Vince mumbled, "No, no… Okay, I'll be leaving now, sir.” He quickly turned around and left. Joseph was focused on Chloe and did not realize Vince's unusual behavior, but Chloe spotted a bloodstain on Vince's sleeve. She called out, "Hold up, Vince." Vince rarely told lies. When called out to him, he froze in place as cold sweat formed on his forehead. His eyes darted around nervously as he stammered, “Y-Yes, Ms. Chloe?""You're injured," Chloe said, fishing out a band-aid from her bag. "Here, I have plenty. If the wound is severe, you should see a doctor.”Jasper had knocked and scraped his forehead during a family outing once, and Chloe had picked up the habit of carrying around band-aids since.Vince stared at the band-aid she placed on the table. He looked at the blood on his sleeve, and his face flushed with embarrassment. He felt like such a jerk for lying to Chloe when she showed such concern for him."It’s not my blood…" Joseph asked indifferently, "Whose is it then?"
Bethany was stunned. She pointed at herself, then at Xavia, before asking, "With just the two of us? Imperium is a dangerous place. We have the key to the place, but what if…""Of course, it won’t just be the two of us," Xavia interrupted, smiling triumphantly. "Who else will be helping us?""The new owner of Duskfall.""Otto? Cyrus' son?" Bethany had heard about the changes in Duskfall through Vince. She looked at Xavia with a confused frown and asked, "Weren’t you abandoned by your organization like me?"Xavia glared at her and said, "What do you mean abandoned? You were kicked out. We're not the same.""What makes you think you're better off than me? You're also useless to Duskfall," Bethany retorted."Now isn’t the time to discuss this. Pack up, we're leaving now," Xavia said impatiently, annoyed that Bethany could not focus on the important matters.*An hour later, Xavia and Bethany meet up with Otto. Xavia excitedly handed over Imperium’s key and said, "We finally have
Otto looked at Bethany disdainfully and sneered. "I don't understand what's so good about Joseph. Why are so many women willing to sacrifice their lives for him?"He was not inferior to Joseph in terms of appearance. In terms of talent, he was a little behind, but he was three years younger. He believed that with effort, he would surpass Joseph eventually.Otto had been planning for this day for a long time. Joseph was out of the city for a meeting and the members of Imperium were attending an off-site training today. Otto could silently take over Imperium and wait for Joseph to return before catching them all in one fell swoop.Xavia stared at Bethany's lifeless body, then approached and closed Bethany’s eyes while offering a silent apology. Even without Chloe and herself around, Bethany would never have captured Joseph's heart. She was a doormat, and her entire world revolved around men. No man would appreciate a woman like her.*Chloe picked Jasper up, and they went for a meal
Chloe felt a strange sensation inside her as she read the message. Since when was Vince so disrespectful? She was only acquainted with Vince because of Joseph. She and Vince had never met up on their own, but now he was asking her to look for him at Imperium?She did not reply to the text and decided to inform Joseph about this. After listening to what she said, Joseph frowned. "That's not Vince. Someone used his phone to message you."In other words, Vince was in danger. Chloe was taken aback. She was relieved that she had not rushed to meet him. Suddenly, Joseph's phone vibrated. It was a call from the person who had been tasked with looking into Bethany's recent activities. Feeling something was wrong, Joseph narrowed his eyes."I have to take this call. I'll call you back later. Don't go anywhere and stay at the office. No matter who comes to you and persuades you to go with them for any reason, don't listen to them. Just wait for me there,” he instructed.Chloe realized th
Chloe shook Joseph's arm and pleaded, "Let's go together. We can look after each other. If anything happens, I won't be able to explain myself to Jas."Of course, she hoped they would return safely, but that seemed unlikely considering the current situation."Fine, you can come with me, but your safety comes first. No matter what happens, you're the priority, and I come second." "All right," Chloe agreed, and they sped off to Imperium.An hour later, they arrived at their destination. The underling who had reported to Joseph earlier rushed out of the bushes upon spotting their vehicle, waving to flag them down."Sir, I've contacted our comrades at the off-site training session. Thankfully they had a satellite phone. I told them not to return to Imperium for now. The bad news is that all our comrades inside are now under Otto’s control."Joseph frowned. "Why would they have a satellite phone?""They said Vince gave it to them."Vince had sensed something was going to happen, so
Vince, who was trussed up tightly, listened intently to Otto and Xavia’s conversation. He was like an ant on a hot pan, yet he could not break free. His overwhelming regret felt like a series of slaps, causing his face to turn red. He wished he could break free and drive these people out of Imperium. After that, he would kill himself to atone for the mistakes he had made. "Check if those from the off-site training are on their way back. We can't let them know what's happening here or they might run," Otto instructed coldly as he took a deep drag of his cigar.Since Frieda’s death, Cyrus had decided not to cause the Whitmans any more trouble and handed over the management of Duskfall to Otto. Harold shared the same perspective, believing that the deceased could not be resurrected. Frieda's suicide was meant to stop the perpetuation of past grievances from being passed on to the next generation.It no longer mattered who was right or wrong. Harold advised Joseph to let the past be
Vince stared at his phone which had been shattered into pieces. He had purchased that phone with his very first bonus and cherished it very much. His shock then turned into a burning rage as he glared fiercely at Otto, wishing to tear Otto to pieces. Unfortunately, nobody paid attention to him.Xavia was seething with anger, staring darkly at the distraught Vince. "What should we do? Should we just kill those who are here?"After a few seconds of contemplation, Otto said, "Even if Joseph knows, what can he do? His people are in the cells, those at the off-site training don't have any weapons. We have hostages, so he's powerless against us.""You want to take that risk?""Why not?" Xavia frowned. She had a look of disapproval as she caressed her protruding belly. "Why not seize the opportunity and eliminate them now? We can deal with one batch at a time."When there were lives, there was hope. By killing these people, Joseph would suffer significant losses, and lose Vince, his mo
The faint glow of the mobile phone screen illuminated Joseph's face, casting a soft light over him. He gripped his pen tightly and carefully calculated the safe path on the paper. Chloe held up the phone, now being used as a flashlight, trying to provide him with enough light. She held her breath to minimize her presence and not disturb him.Using the phone's flashlight feature consumed a lot of the phone’s battery, and after about half an hour, her phone battery level had dwindled to around 10%. Chloe's palms were slippery with cold sweat as she debated whether to speak up and tell Joseph. However, she hesitated so as not to disturb him.A moment later, Joseph said, "I've figured it out." Chloe was surprised and shocked. "That was fast. You're amazing!"She could not deny that some people were favored by the heavens. They had brains and brawns. She was confident that Jasper would have no problems with Math in the future.Joseph nodded. "But I'm not sure it's 100% accurate." Ch