Kolten looked at Jovie with affection and warmth."Hello Jovie, it's been a while," he said softly.Jovie blinked her bright, lively eyes and flashed a charming smile at Kolten. She crisply greeted, "Hello, Uncle Kolten!"Jovie was already a beautiful child, but ever since Liam came back and she started living with Celena, her personality became much more outgoing. Her smile seemed to have the power to melt hearts. When she called Kolten "Uncle Kolten," it made the middle-aged Kolten feel rejuvenated, and his smile deepened."My, my. What a good girl you are!" Kolten said with a smile.At that moment, Liam stood up and pulled Jovie into his arms, squeezing her cheeks affectionately. "Jovie, now that Uncle Kolten is here you can tell everyone that your dad knows Drunham City's wealthiest man. No one is going to make fun of you or say you're lying anymore."Jovie clung to Liam's neck, glancing at Kolten and then at the children who mocked and bullied her earlier. She glared at them
Liam took Jovie straight back to the cottage after they left the school. They did not even have a chance to take a sip of water after entering when Celena called. Her voice was filled with urgency and panic."Liam, what should I do? Several of the company's projects have suddenly been halted, and we can't reach any of our partners. Words of the grapevine are that the partners have fled. Also, two of our factories have been bought out. The company is in chaos. What should I do?" Celena's words tumbled out in a flurry, and she sounded on the verge of tears by the end.Liam quickly tried to calm her down. "Celena, don't worry. You have me. Just take a deep breath and tell me slowly what's been happening with the company."Celena sniffed and took a deep breath, trying to steady her emotions. "A powerful competitor has emerged in the past couple of days. The competitor is sparing no expense to poach all our partners. They've even managed to buy out our two factories at double the price.
Celena was taken aback by Liam's words. She murmured incredulously, "That, that can't be true! My dad and Cheryl, they wouldn't."Celena previously entertained suspicions, but they were her family after all, especially her father. Thus, she dismissed the suspicion as soon as they surfaced.She never expected Liam to voice out her suspicion so bluntly, leaving her unsure of how to respond.Seeing Celena's silence, Liam—understanding her temperament—chose not to dwell on family matters but to take action. "How about this, Celena? Let me handle the factory issue."Hearing this, Celena was puzzled. She looked at Liam dubiously, asking, "Let you handle it? How?"Liam thought for a moment before responding, "I've thought about it. I have a few friends who might have some unused factories. I can ask them if we can use them temporarily.""Really? That would be amazing! The problem with the factories will be solved if we can use them!" exclaimed Celena excitedly.However, amidst her exci
After hanging up the phone, Calum immediately called Eaden.Eaden had a wide network of contacts in Drunham City, ranging from all walks of life, making him the perfect person for the job.When Eaden saw Calum's call, he promptly stood up, showing a respectful expression. "Hello Mr. Chanter, what can I do for you?"Calum got straight to the point. "Mr. Cole wants to acquire a factory specializing in building materials. Go and see if there's a suitable one, and make sure it's done by today.""Understood. I'll take care of it right away."After hanging up the phone, Eaden quickly instructed his subordinates to compile a list of all the factories in Drunham City. He then visited several factories according to Calum's requirements.Afterward, he called Calum back and said, "Mr. Chanter, I've visited several factories, and one of them is currently up for sale. It meets the criteria you mentioned. Would you like to come and take a look?"Calum was somewhat surprised that Eaden found a
"It's best to sign the contract now. Celena is quite anxious on her end. I'll head over there now, so we can handle it and put her mind at ease," Liam said before hanging up.He hopped on his stylish scooter and rushed to Nirvana Factory.Celena was extremely agitated due to the factory issue, so getting it resolved quickly would ease her worries. Thus, Liam wasted no time and headed straight to Nirvana Factory.Meanwhile, after Calum hung up the phone, he turned to Eaden and said, "Mr. Cole will be here soon!"Eaden's heart skipped a beat. He quickly straightened his collar and stood respectfully behind Calum.He also shouted to his subordinates behind him, "All of you better be on your best behavior as Mr. Cole will be here soon."His subordinates, previously languid from the sun, straightened up and stood alert behind Eaden, respectfully awaiting Liam's arrival.In contrast to the heat outside Nirvana Factory, inside the president's office of Nirvana Factory sat William Vince
William turned to his secretary and excitedly exclaimed, "Candy, did you hear that? I'm not dreaming, am I? I never expected this rundown factory to become so valuable. It's one thing to have someone want to buy it, but now Bristow Group wants to buy the factory, and they're offering 16 million dollars!"Candy shuddered with disbelief and gasped, "What?! Are you serious? Sixteen million dollars?"William, bursting with excitement, replied, "It's true. They said they'd send the contract over soon.""Oh my god!" Candy exclaimed, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "But Mr. Vincenzo, didn't you just sell the factory to Mr. Chanter for ten million dollars?"William slapped his thigh and groaned, "Oh no, I forgot about that! Candy, what should we do now? Mr. Chanter's offer is only ten million dollars while Bristow Group is offering 16 million dollars. That's a difference of six million dollars!"Candy's face also grew serious. Previously, the factory's sale price was only si
