Under the glow of the dim lights of the private lounge, Renee didn't just see Stefan, but he was surrounded by several young, exquisitely good-looking men, each dressed in their own distinct style.And all those men were exhausting every last skill in their arsenal to impress Stefan."Ahem!" Renee coughed awkwardly, feeling as if she really was not supposed to be there at all.Stefan did not notice that Renee was there. He was too busy singing a famous song called "Ten Years Ago" with a microphone in his hand."Ten years ago…" he sang, "I did not know you, and you were not mine; we were still…"Although Renee had initially planned to leave right away, she was suddenly attracted to Stefan's voice. Despite being married to him for several years, it was actually her first time hearing him sing.She never expected a man like Stefan, who was always so serious and rigid, would ever be able to sing so passionately. Sure, he had a deep and hypnotic voice, but what was more impressive was
After speaking, she walked up to Stefan and told the handsome young man who was singing with him, "Hey, do you mind scooting over a little? The place beside him belongs to me."The young man looked like he was only in his early twenties, but he had a pretty imposing attitude because he was the most popular singing escort in this karaoke bar. "You'll have to get in line," he told Renee. "I was here first, so why the hell should I let you have my place?"Renee held her head high and confidently replied, "Because I'm his ex-wife."The young man was taken aback for a while. He didn't become the most popular escort in this karaoke without going through a lot of experience."So what?" he snapped more confidently than Renee. "Even if you're his current wife, I still won't let you have my place. If you're unhappy, then you can go outside and complain to our manager. I should warn you, though, that our establishment has some powerful backers.""You…!"Renee was left momentarily speechle
Renee and Stefan were so close that they could feel each other's breath. The warm air that Stefan exhaled reeked of alcohol. Misty-eyed, he gently lifted her chin with his lanky fingers and asked, "What happened that night?"Renee frowned, suspicion written all over her face."Have you genuinely forgotten, or are you just evading any responsibility?""Why don't you tell me?" Stefan replied in a husky voice, though it was unclear if he was serious when he added, "Only after you tell me will I find out what I remember and forgot." "That night…" Renee almost blurted out the truth, but in the end, she still chose to remain silent about it.After all, even though she rarely got drunk, she would still have the impression of what she said and did the night before when she did. She would never cleanly forget everything. So, she found it hard to believe that Stefan did not remember anything.Unless… he deliberately chose to forget!Since he intended to forget it, she would only make t
Elijah pushed his glasses and matter-of-factly told Renee, "You might not know this, Madam, but whenever Mr. Hunt gets drunk, he always ends up like this. In fact, you're not the first person he hugs so tightly like a bolster, unwilling to let go. Trust me, Madam. We've been through this. I know for a fact that it's perfectly feasible.""So," he added, "if you don't mind, I must trouble you to endure it for just a while. Once Mr. Hunt has sobered up, I'm sure he'll be really grateful."Naturally, everything he said was nonsense. He merely intended to give Stefan and Renee a chance to be closer, because the sober version of Stefan Hunt would never do anything that would hurt his ego or embarrass him. Despite that, women's hearts were conquered by the constant pursuit, especially a woman as perfect as Renee, now that she had become the director of the Electronics Technology Association. How else could Stefan win her heart if he refused to exert a little effort and employ a few tricks?
