Bruno's friends approached at lightning speed. They took broad steps and soon blocked off Darius' path. Although they panted heavily, they shot determined looks at Darius. Among them was a woman who put both hands behind her back as she spoke. "Sir, are you doing this because you know you're at fault? Bruno has been our dear friend for many years. We take friendships seriously, and so does our friend. He would never lie to us about this. I can tell you're wealthy from your home. It would be a high risk for Bruno to trick us into coming here and harming you. As our friend, he would never do that."Darius noticed the person was shaking while saying that. He cocked a brow before sneering, "You guys place a lot of trust in Bruno. Sadly, he's unworthy of such trust."With a sigh, he walked ahead and added, "What you think is unimportant to me. But let me tell you that the others are over there. You're free to enter if you still don't believe me. I bet Bruno will have valid explanations fo
Bruno's friends pursed their lips in hesitation. After a while, one of the friends looked at Darius. She forced herself to say, "You may say that, but sorry, I don't trust you."She walked to the side and approached Bruno with caution.Darius continued smiling but didn't say a word. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest. He stayed on the spot and fixed his eyes on Bruno.Bruno rarely got stared at like that, so he inhaled. Then, his face creased with rage as he bellowed, "I don't know why you're treating me like this, Darius Reid! Is it only because I didn't do the awful things you asked?"His friends raised their brows at Darius. Before they could ask anything, Darius' head turned to the side. Darius then extended his arm to point at the ceiling. Everyone was still confused upon seeing Darius' unwavering gaze. Still, they couldn't help but look in that direction. Their faces darkened once they did so.That was because a surveillance camera was right above his head.The group
Darius smiled, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. Bruno's friends noticed that. They inched toward Bruno because they feared Darius would attack the former. Otherwise, they couldn't protect Bruno if Darius made a move.Darius' smirk deepened when he saw the group form a defensive barrier before him. He leaned back, then sneered.That made everyone's face darken. Yet, no one dared to speak because Darius terrified them.Darius crossed his arms over his chest and sat on the couch while nodding. "I planned to forgive you guys because you seemed like kind people. Alas, your actions now show that's not the case." He sighed, cracked his neck, then leaned back. "You came up with any excuse to achieve your goals and justify your skewed assumptions about the rich, even if said assumptions were unfair. I didn't want to say these things because I didn't think it mattered at first."Darius sighed again. "But I'm willing to give you another chance since you guys haven't done anything too wrong
Darius crossed one leg over the other while leaning back against the surveillance room's chair. He also comfortably crossed his arms over his chest. He looked at the woman like she was an idiot.The woman never imagined Darus would question her motives after her efforts in putting on a pitiful act. Her breathing quickened while she widened her eyes at him. She later shut her eyes to say, "My plea is genuine, so I never considered the possibility of you doubting me. I must admit that I don't know what to do now."After saying that, she cast a hurtful but pleading gaze at Darius. "Mr. Reid, I've expressed my utmost sincerity, so I have nothing else to say. Regardless, please give me a chance. Let me stay with you. You'll see I'm determined to serve you and that my efforts are purely to make up for my mistakes!"Darius hadn't considered why the woman wanted to stay with him. Yet, he now refused to let her stay with him after pondering the matter. After all, everything she did felt odd. D
"I look forward to hearing you correct me if you think I've made the wrong assumption." Darius smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He stood there. It was like his presence had made the surrounding temperature drop.The woman gulped. She had never encountered anyone like Darius before. At that moment, she felt like her plan was about to fail. Her eyes fell shut, and even her breathing grew louder. After several seconds, she opened her eyes to look at Darius. She realized how stupid she was. Because of that, the woman didn't waste any more time. Even her voice didn't fluctuate as she voiced a sincere question. "Darius, let me ask you something. Did you already know things weren't as they seemed from the start? Did you guess my identity when we first met? You knew I wasn't a regular person, and I had an ulterior motive for appearing before you? Did you know that?" Her voice grew higher with every word. Darius raised a brow, then pivoted to meet the former's gaze. "What you're say
They were still worried Darius would suddenly attack them. Darius put his hands behind his back, looking calm. "You amuse me. You'd just turned on each other, yet you're all good friends again right now."Bruno was still on the ground. He glared at Darius. His voice was shaky as he spoke, but he still forced the words out. "That's because you're evil! All these people standing before me are kind souls. We've known each other for years, and they know what sort of person I am. You may have pulled some tricks to confuse them for a short while, but that's not enough to drive a wedge between us. All the lies would've been exposed the moment we saw each other."He held his head up proudly. "That's how confident I am in our friendship! You, on the other hand, don't look like you have any friends. That's why you'll never understand what it's like to trust your friends!" Bruno gave Darius a challenging look.Darius rolled his eyes and sighed. "I bet you don't realize how ridiculous you sound."
