The Stones all assumed Celena was still the meek, docile, and timid girl they knew, the one who would take all of their insults and abuse without batting an eye, but they were wrong—so terribly wrong. Celena was not the same person anymore. She would not go down without a fight.Celena sneered, then slammed her coffee cup down on the table with a thud so loud that it echoed through the room, making everyone freeze. She shot Yafe a look so cold that he froze right in his tracks. A shudder went down his spine. What was going on? Something about Celena felt different, but how could that be? How could she have changed so much in just a few days?The air of authority about her, as well as the iciness of her gaze, made him shudder slightly. Cheryl, on the other hand, grew even more infuriated by this. Her blood boiled with a mixture of rage and jealousy. "What are you trying to say, Celena? Do you think you're so much better than us just because you struck out on your own? What are y
"Dad…" Cheryl muttered, staring at Yafe as though she could not believe who she was looking at. For a moment there, she looked like she wanted to object, but at the same time, she knew better than to disobey her father. "I told you to shut up. Did I not make myself clear?" Yafe snarled, cutting her off. The next moment, he slapped her across the cheek again and roared, "Keep your mouth shut! Have you forgotten what we're here for today? I will never forgive you if you ruin everything for us!"He then turned to Celena with a solemn look and said, "I don't want to waste your time, Celena, so let's cut right to the chase. What do we have to do for you to put things right again?"Celena was amused by the high and mighty attitude that Yafe adopted. How delusional of him to think he actually had a say in all this! She glared at him from across the room and replied curtly, "Haven't I already made my terms very clear? I will not reconsider unless you get on your knees and beg me to.""Wha
Yafe only scowled even more upon hearing this. He asked tersely, "No matter what you say, you still have the blood of the Stone family running in your veins, so can't you just put all this behind us and retract everything?"Celena sneered, then replied, "I'm sorry, Mr. Stone, but I'm afraid I have to disagree with you. What happens to the Stone family no longer concerns me. "You tried to have me, my husband, and my daughter cast out over and over again, and you were always so eager to draw boundaries with me during my times of trouble. I have endured disappointment at your hands countless times, and I will no longer associate myself with a clan of selfish soul-sucking parasites."I, Celena Stone, share your name but do not share your bloodline any longer. My only relationship with the Stone family is that of a business partner. As a businesswoman, I carefully weigh the risks and benefits of every partnership my company enters into. "Stone Group is a small company, and there are p
Celena was such an empath at heart that despite the Stones' cruel treatment of her over the years, she still tolerated and thought the best of them despite all evidence pointing otherwise. As a result, all her pent-up resentment had nowhere to go, and it was not until the Stones apologized that she finally allowed all her anger to erupt.She had spent most of the past convincing herself that she did not care what the Stones thought, nor whether they realized their mistake or not, but now that they were standing before her and admitting their wrongdoing, she realized that she still cared about getting the apology she deserved after all. "Cindy, please escort our guests out!" Celena barked, ignoring the Stones entirely. Then, she turned and strode out of the room without a second glance. Cindy had been waiting outside the room all this while, and upon hearing Celena's command, she approached Yafe and gestured towards the door. "Mr. Stone, please come with me."Truth be told, Cindy
Meanwhile, Liam went ahead and started packing their belongings for the upcoming trip. He had always known Celena was a gorgeous woman, but now that she had single handedly built up her own business that was only growing more successful by the day, she became all the more alluring to any man that set eyes on her. The last thing he wanted was for Celena to catch the eye of one of her old friends, and in Liam's experience, it was better to be safe than sorry. Therefore, no matter where Celena went, Liam made it his duty to accompany her, and provide her with nothing but the best, because she deserved it. The next morning, Celena woke up at the crack of dawn to do her hair and makeup, then slipped into a beautiful black satin dress. She matched the dress with a pair of silver stilettos and finished the look with a dazzling diamond necklace. Liam had bought this dress during his transit in Rasford City whilst on his way to Wraith Island, because he felt the dress was made for her. No
He had recently caught wind of Celena's upcoming trip to Ralacir Town and immediately threw together a party and sent out invitations to a handful of people, Celena being one of them.Celena and Liam stepped out of their taxi. All of a sudden, a red Ferrari screeched to a halt next to them. Sitting in the passenger seat was a young woman dressed in skimpy, fashionable clothes. She was gaping at Celena as though she could not believe her eyes. The next moment, her voice came in a noisy screech, "Celena? Is that really you? I could barely recognize you! Why didn't you drive here yourself? Why did you take a taxi?"Her tone was thickly coated with contempt and ridicule. Celena froze upon hearing her name. She had to stare at the newcomer for a few minutes before finally realizing it was her old classmate, Caroline Manson. "Caroline?" Celena called out dubiously. The woman was wearing so much makeup that she could hardly recognize her, and so she did not want to mistake her for someone
When Caroline heard that Paul would be hosting the gathering in honor of Celena, she was the first to accept the invitation, all to get a chance to mock Celena. Caroline's gaze swept over Liam, and the contempt in her eyes was unmistakable. She drawled, "Oh, Celena, poor Celena! I must say, your taste in men isn't very good. With your looks, you can have any man you like, and yet you chose this one?"I hear that your husband was a descendent of the noble Cole family from Drunham City, but they got massacred, and he was the lone survivor. Apparently, he was also the man who defiled you? Is that true? Well, how could you have married him? He has nothing to offer you! He's broke and has nothing to his name! You should've found yourself a handsome and wealthy man, one who can at least afford to buy you a car! How embarrassing!"Before Celena could respond, Caroline pulled her boyfriend over and said, smiling shyly, though the condescension was evident in her eyes, "My husband is so muc
If it were not for him, Celena would not have tolerated Caroline and Tommy's rudeness toward Liam. As soon as the both of them left, Celena turned to Liam with a look of despair. "Darling, why did you stop me just now? I can't let those two get away with insulting you!"Liam smiled. "It's fine, darling. They have no idea who they're dealing with, and we mustn't waste our time on people like them. This is a joyous occasion, so let's not allow them to ruin our mood."Then, he took her hand, led her toward the hotel entrance, and said reassuringly, "Don't worry, darling. They haven't gotten to me. I'm not the slightest bit upset. Let's go inside, shall we? We don't want to be late.""Alright." Celena finally relented and allowed Liam to guide her into the hotel. Paul had booked a private room for the gathering, which was located on the eighth floor of Quincy Hotel. It was one of the most luxurious and expensive private rooms available. The moment Celena and Liam stepped through the d
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