Francine shouted at Renee, "You've already divorced Stefan, yet you still pester him. Now you even dare to come to Hunt Villa and provoke us. How could there be such a shameless woman like you!"Elijah wanted to explain, but he was cut short by Renee, who was a step quicker. She retorted back venomously, "Ms. Francine, please open your eyes wider and see who’s bothering who. You failed as a mother for having a son so shameless.""You…"Francine was so mad that she couldn’t form her words properly.“Before this, I was your daughter-in-law, and I respected you. But now that I am no longer related to the Hunts, I will sue you for emotional harm if you offend me again.”After speaking, Renee tried to push Stefan away with all her strength but failed.She couldn’t help but suspect that he was doing it on purpose."Stefan, are you done fooling around? Let go of me, or I will hurt you!"Renee had her fist clenched, and she was about to strike him.She didn't want to spend another sec
After Renee left, Briar smiled satisfyingly.She carried the drunken Stefan and said to Francine, “Ms. Francine, I'll take Stefan to the room now. I believe my engagement to Stefan will be sealed soon after tonight.”Francine nodded. “Yes. We need to grab hold of the opportunity.”Although she wasn’t satisfied with Briar, compared to Renee, Briar listened to her more.She hoped that Briar could make use of tonight so that Renee doesn’t try to come again.Elijah was getting anxious as he stood by the side. He felt that Stefan was in danger.He couldn’t figure out how Renee would be willing to give up the man she loved to a woman like Briar.‘Does Ms. Everheart really not love Mr. Hunt anymore? If that’s the case, Mr. Hunt will be in a lot of trouble!’ he thought.“Stefan, I’ll take you to your room.”Suddenly, Stefan pushed Briar away and said emotionlessly, “Go away. You’re not her.”Seeing this, Briar was a little stunned and asked carefully, “Stefan, have you sobered up?”
Stefan woke up the next day with his head weighing a million pounds.He looked around and saw Elijah sitting in front of the bed, observing him with a frown."Mr. Hunt, you’re finally awake. My mission is done. I can leave now." He let out a sigh of relief and seemed excited.With Stefan completely out of it last night, all he could do was guard him the entire night. Elijah feared that Briar, who was yearning for a chance with Stefan, would sneak in and take advantage of the man while he was out of commission.Stefan rubbed his temples and frowned as he tried to recall everything that happened last night.The only memory he had was playing finger guessing with Renee."Did I get drunk last night?"He resumed his cold demeanor, sounding indifferent. "Based on my skills, there's no way I lost control," he stated firmly.Hearing this, Elijah rolled his eyes secretly.'Here we go again. Every time Mr. Hunt gets drunk, he will forget everything that happened, and he would deny all h
Today was the day that Renee was supposed to officially move out of Sunup Residence.Although it was mainly because she wanted to avoid her ex-husband, Stefan, she had also been dreaming about moving to her new place for four years.Her new place would be the Everheart Manor!After the Everheart family went bankrupt four years ago, the court sold off their three-story mansion.Nevertheless, since her parents had passed away at the manor, no one dared to purchase it, even at a modest price.It was auctioned off again a few days ago.This time, Renee bought it for 1.5 billion without further hesitation.She only told Leia and Liam about her new home, who both wanted to throw her a housewarming party. Leia even said that she'd be bringing a mysterious guest.Renee quickly agreed to it as she wanted the abandoned Everheart Residence to feel lively again.She hadn’t stayed in Sunup Residence for long, and there wasn’t much to pack. Before leaving, she gave the door one last look
"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
After a long while, Quinton turned around. He looked at Renee, who was across from him, and heaved a long sigh."We're about to go home soon. Why do you look this gloomy? What's wrong…? Are you reluctant to part with this place?" Quinton said. "No, I'm not." Renee poured herself a glass of orange juice and sipped it. She frowned and dwelled on it before she said, "I feel empty inside. I don't know if I made the right choice.""Empty?" Quinton asked curiously."I think I've said goodbye to a steady life since I decided to leave. Maybe I'll keep on wandering from now on," Renee said melancholically. The reason why she chose to give it a try with Justin because she was tired. She was exhausted from leading a wandering life and wanted to settle down with someone. Others could not give her the sense of security like Justin. When she saw him, she inexplicably wanted a home. At that time, she thought she could forget about everything and start a new life with him. Unexpectedly, she
