Renee smoothed her hair. Since she couldn't hide, she waved awkwardly at Francine.At the same time, she complained inwardly since she had gained yet another spectator who found her in such an awkward state. It was humiliating how she had gone back to her ex-husband. Everyone would look down on her and find her finicky. On top of that, it was the always overbearing and arrogant Francine who found her. Francine would most definitely assume she was pestering Stefan, and that she couldn't live without him."So, you were the woman my son carried back home last night? You were the one he doted on like that?" Francine asked.She wasn't actually asking Renee, but herself. Without waiting for the latter's reply, she laughed."I knew it! He wouldn't be so amazing all of a sudden and get another woman. Unexpectedly, he still cares about you after all this time. Well, it's normal. No one else can make him lose his mind and disregard his principles. I don't know whether I should be happy abo
Renee frowned; she keenly caught something unusual in Francine's words.She looked around, and purposely lowered her voice as she asked Francine, "So Stefan has done such a humiliating and bad thing, but it isn't what we think? Was he in a tight spot?"At first, Renee felt that her choice to divorce was right. The man she fell for wasn't an irresponsible scumbag who indulged in his desires.She believed firmly that Stefan just wanted to cover up his difficulties, especially given how he suddenly turned so cold and ridiculous. He just wanted to make her hate him on purpose, then separate with her.Despite trying her hardest for a long time, Renee failed to find whatever it was that troubled him and was deeply disappointed. She once had high hopes for him, so she was unwilling to believe that he had a change of heart.Francine might be the one who knew Stefan best since she was his mother. Given her words, something that Renee wasn't aware of probably happened. "Um, well…" Francin
Of course, there might never be an objective truth. Renee was simply trying to save face, since she was reluctant to accept things as they were. "Don't say that," Francine said icily, her face serious. "I know you. You aren't that kind of person. If you are, my son wouldn't love you so deeply. Adie and Abby wouldn't be raised so well either.""Stop flattering me. I won't say bad things about him in front of the kids, but I won't glorify him either. I'll just tell them what I know. What I saw was that he insisted on leaving the kids and me for another woman. Isn't that bad of him?" Renee said. She approached Francine, her tone overbearing. She hoped Francine would tell her the truth, especially considering the latter's bad temper and straightforward character."No, you're wrong! My son isn't that kind of man! He did that for you and the kids. He was worried all of you would be sad, so he endured it all on your own. He cares about you and the kids, and he just wants all of you to
Being straightforward, Francine was about to expose the truth when a cold voice came from behind them."You woke up so early today, Mother?" Stefan looked icy and dangerous, as if he were about to fly into a rage. He seemed quite frightening.Francine, despite her boldness, immediately became timid. She pursed her lips and said, "Of course. You know I'm older now. I can't sleep much. I just happened to wake up early today." She breathed in, feeling some lingering fear. Fortunately, Stefan interrupted her in time before she blabbed about the truth.If she revealed the whole truth, he would hate her! That, and everyone would suffer. Renee might even take revenge on the Hunt family, given her temper. Francine might never get to meet Adie and Abby. In comparison, the current superficial peace was better despite there being some regrets. Renee didn't stop them from taking Adie and Abby to Hunt Manor, either. Maintaining the current situation was probably the best ending for Renee
When Francine suddenly left, Stefan felt ridiculous and awkward. He looked at Renee awkwardly, and explained, "You know my mother. She always speaks nastily, and doesn't watch her tongue. It gets worse now that she's older. Don't take it to heart.""Don't worry. I've heard things worse than that from her and I was fine with it. Plus, I think she's reasonable.""Where?" Stefan curiously whispered a question."The thing between men and women." Renee nodded in agreement. "It doesn't sound nice, sure, but it's full of simple knowledge." Stefan was speechless. "You two are insane. You should stop spending time with her." Francine's madness knew no limit. If Renee spent a long time with Francine, Francine's bad habits would rub off on her. Renee couldn't stop herself from asking, "Anyway, what am I doing here?" She remembered leaving the restaurant first, but she was dizzy since she was drunk. She had no idea where she had gone to. Later, she remembered accidentally walking i
Stefan's words brought silence to the two of them.Stunned, Renee moved her lips. She wanted to say something, but in the end, she decided against it. "Mrs. Hunt was right. I should leave. If not, things will get more troublesome when Grandpa wakes up," she finally said. From Stefan's words, there was a possibility they would get tangled up again. If he was afraid of recalling their past and feelings, he must still harbor affection for her. However, Renee was exhausted by it all. She wanted to stop feeling conflicted about such things. It was fine whether he still had feelings for her or not. All she wanted was a safe and peaceful life. If she kept getting mixed up with him, it wouldn't do any good. They would just get hurt. Hence, it was unnecessary. Renee stood up straight, acting like an emotionless robot. She brushed past him and went downstairs.Stefan stood rooted to the spot, silent and poker-faced. One step, two steps, three steps… Their backs were faced against
Had Renee been the one who learned the truth that day, Stefan was sure that the situation would be even more painful. "I don't know what you're trying to hint at. If it were in the past, I would have gotten to the bottom of it. But now, I'm exhausted. I don't want to get tangled up with you again. You know what? I'm exhausted!" Renee said.She looked torn and agitated, and was trembling slightly. She was trying hard to not break down on the spot. "It's like you're fishing. When you got me by the hook, you let me go. But when I swim away, you put out some fish feed. Do you think that's fun? Does making me a fool out of me satisfy you that much?" Renee couldn't take it anymore. Her eyes turned red as she vented her true feelings in front of Stefan, as if she had been suppressing them for quite a while. She had appeared casual and straightforward the entire time. She parted with him on good terms, and was even willing to begin a new relationship. She also wished he could choose a
They spoke as if they were going to stay apart forever. It sounded melancholic. Renee, however, found it amusing. She turned around and kept going downstairs without pausing. As she almost walked out of the entrance of Hunt Manor, she happened to bump into Timothy. "Ren?" Timothy was exercising, clad in sports attire. He stretched his neck and rubbed his eyes, repeatedly trying to ensure he wasn't mistaken. "It's morning. I'm sure this isn't an illusion. What are you doing back home?" "Grandpa…" Renee had tried all means to avoid Timothy, but she still failed to do so. She simply walked over and greeted him generously. "I got drunk last night. It was Stefan who took care of me and brought me home. I was about to say hello to you when you woke up.""So you were the woman last night. I knew it! Stef wouldn't be so stupid and bring another woman home." When Timothy learned that Renee was the woman Stefan brought home last night, he wasn't very surprised. Besides, he had gue
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