"Please, Mr. Williams. Have mercy on my husband! Please… I'm begging you… We'll do anything! Please let him go…"Torsten smirked at this and said coldly, "Well, that was easy, wasn't it? Why did it have to take you so long?"Then, with a quick wave, he gestured for his student to release Hayden, who fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, clutching his neck as he panted for breath!Samantha rushed over to his side and helped him to his feet, looking frightened. "My dear, how are you feeling? Are you okay?"Hayden shook his head, his entire face flushed crimson from the effort it took him to get air into his lungs, then cast Torsten a nervous glance and muttered, "Mr… Mr. Williams, we'll do exactly as you say…"To which Torsten grinned sinisterly and replied, "Amazing! Well, there's no time like the present, is there? Get Celena Stone to meet me for dinner at seven o'clock tonight. If she doesn't show, you'll have me to answer to!"With that, he stood up and swept out of the room,
Reginald did not reply, and instead merely sat there, looking solemn and deep in thought.Samantha, on the other hand, was rather annoyed by her husband's brief display of kindness. She scoffed and snapped, "My dear, what are you trying to say? What do you mean, we'll be delivering her right into the jowls of a wolf? Who was it that landed us in this predicament in the first place? Whose fault was it? Liam was the one who had offended the Nasso Group in the first place, and he is the very reason we are in this spot of trouble today! He should've known better!"Another member of the Stones seemed equally irked by Hayden's statement, for he called out sharply, "Samantha's right! It was Liam's fault in the first place, and now that he's gotten all of us into trouble, why shouldn't we give Celena up, knowing she's the only possible solution to this problem?"The remaining Stones all fell silent upon hearing this.After a pause, Reginald turned to glance at Yafe and asked, "Yafe, Celena
Meanwhile, Cheryl stood at the sidelines, watching gleefully as the clan argued over their fate. She thought to herself, 'That wretched Celena! She's finally met her fate! Perhaps too much beauty is not necessarily a good thing at all!'With a sinister smile playing on her lips, Cheryl slowly made her way to the center and laced her arm around Reginald's lovingly. In a syrupy sweet voice she added, "Grandpa, if it were up to me, I would've said yes to Mr. Williams immediately! There's no point keeping Celena around. She doesn't care about us, and all she thinks about is that good-for-nothing husband of hers! He's got her wrapped around his finger! When has she ever thanked you for all that you've done for her?"Just take a look around! Is she anywhere to be found right now, knowing what trouble her husband has landed our entire family into? She doesn't care! All she does is cause trouble left and right while leaving the rest of us to pick up after her!"Reginald scowled at this, and
Celena, although unsure of what was going on, knew that her father's sudden arrival could mean nothing good. She was practically shaking like a leaf as she replied timidly, "He went out to get the groceries…" "Pffft!" Yafe snorted, then said disdainfully, "What a useless piece of sh*t! What kind of man does the shopping? It's probably because he knows what else to do with his life!"With that, he turned to Celena with a sneer. "Well then, that makes things much easier. Boys, get her!"His men lumbered forward, prised Celena and Jovie apart, then quickly bound her tightly with ropes so that she could not move even an inch. Her face was as pale as a ghost as she cried out, thrashing and flailing, "Father! What are you doing? Why are you tying me up? Let me go!"Jovie, on the other hand, was kicked aside and landed with a thump on the ground. The next moment, all she could see was her mother being captured and restrained, and she lunged forward, trying to get these people away from C
"Tell me then, why did you have to return to us in the first place? You're nothing but a curse to this family! You've brought nothing but disaster and calamity everywhere you go! There has never been a peaceful moment ever since you returned to the Stone family! This was all you and your husband's fault!" Yafe said with bitterness and resentment that Celena had never seen before. This was his first time ever admitting out loud his hatred toward Celena. Although Celena knew that her father had never liked her very much, it was still a great shock to hear him admitting just how much he despised her, so much so that he was willing to deliver her right into the hands of another man. She was at an utter loss for words. Yafe merely scoffed at the look of astonishment on Celena's face and gestured to his men. "Take her away, boys!"With that, he turned and swept out of the yard, with his men following closely behind as they dragged Celena between them. By the time Celena snapped out of
Jovie burst into tears, grateful to have her heroic father home. "Daddy… Why did it take you so long… Daddy… They took Mommy away…"Jovie clung to her father like a drowning swimmer that had found shore. She was panting heavily from all the crying, and her eyes were swollen to twice their original size, but she did not stop crying for her mother. Liam, however, froze upon hearing this. The next moment, comprehension dawned on him, and a glint of malice flashed through his eyes.Someone took Celena away!He patted Jovie's back reassuringly, then waited for her to calm down before asking, "Jovie, you have to tell me everything. What happened? Where's Mommy? Who took her?"Jovie replied, hiccuping, "Daddy, there were a lot of bad guys here… They took Mommy away… It was Grandpa… He took Mommy away…"A surge of cold fury washed over Liam when he heard Yafe was behind this. He clenched his fists, making his knuckles crack menacingly, but he knew he had to tend to his daughter first.