Adie was still a child, but he acted like a smart person and could see through a lot of things. He could guess why Austin took them to the Baldwin residence. He had also heard the servants of the Baldwin family rebuking Renee in secret. After combining various situations, he learned about what had happened between Renee and Justin. Despite everything, Justin could forgive Renee under such circumstances. He also treated Adie and Abby nicely. It proved that he was a very compassionate man. A small regret gripped Adie. He wondered why Renee didn't date Justin right from the start. If Renee were with such a kind man, she might be very happy. She wouldn't have to suffer through so many hardships either. "No, you don't know me. I always sweat the small stuff."Justin was displeased since Adie had claimed that he was a good guy, like Renee had. He heaved a long sigh and said, "But it's useless even if I sweat the small stuff, so I stop trying. It all comes down to fate. We can't forc
Renee turned and found Jovan unscathed. Relief washed over her. She said grumpily, "It's none of your business!""Tsk! How cruel!" Jovan clutched his chest and pretended to be in deep pain. At the same time, he teased, "I know. Your soulmate is better. I'm so jealous of him, though he's still a fallback guy.""Go to hell, Jovan!" Jovan's nasty words drove Renee mad. She grabbed a piece of napkin, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it at his face. "If I knew you'd talk so badly, I wouldn't be bothered to save you. Maybe you'll get reborn in Ulria. Then, you have to watch your tongue!""Hey! Yeah, I was wrong. You don't have to curse me like that!" Jovan raised his hands to surrender, but felt quite moved. He poured himself a glass of milk and devotedly toasted to her. "Thank you for caring about me and trying your best to save me. I'll toast to you. And you can do whatever you want.""You're so childish." Renee rolled her eyes and was amused.Justin was quite jealous to see them
"What's that?" Justin frowned and said with disdain, "That's something to fool naive women like you. Only lovestruck fools will believe that." As a materialistic person, he never believed in things like horoscopes and fortune-telling. At most, they were mixed with some psychology. They weren't trustworthy at all.If Renee wanted to use those things to talk about their relationships and destinies, it would seem very childish. "Don't be so extreme. Those things are real and logical." Renee acted like an experienced salesperson and gradually eliminated Justin's prejudice. She said patiently, "If you believe those things, they can guide you and help you to see things through. If not, you can use them to kill time. Just try to get to know them. Isn't that nice?"Finally, Justin was convinced. He had some milk and asked her leisurely, "Fine. Tell me what kind of relationship we have based on those things." "I learned that our relationship is a declining friendship based on our birt
"I…" Renee paused. For a moment, she had no idea how to answer that question."Don't put yourself in a difficult position. Just follow your heart," Justin said calmly. "If you want to stay, my family will still welcome you readily. If you want to leave, I'll come up with a way to help you leave smoothly."After listening to Justin, Renee answered honestly, "Maybe it's better for me to leave, though I know this choice will hurt you."She could choose to stay to protect Justin's dignity and give Austin a good explanation. It would be more relaxing and steadier for her. However, Renee knew that it could only last briefly. She would cause Justin greater harm. She might as well be decisive and stop the damage in time. "Don't say that." Justin cracked a bitter smile and said with relief, "I've stopped taking things too seriously. If you like me, you won't stop loving me even if we're apart. Similarly, you'll think about another man if you don't like me, even though you're always b
Austin was having breakfast in the dining room. When he saw Justin and Renee walk over intimately, he finally believed that they had slept together. They seemed like a real couple."Good morning, Grandpa Baldwin!" Renee obediently greeted Austin just like before. She acted normally."Good morning." Austin nodded, unable to suppress his smile. After sizing them up, he calmly said to Renee, "We know how apologetic you are after you toasted to us last night. We'll forget about the past. You're still a part of my family." "Grandpa!" Justin interrupted Austin; he was very protective of Renee. "She's a woman, and we're not married yet. Please don't say that. A woman's reputation is the most important thing.""You…" Austin wanted to refute Justin, but their conflict was just resolved so it would be bad to pressure them more. He shook his head and said, "Fine. You two always have a bland romance. Finally, you've made some progress. I'll let you two decide what to do next.""Got it, Gr