Chapter 29
“Cough! Cough!”
Renee, who was drinking a glass of lemon water when Stefan asked the question, started choking.
‘Am I hallucinating? Isn’t this stone-hearted prince being too direct? This is too unlike him.’
“Don’t be a narcissist, who even told you that?”
Averting her gaze, Renee denied ever loving him.
“Everyone has been telling me that. They said you loved me very much,” replied Stefan with a grin that he was unconscious of having.
Plenty of women have confessed their love to him, some even tried to seduce him with their bodies. He would always be annoyed by them, let alone develop feelings for them.
On the other hand, he enjoyed being doused in this Renee’s love. For some reason, it gave him a sense of achievement.
“Oh please, you know I was acting during that live stream. Those people are blissfully unaware of what was actually happening,” Renee answered nonchalantly.
She did not intend to reveal her true feelings. It was the only way she could protect her dignity and continue living confidently.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Stefan was adamant about uncovering the truth as if he was playing detective.
“If you didn’t love me, what’s the point of all those secret gifts? If you didn’t love me, why were you looking at me with such loving eyes in every picture we took together?”
“And… if you didn’t love me, why would you express hostility towards Briar in the first place? Isn’t it obvious that you were jealous of her?”
His questions made Renee feel defenseless and humiliated as if someone had just ripped her wounds open.
“So?” Stefan asked again.
‘What the hell is he doing? Why is he trying so hard to prove that I used to love him?’
‘Is he trying to prove that he can hurt me however he wants? Does he want to see me cry and beg for him to come back to me? Just so he can fuel his ego?’ Renee wondered.
She glared at Stefan coldly and spoke with a sarcastic tone, “You are the crudest and most conceited man I have ever met, Stefan Hunt.”
“It doesn’t matter if I loved you in the past. I don’t love you now, and I never will.”
“If you only called me out to hear me admit that I loved you, just so you could prove that you still got it, you need to get a life!” i
Just as Renee was getting up to leave, the waiter brought over two servings of sirloin steak, with beautiful blue flames dancing across the meat.
Stefan cut into his steak elegantly with a knife. “Why are you overreacting when you don’t love me at all? Come, have a seat, I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”
Renee clenched her fists. Indeed, in the spur of the moment, she had allowed her emotions to take control. It made her appear guilty in comparison to the calm and collected Stefan.
‘No, I mustn’t lose to him!’ she thought.
And so, she sat back down and began cutting into the steak. Since she was also feeling quite hungry, she figured she might as well have Stefan pay for the meal.
The two remained silent while eating. Thinking back, this was one of the few times the two had dined alone together throughout their marriage.
Renee was famished, so she cut up bigger pieces than usual and stuffed them into her mouth. Her puffed-up cheeks resembled a squirrel that was gathering acorns in preparation for winter.
Stefan was smiling a little wider now as he recalled the woman’s modesty from before. She used to smile politely and was rather soft-spoken. She didn’t even dare to open her mouth wide while eating.
She seemed like the epitome of modesty and politeness back then. You could throw things at her and she’d never lose her temper. 1
He did not expect that a divorce would change this woman so drastically.
“So how do you prepare to deal with the aftermath of your nonsense?” asked Stefan as he set his cutlery down.
“Me? Deal with the aftermath?” Renee scoffed. “You can deal with it however you want. Isn’t your PR team great at handling these disasters? Aren’t they great at manipulating the media? Why are you asking for my opinion?”
Stefan smiled slyly.
“So you’re saying that I can do whatever I want?” he asked.
“Aren’t you always like this, Master Hunt?”
Renee had no idea what the man was planning. She wondered to herself,’ Has he gone mad? He’s acting really weird right now.’ Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
Just then, Stefan raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
All the lights in the restaurant were dimmed, with a single ray of light shining down on Renee.
By the time Renee could react, Stefan had already left his seat. He now stood behind Renee with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. They were her favorite sunflowers.
Renee leaned back in her chair as she stared up at Stefan with a horrified expression.
‘Wh… What is this? What is happening here?’
“Sunflowers represent unwavering love, just like what I feel for you…” Stefan said in a cool and affectionate tone, like the male protagonist of a romance flick.
“I’m so sorry, my dear!”
“I love you so much!”
After saying that, he cupped her gorgeous face with his hands and kissed her on the lips.