By night, a steady stream of visitors began to arrive at the Frazier family's villa.Each one was a shareholder in the Frazier Group, and they all had one thing on their minds: withdrawing their investments. Among them were even members of the Frazier family itself, all eagerly awaiting Debra's solution.The expansive hall was abuzz with whispered conversations and tense anticipation. When Debra descended from her second-floor study, the room fell silent. She was a vision in a shimmering long dress, her makeup delicate yet striking.The elder shareholders spoke up."Ms. Frazier, given the current circumstances, we believe it's time for you to provide us with a solution.""All our projects have ground to a halt. We can't just sit back and watch the company go bankrupt.""And while the McKinney Group has acquired us, who's to say they won't terminate the contract, given the situation?"...Debra listened intently, her expression calm and composed. "I understand your concerns," sh
The executives of the Frazier Group cast worried glances at Debra.The prospect of shareholders withdrawing their support now could be a crippling blow to the company. The stark reality was that they lacked the money required to buy out these shareholders.Debra, however, maintained her composure. "If anyone wishes to leave, just sign here and leave."The shareholders weren't sure about the situation. One of them pointed at Debra and snapped, "Well then, we'll all withdraw our shares. If you can't produce the funds, we'll settle this in court."With that declaration, they began to file out of the house.In the aftermath, at least half of the people present in the hall had departed. Debra surveyed the remaining managers and directors, her expression unreadable. "Is there anyone else who wishes to leave? You can have your pay now."One of the executives stepped forward and said, "We're here because of Mr. Frazier. Now that he's gone, there's no reason for us to remain."Several ot
The next day, Debra initiated the transfer of five billion dollars into the accounts of the former board members.By the time the city was fully awake, Frazier Group had officially declared bankruptcy.Reporters swarmed like bees, buzzing with questions and eager to get Debra's take on the sudden collapse. She stepped out of her car and headed toward the entrance of the McKinney Group headquarters when microphones were thrust into her face, a barrage of questions following her every step."Ms. Frazier, do you have any comments on Frazier Group's bankruptcy?""There are reports that Mr. Frazier embezzled hundreds of millions and misappropriated one billion in public funds. He's facing decades in prison. What's your view on this?""Ms. Frazier, there's talk that you're remarrying Mr. Nichols. Is there any truth to that?"...The questions came thick and fast, but Debra remained stoic as she walked straight toward the building.Ben stepped in, blocking the reporters. "Sorry, Ms. F
If Debra, the person in charge, ever decided to step into the glittering world of show business, one could only imagine the storm she'd stir. The mere thought of it was exhausting.Debra stood up and patted Ben's shoulder. "I have every confidence in you, Ben. You can handle this. Consider your bonus doubled."Ben, however, couldn't summon even a hint of joy at the news.In the afternoon, Debra found herself seated across from Erica in a café downstairs. Erica nearly choked on her coffee when Debra shared her news."You're entering showbiz?" Erica sputtered, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. "You can't be serious."Debra raised an eyebrow. "Why the surprise?"Erica leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Even though the Frazier Group went bankrupt, you still have the McKinney Group. There's no need for you to step into that circus and invite all that gossip."Celebrities were dazzling to commoners, but in their elite circle, celebrities were commodities and pawns to be mo
The coffee in Debra's hand sloshed onto the ground. Marion, in a swift motion, bent down and wiped the stain from her high heels."Sorry, I'm late," he murmured.Debra was taken aback. She rarely saw Marion like this—humble, remorseful, almost vulnerable.Her gaze fell upon his hands, noticing the fine scars that crisscrossed his skin and the bandage wrapped around his wrist. He was hurt.She reached out, her fingers gently encircling his arm, to inspect the injury. "You're hurt?"In the world, few people could hurt the formidable Marion.Erica paled at the sight of the bandage. "What happened? Wasn't Randy with you? Where is he?"She looked around, but there was no sign of Randy. "Is he..."Marion replied calmly, "He's still on the plane."Erica's shoulders sagged with relief, her anxiety dissipating as quickly as it had come. "I knew it. That careful guy would never risk his life on anything."Debra turned her attention back to Marion. "You've been away for days. What were
Marion drew in a sharp breath, and Debra, thinking she had caused him pain, swiftly moved closer to inspect the wound."What's wrong? I didn't use much force," she said, concern etched on her face.A faint smile tugged at the corners of Marion's mouth. Debra quickly caught on to his ruse and glared at him."I was genuinely concerned, and you're just teasing me," she chided.As she turned to leave, Marion acted swiftly, pulling her into his embrace."I was wrong. Forgive me," he whispered.The room seemed to crackle with an unspoken intimacy. Debra's face flushed with embarrassment, and she found herself torn between wanting to push Marion away and not wanting to aggravate his injuries. For a moment, the only sound in the room was the steady rhythm of their heartbeats."Hey, don't push me."Erica's muffled voice suddenly broke the silence, coming from just outside the door. Startled, Debra quickly extricated herself from Marion's embrace just as Randy and Erica stumbled into the
