#She was worried about him and sighed softly, not wanting to disturb him. However, Darius was an enlightened martial artist—how could he not hear her? He frowned and opened his eyes, turning to gaze at her with a helpless look in his eyes.Alicia couldn’t discern the emotions in his eyes, and she tensed when his eyes landed on her. He could tell how nervous she was, and he sighed softly. He beckoned at her and said, “Come here.”Alicia didn’t know why he was beckoning at her, but this was the gentlest she’d seen him, and her heart raced. She felt like she was having an out-of-body experience, or perhaps she’d just lost control of her mind. She walked over to Darius, and her face burned the closer she got to him. When she finally stood before him, she felt like her face was so hot she was practically smoking at the ears. “Mr. Reid,” she said in a small voice.When Darius saw her eyes trained on the floor, he couldn’t help sighing again. “I know you guys are terrified of me, but there’
The only person he could spar with was Shelvin, but he’d gone missing after showing up at the hotel for a short time, and no one had seen him since. Darius didn’t expect the problem that had been plaguing him to be resolved like this suddenly, and he looked at the man in black robes. Meditation was long-term, and he wanted to have someone around to meditate with him. Now, it would be best if he could somehow make this man stay.The man’s hair stood on end at the way Darius was looking at him. A wave of fear washed over him, and he subconsciously took a step back. Then, he frowned. He’d never felt this way—it was as if a venomous snake locked its eyes on him. He took a deep breath, then held his hands up and said, “I know you’re an enlightened martial artist, thanks to the hints my fellow apprentice left for me before his death.”Darius placed his hands behind his back and looked at him in confusion because of how the man was talking to him like they were strangers. Hadn’t they alrea
arius had never spoken so much in one go before, so he paused to take a break. Shelvin had a thousand and one questions, and he finally had the chance to pose them when Darius stopped speaking. He quickly walked over to Darius, sat opposite him, and propped his head up with his hands before saying, “I understand every word you said, but I don’t get why you think making these businesses fear you would be difficult. Shouldn’t it be easy-peasy for you? All you need to do is show one of those organizations some tough love, and the others will naturally fear you—you won’t need to do anything else.”Darius leaned back and exhaled. “I can’t deny that you’re partly right. That’s what I intended to do at first, but I later realized I didn’t know which organizations belong to the Gillette Group. This means I won’t be able to effectively threaten them in one go.”Shelvin straightened up, then got to his feet and slowly started to pace before Darius. He’d never considered the picture that Darius
She couldn’t keep herself from smiling, but this didn’t stop her from quickly answering Darius. She said, “This hotel—or perhaps I should say this plot of land—has a long history. It’s been around since my grandmother was a child. Back then, before this hotel was built, no one occupied the land until the Gillette family came into the picture.” Alicia’s voice was calm, but there was a hint of confusion in her eyes. She didn’t know why Darius wanted to know about this.She knew it wasn’t her place to ask, so she racked her brains, trying to remember every detail she could about the hotel. “Based on what I remember, the previous owner of this land was a staunch member of a cult. After his death, the building he’d built here became a place that no one wanted to come near. Things only changed when the Gillette family showed up and produced the lease to the land. They only stayed for a short time before moving out, and no one knows why. Then, they converted the building into a hotel. Thei
As Darius spoke, the corners of his lips curled into a sneer.It revved the engines of Alicia’s heart, making it beat faster than before. That was because she had never seen this charmingly determined side of his. Throughout her time with Darius, she did not even dare to picture him smiling so confidently, fearing the beautiful scene would vanish forever once she snapped out of her daydream. After all, she could never withstand such a rude awakening.Darius placed one hand on the table, waiting for a response from the former. To his surprise, he never got one after a long period. He turned his head, only to realize Alicia’s eyes had lit up at him the entire time. It did not take much effort for him to decipher the meaning behind Alicia’s smitten look. Darius could not hold back his smile and even chuckled at the realization. At the same time, his hand reached out to wave twice in front of the dazed woman.Alicia’s heart fluttered wildly in her chest. She gulped, then quickly spun on
Darius tucked both hands into his pockets. His face was devoid of emotion, regardless of how much Shelvin stared at him with assessing eyes. All he did was frostily ask, “I’d like to know what your next move is. Although nothing you do will work in front of me—someone with true power and wealth, I prefer to save myself the trouble.”Shelvin’s lips curled just then. Although it seemed like a smile, anyone who looked at him would know he was unhappy. He replied, “I was worried you’d behave this way. It’s why I never dared step up before you and reveal all of this—I didn’t want you to see me as an enemy after learning about my identity. It’s not your fault for thinking this way, but I’m not at fault either. After all, I was taught the wrong values while growing up.”A brief but loud snort came from Darius, his distrust and disdain oozing into the space. It made Shelvin tense up while gawking at the former. Seeing Shelvin’s widened eyes, Darius raised a brow as he neutrally interrogated,
“Speaking of this, who’s the remaining shareholder of this hotel?” Darius asked, thinking he understood Umbrite Hotel’s division of shares well since he had previously scanned through the information of each shareholder. Even so, he could not help second-guessing the identities of the hotel’s shareholders.“Huh? Has Mr. Reid recently unearthed new information? Or is there another reason he’s asking me this?” The cogs in Edward’s brain spun faster just then. He was so immersed in his thoughts that he froze the entire time. Eventually, he parted his lips to voice his curiosity but got interrupted by Alicia’s bright voice. “Don’t worry, Mr. Reid. We’ll ensure that the final shareholder shows up for tomorrow’s banquet. I’ll personally bring him over from his residence if otherwise.”That garnered a satisfied nod from Darius, who then waved to dismiss the two.A sigh of relief escaped Alicia immediately after. Her arm shot forward to grab Edward’s wrist as she speedily led him away. Befo
Shelvin straightened his back at once, adding, “One more thing—they now consider my existence a serious issue because I’ve located their newly developed medicinal substance and successfully injected it into my body in front of them.”Darius’ eyes had fallen shut some time ago, and his breathing remained steady.Unsure whether Darius was awake, Shelvin got onto his approached the former to find out. Yet, as he stepped one foot forward, Darius’ eyes shot open as if shooting a dark warning at him. Before Shelvin could process what was happening, his feet stumbled backward out of instinct, causing him to almost fall out of fear. Before he could stabilize himself, his gaze darted past the room and noticed Darius’ expression had returned to neutral. That was enough to relieve the weight off his shoulders. Following that, Shelvin recomposed himself and calmly stated, “I know you have your reservations toward me, but please don’t worry. You’ll see I’ve been telling the truth this entire tim
"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