Joanne knew Quinton was an utter maniac. He was reckless and impulsive, and he would go to extremes if he wanted to. She didn't like Gina, but she didn't want to see Quinton ruin her face. She took a deep breath and said to Quinton, "This is between you and me, so don't get others involved. Let her go!"Quinton turned around, satisfied that she finally gave in. "So, you guys are friends…" Quinton didn't believe it, but he just wanted to make use of this opportunity. "I won't let go of your friend with just that.""What do you want?" Joanne hissed through gritted teeth, glaring at him furiously."Come with me," Quinton ordered coldly."Why should I?" Joanne wanted nothing to do with him. She would break down if she was around him, so there was no way she would go anywhere with him. "If you don't, your friend's face will be ruined," Quinton reminded, pressing the blade into Gina's skin a little more.Terrified, Gina trembled and begged Joanne, "Please help me, Ms. Garcia. I'll lis
"Enough!" Joanne's eyes filled with tears as she said to Quinton reluctantly, "Let her go. I'll go with you.""You're being stupid again," Quinton scoffed. "This woman harmed you. If you were smart, you'd let me ruin her face so she would never bully you again... but you want to save her. You're even willingly putting yourself in danger for her. After all these years, how can you still be so stupid?" His expression was complicated as he spoke, and it was hard to tell if he was disappointed in her or just teasing.Joanne's hatred for Quinton burned in her, and she couldn't fathom how someone so cruel existed. "Cut the crap! Didn't you want to take revenge on me? Hurry up and do it! Also, I don't care about what you do to her; she's a stranger to me.""Yeah, she's right!" Gina's voice was shaky as she blurted out, "I was only hired this year, so I didn't have much to do with Joanne. We're not even close. If you ruin my face, it won't affect her at all…" After a brief pause, Quinton
"Yeah, I guess I overestimated myself. I don't know you well." Joanne gazed at the man she both loved and hated. "If I knew you well, I would have left you ages ago. I wouldn't have had to suffer, and that pitiful child wouldn't have had to die. I also could have been a mother, but it's impossible now…" "That child should have never been born. If you gave birth to the baby, it would have been torture for you. I saved you from that, so why do you hate me this much?" Quinton's gaze was icy, and there was no regret in his tone. If he did have any regrets, it would be that he didn't get rid of the child in a way where Joanna wouldn't have found out about it."Yeah, you're right. You're never wrong. Even now, you feel that you're just doing the best for me." Joanne closed her eyes, tears flowing down her cheeks. She no longer wanted to talk about it because there was no right or wrong. She felt that abortion was murder, and now, she could never have children. It was a punishment for bein
"How fierce, Joanne. Do you really hate me that much?" Quinton shook his hand, wanting to grab Joanne again."Yes! I won't stop even if I die!" Joanne spat, and with a determined gleam in her eyes, smashed her head on the wall behind him.Quinton's eyes widened as Joanne's body slid down the wall limply, blood gushing from her head. "Joanne!" Quinton rushed forward and carried Joanne. She was light and soft in his arms, and his heart clenched. "Joanne, do you think you can leave me by doing this? You're too naive! Even if you die, your soul will still have to stay in my arms!" He roared as he carried her into the car. Initially, he wanted to rush her to the closest hospital, but after a brief hesitation, he reversed the car and called Renee. "Call Owen and ask him to wait in Everheart Manor now. Be quick!""What's the matter, Quinton? You—" Quinton hung up before Renee could finish, and speedily drove towards Everheart Manor. They had set up a clinic in Everheart Manor when Renee
"What happened? Why did you call me?" Owen had been at a place he had wanted to fish at for a long time, but just as he sat down to fish, Renee had called him. "I don't care! You'll have to compensate me if this isn't a life-and-death situation. You all owe me a deep-sea grouper!""Sure, you got it. Just stop talking and save her!" Renee urged Owen as they rushed toward the clinic.Quinton hugged Joanne tightly in the clinic, refusing to let go of her. He looked heartbroken. "Hold on, Joanne. You've got to survive. Do you think this will be over if you're dead? If you're dead, I won't let you rest in peace. I'll find a way to bring your soul back. You can never leave me… Never!"Owen walked in with Renee, and he got goosebumps when he heard Quinton say that. "Umm… Is your brother always this dramatic?" Owen felt like he was in an asylum. "He's usually quite reserved and indifferent, but he's suddenly talking so much. It's strange."Renee's eyes grew wide in alarm and she hurriedly
"What kind of logic is that?" Renee looked bewildered. "How did you bump into Joanne? Did you go to her school to meet her? What did you do to her? How did she get like this in such a short time?" "I tortured her, of course!" Quinton scoffed righteously. "I couldn't stand her shining so brightly while I was stuck in such a gloomy and cold place. I just wanted to pull her into my world, but she refused. She would rather die than submit to me, so she tried to kill herself. She wanted to use such a ridiculous method to torture me… How foolish! It doesn't affect me at all.""No way… You actually did go to her school?" Renee smacked her forehead, feeling regretful. She had underestimated his insanity and troubled Joanne. She had assumed that he would slowly open his heart when she told him about Joanne's current life, and he would forget about the past and make peace with Joanne. She had hoped they would lead a normal and wonderful life together, but unexpectedly, Quinton didn't want Joa
After over half an hour, Owen exited the clinic calmly."How is Joanne?" Renee asked as she hurried forward."She's fine. She just lost a lot of blood, so I gave her a blood transfusion and some supplements. I'm guessing she'll wake up in around half an hour," Owen said nonchalantly. Simple physical injuries like these were easy to treat compared to the complex illnesses he had treated before. "That's great." Renee heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Quinton happily. "Did you hear that, Quinton? There's no need to worry. You can talk to her when she wakes up.""Hmm." Quinton just grunted, then stood up and walked to his room, his tall figure looking somewhat lonely.Owen watched Quinton leave, then asked Renee carefully, "What's your brother's relationship with that woman?""Umm…" Renee thought about it, but didn't know how to describe their relationship. "I guess they're considered siblings.""They don't look like siblings." Owen shook his head and said directly, "That woman
As expected, Joanne woke up after a while. Her head was bandaged, and she looked weak and pale. Renee was too afraid to let Quinton see her in case he might upset her. She gently opened the door and walked in, carrying a tray of fruits and smiling. "Joanne, what a coincidence to see you again so soon!"Joanne looked past Renee to make sure she was alone, then glared at her coldly. "Is it? Didn't you cause this?" "Umm…" Renee kept her head hung as she nudged the carpet with her foot awkwardly, too ashamed to face Joanne. "It's not what you think... You know how crazy my brother is, and you can't stop him when he goes mad. I didn't expect this to happen either." Joanne imagined people tackling Quinton to the ground to stop him, and her body relaxed in amusement. However, she couldn't laugh in front of Renee, so she took a deep breath and whispered, "Where am I? Your brother… won't disturb me again, right?""Actually… this is my house," Renee confessed. "My brother also lives here."
"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
"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