Debra wanted to escape, but Marion had blocked every possible way out."Debra, answer me," Marion insisted.She looked up, seeing the sincerity and longing burning within his eyes."I- I'm not divorced yet," she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper. "Once I do, I'll give you an answer."Marion stroked her cheek. His touch was warm, almost feverish. His voice was deep and resonant. "Alright, I'll wait for you."Debra turned and opened the door, only to find Erica and Randy standing at the entrance, their ears practically pressed against the door. Her face flushed a deep shade of red, and for the first time in a long while, she looked genuinely rattled. She grabbed her bag and hurried away."I'm going with you," Erica called out, quickly following her.Randy slipped into the room, where Marion was buttoning up his shirt. "Man, you're such a flirt on the down-low. Who told you to confess now? You totally scared her off."Marion ignored Randy, his expression calm as he finis
Shelia's lips curled into a sneer as she stepped forward and slapped Debra across the face. Erica stared in shock and tried to hit back. But Shelia's bodyguards formed a barrier, blocking her path."Shelia, have you lost your mind?" Erica shouted. "How dare you hit Debra?"Debra's mouth was bleeding. Her ears rang from the force of the blow. It was clear Shelia had put all her strength into that slap.Shelia scoffed, raising her chin. "The Frazier Group is bankrupt, and she is now nothing but an empty shell. Why wouldn't I dare to hit her?"Erica shot back, "Even if the Frazier Group is bankrupt, I'm still here. You slapped Debra, and I'll make sure you pay a heavy price."Shelia smirked, unfazed. "Maybe you're not in a position to make that call.""Try me," Erica scoffed, dismissive.She was the head of the Mathis family and a relative of the Houston family. In Seamar City, no one dared to provoke her.But as she spoke, ten more bodyguards burst into the restaurant, surroundin
Juan unconsciously twisted the ring on his finger."Found it!" Randy shouted.Everyone moved toward where he was pointing. There was an old iron chain. Below the chain was something indiscernible, but it looked creepy."Try your might," Garland said, stepping forward.Together with Randy, he tugged at the iron chain. The chain grew tauter, and the ground in front of them began to shift, revealing a hole about three square meters in size.Liza hid behind Debra, unsure of what was lying ahead. "What is that?"The place seemed untouched for ages and smelled ancient."Isn't it obvious? It's a pit," Erica said. "It's normal to have pits when digging mountains, but the Potter family isn't building a subway down there, so why this pit?"Debra said, "Let's go down and see.""Behind me," Marion said, taking her hand.He pulled out a flashlight and led the group to descend the old stairs. Debra noticed the stairs on both sides and a slide in the middle, with faint wheel tracks still vi
"It's fine. You just need to find the location of Fire."Garland asked, "What is that?""In the human body, the heart symbolizes fire," Debra explained. "This place is surrounded by mountains and water, making it an ideal location."Erica bent down to examine the diagram on the ground. "Is it here?"She pointed to the south, where the mountain range was gone, replaced by a clear, unobstructed mountain path.Evidently, the mountain moved by the Potter family was the Fire position."But that doesn't make sense," Liza muttered, feeling a chill run down her spine. "There's nothing but barren land. Could it really be underground?"The ground was in ruins. It was unlikely anything could be beneath it.Marion thought for a moment. "Let's go down and take a look.""How?" Randy shivered, afraid they'd ask him to go down first.Erica chimed in, "I don't think the Potters would be foolish enough to leave the treasure unguarded. There's no way they'd let us walk right in without resistan
"Sounded like mystical gibberish," Erica echoed.Debra strode to a nearby patch of grass, picked up a stone, and began drawing symbols on the ground.She explained, "Three solid lines represent Heaven, and three broken lines represent Earth."Immediately, two opposing symbols appeared on the ground.She continued to draw. "This solid line is the positive pole, and this broken line is the negative pole." "Is this a trigram?" Randy asked."Thunder rises like a bowl. Mountain inverts are like a cup. The lake is broken above, and the wind is broken below," Debra said as she drew the remaining trigrams.Marion quickly figured it out. "That's our true heiress of the Frazier family."The Frazier family was known for their scholarly wisdom and military strategy. A century ago, they were legendary figures.Debra looked at the trigrams and said, "When I was little, I had to learn everything. I wasn't an expert in ancient texts, but I had a basic understanding of them. The trigrams are
