Renewal Of Love

He looked at Anne's eyes and took it as her love for Ryan.

Eyes immediately shifted towards him as soon as he spoke. They watched him closely, listening to every word he said.

"Mr. Alan?" Emily called him first, getting his attention.

Alan stood not far away from her. He was wearing a white suit, making him look very neat and elegant like a model. The way he carried himself made him stand out much easier. Having been raised by a rich family, he had learned to be a gentleman since he was a child. He was trained to act properly in front of many people and he had done so throughout the years.

However, being born a playboy, he was naturally arrogant and unrestrained. His slanting eyes slightly raised, gleaming with irony and contempt. His gaze seemed to burn a hole through Anne as if he was looking at a disgusting rubbish.

There was no question that he was being rude to her, disregarding her feelings. In return, Anne never gave him a friendly look either.

They didn't like each other and this was evident in the way the cold expression returned to Anne's face.

She knew that Alan didn't like her all along and that they wouldn't get along. She didn't expect him to be friendly to her at that moment, but she didn't know that he could be this rude.

As expected, Alan didn't disappoint her. He looked at her with more irony and playfulness on his face and asked, "What? Is Mrs. Anne going to kill me to keep the secret?"

At this time, Ryan stood up from the chair calmly, smiling sheepishly. He said as he looked at Alan, "Mr. Alan, if I'm not mistaken, you're a friend of Kevin's. Are you dissatisfied with Mr. Kevin or do you have any issues with Mrs. Anne?"

Taking his time, he kicked the ball towards Alan.

Alan saw this as a challenge and didn't like it. His eyes immediately turned cold as he looked back at Ryan. He was dressed in a white suit, looking like a prince who had just walked out of a fairy tale. He looked so graceful, that no one would doubt that he was a gentleman from his appearance. However, his inner self-restraint was nothing like that of a prince.

His eyes were distant and as cold as ice. His facial expression was out of the ordinary. He was still disgusted with Anne and he had no plan on hiding it.

He said with a voice so cold, "Kevin and I are friends. What I don't like is Anne's shameless behavior!" He didn't even want to be elegant, that was for sure. It was evident in the way he spoke of her. He couldn't help but blurt out, "Mrs. Anne, if you don't want to care about your image, just consider Mr. Kevin's. Your actions reflect your husband. After all, he is a public figure who had been on the cover of Global People for three times which is known by hundreds of millions of people. While his wife cheated on him..."

"That's enough, Alan!" Although he said that he was Kevin's friend, he humiliated his wife in public. Hearing this made Kevin furious.

Half an hour ago, he called Emily to ask where they were going. When he knew that they were going to the Greenlight Forest, he could no longer sit still. He tried to hold himself together as best he could. Although he didn't know what kind of friend Anne came to see, he knew that she had no friend. So this made him uneasy, thinking about his wife.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped into the Greenlight Forest, he saw Ryan. His anger flared up. He took deep breaths to calm himself and it took most of his energy to do so.

But what Alan said made him angrier, releasing all the composure he tried so hard to keep. He didn't like what he heard and he was clear about that. He shouted coldly, his voice ringing in their ears. "It is not your place to teach her a lesson!" he shouted.

With a sharp look on his face, almost murderous, Kevin walked up to Anne and stood beside her.

Emily watched from a distance. She saw that Kevin was not simply beside Anne. He was standing slightly in front of her. His stance looked as if he was protecting her.

However, Anne who stood right in the circle didn't notice that. She was too stunned that Kevin was there.

Slowly, he raised his head and looked at Alan. His eyes were as cold as ice and his whole body was full of anger. "I'm afraid you don't know that Mr. Ryan and my wife grew up together. My wife is very loyal to him as a childhood friend. Alan, it is not good to distort facts. So I think you're doing this because you still hate me for what happened to your sister."

Alan's face darkened upon hearing this.

He really wanted to humiliate Anne today, but he didn't expect that Kevin would show up in the middle of it.

This was not what he had planned. Everything that he thought of for today was ruined. He could feel beads of sweat running down his back. But just as quickly, he was desperately looking for an out. Kevin breathed slowly to calm himself down. He gently took Anne's hand and gave an apologetic smile to Ryan, who was standing across from him. "Mr. Ryan, my wife is pregnant. It is not good for her to stay outside too long. I'll take her home for now and schedule another meeting to see you when she feels better."

