Only Renee, Liam, and Leia were left in the room.Amber was like a breeze, gently touching their faces and raising some feelings in them before leaving calmly. Liam stood where he was, silent. His poker face made it hard for others to guess his feelings."Wow, Amber's great! I was wrong about her. It wouldn't be a bad thing if she's my sister-in-law, either," Leia said. She watched the direction Amber had gone while perched on the sofa, her mind full of thoughts.At first, she went to the fort full of hostility. She assumed that those rude people had used cunning means to trap Liam there. She even imagined many ways to successfully rescue Liam out of there.After Amber's reassurance, Leia felt a strange loss."Yes, Amber is great. When I came here alone and finally met Joanne, I wanted to take her away, but Benjamin wanted her dead. Amber threatened to kill herself, which gave me a chance to leave. Now that I'm talking about it, Joanne and I… We owe Amber a huge favor!" Renee
"No, I'm not!" Liam finally looked sober. He shook his head as if he had come to his senses. Standing, he said, "I'm not suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Benjamin did so many crazy things to me! If I fell in love with his daughter, I'd look down on myself. At most, I lost something to help me control Benjamin."Agitation filled Leia. She grabbed Liam and asked, "What do you mean? What did that old guy do to you? He must have done a lot of bad things! If not, you wouldn't have changed so much. You look desperate and dispirited. You weren't like this in the past!"In the past, Liam always bickered with Leia and drove her mad. But in short, he was a bright and optimistic man. He would make others happy the moment they met him. He was full of positivity unlike what he looked at that moment. He was like a man who had spent his time in darkness—his eyes were dull, and he seemed like one with a twisted mind."I don't want a gloomy brother. I want a bright brother. I want you to be as
Silence overcame everyone. After a long while, Renee lowered her gaze. "So, it was Stefan, right?" She either seemed to be asking Liam or muttering to herself.She should know. Stefan must have meddled in it since she could escape smoothly. If not, she wouldn't coincidentally run into him at such a remote place. However, a weird feeling gripped her upon learning that she had owed him a favor after such a long time."Stefan is no doubt useful even though he's unreliable. Plus, I think he cares about you. He must have sacrificed a big interest to help you escape," Liam said melancholically. In the past, Liam looked down on Stefan and felt that the latter was cruel and cared only about his interests. Renee would suffer by dating him. She should have avoided such a selfish man, or she would have been betrayed sooner or later. However, it was beyond Liam's expectation that such a selfish man would allow himself to fall under Benjamin's mercy. Liam knew Benjamin well—Benjamin woul
Stefan might be lacking in other aspects, but he was strong. It was acceptable to make him Renee's supporter who could ease her mind."Forget it. Stop bringing him up!" Leia said.She never anticipated Liam to take Stefan's side one day. Liam had always hated Stefan deeply, so this was preposterous and bizarre. Leia wondered if he had lost his soul after staying at the fort for such a long time."Ren has long fallen out with Stefan. They no longer mind each other's business and are unrelated. Stop putting them together. It disgusts me," she went on.She was one of the few who was aware of the relationship between Renee and Stefan. She also knew how deep their conflict was. Naturally, she looked down on Stefan and hated him deeply. Women could accept their men to be poor, ugly, or cruel—but they found it unacceptable when their men had a change of heart. Once the men changed their minds, all love was nothing but trash. "What happened? Weren't you guys doing fine the other day?"
