"No, you got me wrong!" Renee immediately denied it. She looked awkward, as if she had been seen through. "I just want to minimize the negative impact. I'll still do this even if this issue has nothing to do with Stefan." "Fine." Dale nodded without getting to the bottom of it. "I wanted to take full responsibility for this. After all, I'm going to retire. But since you're willing to step forward, I won't reject your offer. My pension is very important, too. If this issue gets bigger, my family will be humiliated. Plus, I might not retire peacefully. It's horrible just thinking of it.""I'm sorry, Mr. Porter. In short, I should be held responsible for this. Thank you for giving Joanne this working opportunity too. She cherished this very much, and kept saying that being a teacher was like a second chance in life," Renee apologized to Dale sincerely, and thanked him. She knew the issue wouldn't be that serious if not for Quinton's craziness. Hence, she felt that she should step for
Dale broke out in a cold sweat, as Renee's attitude had changed all of a sudden. She was telling a different story now.Renee kept a gloomy face, and wanted to leave once she was done. However, Stefan gripped her wrist. "No rush, since you're already here.""I came to do my business, and so did you. We don't have to get our issues mixed up." Renee kept a cold attitude, and insisted on leaving. But… It seemed like she was just trying to run away."Are you that afraid of me?" Stefan watched her with an intense but complicated gaze. There was even some disdain gleaming in his eyes as the more superior one.Certainly, Renee couldn't accept to be inferior. She immediately became competitive. She gnashed her teeth and swung off his hand. "No, I'm not. Let's talk, then."She looked at Dale, and suggested, "Mr. Porter, didn't you book a private room in The Crane? Stop standing there. Let's go now. I'm hungry.""Okay, let's not waste time. We'll take a special path," Dale suggested eage
Stefan snorted. "Did I say something wrong? You should know what kind of man your brother is." Like Renee, Stefan felt guilty toward Joanne too. If Joanne hadn't told him about some flaws in Carmine Pawnshop, he wouldn't have defeated Quinton so quickly. Hunt Enterprise would not have made rapid progress, either.Unfortunately, Joanne was burdened because of that affair. She led a miserable life for many years, and was insulted by others. In short, Stefan was responsible for it too. Hence, he tried all means to compensate her and hoped that she could lead a normal and stable life.However, Joanne's stable life lasted briefly before the crazy Quinton ruined it. Naturally, Stefan was furious. But he didn't find fault with Quinton, given the relationship between Renee and Quinton."No, you got it wrong!" Renee eagerly tried to explain it for her and Quinton's sake. "I sincerely take Joanne as my friend. I feel sorry for her to see her lead a bad life. I'm also doing my best to comp
"The legendary Midnight Demon is just like a crazy dog. Of course, it's hard to pick on him. I just hope that you can control him well and not let him harm Joanne again. Is that wrong?" Stefan retorted.He was very stubborn on that affair, all because of his pity and guilt toward Joanne."Watch your tongue! He was once your brother-in-law. Have you ever considered my feelings when you said that?" Renee started taking action, and punched his shoulders. "Plus, he's changed now. If you want the best for Joanne, why don't you give Quinton a chance? But no, you're unwilling to forgive him. You're so annoying! You can always drive me mad!" At that time, Renee stopped pretending and regarded him as her family. When her ex-husband drove her mad, she instinctively wanted to beat him up.Consequently, her punch made their atmosphere between them less hostile. Stefan even grinned in a way that escaped his notice. Regardless of how they argued with each other and wanted to break up with eac
Flabbergasted, Stefan's eyes widened and leaned against the seat. He was struck dumb as he watched the woman who suddenly took the initiative to kiss him. At the same time, the parents who had surrounded the car and stared into the car window covered their eyes when they saw a lovey-dovey young couple. Then, they left.When the car drove out of from the parents' sight, Renee pulled away from Stefan. However, the kiss seemed to have raised the feelings they had for each other.Stefan quickly held Renee's waist, and said hoarsely, "You want to run away after taking advantage of me?""No, I didn't!" Renee blushed shyly. "I was worried the parents would find fault with you, so I covered you. But you're heartless. If I knew, I wouldn't have helped you. I should have let the parents scold you instead!" She had come up with that idea in a moment of desperation. If the parents found Stefan in the car, they would confirm that he did bribe the principal. It would make a bad impact on Hu
"So?" Renee looked ahead, keeping an aloof face. She even appeared unfeeling. "You know my thoughts, but you recklessly hurt me. What are you trying to say? That you're very charming, and that I'm very stupid? Is that how you satisfy your superiority? Yeah, I'd feel great and successful if I were you, since I was always loyal toward you regardless of how you harmed or humiliated me!" "I didn't mean that." Stefan realized his words might have hurt her self-esteem. A long sigh escaped him. "I just want to tell you that I'm very happy to see you care about me.""Humph! Are you still trying to pretend that you're affectionate?" Renee turned around, and shot Stefan a disdainful gaze. Suddenly, she found him a hypocritical stranger. "We've already ended up this way. You don't have to pretend anymore. So what if I have feelings for you? It won't change our relationship.""You're right." Stefan looked gloomy, as if Renee had reminded him about something. He put away his true feelings,
Renee and Stefan entered the private room one after another, but sat quite far from each other. That deliberate distance made their unclear relationship extremely amorous instead.Dale looked at Renee before turning to Stefan. He subconsciously smiled, then stood up while raising his glass at them. "Come. It's a great day today. I'm honored to dine with you guys. Let me toast to you.""No, you're wrong." Similarly, Renee raised her glass and stood up. She added guiltily, "I should toast to you instead. You kindly helped my sister and offered her a job, but my brother made a scene and caused your school trouble. Let me drink this as a form of apology." She sounded sincere, and refused to give Dale the chance to stand on ceremony. She gulped the drink down.Since it was white wine, it was rather strong despite being just a small glass.When Stefan saw that, he frowned and said icily, "Stop acting tough if you can't drink."Annoyed, Renee said to Stefan, "Humph! How dare you say
Dale suffered the most in that affair. He had to hire an inexperienced person like Joanne because of pressure from Stefan. When things were exposed, he had to bear the blame alone. He was too miserable. "Stefan, how could you make an old man who's going to retire soon to toast to you? You're the one who caused him the trouble. Why did it become his fault instead?" Renee sounded displeased. At the same time, she pitied Dale. She started criticizing Stefan. She had never felt that he was that arrogant and inhumane. "It's okay. No worries." Dale immediately tried to pacify Renee. "Ms. Everheart, you're ignorant about something. Many years ago, Mr. Hunt did me a great favor before I became the principal. I couldn't have achieved this without his help. I just didn't manage this issue well. If not, it wouldn't turn out to be such a big issue. Don't blame Mr. Hunt. He's the most innocent one who's being implicated.""What did he help you with?" Renee was suspicious. "A cruel and heartles
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