondering if Santiago had seen the video too. Xavier must have done it on purpose, the wicked man!At that moment, Leia saw San
"Dream on!" Leia scoffed as she pushed Xavier away, "You're shamelessness is just getting worse! You can't stay in my house, so get out!" She knew how reckless and impulsive Xavier could be, so she wanted to keep her distance from him. If he kissed her again, she wouldn't be able to handle it. She wasn't going to let him get away with his cunning schemes. Grinning, Xavier said, "Remember what you said, okay? Don't come crying and begging me later." The other guests watched Leia and Xavier excitedly and teased them."Wow, this is totally a 'dominant president falls in love' romance. Miss Osborne, stop running away and just accept him!" "I think we should rename our show to something like 'She Can't Escape'...""Mr. Stuart, you'd better stay here. After all, you guys are partners, so it doesn't matter where you stay!"Leia sighed exasperatedly and massaged her aching temples. "Stop encouraging him. This guy is a ticking time bomb, and he just might come after you all too. Anyw
Xavier had been targeting the farrowing task because he would earn 1000 points if he completed it. Once he got those points, he would be able to pick any house he wanted from the six houses tomorrow. He would then exchange his cottage with Leia's villa, and she wouldn't be so smug then.Xavier soon arrived at Jayden's house at the edge of the village. Jayden was quite poor, so the village had given him that place to stay. He was relying mostly on the country's financial support to keep him going, and he had also been given five pigs to earn his living. He worked hard and took great care of his pigs, and now it was finally the time to deliver their babies. Unfortunately, because of his lack of education, he had no idea how to help with the farrowing. Coincidentally, the crew of The Choice of Love happened to come to the island for the show, and when Adam saw those heavily pregnant pigs, he smacked his thigh happily. "Well, isn't this swell! I'll make the guests help with the farrowin
However, this pig wasn't easy to deal with. It squealed and kicked at Xavier, and it was covered in mud, pig food, and pig manure. Xavier tried to suppress his disgust as he approached the pig, but he couldn't even get close."Mister, do something. My pig can't hold on for much longer..." Jayden urged Xavier at the door of the pigsty, starting to get frustrated. "Can you do it? If not, let someone else do it instead!" "Calm down. I... I can do it!" Holding his breath, Xavier braced himself and approached the pig again. He knew he could do anything he wanted, and this was just a simple task. He took a deep breath, then fished out his phone to look up the necessary steps and precautions.Firstly, he had to wash the pig's body with potassium permanganate before laying it on the delivery bed to prevent infections after the delivery. Secondly, he had to get a pair of scissors to cut off the umbilical cord for the delivery. Thirdly, he had to get some old clothes and towels to help wipe
[The secret romance between a big shot and a pig.][Is Xavier okay?]At last, the pig gave birth to its first piglet as Xavier sang love songs to it."Yes, it's out! You're doing great, keep going!" Xavier said encouragingly as he held the sticky little piglet, feeling himself tear up as he stared at the tiny creature. In the past, he always felt that children were horrible demons, but when he held the little piglet in his hands, he suddenly felt like he wanted to have children. Oh, yes. He would have children with Leia when this show was over.Eventually, all the chaos ended, and a few dozen piglets were sprawled across the pigsty. Jayden grinned happily knowing his future business was secured. Xavier had swiftly prevented the other guests from interfering, and had won 1000 points in the end. Additionally, Jayden and the village secretary awarded Xavier with a red flower and a banner declaring him the 'best midwife for sows'. Xavier proudly looked at the red flower pinned to
"Seriously?" Leia asked suspiciously."Yes!" Xavier nodded and held his hand out to her. "It's the perfect time to. Would you like to go with me?"Leia looked into his eyes and saw sincerity in them. After a brief pause, she nodded firmly. "Okay.""Let's go then, my princess." Xavier's eyes sparkled in delight, and he acted like a prince leading his beloved princess to his secret spot. To his surprise, she had actually agreed to his request.Looks like those pigs were good for something, after all. After a while of walking, they arrived on the other end of the island where Xavier's cottage was. There was a large space in front of the cottage where the barbecue was going on, and some people were whispering to each other while others sang and played guitar. The atmosphere was rather romantic."Don't tell me the most beautiful view on this island is this barbecue?" Leia asked in disbelief. She should never have trusted that trickster Xavier!"Well, not exactly..." Holding Leia's h
Leia watched the stars, thrilled that she could stare at them without even lifting her head. It looked so magical!Leia and Xavier laid next to each other and marvelled at the view silently, their shoulders and heads touching. It felt peaceful and soothing."You know, it's been a while since I saw this many stars..." Leia murmured, feeling rather melancholic. "The last time was when Liam, Ren, and I drove to The Golden Hills at Springfield. Everwell Hills, The King of Hills is right opposite The Golden Hills. When night fell, the dark sky was full of bright stars… It was as if I could see the whole galaxy." "I can imagine," Xavier said longingly. He had always wanted to stargaze on a hill because the view would be clearest, but he never could find the time. Now that he heard it from Leia, he felt like he was experiencing it himself."We had such a good time, and we worried about nothing. We would go on road trips when we were free, and we climbed a lot of mountains and went to a l
"I..." Leia bit her lip, feeling conflicted. To be honest, she didn't know how she felt about Xavier now. Maybe some of those feelings were still there, but their brief relationship had been rocky and unpredictable. On the other hand, Santiago's gentle warmth always put her at ease, and she could even imagine having a family with him.If something did happen between her and Santiago during this filming period, she would choose him over Xavier, without a doubt.Xavier was like the sun, passionate and magnetic, but she'd get burned if she got too close. Santiago, meanwhile, gentle and reassuring like the moon. She could imagine being in a deep and lasting relationship with him. Leia took a deep breath. "Xavier, actually, I—" However, before she could say anything, Xavier stopped her with a kiss, as if he knew what she was going to say. "Mmph!" Angry, she tried to push him away, but it was the first time he was kissing her so softly and tenderly. She could feel his humility and nerv
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