Just as the guards were closing in on Liam and Celena, someone suddenly shouted coming from the back, "Stop!"Mr. Dixon and the guards were all stunned. They turned around and saw Yousef walking toward them with Rebecca.Seeing that the man approaching them was Yousef, Mr. Dixon immediately smiled to fawn over him. He quickly said with a grin, "Mr. Yousef Bristow, is there anything I can help you with? If you have any order, you just say the word and our servers will help you."Before he finished his sentence, Yousef was already standing right before him, looking furious. However, Mr. Dixon was bowing his head so low that he did not notice any of this. All he could think of was to grovel at Yousef's feet as he knew that Yousef was one of the shareholders of The Grand Crown. This was his boss, so naturally, he had to be his best self!The Grand Crown had branches all over the state. If he could be noticed by Yousef and be promoted to the general manager.At this thought, Mr. Dixo
"How dare you look down upon the heroes who helped build Biskeland? Were your forefathers not poor? What gives you the audacity to look down on poor people?”Liam's words echoed through the lobby of The Grand Crown.After hearing what Liam said, Mr. Dixon was so scared that he could only kneel and beg for forgiveness in a panic. Yousef was standing at the side, looking displeased. He looked angrily at Mr. Dixon and said, "Mr. Dixon, you're a manager, yet you don't even know the basic principle of respecting your guests. From this moment on, you're no longer the manager of The Grand Crown, and you're to greet all guests at the door. It's time for you to learn your etiquette properly!"Mr. Dixon looked ashen as he heard the verdict, but all he could do was continue to beg for forgiveness. After finishing what he had to say, Yousef looked toward Liam with a smile and asked, "Mr. Cole, are you satisfied with how I handled this?"Initially, Liam did not intend to press on further. H
Liam simply smiled but did not say anything in response. Instead, it was Yousef who glanced around the room before beckoning them over, with the widest grin one could ever lay eyes on. "Come, sit. We'll talk about this over some food!"As soon as they took their seats, Yousef raised his glass and declared, "Mr. and Mrs. Cole, I would like to apologize on behalf of my foolish son. Once again his arrogance has gotten him into trouble, and I should've raised him better. Please forgive him!"Then, he brought the glass to his lips and downed the contents without a moment's hesitation.Rebecca raised her glass as well and turned to Celena. "Mrs. Cole, I'm so sorry for what my son did to you. This is all my fault. I had spoiled and enabled him all his life, and now he's grown into a foolish man with no regard for right or wrong. I would like to sincerely apologize to you for this, Mrs. Cole, but I hope you find it within you to forgive him. You are a mother as well, after all, so surely yo
Yousef suddenly recalled the fact that he had indeed done so as Liam described, but he had been at the front whereas Liam was behind him, so how could he even notice that?As puzzled as Yousef was, he did not spend much time on it. Instead, he gazed at Liam with a searching look and said, "I see. Well, I guess I had indeed underestimated you, which brings me to another question—it's rare to come across someone with such sharp observation skills. Not even the best of warriors possess such a keen perception. Are you telling the truth about being an unemployed son-in-law of the Stones?"Liam was not even fazed by this. "Of course!"Yousef nodded, then took a sip from his wine and said, cutting straight to the chase, "Very well then, Mr. Cole. I won't beat around the bush anymore. Are you going to withdraw the case from court or not?"Liam was rather amused to see such a dramatic change in Yousef's demeanor within seconds. He smirked and replied, "Mr. Bristow, my wife and I had come he
Yousef, who was sitting at the head of the table, lit a cigar, and took a puff from it. He sneered at Liam through the smoke. "Liam, I had no intention of using violence against you tonight. I will be more than willing to let you off the hook if you decide to withdraw my son's case. If not, I'm afraid neither of you will be able to walk out of here alive. In fact, I think your adorable little daughter would make a good dinner for the fish in the lakes as well."Of course, it would not be hard getting rid of you. As long as the both of you die, there will no longer be any witnesses for my son's case, and it will simply take a few dollar bills to bail my son out of jail."Let me give you a piece of advice, Liam. You need to recognize when you are given a valuable opportunity and seize it. What you choose today can decide your entire family's fate, so choose wisely." Yousef's threat was laced with malice. It was clear that Liam and Celena would not be able to walk out of there alive s
