Erin followed Darius out of the room. She looked even more confused by Darius' question but still nodded. "Yes, I do."Darius' grin widened. "The person who's locked in the car and screaming his head off now is the youngest son of the Evans family—Ursula Evans' youngest brother."Erin frowned. "Isn't Ursula Evans out to get you? Won't her brother … ""Her brother is out to get her." Darius finished her sentence. "My instincts as an enlightened martial artist tell me he's innocent enough, if only a little mischievous." He headed toward the car, where Iago looked terrified yet infuriated. Never in his life would he have expected to find himself locked in a car after waking up from a short nap. His breathing raced, and he jolted when he saw Darius appear before him. He stopped yelling and fixed an aggrieved, pitiful gaze on Darius.Instead of unlocking the car, Darius slowed to a stop and turned to look at Erin with a smile. "Look at him. He wouldn't hurt a fly."Erin bit her lip withou
This time, however, they didn't linger in the hall. Instead, they headed straight to the study. Darius sat down and placed a hand on the desk. He shut his eyes and slowly rapped his knuckles on the desk. "Alright, tell me what else has happened recently."Erin stood opposite him with her hands behind her back. "There have been some other incidents, but everything related to West Atlantics Int'l has either been good news or not too urgent. Zack's betrayal didn't cause any financial losses, and the issues he caused with the cash flow have already been rectified by cutting some costs internally … " At the thought of this, her eyes widened. "Sir, as you're aware, all our projects are fund-intensive, but we managed to resolve the cash flow issue solely by cutting costs. We didn't even need to cut the employees' salaries. This means we've been overspending in this aspect; I think this is something we can look into for further improvement."Darius continued to knock on the desk. Then, he wa
Erin didn't dare meet Darius' eyes. From where he sat, Darius could clearly see how red Erin's face was, and he knew he'd guessed correctly. "Well, since you guys have already done everything that you can, are you here to ask me to question Zack personally?" he asked calmly.Erin said hesitantly, "I know you haven't fully recovered and that you're busy, but I still wanted to ask you—""There are too many questions in this world that have no answers," Darius interjected. He smiled and continued, "Alright, that's the end of this matter. If Zack wants to see me, you can bring him here. Otherwise, inform him that he can head to the HR department to get his resignation settled. Remember—this has to be voluntary on his part. If he doesn't say anything, act as if you know nothing." With that, he stopped knocking on the table. "I assume he still doesn't know we're already aware of him contacting Dream Investment Group."Erin's grimace faded as she shook her head. "I'm not sure whether he know
After a long silence, Erin said in a small voice, "There's something wrong with your admission status again." Darius silently raised an eyebrow, making Erin's hair stand on end. She gulped, then hurriedly said, "Because you've continued to be absent from class, the university has decided to temporarily suspend your admission again. If not for Professor Owen Kurt lending you a hand, things would probably be worse."Darius sighed and turned to look out the window in an attempt to calm down. A few seconds later, he said, "Got it. Tomorrow morning, when we're done dealing with this mess, I'll arrive at the university at eight on the dot to talk to the dean—" He abruptly fell silent.Erin looked at him curiously. "Sir, is there something that you haven't told us?"Darius gave her a complicated look and nodded. "This is rude of me, but I've forgotten the dean's name because I've never actually thought of him as my dean."Erin's lips twitched at his words. Still, as a professional secretary
"That way, I'll be able to help him avenge his son," said Darius.Erin stiffened and stared at him with wide eyes. Suddenly, she didn't know what to think of him. She gulped and said, "Sir, is that the right thing to do?"Darius shrugged. "It doesn't matter because I know there must be something wrong with this son of his." Erin gaped at him. He shook his head and smiled. "You'll need to learn to accept these things. The mysterious person behind Dream Investment Group will soon find it hard to enjoy his position of power and will come after us again. If we don't strike preemptively, we're the ones who'll have to bear the consequences, good or bad. I'd like to avoid that—my objective is to provide the best that I can for my employees so they can live better lives."Erin nodded. Then, she turned to leave. She was still taken aback by Darius' plan when she returned to her office and took her seat. She'd seen a different side of him today, a side that he'd never shown others before. Befor
"They'll only go in one ear and out the other! I won't believe a word you say; they won't have the chance to enter my mind, let alone be processed." Zack forced the words out through gritted teeth, his fury evident. Darius could almost feel it through the speakers. Zack exhaled heavily and said, "If Darius were the one who'd caused my injuries, I wouldn't be so resentful. Yet the reality is the exact opposite!" He slammed a hand on the table. "Darius isn't the one who injured me. On the contrary, he saved my life! The person I've been plotting against all this while saved my life, which was in danger because of my so-called comrades. Do you know how guilty I feel toward Darius because of this? There's no way I can continue working against him in secret. Since I'm destined to die in the same person's hands, there's no way I'll continue doing anything for that person. As for you, you're also nothing more than a pawn to him. It's your choice if you continue working for him, but I hop
Pearl took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Her heart wasn't pounding as quickly anymore, but her eyes were still red. She parted her lips to say something when she saw a broken banister behind Darius. She subconsciously pointed at it before looking at Darius in confusion. Darius sighed and frowned. "It looks like the quality of the furnishings in this place isn't that great." As he spoke, he looked down at the part of the banister he held. Pearl's gaze followed his, and her jaw dropped when she saw what he held. Only then did she realize how quickly Darius had moved earlier. She said in disbelief, "I can barely believe this, but you honestly did move that quickly when you appeared before me earlier. My eyes weren't playing tricks on me because I was sad—you didn't take the stairs at all! You jumped over the banister, taking it down with you!" Her voice grew increasingly high-pitched as she spoke.Darius shrugged. "I heard you crying, and my first thought was that you were
"I'm really sorry for causing so much trouble for you tonight, especially stopping you from getting rest. I saw that you'd already turned the lights off earlier." Pearl pointed in the direction of his room.Darius smiled and shook his head. "You don't need to worry about these things. In any case, I wasn't asleep yet. If I were, I wouldn't have come downstairs because I heard you crying."Pearl looked surprised, unsure how to respond to this. She knew Darius was trying to alleviate her guilt over disrupting his rest, but she didn't necessarily want to hear him say these things. She fidgeted, wondering how to react.Darius sighed and patted her on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go upstairs. Honestly, you don't need to overthink these things. We're friends, so I'll always be around to help you when you're sad or upset, as long as you need it." He looked at her seriously.Pearl met his gaze. In the past, she'd never been able to understand what people meant when they said someone had brig
"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