William immediately smiled and said, "Quick, please bring them in."Not long after, Liam entered William's office with Calum. With the factory in high demand, William was in high spirits. When Liam and Calum entered the office, they saw William lounging on the sofa, smoking a cigar, showing no intention of getting up.Upon seeing Liam, William sized him up and asked, "So you're the boss of LJC Group?"Liam frowned, glanced at William's somewhat arrogant posture, and replied calmly, "Yes, I am. Now let's proceed with the signing."William smiled and did not say anything. Instead, he handed over the contract, which was altered by his secretary, and said, "Alright, let's sign. Here's the contract."As Liam took the contract and glanced over it. He was prepared to sign when he noticed that the purchase price on the contract was changed from ten million dollars to 20 million dollars!Liam's expression darkened instantly. He asked with a frown, "What's going on? Didn't we agree on ten
Calum could not hold back his anger any longer. He slammed his hand on the table and shouted angrily, "Mr. Vincenzo, do you realize that hiking up the price like this at the last minute is something I can sue you for?"William's antics pushed Calum to his limit. He detested people who disregarded their word. He would have torn the factory apart, beaten William, and locked him up if it were not for Liam being there.However, William was not intimidated by Calum’s outburst. He leaned back in his chair, chuckling, "Mr. Chanter, you must be joking with me, right? Do you want to sue me? On what grounds? We didn’t sign a contract, so how can you claim we agreed on ten million dollars?"I’ll let you in on something, our factory was indeed valued at ten million dollars before. But things have changed. Just a while ago, someone offered 24 million dollars for our factory. If it weren't for the prior discussions with Mr. Chanter, I wouldn’t be offering it to you for 20 million dollars. If you’
The entire meeting room was in absolute chaos. The remaining three Elders were equally vexed, and they all scowled, cracking their knuckles in fury."These people are getting out of hand! How can they possibly frame Liam's poor wife for such an atrocious crime?""We must get to the bottom of this! We must find out who's behind this! He or she cannot go unpunished!"Timothy nodded in agreement and roared at his cowering assistant, "Go find out what truly happened! Find out which filthy scum ordered Celena's arrest and what could possibly delude them into thinking she is a spy against our country!"His assistant squeaked a reply, then sped out of the room as fast as his legs could take him. He did not stop until he reached the front door of the Grand Pendragon Department, where he stood, panting and trying to catch his breath. His expression was wild with fear. He had never seen the Four Elders so furious before. Clearly, whatever had happened to Celena was something very serious ind
Keyon could see right through Prince Faber's apprehension. He replied with a smile, "Prince Faber, why are you so scared of that Liam fellow? Have you somehow forgotten that you are the commander-in-chief now? You have hundreds of thousands of soldiers at your beck and call. Why does it matter what Liam thinks? He has been deposed and is no longer in power! Besides, you have the Yeager family backing you, and there is nothing he can do to harm you!"You don't have to worry about a thing; the Yeagers have this all taken care of. We are just doing this to lure Liam out of hiding. If he dares to touch so much as a hair on your head, he'll be falling right into your trap."Prince Faber furrowed his brows at this. He could not help but question the validity of Keyon's claims. Keyon, sensing this, added, "Prince Faber, you must remember that stripped of his powers, Liam Cole, is now nothing more than an ordinary civilian! If he dares to harm you, he will be sentenced to death for treason a
What would Liam do if he found out Prince Faber had captured his wife? Surely he would not hesitate to turn the entire city upside down to look for her?Prince Faber was more than familiar with Liam's fierce loyalty and could not help but begin to worry at the prospect of having to face his wrath. He stared at Keyon's leering face and asked with belated realization, "Mr. Yeager, you ordered me to capture all those people from the Drunham City Connoisseurs, but the truth is, your sole target has always been Liam's wife. Is that right?"Keyon nodded, smiling. "That's right. We could care less about those businessmen. All we wanted was to get our hands on Celena Stone!"I must admit I was very surprised when I found out that Celena Stone is the wife of the great King Pendragon. Not only that, but I made an even more shocking discovery—it turns out that Liam is none other than the lone survivor of the Cole family, the noble clan who were allegedly wiped out seven years ago!"The ment