Erin shook her head after sending those messages. She looked baffled. Then, she continued typing, "Sir, you might not be too familiar with these things, but this is a rare occurrence. It's rare for someone to refuse to change their surname despite being kicked out by their family. This is especially so for the wealthy. There's something amiss here, and I think there are more secrets we can dig up. I've been digging for some time but can't get anything out of them. None of the members of the Evans family are willing to say a thing on this."Darius nodded, looking calm. "That's okay. It's only normal that you can't get anything out of them. If it were so easy to find out, they wouldn't be one of the most powerful families in Ashweir City—at least on the surface. It's really not that powerful." He flexed his neck. "You can go back to work. I'll see how things go and play it by ear. Don't worry." He hung up.Erin parted her lips when she heard the dial tone but didn't say anything. She kn
When Darius had dealt with those key members of the Evans family, the others had stood idly by. He was positive they didn't do anything to stop him back then. Now, they were causing trouble for him again. Something was obviously afoot here.He raised an eyebrow. He thought about the injuries Ursula and Winston had sustained while locked in his basement. They'd both been completely fine before that. At this thought, Darius' eyes lit up. Maybe he was another step closer to the truth—Dream Investment Group!He narrowed his eyes and snorted. He didn't know who controlled Dream Investment Group, but the guy was ridiculous. His expression then darkened at the thought of the mysterious black-robed person. He was the one who was truly controlling Dream Investment Group. The guy had it out for him.Darius' life force spread over everything in the Evans family manor's vicinity. Then, he said, "Mr. Teivel." To his surprise, Teivel didn't respond. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. Teivel wouldn't
"If you hadn't picked on me, I wouldn't have ended up like this. No matter how wealthy I've become, I'll never be able to take these black robes off!" The mysterious man's voice was shaky. He was extremely agitated.James frowned at that. He said curiously, "You keep saying I've done you wrong, but everything I did to you was what you did to others. I only gave you a taste of your own medicine."The mysterious man's breathing sped up when he heard that. He barked out a laugh and sneered, "I'll be honest with you. I never thought I'd have the chance to meet someone as dumb as you again."He shook his head. "I find it hard to imagine what your grandson will do when he sees you like this." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the door was kicked open with a loud bang. The man was caught off guard. He looked at Darius as his body trembled violently.Darius frowned when he saw this. It was completely different from what he'd imagined. He narrowed his eyes at the mysterious man, his
Gabriel smiled and nodded. "Alright, then. I'll return to my workstation and prepare a proposal on what to do with Noah."Darius nodded and smiled. "Good. That's all I ever wanted." He turned to leave. "You need to get to work, and I need to return to my hotel to get some rest."Gabriel stopped. Darius' words made him hesitate. "I'm sorry to be asking this because I don't think it's my place, but it's probably better for me to ask anyway. I don't remember there being any hotels nearby."You should head home if you wanna get some rest. I don't understand why you're heading to a hotel to rest."Darius raised an eyebrow, looking surprised. He turned with his hands behind his back to look at Gabriel helplessly. "I don't know how to feel about what you've just said. You're making me think you're a little silly. Wouldn't I know how to search for a hotel?"It won't take you long to prepare a proposal, but it'll take me ages to get home from here." Darius turned and left.Gabriel's lips twitc
"Because you realized the risk was far greater than what you were comfortable with," Darius said calmly.But Noah started trembling. He looked at Darius in terror. He didn't expect Darius to see right through him after some simple back-and-forth. His eyes widened in fear.Everything that was happening now made him feel like he was dreaming. Noah had only been a step away from success, yet Darius had ruined everything.Tears filled his eyes as he gazed at Darius. "I've said everything there is to say. I'm the lowest rung on this ladder, and I only have one purpose for being here. It's to make you come under the authorities' control. Once you're here, my mission's accomplished."Someone else from the authorities will be here to deal with you, but that has nothing to do with me. They wouldn't have told me about it, anyway."Darius put his hands behind his back without saying anything. He turned to leave. Noah's eyes widened as he stared in fear at Darius' back.Darius didn't see this, bu
