After Ethan stormed off after arguing with Francine, he went to the ward next door where Seraphina was. Seraphina was still a bit stunned from her stint in the pond, but she was awake now. She just needed to stay in the hospital for two days of observation. Seraphina stopped pacing when Ethan entered the ward, and quickly ran up to him. "How did it go, Daddy? What did Madam Francine say? Did she allow me to see Stefan?" When Seraphina had been admitted after nearly drowning, she cried and complained to Ethan, hoping that her father would help her win Stefan back."Why do you want her to say yes? I've already fought with them," Ethan said smugly. He had been waiting for this day for a long time, but his hands had been tied because of Seraphina. Now, he could bask in his victory. Seraphina's eyes bulged and she shrieked, "What?! Why would you do that? I asked you to make peace with them but you—"Annoyed, Ethan snapped, "Wake up, Seraphina! They never took us seriously. You took su
"You could tell them that I accidentally fell into the pond, or that I was hospitalized because I missed Stefan too much. You've got to move them! Why did you bring that kid up? Don't you know that they care about him a lot? I've lost my chance now for sure… Madam Francine will never forgive me, and Stefan definitely won't. I'm doomed..." Seraphina's shoulders trembled as she covered her face and cried piteously. Her crying broke Ethan's heart. Patting her shoulders, Ethan comforted her, "There, there. I've got a way for you to be with Stefan. Although it's a little extreme, I think it'll be effective. Would you like to try it?""Really?" Seraphina looked up at Ethan eagerly, her eyes puffy and watery."Of course. I've never lied to you.""Tell me then. I'm going crazy from not seeing Stefan for so long...""Well, we can't reach Stefan since he's so powerful… but doesn't that mean we'll have a chance if he falls off his pedestal?" Ethan smiled deviously, his eyes gleaming.Serap
It was late at night when Margaret returned to Everheart Manor with Adie.Renee couldn't sleep out of worry, and was sitting in the living room and sighing.Abby felt sorry for Renee, and had stayed up with her. "Are you scared because you can't see, Mommy? Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Abby poured a glass of water for Renee and stuffed snacks into Renee's hands."Thank you, Abby, but I'm not hungry or thirsty. Isn't it late? Why don't you go to bed first?" Renee reached out for her daughter and hugged her.Abby stared up at Renee, who was wearing sunglasses, and tears welled up in her eyes. "Will your eyes get better, Mommy? What will we do if you can't see me anymore?" "Don't worry, I'll get better. Plus, you and Adie can be my eyes if I can't recover, right? Isn't that great? Are you willing to be my eyes, Abby?" "Yes, I am!" Abby held Renee's hand tightly and continued firmly, "I'm willing to be your eyes, and I'll never leave you. I'll take you to wherever you wan
"No!" Adie said sharply, then urged, "Be honest with me, Mommy. What happened? Was it Jovan who hurt your eyes? He took your eyes for himself because he's blind and unhappy, didn't he?""Adie, that's not possible, you can't replace your eyes that way. Stop imagining things, I'm just suffering from an eye inflammation." Renee waved and denied it guiltily, wondering how Adie was so smart."Yes, you can't replace your eyes that way, but it's done after matching, right? You've been missing for so many days, but you were just in Jovan's manor having the surgery. Isn't that right?" Adie kept up his interrogation. He had found out that Renee was in Jovan's manor based on her GPS signal, but he didn't know why she was there. Now, he could see through Jovan's evil schemes."No, that's not true. Stop asking me questions. Why did you go out on your own? Didn't I ask you not to do that? I'm going to be angry with you..." Renee scolded Adie, "Do you know how dangerous it is out there? You're jus
"Listen to me, Abby—just go to sleep. Mommy's eyes might have recovered when you wake up, or... it might all just be a nightmare," Adie said reassuringly. Eventually, Abby went to bed with Margaret obediently because of Adie's coaxing."Can you tell me the truth now, Mommy?" After Abby left, Adie turned to Renee. Although he was the same age as Abby, he was more mature and rational. Sometimes, he was even more mature than adults. Besides, he didn't believe that Renee was blind because of sickness; he firmly believed that it had something to do with Jovan. However, he understood Renee's reluctance to tell the truth because she didn't want to make Abby and Margaret worry. Thus, he came up with a way to send them away. "You're a smart kid, Adie. You should know that no one can take away my eyes. I'm not that weak." Renee reached out and felt around, finally managing to grab Adie's hand.Adie immediately understood what she was saying, and his eyes glossed over with unshed tears. "I
Adie helped Renee to the master bedroom upstairs and tucked her into bed. He even poured a glass of water for her and placed it on the bedside cabinet. "There's water on the bedside cabinet, Mommy. You can drink it if you're thirsty," Adie said considerately."Thank you, Adie. You and Abby are my eyes, so... I'm not afraid. In fact, I feel relaxed and happier. Although I can't see with my eyes, I can see with my heart!" Renee said and smiled sincerely. Yes, her pain for losing her sight was real, but her children's love for her was real too, and it filled her with happiness. She wouldn't know how warm her children were if something like this didn't happen. They were no longer merely kids under her care—they could be independent, and they could even take care of her when she needed it. "Rest early, Mommy. Don't worry, I won't let you be blind for long. I'll come up with ways to make you see again," Adie promised firmly, clenching his fists."Just let things run its course. Of course
After a week, Renee was getting used to being blind. She adapted quickly, and Margaret and her children took great care of her. She learned about current events through voice messages and Braille, which she picked up quickly, so she was quite up-to-date despite staying at Everheart Manor all the time. She found out from the news that the Hunt and the Murphy families had fallen out with each other, and naturally, the marriage between Stefan and Seraphina was off. Thanks to that, Hunt Enterprise was facing its biggest crisis due to financial and technical issues, and many felt that the Great Eight of Beach City might be reshuffled. Renee didn't know what to feel when she heard the news. She was neither happy nor sad, and felt like an onlooker calmly reading about people from another world. Finally, she could distance herself from that mess, and the thought of it gave her peace of mind. After driving Adie and Abby to school every morning, Margaret would lead Renee to the pagoda tree in
Suddenly, Renee found something amiss. She couldn't feel the wind, but it didn't feel like the wind had stopped. Rather, it felt like something was blocking the wind. Frowning, she asked hesitantly, "Margaret?" Only silence greeted her.Renee could hear someone's rapid breathing, and felt their gaze on her skin. "You aren't Margaret, are you?" Margaret wasn't tall enough to be able to block out the breeze entirely, and she would have answered Renee by now. Also, this person smelled like grass, ambergris, and medical disinfectant. Finally, she realized who it was. Renee clenched her fists and asked coolly, "What are you doing here, Stefan?" Stefan's heartbeat quickened, and he stared at Renee's eyes in disbelief. "Your... eyes?""You came at last." Renee wasn't surprised because Adie had warned her about Stefan's desire to meet her. People usually needed around two weeks to recover after brain surgery, but he had come here in less than a week. His wound had probably just healed; t
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