Briar clenched her fists and stared at Renee fiercely. "You're in no position to threaten me! You've lost your support and are on the verge of death, so you have no power to threaten me!" As the person who had poisoned Renee, Briar knew the symptoms of heavy metal poisoning well. Even though Renee was cured, the damage to her nerves and internal organs was irreversible. Renee was fragile and vulnerable now, and Briar could easily make her suffer. "Ms. Desrosiers, how did you know that I am on the verge of death?" Renee immediately asked, narrowing her eyes at Briar suspiciously. "I didn't say anything to you, but you seem to know everything about me. Have you been keeping an eye on me? You must be the culprit who pushed me to the verge of death, aren't you?" Only people who were close to Renee knew that she was poisoned, but if Briar knew it too, then there was only one explanation—Briar was the one who had poisoned Renee."I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Briar swallowed
After putting the photos down, Briar left with a satisfied expression on her face.Doubtful, Renee turned the photos over, and what she saw made her heart skip a beat. Her eyes widened in shock, and the blood drained from her face. They were all photos of Stefan… and he was kissing and hugging Briar in them."How... How could this be?" Renee whispered brokenly. It had been ages since she had felt pain like this, and it hurt even more than the heavy metal poisoning. She couldn't understand why the man she loved would do such a dirty and vulgar thing behind her back. She picked up the photos and studied them carefully for a long time. It was clear that the photos were not digitally altered, which meant that act that had indeed taken place. She has no idea when it happened though."No, I have to confirm this with Briar. What if it's not true?" Renee calmed herself down, knowing that there had to be more behind this. Stefan's actions proved his love for her—he was willing to give up his
Renee had just undergone eye surgery, and she had also just been detoxified, so Leia didn't want Renee to tire herself. "No, it's urgent. I have to see her now!" Renee was almost hysterical. She rarely lost control of her emotions like this, but since this was about Stefan, she didn't care how others saw her."Why are you so stubborn, Renee?" Helpless, Leia spread her arms and blocked Renee. "It doesn't matter. If you insist on heading out, you have to go through me first.""Lei, step aside!" Renee insisted as she looked at Leia, who was equally stubborn.Both of them refused to compromise.Suddenly, Renee felt a sharp ache around her eyes, and Leia's figure became blurry. "Ah, it hurts..." Renee couldn't hold on any longer, and covered her eyes with her hands as she squatted down on the floor.Luckily, the doctors would make rounds of the wards daily, and one rushed over when he saw Renee. He immediately led Renee back to her ward, and after checking her briefly, he complained,
"Depressed?" Leia's heart pounded when she heard that. She felt that it was impossible for her best friend to be depressed. Renee had experienced many misfortunes in the past like her family's bankruptcy, the death of her parents, and her difficult marriage with Stefan, but she had soldiered through it all. It made Leia wonder why Renee was suffering from depression when everything was taking a turn for the better."Are you sure?" Leia stole a glance at Renee and pulled the doctor to a more isolated corner. "She's the most headstrong and optimistic person I've ever met. How could she be depressed?" "You don't understand… Depression is pathological—it doesn't matter if the person is strong or optimistic. Some people might look happy, but could be suffering from severe depression. It's like an apple that looks beautiful on the outside, but has already started to rot from its core. If we don't cure her in time, the consequences will be unimaginable." A long sigh escaped the doctor as h
"I don't care who he works for. What he says makes sense, and we need to take his advice..." Leia said cautiously, scared of angering Renee. The doctor had mentioned that people suffering from depression could become sensitive and paranoid, and that seemed to be the case for Renee. Renee was not as generous and straightforward as she used to be—she'd become suspicious, aloof, and uncaring. "What did he tell you to do?" Renee demanded as she approached Leia. "You're my best friend, so you should be taking my side. Why do you trust someone who works for my enemy? Don't you remember what Briar's done? How could the doctor be a nice person if he works for her?""Calm down, Ren. The doctor didn't say much. He just said that you're now—" After a pause, Leia took a deep breath. "He said you aren't well. You're sad and agitated, and he's afraid that... you might be suffering from depression. So, he wants us to pay attention to your mental health." "Hmph! So, he thinks I'm mentally ill!" R
Leia knew the doctor was right—Renee was seriously ill. "I understand you, Ren." She walked over and held Renee's hands, then hugged her tightly. "I know that you're sad and stressed, but don't feel guilty. If you think being with us is stressful, then we won't disturb you. You can have some peace. When you're feeling better, I'll come and take you home." Leia finally believed Jovan's words. Jovan hadn't forcefully locked Renee up—it was Renee who didn't want to go home. Although Leia didn't understand Renee's reasons, she respected and supported her decision. "Do you want me to go? Will it make you feel better?" Leia whispered."I don't want you to go, but I'm in a very bad state. Your being here will just stress me out even more. I don't want you all to see my bad side, so..." Renee bit back a sob. "Give me some time. I'll go home once I'm better.""You're saying that you still want to stay in Jovan's manor? You don't want to see us?" Leia asked, sounding disappointed. "I won't s
"Thank you for understanding," Renee said emotionlessly as she stood there. She knew she was probably ill. In the past, she was an enthusiastic, straightforward, and bright sunflower, but now… she had become like moss that only grew in the dark. She was indifferent even when faced with others' love and goodwill. At last, Leia left the hospital without Renee.Xavier had been waiting at Everheart Manor, and was confused to see Leia come home alone. "What happened? Where's Renee?" He had thought that Leia would be able to bring Renee home, but things didn't look that simple now."She didn't want to come back." Leia walked into the manor listlessly. "See! I told you—she wants to be with Jovan. You can't just force her to come home." Xavier smirked and held his hand out to Leia. "You lost the bet, so tell me… How should I punish you?"Xavier and Leia had made a bet a week ago. Xavier felt that Renee didn't want to come home since she had not contacted them for a while, but Leia had i
"Symbiosis and the host," Xavier answered."Symbiosis and the host?" Stupefied, Leia questioned, "Is that some kind of sci-fi thing? I only heard such terms in crazy cartoons.""I heard that if a person's organ is transplanted to another person, the donor will infest the patient. Their actions, behaviors, characters, and preferences will merge. It's as if the patient's soul is snatched away." Xavier had read about it in books and sounded convincing. "So, you’re saying that the master of Ren's new eyes has infested her? Is that why she's changed so much?" Leia asked hesitantly."We can't rule it out!" Xavier continued, "Let's talk about Jovan. Don't you think he's more tolerable after he started using Renee's eyes? He doesn't seem so annoying. Even Stefan became smarter and more cunning after he started using Jovan's eyes. They had shown the symptoms of symbiosis and the host." "It seems true when you put it that way..." Leia touched her chin and nodded in agreement. Stefan, Jov
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