Marcus quickly explained, "Mr. Yale, you've misunderstood. The company we want to deal with is not from the state capital. Let me be direct with you, Bristow Group wants to deal with the Stone family."Hunter became even more puzzled. He asked with a frown, "The Stone family? I do have some recollection of their company, but it's just a small company. Is there any competition between their company and Bristow Group?"While it was common for companies to compete with each other for market share, the Stone family's company was just a small company in Drunham City, incomparable to Bristow Group from the state capital. These two were essentially unrelated, so how could they suddenly become competitors?Hunter's expression turned serious. As the vice chairman of The Connoisseurs, it would be unreasonable for him to arbitrarily suppress a local company without a valid reason!Marcus explained, "Mr. Yale, all you need to know is that's what Mr. Bristow wants. As for other reasons, it's be
"What? He wants you to seize Stone Group?" One of his friends was stunned beyond measure, staring at him with a look of disbelief. Truth be told, Hunter was just as baffled as they were. "I don't know why, either. What do you guys think about this?"They all turned to stare at him, smiles creeping onto their faces after they had gotten over their initial shock. "It's splendid news! Stone Group isn't that big of a company, anyway, so you won't be getting in much trouble. Bristow Group, on the other hand, is one of the largest and most successful corporations in the capital. Do you have any idea how much power they hold within them? Besides, didn't they say they'd establish a new company in Drunham City to replace Stone Group and have you appointed as manager once you'd pulled off the task? This is amazing news! You're basically getting a promotion—and a giant one at that!""Indeed, Hunter. Between Stone Group and Bristow Group, it's a no-brainer. Even an idiot would know which to ch
Celena had skimmed through the contract and was about to pen her signature on the bottom when all of a sudden, Gerald excused himself to take a call. When he returned a few minutes later, his entire demeanor had turned visibly hostile. Celena was not too bothered by this, because she thought Gerald's mood had soured due to the phone call, and it had nothing to do with her at all. She smiled and said, "Mr. Liddell, I've looked through the contract, and I'm very satisfied with it. Let us sign it now."Gerald's entire body stiffened. Then, a rather sheepish smile spread across his face as he said, "I'm so sorry, Ms. Stone, but we cannot sign this contract."Celena froze, then asked in puzzlement, "Huh? Why not, Mr. Liddell?"To which he replied, "Ms. Stone, I'm so sorry to break this to you, but as of a few minutes ago, someone else has bought out all of the machinery you wanted for double the price. As you know, we are a small, struggling company, so you can't expect us to say no to
As soon as he got off the phone, Hunter raised his glass and declared, "Everyone, this calls for a celebration! Celena Stone has just left Grummings and will be on her way to Mr. Quinn's next!" A chubby middle-aged man with a beer belly stood up, grinning. "Don't you worry, Mr. Yale. I've already made the necessary arrangements with my staff. Celena won't even be able to get a footstep in my door, much less get her hands on my machinery!"Everyone else stood up, grinning from ear to ear as they raised their glasses for the toast. "Splendid! Don't worry, Mr. Yale, we've taken care of everything.""Aside from Mr. Liddell, the rest of us are all here, and no one will be around to even meet with Celena!""Your orders were clear, Mr. Yale, and none of us here will even dream of doing business with her!""Indeed, with everyone else sitting here, who's even going to meet with Celena when she comes knocking?""What a great idea it was! Here, here, everyone!"Cheers and wallops echoed
As naive as Celena was, even she could tell that something was wrong and was beginning to panic. If she could not get her hands on the machinery by the end of the day, the factory would not be able to operate, and the entire process would be delayed. The worst part was, once the Stones caught wind of this, they would certainly use this as ammunition against Celena at the next company meeting. Celena was outraged at the thought of this, but she knew there was nothing she could do. She decided to return to their offices with Lottie and report the incident to Yafe. Yafe was absolutely furious to hear of this and immediately blamed Celena without even bothering to listen to her explanation. As predicted, he brought this up at the company meeting and used this as an opportunity to scold Celena in front of everyone else. "Celena, you useless git! The company hired you to solve problems, not create even more! Don't you know how important these machines are? Don't you know that we won'
Celena had been trying to put on a brave front, but the moment she laid eyes on Liam, she could not hold herself together anymore, not unlike how a child would act in front of their parents after a long day of being bullied by their peers. After all, Liam was, aside from Jovie, the only other person she trusted in the world. Liam finally understood what had happened. He took the box out of Celena's hands, pulled her into his arms, and gently stroked her hair in reassurance. A warm, comforting hug was the best way he knew how to show her his love and unconditional support. "Alright, alright. Don't you worry about this, okay? I'll handle this, just like how you should've let me in the first place. Don't cry, my dear. I'll take care of this, okay? Look at you. Your makeup is running. Jovie's going to tease you if she sees you like this."Celena buried her head deeper in Liam's arms and continued sobbing, until eventually she hit him playfully on the chest and whined, "Stop teasing
Although she had interrogated Liam many times about this, he refused to say a word.Meanwhile, Liam sped away from Stone Group on his little scooter and headed towards the offices of LJC Group. LJC Group was the company that Liam had founded after he consolidated the shares that used to belong to Cole Enterprise, his family's business. When the Coles met their end seven years ago, Cole Enterprise had been divvied up and sold to various shareholders. Years later, Liam would eventually repurchase these shares behind the nom de plume of Mr. Miller and consolidate them to found LJC Group, the name having been derived from initials of his, Jovie's and Celena's names. Cole Enterprise had been the work of his father's blood, sweat, and tears, and it was rather comforting to finally have them back in the rightful hands now. Most of the employees working at LJC Group used to work at Cole Enterprise, as Liam had kept them on out of nostalgia. However, after many years of growth, the compa
Liam's towering, slender frame briefly hovered next to the car for a moment before he nodded and strode into the building. Calum, his loyal aide, walked alongside him as he briefed him on the day's events. The female employees all swooned the moment they laid eyes on Liam. "My God! Mr. Miller is so handsome!""He has an exceptional figure!""Even with the mask on, you can tell he's a stunner! I can't believe it! I can't believe I have such a handsome boss!""As much as I love my husband, I'd marry Mr. Miller in a heartbeat!"The members of the higher management snaked past the giggling, blushing employees and followed Liam, with pounding hearts, to the meeting room. Liam slid into the chair at the head of the table, whereas Calum found a spot standing next to him. The higher management all took their places on each side of the table, but none of them dared to sit. Liam glanced at them, then gestured at the chairs and said, "You're all among the most important people of this c
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