A determined look crossed Celena's face at this realization. She squeezed Liam's hand in appreciation and took a deep breath before stepping forward and gazing at Reginald. "Grandpa, I don't agree with your decision to hand the project over to Cheryl! I was the one who obtained this opportunity in the first place—Max Group chose me because they believed in me! Therefore, you shouldn't put Cheryl in charge of this project. I demand to be included as well!"When they heard this, both Teresa and Samatha, Sawyer's mother, piped up unanimously, "Anna should be involved in this as well!""I think Sawyer deserves a chance too!"Cheryl's face was twisted in an angry grimace. She stomped over to Celena, her heels click-clacking furiously on the ground, and pointed at her rudely as she snarled, "You don't agree with Grandpa's decision? Have you gone crazy? You know nothing about business, so how can you even ask to be included in this project? Are you planning to ruin everything?""I can lea
"I've never seen anyone with such audacity! Celena doesn't know any better, so she can't possibly compare to Cheryl, who's been working in the company for years now. How can you possibly come up with such an idea, Dad? You might as well just announce that Cheryl has won! It's a no-brainer!" Teresa said curtly. Reginald slapped the table and turned to Teresa with a scowl. "Teresa, are you questioning my judgment?"Everyone was terrified of Reginald, so naturally Teresa shook her head furiously, blushing. "Of course not, Dad-"However, Teresa was not the only one thinking this. Everyone else at the meeting thought the same; Reginald wanted only Cheryl for the job but did not want to appear cruel for not giving Celena a chance. However, Cheryl would no doubt win this competition, and there was no going around it, so everyone kept their opinions to themselves. However, they were still displeased over this. They could not understand why Celena was offered a chance when their children
"Really?" Celena lifted her head to stare at Liam in disbelief. Liam was momentarily stunned by how beautiful she looked at that moment.He did not reply to her instantly and instead gently pressed a kiss on her rosy lips. Then, he smiled and said, "Of course! I'd never lie to you!"The scent of Liam's perfume lingered around her, and before Celena could even realize what was happening, Liam already kissed her. In an instant, all her worries and shame were forgotten, and instead, all she could think of was Liam's kiss. Her face flushed red and she stammered, "You- you-"Liam could not help but feel even more mesmerized by her when he saw how much she was blushing. He chuckled, and his laughter echoed through the empty room. Celena lifted her head to meet his gaze. The sunlight peeked in between the cracks of the curtains and just so happened to land on Liam's chiseled face, basking him in a warm glow. He was staring at her with a tender look.Celena snuggled even closer to Liam a
Celena turned to stare at him with a look of bewilderment. When she saw how overjoyed he was, however, she wrapped her arm around his neck and nodded, her eyes brimming with tears of joy. She was grinning from ear to ear. She took the marriage certificate from him and scrutinized it. Liam was so happy that he spun Celena around in his arms, the two of them giggling in sheer elation.Although it was a split-second decision to get married, neither of them regretted it even one bit!Celena still refused to put down the marriage certificates even after they returned home. "Where have you been, Celena? I've been looking for you for ages!" All of a sudden, Sherah emerged out of nowhere, followed closely behind by Qemal. Celena quickly hid the marriage certificates behind her and stared at Sherah and Qemal with a puzzled look. "What are you doing here? Why were you looking for me?"Sherah immediately caught sight of Celena hiding something behind her back. She thought Celena had take
Liam's blunt words set Sherah off like a firecracker!She was never so disrespected in all her years, except by Liam, who had the nerve to challenge her time and again since he came back."What did you just say? So what if I'm her stepmother? I'm still an elder in this family, and by law, I'm her mother! And who are you to challenge me? Do you think you can just marry her without my blessing? Over my dead body!" Sherah was livid, her voice rising with each word.She had plans, big plans, to introduce Celena to the rich and powerful men of Drunham City.Celena, a single mother with a beauty that turned heads in Drunham City, would be a catch for any rich man looking for a younger wife, and they wouldn't bat an eye at her having a child.There were plenty of childless tycoons in Drunham City, and Celena with her kid would fit right in.Liam had no time for Sherah's tantrums. He grabbed the marriage certificate from her grip and, with Celena in tow, strode past her.That's when She
Liam could only shake his head at their retreat. Turning around, he caught Celena's intense gaze, so straightforward it made him self-conscious."Is there something on my face?" he asked, touching his cheek.Celena giggled behind her hand, her voice soft as she said, "Thank you, Liam."His wife's gratitude brought a smile to his face. "You're my wife. It's my job to protect you, to keep the bullies at bay," Liam said.He quickly added, "And I won't let anyone bully you ever again."Celena blushed, her head bowed, her heart skipping like a deer in the woods.That's when Jovie popped up, leaning in the doorway, a big grin on his face. "Hahaha, Dad, look! Mom's blushing! She's blushing!"Celena, feigning indignation, chased after Jovie, "Oh, Jovie, you little fibber, you're going to get it now!"Truth be told, Jovie wasn't the least bit frightened. With a mischievous glint in her eye, she launched herself into Liam's arms, giggling, "Oh no, Daddy, Mom's gonna get me!"As she nest