As soon as Kevin's hand touched Anne's, she trembled as if it had been electrocuted. Subconsciously, her first reaction was to break away from Kevin's grip. She knew she couldn't take her hand back, but it was just a little too late.

Because Ryan, who sat opposite to her, noticed her tiny movement. His brows furrowed and his eyes darkened slightly. There was a strange feeling that spread from his heart. His gut told him that something was off.

Kevin felt Anne's doubt and was a little annoyed by her resistance. But in order to teach Alan a lesson, he had to hold her hand tightly. He knew that he must show them that Anne was his wife and that she was a good one.

Moreover, he wanted to teach her a lesson. He had to make Alan believe that Anne and Ryan were just friends but his wife could never fool him.

How dare she tryst with another man without telling him?!

But he knew his priorities so he would teach her a lesson after he dealt with Alan!

Everyone present in the scene knew that Kevin was just acting.

He held Anne's hand tightly as they walked away. He did not let it go even for a brief second. Anne felt a sharp pain coming from the back of her hand, and her left face was burning.

She was in a trance. It had to be some sort of trance because it was the first time that Kevin had held her hand.

Alan also knew that Kevin was venting his anger for Anne. He could feel the fury from Kevin's blood rising. Although he was unwilling, he cautiously stepped aside and said, "Kevin, I'm sorry. I was drunk and said some nonsense. I hope your wife don't take it to heart."

Y-Your wife? Anne had a sharp intake of breath and opened her eyes. She was surprised. It was the first time that she had actually heard someone call her one's wife. Although it was strange, as it was so unfamiliar to her ears, she felt satisfied and moved.

She was so surprised by this that she forgot about Kevin holding her hand. He was practically pulling her out of the café to come with him.

Emily looked at Anne and as if only noticing her frightened expression, Emily felt sweat on her back. She did not want this for her, and she wanted Anne to know that. She blamed herself to death, because she told Kevin where Anne was. She didn't expect to see this but it was already too late.

She had no idea that Anne was coming to see Ryan. If she did, she would have hidden it from him anyway.

As they got into the car, Anne sat in the back seat and Kevin sat beside her, giving off a cold aura that chilled her to the bones. She was afraid and there was no way to hide that.

She felt the atmosphere in the car go low and tense, as if it would explode at any time.

No one spoke first. They were both contemplating what to say to each other. Taking a deep breath, Anne decided to break the embarrassing silence.

"Just now-"

"No need to explain," he interrupted.

Stunned by the sudden outburst, Anne just shut up and ignored the things in her head. She sighed. "I don't want to explain anything. I just want to say thank you."

His head turned to her as if she just piqued his interest. "Oh?" Kevin raised his eyebrows and squinted at her. He asked, "For what?"

"T-Thank you for speaking for me just now." If she were being honest, at least at that moment, she felt that Kevin was still on her side. If Kevin hadn't spoken first, she would have retorted Alan's mean words. And knowing herself, she knew that it would never be good.

Kevin snorted and stopped talking. He wanted to laugh but he couldn't. Anne might not take him seriously if he did. Gently, he closed his eyes, and his long and thin eyelashes trembled slightly. There was a trace of fatigue on his angular face. It was only then that he felt tired.

To save his energy, Kevin didn't say anything more, so Anne pursed her lips and turned to look out of the window.

The constantly changing scenery gradually became strange. She sat up a little straighter to be able to look at the camphor trees on both sides of the road. Her lips turned down into a frown when she realized that it was not the way home. "Where are we going?"

Kevin only looked at her briefly. "East Mountain Villa," he answered, his voice a little low like a whisper. He said this as if only in this way could he calm himself down.

Anne raised her eyebrows, remembering their conversation about this. Although she was unhappy, she didn't dare change his decision.

Long before, he had already asked her to move to the East Mountain Villa. She never thought that he'd take her there now, especially since it had already slipped from her mind.

Once again, she leaned back against her seat as she looked out of the window at the changing scenery. If she wasn't with the one she loved, what was the difference as to where she lived? She kept thinking about this while she watched the beauty of the nature outside the car window. She released a sigh. It was just a temporary foothold. She would get out soon.

