"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
A dozen or so of Yafe's men, wielding weapons and ropes of all kinds, materialized at his orders and lunged straight toward Liam!However, they were barely a few feet away from Liam when all of a sudden, they felt a strange breeze passing over them. Before they could even realize what was going on, Liam had struck, and all they could feel next was an excruciating pain that shot through their abdomen while at the same time, their bodies were launched into the air from the impact of Liam's attack!This all happened so quickly that before they knew it, Yafe's men found themselves sprawled on the ground, clutching their abdomens and chests as they howled in agony.The Stones were utterly stunned by the sight. Their eyes were as wide as saucers, and their jaws were practically on the ground, for they had never seen such a swift attack before!Some of the more timid members of the Stone family had hidden behind their larger companions, shooting Liam looks of sheer terror as they peeked o
One sharp look from Liam was enough to make Sherah clamp her mouth shut, her beady little eyes glancing at Liam with fear and trepidation. Yafe had barely pieced together what had happened when, all of a sudden, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Liam standing right in front. The sight of Liam just a few feet away from him unnerved him so much that he stopped howling at once and instead eyed him warily. "Stay away from me. I… I'm Celena's father, so you can't hurt me!"The next moment, however, Liam grabbed hold of him and lifted him off the ground by the scruff of his neck!"You— Ugh!" Yafe's collar tightened around his neck so that he could not even get any air in. His face flushed scarlet whilst he flailed around in mid-air like a fish out of water, trying desperately to break free of Liam's iron-clad grasp. He kicked wildly in any direction he could manage, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not get Liam to release him at all. On the contrary, the effort of
Yafe was practically at the brink of tears at this point. Fearing that Liam would try to strangle him once more, he cried out, "Alright, alright, I'll tell you everything! Just don't hurt me! I brought Celena over to Mr. Williams' place…""Who is Mr. Williams?" Liam asked, frowning. The look of malice in his eyes was so terrifying that Yafe once again felt as though he was at the jowls of death. The color drained from his face, and he began shaking like a leaf, but he mustered all the courage he could to reply, sobbing, "Mr. Williams is from the Nasso Group. He's the martial arts trainer at Nasso Martial Arts School…"The Nasso Group? Nasso Martial Arts School?Liam's expression darkened upon hearing this, and the look on his face was laced with such deep hatred that Yafe could not help shuddering once more. Worried that Liam would not be satisfied with this answer, Yafe then cried out, "Liam… This had nothing to do with me… It was Mr. Williams who requested it, and he said that w
Meanwhile, Liam made a phone call to Malcolm upon leaving Stone Mansion. "I want you to discharge a thousand soldiers from the garrison to be stationed at the Meadowview Hotel! Not a single soul, not even a fly, is allowed to leave the compounds without my permission!"Malcolm, who had been in the middle of tending to his mayor duties, realized the severity of the situation at hand and replied curtly, "Yes, Mr. Cole!"Then, without missing a beat, Liam hung up and made his way to the Meadowview Hotel as fast as his car could take him.The car screeched to a halt at the entrance, and the moment Liam stepped out, he caught sight of two men standing guard on either side of the hotel entrance. These men were none other than Torsten's students, who were keeping watch on their master's orders. They, too, had noticed Liam the moment he arrived, and they exchanged knowing glances.Liam made his way to the door, but the moment he got near, Torsten's men stopped him. "Sorry, sir, but this
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
One of the muscle-bound goons stowed his submachine gun and drew a hefty machete, nearly a foot long, from his side. He advanced on Liam with deliberate steps.Calum and Cirocco were poised for a fight, ready to jump in at Liam's command and wipe out the roomful of petty thugs.However, Liam had other plans. He remained seated, an unfazed smirk playing on his lips, watching the approaching thug with the machete.The thug, mistaking Liam's calm for fear, grinned viciously and raised his machete, aiming for Liam's arm.However, in a flash, the scene changed.A figure hurtled through the air, and with a resounding crash, the thug was sent flying into the wine rack. The rack toppled, bottles shattering, their contents spilling and perfuming the air with the scent of alcohol.The thug hit the ground, blood spurting from his mouth, his eyes wide with shock. He lay there, lifeless, staring at Liam, dead before he hit the floor.The room plunged into a deathly hush.Corie clapped a h
Corie was also shaken, her fists clenched tight under the table as she watched Liam with wide, fearful eyes, barely managing to whisper, "Liam!"Liam stood there, steady as ice, without a trace of fear. "Don't worry, I've got this," he assured.Corie, seeing Liam's calm dismissal of the threat and recalling his proven strength, felt her fear ebb away.She could not explain it, but she had an unwavering faith in Liam.Across from them, Clifford lounged back, his legs thrown carelessly over the table, his gaze dripping with disdain. "You don't know who you're messing with, do you?" he sneered. "Karpos works for me, Clifford. And yet, you've got the gall to attack my men in broad daylight? You're in over your head!"Jeffrey was about to chime in, but one look at Liam's icy demeanor and he thought better of it, choosing instead to watch the scene unfold in silence.He was curious to see just how Liam would handle that.Liam chuckled, a sound as cold as the winter wind, and fixed Cli