After a few moments' hesitation, he finally decided to shoot his shot. "Mr. Yeager, there is something I don't understand. Why did the Yeagers order these businessmen's capture? I've looked into their backgrounds, and they are all honest businessmen who have not broken the law before. If the media catches wind of this, they will surely accuse me of abusing my power…"This was what Prince Faber had been worried about. He had already investigated the people whom the Yeagers ordered to be captured and did not understand why the Yeagers wanted them imprisoned. They were all civilians who had not committed any crime, and he dared not even imagine the consequences if the public found out he had ordered the incarceration of innocent citizens.Keyon understood immediately Prince Faber's concern. He smiled and replied in a reassuring tone, "Worry not, Prince Faber. We Yeagers have taken care of everything. We have made absolutely sure to cover up all your tracks, and no one will know you were
Meanwhile, Celena and the group were taken out of the hotel and shoved forcefully into a couple of jeeps waiting at the entrance. They were whisked away to a nearby military base. Before they could even get their bearings straight, they found themselves being tossed into holding cells. Celena, on the other hand, was taken separately to a small, dark room, illuminated only by the barest sliver of light that peeped in through a tiny window. The room was entirely empty, save for a metal bed frame. A sour stench hung in the air, and it was clear this room had been abandoned for a very long time. A soldier shoved Celena roughly into the room, and before she could realize what was happening, the soldier slammed the door shut.The soldier had pushed Celena so hard that she fell onto the ground, but upon seeing that her captor was about to leave, she leaped to her feet and sprinted over to the door. "Sir, can you tell me what I did wrong? Can you please have mercy on me? Can you at least
Tristan seemed just as baffled as they were. He returned their puzzled gazes with an equally perplexed one of his own. "I… I have no idea…"The general glanced sharply in their direction, then gestured to his soldiers and declared sternly, "Take them away!"His soldiers obliged and stepped forward to restrain the members of the Drunham City Connoisseurs, who all shrieked in alarm, "Why are you taking us away?""General, what did we do wrong? We didn't do anything illegal, so why are you arresting us?""Mr. Xander, save us! They've got this all wrong!""What's going on here? Why are they arresting only us?"Celena's entire body was shaking like a leaf. She eyed the soldiers around her and asked, stammering, "General, what did we do wrong? Why are we being captured? Where are you taking us?"Tristan, stricken with panic, shoved a soldier aside and shouted at the general, "General, I'm the president of the Drunham City Connoisseurs, and I want to know why we're being taken away. Wh
Celena was utterly terrified by the sudden turn of events. She stared pale-faced at the soldiers around her, not daring to move even a muscle. What was going on?All of a sudden, a man in a uniform stepped into the room. The badge on his shoulder indicated to everyone that he was a general. The heavy thumping of his boots echoed through the silent room with every step he took. All eyes were on him as he stepped onto the stage.He carried himself with great authority, and clearly, this man was not one to be messed with. He scanned the room as if searching for someone. Finally, he announced in a deep, resounding voice, "Do not fear, ladies and gentlemen. We are here on a routine check after receiving a tip-off regarding your conference. We will release you all once we have carried out our investigation, and the process will be quicker and smoother if you all cooperate. "Now, I would kindly request you get your documentation ready so that my men may confirm your identity."Everyone
Derek nodded earnestly and replied, "Of course it's true. My sources have never failed me. I wouldn't have trusted you with this information if I didn't think you'd be interested."Celena stared at him for a moment, then turned to glance in the direction of the people he had pointed. She could not help but be tempted by the offer. She considered this for a few moments, then accepted his offer. "Alright then, Mr. Duncan. I'll go with you. Thank you for inviting me."The smile on Derek's face widened. He could hardly believe his luck—Celena had agreed to go with him! Taking that first step was always the hardest, but he had done it!Unbeknownst to Celena, Derek already knew her long before their first meeting at the conference. Her name was known far and wide in Drunham City, not least because of her beauty, but because of her—in the eyes of the public—tragic marriage. Celena had earned herself a reputation as one of the most beautiful women Drunham City had ever seen, and although
The attention they received, however, was large due to Celena and her young, handsome companion, who was a man named Derek Duncan. Their attractive looks, both individually and combined, were easily the topic of discussion that night. Everyone who laid eyes on them admired both their good looks and brains, for certainly only the cream of the crop were allowed to attend this prestigious event. What made this feat even more impressive was the fact that they were both so young!Aside from her beauty, Celena's name was already known far and wide in the business world, not just because of her strong leadership but due to her association with Liam and her company's connections with many international corporations. She had started her business from scratch, but within a few short months, she had single handedly built it up to become one of the top ten grossing companies in Drunham City.There were hundreds of people gathered there tonight, and their seats had been allocated according to t