�Of course you�re fine. It�s your wife who suffered!�

Xavier could not help but fight for Renee. �If you feel responsible for Tristan�s death, so be it, but why did you have to hurt Renee? You did so much for Briar and her child, but what about Renee? She was married to you for four years, but you drove her away as soon as she made a mistake. You��

�Enough!� Christopher glared at Xavier, telling him to stop.

�Weren�t you urging Fan to divorce Renee? Isn�t it too late to say all these now? Do you want to make the situation worse? Hasn�t Fan suffered enough?�

�I didn�t mean it that way. I just feel bad for Renee. What has she done wrong? She�s�"

�I can understand Fan!�

Christopher felt bad seeing Stefan�s handsome but sullen face. He said,

"Stefan wanted to give Briar a proper name so her child could have a legitimate identity and grow up in a healthy family. Besides, he didn�t love Renee at that time. Renee didn�t seem to love him either. A marriage without love is destined to fail. It was inevitable that she�d leave. Briar and her child might be the reason that set her early departure in motion��

Xavier nodded and rubbed his chin. �That�s reasonable. Everyone is a victim and hurt� However, I don�t agree with what you said about Renee�s feelings for Stefan. Anyone could tell that Renee was in love with Stefan before!."

�Let�s not talk about the past. Think about how to solve the present.�

Christopher turned to Stefan, who had been silent. He asked, �Fan, have you thought about it? The child is gone. You probably won�t marry Briar anymore. Will you remarry Renee?�

�Never!� Stefan answered without hesitation. He would rather be unmarried and alone forever rather than marry the murderer who killed his late brother�s only child. If he remarried her, he would never live the remainder of his life in peace!

�If so, why bother spending so much effort to search for her? You two have a big grudge among yourselves. It�s probably best for you to forget her and never see her again.�

Christopher instantly empathized with Renee and said impartially, "No wonder she simply vanished. If it were me, I would�ve done the same.�

Xavier raised his hand in agreement. �Stefan, maybe you shouldn�t bother looking for her anymore. It�s impossible for you two to get back together. If you get involved in her again, you�ll only suffer more!�

Stefan seemed to be deaf to their words. He suddenly raised his cold eyes and asked them in a deep voice, �Did I go too far?� �Huh?� Xavier was confused by the question.

�I almost choked her to death. Did I go too far?� Stefan asked.

�Yes and no?"

Xavier was an outsider and said impartially, �Considering your usual behavior, choking someone wasn�t the worst thing I�ve seen you do, but� I think hurting Renee was a little too much.�

Xavier had never seen the usually sober and sensible Stefan in such distraught in all their years of friendship, heartbroken to see the state Stefan was in despite finding his actions maddening. Therefore, he toned down his words. JrNovels.com