The atmosphere in the guest room on the second floor was harmonious. Margaret sat beside the table and smiled fondly at Joanne as if she were looking at the future matriarch of the Everheart family. "Miss, you're Joanne, right?" Margaret smiled and asked gently. "You are?" It was the first time Joanne met Margaret, but she found her very friendly and warm, like Joanne's late mother. Margaret had a temperament that would put anyone at ease. "I'm a nanny here. Call me Margaret," Margaret humbly introduced herself and asked Joanne, "I heard from Ms. Ren that you led quite a difficult life. What happened to make you take things so hard? Why did you want to kill yourself?" "I…" Joanne shook her head as her eyes turned watery. "I don't know how to explain it. I might have found it easier to die at that moment." When she met Quinton again at the school where her new life had begun, it felt like she had met a demon who wanted to grab her and pull her down to hell. If she did not use her
As the child of a physician, Margaret could cure many difficult and rare diseases. She felt that Joanne's gloominess was the result of her weak body, and that she would one day get better as long as she nourished her body well."Just stay here and rest. I have a bit of medical knowledge and can help your body recover. As long as you feel better and more energized, you won't feel depressed or want to kill yourself." At that point, Margaret held Joanne's hand and carefully took her pulse. Instantly, her expression turned serious. "Oh, gosh! What's wrong with your pulse? Oh, you poor girl. What have you been through?" Margaret was a medical expert, and could glimpse into people's past just by taking their pulse. She felt quite sorry for Joanne. "You suffered a lot a few years back, and no normal person would be able to take that. No wonder you feel so hopeless… Anyone else wouldn't have been able to hold on." While talking, Margaret started getting teary. "Oh, girl. You've suffered so mu
"You're a friend who's very dear to me. I hope you can be happy, even without Quinton as the reason." Renee looked at Joanne, and sounded very sincere. "So, stop overthinking. Relax and stay here. Margaret is a great physician. She'll help you get better. Once you get better, you'll have the energy and confidence to do whatever you want, including being a teacher. Am I right?" "Ms. Everheart…" Joanne looked at Renee in a daze. Her eyes grew redder because she was quite touched. "You're a nice person. No wonder Mr. Hunt likes you. You guys are really very kind." "Well, I'm not that good either. I'm not nice to everyone. I like you, so I'm nice to you. Plus, it's written in the stars for us." Renee sounded casual, as she refused to make it very melancholic. Honestly, she didn't find herself a kind person. She was nice to Joanne simply because she wanted to make it up to the latter, for Quinton's sake."This…" Hurriedly, Renee handed the plate of s'mores pops to Joanne. "They'r
After a brief silence, Joanne finally spoke up. "They don't taste like the ones I had when I was young… The ones I had when I was young were very sweet. But this isn't that sweet. It's a bit sour, but… There's a sweet aftertaste.""Ha, ha, ha! That's great. Well, it's bad if the s'mores pops are just sweet. I like them sour and sweet. It's more challenging." Renee made some meaningful comments, and started having one s'mores pop too. "Mm… It's good! I've got to say that Quinton cooks well. I feel like getting him into catering." Renee had never tasted such delicious s'mores pops. She had a few of them at one go, and smugly started talking about Quinton again.But Joanne was no longer that repulsed. She even chimed in, "Yeah, you're right. He's good at cooking. He was always the one who cooked when we were young.""Is…that so?" Renee was speaking carefully. She held her breath for fear that Joanne might regain her wits and start hating Quinton again. At least, she could tell from J
For the subsequent few days, Joanne found it hard to resist Renee and Margaret's enthusiasm. Hence, she chose to stay in Everheart Manor.Renee purposely had a long chat with Quinton to ensure Joanne could stay there with peace of mind. She prohibited Quinton from appearing in front of Joanne without permission.Luckily, Quinton seemed to have come to his senses. He obeyed that rule, and never barged into Joanne's room again. He didn't even approach the second floor. At the same time, he took charge of cooking. He used different tricks to cook nice food every day. He was the image of a nice gentleman.Margaret went to all the herbs markets nearby, and finally gathered the herbs to help Joanne get better. She meticulously prepared and cooked the herbs for Joanne every day.After a few days, Joanne got better. Even her cheeks seemed plumper.Renee was relieved to see everything moving in a good direction in an orderly manner. She knew Joanne was worried about the school. Hence, sh
Exhausted, Renee finally understood how helpless a parent would be when their children reached the rebellious stage. The current Quinton acted like a rebellious child. The different thing was, a rebellious child would at most talk back. Quinton, on the other hand, would put them into action. It was a dilemma."I think… Is it because of Stefan?" Quinton watched Renee's expression, and hit the nail on the head.Stunned, Renee pursed her lips and pretended to be ignorant. "What… What do you mean?""You're so eager to settle that issue. I guess it's not only because of Joanne and me. You're afraid of burdening Stefan, aren't you?" Quinton continued pointing out the reason she wanted to go to the school. Besides, he knew that his guess was right based on Renee's reaction. He was an impulsive man who was prone to anger, but he was no fool. When Renee spoke up, he would know her thoughts. Besides, they were twins who were very close to each other. "No, I'm not!" Renee smoothed her
