In Renee's opinion, the male escort wasn't too shabby. He was not only handsome, but he also had a fine figure with good muscles. He was also understanding and was fine with her being intelligent and beautiful. When she was less busy, she would consider this again.Apart from him, Jovan was also quite good-looking. If she had the time, she would tease him again. It should be fun.Julian wasn't too bad either; she could invite him into her hacking team. Haze was even more capable. She still needed to get the time and ask him to teach her binary coding.Renee picked up a slice of bread and took a bite, chewing as she decided.'What's so irreplaceable about him? He’s as dead as a doornail now. The world is big, and there are plenty of men out there, just as varied as the types of food laid before me. I should take my time and try them out slowly. I will eventually find the right one that suits me!'Only, as Renee continued to chew, her expression turned ugly.Damn... The bread that
"Emergency! Emergency! Calling Q! Calling Q!" Aiden had just called out on the walkie-talkie when Mr. Q responded immediately as if he had been waiting there all along. "Q speaking! Q speaking!" The man asked confidently, "Have you had breakfast? Have my superb cooking skills amazed you?" "What are you talking about? It wasn't amazing. It was terrifying! Mommy almost called the police after eating your dark cuisine," Aiden replied as he threw up his hands helplessly. "Dark cuisine?" Mr. Q's voice turned cold, obviously disagreeing. "That food was carefully made according to the cooking instructions, and I poured my passion and love into them... Just to make the bread, I spent an hour kneading the dough. How could you call those a dark cuisine?" "Okay, fine. I see your sincerity, but it's a fact that you don't have a talent for making good food. This is your shortcoming, and you have to make up for it quickly. Otherwise, I'll have to choose someone else... I must find someone wh
'Argh! Every path I see ends in a roadblock! On the surface, it looks like there are many ways to Rome, but in reality, they're all blocked!"Renee repeatedly sighed, almost driven mad by the problem."Mommy, are you unhappy?" Aiden asked worriedly after pushing the door open to see Renee sighing."No. I'm very happy. I'm a winner in life with you and Abby by my side. Why would I not be happy?""Mommy, stop lying to me. You're clearly forcing your smile, and you blink a lot when you lie. I'm not a three-year-old anymore. I'm almost five, you know? Can you please stop insulting my intelligence?""Uh, well..."Like a thief caught in the act, Renee's smile froze on her face. After all, with Aiden's intelligence, her poor acting skills were a joke that would be easily exposed. So, she stopped pretending and was honest with Aiden."Adie, I've encountered a problem recently and need a little money. We may have to sell Sun Island temporarily to solve this problem. Are you and Abby ok
"What happened? Calm down and tell me," Renee said. Her brows furrowed deeply as she helped Leia, who was trembling in exhaustion, up."My brother... My brother is in trouble!" Leia exclaimed, her pretty face now as pale as a ghost. She took a deep breath before stammering, "Earlier, he went to get a loan at the bank to solve Azure Group's financial issues. He used his shares in Osborne Enterprise as collateral. Initially, everything was fine. He simply needed to repay the money on time. But somehow, my father got wind of it..."Renee's grip on Leia's arm tightened as a foreboding feeling of dread overcame her. "What happened?""You know how my father is. When he's angry, he doesn't care about anything. You know how we Osbornes started our business in the grayer parts of the industry, don't you? He's using his old ways to punish Liam! M-my father will beat him to death at this rate!" Leia gushed out everything and burst into tears.She looked helpless as she begged Renee, "Ren, p
"Dear, stop beating him! If you continue, you'll kill our son...!" Hayden cried as she held Liam in her arms. Tears flowed down her face as she begged, "Liam is your only son! You have a huge business! If you kill him, who will inherit it?""Mom, I don't like that you said that!"Laura, the third daughter of the Osborne family, sneered, "You make it sound like we're not part of the family! What? Did you pick us up from the roadside? Even if Liam is no more, it's not like the Osborne name will go extinct! What century are we in? Why do you still prefer sons over daughters?""That's right!" Geronimo exclaimed. "Liam is not my only descendent! If I beat this loser to death, I still have six daughters! Every single one of them brings me less heartache than this loser, especially Laura! The family business I handed her has flourished these years, and I'd be at ease if I handed them all the business!"Laura smirked, then said to Liam, who was kneeling in the middle of the room, "When you
"Oh? Did the sun rise from the west today? The redhead whose shoes my son has been licking has finally decided to show up?" Geronimo hissed venomously as he studied Renee from head to toe as though he was looking at a commodity.Then, he sneered, "Are you really willing to pay any price to save this loser?"Renee nodded, her eyes determined. "I've never gone against my words.""Good. At least you still have some conscience."There was a complicated look in Geronimo's eyes when he looked at Renee, and it was unclear if it was appreciation or contempt. Then, he said in a vague tone, "You have quite a devastatingly beautiful face, I must say, to be able to charm my son to this extent..."Liam, who was still kneeling on the ground, furrowed his brows when he heard that. "Boss, just ignore me and leave!" he pleaded emotionally. "I'm my father's favored child! No matter how angry he is, he won't kill me. But if you fall into his hands, I don't dare to imagine what kind of sick things he
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief but didn't forget to take a jab where they could."All of you, shut up! Don't talk about Ren that way! Have you forgotten that she saved Liam and me before? With our family's status, even if we cultivated another eight hundred years, we'd still be unable to match up with Ren!" Leia yelled angrily at her family, and her cheeks flushed red."Take her away!" Liam ordered Leia, his head hanging low and fists clenched.His goddess and savior had been humiliated by his family! He was so ashamed that he couldn't even find the courage to look at Renee!"Geronimo, you better beat me to death today, or it’ll be your fault that I become a rebel!" Liam coldly warned Geronimo.Although the older man was his respected father, he had touched something precious of his! It wasn't something he could tolerate!"You stupid beat! How dare you say such damning things to me just for the sake of a used woman! Fine! I'll fulfill your wish and beat you to death!"Geroni
Renee was already walking out of the Osborne Mansion when she heard Liam shouting her name from behind. She stopped but did not turn around."Why are you following me?" she asked him coldly. "Just go back and get a good rest. That whipping must've done a great deal of damage to your body. Be careful, or it might make you impotent.""Boss…" Liam's lips were pale. His whole body seemed fragile and his handsome face was twisted by a look of excruciating pain. "I'm so sorry, Boss! Please don't be angry with me!"All these years, his family never liked it when he was too close to Renee, but as long as he made sure to keep it all under a low profile, they always kept their distance and never interfered too much with his life. But he made a mistake this time. Had he not taken such a monstrous risk and angered his father, Renee would not have been humiliated by his own family."You idiot… How could I possibly be mad at you?!""Then why are you turning your back on me? You don't want to se
"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