"Did something happen? What can possibly be worse than almost getting killed by the Nasso Group? Anything less than that should be the least of our worries!""Come on, we already brought Celena over as Mr. Williams requested, so what's the worst that can happen?" The Stones whispered among themselves. Reginald was not around, so Yafe sat at the head of the table, sipping leisurely on his cup of tea as he toyed with a couple of walnuts in his hand. When he heard this, he smiled and replied coolly, "Come on, it's just some unpredictable weather, don't make a fuss out of it. Besides, I've already brought Celena to the hotel where Mr. Williams is staying, and didn't he promise that he wouldn't touch us once we fulfill that request of his?"Yafe said this with a sneer, as though he had not just sent his own daughter to her doom. In fact, he seemed rather pleased that he had successfully mitigated the entire Stone family's impending downfall.Sherah snickered at this and added, "Yafe is
At this point, the rest of the Stones had snapped out of their stupor and were shooting Liam murderous looks."Liam! What on earth are you doing here? Do you have any idea what you just did?""This is unacceptable! We cannot tolerate such behavior coming from a good-for-nothing like you!""How dare you disrespect us like this? All of us here are your elders, and you should be treating us with respect! What gives you the right to behave this way?"The Stones were practically seething with rage at Liam's audacity to barge in unannounced. A middle-aged man who was a distant uncle of Celena's leaped to his feet and stomped over to Liam, propelled by his indignation at being shown such disrespect. He pointed a stubby finger at Liam and shouted, "This is unacceptable! Liam, you have trespassed into the Stone family's territory, and I'm warning you, you better get out of here, or else—"Before he could even finish his sentence, however, Liam punched him squarely in the middle of his ches
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
The moment Clifford left, Kastor turned to Liam with a wide grin, all hint of his hostility now gone. "Mr. Cole, thank God I arrived just in time."He raised his brows as he said this, and Liam took this to mean he was trying to claim credit. Truth be told, he would have been able to handle things on his own even without Kastor's help, but he decided this was a detail Kastor did not need to know. Instead, he returned Kastor's smile graciously. Kastor, like a child, burst into laughter at this. No further words were exchanged, but they understood the message nonetheless.Jeffrey also grinned. "Kastor, what brings you here all of a sudden?"Kastor replied, "Ah, you might not know this, Mr. Stein, but I actually own this very restaurant that you're sitting in right now. One of my employees called me for help, citing that a brawl was about to break out, so I rushed over immediately. I had no idea it would turn out to be you and Mr. Cole!""Ah, what a pleasant surprise, then!" Jeffrey
Clifford scowled upon hearing this. He cracked his knuckles menacingly as he stared at Kastor through narrowed eyes.Kastor did not seem at all intimidated by this. Instead, he brushed past him and approached Liam, smiling. "Mr. Cole, I apologize for the delay. I rushed over as soon as I heard the news, but I was late anyway. I'm so sorry for the wait."Liam's expression eased up slightly. He tugged the corners of his mouth into a strained smile but did not reply. Clifford's expression turned even more sour when he sensed Kastor's tone. He asked sharply, "What is the meaning of this, Kastor? Are you intent on making me your enemy?"Clifford's reputation was known far and wide, and many feared him, but Kastor was not one of them. He shot Clifford a look of utmost disdain and replied, smirking, "Yes, Clifford, that's exactly what I'm going to do. So what if we will be enemies from now on? What are you going to do about it?"He was confident that Clifford would not dare to retaliate