"What do you mean, brat? Do you want to get a beating?" Austin snarled. He immediately put away his smile and glared at Justin, waving his walking stick threateningly. "No… I've lived with you for so many years, but I never saw you smile. Now, you're smiling so brightly. It's frightening!" Justin swallowed and added carefully, "Act normal. It's better if you are serious.""How dare you!" Austin, unable to hold himself back, raised his walking stick and hit Justin's back hard.Justin stood upright, neither yelling in pain nor frowning. His parents stood behind him, seemingly used to it. They didn't stop Austin, either.Renee watched the scene and found it horrifying. "Don't we have to do anything?""It's fine. Grandpa used to do this," Justin said, smiling at Renee. He even smoothed his hair indifferently. After all, physical punishment was normal to the Baldwin family."Hmph, brat! You always ruin my reputation." Austin finally put away his walking stick after he got tired from
Austin was sincerely happy when he saw Renee's relaxed smile.Renee looked a lot like Maurice. Given how he missed and respected Maurice, Austin wouldn't treat Renee unfairly, even if he didn't wish for other things. "I'm sure she likes us."Sophia walked over and held Renee's wrist intimately. They walked forward calmly and steadily. "Renee, let's forget about our past conflict. You know what kind of a person Dad is. Yes, he's fierce, but he's not vengeful. Since you came back to us now, we'll still welcome and love you as we once did. Take my home as your home. Take Dad, Jack, and me as your grandpa-in-law and parents-in-law. Promise me."It had been a long time since Renee experienced such a warm feeling. It was the happiness of a happy family, and it overwhelmed her. Endless warmth filled her, and she nodded firmly. "I'm thankful for your forgiveness and that you're willing to accept me again. I thought it over before I decided to come. I won't break my promise, and I'll
Renee entered the bedroom alone."Let me go with you." Worried, Justin wanted to follow her into the room but was stopped by Sophia."Stop right here! The things inside aren't for men. We should just wait outside.""What are you talking about?" Justin became more curious and worried. He turned and glared at Sophia. "Mom, you'd better don't overdo it. You know it's not easy for me to persuade Ren to come. You and Grandpa are horrible. He smiled ferociously, and you kept doing extra things. What if you guys scare her off?""I told you, it's just stuff to help her relax. I won't scare her off!" Sophia grew impatient because of her paranoid son and said grumpily, "Go in and check it out if you must. But if you ruin it, I'll…" "Well, I…" Justin walked forward and placed his hand on the doorknob of the bedroom door. However, he hesitated when he was about to open it. He wondered if there were things unsuitable for him to see. If there were, it would be very awkward if he barged in im
Renee wasn't embarrassed since the whole room was full of only women. She walked to the bathroom, took off her clothes, and sank into the bathtub comfortably. At the same time, the massage therapist, beautician, and nail artist served her from head to toe. She enjoyed a great time.It couldn't be denied that Sophia had a great understanding of people. The nice things she prepared were indeed great.After more than an hour, Renee was fully relaxed. She enjoyed a great massage. Justin, waiting outside, started dozing off."Justin, come with me. She'll come out when she's done enjoying a great time," Sophia said, trying to persuade her son. She had waited for half an hour with him, and started yawning too. "No, just leave me. I want to wait a while longer. What if something happens to her?" Justin didn't even look at Sophia. He kept staring at the door of the bedroom as if illegal activities were being carried out in the room. He was worried that Renee might be in danger if he
However, the cry did not come from Renee but from the professional people who served Renee.Only women were in the bathroom. They didn't have a lot of clothes on because they wanted to improve their service. Besides, the bathroom was full of steam. Although it wasn't a debauched scene, it was unsightly. Justin was the only son and rich heir of the Baldwin family. Plus, the Baldwin family had always been the core large family in North City. The women felt very awkward to face Justin with how they currently looked like. Startled, they ran out of the place, leaving Renee and Justin in the room.He was standing upright and wearing clothes while she was naked and lying down.Luckily, the bathwater that the aromatherapist made came with thick foam. Only Renee's head and neck were exposed. Yet, the vagueness made it more enticing. "Ahem, are you…okay?" Justin buried his head and explained awkwardly, "I heard you calling for help. I thought something happened to you.""I'm fine." Ren
Justin walked quietly to the bathtub and looked down at her as if he were enjoying a plate of wonderful dessert. His gaze deepened. "You came here to spend the rest of your life with me. Plus, we're about to get married. Don't you think our bodies are still strangers to each other?"The only time that they were intimate with each other was when he kissed her as a joke, which earned him a beating from her.At that time, Justin didn't intend to do much. He just behaved like a naughty boy while teasing his beloved woman. His action didn't have the desire men held for women.But that was a different time. When he wanted to get close to her, it was for different reasons. This time, he was full of possessiveness for her. "Stop messing around! If you make things weird, we can't be friends anymore," Renee said.She didn't dare to move in the bathtub. She feigned indifference while teasing him and trying to make him regain his wits. "Friends?" Justin snorted and bent over a little. He
"I want to take things slowly too," Justin whispered, holding Renee's cheek gently as his gaze grew more amorous, "but I'm just a normal guy. I can't take things slow when I see something like this."He loved Renee very much—he had fallen in love with her at first sight. The more time he spent with her, the more he grew to like her. Renee was devastatingly beautiful, with exquisite facial features. However, she didn't look meek or submissive, giving men the notion that it was impossible to conquer her, even if it seemed doable. In the steam, Renee's cheeks grew rosy. Her hair was tied up high, exposing her delicate neck. She looked like a seductive woman in an oil painting from Varangia. No man could resist her."We're about to marry each other. We can kiss, can't we?" Justin raised her chin, looking like a hunter who wanted to swallow his prey. "If we can't be this intimate, we don't have to marry. It means we can never fall in love with each other.""I…" Renee pursed her lips,
The next second, Renee instinctively slapped Justin."What are you doing?" Renee shyly interrogated him. "I don't know. I think I'm greedy today. It seems like a kiss isn't enough…"He held her face and closed his eyes, trying to continue with the kiss. However, this kiss was not as simple as the previous one. It was full of his desire, unlike his usual self."Mmph, you can't…!" Renee resisted and tried to push Justin away.But he grew more outrageous and stepped into the bathtub, the water soaking him. The frightened professional physical therapists stood outside and talked among themselves. Holly, the massage therapist smoothed her chest and said, "Oh, I'm embarrassed! I'm sure Mr. Baldwin didn't see anything, did he?"Nova, the top beautician, said sensibly, "You're overthinking. It isn't a big deal even if he saw anything. Do you want to hold him responsible for it? He came home with his fiancee. Stop imagining things.""No, I'm not overthinking. I'm just embarrassed. Y
"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