Jovan's face was frosty. He smashed the box containing the pearl on the bed and glared at Renee. "Do you have to make both of us uneasy?" "It's not the first day we're uneasy. If you don't want me to lose my remaining affection for you, you'd better let me go now." Renee looked at him, refusing to give up. She hoped he would change his mind and let her go."What can you do if I let you go?" Jovan snorted. "It's already too late. You'll only make things worse if you go out.""What do you mean?" Renee was isolated in the room and had no idea what had happened. But she knew something must have happened, or Jovan would not have said that."Well…" Jovan checked his watch. "The Hunt family started fighting the Baldwin family an hour ago. It's just like a war film."Anxiety overcame Renee when she heard that. She flexed her fingers and hurriedly asked, "What happened? Why did you say it's just like a war film? Did they make a big scene?"Although she was mentally prepared for the Ba
"I'm sorry!" Renee cried quietly since she knew that she had done something wrong. "I broke my promise, but I tried my best to make it up to you. If you still find it insufficient, my life is yours.""What do I need that for?" Jovan caressed her slender and smooth neck. "If I could make up my mind to kill you, I would have long done so. I didn't have to get tangled up with you here. Rather than your life, I want your heart instead!" Then, he bent down and gently kissed her. If it were in the past, Renee would have resisted him. Now, she calmly accepted it and responded to his kiss. She hooked her hands around his neck and kissed him back passionately. After getting a response, Jovan grew excited. He closed his eyes, absorbed in the atmosphere that Renee created. After an unknown period, Jovan realized something and pushed her away. "What do you mean? Do you pity me? Or are you trying to bribe me?" He touched his lips and felt humiliated for no reason.To him, kissing wa
"Is that so?" Renee looked coldly at Jovan's eyes as if she had seen another version of herself. Then, she sounded dispirited. "But you'll soon lose me.""What?" Jovan sized Renee up, feeling that she was purposely threatening him. He said indifferently, "As long as you're still with me, I won't lose you. Just stay here and stop overthinking. You can't run away!"He was an obstinate person. He wanted her heart but knew that he could not get it. Hence, he would bind her to him. Both refused to give in. Jovan inexplicably felt gloomy and let her go. He said coldly, "Think it through." Then, he left the room.When he recalled this incident many years later, he felt it might be the most foolish and regretful thing he had done.After leaving that day, he purposely returned to the room again after a few hours. Jovan smoked outside and tried to calm down. He persuaded himself to stop taking things seriously. After all, Renee never liked him. It was perfectly reasonable for her t
Jovan couldn't imagine the kind of pain Renee had gone through. She used an iron wire to cut the pulse on her wrist. He also couldn't imagine how badly she yearned to die."Renee, I've underestimated you!"After calming himself down, Jovan staggered and searched for the key to unlock the chain around Renee's ankle. He couldn't stop himself from trembling. Renee said that he would regret it, and he did. He regretted what he had done very much. If he knew she would be this desperate, he would never use this method to lock her up. If the price of getting her was to see her die, he would never have wanted her.Endless thoughts messed with Jovan's mind. He couldn't think straight and just wanted her to be safe. He spent quite a long time to finally find the key. He trembled as he unlocked the chain around her ankles. Renee finally regained freedom, but had lost consciousness… He carried her in his arms and quickly got into the car. He stepped hard on the gas pedal and arrived at th
Cadmus was holding a detonator, and gave Nora a final warning. "On the count of three, we'll blow up Hunt Enterprise right away if you don't let Mr. Baldwin go!" "You have to dismantle the bombs first, or we won't let him go." Nora frowned, her tone cold. She refused to back down.Time passed by. Both parties fell into a stalemate. Some employees in the lobby had been hurt, but Tiger was standing at the entrance and prohibited the injured people from leaving. The situation was critical. Nora looked at the employees who were about to collapse and grew more anxious. She threatened Cadmus and Tiger, "Let my employees go, or Mr. Baldwin will suffer too.""How dare you threaten us! You don't take the Baldwin family seriously at all. You're looking for trouble!"Cadmus fired a few shots at the sky. The scene grew more chaotic."I think the president of Hunt Enterprise is a coward! As the president, he's too timid to show himself and keeps acting like a coward. He used his employees
