“Darius isn’t asking about our level of expertise for his personal benefit,” Bridget thought, touched that Darius had bothered to learn more about her abilities. It meant he was genuinely listening and learning about his bodyguards. “I once won first place in a hacking competition,” she elaborated, “And Edward can do many things with his skills. Only he, among the other bodyguards, is able to perform challenging surgical operations.”Darius leaned against the seat’s backrest, falling into deep thought. It took a while before he spoke. “Both of your levels of expertise seem superior to other experts in those respective fields. One can even say you’re both top in the world at what you do.”Still groveling on the ground, Shelvin’s eyes shot open once he heard Darius’ words. “I didn’t find out about that information beforehand. If I had known, I wouldn’t have shown up today.” With that thought, Shelvin did not hesitate to tear up and plead, “Mr. Reid, please forgive me! I didn’t know your ba
Edward stayed rooted to the ground wordlessly as he did nothing wrong. He believed Darius was a justice person who would never let him suffer for anything he did not do.Everyone on board had conflicted thoughts, but none spoke except for Shelvin.He squawked with a pitchy tone, “Of course, Edward didn’t agree. However, he was very young and not a professional bodyguard at the time, so he had no idea that we put a tracking device on him once he entered the room. From that, we managed to track Darius’ every action accurately. The person then got Edward’s ex-fiancé’s mother to start trouble at the airport, delaying things so we could tamper with the plane and ensure Darius died aboard. Alas, things turned out to be different from what we expected—we never expected Elizabeth to get involved. She somehow got on this plane too. We never planned to kill her.”Darius’ lips curled into a frosty smirk. Shelvin knew Darius believed him when he saw the latter smirking. He calmly continued, “So when
Besides, I don’t want to, nor will I, allow them to live. After all, their recent schemes involve recruiting children to scam other families, which I can’t tolerate.” While saying that, Shevin boldly looked into Darius’ eyes. “I believe you’re also aware of these things. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have acted against them.”Darius’ gaze bore into him as he nodded. “I’ve said many things to you today, and it’s significantly more than my usual conversations with my secretary. Among everything we discussed, your last assumption is the most accurate. It’s what I like to hear. Thus, from this point on until the plane lands, I want you to shut up unless you’re uttering facts. That way, I might stay in a good mood and allow you to leave this plane alive.”Meanwhile, the captain had been on the ground in the row ahead, his fingers roaming over Kate’s head. After Shelvin and Darius’ conversation dwindled, the captain meekly reported to Darius, “Kate’s not doing so good. She has suffered trauma to her
Kate had neverimagined Darius smiling at her before, especially after she’d come onto him soforcefully.Darius shook hishead, then said, “I think you can stand up now that you’re feeling better.”She was stilldazed by his smile, so she stood up without a second thought. Then, she heardthe despair in the captain’s voice. “No, wait! You shouldn’t do that! It’s muchtoo dangerous now!”Unfortunately, itwas too late, and his despair grew as he looked at Darius. Now, he had twooptions—to go along with what Darius wanted or to go against him. No matterwhich one he picked, he wouldn’t be able to live a peaceful life. So, he choseto leave a good impression on the people who would make it out of this aliveand win himself a stellar reputation. He would show them that he was willing todie to protect his master no matter how dangerous it was, which meant that hewould stop Darius.He hurried overto stand between Kate and Darius, his expression mixed with fear and anger.“How can you a
“Therefore, canyou pretend nothing happened on this plane and continue doing what you’resupposed to?”The captainnodded without hesitation. He held a trembling hand out and said, “There’s noway I’ll turn down your request. May I shake your hand?”Edward shruggedand nodded. He relaxed a little and said, “If you’re willing, I can take aphoto with you.”The captain’sface glowed with excitement. His lips were trembling so badly that he couldn’tsay a word, and he’d even teared up. He shuffled over to Edward, then pulledout his phone with trembling hands and snapped a blurry photo.Darius saw thatthere was no way to tell who was in the photo, so he smiled helplessly and tookthe phone from the captain. Then, he aimed the camera at them and said, “Let’stake another photo. The other one was blurred.”Bridget walkedover to Erin with her hands behind her back as she gaped at the scene beforethem. It felt so surreal. When Erin heard how uneven her breathing was, sheknew Bridget was
Her eyes widened,and she looked confused. However, she only allowed herself to stay like thisfor a second before regaining her composure. She grabbed her things and hurriedoff the plane. She had to catch up with Darius.When Kate sawthem moving, she got ready to get off the plane as well. Before she could doso, someone appeared before her. It was a man with blond hair and plainfeatures. She knew who he was—Darius’ bodyguard, the surgeon. The captainpractically worshipped him and treated Darius nicely because of him. So, shetold herself to be nice to him.She forced out asmile and said, “You’re Edward, right? May I know why you’re stopping me fromgetting off the plane?”Edward looked ather seriously. “Because I’m a bodyguard. I can tell that you want to get closeto Mr. Reid, and that’s not something that I can allow.”Kate resisted theurge to roll her eyes. She was starting to dislike Edward already, but shecouldn’t show it. As she pondered this, Edward said, “Mr. Reid w
##Her angerdidn’t bring about the results she wanted. On the contrary, the security guardsburst into laughter. One of them said, “I think you need to get thisstraight—you have no right to make any demands of us because your employer’sonly driving a car that’s worth half a million. In fact, youdon’t even have the right to come up to us and talk to us. If not for thatpretty face, you would already be flat on your back.”Their eyestrailed over Erin’s body lasciviously. To their surprise, this didn’t even makeher flinch. The security guard who’d spoken wasn’t happy with this, so heraised his voice and said to the guard opposite him, “Look, I was right. Thiswoman’s not the proper type—why would she be getting out from the back seat ifshe were that guy’s secretary? Unless, of course, she was giving him some extraspecial service.”His meaning wasrelatively covert, but everyone presents still understood what he was gettingat. They turned to look at Erin with pointed gazes, but
“Don’t worry, Mr.Reid. I’ll settle this.”Darius nodded,then closed his eyes and fell silent.Viktor wasterrified. He cried, “Darius, let me go this once, please! I didn’t doanything—I didn’t even speak to the woman! I merely agreed with what Lyonsaid.”Lyon’s eyesbulged. He spat on the ground and growled, “If you had the least bit of shame,you wouldn’t have said that. When we came across situations like this in thepast, it’s not like you didn’t get anything out of them. Now that the shit hashit the fan, you’re pushing all the blame on me so that this dude will vent hisanger on me. I’m not going to take this lying down, and you’ll pay the pricefor what you’ve done!”His tone wasresolute and firm. It made Viktor’s face turn ghostly pale.Darius’ gazetraveled between the two of them. Then, he narrowed his eyes, seemingly havingunderstood something. He took a deep breath before putting his hands behind hisback and walking into the hotel.Edward followedhim while dragging
"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