"Cheryl, I've taken care of the matter for you. Since I've done you such a huge favor, how are you going to thank me?" Wasyl asked.Everyone in the living room at Stone Mansion was on edge as they waited for an update. They all turned to look at Cheryl nervously as soon as Cheyrl's phone rang.Cheryl deliberately put the call on speaker mode when she answered it. She could feel her heart pounding as she asked anxiously, "You've taken care of it? Really? You're not lying to me, are you? Captain Hughes has agreed? What terms did he name?"Wasyl was already sitting in his car. His face and the tone of his voice were filled with pride as he said, "Of course, it's true. Would I lie to you about that? Come on. Who am I? I'm the heir of the Abbott Group. Besides, Captain Hughes and I are tight. Of course, he's going to do me a favor once I ask him for it.""What about the terms?" Cheryl asked, feeling anxious."Captain Hughes said he'll send an invitation to the Stone family for his indu
All the other members of the Stone family flattered Cheryl as well and said, "It's truly all thanks to you, Cheryl. If you didn't ask Mr. Abbott for help, we would have been at a loss.""That's true! You and Celena share the same father but look at her. She only gets our family into trouble. She also married Liam, a man who not only relies on her financially but just keeps creating trouble for our family.""You're right. Cheryl's boyfriend is outstanding. He's Captain Hughes' good friend. Look at how he's able to get us out of trouble so easily. Now, look at Liam. He said he'd take care of it, but he abandoned his wife and child and ran off in secret instead when there's only a couple of days left before the time is up.""What an embarrassment. He has abandoned his wife and child. To think that Celena only had eyes for him. Look at him. He just ran off without Celena and their daughter. Celena's whole family has been taken away too."Speaking of that, the crowd was reminded that Ch
After a series of loud thuds, the doors of the vehicles opened. Then, one by one, soldiers in full tactical gear got out of the cars in an orderly fashion and quickly gathered in the space in front of Hughes Mansion.Adrian was dressed in a green military uniform. He fixed his cap and walked out of the crowd in his combat boots.He had a sharp, frosty gaze as he looked at the gate to the Hughes Mansion. And with a formidable bearing, he waved his hand and bellowed, "Listen up, everyone! Have Hughes Mansion surrounded now! If there is anybody who would resist, punish them according to the military law—kill on sight!""Yes, sir!" the squadron shouted in unison. They cocked their guns and were ready to charge into Hughes Mansion.Suddenly, the gate of the mansion was opened, revealing rows after rows of armed soldiers who were pointing their guns at the people outside.Meanwhile, military Jeeps sped over from a couple of streets outside the mansion, and soldiers who were armed to the
As the first lieutenant spoke to Adrian, all the soldiers in the surroundings pointed their guns at Adrian and his squadron. Once the first lieutenant gave the command, bullets would rain down on Adrian and his men.The first lieutenant stared at Adrian with a bone-chilling gaze. With a hint of murderous intent, he bellowed, "Captain Fabris, I am protecting Hughes Mansion on Captain Trevyn's orders. Nobody is allowed to step into the mansion without permission! You're no exception, even if you're from the garrison of Drunham City!"He looked incredibly sullen. His hand was already on his gun as he spoke.Both parties were in a stalemate, and the atmosphere was tense.Meanwhile, Kolten was in his office. His assistant suddenly barged in and shouted, "Mr. Reath! Terrible news! Something serious has happened! Brianna had someone take Mr. Cole's wife and daughter away! Mrs. Cole's parents have been taken away too!""What?" Kolten got up from the chair and looked horrified after he hea
The assistant nodded with a solemn expression and left the office in a hurry.Kolten lit a cigarette and walked up to the floor-to-ceiling. He had a long face as he looked at the skyscrapers outside the window. His eyebrows were tightly knitted as he was troubled.'Hurry back, Mr. Cole! Drunham City is going to have a new ruler soon!' Kolten thought.…Two days flew by. To the ordinary people, everything was still just as peaceful in Drunham City. Nothing changed at all.However, an unusually aggressive chaos was surging under the peaceful surface.In the past two days, police rushed to Hughes Mansion and asked the Hughes family to release the people they took away. In the end, they were all subdued by Trevyn's guards.Adrian, who went to Hughes Mansion with a squadron, was also overpowered by Trevyn's guards.There were a total of 3000 armed soldiers standing guard at Hughes Mansion.Time was ticking away, and tension was high while Trevyn's induction dinner was in preparati
