‘No wonder Stefan wanted me out by tonight. He had another woman he wanted to play house with! Hah, to think that I let that man affect my emotions! How I wish I could slap my past self!’

Briar approached Renee with a cocky smirk.

“So you’re Renee Everheart, huh? What are you still doing here? Didn’t Stefan kick you out? Get a move on! Have you no shame?!”

Despite the provocation, Renee continued packing her belongings at her own pace.

“Hey, are you deaf? I’m talking to you here!”

“Sorry, I didn’t quite hear you.” Renee met her gaze calmly.

“All I heard was some crazy bitch barking!”

“How dare you call me a bitch?!”

“I didn’t. Looks like you went ahead and got offended in the first place.” Renee replied as she got up with her luggage. She tilted her head at Briar, who was blocking her path.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me. Nice little doggies should know how to stay out of the way.”

“How dare you!” Briar’s face went bright red as she stomped her feet.

‘Wasn’t she known to be a living punchbag? When did she learn to talk back like that?’

The housekeeper quickly tried to calm Briar with flattery.

“Please calm down, Ms. Desrosiers. You shouldn’t upset yourself over a woman like that!”

“You’ll be the lady of the house soon. That insolent witch is insignificant compared to you…”

“We’ve also arranged a room for you per Master Hunt’s orders. Let me lead the way!”

Briar looked visibly pleased by the flattery. She quickly lost the mood to argue with Renee and proceeded to follow the housekeeper into the villa.

Renee was once again left alone outside. Mixed emotions welled up in her chest as she gazed upon the tall building. It felt ironic that she would return to the streets after four years of living here.

“Goodbye, Stefan.” Renee took a deep breath and left.

Later on, she moved into a small one-bedroom apartment downtown.

She felt liberated as soon as she lost her title as the missus of the Hunt family. She was free to do anything she wanted, and she was no longer the caged bird she used to be.

Renee took her phone out and dialed a number she blocked for four years.

“Boss, you’ve finally remembered that I exist! It’s been four years, you know!” A delighted voice exclaimed on the other end of the line.

This person was none other than Liam Osborne, also known as one of the Four Princes of Beach City. Despite his rebellious and unpredictable nature, he made himself sound like an underling when speaking to Renee.

“I heard about your divorce, by the way. Congratulations! You should've ditched that asshole a long time ago! I’m not sure if you know this, but while you were being Mrs. Punchbag, rumors about you started spreading everywhere! If those old geezers knew that you’re actually the ultimate boss they were looking for all this while, they’d flip their shit! So? Are we doing something big this time? I can…”

“Hold that thought!” Renee was so annoyed by his constant blabbering that she considered blocking him again.

“I promised Grandpa that I won’t go back to that life anymore. If you really do see me as your boss, you better keep this a secret.”

It appears that her past was rather ‘interesting’. However, she wasn’t in the mood to talk about it.

“I called because I want you to help investigate something…”

After talking some more with Liam, Renee hung up the phone, only to receive a text message from Stefan.

Her heart started racing as she tapped her phone screen ever so lightly.

[Beach City Courthouse, 9 am tomorrow.]

Short and simple, as if she didn’t deserve any more than that. The butterflies in her stomach dropped dead in an instant. She realized how foolish she had been for expecting more from this man.

[Ok.] Renee replied, matching his energy.

The next day, Renee showed up at the courthouse at 8:30 am, even though they agreed to meet at nine.

Not only did she arrive early, but she also made sure to put on heavy makeup and her favorite outfit, a rose-red halter dress. With her long hair tied up into a ponytail, the skin on her neck and back glowed under the bright sunlight.

When paired with her elegant, yet cold demeanor, she looked angelic from afar.

Unfortunately, she had caught a cold the night before. Her body was burning up, which made her feel quite weak.

At 9 am sharp, a silver Bugatti Veyron cruised into the parking lot in front of the courthouse. Soon after, she was greeted by Stefan’s ice-cold expression as he exited the vehicle.

His eyes sparkled for a split second when he saw Renee standing there, but this was quickly replaced with a contemptuous expression for some reason.

“Well, aren’t you excited?” Stefan scoffed as he walked past Renee, heading straight towards the department that handled divorce cases.

‘…What’s his deal?!’ Renee thought to herself as she stared up at the tall figure. ‘Aren’t you the one who’s excited? You’re practically running to the counter!’

The procedure went very smoothly. All they had to do was sign a few papers, which took less than ten minutes.

“According to the new law, there is a one-month grace period for all divorces. Should any of you wish to call off the divorce, you can bring along the required documents before the thirty days are up,” explained the staff as he handed them their application forms.

Having worked at the courthouse for years, he had witnessed countless tears and fights during divorce proceedings. This was the first time he had come across such calm individuals at the courthouse.

He simply couldn’t fathom why this couple was divorcing each other. They appeared to be made for each other, especially given their good looks.

