"I haven't had the chance to meditate until tonight, but when I visualized my body earlier, I saw that my life force had condensed into a square. I have no way of reaching into my body and touching it, but I believe that if I could, I could take that square out, and it would be exactly like actual gold," said Darius. To his relief and pleasure, Teivel started laughing at his words. There was a mixture of relaxation and excitement in his laugh, but there was also a trace of something indiscernible. Still, there was no denying that these were all good things, so Darius leaned back and opened his eyes. They gleamed in the darkness.As expected, Teivel's voice was filled with happiness as he said, "This is great—you've ascended to another stage in your meditation. Now, you can truly be considered an enlightened martial artist. You're close to invincible in your current environment, but once you're placed among the true experts, you're nothing." Teivel paused here, feeling like his words
"I only have one class in the evening, so I'll wait for the doctor to come and only head to campus once he's done with the examination." Pearl beamed at Darius.Darius focused on his food, not meeting her eyes. "Erin will bring the doctor over later; all you need to do is trust them and do whatever they tell you to, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. As for the doctor himself, he's someone I hired specifically for this purpose and is definitely trustworthy. Also, if you have any opinions about Erin, hold them in and wait for me to return to deal with them." With that, he put down his cutlery and stood up. "I know you might not like being instructed to do these things, but trust that I'll give you a reasonable explanation for this once the results are out."Pearl nodded and smiled. "It's fine, Darius. I've known you for some time now and have been by your side this whole while. I know you definitely won't hurt me, and I trust every decision you make." She fixed a resolute gaze on him
Erin's tone was frosty. She had her hands behind her back, and her expression was severe as she looked at Pearl. Pearl gulped and lowered her head, looking aggrieved. Erin didn't say anything else because she could sense that Pearl truly felt wronged. She was no enlightened martial artist and didn't have heightened senses, but after being around Darius and Bridget for so long, she'd learned how to read people well and was confident she was right eighty percent of the time.Pearl wasn't putting on an act. Even if she were, there was no one to admire her acting. Darius had moved into this villa immediately after purchasing it without telling anyone, so there weren't any people around or surveillance cameras installed—who could possibly be watching Pearl? As Erin tried to think of something to appease Pearl, an ugly look crept onto the doctor's face as he skimmed through the results of Pearl's blood test. "Damn," he cursed, sounding frustrated. "Mr. Reid's truly intelligent; his guesse
The doctor sighed again and said to Pearl, "I'm sorry to say this, but I've already told you everything I can. As for the rest of the information related to this, either I'm not privy to it, or you aren't. You're fortunate enough to be allowed to stay by Mr. Reid's side, so please refrain from asking any more questions." He stood up and hurried out of the villa without a second glance at Erin and Pearl. To his relief, he'd just managed to hail a taxi and was getting in when he saw several black cars speeding toward the villa. The doctor sucked in a breath and urged the taxi driver to put the pedal to the metal. They left before the black cars circled the villa.At this moment, Pearl sat at the dining table, trembling as she stared at Erin, who stood at the villa's entrance. Pearl mustered the courage to move to stand beside her, making Erin smile helplessly. "You can return to your room now. The fact that these people are making such a grand entrance actually guarantees our safety—m
Ursula's jaw dropped. Never had she imagined she'd meet someone who would ignore her completely. She stomped a foot on the ground and shrieked, "I've had enough of you acting like you own the place. Don't think too highly of yourself, or you'll regret it. Your employer won't let you off the hook!" Unfortunately for her, Erin continued making her way into the villa. This time, she acted like she hadn't heard a thing.At this moment, an old voice rang out from the car. "That's enough. You'll only make the situation worse for all of us if you continue acting like this."Ursula's face darkened at this. "But—" She gritted her teeth and snarled, "Alright, alright. I came to apologize, and I'm sure you're ready to accept my apology. There's no need for us to be so hostile."Erin stopped and raised an eyebrow. She could tell from Ursula's tone that she was angrier than before. She turned around, tucked her hands into her pockets, and looked at Ursula. "Mr. Reid's always believed in resolvin
Pearl sagged in relief at Erin's words. "Alright. I'll return to my room now, then." She did indeed feel exhausted from the morning's events, so she went to her room to get some rest.At the same time, in another part of the city, Kingston University welcomed its dean after a long time apart. Henry didn't expect to run into Darius as soon as he stepped foot on campus. He put his hands behind his back and stared at Darius, who stood there with his back to him, looking more like the dean than Henry did. After a few moments, Henry couldn't take it anymore and cleared his throat, saying sternly, "Darius, what are you doing here at this hour? Why are you hanging around the main hall?"Darius raised an eyebrow at this and turned to look at him. "Great timing. I'm here to look for you," he said calmly.In that instant, Henry felt like his fury would suffocate him. Darius' words were a blatant challenge to his authority; he stuck his hands on his hips, looking like the furthest thing from a
He gave Darius a complicated look, but it was fleeting. Henry quickly regained his composure and continued with his pitiful act. "N-no, you've misunderstood me. There's nothing wrong with having more than one child—""You told me you only had one son. Nobody forced you to say that; you should've stuck to your story after coming up with it," said Darius frostily. Henry gaped at him as an ominous feeling washed over him. He trembled as he tried to think of something to appease Darius, but before he could, Darius continued, "Since you already said that your only son died due to bullying, I'll make sure that becomes a reality. If my investigation yields results that are different from the things you've told me, I'll ensure everything that doesn't match up turns into reality."Despair washed over Henry when he met Darius' menacing gaze. Soon, however, he braced himself and glared at Darius with hatred. Despite that, he didn't dare raise his voice or even refute his words. All he did was c
And so, he'd tried to tread as carefully as possible. Despite that, his life was still in danger. At this thought, Henry shook his head vigorously. At the same time, he noticed the change in Darius' gaze. He gulped and took a deep breath to calm himself, shutting his eyes as his mind raced. What could he do to appease Darius as quickly as possible? In hindsight, he couldn't help regretting all the wrong decisions he'd made to make himself end up in this situation. How could he have possibly thought he could stand up to Darius? The only logical explanation was that he'd assumed the position of Dream Investment Group's chairman for too long that it had made him forget what it was like to live a lowly life filled with danger.It looked like he was out of options. He sighed and opened his eyes, fixing Darius with a serious look. "I know I've made many mistakes in the past, but I want you to know that it wasn't my intention for things to turn out like this. You should know that I need 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