Everyone immediately looked toward the employee. The male employee's forehead was covered in sweat, as he tried his best to catch his breath. "The… winding bank… We found Ms. Smith's shoe around the cliffside of the winding bank! She must've fallen into the ocean!"The winding bank was quite a famous sightseeing spot within the area, as it was formed by a short mountain range in the shape of the letter 'C.' Moreover, it was known for its treacherous terrains as well."She fell into the sea?!" Xavier howled. "But Cecy doesn't know how to swim! We need to save her right now!"He was the first to rush out, with Christopher and Stefan following behind.Renee, on the other hand, froze slightly. She then followed a group of curious guests to the site.The tides around the bank were actually rather calm. However, with the sun already set, there wasn't enough light for them to locate Cecilia well.Renee observed the heels placed neatly at the edge of the cliff and tried analyzing the s
"We were married for four whole years! How could she possibly have nothing to do with me?" Stefan sounded determined, making it seem like his absurd statement was reasonable.Renee stood behind him with mixed feelings stirring up in her chest.She had never expected Stefan to defend her in front of this many people, nor had she expected him to say all those things. 'Isn't he supposed to be the coldest and harshest person regarding our past marriage? Shouldn't he be expressing his disdain more than anything? What is he doing acting as if he cared?'Christopher spoke up too. "Stef is right. We have no proof pointing to Ms. Everheart pushing Cecilia off the cliff, so please do not make any hasty assumptions or use violence against her."Instead, we should split up into groups and look around the area… find Cecilia as soon as we can!"Everyone found his words quite understandable, and they started calling out to Cecilia, covering more ground as they tried to look for her. Stefan a
No matter how much she screamed and called, Stefan soldiered on, seeming as if he had no intention of turning back."Fine! If you're so tired of living, then just die! If you die, I won't even cry a single tear for you!" Renee clenched her fists, her chest tightening while she grew more and more furious at his recklessness. 'God damn it, Stefan Hunt! Do you have no one else you care about in this world?! Are you really willing to give up on everything for your first love?! Is she really that important to you?!'It was also then that she finally realized that the cold man she once knew was actually quite loving. However, his love wasn't hers to dream of, and she had no right to expect that from him.Stefan was quite a skilled swimmer and was able to reach Cecilia within minutes. Using one arm, he carried her back to shore.Just as they were about to reach the safe zone, a large wave came crashing down, dragging the two backward.Their figures were unable to be seen after that, wh
As the two headed to a safer area, Christopher sat her down gently and whispered, "Sorry if I overstepped. I was acting out of panic as well. I hope you understand.""It's alright. I should be thanking you, actually. I was being too rash," Renee replied, calming down and realizing she had momentarily lost it.She put some thought into this and asked herself, 'What does my ex-husband's life have to do with me? We're already divorced.'However, despite regaining her rationality, Renee still continued staring out into the ocean, crossing her arms before her chest. She started calling out to the man in her head, 'Come back, Stefan Hunt. For the sake of your two children, I'm begging you to come back!'After that, as if the man himself had heard her pleas, she witnessed a miracle happening right before her eyes. Stefan, who had disappeared into the waves earlier, was able to swim against the current, returning to the shore with his extraordinary swimming skills."They're back! They'r
Apparently, the person giving him CPR wasn't Renee, who he initially expected. Instead, it was one of the members of the rescue team, a tanned burly man."Damn it!" Stefan immediately leaped from the ground, pushing the burly man harshly and forcing him ten feet away.Seeing this, Renee was overwhelmed with glee. "Oh my god, you're alive, Stefan! Thank the stars!""Did you do that on purpose, Renee?!" Stefan looked exceedingly disgusted as he wiped his mouth over and over using the back of his hand.He thought to himself, 'That was so humiliating! I can't believe that I, Stefan Hunt, was tricked! I cannot accept this. I won't let this damn brat off so easily!'However, Renee was clueless about Stefan's intentions from the start. She truly believed that the man needed CPR and went out of her way to find the best professional around them.Seeing how energetic the man seemed, Renee was genuinely happy that he was no longer in critical condition. She instinctively gave him a big hug,
Cecilia's mother was still crying, holding onto her hand as she asked, "My dear, are you okay? What are you looking for? Just look at me…."Stef… Where is he?" Cecilia's voice was hoarse and weak.After experiencing such a deadly situation, she decided that she had to stop hiding her true feelings. She loved Stefan Hunt, and she couldn't possibly move on from him.The only person she wanted to see now… was Stefan Hunt."M… Mr. Hunt?" The atmosphere felt tense and awkward, as everyone had the same thought in their heads.'The first thing this bride did, despite having just survived drowning, was to look for another man… Poor Mr. Jacobs…'Christopher's handsome face turned stiff, then he spoke softly to the woman in his embrace. "Stef risked his life to save you, you know? You have to give him a proper thanks later.""He did?" Cecilia's pale face finally livened up, bursting into tears. "I knew it… He does care about me! Oh, Stef… Where is he? I have to see him!"At that moment
"I…"Cecilia was still feeling a little weak. She looked at the crowd with cloudy, bleary eyes, as if she had something she could not say out loud."I bumped into you and Ms. Everheart earlier," Ruby pointed out suggestively, continuing to fan the flame. "And you looked a little upset then. Was Ms. Everheart the last person you were with?"She felt that her implication was obvious enough, even if she did not spell it all out—Renee Everheart pushed Cecilia into the sea!Having climbed through the ranks in the entertainment industry for long enough, she had armed herself with weapons that helped her get ahead. Among all the weapons in her arsenal, borrowing the hand of another to eliminate a rival was her favorite, as it was the most convenient. Without lifting a finger, she could just stand back and let someone else eliminate the most threatening enemy on the battlefield—the perfect strategy!"That's right!" Cecilia's mother agitatedly held her shoulders and urged, "Don't be afr
Cecilia's mother then turned to Christopher. "Take your bride to the hospital, Chris, and hurry up, will you? If she stays a moment longer, I fear someone might beat her to death!""Of course," Christopher replied. "But I'd like to take the opportunity to publicly announce that the wedding between Cecilia Smith and I has been canceled. Our relationship as a couple ends today as well. I deeply apologize for dragging everyone into this mess and wasting your time today, but rest assured, you will be fully compensated by my family and I."This threw the crowd into an uproar.Xavier was flustered and anxiously tried to help save Christopher's situation. "What the hell are you talking about, Chris? Are you seriously canceling the wedding and breaking up with Cecy right now? Don't you think that's a bit too cruel? Tell me it's not true. Tell me you're just joking to lighten up the atmosphere."But Christopher said nothing in reply. He picked Cecilia up in his arms and carried her away.T
"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