“That's not it!” Renee denied it coldly. "That's just my moral principle. It has nothing to do with him.”The press conference continued under the supervision of the staff.A representative from Hunt Enterprise's PR Department showcased to the media the company's ongoing projects, financial power, and organizational structure.Finally, the PR representative enthusiastically told the media, "Hunt Enterprise is about to embark on a new journey. Let's welcome Mr. Jovan Hunt, the new CEO jointly selected by the board of directors and the major shareholders of Hunt Enterprise, to give us a speech.”The venue suddenly erupted with enthusiastic applause. The atmosphere was even more enthusiastic than when Stefan held a press conference in the past. It was heartbreaking to watch.Jovan spoke eloquently in front of the media.“Hunt Enterprise is currently facing an unprecedented crisis. For the future of Hunt Enterprise and the entire Beach City, I took on the responsibility of CEO at the
Everyone looked toward the direction the sound came from, including Renee.She saw Stefan's tall figure casually walking into the venue like a deity.Originally, Jovan was the center of attention, but as soon as Stefan appeared, he immediately became the side character, like a piece of glass compared to Stefan's diamond.The place exploded. The atmosphere, which had reached a climax before this, became even more intense. The sounds of shutters and flashes were deafening.“N-No way! Stefan Hunt?! But you're already...”Jovan went pale, like he had just seen a ghost. He slumped down in his chair, devoid of his earlier energy and enthusiasm.Stefan's gaze at Jovan was as cold and sharp as a dagger. He said, "You seem disappointed, Vice-CEO.”The senior executives and shareholders sitting to the sides showed various reactions. Some were happy, while some were not.Those who supported Jovan had their backs pressed against their seats. They sweated profusely and found it hard to brea
Stefan sat there like a king, dazzling and charming the people around him. Clearly, the man was a born leader—nobody could take their eyes off him. Even the reporters from popular media companies who were initially only interested in getting their hands on sensational news were now so captivated by Stefan's charisma that they forgot to take notes.Sitting amidst hundreds of other guests in the audience, Renee's icy gaze was locked on the man on the stage. Her fists were clenched so tightly that her fingernails dug deep into her flesh.So, Stefan had been alive all this time… and had now returned more powerful and arrogant than ever! It was truly a pity that she'd spent all that time grieving and shedding tears for him. It was all for nothing! Renee felt like laughing at how foolish she had been.Xavier crossed his legs, looking as if he knew all along that this would happen."I can't believe Stef actually went through with his outrageous plan!" He exclaimed with a grin. "But I've g
"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
"Oh, please!" Leia rolled her eyes at Xavier; her gesture was far from romantic. "We haven't been together that long. Plus, you dated Shirley for a long time. You were famous in the entire Beach City over how hard you worked to win her over. She made you fall head over heels for her. But you've never made such a big scene when you're dating me. People might even assume that you're single!""Why did you bring up Shirley again?" Xavier held his forehead helplessly. The scariest thing for a man was having his girlfriend repeatedly mention his ex. No matter what the man said, it would always end up in a fight."Why, can't I bring her up?" Leia snapped. Like a lot of women, Leia yearned to travel back in time and replace all the time Xavier had with his ex-girlfriend. She said jealously, "You can't forget about her, so you're afraid of me mentioning her. You're worried you might get exposed when I mention her.""No!" Xavier became impatient, his face looking awful. "I have many
"How silly!" Xavier felt sorry for Leia when he heard her words. He hugged her from behind and whispered, "I feel the same about Renee like you do. I admire her and think she's perfect, but I don't love her the way a man does.""Really?" Leia was surprised. She found it unbelievable, as she had always thought that Xavier loved Renee.She always felt that he was a man with great taste. His love for Renee was unrequited, so he kept a special spot for her in his heart. Since she was aware of that, she always avoided that topic and never asked him about Renee. If she did, he would weigh their positions in his heart. Leia felt that she had no right to ask about that since the answer was obvious."Of course!" Xavier pinched Leia's cheeks and smiled. "Men's love can be divided into many types, but there's only one kind of love for women. I love you like a man loves a woman. Do you understand?"Leia's heart started racing. She felt flattered, but she bit her lips carefully and asked, "
Leia quickly wiped away her tears and acted tough. "I'm crazy now. You shouldn't talk to me.""So?" Xavier calmly walked to Leia and spoiled her as if she were a disobedient child. He doted on her. "It's not the first day you act crazily. Plus, it's not the first time I've found you like this. It's not bad, either. You look pretty cute."Leia turned around and glared at him in confusion. Goosebumps spread across her skin. "Xavier, act normal. When did I act crazily?" "You're not always normal when you're with me. Whenever I said something wrong, you went mad. You'd go mad whenever I talked to any woman, too. Isn't that crazy enough?" Xavier spread his hands, sounding helpless. Previously, he had no idea that the seemingly noisy and careless young lady of the Osborne family would be so sensitive. She cared about details very much, especially ones about him with other women.Their arguments weren't about serious issues. Rather, it was all because of her jealousy. She would go mad