When Darius straightened up, his face became devoid of emotion. He said calmly, "I've wasted too much time on you. Now, I only want frank answers. Otherwise, I'll punish you for every lie that you tell me. I don't see any hope in your eyes, but let's see whether you prove me wrong."Darius paused, then continued, "I've already said something similar once. That was a chance I gave you. From this moment onward, I want you to know that I won't repeat myself because I believe you've had enough time to prepare yourself."Gabriel stood beside him and put his hands behind his back as his lips twitched. He'd thought about the various reasons for Darius repeating himself. But the one thing that hadn't occurred to him was that Darius had done it to give Noah time to prepare.Gabriel felt like applauding Darius, but the rational side of him stopped him from doing so. His rationality told him he'd be in for trouble if he were to do that, so he only looked at Darius with a smile.Darius sensed Ga
Darius raised an eyebrow and smiled. Then, he said, "You're too nervous, Gabriel. It makes it seem like you don't trust me. In truth, there's nothing for you to worry about."He stretched his neck and continued, "I know very well how bad the consequences of destroying this building will be. Aside from those silly regulations, I'll also need to pay for it. I might be wealthy, but that doesn't mean I'll enjoy forking out a huge sum of money as compensation."Darius spread his hands and shrugged. At the same time, he pointed at the window and turned to look at Gabriel. Then, he said, "Look. The windows are perfectly fine. They're not even scratched. That shows my life force is non-destructive."That's why you have nothing to worry about. You can put your heart back into your chest."Gabriel straightened up and sighed in relief. Then, he gave Darius an embarrassed smile.Darius grinned but didn't say anything in response. He put his hands behind his back and turned to look at Noah. He sai
"We're classmates from the same major, too! We were interns at Dream Investment Group, remember? And we got kicked out on our first day. You broke my legs because of a tiny argument we had outside the building! The surveillance cameras captured all of this!" Noah cried.Darius tucked his hands into his pockets and rolled his eyes. Then, he said mockingly, "You're the biggest fool I've ever met. Do you think you're the only one who can tamper with the surveillance footage? Any footage that can be tampered with can also be restored."Noah's eyes widened in shock. He gulped and tried to think of a way to explain away the injuries Darius had inflicted on him. Still, he couldn't think of anything. Before he had the chance to think any further, Darius spoke.He said, "There's one thing you got right, though. Gabriel is on my side, so he'll stand up for me no matter what you say."Gabriel's lips twitched at that. He subconsciously opened his mouth to say something in return, but Darius bea
"And I don't think it's my job to make you see sense," Gabriel continued. He put his hands behind his back. He gave Noah a look that was an odd mixture of gentle iciness. "I've given you more than enough time and chances."Gabriel sighed. "It's obvious that you don't care for that, though. And so I think it's time for me to treat you as an officer should." He sat down on the other side of the desk again.Noah's face was white with fear. Gabriel acted like he didn't see this, though. He smiled. "As I mentioned, I gave you plenty of time and chances, but you didn't appreciate them."His gaze turned frosty. "If that's the case, I'm sure you won't object to me doing this per our guidelines."Noah cried, "No, wait! I don't know what Darius has promised you to make you side with him unconditionally, but there's no way I'll let you two get away with this. You have to make sure you do everything by the book. It's a reasonable request, and you have no right to turn me down!"He trembled viole
Gabriel put his hands behind his back as he looked at Noah with a smile. "Now, you've piqued my interest."Noah looked up at Gabriel. His voice was deep and hoarse as he said, "If you help me, I'll give you half of the Reid Consortium's assets once I get my hands on them. You should know that without me, there's no way you'll get a dime from the Reid Consortium."Gabriel snorted with laughter when he heard that. He straightened up and slowly circled Noah. He sounded mocking as he said, "You've lost me there. I tried to puzzle it out, but it doesn't make sense at all."Why would I want to get my hands on the Reid Consortium's fortune? Even without it, I'm perfectly independent. I don't need it to survive."Gabriel crossed his arms and looked at Noah mockingly. "Or maybe you're different from the rest of us. Maybe you'll die without the Reid Consortium's wealth." He smirked and gave Noah a sharp gaze.Noah raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You're the one making me laugh now. I don't know
Gabriel sounded gentle, but everyone knew that was far from the truth. This was especially true for Noah, who sat across from him. He felt incredibly nervous. He shut his eyes and breathed rapidly.Noah never would've expected to still be in danger after being taken in by the authorities. He frowned and looked up at Gabriel. "So, are you determined to help Darius now?" His voice was shaky, and his eyes were wide because of his nerves.His emotions were clear as he looked at Gabriel. Gabriel bit his lip, feeling like he was about to laugh. To stop Noah from noticing, he quickly exhaled and sat down with one leg over the other. At the same time, he leaned forward to place his hands on the desk.He tapped his fingers on the desk quickly but rhythmically. Gabriel's eyes were devoid of emotion as he looked at Noah. "Tell me, Noah. What happened between you and Darius? Earlier, you said he was the one who injured you. Do you have any proof?"Because we checked the surveillance footage, a