“But I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Darius tapped his fingers on the desk in rapid succession. “And so, I have to apologize for turning down your request.” He stared at William without moving, as if he’d suddenly turned into a statue.However, William knew Darius was only waiting for him to respond. Feeling nervous, he gulped and opened his mouth to tremulously say, “I understand, Mr. Reid. It’s my fault for not thinking the matter through, and I’ll improve on this.” After saying that, William hurried out of the room as quickly as possible.When silence descended upon the room once again, Darius leaned forward. He propped his head up with his arm while reading the report William had just handed to him. It was a surprise to see how concise and well-presented the report was; for the longest time, Darius thought William was useless. Now, it seemed he was wrong. In fact, the report was very well done, and it made him raise an eyebrow.He hadn’t had much time to pay attention to how W
A tall woman stood beside him; the dwarf only reached her waist. Darius gave them a quick look before leaving, but things didn’t go as planned. As soon as he turned to leave, the dwarf hurried to stand in his way. “I’m talking to you, brat. I’ve never seen you in Almiron City before; you must be one of those people who came for the prize money.” The dwarf looked at Darius arrogantly and continued, “I’d advise you to leave now—you paupers have no idea what it’s like to be wealthy, so there’s no way your suggestions will be accepted!” The woman beside him laughed mockingly, then said, “Give them a chance, sir. At least they’ll be able to have a free meal.” Darius raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. He merely sidestepped the dwarf to leave; all he had to do was have someone kick the dwarf out. However, when his back was turned, Erin let out a sharp yelp. He frowned and turned to see the dwarf gripping Erin’s wrist tightly. Darius asked coldly, “What are you trying to do?” H
Darius raised an eyebrow at the bruise and put an arm around Erin’s shoulder. Then, he stepped on Vic and said, “I intended to let you off the hook, but it seems you don’t think that’s necessary. Perhaps you’ll only be satisfied when you’re lifeless and carried out in a body bag.”Vic’s eyes widened at Darius’ words, but there wasn’t a trace of hesitation in his tone when he roared, “That’s enough! Do you realize how unreasonable you sound? I was just interested in the beautiful woman in your arms and wanted to take her home with me, yet you want to take my life! That’s extremely unfair!”Darius smiled, but the crowd shuddered at its iciness. He applied pressure on his foot, stopping when he heard a bone snap. Vic lay on the ground, looking ashen because of the pain. However, he couldn’t make a sound; something seemed lodged in his throat!Darius looked at him scornfully, then turned to the security guard. “Are you linked to West Atlantics Int’l in any way?”The security guard paled a
“Mr. Reid, I realize I’ve made a huge mistake. I hope you’ll give me another chance—I swear I won’t allow this to happen anymore!” The security guard trembled violently, unable to say another word. He looked at Darius pleadingly, not knowing how he would react. He knew nothing about Darius, only having heard others say he was formidable. Based on what he’d heard, Darius was not only intelligent but also more powerful than the average individual—apparently, he rarely came across opponents more powerful than him, so no one had ever witnessed Darius losing a fight. Now, this god-like person stood before him. Darius had given him a chance earlier, but he’d let it slip through his fingers. The security guard descended into despair at this thought—his only hope was that Darius was kind enough to give him another chance. Soon, however, the security guard knew he was out of hope. Not only had Darius not forgiven him, but he hadn’t even spared him a glance. Darius’ gaze swept around the c
Alicia pressed her skirt down before running outside as quickly as possible to look for Darius. She’d made a huge mistake and had to apologize to him before it was too late.On the other hand, Darius was already in the car. However, he hadn’t started it. Erin sat in the backseat instead of riding shotgun as she’d done on the way here. Darius leaned back with his eyes shut. He didn’t say a word, but the atmosphere in the car was so tense that Erin felt smothered. She was about to give in when Alicia ran over to them and stopped by the backseat. She placed a hand on the handle and was about to open the door when it popped open to reveal Erin’s smiling face.Alicia was surprised by this and blurted, “Erin?”Erin’s smile grew wider. “You can get in the front. Mr. Reid has been waiting for a long time.” Her voice was gentle, making Alicia relax. She nodded and shut the door before getting into the passenger seat.Darius didn’t start the car. He said calmly, “As far as I know, you’ve alway
Erin’s eyes lit up at Darius’ words. They’d already started preparing to return to Ashweir City the night before, but it had been delayed because they had to deal with these menial matters.She smiled and pulled her phone out to book the flight tickets, sighing in relief when she was done. “Sir, I’ve booked us a flight for 4 pm; we’ll be in Ashweir City by 6 pm.”Darius nodded. “It’s time for us to pack up, then.”Time flew—before they knew it, it was almost 4 pm. The packing had gone without a hitch, making Darius uneasy as they boarded the flight. His instinct as an enlightened martial artist told him something would go wrong; he kept trying to figure out whether he’d forgotten anything, but nothing came to mind. He frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing.Then, he shut his eyes and took a deep breath, allowing the life force in the air to enter his body. It traveled through his organs and mixed in with his blood. Soon, he found that it started to form a system of
Darius’ voice became much gentler. “You can sit; nothing’s gonna happen to the plane.”On the other hand, Erin had already gotten a change of clothing for him from her carry-on. She handed them to him with both hands, along with some wet wipes and tissues. “Sir, you can’t shower on the plane, so you’ll have to make do with these.”Darius didn’t expect this, and he smiled. He nodded and said, “Thank you.” Then, he got up and headed into the lavatory with the clothes and wet wipes. Just as everyone thought he would shut the door and change, he stopped abruptly and turned to stare at a corner of a plane. A girl who looked to be about eighteen sat there.He narrowed his eyes and walked over to her. The people he walked past felt their hair stand on end because of their fear. The girl stared at him fearfully, but there was also a trace of stubbornness in her eyes. Darius curled his lip and said, “Miss, I thought I made myself clear earlier. Anyone who takes photos of or records my people
The girl shrieked, “Firstly, I don’t think I’m crossing any lines—I only wanted you to apologize to me and not anyone else! Secondly, your apology didn’t please me. On the contrary, it only made me more upset! Thirdly, your little lap dog reprimanded me when I didn’t do anything wrong, so you have to fire her! Lastly, I’m warning you—I want you to apologize to me and me alone! If you don’t do everything that I just said…I’ll have no choice but to spread this all over the internet. When that happens, you’ll be on the receiving end of everyone’s criticism. I pray you’re strong enough to take it!” She held her head up high, looking pleased with herself.Darius narrowed his eyes. His patience for her had run out, so he straightened up and stepped back. The girl smirked, thinking he was going to go all out to apologize to her. Unfortunately for her, her phone exploded in flames; the heat was so intense she felt like her skin was burning. She let out an ear-piercing scream, making everyone
"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