The crowd was agitated, and kept rebuking and slandering Stefan."So, it was the president of Hunt Enterprise who pulled strings here! No wonder the principal made such a bold move!""Tsk! Rumor has it that Stefan's the local tyrant. He can do whatever he wants. Well, that's not wrong…""We can't have a guy like that in Beach City! He must answer to the law!""I heard he's always cruel and heartless. He even targeted his first wife and abandoned his family just because of his mistress. What a scumbag!"Renee covered her face when she heard their rebukes. She was afraid of being burdened when others recognized her. "Excuse me!" She took a deep breath, and tried to walk forward among the agitated parents. She even became worried about Stefan. The issue seemed trivial, but it created a domino effect. One single mistake caused a lot of consequences. During the recent two years, the image of Hunt Enterprise suffered a great blow because of Stefan and Renee's divorce, the resentme
Surprised, the secretary asked, "I heard Ms. Garcia has no family. Isn't that right?""No, I'm her family. I can call her right now if you don't believe me." Renee fished her phone out to prove herself."That's unnecessary." At that time, the principal's voice came from the office. "Harmony, let her in."Harmony Cyan, the secretary, nodded and replied, "Okay, Mr. Porter." Then, she let Renee into the office.Renee smoothed her looks, and took a deep breath. She politely knocked on the door of the office before entering it carefully.Dale Porter, the principal, was working hard in the office, his head lowered. Although he was in his fifties and had gray hair, he looked energetic and was in good spirits.Renee walked to the office desk, and gently introduced herself to Dale. "Mr. Porter, hello. I'm Joanne's sister, Renee Everheart." "Renee?" Dale frowned and tried to recall who that was. Suddenly, he looked up and asked in surprise, "So you're Mrs. Hunt?""No!" Renee hurriedly w
Mateo swallowed. "Yes, I'm aware of that. The Stuart family has been investing in a lot of entertainment properties in Southeast Aeos in the recent few years. They're controlling more than half of the TV stations. Their power and influence are incomparable.""Looks like you keep up with the current events. Are you involved in the entertainment field too?" Liam asked.He had easily gained the result he wanted with just a few words. He faked a smile and looked at Mateo, who was panicking.Mateo glanced at him and said grumpily, "All that Master ever asks us to do is indecent. If we don't have any people in the media, we're doomed."The Triangle was never governed by the law, but public opinion was a dangerous weapon. If they went over the line and got reported by the media, international law would get involved. Naturally, it would affect their business.The Stuarts did decent business like the Osbornes and might appear easy to control. However, they couldn't be offended casually—a
Because of Liam's declaration, he and Mateo failed to reach a consensus.Mateo's gaze grew colder and more sinister, and he glared fiercely at Liam. "Fine. There's nothing to talk about between us.""No, you're wrong." Liam calmly swayed the wine glass. "You can get down on your knees and say sorry. Maybe I'll let you off by then!""How dare you!" Mateo could no longer take it—he pushed all the cutleries on the table to the floor and pointed angrily at Liam. "You refused my kindness. I won't go easy on you!""Just come at me. I'll wait," Liam shot back provocatively. He knew Mateo well—the man was wicked and cautious, but also cowardly. Under these circumstances, he wouldn't act recklessly. Hence, Liam wasn't afraid to infuriate him. Renee was right. Mateo had done so many things to control Liam. As long as Liam remained calm, Mateo couldn't do anything to Renee and Leia. "You think I won't do that?" Mateo clenched his fists and snarled fiercely, "I'll break one of their fing
Liam casually twirled the wine glass in his hand and asked Mateo coldly, "So, you won't stop until you marry Gem?""Not just that." Mateo tore off a drumstick and bit into it, then cracked a cunning sneer. "Marrying Amber is always in my plans. I'll marry her even if you're not involved. Tonight, I want to talk to you about the few territories in your hands.""The territories in my hands?" Liam frowned. Initially, he was confused—then, he understood it and chuckled. "What territories? I just work for Mr. Jenkins. The territories we took in belong to him. You'd better ask them from him instead of me. That's more straightforward."When Liam and Amber decided to fake their marriage, Benjamin focused on training Liam. In the process, he gave Liam a lot of power and authority.Liam didn't fail Benjamin. He did a great job even with his limited power. In half a year, he took three territories, namely the East River, West River, and South River. The three territories came with an importan