After half an hour of driving into the mountains, everyone was exhausted."Damn!" Randy yelped, his voice jolting everyone awake.The car made a sharp turn and came to a halt. Everyone screamed, and it took a while for them to calm down.Liza grumbled, "Can you even drive? If not, let me take over.""Did the tire blow out?" Erica wondered aloud.She opened the door and got out, followed by Randy and the others.Erica inspected the tires and frowned. "The car can't go any further. There's a huge rock. Quite dangerous."Randy grumbled, "Looks like Andrew doesn't even bother to maintain his property."Erica rolled her eyes. "Well, there is an iron gate. Only the Potter family members are allowed in. According to Andrew, no one has been here for years. Who would bother clearing the road?""True." Randy walked to the side and saw that the road ahead was covered in loose stones, probably fallen from the surrounding mountains."I thought they had leveled the mountains. Clearly, not
The journey into the mountains was unlikely to be peaceful.Marion sensed her unease and took her hand in his. "Don't worry. I'll bring enough people to ensure everyone's safety.""Alright." Debra nodded.Precaution was indeed necessary.That night, she knocked on Andrew's door."Come in," came his calm voice from inside.She pushed the door open and saw Andrew playing chess under the dim glow of a single lamp."Andrew," she started."I know." Andrew lifted his gaze and said, "You're eager to find out who's behind all this."Debra paused. "Is the treasure really hidden in that mountain?""I don't know.""You don't?""That mountain was leveled by my ancestors decades ago. They spent five years on the project, but after that, the land was left untended and eventually became overgrown. Now, it's nothing more than an ordinary mountain trail. I've sent people to search for it before, but they found nothing.""So, you suspected all along that this mountain might be hiding someth
Debra noticed everyone's eyes had settled on her.She asked, "Remember those ledgers?""Yeah. The ledgers only contained numbers alongside regular inventory records," Erica replied.Debra mused, "If those four ledgers truly hide a treasure map, could those numbers represent geographical coordinates?"Erica shook her head. "But there are so many numbers. How could it be..."Marion cut in, "It's possible."Randy tilted his head. "How so?"Marion explained, "31°N and 120°E mark Seamar City's position relative to the equator, but Seamar City has more precise coordinates."Debra said smoothly, "Seamar City spans from 120°52' to 122°12' east longitude and 30°40' to 31°53' north latitude. Don't the numbers 30 and 120 seem familiar?"Erica clapped her hands. "Those numbers appeared repeatedly in the ledgers. They were highlighted in red.""What if they correspond to coordinates centered around Seamar City's downtown?" Debra said."30... 120..." Erica murmured, her finger tracing the
While the others might not know Debra's uniqueness, Andrew certainly did."Sir, shouldn't we thank Mr. Nichols?" Barton said."It's best not to contact him at this time." Andrew shook his head. "The mastermind wants to reap the benefits without lifting a finger. Why not grant his wish and find the treasure?""But if we do that, won't Seamar City fall into chaos?""Seamar City is already in chaos. I'll set off another fire."...Debra and the others returned to the Potter Mansion.Barton greeted them, holding old scrolls covered in dust."Where are you going with all that?" Erica asked wonderingly.Barton glanced at the scrolls in his hand and said, "These are maps of the old city area from decades ago. Mr. Andrew Potter said they need to be aired out to remove the musty smell, so I took them out, planning to air them tomorrow morning.""Maps of the old city area?" Garland curiously remarked. "Can I take a look?""Come on. They're so dirty," Liza chimed in."You don't unders
In the office of Donaldson Corporation, Vickie was fuming.She complained, "Juan never intended to help me. He was just pretending to switch sides. Boss, this mess was all because of him."She pointed at Juan, who frowned with displeasure.Across from her was a man sitting behind the desk. His posture was straight in a sharp suit, but his face was covered with a white mask, making it impossible to read his emotions.He croaked, "Is that so?"Juan sneered, "Such a petty scheme was never going to shake Debra's standing. She has Marion and Andrew by her side. As long as those two are alive, the McKinney Group will remain untouchable, standing strong against us."He turned his gaze toward Vickie and added, "No offense, but she's useless. Aside from bearing a slight resemblance to Debra, she has nothing of value."Vickie glared at Juan, seething with rage. She wanted to lash out but dared not go out of line in front of the masked man."I think you're just hung up on Debra," she snor
On the big screen, a comparison of Vickie's before-and-after photos appeared. The details were thorough with her initial consultation, follow-up appointments, and the final results of her plastic surgery.It also included information about Vickie's so-called adoptive father. This proof was solid.A reporter stood up and asked, "A recent article from New Age has been accused of containing false information. Mrs. Houston, was this article published under your instruction?"Garland tried to get up and clarify, but Debra beat him to it.She replied calmly, "That article was written by a friend of mine. He was too eager to clear my name to verify the content. It was provided by a third party and later proved to be a trap. If anyone wishes to know the details, you may approach me after this press conference. I will provide you a copy and let you see their filthy tricks."Another journalist followed up, "Mrs. Houston, how can you prove that you are the real heiress?""Vickie claimed to