Once Sherah saw the video on Celena's phone, she mocked, "I figured. How could it possibly be the loser Liam? He doesn't even have the right to attend the dinner with us, much less let Mr. Reath and the others welcome him personally."The rest of the Stone family nodded and agreed.Qemal glanced at the photo he took, and then he glanced at the video on Celena's phone. It was already confirmed that Liam was not the mysterious big shot, but Qemal still could not help but exclaim, "I can't believe two people would look so much alike. How surprising!"As soon as Qemal said that, Sherah slapped him on the head. She looked upset as she barked, "How could you just shout when you didn't even get a good look? Think about it. Liam is just a loser. Even if he has a special relationship with Mr. Reath, he's still not important enough for the other two big bosses to come and give him a personal welcome."Qemal felt a little helpless and rubbed his head after he received the slap. He looked at t
Kolten nodded to his assistant, who immediately understood what he was supposed to do. He turned around and brought out a tray, atop which perched a few sets of masks.Kolten explained, smiling, "Mr. Cole, I know you want to keep your identity a secret, so I prepared all these masks in advance for you to wear. That way no one will be able to recognize you."Liam glanced at the masks. Considering the fact that Kolten had served him well over the time they had known each other, he decided to let this slide. He smiled and replied, "Very well then. You can get up. This is not to happen again, do you understand?"Kolten quickly got to his feet, wiping the nervous sweat from his forehead, and replied obediently, "Yes, sir…"The entire room was pindrop silent, and Kolten was the first one to break the silence by smiling and greeting everyone who had arrived. The guests, among the city's most successful and elite, were startled to see how Kolten treated Liam. Although they did not know who
However, there was nothing they could do about it. The dinner was about to start soon, and all of the guests had already seen them enter. There was no way they could toss Celena out without anyone noticing. If anything, it would be more embarrassing to cast Celena out at a time like this!The Stones knew this, so they tried their best to stifle their anger and forced out sheepish smiles as they greeted the other guests. Yankel was sitting on a plush sofa in a corner of the hall when the Stones showed up. He gazed in amusement at Celena, who was trailing at the end of the group, trying her best to blend into the crowd so no one would notice her. "So this is the legendary Celena Stone? Well, she's certainly gorgeous, I must admit! It's no wonder people deem her as the most beautiful woman in Drunham City! She has a daughter, right? Well, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard it myself. Look at that body! How can she still look so smoking hot after giving birth?" he remarked, t
A lecherous smile spread across his face, and he gave Celena such a blatantly lewd once-over that Celena could not help drawing her hand back in horror. "Mr. Bristow…"Yankel suddenly realized how crude he must have come off and immediately regained his composure. He smiled meekly and said, "Ms. Stone, I'm so sorry. I was just too taken aback by your beauty. I didn't mean to offend you. I'm so sorry!"Celena smiled back at him but did not respond. Linda, who had been hovering a few feet behind them all this while, was absolutely outraged by this. She could not stand the innocuous look on Celena's face; that sl*t! How could she act like she was an innocent, naive little girl when everyone knew her true colors? She was even more horrified to see the look on Yankel's face, his lust blatant in his chiseled features. She had been with Yankel for so many years that she could read him like the back of her hand. Although Yankel had never outrightly admitted it, she always thought of hers
"We've literally only been in here for a few minutes, and she's already glued herself to the manager of Bristow Group. Do you know who he is, Grandpa? He's Ynakel Bristow, the heir to one of the most powerful families in the capital. How can he possibly fall for someone like her? It's not going to look good for us if she inadvertently offends Mr. Bristow because of this!" Celena feigned concern when she said this, but she kept shooting meaningful glances at her father, trying to get him to back her up.Yafe understood immediately and added in feigned outrage, "Father, you can't let Celena humiliate us like that! I no longer think of her as my daughter, but that's not what the public thinks. You can't let her get away with bringing us down once again!"The rest of the Stones were already beginning to receive strange looks from the people around them, and they all leaped at the first chance to agree with Yafe's statement. "Grandpa, we should exile Celena from the family as soon as po
