"Ms. Everheart, we heard that you recently replaced Mr. Osborne as the president of Azure Group. Considering your rather unusual relationship with Mr. Hunt, what does the future relationship of your companies look like? Would the two of you be competing as rivals or work together as partners?" The person asking was a head reporter from one of the most reputable finance and economics magazines.Renee's thoughts were still circling around the deep anger and resentment she felt for Stefan, and she glared at the man icily. In contrast, Stefan was calm and collected as he gazed at her indifferently."Unusual" was indeed a good word to describe their relationship!Stefan did not have to say anything—the damage was already done. His lethal silence could easily crush anyone's self-esteem to smithereens!Renee clenched her fists and sneered, "There are no friends or enemies in the world of business—there's only benefit and loss. If Mr. Hunt can help me make more money, then we'll work toget
Renee sat on the toilet in the restroom, so enraged that she drew a pentagram on the floor with the tip of her shoe, viciously cursing Stefan."Damn you to hell, Stefan Hunt! You wanted to die so much that you even got yourself a grave, huh? Well, then… I hope you choke to death when you drink water or when you swallow your food! I hope you get struck by lightning when you're on your phone or fall down a hole and die while you're walking…"Suddenly, she heard the voices of women coming from the nearby stalls."Ah, no imitation can beat the real thing… Jovan might be cute, but he's nothing compared to Stefan! They're as different as day and night. Oh, can Stefan be any more perfect? If only I could marry him one day!""Stop daydreaming—he's already found his true love! If you think you'll actually get a turn to be with him, you should get your head checked…""True love? You mean his ex-wife?""No, dummy! It's the woman Mr. Hunt has been protecting for four years—Briar Desrosiers!
There were a few men inside the men's restroom standing at the urinals, doing their business without a care in the world. When Renee stormed in, they were shocked and hastily covered their private areas with their hands."You…" One of them sputtered indignantly, his face red in embarrassment."What are you looking at?" Renee shouted at the men, holding her head high. "Have you never seen a woman in the men's restroom before? If you can't deal with it, then get out!"The men in there were all respectable gentlemen, and they had probably never encountered such a tough and intimidating woman before. Instantly, they hurriedly zipped up and ran out.In a few seconds, the restroom was empty, except for the lone figure at the innermost urinal—Stefan Hunt. He stood straight and tall, like a cold and flawless marble statue. He managed to exude an air of superiority and unattainable perfection even as he stood in front of a urinal.He had not yet done his business before Renee barged in, so
In a desperate attempt to stop her from walking away, Stefan stretched his leg out to block her path and grabbed her tiny shoulders with both of his hands."Don't you have anything to tell me?" He asked meaningfully."Is this a joke? What would I have to tell you?" She glared at the big hands on her shoulders and warned him in an icy tone, "Let me go!"Stefan gazed into Renee's eyes as he asked her, "I hid the truth from you because the situation forced me to, but what about you? Don't tell me you're not hiding anything from me!""What…" Renee was starting to feel unsettled. "What are you talking about?""You know what I'm talking about… In your eyes, I'm the stupid one, aren't I? You hid in a corner where I couldn't see you, and you laughed at me for years, didn't you?"Stefan's grip on Renee's shoulders unconsciously tightened, and his calm expression now gave way to a mixture of anger, pain, and helplessness… as if he was powerless against the woman in front of him!Renee was
Trepidation was written all over Renee's face. She was full of guilt, but she raised her fist and said threateningly, "Go on and speak if you dare, Jovan!""Ignore her," Stefan coldly stated. "Tell me everything you know."Jovan smiled wickedly, then began in a meaningful tone, "If I'm not mistaken, your marriage to Renee lasted for about four years. In our current society, that's not a short marriage at all. Do you think you know her well? Do you know what her real personality is like?"Stefan's expression turned ugly, and he said in a dangerously icy tone, "What exactly are you trying to say? Stop beating around the bush—I don't have time to chat with you.""Answer my questions then. Do you understand her? What kind of a person is she in your eyes? Once I've got your answers, I'll tell you the shocking secret that she's been hiding from you…"Jovan's words aggravated both Stefan and Renee, but in order to satisfy his curiosity, Stefan forced himself to keep calm and answered the
Renee was so angry that she punched Jovan in the back twice. She did it so naturally that it was like they knew each other for a long time—there was no awkwardness between them at all.Stefan's expression twisted even more, and he subconsciously clenched his fists."You see, Stefan… this is Renee's real personality. She's not dignified or gentle like you said, nor is she elegant or prim and proper. The real Renee Everheart has a violent temper, and she beats people up when she's displeased with them. She always beats me up when she sees me; she's basically a tigress! I bet you've never seen this side of her, have you?"Although he'd just gotten punched, Jovan could not be happier. In fact, he even looked proud as he crowed triumphantly, "You were married to her for so many years, but I bet she's never punched you, has she? That's too bad… Research shows that when a woman is relaxed enough to show her real self to a man, she is more likely to love the man with all her heart and spend
With that, only Renee and Jovan were left standing in the men's restroom awkwardlyLike a villain who had succeeded in bringing his evil plan to fruition, a sinister yet childish smile cropped up on Jovan's face. He told Renee, "You see? You clearly made the right choice in leaving your ex-husband because all he ever wanted was a tool to perfect his image. He was never interested in you, he never understood you, and he never even wanted to understand you. What a failure.""Why, thank you for the enlightenment, Jovan!" Renee could not help but roll her eyes as she pointedly sneered, "If you have that much spare time, why don't you worry about yourself instead? How stupid can you be? You've been played like a fiddle and wiped out from your position, yet you're still here bragging like an idiot!"Jovan wasn't angered by her words, and instead approached Renee with a cheeky smile. "So, you're worried about me, huh?"Renee let out a frustrated snarl and kicked Jovan in the butt before r
"I'm going to hang up now," Renee told Leia with a sigh. "It's time to pick up the kids."She then ended the call and headed straight to Monte Perry Kindergarten.The streets in front of the kindergarten were always full of cars and crowded with people. All kinds of luxury cars were lined up at the Monte Perry Kindergarten gates, making it look like some kind of car exhibition was going on.After a while, Renee finally found a parking spot. She parked her car and was about to get out when Margaret suddenly called her."Hello?" Margaret's voice was shaky with panic. "Ms. Renee, are you here yet? Come quickly! Something… something happened!""What happened?" Renee asked quickly, then said to Margaret soothingly, "Don't panic… Speak slowly.""I'm useless, Ms. Renee! I deserve to die a thousand deaths! I was about to pick up the kids just now, but the teacher told me that… that…" Margaret sounded as if she was about to burst into tears."The teacher told me," she continued anxiously
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