"Give it up, Celena. My proposal's a shoo-in. What could you possibly have whipped up in four days? That's not even enough time to get the lay of the land. If I were you, I'd cut my losses and head home—save the humiliation. And it's not just the Stone family watching this time, but the entire board, the whole upper crust of The Stone Group!" Cheryl's voice dripped with scorn as she threw Celena a sidelong glance."And I'd skedaddle if I were you, to dodge the shame! What can a washout like you come up with? You're living in a fantasy!" Sherah chimed in, standing triumphantly by Cheryl's side, her earlier grievances with Celena in the little courtyard long forgotten in her moment of gloating.The Stone family members lingered at the entrance, their faces twisted in scorn as they sneered at Celena. They already made up their minds about which proposal they had back, having pored over both documents beforehand. One proposal was a masterpiece of precision, while the other was laughably
"Celena, you see? You can't beat me! I'm the victor!" Cheryl said, looking over at Celena, who was nervously twisting her fingers, her head down."The winner is Celena!"Mr. Stone paused, clearly taken aback.He stared at the list again, double-checking with his assistant. After a moment, the assistant gave a reluctant nod.The votes were in, and they were all cast in secret. Celena didn't even laid a finger on her proposal since she turned it in, making any chance of foul play a non-starter.The conference room was a sea of stunned faces as if they saw a ghost when they heard the winner's name."What the heck?! Celena won?""No way, there's got to be some mistake. Celena? She's never even set foot in the office. She's clueless—a total no-hoper. How on earth could she win?""Something smells fishy here. Celena outdoing Cheryl, who's been with us for years? I'm finding this hard to swallow!"The buzz of disbelief filled the room, nobody could wrap their head around the results.
However, Andy was a smooth talker, so the eldest member of the Drayton family liked him. Because of that, the head of the family tolerated him. That was why Andy, who was just a member of the branch family, dared to be so cocky.Andy saw Howard standing at the side from the corner of his eye as he spoke. He thought of what Howard said earlier, and that made his blood boil.He pointed at Howard and bellowed, "Uncle Derrick, this Howard is trash as well. You have no idea. I told him I was a member of the Drayton family, yet he did not take our family seriously at all."Not only did he have his men capture me, but he said cockily that he wanted to lock me up forever, and nobody could stop him."Weren't you very cocky before this, Mr. Mosier? Go on. Continue acting cocky in front of my uncle now. Detain me and lock me up forever."Andy took a couple of steps closer to Howard as he said that. He extended his hands arrogantly and said, "Come on. I have my hands stretched out for you. Hu
Soon, Andy and the thugs from the nightclub yesterday were released.Andy saw Derrick standing at the entrance of the police headquarters at a glance. He got so excited that he shouted, "Uncle Derrick! Uncle Derrick!"Fletcher's subordinates were incredibly excited to see Derrick as well. All of them shouted, "Mr. Derrick Drayton!"One of the subordinates was in Drunham City because Derrick arranged for him to be there. After he was brought to Derrick's side, he smiled apologetically and said, "Thank you for saving me, sir. Don't worry. Fletcher's faction and properties are all here. I'll be able to rebuild the faction here very soon."In other words, even if Fletcher was out of the picture, he would be able to thrive in Drunham City and replace Fletcher.However, Derrick shot an icy glare at him and sneered. "Hmph! How shameless of you to say that? There are so many of you, yet you can't deal with a small loser who only married into the Stone family."If it wasn't because this w
Howard did not expect that the Drayton family would have a connection with the Carter family. They could even produce a token from the Carter family."Mr. Derrick Drayton, I didn't expect that your family and the Carters go way back. You even got the Carter family's token out," said Howard.Derrick sneered and said, "Enough with the nonsense. Howard, my family did the Carter family a favor back then, that's why the general of the Carter family gave this token to us. He promised us that we could take out this token if we were ever in a bind in the future, and they would help us!"I'm taking out this token today to tell you that I'm going to bail Andy out of here. I'd like to see who in Drunham City has the guts to stop me!"Howard was stunned, and then he fell silent.He did not think that Derrick would take out a token from the Carter family.The Carter family was the top family in Mirstone. Nobody in Mirstone would dare to go against the Carter family. Derrick became even more