The atmosphere instantly became tense and solemn."Forget it. I'll stop discussing this. After all, I've stopped getting in touch with him. We're like strangers now. His business doesn't concern me." Renee flexed her fingers, pretending to be casual."I hope you mean what you said. You regard him as a stranger now." Leia sighed helplessly. She knew Renee well. Renee didn't speak her mind—if she had truly let Stefan go, she wouldn't have been so concerned when Liam casually brought Stefan up. It was hard for Renee and Stefan to reconcile now, given the current situation. Hence, Leia decided to speak harshly about Stefan to help Renee to forget about him sooner. Liam, still shocked, found it a pity. He wasn't very sensible and kept asking questions. "Wait. So, Stefan cheated on Renee and got back together with Briar?" "Hey, stop saying that out loud. You're so insensitive!" Leia glared at Liam. She couldn't understand why he wasn't as attentive and sensible as he used to be."It
Leia crossed her arms, thinking that Liam and Renee had gotten crazy. They kept siding with a scumbag who cheated on Renee! "Don't kissing and hugging mean he's cheated on Renee? Plus, they got tangled up with each other before. He insisted on divorcing Renee because of Briar back then. Isn't it normal for them to get back together? Maybe he can control his desires but can't stop himself from going back to his ex-girlfriend."Yes, some men had a high morality. They wouldn't engage in ambiguous relationships with women so easily. Even then, they were always loyal. They couldn't forget about the women they once fell madly in love with. Stefan probably confirmed that he wanted Briar. Even if Briar's face was ruined, he could still be with her. "There's no love between him and Briar. Of course they can't get back together with each other." Liam hit the nail on the head, pointing out the mistake in Leia's logic. "Remember. Briar was the woman of Stefan's brother. Stefan divorced Rene
"No, there's nothing fishy. You can't forget about him. You're just lying to yourself!" Leia said. She had hit the nail on the head, pointing out Renee's exact issue.However, Liam didn't elaborate on that topic. He looked at Renee, feeling rather sorry for her. "You guys went through a lot just to visit me. Get some good rest. If Amber's marrying Mateo, I'm afraid I have a tough battle to fight." Liam knew Benjamin well. He had been an ordinary man who worked hard to gain his current power and status. Aside from his wisdom and his luck, he was vicious. The moment he thought that Amber had let Liam go, he wouldn't hesitate to kill Liam to prevent any trouble. Liam didn't mind if he survived it or not. However, he would never easily admit defeat if it might burden Renee and Leia."Is he that scary?" Leia asked.She was a naive simpleton from the upper elite circle, ignorant of life's hardships, with romance being the only exception. She couldn't imagine how terrible people could
Renee felt guilty; she knew it must be boring for Leia to take care of her.That, and she wanted to roughly familiarize herself with the fort. If she fell out with Benjamin, she could prepare beforehand and come up with possible countermeasures. As Renee and Leia exited the room, they realized how large the fort was. Most of the houses there were cottages, simple and primitive. It was an independent tribe removed from the civilized modern world. Renee noticed professional bodyguards doing their rounds in the fort every few distances. They resembled armed soldiers, with rifles and knives on them, serving Benjamin the tyrant. The rumors about The Triangle were real. Government superiors couldn't meddle in the fort's affairs. Those who held the real power were people like Benjamin, who was a local tyrant with a personal militia. Based on the current situation, it would be a piece of cake for Benjamin to kill the three of them if he so wished. No wonder Liam underwent such a vas
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
After a long while, Quinton turned around. He looked at Renee, who was across from him, and heaved a long sigh."We're about to go home soon. Why do you look this gloomy? What's wrong…? Are you reluctant to part with this place?" Quinton said. "No, I'm not." Renee poured herself a glass of orange juice and sipped it. She frowned and dwelled on it before she said, "I feel empty inside. I don't know if I made the right choice.""Empty?" Quinton asked curiously."I think I've said goodbye to a steady life since I decided to leave. Maybe I'll keep on wandering from now on," Renee said melancholically. The reason why she chose to give it a try with Justin because she was tired. She was exhausted from leading a wandering life and wanted to settle down with someone. Others could not give her the sense of security like Justin. When she saw him, she inexplicably wanted a home. At that time, she thought she could forget about everything and start a new life with him. Unexpectedly, she
Adie was still a child, but he acted like a smart person and could see through a lot of things. He could guess why Austin took them to the Baldwin residence. He had also heard the servants of the Baldwin family rebuking Renee in secret. After combining various situations, he learned about what had happened between Renee and Justin. Despite everything, Justin could forgive Renee under such circumstances. He also treated Adie and Abby nicely. It proved that he was a very compassionate man. A small regret gripped Adie. He wondered why Renee didn't date Justin right from the start. If Renee were with such a kind man, she might be very happy. She wouldn't have to suffer through so many hardships either. "No, you don't know me. I always sweat the small stuff."Justin was displeased since Adie had claimed that he was a good guy, like Renee had. He heaved a long sigh and said, "But it's useless even if I sweat the small stuff, so I stop trying. It all comes down to fate. We can't forc