Renee lost her cool and hissed at him, �Stefan, don�t you dare try to take advantage of me. Let me go before I hurt you!�

�Stop moving!� Instead of letting her go, he held onto her like his life depended on it.

�Clearly, you don�t value your life. Do you want me to break your arm?� She was going to push him away when she heard sniffling. She hesitated, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"Is Stefan� crying?� She thought in shock. She immediately calmed down, taken aback by this unexpected occurrence.

�Are you alright?� She asked cautiously.

�You probably don�t know this, but when I�m alone in the dark� memories of what happened to my brother overwhelm me, and I�ll sometimes get a panic attack. I usually need someone to lean on, or else the consequences will be disastrous.� He mumbled as he moved closer to her.

�Is he being serious?� Renee thought, bewildered. Unconvinced, she asked him, �How bad is it?�

�My breathing and pulse will quicken, and eventually all of my organs will cease working� and I�ll die.�

It seemed a bit exaggerated, but Stefan didn�t seem like the type to lie about things like this.

Renee decided to believe him, and let him hold her. The room was quiet for a while, and then she whispered menacingly, �This is an excellent chance for me to murder you.�

Stefan tightened his grip and drew her closer to him, as if he wanted to meld their bodies together. His lips brushed her ear as he murmured, �I told you before that if you want to, you may.�

In the darkness, all Renee could feel was Stefan�s hot breath on her skin. Her face turned red, but she didn�t say anything. They held each other quietly for a while, unexpectedly accepting of the intimacy.

�Who exactly are you searching for?� In the dim light, Stefan�s husky voice rang out.

Renee snapped back to reality, and her body immediately tensed up. �Do you truly not know or are you just pretending?� She questioned, frowning.

�If I know, I�ll tell you. I don�t want to waste your time. But I�ll ask you again � Do you think you�re keeping anything from me?� Stefan�s query was riddled with traps and revealed nothing about the children.

�It�s dark, and our position is rather� intimate. As you said, it wouldn�t be good if people spread rumours about us. We�ll talk about it once we�re out.� She groped around the floor for her phone, planning to use its flashlight to lead herself out.

The Hunts were wealthy, so even their study room was the size of a middleclass family�s entire home. Without light, it was difficult to discern where the exit was in such a large space.

As she pulled out her phone, she noticed a text and a video from Margaret. �Miss Ren, I can�t reach your phone. Hurry back, Adie and Abby are home. They�re fine.�

Adie and Abby were showing off a cake in the video. To avoid arousing Stefan�s suspicion, she immediately closed the message. She pulled away from Stefan�s grip and went to the door using the light from her phone. Suddenly, as she turned the doorknob, she realized it couldn�t be opened.

�Why is the door not opening?� She twisted and turned the doorknob, but it did not open. JrNovels.com