Forsty silence overcame everyone. Everyone was full of complicated emotions."I need some fresh air," Leia said coldly, rising. She silently walked past Renee and went to a deserted corner.She knew she was being impudent, and that she should never blame Renee or get jealous for no reason.However, she was exhausted after so much torture these days. She almost had a mental breakdown, and she couldn't think straight. She just wanted to see Liam safe. She couldn't care about anything else."Lei…" Renee wanted to run after Leia, but Xavier stopped her."I'll be with her. You guys should get some rest." Xavier sighed. He gave Renee and Justin a profound look before he quickly caught up with Leia.Renee flexed her fingers as she watched their backs. She trembled slightly, growing teary. "I knew it! Lei's mad at me. Even I think I'm a scumbag, let alone her… It would be better if I stopped Liam. I was selfish!""It wasn't your fault!" Justin wanted to hug Renee, but he thought it migh
Leia was leaning into Xavier's arms and trembling nervously.Renee paced back and forth at the door, looking guilty. "It's all my fault!" She flexed her fingers and bit the back of her fist, filled with reproach."It has nothing to do with you. Stop blaming yourself." Justin patted her shoulder, hoping to help her relax a bit. "You aren't a superwoman. You can't do everything well. Plus, it's hard for us to do anything under this circumstance. It's hard to control.""No, I knew that Benjamin didn't want to kill Amber. He just wanted to test Mateo and Liam…"Renee was teary as she reflected on what had happened. She felt that she could have stopped that if she was more sensitive and active."I guessed that Mateo would attack Amber and that Liam might resist, but I didn't expect him to use his body to block the knife. Is this some kind of melodramatic movie? I taught him so many self-defense techniques. Why was he so dumb? If I stopped it earlier, this would never have happened!"R
"No!"Unexpectedly, the seemingly desperate Mateo who insisted that he couldn't do it actually tried to stab Amber.At that critical moment, Liam roared and subconsciously stood in front of Amber. The sharp knife pierced his heart. For a moment, blood gushed out. "Liam!" Amber's eyes widened as her mind went blank. She watched him fall in front of her though he was initially hugging her."Liam!" Both Leia and Xavier's car arrived later than the others. When Leia got out of the car, she witnessed that scene and almost blacked out."Be careful!" Xavier held her in a hurry, anxious for her. He couldn't believe what he had seen."Liam!" Renee rushed over immediately. She inspected Liam's chest and tried to stop the bleeding for him."I'm going to kill you!" Leia went berserk. She staggered toward Mateo and pounced on him, trying to strangle him."I… I didn't mean it…" When Mateo saw the knife in Liam's chest, he instantly regained his wits. He kept shaking his head and retreating.
"None of you did anything wrong," Benjamin said icily, "but I want to know your stand. If you kill her, you don't have any worry. I'll know you're someone who can do something big."If you can't do it, it means that you aren't suited to take over my position because your sentiments will get in the way sooner or later. They'll make you an indecisive coward!""But I…" Mateo held the shiny knife and bent forward. He looked at Benjamin and Amber, then hung his head in defeat. "I can't do that.""What can't you do?" Benjamin narrowed his eyes and looked at the collapsed Mateo coldly."I can't kill Gem…" Mateo staggered and sobbed. "I grew up with her. She's kind and delicate. I'd long sworn to protect her my whole life. I can't watch her get hurt! But now, you're asking me to kill her. I can't do it… I'd rather kill myself!""Hmph! You can't even do that. If someone catches her and threatens you to betray me one day, you'll do that without hesitation. So, my worry is logical," Benjamin
"Is it…not serious?" Justin looked at Benjamin, who had gone berserk. He said helplessly, "Don't you think he's as crazy as Macsen? These people can do anything if they're crazy! He doesn't even want his daughter. I think he might kill all of us!""I don't think so." Renee was quite calm. "He isn't a fool even though he's crazy. It won't do him any good if he kills us.""Fine. You're calm."Justin sighed and said carefully, "You turned down my suggestion to ask for assistance. It's not because you're confident that we can escape. You just don't want to meet Stefan, do you?" He felt that he knew Renee—she acted tough and indifferent, but she cared about that very much. She would rather fight Benjamin with a slim chance to win instead of owning Stefan a favor. It meant that she had yet to forget about him. "Yes, I don't want to meet him, especially in such a way," Renee confessed, flexing her fingers. She smiled helplessly and added, "I owe him a great deal. It's best if we don'
"What?! Master, how could you?" Mateo looked at Benjamin in disbelief. He didn't expect Benjamin to say that."What? Are you going to say no?" Benjamin looked at Mateo condescendingly with a hollow smile. "I know you want my position. At first, I tried to choose between you and Liam. I wanted to see which of you could win my daughter's heart."Then, I figured something out. Women are always too passionate. They'd cause delays and might fall for the wrong guy. The business I worked so hard for my whole life would end up in the traitor's hand. I might as well get rid of her to stop wasting my time and effort."It sounded like Amber had broken Benjamin's heart, so he decided to get rid of that annoying daughter of his.That kind of idea might sound illogical to other fathers, but it was reasonable for Benjamin since he was already a crazy demon who had killed many people.Mateo swallowed and said shakily, "Master, Gem's your most beloved daughter. It's okay if you punish her if you'r