Ralph took a deep breath."Yes, the key is mine. It's just a regular key to the warehouse. Nothing valuable.""To the warehouse or the ancestral hall?"Ralph's expression shifted, and Debra pressed on."I don't want to beat around the bush. Did you steal the key from my father?""Preposterous! He gave it to me."Ralph stood up in agitation, but Marion stared him down."Sit down."Ralph's bravado deflated like a punctured balloon, and he timidly sat back down."Debra, even though I did bad things, I'm still your uncle. How could I steal from my own brother?""To pay off gambling debts, what wouldn't you do? If you could harm me, you might not hesitate to harm my father."Ralph's face darkened. "What do you mean? Suspect that I was responsible for his death?"Marion's voice was like thunder, his expression stormy. "It seems you won't speak honestly."Ralph was frightened, gritting his teeth. "Fine, whatever you think. I won't be able to get out anyway. Put the blame on me. I
The Frazier family, with its wealth and prestige, was governed by ironclad rules.Debra knew her father was a man of principle, unyielding even for his brother. Ralph's gambling was more than a personal failing. It was a rot that could harm the entire family. And it did.Ralph's face contorted with anger, his silence a damning confession.Debra pressed on. "I'm asking you one last time. Did you kill my father?"Ralph lost his nerves and shouted, "Yes. I did it. He was so stubborn. He found out about my gambling and decided to cast me out. I'm his brother. I just needed to borrow money, but he scolded me and threw me out. That's my family too. Why was he so harsh to me?""You were gambling, and my father kicked you out according to family rules. He did nothing wrong. Look at what you've done to the Frazier family. And you killed my father for that?"Hearing the truth from Ralph's mouth was a bitter pill to swallow. For years, he had been a second father to her. Betrayal stung like
Ralph's expression turned to stone as Debra's words landed like a physical blow."Your greed is one thing," she said. "But now you're dragging the entire Frazier family down with your idiocy. I think my dad was right to cut you off."Ralph slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet. "Who are you to lecture me?"Before Ralph could take another breath, Marion was on his feet, the prison cell door swinging open. Ralph's anger dissolved like smoke in the wind as Marion placed a heavy hand on his shoulder, forcing him back into his seat.Marion warned coldly, "Behave yourself and ask the questions."Ralph squirmed, his eyes darting around the room. "This is a prison. If you lay a finger on me, that's illegal."Marion's grip tightened, his fingers digging into Ralph's shoulder like a vise. Ralph cried out in pain, his face contorting. "Help! Anyone there?"Marion leaned in, his voice a low growl. "There are no cameras here. Without my orders, no one will come in to save you. B
"Shh. Don't go poking your nose where it doesn't belong," said Pedro.The guard swiftly clamped a hand over his mouth.Marion heard the sound and wrapped an arm around Debra's waist. She glanced down at his hand, her eyebrows knitting together."What are you doing?""Nothing. Just make sure you don't fall."Debra brushed his hand away. "Behave yourself."Marion smiled, "Anything you say."On their way back, Debra examined the key in her hand, her fingers tracing the intricate craftsmanship. It was clearly an antique, the lock's shape rare and distinctive."Let's go to the old house. I want to check the ancestral hall.""Ralph mentioned there was nothing valuable there, or perhaps the value lies not in what's hidden but in the secret itself.""Since my father valued the ancestral hall so much when he was alive, there must be something important hidden there. Ralph might not have found it because it's not obvious."Debra recalled her visits to the ancestral hall when she was a
Debra and Marion circled the ancestral hall, but there was nothing of value to be found. The hall was as bare as a picked bone.Marion replaced the tablets he'd been inspecting, his voice echoing in the empty room."Let's not waste our energy here anymore. If there was something valuable here, Ralph would've snatched it up long ago."They had almost turned the place upside down but found nothing.Debra's shoulders slumped. "Could it be that the so-called family secret is just a lie?"If there was truly a treasure in Seamar City, surely someone would have found it by now."The treasure isn't fake. It's just well hidden by our ancestors," Marion said, looking at the tablets. "Let's head back for today. We have the key, so we can come back anytime."Debra bit her lip. "I'm just feeling uneasy."Marion pulled her close, his voice soothing. "Don't worry. I'm here, and I won't let anyone harm you."Debra leaned into his embrace, her eyes falling on the red columns behind him. A spar
Marion glanced up, his eyes landing on a folding chair tucked inside a box. A smirk played on his lips. "What's with the chair?"Debra grinned, pulling out the chair and setting it down beside him. "Just a little preparation. I figured I might get tired waiting."She paused and continued, "Do your best."Marion chuckled, giving her cheek a gentle pinch. "Alright, I won't keep you waiting too long."He turned his attention to the tile beneath the column, giving it a firm tap. It crumbled, revealing the hollow space beneath.He laughed, "Looks like this place really hasn't seen repairs in a century.""Huh?" Debra leaned in, her eyes widening at the sight of the broken tile. "This tile must be worth a pretty penny.""I'll cover the damage," Marion said, already digging into the dirt bricks next to the column.His efforts unearthed a sealed redwood box, its antique appearance hinting at a history spanning a hundred years."This box is exquisite. Must be worth a fortune.""It's pr