Renee immediately took the papers and read through the clauses. She mumbled to herself sarcastically, “There’s a grace period for divorce, but not marriage? If this law applied to marriages as well, I-”

Stefan’s expression darkened. With a cold smirk, he snapped, “Oh? Are you saying you wouldn’t have married me if there was a grace period for marriage?”

“Nope!” Renee lifted an eyebrow. “I got 40 million out of you. 40 million! The average woman wouldn’t even dream of making this much money in their lifetime. I guess you could say I struck gold!”

Stefan was visibly upset by her reaction. He tugged on his tie out of frustration.

The Renee from before was always very lenient as if she didn’t even have her own opinions. The closer they got to the divorce, the more sharp and spiteful her words became.

Just as they were about to part ways, a soft voice came from behind. “Stef, are you done yet?”

Renee turned around, only to realize it was Briar!

Briar was wearing a white sundress, her gaze filled with a tinge of sadness. She looked like a dandelion that would crumple apart at the slightest breeze. There wasn’t a single shred of arrogance left on her face, unlike the other night when they initially met.

Besides that, Renee had also noticed a slight bump on her belly.

“Didn’t I tell you to wait for me in the car? What are you doing out here?”

“It’s cold out here. This child is important to our family, we can’t afford to have you fall ill while pregnant.”

Stefan’s voice sounded cold and distant as usual.

Seeing the two, Renee couldn’t help but feel betrayed. Deep down in her heart, she felt extremely aggrieved.

“Don’t you think you owe me an explanation, Master Hunt?”

Stefan stared back at Renee expressionlessly.

“I don’t owe you anything.”

‘Just look at how unabashed this man is acting! This is ridiculous!’ Renee thought. She had always viewed Stefan as someone who was morally sound and would never commit adultery.

In the end… the very same man she thought so highly of, dropped a nuclear bomb on her. Not only did he intend on marrying his mistress, but they were expecting as well.

This was the last push that Renee needed to move on completely. The tinge of sadness in her heart had completely vanished.

“So this means you were cheating on me, right?”

Before Stefan could respond, Briar hurriedly placed herself between them. Teary-eyed, she said, “Ms. Everheart, it’s all my fault! If it makes you feel better, you can punish me however you want…”

‘Does this woman think this is some soap opera? She’d make a great actress, honestly.’

“Really now?” Renee raised her hand up high as if she was about to deliver a slap.

As soon as she realized what was going to happen, Briar squealed and darted behind Stefan.

“Didn’t you say I can punish you however I want? Why are you hiding?” Renee put up a fake smile as she ran her fingers through her hair, brushing them over her ear.

“Don’t be so dramatic, I’m no brute. I’m not going to beat you up like they normally do in the movies.”

“If you are truly in love with each other, I’d be more than happy to walk away from this relationship!”

“W-what?”

Briar was left dumbfounded by her words. She initially prepared to play the victim, but it turned out she didn’t have to play that card at all.

‘Looks like the rumors were true, Stefan and Renee really were just in a contractual marriage. Why else would she be so kind to her husband’s mistress?’

Renee continued speaking. “Since you cheated on me, it’s only fair that we make a few adjustments to our settlement.”

Hearing that Renee wanted a change in her compensation, Briar was so agitated that she dropped her facade.

“Stefan already said he’d give you 40 million dollars, along with a whole penthouse! He’s being generous enough as is! Besides, the Hunt family put in a lot of effort to clean up the mess your family made. How shameless of you…”

Renee nearly burst out laughing when she saw Briar break character.

“Aww, we’re not even legally divorced yet, and little Miss Mistress already has a say in his finances already? Are you scared that your man would lose all his money to this divorce? Who’s actually the greedy one here, hmm?”

Upon hearing the response, all color drained from Briar's face.

"T-that's not what I meant…"

Stefan remained calm and collected throughout the interaction. Staring at Renee with an intimidating aura, he uttered "Continue."

Renee took on his pressuring gaze head-on and listed out her new terms. "I don't want your money, nor the penthouse. Just hand over your law firm to me."

"By law firm, you’re referring to Hunts & Co.?" Stefan narrowed his eyes as he juggled his memory.

Being the top of the eight most powerful families in Beach City, the Hunt family were involved in all sorts of businesses. A single law firm was not significant enough to occupy Stefan's memory.

However, he did somewhat remember its existence, as it was in charge of handling all of the Hunt family's legal affairs. He merely viewed it as a charity organization, since the employees were earning high salaries without much work to handle.

The firm simply had no economic value to the Hunt family.

'This woman decides to turn down the 40 million dollars and instead asks for such a worthless asset? What is she thinking?'

Suddenly, he started seeing Renee in a new light. Although it had only been a few days, she seemed… like a completely different person.

"Well, that's my only condition. I'll send you an amended copy of the documents soon… It's getting late, so if you’ll excuse me!"

"Oh, and I wish you a fruitful life with your little lover."

Renee lifted her chin and revealed a satisfied grin as if she had just scored herself a phenomenal business deal. Sadly, her cool demeanor only lasted for a second.

Her head began to spin, and her vision turned black seconds later…