"Just forget about it?" Luneth fell into a daze when she heard Amber's words. She glanced at Amber darkly before letting out a twisted laugh. Then, she shook her head."No, I can't let it go just like that! Grady was hurt. How can I call myself a mother if I let it go like that? I must make the two people who hurt Grady pay dearly!"Luneth's expression shocked Amber. She subconsciously swallowed and asked, "Well, how will you handle it?" "I told Mateo to lock them up. When Grady's condition stabilizes, I'll make them pay!" Luneth's eyes shone with fury and vengeance, and she gnashed her teeth. "They hurt Grady, so I'll give them a taste of their medicine! I won't break their limbs or cut off their tongues. I'll just cut their foreheads and tear off their scalps! What do you think?""You want to…tear off their scalps?" Terror gripped Amber when she heard Luneth's plan. An awkward laughter escaped her. "Isn't that too ruthless? If they didn't do it on purpose, I don't think you sh
Amber grabbed some tissues beside her and carefully covered the scratch between her brows. She kept calm in hopes that she could make Luneth let down her guard. She knew very well that Liam, Renee, and Leia would be doomed if she didn't stop Luneth from telling Benjamin and Macsen about this incident. Although her face hurt badly from the teacup, it was nothing compared to their safety. "I'm sorry, Gem… I didn't do it on purpose. I was too angry and scared!" Luneth realized how aggressive she had been, and apologized to Amber in sobs. At the same time, she complained piteously, "You know how hard it was for me to get a child. Grady is very dear to Macsen and me. We don't even speak loudly to him or beat him up. But today, someone pressed him to the ground and beat him up. There's such a large hole in his head! The doctors told me that we needed to take good care of his wound. If it gets infected or he gets tetanus, the bacteria or virus might invade his brain and turn him mentall
Luneth was staying in the southeast of the fort. Her house was a uniquely styled traditional cottage. Upon arriving, Amber could hear a woman crying from afar. Many servants, doctors, and women were standing in front of Luneth's room. Amber walked toward Luneth's servant Jayna Bowie, and asked carefully, "Hello, is Aunt Luneth around?" "Ms. Jenkins, come another day. Mrs. Klein is crying sadly now. She's furious. I'm afraid you might be harmed if you go in," Jayna advised kindly.Those standing in a row at the door were trying to comfort Luneth. However, they were quickly rebuked and became too timid to approach her."It's fine." Amber was aware of her aunt's temper. Smiling, she kept moving forward. "I heard Grady got hurt. As his cousin, I need to see him. Plus, Aunt Luneth always treats me nicely. She won't be angry at me.""Ms. Jenkins, you don't know how serious this is. There's a big hole in the boy's head. The doctor said it might affect his intelligence. Mrs. Klein beca
After that, Amber looked at Liam, who kept silent the whole time. She tried to make Liam say something nice. "See, Liam? I told you, Matt's a great guy. He was just joking with us in the orchard to scare us. I'm sure he'll take our sides and protect us. Don't worry.""Is that so?" Liam glanced at Mateo and faked a smile. "Well, I should thank him properly."The air between them grew awkward, but Liam didn't care. He wanted to make Mateo uneasy and force the latter to expose his true self.Amber was simple, but Liam was no fool. Mateo's acting was smooth, but he couldn't trick Liam.Moreover, Mateo was the one who came up with that scheme. He wouldn't let anyone expose it—he wanted to be the one to do it."Okay, aren't we going to get a drink? Let's go. I'll make the chef cook us something nice." Mateo enthusiastically held Liam's shoulders and dragged him forward. At that moment, he turned icy. "If you're a man, stop involving Gem if you want to fight against me. Stop showing of
Liam was no fool. He immediately understood the profound meaning behind Renee's words and stopped saying too much. "Fine, be good. You guys are just taking a rest. I'll handle this well. Wait for my news."He knew very well that the conclusion would be the same regardless if Renee and Leia had offended Luneth's son or the child of an ordinary villager. Mateo simply wanted to use that method to control him. The only way to solve this was to defeat Mateo. However, based on the current situation, Mateo had a lot of followers in the fort. It would be difficult for Liam to defeat him.Luckily, Liam wasn't an easy target either. He had been winning people over these days. That, and he was close with Benjamin's other foster sons. If both parties were to get into a fight, he still had a chance to win.After confirming that Renee and Leia were fine, Liam left the cell. Mateo was waiting outside, grinning triumphantly. He sneered sarcastically, "What do you think? I was telling the trut
"No, I'm not!" Liam raised his hand to swear. "Trust me. They're just best friends. They're not in that kind of messy relationship. Both of them have a guy they're madly in love with.""I see." Amber watched how Renee and Leia fooled around intimately with each other in the cell. They looked like they were about to kiss! She shook her head and said, "What a pity! They look so lovey-dovey, better than many novels I read about where the women love each other.""You're hopeless!" It was rare for Liam to see such a straightforward and cute side of Amber. Amused, he poked her forehead and sighed. "Stop reading those messy novels! It's harmful."Their actions were loud and finally attracted Renee's attention in the cell."Liam!" Renee, pressed to the chair by Leia, couldn't escape. Finally, she grabbed a chance to leap up and walk to the door.Well… It wasn't a door. Rather, they were iron bars preventing them from escaping.The decoration and facilities in the room weren't bad. Be