Despite it being only a momentary flicker of annoyance, Linda noticed it immediately and felt another surge of jealousy and rage course through her. She turned to Yankel and whispered, "Mr. Bristow, I know I had acted too rashly, but I was simply looking out for you. Didn't you say your objective of showing up here in the first place is to get back at Liam?"Yankel's fury dissipated the moment she said this, and Linda quickly caught on and added, "Just think about it. If we assert our dominance over Celena tonight, she'll learn that you're not someone to be messed with. That way, she won't even dare to fight back against you in the future."A mischievous glint flashed through Yankel's eyes, and he marveled at what a perfect plan this was. He turned to Celena with a look of disgust and said, "Ms. Stone, I hope that you can show yourself some respect. How could I possibly have come to speak to you of my own accord? Do you have any idea who I am? Who do you think you are? Besides, eve
Linda tossed the now empty glass aside and turned to Celena. When she laid eyes on Celena's smooth, rosy skin, however, another twinge of jealousy surged through her, and she slapped her once more. "You b*tch! How delusional must you be to think Mr. Bristow, of all people, would approach you first? Who do you think you are? Besides, why would Mr. Bristow want to lie and frame you instead? You're of no importance to him, and he would not even bother to do such a thing! I'm not an idiot, I know you're just angry because you failed to seduce him, and you're now trying to get back at him!"Linda deliberately raised her voice when she said this so that her message would get across loud and clear to everyone watching. Indeed, her plan worked because the guests all began to cast Celena looks of disgust. Some of the rich socialites who had been overshadowed by Celena in the past all stepped forward in indignation just to exact their revenge. "Celena, you are absolutely shameless! Do you hon
After a few minutes but what felt like a century, the guests finally stopped throwing their cakes at Celena. A look of triumph crossed Linda's face, who was watching in amusement as this unfolded. She picked up a glass of wine, then sauntered toward Celena. She let out a sneer, her triumphant glee evident on her face, and said, "Celena, it must be humiliating to be insulted and mocked by so many people, huh? Well, I had done all of this on purpose. Do you want to know why? Because Mr. Bristow belongs to me, and I can't sit by and allow a wh*re like you to take away what's mine! Who do you think you are? You're just a sl*t, and yet you go around trying to seduce people by pretending to be an innocent young woman. I want to throw up just looking at you."Celena lifted her head to stare at Linda, seething with hatred. She snarled, "W… Why would you do something like this? I don't even know you or Mr. Bristow, so why would you do something like this to me?"A glimmer of malice flashe
What would Liam do if he found out Prince Faber had captured his wife? Surely he would not hesitate to turn the entire city upside down to look for her?Prince Faber was more than familiar with Liam's fierce loyalty and could not help but begin to worry at the prospect of having to face his wrath. He stared at Keyon's leering face and asked with belated realization, "Mr. Yeager, you ordered me to capture all those people from the Drunham City Connoisseurs, but the truth is, your sole target has always been Liam's wife. Is that right?"Keyon nodded, smiling. "That's right. We could care less about those businessmen. All we wanted was to get our hands on Celena Stone!"I must admit I was very surprised when I found out that Celena Stone is the wife of the great King Pendragon. Not only that, but I made an even more shocking discovery—it turns out that Liam is none other than the lone survivor of the Cole family, the noble clan who were allegedly wiped out seven years ago!"The ment
After a few moments' hesitation, he finally decided to shoot his shot. "Mr. Yeager, there is something I don't understand. Why did the Yeagers order these businessmen's capture? I've looked into their backgrounds, and they are all honest businessmen who have not broken the law before. If the media catches wind of this, they will surely accuse me of abusing my power…"This was what Prince Faber had been worried about. He had already investigated the people whom the Yeagers ordered to be captured and did not understand why the Yeagers wanted them imprisoned. They were all civilians who had not committed any crime, and he dared not even imagine the consequences if the public found out he had ordered the incarceration of innocent citizens.Keyon understood immediately Prince Faber's concern. He smiled and replied in a reassuring tone, "Worry not, Prince Faber. We Yeagers have taken care of everything. We have made absolutely sure to cover up all your tracks, and no one will know you were
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