He swiveled around on his boot-clad heels, then sauntered out of the house and stood for a moment at the door, glancing proudly out at his audience as he allowed the spotlight to settle on him. Everyone's eyes were on him, and a split second later, the audience erupted into thunderous applause!The party had begun!Trevyn was clutching his symbolic army knife in one hand while raising the other above his head as a gesture of appreciation to everyone's applause. He smiled in a triumphant smirk. As the applause settled down, Trevyn stepped forward while a hostess approached him, holding a tray with a glass of champagne. Trevyn took the glass, raised it above him and declared, "Thank you all for finding the time to attend my party tonight—a celebration of my promotion to army general!"Everyone raised their glasses. "Here, here, General Hughes!"Trevyn beamed. "I welcome you all to my humble abode. Although I may or may not know all of you who have granted me the time to celebrate t
Although the Stones had been assigned to a corner of the venue, they were still more than grateful to be there! All of the guests invited to Trevyn's party were politicians, members of the military, and important businessmen. All the Stones needed to do was get on some of these people's good sides, and it would, without a single doubt, catapult them leaps and bounds into a higher social status!Reginald was beside himself with excitement as he glanced around him. When his gaze landed on Trevyn, who was surrounded by a crowd of admirers, he could not help sighing. "Trevyn certainly has a bright future ahead of him. He's just turned thirty, and yet he's already attained the ranking of a general. Things are only going to get better from here. Thankfully, we managed to get on the Hughes' good side in the end, and this was all thanks to Cheryl! If she hadn't stepped in, we would be in deep trouble by now!"Cheryl had, in Reginald's opinion, saved the entire Stone family by successfully me
Wasyl nodded. "Of course, Mr. Stone! It's no problem at all. I'll get General Hughes to stop by in a while!"Reginald was over the moon to hear this. He grinned from ear to ear and began to thank Wasyl, "Thank you so much, Mr. Abbott. I'll be forever indebted to you for this!"The rest of the Stones all turned to gaze at Wasyl with looks of admiration, and Reginald immediately picked up his glass to toast Wasyl. All of a sudden, a spotlight snapped to life, directed straight at the stage, where four soldiers dressed in uniform had emerged, wheeling a gigantic cage to the center of the stage. Everyone's gaze landed on the cage, and they all gasped when they realized what was inside. Celena was cowering inside the cage, her hair tousled and her clothes matted. There were bruises and cuts sprinkled all over her body, and her entire face was pale with terror. She was glancing around her in despair, clutching an equally dirty and injured Jovie in her arms. Celena's beautiful eyes
Reginald and the rest of the Stones all scowled when they saw her. Their faces began to burn with humiliation, especially when they overheard the jeers and taunts coming from the rest of the guests. Reginald's expression darkened, and a look of fury and hatred crossed him. This was all Celena's fault! She had humiliated them once more!Yafe and Sherah were just as distraught to see this. Yafe gritted his teeth in boiling rage and snarled, "That wretched Celena! She's humiliated us once more! She made us the laughingstock of the town seven years ago, and she has done it again! She's brought shame and disgrace to this family once again!"Sherah's face was twisted in a grotesque scowl. She glared at Celena and added, "That b*tch! It's all her fault! I'm going to be made fun of by my friends again, and it's all her fault! I was so happy to be attending this party tonight, but I'm certainly going to be made fun of once word gets out about this!"Cheryl turned to Reginald and said, "Gra
Celena felt hope course through her, as though God had cracked a window open for her in this bleak, bleak world. She reached out one bloody, gnarly-looking hand through the gap in the cage and shouted, "Grandpa! Grandpa! Please save us! I'm your granddaughter! Please save us, Grandpa… Jovie isn't going to make it, Grandpa! Please save her! She's your great-granddaughter!"However, there was no response from Reginald or any of the Stones. Celena then shouted even louder, "Help me, Dad, Mom! I'm your daughter! Please help me… Please, I'm begging you… Please don't turn a blind eye to me again… Please save Jovie! She doesn't have much time left…"Cheryl, please save us! Please, I'm begging you…"Grandpa, say something! Please save Jovie! She's too young… Why are you doing this to us…"Celena clung to the bars desperately, shouting at the top of her lungs, but no one replied. Despair coursed through her veins, and she tugged desperately at the bars as though, by some miracle, she could
Celena's eyes were bloodshot as she gazed out at the cold, unwavering crowd before her. "Where have all your conscience gone? My daughter is just a child… She's only seven! Why aren't you willing to save her? Why… "At that exact moment, Brianna stepped forward, her heels click-clacking against the tiles as she strode onto the stage. She turned to face the audience, her cold glance sweeping across the astounded faces of the people staring up at her, then finally pointed at the pair in the cage and declared, "Do you see this? This is what happens when you cross the Hughes family!"Then, she turned around, stared coldly at Celena, and scoffed. "Do you understand now, Celena? Not even your family is willing to help you now. I'll give you one last chance. I'll let you go if you tell me where Liam is right now, and not only that, but if you tell me Liam's whereabouts, I'll even seek out the best doctor in this town to make sure your daughter gets the best treatment she needs.She then sw
Brianna watched all of this unfold coldly, without even batting an eyelid. Finally, she turned to her guards and ordered, "Toss them into the hole and bury them alive!"Both Sherah and Yafe felt as though they had been struck by lightning. Even Cheryl was so stunned to hear this that she could not even speak. Finally, as soon as she snapped out of her stupor, she turned to Wasyl and shook his arm desperately, her eyes red-rimmed with tears. "Wasyl, save… save them! They're my parents! I can't let this happen to them! It's one thing for that b*tch Celena to get killed, but my parents are innocent…"Wasyl grabbed Cheryl's hand with an unreadable expression and replied, "Don't worry, Cheryl. Nothing bad will happen to your parents with me around! Let me go see what I can do…"With that, he put her hand down and strode away.Meanwhile, Sherah was shaking like a leaf when she heard Brianna's orders. She struggled against the soldier's grasp, howling like a banshee as she tried to break
Sherah shouted, "Ms. Hughes, please show us mercy! Why do you have to treat us like this? Oh God, please, why are you doing this to us? We did nothing wrong! We were cursed!"Even while being buried, Sherah still could not stop cursing Celena for this. She turned toward the direction of the cage and spat, "Celena, you f*cking b*tch! You're a curse to this family! We're going to be killed because of you! You're a witch, you've cursed us and doomed us all! You should be dead by now! Why are you dragging all of us down with you?"The guests of the party all watched on in mild disinterest, and no one dared to step forward to save the Stones. Not only that, but some of the party guests even felt secretly pleased that such fate had fallen unto Sherah and Yafe. Some of the guests, on the other hand, could not help pitying Jovie, as they felt that such a young child should not have been subjected to such pain and suffering at all. However, the thought of standing up against Brianna sent sh
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