"Get out of my way!" Stefan's coldness nearly crushed Elijah. Finally, Elijah failed to resist Stefan's toughness and stepped aside. "Mr. Hunt, you'll regret it. I believe that Justin isn't that simple!"Elijah followed Stefan and did not give up on trying to dissuade Stefan. He hoped that Stefan would change his mind.Stefan pursed his lips and pushed Justin to Elijah. "Grab him. I'll negotiate with them."Then, he pressed the button of the elevator to go downstairs. "Okay."Since Stefan had made up his mind, Elijah found it hard to keep stopping Stefan. He casually grabbed a sharp pocketknife and pushed it against Justin's neck.He warned fiercely, "Behave yourself. If not, I'm going to cut your throat." "I've been behaving myself. You guys are easily startled." Justin smiled and looked at Stefan. He mocked, "I know now. You're the heir of The Great Eight of Beach City, but you're weak and helpless. Your company is weak, too. Only two soldiers of mine are capable of me
At the same time, there was a bang. Cadmus's gunshot accurately went through Nora's body."Aunt Nora!" Stefan's mind went blank when he saw his aunt, who had always doted on him, collapse in front of him."Oh, no! It's all over!"Justin realized that this was no longer the fight between him and Stefan. It had become a battle between two great families. "Step down now!" Anxious, Justin knocked against Elijah, who was similarly anxious. Then, he stood between Stefan and Cadmus and Tiger. "Shoot me if you want to! If you don't step down, I'll let them cut my throat!""Uh…" Cadmus and Tiger were shocked by Justin's action. Frightened, they no longer acted recklessly."Hold on, Aunt Nora!"Stefan said nothing else. He carried Nora, who was lying in a pool of blood, in his arms. His eyes turned teary. "I'll save you! Hold on."He carried Nora and walked out of the building. Cadmus and Tiger wanted to stop him, but Justin warned them with a threatening look."I'll go with you!" Ju
Nora was Stefan's aunt. She had helped Stefan to achieve a lot of things in the company in these years. Justin knew that he could never harm her. If anything happened to her, the Hunt and Baldwin families would certainly fight. Even so, he wasn't afraid if that happened. If he was, he wouldn't get impulsive and want to fight Stefan. It would be a pity, though. After all, they made peace just moments ago and promised not to fight against each other in three years.If they fought, Stefan wouldn't leave Renee as promised. If he lingered around, Justin would have no chance of winning her over."You guys got me into a huge mess! You'd better pray Ms. Hunt is safe!" Justin grew angrier as he dwelled on it. He yearned to slap them. Thinking about it, he decided to go to the hospital to feel better.Elijah caught up with Justin and asked cautiously, "Where are you going?" "I'm going to the hospital to check things out. It's better than sitting here and doing nothing."Justin rubb
Justin smiled and described the children's experiences, acting like a stepfather. When he talked about the children, he made it sound like they were his biological children. Stefan didn't look so good. He felt that the glass of wine was getting bitter."Well, I'm sure kids will find everything new and exciting when they go to a new place. But they'll get bored with it when time passes. They'll love their real home better." Stefan had wanted to act relaxed and casual, but he could not stop himself from refuting when he heard Justin's provocative words. "Mm?" Leia sat beside Liam and leaned against his arm, and whispered, "What are they doing? This is weird. Are they going to fight?""It's just a competition between men. They won't get into a fight." Liam kept eating and watching the fun. He merely found it amusing. As expected, Renee was greatly admired. Although she remained silent, she would always be in the limelight. Liam was amused to see people like Stefan or Justin
"How dare you!"Stefan's words instantly made Leia speechless. She had wanted to rebuke him, but he snatched the chance from her and struck her dumb.In short, he was an utter scumbag.After a moment, Leia finally managed to comment, "How shameless!" Justin had kept silent all the while. He looked at Stefan with a scrutinizing and mocking gaze. "Mr. Hunt, I admire your honesty and self-awareness. If that's the case, let's stop being reserved and have fun together!""Yes, let's have fun together. I'm shameless, too!" Liam joined in the effort to mock Stefan. He swayed his glass of wine and faked a smile. "I've known her a long time, so of course I know what shameless things Mr. Hunt has done. I think I'd better grab this chance to tell you all of them since everyone is here today."Standing at the door, Renee was worried that Liam might say more indecent things. She hurriedly stopped him. "Pipe down, Liam!" "Got it." Liam shrugged helplessly but obeyed her.Although he yea
"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