Chapter 686: We’re Here to Help You
Chapter 686: Chapter 686: We’re Here to Help You
Blueberry had already gone upstairs to sound the alarm.
Renee Jennings was standing on the landing of the stairs. Hearing what Jacob Warren said, she found it utterly laughable.
Back in her senior year of high school, she had been a naive student who couldn’t understand why Jacob Warren had flown into such a rage and dragged her name through the mud just because she had accidentally walked in on him in the bathroom.
It wasn’t until college that she vaguely began to understand. What Jacob Warren was doing back then wasn’t bathing, but...
Renee Jennings came down to the living room, a half-smile on her face as she sized up these relatives and their unclear intentions.
"Renee, you’re down! You get more and more beautiful every day, just like Rae."
"Especially the eyes and nose. They’re a spitting image!"
"..."
Listening to their comments, Dalton Jenson rubbed his nose in embarrassment.
’A spitting image?’
’They’re spouting lies with their eyes wide open.’
Renee Jennings ignored their chatter, her gaze landing on Jacob Warren’s face with a playful glint in her eyes. "You don’t have it straight? As one of the people involved, you should know better than anyone."
"I..." Jacob Warren struggled internally for a moment before finally standing up and bowing deeply to her. "Renee, I apologize for what happened back then. I’m sorry. I hope this doesn’t affect our relationship as cousins."
"What damn good is an apology now?" Renee Jennings laughed mockingly. "And don’t go claiming connections we don’t have. Poor relatives like us could never hope to associate with your lofty family."
"Renee Jennings, Yates already apologized to you. Why must you be so aggressive?" Jacob Warren’s mother, Wren Hollis, said with displeasure.
"You must be joking, Ms. Hollis. Weren’t those your own words back then?"
Renee Jennings still remembered how Wren Hollis had threatened to call the police and have her arrested. Even though Rhea Dempsey knew she would never do such a thing, she also knew that if things blew up, it was always the girl who would suffer. She had tried to reason with Wren Hollis, saying they were all family and there was no need to get the police involved.
Back then, Wren Hollis had acted high and mighty, telling Rhea Dempsey not to go claiming connections, that she had no such poor relatives.
Those humiliating words were still as clear today as the day they were spoken.
A flicker of shame crossed Wren Hollis’s face.
She had indeed said that back then, but who could have imagined that the poor relatives she looked down on would now be living in a huge villa in a place like Zenvia, where every inch of land is worth a fortune!
"Oh, you child. How can you take words your aunt said in the heat of the moment so seriously?" Rhea Dempsey’s aunt, Josie Warren, said, trying to smooth things over with a smile. "Renee, I heard you’re a big internet celebrity now. Is it true you have millions of fans online?"
Josie Warren’s original surname wasn’t Warren; she had taken her husband’s name after marrying Rhea Dempsey’s uncle, Eugene Warren.
"No," Renee Jennings said, shaking her head. "You must have the wrong person."
"How could we be mistaken?" Josie Warren frowned suspiciously. "The person I saw on the phone looks exactly like you."
She craned her neck toward Jacob Warren. "Yates, show her the video on your phone."
"Go ahead and look," Renee Jennings said flatly. "A lot of people say she looks like me, but it’s not actually me."
Hearing her say this, the group started to panic.
"It’s not you?" Josie Warren asked anxiously. "Then did we come here for nothing today?"
Jacob Warren’s brow was tightly furrowed. "It’s impossible. You look identical, and even the name is the same."
He took out his phone and, after a few taps, a video appeared on the screen.
Josie Warren glanced at the person in the video, then back at Renee Jennings. "See? You’re identical!"
"And?" Renee Jennings retorted.
"Then why did you lie and say we had the wrong person?" Wren Hollis’s tone was tinged with irritation.
Renee Jennings stood behind Rhea Dempsey, arms crossed, and laughed with a mix of mockery and sarcasm. "I’ll say whatever I want to say. What business is it of yours?"
"You..." Wren Hollis couldn’t contain her anger any longer and was about to erupt, but her husband, Hayden Warren, stopped her.
"Gwen, calm down." Hayden Warren then turned to Renee Jennings, putting on a smile. "Young people like to joke around. I get it, I get it."
Renee Jennings rolled her eyes at him.
The smile on Hayden Warren’s face instantly froze.
Thinking of her grandson’s career, Josie Warren grit her teeth and forced a smile. "Renee, look, we’re all family. So, your great-aunt will be direct. We came today mainly to help you out."
"You’re not that kind," Rhea Dempsey sneered. "Stop polluting the air in here. Go back to where you came from."
"You child," Josie Warren said with a helpless look. "We’re family, so your aunt won’t hold it against you. But you can’t be so rude to others."
Rhea Dempsey almost laughed out of sheer anger at the old woman’s shamelessness.
’She’s completely impervious!’
A flicker crossed Renee Jennings’s eyes, and the corners of her mouth lifted into an unreadable smile. "You said you’re here to help me out?"
Seeing that she was interested, Josie Warren’s cloudy old eyes lit up. "Of course! We’re all family, so your great-aunt is naturally looking out for you. After all, you should keep wealth within the family."
"Oh, really?" Renee Jennings raised an eyebrow. "Elaborate."
Josie Warren was overjoyed and quickly looked to her grandson. "Yates, you tell your cousin."
Jacob Warren immediately adopted a serious expression. "Here’s the deal. My friends and I co-founded a pet food company, and we’re getting ready to expand into e-commerce. I came across you online and saw you’re an animal streamer with a huge fanbase, so I’d like to partner with you."
Renee Jennings understood. He wanted to use her popularity to promote his products.
Over the past year, many companies in the pet industry had tried to partner with her, but she had rejected them all.
A slight smile touched Renee Jennings’s lips, a flicker of interest in her eyes. "What kind of partnership did you have in mind?"
The moment she said this, the family of five across from her thought they had a chance, especially Josie Warren, who was smiling so hard the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes looked like a dense spiderweb.
Jacob Warren explained, "To be honest, this is our company’s first time working with an influencer. My idea is this: we’ll give you a commission based on sales revenue. You’ll get five percent on sales up to one million, and the rate will increase on a tiered basis for anything over that, capped at a maximum of twenty percent."
"So? It’s a great deal, right?" Josie Warren’s tone had unconsciously become tinged with arrogance. "You’ll make fifty thousand just for selling a million! Even selling a house isn’t that profitable!"
"It’s like money falling from the sky," Wren Hollis muttered. "Getting paid for doing nothing."
Josie Warren nodded in agreement. "Exactly. It’s only because we’re family that I had Yates give this amazing opportunity to Renee."
’Asking me to advertise for them on a commission basis? The nerve. And they’re acting like they’re doing me a huge favor. How laughable.’
Renee Jennings scoffed and shot back, "Since it’s such a great opportunity to get free money, why don’t you keep it for yourselves?"
Renee Jennings’s single sentence left the family speechless.
Josie Warren opened her mouth, and it took her a long moment to squeeze out a reply: "When there’s money to be made, of course we should make it together."
"No need. I’m not interested in that little bit of money," Renee Jennings said coolly. "Please leave. And remember to take your junk with you."