Trevyn was in the living room of Hughes Mansion. He was dressed in a green army uniform and had an army knife on his waist. He also had a pair of black combat boots on, which made him look tall.He was standing right in front of the floor-to-ceiling window at that moment. He was letting his maids straighten his uniform as he held his cap with a gold emblem on it.His assistant was standing next to him, holding a gold tray respectfully with both his hands. There was a red velvet cloth on the tray, and there were two shoulder straps that had sparkly stars on them.Those were the shoulder straps for a general, and the stars on them were twinkling under the lights at that moment.Meanwhile, a foul smell was lingering in the air in a small storeroom at the furthest end of the backyard of Hughes Mansion.Celena was covered in dirt and injuries, and she was hugging Jovie, who was also covered with injuries. Jovie was still running a high fever and was unconscious at that moment. She was
The bodyguard crouched down and touched Jovie's forehead. Sure enough, it was extremely hot.He immediately got up and said to the other bodyguard with a frown, "She's burning up quite badly. What should we do?""Let's take her outside. It looks like it's quite bad. She's someone that General Hughes wanted after all. We won't be able to bear the consequences if something were to happen to her."The other bodyguard gave it a thought and decided to first take Jovie out of the storeroom. He was about to carry Jovie out when Brianna suddenly appeared.Brianna was in a long black dress that showcased her perfect figure. She spent a long time dolling up for dinner that night. Every inch of her body just screamed gorgeous.She walked into the storeroom with a frosty expression while four soldiers followed behind her. They were carrying an extra large dog cage."What are you doing?" Brianna asked icily as she saw what the bodyguards were about to do.The two bodyguards immediately strai
'Liam, when are you coming back? When are you coming to save us?' Celena thought.She was in despair as she kept begging profusely. She was bawling so badly that she could not even utter a sentence.Right at that, Patrick walked in as well. Seeing Celena begging on the floor and smelling the pungent odor in the air made him frown. He walked up to Brianna and asked, "Brianna, is this woman still refusing to reveal Liam's whereabouts?"Brianna sneered. "Don't even mention it. She's tight-lipped."Patrick's expression darkened upon hearing that. He long wanted to teach Liam a lesson, but he listened to Trevyn and waited until the night of his induction dinner. However, Liam sneaked off when they were just a couple of days from the dinner.With his anger all pent up, Patrick was incredibly annoyed. Seeing that Celena refused to tell them where Liam was, Patrick walked up to her and kicked her on her shoulder."Bitch! You really can't tell what's good for you. Hmph! You cover up for L
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
With that command, he strode into the restaurant."At once, my lord!"His men obediently echoed, herding Wilson and the others toward the private room where Liam and his party awaited.Karpos strutted ahead, his arrogance restored. Despite a hasty bandage job, his appearance was ragged.As Karpos led Clifford and his entourage into the restaurant, the owner and the servers shuddered in fear, their bodies quaking.Clifford shot the restaurant owner a frosty look that sent him scurrying over with a forced, fearful smile. "Lord Clifford, I had no idea you'd arrived. I'm so sorry for not greeting you at the door," he stammered out an apology.However, Clifford just gave him another icy stare and strode past, following Karpos up the stairs to the private room.The owner, too scared to utter another word, followed them up, his heart pounding.They reached the private room in no time. With a commanding gesture from Clifford, a dozen muscular men in combat gear stormed in.Liam and hi
How could someone from Biskeland throw away their pride like that, groveling for mercy? It was downright embarrassing. They were the ones who started it all, picking on her. Why should she be the one to grovel?The more Corie thought about it, the more her disdain for Wilson grew. "Wilson, if you're so eager to leave, then go. I'm not budging. This mess started with me, and I don't care how tough those guys are—I'm staying right here with Liam to face whatever comes," Corie declared, her voice icy. She grabbed a nearby chair and sat down with a defiant thud."Corie, you!" Wilson started, but she turned her head away, dismissing him with a cold shoulder that only served to stoke his anger. "Fine! Have it your way! However, you'll regret it when Clifford and his goons show up!" he snapped. With that, Wilson stormed out of the room, his entourage trailing behind him in a rush.Corie watched Wilson and his crew scatter like scared rabbits, and with a sneer of contempt, she spat out, "