Celena tugged on Liam's arm and whispered, "Liam, maybe… maybe it's not a good idea to cross the Bristow family. Come on, let's get this over with… I'm fine, anyway, I…"Yousef was delighted to hear this. A grin spread across his face as he said, "What a wise decision, indeed, Mrs. Cole. How about you, Mr. Cole? You should really think long and hard about this. Perhaps you might think crossing us is no big deal, but what about your wife and children? You need to take them into consideration as well, right? Are you sure you want to put your entire family in danger by crossing us?"Liam gently patted Celena's clammy, trembling hand in reassurance, then lifted his head to meet Yousef's gaze. "Is that so? What if I choose neither of these options?"Yousef's expression darkened, his fury evident in his dark, penetrating eyes. A surge of menacing power surged around him as he snarled, "I see you are prepared to become fish food along with your wife and daughter!"Liam shook his head, smi
"My hand! Ahhh!""My hand!""He broke my hand!"The three of them cried out in agony, but before they knew it, Liam cocked his fists and brought them down squarely on the two chests, while at the same time kicking the third with his foot. The three of them sailed through the air, crashed into the wall on the far side of the room, and finally landed in a crumpled heap on the ground. Their crash sent a crack running straight through the wall, and in a split second, the paintings on the wall fell from their hooks, landing on the three men in a shattered mess. The three men, however, had already passed out from their impact and were no longer breathing!All the remaining gangsters looked on in horror, then turned to Liam with bloodshot eyes. A bald, burly man in the lead let out a cry of fury, then raised his dagger above his head and lumbered straight toward Liam. "Let's get him! He can't get away with killing our comrades like this! Get him!"The gangsters all lunged toward Liam
No one could face the King Pendragon's wrath and live to tell the tale! Not to mention these thugs who had the audacity to attack Celena while his back was turned!None of the remaining surviving gangsters dared to even make a move. Instead, they all stood there in bewilderment, peering at Liam with frightened looks. The entire room fell into an eerie silence. Yousef stared at the scene before him in utter disbelief as the metallic smell of blood engulfed his senses. He gulped as he stared around him at the limp, lifeless bodies on the ground. Within just a few minutes, over half of his men had died before his eyes!Yousef glared at Liam with bloodshot eyes, refusing to admit defeat. He shouted at the rest of his men, "Kill him! Whoever kills him gets two hundred thousand dollars as a reward from me!"Indeed, money was the greatest motivator!The remaining dozen or so gangsters all straightened up when they heard this, their greed overpowering their fear. They raised their da
The entire meeting room was in absolute chaos. The remaining three Elders were equally vexed, and they all scowled, cracking their knuckles in fury."These people are getting out of hand! How can they possibly frame Liam's poor wife for such an atrocious crime?""We must get to the bottom of this! We must find out who's behind this! He or she cannot go unpunished!"Timothy nodded in agreement and roared at his cowering assistant, "Go find out what truly happened! Find out which filthy scum ordered Celena's arrest and what could possibly delude them into thinking she is a spy against our country!"His assistant squeaked a reply, then sped out of the room as fast as his legs could take him. He did not stop until he reached the front door of the Grand Pendragon Department, where he stood, panting and trying to catch his breath. His expression was wild with fear. He had never seen the Four Elders so furious before. Clearly, whatever had happened to Celena was something very serious ind
Keyon could see right through Prince Faber's apprehension. He replied with a smile, "Prince Faber, why are you so scared of that Liam fellow? Have you somehow forgotten that you are the commander-in-chief now? You have hundreds of thousands of soldiers at your beck and call. Why does it matter what Liam thinks? He has been deposed and is no longer in power! Besides, you have the Yeager family backing you, and there is nothing he can do to harm you!"You don't have to worry about a thing; the Yeagers have this all taken care of. We are just doing this to lure Liam out of hiding. If he dares to touch so much as a hair on your head, he'll be falling right into your trap."Prince Faber furrowed his brows at this. He could not help but question the validity of Keyon's claims. Keyon, sensing this, added, "Prince Faber, you must remember that stripped of his powers, Liam Cole, is now nothing more than an ordinary civilian! If he dares to harm you, he will be sentenced to death for treason a
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