Moments later, she found them slowing to a stop in the East Mountain Villa.

The hollowed out French iron door slowly opened, and a lengthened Lincoln car drove into the courtyard under the gaze of everyone. She was suddenly aware of her surroundings. The Butler walked to the side of the car and opened the back door. Kevin got off first and went straight into the room without looking at the people inside. He didn't even wait for her.

Getting out of the car with the help of the Butler, Anne looked at the cold and hard back of Kevin. She stared at it for as long as she could and felt a pain rose in her heart again.

To ease away the pain, she breathed in and released it slowly. Then she looked up at the strange villa, thinking it was just another huge cage. She reached out and touched her abdomen. If the baby was a boy she should be able to end all of this soon.

But that also meant that she would lose her child... Her heart ached even more, beating rapidly as she realized that she did not know what the future held.

"If you don't like it, I will try to make him change his mind,"

Sam said in a low voice, as if he had read Anne's mind. Her head turned to look at him. She thought about what to say next.

But Anne was quiet for a while, and then her eyes became cold again. "No. It makes no difference where I live anyway."

She walked in slowly, still unsure of the purpose of transferring here.

In the big living room, the servants stood in a row. As soon as she entered, Anne scanned the whole room until her gaze fell on the man sitting on the sofa.

He sat there without a single hint of expression on his face. His legs were crossed, his slender fingers casually placed on his long legs that were placed together, and his other hand fell on the table in front of him, intentionally or unintentionally knocking.

"Da, Da, Da." The rhythmic sound was annoying, but the man was clearly enjoying it.

Accompanied by Sam, Anne started to walk upstairs. But before she could walk past him, his lazy voice came.

"Have a seat," the man said.

With a cold expression on her face, Anne didn't say anything. She refused to let him control over her emotions so she tried her best to hide it. She went to the sofa and sat down quietly. As she settled, she finally looked at Kevin.

The air around them seemed to have solidified as the tension weighed heavy on them, and Anne said, "D-Do you have something important to say? If there is none, I'd really like to go upstairs first." She knew that the room should be upstairs. She needed a good rest and she really wanted it at this point.

Careful not to anger him, she waited for a few seconds. When he didn't reply, she stood up to leave only to be stopped by him.

"Stop!" he shouted. He withdrew his white fingers from the table and looked up casually at Anne's beautiful back. His low voice came out of his throat. "Are you so unwilling to sit with me?"

Hearing this, Anne frowned. He was confusing her. 'Is Kevin crazy? He was the one who was unwilling,' she thought.

"You know it," he added. Standing straighter, Anne forced herself to turn around and look straight into Kevin's eyes. Despite her rapid heartbeat, she composed herself enough to say something back. "I'm really tired today and I want to have a rest."

Kevin sneered at this, his cold thin lips slightly hooked, and the tension in the atmosphere felt heavier.

His fists were clenched and his jaw was tight as he shouted, "I do understand! I understand perfectly that you are more willing to sit with your childhood sweetheart! Tell me, why did you go see Ryan behind my back?"

"Behind your back?" That was what it took for Anne to let go of the composure she tried so hard to hold on to. All of a sudden, she looked up at Kevin and said angrily, "What do you mean by behind your back?" Her eyes were razor sharp as she burned holes through his. She bellowed, "I have already asked for your permission!"

But Kevin did not buy it. "Have you asked for it?" He stood up. His height was nearly 1.9 meter, which gave people a sense of oppression. Coupled with his strong figure, when he approached her step by step, she felt that she could no longer breathe.

"Think about it carefully with your brain, Anne. If I knew it was Ryan, do you really think I would still let you go?"

Raising her head, she saw Kevin's knitted brows and the inexplicable emotions in his eyes. Clearly, he was angry. But so what? She knew that she did nothing wrong. She didn't mean to break his law, and she did tell him.

Anne scoffed. "Can you at least be reasonable? Ryan is my friend, and it's normal for me to see him. Please don't gauge the heart of a gentleman with your own mean measure." She didn't want to think about it but what happened earlier was proof that he lacked trust. So even though it hurt, Anne glanced at Kevin and continued, "Unless you don't trust me."

"Yes, I just don't trust you. Do you think I should?" Kevin said coldly, squinting his dark and deep eyes as his gaze and his words tore Anne apart.