Reginald had not even reached the conference room door when a cascade of footsteps announced their arrival. Five chairmen with the presence of titans strode in, their assistants in tow.Their entrance charged the room with a palpable tension.Those were the big shots of the Drunham City decor materials scene, and they had the mighty Jerden Group at their backs. Their power was unmatched."Mr. Zimmer, Mr. Wells, Mr. Sabine, Mr. Quier, Mr. Ford, what brings you to our doorstep so unexpectedly? We're caught off guard and couldn't prepare a proper welcome. Please, forgive us," Reginald said, his smile betraying his nerves as a sheen of sweat glistened on his brow.The Stone family's top brass and relatives lined up on either side, each wearing a sycophantic grin. At the forefront was Mr. Zimmer, the big shot of Zimmerman Group and the kingpin of Drunham City's renovation materials market, a man with deep pockets. He cast a detached glance at Reginald and cut to the chase. "Mr. Stone,
"A…All of you want to work with me? Why? I haven't even gotten in touch with any of you yet!" Celena was puzzled as she stared around her at the five powerful men before her. They all smiled and simply replied, "Ms. Stone, some things are better left unsaid. All you have to know is that all five of us want to work alongside you and no one else! That's all we have to say about this. We have to leave now, so toodles!"With that, all five of them shoved their contracts into Celena's hand and sauntered away with their assistants, much to the shock of the Stone family and everyone else watching. Everyone began to murmur once they had left. "Was I dreaming? Did all of that really happen?""I'm just as confused as you are. What happened? Why would all those chairmen come by themselves and specifically request to work with Celena? What did she do? I can't believe it. Is she really so capable as to first win over Max Group, and now the biggest and most powerful corporations in the city?
Unbeknownst to them, this first man was Liam. "Mr. Reath, everything is settled!" Mr. Zimmer said.Kolten nodded and turned to Liam with an expectant look. "Mr. Cole, we've already made the necessary arrangements as you instructed. What do you think?"Liam took one final puff of his cigarette, then tossed the butt into a nearby trashcan and finally nodded. "Good work!"With that, he turned and sauntered away, ignoring the five men gaping at him in disbelief as he left. "Mr. Reath, who is that man?" Mr. Zimmer finally summoned the courage to ask.Kolten turned to glare at him with a warning look. "Don't ask questions that you shouldn't! Just mind your own business. Knowing too much won't bring you anywhere. All you need to know is that this man is far more powerful than you can even imagine. He can easily stomp out all of us, even me, like ants should he see fit!"The color drained from everyone's faces. Despite being the tycoons of their respective industries and having years
By the time Liam set the table for dinner, Jovie was already starving. She stared at Celena with a longing look and whined, "Mom, the soup that Dad made smells amazing. I want some…"Celena gently stroked her hair and served her a bowl of piping hot soup. The three of them then sat down together for a hearty dinner. Suddenly, Celena said, "I need to pop by the office tomorrow to make an inventory of all the destroyed equipment so we can acquire new ones. I also need to start the employment process to rehire new employees for the ones we've let go. It will be a busy day for me, so I think… you should bring Jovie out for the day, Liam!"With that, Celena lowered her head and took a sip of her soup, blushing. She had intended to ask Liam to go with her on her errands, but she decided to let Liam stay with Jovie instead. Liam stared at her with a smile. He could tell exactly what she wanted to say. He put a piece of steak onto her plate and replied, "It's okay. We can leave Jovie at
All of a sudden, a man covered in blood staggered toward them, shouting for help. When he caught sight of Thomas, he screamed, "Mr. Lane, something terrible has happened! They've returned! Those men have returned!"A look of fear and horror spread across Thomas's face, but he soon calmed down and was immediately outraged. "How dare they show their faces here again? What do they want from us? Let's go, everyone! We'll show them what it's like to mess with us! If they want us dead, we'll bring them to hell with us!"With that, a dozen or so factory workers picked up various tools like wrenches and metal pipes, anything they could get their hands on, and stormed toward the direction Thomas was pointing at. They were all infuriated at how they had been treated. All of them were simply trying their best to survive in this economy, and who were these men to terrorize them when they had done nothing wrong?All of a sudden, a few black vans screeched to a halt in front of the factory entran
The bald man clutched his broken wrist and howled at Liam, "Who the hell are you? Seize him! Capture everyone and cripple them, except the beautiful young lady!"With that, his men charged toward them, wielding their weapons. The color drained from Celena's face when she saw these burly, armed men lunging toward them. She turned to Liam with a worried look. "Liam…"Liam, on the other hand, was unfazed. "Stay away, Celena! I don't want to accidentally hurt you! Don't worry. I'll take care of these rascals!"The next moment, he darted toward his opponents. Before Celena could even register what was going on, he had knocked over two men, sending them flying into the air and landing on the ground in crumpled heaps. Within a few moments, Liam had easily taken down a team of over two dozen men, who were all sprawled on the ground in agony, clutching various parts of their bodies that Liam had struck. They all stared at Liam with terrified looks. The bald man, on the other hand, knew t