"This is the old double-entry bookkeeping system. It looks complicated," said Debra, squinting at the thick ledgers laid out in front of her."You can understand it?" Marion asked, surprised."Sort of," she replied, eyes still fixed on the pages. "I haven't seen this in a long time, so I'll need to refamiliarize myself." Debra examined the books closely. Beside her, Marion couldn't help but watch her serious expression."I didn't realize you were so skilled. You even know how to handle this kind of bookkeeping."Debra smiled but gave him a playful eye roll."Did you forget what I studied? I majored in finance. If I can't read these books, how could I ever manage a company?"Despite her light tone, Debra couldn't help but feel a wave of gratitude toward Juan.In her past life, she had loved him deeply and had worked tirelessly to learn everything about finance just to help him. She'd absorbed knowledge quickly back then. If not for the foundation she built in that life, she wou
Debra glanced at Marion, and in that instant, she realized what was going on.She quickly addressed Ben."Got it. I'll call him back later.""Okay."After ending the call, Debra turned toward Marion, raising an eyebrow."Did you mess with my phone?""I didn't touch it."Marion's expression was as innocent as a puppy's, and Debra remembered that her phone had been with her the whole time. Still, her gut told her that Marion was involved."You'd better come clean," she warned with a half-smile.Faced with her ultimatum, Marion sighed and confessed, "Randy and Erica installed a chip in your phone. It automatically blocks all calls and messages from Juan.""And you weren't going to tell me?" she asked, folding her arms."I forgot," Marion said innocently.Debra pressed her fingers to her temples, frustrated but not surprised. This was exactly the kind of thing Randy and Erica would pull.After their last run-in, it seemed they were determined to use any means necessary to stop
Liza grinned cheekily, "My allowance has gone up every year, but don't lose heart. I'll tell Dad to raise your allowance too."She looked at Garland's sullen face and patted his shoulder. "Cheer up. I'm off shopping."She leisurely hummed a song and skipped away.Far away in Seamar City, Robert was reporting his duties to Theda."These past few days, most of the McKinney Group's clients have jumped ship and joined us. Now that their artists are on hiatus, we can grab their endorsement deals. Within a month, we'll swallow up all the resources they're holding onto," he said."Is Debra doing nothing about this?" Theda asked."She did," Robert replied. "Michael has been working around the clock. Debra's trying to use him to salvage the situation. But it's not working.""Michael may be their ace, and Debra's relying on him to secure only luxury brand endorsements. But if she doesn't care about the smaller deals, we'll take them," Theda said, tapping her chin. "Without clients or reso
On a beach overseas, Debra lay on a lounge chair.In front of her was the blue sky, white clouds, and the endless ocean. The golden sand glittered in the sunlight.She wore sunglasses and flashed a peace sign for a picture before posting it on social media.In the picture, she showed half her face, while the other half captured their artists building a sandcastle.The caption read, [Blue skies, white clouds, the ocean, playful employees, and a boss you'll never have.]The comments section quickly exploded.[I know team building, but I've never heard of a boss taking their employees abroad for it. I want such a boss.][Girl, you just took away all my idols.][The McKinney Group's artists have all gone on break. My happiness is gone.]...In floral trunks, Garland was grumbling while digging in the sand with a shovel, "Your wedding hasn't even happened, and you're already on a honeymoon? You can have your honeymoon. Why let me arrange everything and foot the bills?"Liza heard
Erica chimed in, "Right now, with half the entertainment industry's resources in their hands, their artists are already strained. If they take our deals too, those artists will be run into the ground. Even if they worked 24/7, they wouldn't be able to handle that kind of workload.""To capitalists, artists are just tools to make money. They couldn't care less about how the tools feel. And since those artists are mostly rookies, their rates are relatively low. After layers of exploitation, the pay they take home won't match the work they're doing," Debra replied. "Meanwhile, our artists are enjoying paid vacations for two months, traveling and relaxing. Do you think the Buchan Group's artists will feel okay with that? These are skilled professionals, but they're stuck doing assembly-line work. With such intense workloads, their performance will inevitably suffer, and the quality of their work will drop. For artists, no good work means no staying power. Their popularity will fade, and a
