Free Web NovelChapter 61: Chapter 61: Not Blood-Related
"Looking for Renee Jennings?" Old Hag Crawford’s expression shifted slightly. Seething with silent rage, she asked gruffly, "What’s your relationship with her?"
’How does that damn girl know so many rich men?’
"You don’t need to know." The man took a stack of cash from his wallet and handed it to her. "Tell me, what kind of person is Renee Jennings."
Old Hag Crawford’s eyes lit up the moment she saw the money.
She quickly took the money, wet her finger with saliva, and started counting while saying, "That girl Renee Jennings has been trouble since she was little. Bad grades, and always hooking up with men."
Twelve hundred!
After counting the money, Old Hag Crawford flicked the stack with her finger, looked up at the man before her, and continued, "Last time, she even took a hundred thousand from some old man and let him feel her up in the park all afternoon."
The man furrowed his brow, scrutinizing her, and began to doubt the truthfulness of her words.
"I’d advise you to dump a promiscuous woman like that right away!" Old Hag Crawford leaned closer to him, a syrupy smile on her face. "My daughter is different. She’s obedient and sensible, never even talks to men... Hey, where are you going?"
Vincent Morgan had already been questioning the truth of her words, and hearing her bring up her own daughter was the last straw. He had no desire to listen any further.
If her saliva wasn’t all over the cash, he might have even demanded it back.
A black Rolls-Royce was parked at the entrance of the residential complex. Vincent Morgan pulled open the driver’s side door and got in.
He glanced at the file on Renee Jennings lying on the passenger seat. His eyes darkened, his brows furrowed, and a wave of frustration and helplessness washed over him.
’God really knows how to play a joke. The sister he’d doted on for twenty-three years wasn’t even his biological sister.’
**
In Renee Jennings’s mind, the stereotypical zoo director was a middle-aged man in a dress shirt and slacks with a leather belt cinched at his waist.
But when she saw the incredibly glamorous woman before her in the private room of the restaurant, she couldn’t help but be surprised.
"Miss Jennings, hello." Faye Wyatt extended a hand, her eyes crinkling with a smile. "I’m Faye Wyatt."
"I never expected the zoo director to be so young and beautiful," Renee Jennings remarked, shaking the other woman’s hand.
"I’ll take the beautiful part, but as for young..." Faye Wyatt smiled. "I’m already forty-two. Not so young anymore."
Forty-two?
Renee Jennings blinked and said earnestly, "But you look thirty at most."
"Miss Jennings, you really have a way with words." Faye Wyatt gestured for her to sit and passed her the menu. "Please, see what you’d like to eat."
Renee Jennings didn’t stand on ceremony and ordered a few dishes. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Faye Wyatt added a few more dishes, then looked at Renee Jennings and said with great solemnity, "Miss Jennings, thanks to your help, Tiger Park has been saved from disaster twice now."
During the tour vehicle incident, if it hadn’t been for Renee Jennings, several lives would have likely been lost at Tiger Park.
Faye Wyatt had been wanting to thank Renee Jennings for a while but was afraid of seeming too forward.
She never imagined that before she even had a chance to express her gratitude, she would have to trouble her again.
Feeling ashamed, she quickly took a jewelry box from her bag and said earnestly, "Miss Jennings, this is just a small token of my appreciation. Thank you so, so much for lending a hand when we needed it."
The logo on the jewelry box was Cartier.
Renee Jennings’s expression was calm as she chuckled softly. "It was just a coincidence that I could help. You don’t need to trouble yourself over it."
She pushed the jewelry box back toward Faye Wyatt.
"This..." Faye Wyatt was momentarily at a loss.
It was the first time anyone had ever refused a gift from her.
’If Renee Jennings won’t accept a gift, then how is she supposed to express her gratitude?’
’Besides, there might be other times in the future when she’ll need Renee Jennings’s help.’
Renee Jennings saw the predicament on her face and a faint smile touched her lips. "Director Wyatt, aren’t you already treating me to dinner?"
"Dinner counts as thanks?" Faye Wyatt looked surprised.
In her social circles, expressing gratitude was never so simple.
Renee Jennings thought of the version of herself from her dreams—a person who saw only money and personal gain, who wouldn’t hesitate to hurt those who treated her with genuine kindness. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
She pressed her lips together, an imperceptible flicker of determination in her eyes.
Renee Jennings said slowly, "Director Wyatt, I can feel your sincerity, and I accept your gratitude. Sharing this meal together is more than enough."
Those simple words sent ripples through Faye Wyatt’s heart.
’Then what did that make all her so-called ’best friends’ who expected designer bags and jewelry for every little thing?’
Renee Jennings ate with carefree ease, while Faye Wyatt seemed preoccupied and lost in thought.
By the time they finished dinner, it was already 8:30 p.m.
Renee Jennings said her goodbyes to Faye Wyatt at the restaurant entrance. "Director Wyatt, goodbye."
"Miss Jennings, please wait a moment," Faye Wyatt said quickly.
Renee Jennings smiled. "Is there something else?"
"Miss Jennings, could I add you on WeChat?" It was always other people asking for Faye Wyatt’s WeChat; this was the first time she had ever been the one to ask.
Renee Jennings nodded. "Sure."
After they exchanged contact information, Faye Wyatt watched her get into a car and drive away, but it took a long time for her to snap out of her thoughts.
She had lived for forty-two years, yet on some matters, she wasn’t as perceptive as a young girl.
Her thoughts were only pulled back to reality when the phone in her hand began to ring.
Faye Wyatt saw it was a call from her best friend, Zoe Morgan. She swiped the screen to answer. "Ivy? I’m at the private restaurant. What’s wrong?"
On the other end of the line, Zoe Morgan sighed. "Come have a couple of drinks with me. I heard from my sister-in-law today... It turns out Yvonne isn’t her biological daughter..."
**
Late at night, Julian Nash sat in his van after finishing work, staring blankly at his phone.
The screen was frozen on his chat history with Renee Jennings.
He tapped into her social feed, expecting to find it blocked by the "visible for three days only" setting, but to his surprise, she had posted something just ten minutes ago.
Renee Jennings had posted a nine-photo grid: pictures of tigers, lions, pandas, and two adorable, cherubic children.
Julian Nash swiped to the last photo and finally saw a picture of Renee Jennings herself, though it was only of her back.
She was wearing a white jacket, her slender figure standing in front of a safety barrier as she reached out a long, fair hand to pat a tiger’s head.
Julian Nash’s pupils contracted. He felt a sense of fear even just looking at it through the screen.
’Isn’t she scared?’
Just then, his assistant beside him let out a hushed gasp. "Oh my god! Is this for a movie? Someone’s actually daring to ride on a tiger’s back!"
"What about riding a tiger?" Since he had just been looking at a tiger, Julian Nash asked casually.
The assistant immediately turned his phone screen toward him. "Nate, look! This girl has some serious guts!"
Julian Nash had only intended to glance at it, but he was surprised to see a familiar figure.
"Is that..."
The assistant said, "This is at the Zenvia Zoo. A reporter said this girl is an animal consultant. She’s amazing."
"Forward it to me."
"Sure thing."
The video’s resolution wasn’t great, but he could still make out Renee Jennings’s pretty face and slender figure.
She sat on the tiger’s back, calm and composed. Maybe it was the tiger’s powerful aura rubbing off on her, but Julian Nash even felt that this version of Renee Jennings projected the commanding presence of a superior, someone who could not be taken lightly.
’So cool!’
’I love it!’
Julian Nash saved the video, then opened his chat window with Renee Jennings. After a moment’s thought, he sent her the video of Sage.