Celena was very perturbed to hear this. "Mr. Lane, this is the reason I came here today in the first place! I won't leave until I've settled this!"With that, she turned to Liam. "Liam, why don't you go home first? You were the one who beat that bald man up, and I'm afraid they might take revenge on you! Since I didn't do anything, I'm sure they won't lay a finger on me. If anything I'll call the cops should they show up again!"Liam knew that Celena was worried about his safety, but the truth was, that he was not intimidated by the so-called Makson at all. He replied nonchalantly, "Do you think calling the cops will help? If it would, they would not have managed to terrorize this region for so long! Don't worry, Celena, I'm not afraid of them at all! Have you forgotten why we're here today? I'm here to protect you, so don't worry about me. You should go ahead and settle everything properly. I'll keep an eye out for those rascals!""But," Celena was about to protest, but Liam was al
George was rather flustered by this. He was so busy to a point that he could not possibly pay attention to every crook and troublemaker in his precinct. The only people that could know this were his subordinates.Now that Howard was angry about something that happened in his precinct, George knew he had to get to the bottom of this. He took out his phone and called one of his sergeants. "Sergeant Gould, I want all the information on someone named Makson. I need this information sent to me within the next five minutes!"At this moment, Jackson Gould was sitting in his office in the Western Precinct. He was rather alarmed to receive such a call from George out of nowhere. "Yes, sir! I'll go check right now!"Jackson was both puzzled and unnerved by this. He had been working underneath George for a long time now but never heard him sound so angry. Makson?Jackson vaguely recalled hearing this name before. He quickly summoned his subordinates and barked out orders to them, "Everyone
The new plan was a hit; every assassin in the room was on board.One of them, posing as a bellhop, stood at Liam's door, ready to knock.However, he never saw it coming. Before his knuckles could rap on the door, it burst open from the inside.Wham!The would-be knocker was sent flying, slamming into the corridor wall with a thunderous crash.The others barely had time to register what happened when Liam burst out, a quintuple-edged dagger in hand.He was a shadow among them, his blade a flash of silver that danced across their wrists, disarming them of their scimitars.In moments, the hallway was a cacophony of clattering blades and piercing screams that filled the hotel.The leader, clutching his bleeding wrist, stared at Liam in horror, leaning casually against the doorframe. Liam's dagger dripped crimson. He watched the fallen assassins with an unfeeling smirk."You think you can play assassins, skulking around in the dark?" Liam's voice dripped with scorn. With a casual f
Noel was a name that turned heads in Rasford City, especially since the Noel family ran a successful pharmaceutical business. In any place, those in the medicine game hold sway, and Noel was no stranger to the city's shadowy bigwigs. After all, nobody was immune to getting sick!Noel was quickly taken to the hospital for emergency care. Meanwhile, the assassin he had hired had pinpointed the hotel where Liam and Sunniva were hiding out.Sunniva was still visibly shaken when they reached the hotel. Too frightened to be alone, she could only gaze at Liam with watery eyes, silently pleading to stay in his room.Liam, left with little choice, let Sunniva take his room while he made do with the couch in the living room.After the night's earlier ordeal, combined with the alcohol and the drug slipped into her drink, Sunniva washed up and promptly fell asleep in Liam's bed.Liam, however, remained on the living room sofa, poring over the mysterious Arcane Manuscript.Out of nowhere,
"Thud!"Then, without missing a beat, Liam grabbed Noel by the throat and landed another punch on him. He struck him squarely on the chin, dislocating it and forcing a couple more of his teeth to fly out. "Ahhh!" Noel shrieked. His face was swelling up to twice its usual size, and he could not help letting out a cry of agony. Liam did not stop there, though. His fists rained down all over Noel without ceasing, his every punch striking where it hurt the most. "F*ck! You're going to pay for this!" Noel grunted. He would make this twat pay! What gave him the right to attack him? He was an heir of the great Noel bloodline, and he would make this cocky, self-righteous prat pay!Liam scoffed, then swung his fist and struck Noel squarely in his abdomen.Noel spat out a mouthful of blood, unable to utter another word from the sheer pain, but this did not stop Liam. The next moment, he grabbed Noel by the hair and bashed his head against the wall behind him.A sickening crunch alerted