Meanwhile, Derrick and his men were already at the entrance of the police headquarters.Derrick's eyes were burning with rage as he looked at the door that was shut tightly. A sneer appeared on his lips as he said, "Hmph. Looks like they already know I'm coming, so they are deliberately trying to assert dominance."Then, he asked his driver next to him, "Where are our men? Have they all arrived?"The driver nodded and said, "They're here, Mr. Derrick. They are all waiting at the side. We'll tear down the main door to the police headquarters once you give the command."Derrick nodded with satisfaction. Then, he shouted at the police headquarters, "Howard! You're just the chief of the police headquarters! How dare you lock me outside?""I'd like to see how powerful you are today, Howard! Come on, guys. Take it down!"At his command, a group of burly men rushed out of the black van next to him. They were all holding thick bats, and they rushed up to the door ferociously.Right at t
At first, Yafe and the rest of the Stone family were stunned after they heard what Liam said. Then, they all burst out laughing.Yafe looked at Liam with a mocking gaze and said, "Are you kidding me, Liam? You're going to get the Draytons to come and apologize in person? Come on, that's the Drayton family we're talking about! Do you think they are just some nobody?"Right now, I don't want to waste my breath anymore. As long as you're able to stop the Drayton family from targeting us, I'm more than grateful. Don't you forget that you're the one who wanted to leave the Stone family? So, stop dragging us into your mess."Liam shot the crowd with an icy glare and brought Celena out of the Stone Mansion.Celena was still in a slight daze after they got into the car. Liam put on her safety belt for her and asked, "What's the matter, dear? Are you still worried about the Draytons?"Celena nodded and replied, "Yes. After all, all these were caused by the conflict between Andy and us. Jus
Liam wanted to ask what the family heirloom was, but he had no choice but to let it be after he heard what Yonatan said.However, Liam heard Yonatan's voice again, saying, "I've never seen that thing, but I heard from the Drayton family members that it was from a big shot in the military."The military?Liam's eyebrows furrowed once he heard it had something to do with the military. Then, he kicked Yonatan away, making him land next to the thugs.Yonatan passed out because of that kick.Once the thugs saw their leader was out cold, they took a couple of steps back in fear.However, Liam did not care about them at all. He looked at Yafe and the others instead.Once the Stone family members saw that they were out of the woods, they became cocky again.Yafe and Sherah, in particular, were so cocky that they ran up to Liam and condemned him, "Look what you've done! You're bad luck! What else can you do other than cause us trouble? Do you know who that is? He is from the Drayton fam
Yonatan was infuriated and bellowed, "So this is how you're going to play! Alright! I'm not going to stop until I kill you today!"Yonatan was radiating an intense desire to battle. That was the air exuded by a fighter of Fourth Order War King caliber.The Stone family was so frightened by the air he exuded that their faces turned pale. All of them took more than ten steps back in fear, afraid they would be injured by mistake.Yonatan clenched his fist and charged at Liam like a ferocious beast. His fist was packing so much power that it created a sonic boom, cutting through the air and going for Liam's face.The punch was so powerful that it could kill a bull right away.The Stone family thought Liam was going to die. Nobody would be able to survive a punch like that.Yonatan thought the same. He was very confident in his ability. He looked into Liam and knew he used to be a soldier, as well as a good fighter. However, so what?No matter how skilled Liam was in combat, could he
The moment Liam stepped into view, the Stone family members lit up as if they had spotted their guardian angel. They pointed at him, their voices rising in a chorus of relief and accusation. "Mr. Yonatan, look over here! It's Liam! I said they weren't with us!""Exactly! Mr. Yonatan, see for yourself, Liam's not part of our family!""Mr. Yonatan, now that Liam's here, if you're looking to pin the blame on someone, he's your man!""Liam, you actually showed up. If you hadn't crossed the Drayton family, would we, the Stones, have ever been dragged into this mess?""Liam, Celena, you two are nothing but trouble. You've left the family, so why keep stirring the pot for us?"...The air crackled with the Stone family's collective outrage, their faces twisted in anger as if they were ready to rip Liam and Celena to shreds.Celena and Liam's arrival was pure happenstance. They were just in the neighborhood to check in on an old friend when they overheard Yonatan's boastful taunts.Lia
Yonatan did not even bother to look at him. He checked his watch with a chilling laugh and said, "You've got ten minutes for Liam to show up. Don't say I didn't warn you."The words sent a wave of shock through Yafe and the rest of the Stone family, who stared at Yonatan, panic-stricken.Yafe was a mess, desperate to explain, but the sight of Yonatan's henchmen, eager and ready for a fight, stopped him dead in his tracks."Mr. Yonatan, I swear it's the truth. Liam has nothing to do with the Stone family anymore. You've made a mistake!"Yafe's face was flushed with urgency as he tried to convince the unmoved man."It's true, Mr. Yonatan! Liam and Celena were kicked out of the Stone family ages ago.""That's right! He's got nothing to do with us anymore. If you're after Liam, go to the villa at Emerald Lake. He's there, not here with us.""Mr. Yonatan, if you head over to Drunham City and ask anyone, they'll tell you the same thing: Liam and Celena have no ties to us Stones anymor