The Stones, who just a few moments ago, had been wearing expressions of disappointment, all whipped their phones out of their pockets and proffered them to Dorian immediately. "Mr. Gibson, you can have mine as well!""Me, too! I have my phone with me, Mr. Gibson. Please take it!""You can use mine, Mr. Gibson! You can't let that impostor get away with insulting you like this!""Go on, Mr. Gibson! Call Mr. Carl right now and prove that impostor wrong!"Everyone was practically clamoring over each other, trying to offer their respective phones to a rather alarmed-looking Dorian. Dorian stared, his smile frozen, at the dozens of cell phones dangling in front of his face, trying desperately to think of a way out of this predicament. At the same time, he kept shooting Wasyl pleading looks, as though begging to be rescued!Rats!Even Wasyl was beginning to panic at this, but he knew he had to do something, so he stepped forward and snarled at the Stones, "Enough! Why should Mr. Gib
Sherah leaped out from amongst the crowd and shrieked, pointing rudely at Spencer, "Well, well, well! Why aren't you calling then, 'Mr. Gibson'? You said you were the real deal, didn't you? And if I recall correctly, you were the one who suggested calling Mr. Carl to prove who was the real one and who was the fake, right? Well, do it, then! Don't keep us waiting!"Spencer did not seem at all fazed by the Stones' scorn and mockery. He merely smiled calmly, as though they had been talking about the weather, and said, without so much as a hint of nervousness, "Alright then. I'll phone him right now!"Everyone watched in bafflement as Spencer found Pierre Carl's contact number in his phone and dialed it. The call soon went through and was picked up by a middle-aged man with a peculiar accent, who roared with laughter and said, "Hahaha! My dearest Spencer! It's been ages! How have you been? I wasn't expecting your call. Is everything alright?"Everyone's jaws dropped upon hearing this. T
'I have already given you a chance to redeem yourselves, but you chose not to take it! Very well then! In that case, you shall not blame me for being merciless!"Realization dawned on the Stones as they digested Wasyl and Dorian's words.It made perfect sense! Liam and his impostor had deliberately planned this out beforehand and stationed another actor to pass as Pierre Carl on the phone! They had almost been fooled, but thankfully, Wasyl and Dorian had seen right through them!Seeing that Dorian refused to budge, Spencer shook his head in resignation and said, "Very well then. If you do not wish to admit your mistake, I'm afraid I have no choice but to call for desperate measures."With that, he dialed another number on his phone. Dorian and Wasyl exchanged nervous glances. They both had a bad feeling about this. They had to think quickly.Dorian snapped, "Who are you calling?"Spencer turned to glance at him, standing with one hand behind his back as though he was supervising
The moment he heard Malcolm's name, Wasyl could feel a hard lump begin to form in his throat. He scowled. The fact that Liam's impostor could speak directly to Pierre Carl and Malcolm Lynch surely meant that he was the real Spencer Gibson?This meant that his plan was about to be ruined soon!He could not allow this to happen—he, Wasyl Abbott, would become the laughingstock of the town if it was discovered that he had cooked up such a scheme to impersonate the legendary Mr. Gibson!Wasyl swiveled around and, after frantically going through the possible scenarios in his mind, realized that his only option was to make a run for it. Feigning anger, he began to shriek, "Nonsense! How can you possibly be Mr. Gibson! I was the one who had picked Mr. Gibson up at the airport, and he has never left my sight since! I've never seen you before in my life! Just you wait—I'm going to get someone right now to give you a piece of my mind!"With that, he snatched his coat up and made to leave the
"I don't believe it! If this is the real Mr. Gibson, does that mean that Mr. Abbott's was the impostor all along?""I…I guess so. Didn't you see? Mr. Lynch himself spoke directly to him and even brought his army along to capture the fake!""Oh, no! I had been so rude toward Mr. Gibson this entire night! Will he be angry at me?"The Stones whispered worriedly among themselves. Those of them who had scolded and insulted Spencer just a few minutes ago kept retreating back into the crowd, trying to make themselves look as inconspicuous as possible. Dorian, seizing the opportunity while everyone was distracted, grabbed his coat and tried to make a run for it."Trying to escape?" Malcolm whipped around, his eyes ablaze with fury as he roared, "Troops, get him!"A soldier immediately blocked Dorian's way to the exit, then gave him a hard kick in his chest that knocked him to the ground. The next moment, Dorian felt the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed against his chin. His entire bod
He had struck Dorian with such force that Dorian lost his balance and crumpled to the ground, but he did not seem satisfied by that, and instead followed it up with a hard kick toward Dorian's chest. "Utter nonsense! How could I possibly have put you up to this? I was a victim of your deceit as well! How dare you turn around and accuse me of tricking my own family? I'm going to get you back for this! You lying, cheating scum! How dare you accuse me of such atrocity?"With every sentence, he gave Dorian a sharp kick, and a few minutes later, blood spilled down Dorian's face, and he began to thrash around, howling in agony.The entire room seemed to have exploded in a flurry of activity as the Stones leaped to their feet, craning their necks to see what was going on. They looked utterly stunned to see Wasyl acting so out of ordinary.Malcolm, not wanting Dorian to be beaten to death right under his nose, immediately ordered his soldiers to separate the two men from each other. Dorian
"Absolutely! Mr. Gibson, you've earned your spot here. Take the head seat!""Mr. Gibson, the head seat is yours!"Spencer scoffed at the offer, dismissing the courtesy extended by Reginald and the rest. "No need for the head seat. This whole dinner is for 'Mr. Gibson', and I'm just a stand-in. I don't have any right to it."Reginald, the Yafe family, and all the Stone relatives in attendance were left speechless at Spencer's blunt refusal.Reginald, in particular, was mortified, his face flushed with embarrassment. "Mr. Gibson, we... we were misled too..."However, before Reginald could get another word out, Spencer cut him off with a wave of his hand. He turned to Liam and Celena, his stern look melting into a warm smile. "Mr. Cole, now that we've dealt with the pretender, how about we get out of here?"Liam, with a knowing look, surveyed the stunned crowd and nodded. "Sounds good."He took Celena's hand, who was still in a daze, and they left the private room, leaving everyone
Hayden, noticing Yafe's darkening mood, added his own encouragement, "You got it. This is crucial for our Stone family's future. You've got to take this seriously! Plus, Liam's your son-in-law. Getting him to butter up Mr. Gibson for us should be a piece of cake for you!"The Stone family's three sons were always at odds, and though the second and third sons were concerned about the family's future, they could not help but feel a twinge of anticipation for the drama to unfold.It was no secret within the Stone family that Yafe and Sherah barely acknowledged Celena's existence, treating her almost like an adversary. Liam? His relationship with them was on even shakier ground.Trying to pull rank as the father-in-law? With an ordinary son-in-law, maybe, but with Liam, a man who commands respect like a deity, that was shaping up to be quite the spectacle.Yafe's face twisted uncomfortably as he listened to the murmurs around him. Yet, with Reginald and the entire Stone family watching
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