The words had barely left her mouth when Noel lost his patience, swung Sunniva around and slapped her hard across the cheek. "D*mn it, you f*cking sl*t! What the f*ck are you shouting for? Let me tell you this—no one will come to save you, not even if you cry yourself hoarse!"The slap came so abruptly that Sunniva was momentarily stunned. Her cheek soon swelled up, and a bright red mark in the shape of Noel's palm began to take shape. Noel had hit her so hard that the back of her head struck the wall behind her, and all she could feel was an intense, throbbing pain that reverberated through her skull. Blood seeped out of the cut on the back of her head, and she could feel the warm liquid trickle down her neck. She suddenly felt strangely faint and stopped resisting. Noel seized the opportunity to strip her naked, grinning. "Ms. Bristow, I suggest you stop wasting your energy. You're mine tonight, and there's no running now!"He had long since heard of Sunniva's beauty, and he was
"Mr. Noel? What is the meaning of this?" Sunniva shrieked in alarm. Noel was wiping his face with a towel when she spoke, and upon hearing her voice, he slowly moved toward her. "Ms. Bristow, do I really need to spell this out for you? You're a gorgeous woman, and I admire you very much. There's nothing to be afraid of, darling. We're all adults here, so there's no need to be shy. I promise that I'll make this the most memorable night you've ever had. "Ms. Bristow, do you know how many women would die to be in your position? Women everywhere bend over backwards to keep me happy, and most of them are willing to please me just to get my business. If you still want this partnership, you better be a good girl and keep me satisfied. If not…"Noel trailed off, for at this point, he had already reached the bed and was just inches away from Sunniva. His flesh quivered with his every move, and he was so tall that he loomed over Sunniva's tiny body like a beast eyeing its prey. "You… you
Noel was not used to being rejected so outwardly. Sunniva's indifference infuriated him greatly. He scoffed, then brought his hand up to his nose and took a deep breath as if trying to catch a whiff of any scent that Sunniva had left on his skin. He sneered. "Ms. Bristow, it seems you are intent on challenging me?"Sunniva replied curtly, "So what if I am?""Very well then! You like to do things the hard way, eh? Let me make this clear—the moment you step out the door, the partnership will be called off! I will no longer do business with Bristow Group!"The audacity!With a smug grin, Noel cast Sunniva one last look before returning to his seat. He watched her coolly and made no move to stop her from leaving again, for he knew he had her cornered. Sunniva stood rooted to the spot, her brows furrowed in deep concentration. Noel knew he had Sunniva caught in a dead-end situation. He smirked and raised his glass to his lips. "How about this, Ms. Bristow? Just one last drink with
A glimmer of annoyance flashed through Noel's eyes, but he continued to reach toward Sunniva, grinning. "Ms. Bristow, I really, really admire you…"Sunniva froze. The next moment, she leaped to her feet, still holding her wine glass, and ducked out of Noel's reach. She replied, raising his glass in an attempt to disguise her nervousness, "Mr. Noel, I greatly admire your success as a businessman as well. Cheers to our partnership!"Noel's arm hovered in mid-air, looking awkward and forlorn as it dangled out of reach of its target. A strained silence fell over them. The tension lasted only a few minutes, though, because Noel soon regained his composure and drew his arm back. He clinked his glass against Sunniva's as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The two of them had been drinking for quite some time now, and Noel was growing more and more inebriated by the minute. He was a pale man, and so the alcohol gave him an unnatural flush that made him look as though he was
"Thank you, Uncle Leonardo." With that, Liam and Cirocco left the manor. They returned to the hotel to meet up with Calum and Sunniva. Liam and Cirocco were waiting in the hotel's presidential suite, going over their plans for the upcoming days, when Calum burst in, looking flustered. Liam was the first to notice how strangely nervous Calum seemed. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"Calum explained hastily, "Sir, Ms. Bristow was just taken away by a group of locals. She claimed that they were the businessmen we were here to meet. Since you weren't back yet, she decided to go meet them herself. She wants me to inform you that they have gone to the Saint Louisiana Hotel and that you can meet them there."Liam furrowed his brows at this. Calum asked, "Sir, are you going to check on them?"Liam considered this a moment, then grabbed his phone and stood up. "I think I should. You and Cirocco should stay here and go over our plans. I'll pop by the Saint Louisiana Hotel. If Jeffre
"Unfortunately, I cannot reveal to you the identities of the remaining five yet, but don't you worry—when the time comes, you will find out soon enough."Just remember, Liam, you are not alone! No matter what happens, the six of us will be here to help you the best we can!" Leonardo said, squeezing Liam's shoulder in reassurance. His expression was solemn, but there was a spark in his eyes. Liam was even more stunned to hear this. What was going on? Had his grandfather planned this for over twenty years ago? Did he somehow know that Liam would come searching for him?"Uncle Leonardo, what's going on here? Is Grandpa still alive?" Liam asked nervously.Leonardo's face fell, and he shook his head gravely. "Truth be told, I am just as confused as you are. I've been trying to track your grandfather down for years, but the last I heard, he was still being kept on Wraith Island. I haven't heard any news about him since, but I refuse to believe your grandfather would die on Wraith Island