Gary was so anxious that he could not string a sentence together. He could not tell Celena what was happening no matter how hard he tried. Seeing him in this state got Celena incredibly anxious, and she quickly comforted him, "Gary, calm down. Take your time. You have first to tell me what's going on, right?"After Gary led the workers to Celena, he sighed deeply while looking helpless. Refusing to accept the situation but knowing it could not be helped, Gary said, "You have no idea, Ms. Stone. All those workers have left. Other than a few team leaders like us and some seasoned workers, the rest of them left early this morning. I—This—What should we do?"Celena was stunned. Nervousness was written all over her face as she asked, "What? They've all left? Where have they gone?""Those people have quit, Ms. Stone. They didn't even want their last paychecks anymore and left early in the morning," a team leader said angrily.Gary sighed a couple of times and added, "That's right. They
Celena ran out the street outside the factory, and sure enough, she saw the recruiters Gary was talking about. They had a few simple tables set up by the street and a few vans parked. There were banners on the vans and also striking recruitment advertisements placed next to the tables.The few recruiters were recruiting without stopping, and the job seekers gathered in front of them as soon as they saw the 2000-dollar-a-month salary.Right at that moment, Celena saw a few of her workers who were recently hired. They were supposed to report to work that day. However, after they arrived at the gate of Nirvana Factory, they saw the advertisement across the street, and they immediately walked over without even looking back.Seeing that, Celena rushed up to them to stop them and said, "Hi, I'm Celena. I'm the manager for Nirvana Factory. The salary and benefits we offer are quite generous. We offer more than a thousand dollars a month and provide food and accommodation for our workers. T
After the worker handed the notice to Celena, the other worker quickly walked up to the notice board outside the factory and put another copy of the notice up.The notice was deliberately printed on pink paper, and the words "Closure Notice" were in bold. It was incredibly striking while it was on the noticeboard.Once the notice was put up, the two workers ignored Celena and the others and left in their car. Celena was stunned as she held the closure notice in her hands. She did not regain her senses even after the people from The Connoisseurs left for some time.Gary and the factory workers looked at the eye-catching notice on the board and felt anxious and infuriated. Feeling all worked up, Gary hit his thigh and called out, "Who the hell is targeting us? Th-they are trying to drive us to a dead end. Even if the Drunham City Connoisseurs are helping them!"It was quite a blow to the other workers, which was why their face was ashened, and they simply stared at the noticeboard
Gary understood what they meant, so he had no idea what to say as well. All he could do was look at Celena helplessly and ask, "Ms. Stone, what should we do now? We can't just sit around and wait."Celena held on to the notice tightly, took a deep breath, and said, "Gary, you wait at the factory for now. I'll head to The Connoisseurs to see what's going on."She looked at the few seasoned workers and comforted them, "Don't worry. I'll go to The Connoisseurs and check out the situation now. I know our factory is going through a troubled time. Don't worry. It'll be taken care of. If the factory is truly closed down one day, I'll compensate all of you. I won't make things hard for you."Celena hailed a cab by the roadside and headed toward the office building for Drunham City Connoisseurs.Those seasoned workers at the gate were all flushed in embarrassment after they heard what Celena said. They were worried that the factory would be closed down and they would not get paid. They did
Liam had a sullen expression after he hung up the call, and he immediately called Kolten."Who's the person in charge of the Drunham City Connoisseurs right now?"Kolten could tell that something was off as soon as he answered Liam's call and heard his tone. He felt a chill down his spine and answered carefully, "Mr. Cole, his name is Tristan Xander. He's an old friend of mine. He's very serious when it comes to work. I wonder what happened. Do you need me to visit him?"Liam's voice became even frostier as he said, "The factory that I just bought recently, Nirvana Factory, has been ordered to close by The Connoisseurs for no reason. The factory has been forbidden to carry out any production for two weeks."I'm on my way to The Connoisseurs right now. Tell Tristan right now to wait for me there. I'll be there in twenty minutes. I need him to explain to me himself. If he can't do it, then there's no need for the Drunham City Connoisseurs to exist anymore!"Liam's icy voice made Kol
Tristan shuddered upon hearing Kolten's words. He was visibly confused as he asked, "Kolten, is Mr. Cole Mr. Miller? You're not lying to me, right? But I've never heard of Nirvana Factory at all. When have I ordered Mr. Cole's factory to close down? Could there be a misunderstanding in this?"Kolten thought that Tristan did not seem to be lying. He immediately felt that something was off, so he quickly asked, "Tristan, be honest with you, have you been at The Connoisseurs these few days?""Of course, not. I told you some time ago that I would be away on a business trip. I have been outstation, and I just came back. I haven't even had the time to go to The Connoisseurs yet."Tristan was feeling ill at ease. He immediately asked, "Kolten, hurry up and tell me. What's going on?"It was only then that Kolten remembered that Tristan told him a few days ago that he was going on a business trip. Tristan even said that he would bring some local specialties back for Kolten.However, Liam's
The office building for the Drunham City Connoisseurs was located in the most bustling part of downtown. The area was packed with government administrative buildings of Durham City, and The Connoisseurs were in one of the buildings. It was more than ten stories in total. There were government offices in the building as well, so there were armed guards at the entrance.As soon as Celena approached the building, an armed guard stopped her. He was solemn as he asked, "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"Celena knew she had to register before entering, so after she heard the guard's questions, she quickly put on a friendly smile and replied, "Hi! I'm here to look for the person in charge of the Drunham City Connoisseurs."The guard could tell as soon as she heard Celena that she had never been to the office for The Connoisseurs at all. A frown appeared on his face, and his eyes were filled with a faint hint of disdain.His tone was cold as he asked, "There are so many persons
Celena was so anxious that her face was flushed. She wanted to say something else, but she hesitated after she saw the guard's expression.Having no choice, she said helplessly, "I'm sorry about it. It's very urgent for me. This will affect my entire factory. Since Mr. Yale is not in at the moment, I'll wait for him at the entrance. Please let me know once he's back. Thank you."Celena said it with great sincerity before quietly moving to the side of the road to wait.She had no other way but to wait. After all, the most urgent matter at hand was not that she had no workers. She had to first take care of the closure notice instead. If the notice was not taken care of, the factory would have to be shut down for two weeks. It would be over for them if that truly happened. The Stone Group would be suffering a massive loss.The guard had nothing else to say since Celena was so polite. He thought of what the person upstairs said earlier, and he let out a sigh as if it could not be hel
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