Renee also agreed with the old woman—the couple seemed quite strange. If she had the chance, she wanted to meet them, but the old woman didn't know much about them and didn't remember much since they had come to Garcia Village ages ago.Renee's mind was troubled the whole night at the old woman's house. She didn't wake Jeffrey and Daisy up the next morning, and decided to wander around the island to see if she could find clues instead. She soon found a house that matched the old woman's description of George's house… but it was nothing but ruins. All that was left were ashes and burned items, and after many years of wind and rain, even those had practically disappeared into the ground. There was no trace of anyone ever living there. However, that area was the best in the village—it faced the vast sea and the soil was rich, making it ideal for both fishing and farming. Renee imagined her brother living there many years ago, and uneasiness gripped her when she imagined the suffering he
To Renee's shock, the person she had been yearning for day and night had appeared in front of her. She could scarcely believe it."Hold me tight," the man whispered as he lowered his head to look into Renee's eyes. They were still at the edge of the cliff and had yet to swim out of the rip current. If they let their guard down, they would die at sea."I will! I have to hold on to you because I have so much to say to you. I… Ack!" Renee choked, too excited to talk to Stefan. She couldn't tell if she was dreaming, so she just tried her best to hold on to him. However, the current was strong, and Renee's grip started to loosen. She couldn't hold on any longer, and eventually blacked out.When she woke up, she found herself lying in a hospital bed, a vast expanse of whiteness above her."Renee! You're finally awake!" Jeffrey jumped in his seat, almost in tears."Where am I?" Renee's head was aching, but she forced herself to sit up and look around. She remembered being stuck in surgin
Then, before Jeffrey could stop her, Renee dashed out of the ward. Jeffrey couldn't catch up with her, and watched her run off nervously.When Renee reached the corner of the stairs, she suddenly saw a tall figure in familiar clothes. He looked just like Stefan."Stefan!" Renee screamed and rushed over to the man, grabbing his clothes firmly. "I've caught you! You can't run away now..." She gripped his clothes, then hugged his waist. "I knew you were still alive!""Umm..." The person Renee was hugging recovered from their shock, then mumbled awkwardly, "Sorry to disappoint, but it's just me." Renee's jaw dropped, and she looked up at the man in anger. "Haze, are you out of your mind? Why are you wearing Stefan's clothes?" The person she had grabbed was not Stefan or Jovan, but Justin. She had thought he was Stefan because Justin was wearing a casual jacket that Stefan had once worn. Renee remembered that jacket because Stefan always wore formal clothes, and it was a rare occasion
Justin smiled, but his gaze was menacing. "Phoenix, your charms really are boundless. You managed to turn a hothead into a loyal dog!" They were both men, and although they were around ten years apart, Justin could tell that Jeffrey had feelings for Renee. He felt jealous, but also marveled at Renee's charms—he had such a diverse group of competitors! Not only did he have to compete against an exceptional man like Stefan, but he also had to fight against a youth like Jeffrey… How exhausting!"Cut the crap! Jeffrey is just a boy," Renee growled weakly from where she lay in bed. Justin was so weird, thinking that way about a boy. What a scoundrel! Renee wished he hadn't been the one to find her.Jeffrey's face flushed in embarrassment, and he mumbled awkwardly, "Ah, so you both know each other. Umm... I'll give you both some privacy then." Hurriedly, he left the ward. He knew that Renee was way out of his league, so even spending these few days with her felt like winning the lottery. T
"Of course!" Justin raised his chin proudly. "Nobody can beat me in that, not even you, Phoenix. Isn't that right?""Yes, that's true." Renee nodded, giving him a thumbs up. She was being humble because Justin was more skilled than her in that area, and the one time Justin beat Renee to become champion of the Global Hacker Competition, he had done it by defeating her at cracking IPs."Why are you asking?" Justin's eyes brightened, and he asked Renee excitedly, "Are you planning to compete with me at the Global Hacker Competition this year? If Haze and Phoenix, the perfect couple of the hacker world, made a comeback this year, there'll be an uproar!" Justin rubbed his hands together eagerly. When Phoenix retreated from the hacker competition, Haze followed suit, and even left the hacker world. Their story became a legend in their circle, and everyone had heard about it even if they had never met them. If Renee wanted to return to the circle again, Justin would immediately follow suit.
"Stefan!" Renee answered directly.Justin's expression immediately changed. "No way!""Why not?" Renee huffed, then complained, "I rarely ask for your help. I just need you to find someone's IP address, which you said was easy to do, but you don't even want to help me with that." "You don't understand!" Justin sighed. "He's a special case. I can even get you the president's IP address, but I'm sorry, just don't ask me to get you Stefan's." There was only one reason he couldn't do it—Austin had specifically warned Justin not to stick his nose into Stefan's affairs before he left for Beach City, and told him that if he did, he would break his legs. Justin loved his legs too much to disobey Austin. "Please!" Renee put her hands together and begged, "You know I've been going mad searching for him. This is the only clue he left behind, but I can't use it the way you can. Please do me a favor and help me crack it. I'm sure it won't take up much of your time." Justin shifted uncomfor
Justin hadn't exaggerated—in around fifteen minutes, he had hacked Stefan's account and gotten his IP address. "It seems he's at..." Justin pointed at the address on the lingering screen and his eyes widened in disbelief. "Your house?" "Yeah, that's my house!" Renee stared at the familiar address, not sure whether to laugh or cry. She had searched in so many places and met so many people, almost turning the whole city upside down to find him… but he had been at home all this time. It seems he still felt the responsibility to go home, but it was still unkind of him to not show himself when he knew Renee had been going mad trying to find him. "Is he out of his mind? He's not a kid anymore, so why is he playing hide-and-seek with you?" Justin asked helplessly. Justin was a straightforward person, and wasn't very romantic or flirtatious, but… how could Stefan hide in Everheart Manor and not contact Phoenix, knowing she had been searching so frantically for him? The man had to be crazy.
Renee's gaze became unreadable as mixed feelings overwhelmed her. Her guess was right—the person who had saved her was Stefan. His body, embrace, and scent were so familiar to her that she wouldn't have got it wrong. "What happened after that?" Renee took a deep breath and asked slowly."Then, he told us he was a very bad guy, and all he did was make you sad. So, he asked us to lie and tell you that I'd saved you and that we'd never met him," Jeffrey said honestly. "I didn't want to lie to you, Renee, but that man sounded very sincere. He said he'd hurt you so much, and didn't want to keep hurting you. He wants to stay away from you, and I... I also didn't want to see you get hurt, so I chose to lie to you. I'm sorry!" Jeffrey kept his head bowed like a child who had done something wrong, his eyes watery.Justin stared at him, then tugged at Renee's arm, urging, "Hurry up and forgive him. He's heartbroken." "I never blamed him, so there's nothing to forgive." Renee scowled. "All I