"That's different! I even said that you were my Prince Charming but you're just charming on the outside and rotten on the inside!" Leia typed out furiously. "You two are the same, and Ren and I should just distance ourselves from you both. You were the reason for my bad luck today!""Why me?" Xavier shrugged helplessly, wondering why he was being blamed when he wasn't even there."Do you know who threw manure on Ren and I today?""Ugh, who?" Xavier asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust. He wondered who would do something so vulgar to the blind Renee and mute Leia."Your fans and Shirley's fans, that's who! Shirley is only offended by me because of you, and that's the reason her fans bully me! Your fans were just as bad, so I'm guessing they all learned it from the both of you!" Leia typed out her complaint and shot Xavier a glare.Xavier read the message and looked at her incredulously. "Why are you blaming me? The fans did that to you, so what does it have to do with me? They're a
"Are you sure my fans were involved in today's accident?" Xavier didn't care about his fame and image. If not for his pursuit of Leia, he would never have exposed himself in front of the media, let alone joined such an awkward reality dating show. He was surprised he had so many fans, but he assumed they'd be laid-back and obedient like him. However, to his shock, they were reckless and rude. "You don't believe me, do you?" Leia found the video and showed it to Xavier. "Listen to what they said. They said you're handsome, rich, and nice. You're just the perfect man, and you and Shirley would make the perfect couple. You should protect Shirley forever. It was I, a wicked woman, who ruined your relationship with her. They even scolded Ren. Oh, I just can't take it!" "They scolded my wife?" Stefan had been watching their fight calmly, but he immediately straightened when Leia mentioned Renee. He snatched the phone away from Xavier and watched the video angrily. After a while, his eyes
A long sigh escaped Xavier as he read the words Leia typed out. "It's okay if you want Shirley to apologize to you, but that might just cause more cyberbullying. I think you should just hold the troublemakers responsible for it instead of the idols.""Of course you wouldn't want to involve the idols—you're one of them. Plus, your first love is involved, so you don't want to humiliate or trouble her!" Leia had never seen Xavier so concerned about anyone other than Shirley. She would never forgive such a disloyal man."If you had even a little bit of sense, you would know who I'm actually worried about." Xavier felt like he could never win with Leia. Finally, he gave up on trying to prove his innocence and said coldly, "I'll never let you involve the idols in this." As the president of Universal Entertainment, he was the capitalist of the entertainment circle, so he knew full well how things worked in that circle. Sometimes, a trend or rumor would push people to a desperate end. There
"That's different. People will change." Renee had finished her bath at some point, and put a bathroom on as she left the room. She heard Xavier and Leia criticizing Stefan from the second floor, and was determined to defend her beloved. The three of them looked up as she appeared, and when they saw Renee, their faces lit up."Ren, why did you come out alone? Wait there, I'll come help you." Stefan rushed upstairs, treating Renee like a newborn.Both Leia and Xavier also treated Renee carefully, and didn't dare say anything harsh to her."Ren, how are you feeling now? Are you feeling sick or unhappy?" Stefan guided Renee to sit in the living room, and Leia quickly went over and held Renee's arms in concern."No, I'm fine. Well, I've bumped into a lot of things. It's just a prank by some childish people. It's no big deal." Renee patted the back of Leia's hand and tried to reassure her. "You shouldn't take it to heart, or you'll be the one suffering. Remember—people like this don't ma
"You want me to do something?" Renee smiled mysteriously, then told Xavier, "If I were you, I'd seek justice for Leia whether or not it had anything to do with Shirley. Your beloved was humiliated, but instead of fighting for her, you wanted her to compromise. It means you don't love her at all.""Renee, don't make this worse. Everyone handles things differently. Is it wise to create a bigger mess just for the sake of revenge?" Xavier did not expect such an answer from an open-minded person like Renee. Was she trying to make Xavier and Leia's relationship worse?"You still don't understand." Renee shook her head and continued, "It's not about the outcome—it's about your attitude. It would upset any woman.""I..." Xavier scratched his head, in a dilemma. Why did loving someone have to be so hard?"Ren, you know me so well." Leia typed out, practically in tears as she hugged Renee. Only women understood such feelings; men would only find them pretentious. Leia couldn't stop crying, h
Xavier frowned in confusion. "I can't believe my ears. Do you mean we have to do whatever women say? You're the most indifferent and overbearing man in Beach City, so how could you be so submissive around your wife? It's not like you at all." Although Xavier had experience in pursuing women, his ways were vastly different from Stefan's. He would buy them gifts and sweet-talk them to win their hearts, but no woman had ever owned his heart and mind. If a woman tried to control him, he would break up with her without any hesitation. Even if it was Leia, he would not compromise when it came to his principles, which was why they were always fighting."I've wasted many years to come to this conclusion. Yes, we'll go through many things in our lives, but the key is to figure out what's most important to you. If you think your principles are more important than your relationship with her, you can give her up." Stefan was unusually patient as he tried to teach a playboy like Xavier a lesson in
Both Renee and Leia were having a deep conversation upstairs.At first, Leia was crying silently but to her surprise, she suddenly could speak again. "Ah, I can speak! Finally!" Leia wiped away her tears and hugged Renee happily. "Ren, my throat is cured! I'm sure your eyes can be cured too. Don't worry, I'll find you suitable eyes. It's only a matter of time before you can see again!""Great! Well, I'm just glad you got your voice back. If not, we'll be worse off than those wretched fans." Renee was happy for Leia. She and Leia hadn't been able to fight back that morning mainly because Leia had lost her voice. She, Liam, and Leia had been a tight-knit group since university because they all had their own roles—Renee was the violent one, Liam was the smart one, and Leia was the eloquent one. However, now that Renee was blind, she could no longer attack others, and Leia hadn't been able to argue either because she had lost her voice. It had made them an easy target for those crazed fa
"A breakthrough?" "Yes, a point of realization for you both that will finally make the both of you choose each other." Renee hoped they could reach that point because both she and Stefan had experienced it too. She knew full well how terrible it felt to be trapped in an ambiguous relationship; Leia and Xavier would only realize that they were meant for each other after going through hardships together.As the night went on, Renee and Leia's conversations grew deeper. Leia had spoken a lot, and after a while, she fell asleep with tears on her cheeks. However, Renee couldn't fall asleep because she felt like this was just the calm before the storm...What she didn't know was that Jovan's car was parked outside the manor.The street lights illuminated Jovan's face as he sat in the car, bathing half of his face in light and the other in darkness. It reflected his current state well—he never knew if he was a good person or a bad one. He had been waiting for a long time outside the mano
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