"She's probably trying to catch us off guard with this move," Debra said, calming down. "She's pushing her artists to work nonstop, taking on every gig they can get. By marketing them so aggressively, she's maintaining a temporary buzz. Advertisers will shift their partnerships from our artists to hers. If we lose most of our clients all at once, it'll throw our company into chaos. That's when she will swoop in."Andrew muttered, "So, it's a mind game? Theda knows how to play dirty."But Erica still looked troubled. "Now we know what she's doing. What can we do? Just sit by when she steals our clients?"If they lost their clients, their artists' commercial value would plummet. That would be a heavy blow to their business. Their revenue would dive, and they would lose their standing in Seamar City.Debra smiled mysteriously, "If Theda wants to disrupt us, we'll meet changes with constancy.""What do you mean?" Erica was puzzled."Didn't Michael just say that artists aren't machine
Compared to those mass-produced artists, these people under Theda's management had been trained for years.They were different from those who debuted just because of their looks. These people were versatile and unique in their own ways.Randy mumbled, "I've tried my best, but every time we fight back, they come up with something new. The advertisers we worked with before saw the momentum behind their publicity. Plus, their new talents were cheaper, so they all switched sides. Our ad revenue has dropped significantly. Even our commercial street has to feature ads for those Buchan artists. It's like quenching a thirst with poison."Erica chimed in, "This is the least we can do. Their artists are riding the tide. It makes sense that advertisers would go for them. We can't just tell people not to run ads for them."Debra nodded. "Advertisers choose who's trending. And those newcomers are popular and affordable. Michael is better but beyond the average advertisers' reach."Erica got an
Soon, the interrogators came out of the room. It seemed they wouldn't get any answers today.Kale had been waiting outside the station.When Drake and Debra walked out, he quickly went up."Boss, the plane tickets are ready.""Good."Before getting into the car, Drake said, "I'll give you an answer within three days. Don't forget our bet."Debra shook her head, surprised that he took that lopsided deal so seriously.Her phone rang with a call from Erica. "Check the news!"Debra, sensing her urgency, opened the news app.The top headline was about Buchan Entertainment. The article showcased a lineup of attractive artists and members of popular bands.Randy's words resurfaced in her mind. When she had just returned to Seamar City, he mentioned that a surge of artists had become wildly popular, rivaling the fame of Michael back in the day.Since Oscar left the entertainment industry to take over the Odom Group, these artists had been gaining even more momentum, almost as if the
"You think I'm scared of being caught?" Drake tried to pull his arm away, but Debra held on tightly.In the end, Drake snapped, "Fine! I won't go."The police were already closing in. Running now would only make things worse. Being dragged back in cuffs wasn't exactly appealing.Debra let go of him and smiled cheerfully, "Thank you for your cooperation."Pedro personally led the operation. Within minutes, the officers subdued the six thugs and loaded them into the vans.Pedro glanced at Debra and pointed at Drake. "About Mr. Lowe..."Debra explained, "Mr. Lowe is a witness. He's cooperating with us to clear his name and assist in solving this case. Isn't that touching, Mr. Hardy?""Thank you, Mr. Lowe. Much appreciated," Pedro said gratefully.But then he scratched his head and added, "Well, since Mr. Lowe is a witness, he'll need to come to the station for a statement. I know it's inconvenient, but I'm sure a generous and upright person like Mr. Lowe won't mind, right?"Befor
"I'll talk. It was Matthew Ledger. Please, spare me, Mr. Lowe," Silas said, terrified.He was just a small-time worker running errands for the bigshots.Drake narrowed his eyes, not expecting Matthew to be so bold."Boss, what should we do with these people?" Kale asked."Bind them all up." Drake glanced at the boat. "Stuff them in there, along with the machines, and send them to the West Factory. We'll go meet Matthew.""Yes, boss." Kale gave orders to cram those men into boxes.Among the group, six men suddenly pulled out their guns. "Don't move!"Debra saw it and opened the car door.Looking nothing special, these people had blended into the crowd and acted only at the critical moment.Debra knew that the shipment of so many machines couldn't go unsupervised. She hadn't noticed anyone hidden earlier, but it turned out they'd been embedded within the group.Clearly, whoever was behind this had infiltrated Drake's company."Stand back!" The six men grouped, scanning their s
Presumably, Silas had smuggled out countless machines and made a fortune over the years.Drake pulled out a bank card and said, "There's not much in here, but it's got 300-500 thousand dollars. I'd appreciate it if you guys could help carry all the machines down. Consider this a tip."Everyone was excited to hear that. It was easy money to make.The leader quickly ordered his men to unload the cargo. Drake handed the card over and glanced at his watch.Then he looked over at the car parked 100 meters away from the dock.Inside, Debra rolled down the window but had no intention of stepping in. She was simply enjoying the show.The men brought down the boxes, emptying the cargo ship.Drake nodded and said, "Thanks, everyone."The leader laughed, "No worries. You've already paid us."Drake smirked, "It's for carrying the evidence down."Before those men could react, Kale and his team sprang from their hiding spots.Realizing it was a trap, the men tried to flee, but Kale's peop