"You may not realize this, but you look like a man pining for his lover. You've been waiting here for so long—isn't it obvious that Mr. Reid doesn't have any time to see you?"Bennett turned to see an icy, beautiful woman standing beside him. His heart sank as he looked at Bridget in surprise; this wasn't something he'd ever imagined happening. He was a trained martial artist and powerful enough that it was rare to find someone who could beat him, aside from professional bodyguards. Everyone he'd met told him the same, which gave him the impression that he was invincible. Now, however, a woman had appeared beside him, and he hadn't noticed her presence at all. This meant she was much stronger than him, which wasn't something he wanted to think about. His breathing sped up as he asked, "Who are you? When did you get here?" Bennett's gaze was wary as he sized Bridget up. Then, he looked into her eyes to see that he couldn't detect any traces of emotion in them—at least, he didn't have
Bennett parted his lips to speak, but Bridget beat him to it. She pointed at the door and said, "I wasn't around when you showed up here, but if I had been, I never would've allowed you to step in here. Anyway, I'm here now. You've already taken up enough of Mr. Reid's time, so I think it's high time you left. It's the best thing you can do now."Bennett stared at her incredulously, not expecting that he wouldn't even be given a chance to apologize. He exhaled loudly and trembled in fear, suddenly realizing how inconsequential he was in their eyes. The Evans family had a long history in Ashweir City and had accumulated generations of wealth, so everyone treated its members with respect. It went without saying that he, as its patriarch, received the most respect. However, after what he'd just experienced, he realized that there was a chance someone would think he wasn't worth their time.Bridget had a polite smile on her face as she continued pointing at the door. For the longest time
"You can go out now." Darius' mind started whirring after that. He was sure he had plenty to do—for instance, he had to deal with Hansley, his father's friend. Hansley had been waiting at the hotel for far too long. Firstly, he wanted to be reunited with his son. Secondly, he was here about Darius' father. Darius shut his eyes and sighed. There were so many things to attend to that he didn't know where to start. Each matter seemed more complex than the other; at the same time, they all seemed extremely simple.As he pondered this, he heard Bridget chirping in the corridor, "You can go ahead and call Mr. Reid now. I told him about having a mountain of work to handle, but he didn't react much. I suppose he isn't too bothered by that." She chatted with the person on the other end of the line for a while longer before hanging up.Darius' lips twitched at this. He was about to call Bridget back into the room when his phone rang. He grabbed it and glanced at the screen. Sure enough, it was
Erin lowered her head, looking guilty. Darius couldn't see this, but he could sense from her tone that she obviously felt bad. He frowned, wondering what she could've done wrong. He couldn't imagine it, but Erin's tone and actions told him something had gone astray. Darius sighed, shook his head, and said comfortingly, "Don't be too harsh on yourself. You don't have to feel guilty or that you've done anything wrong because, unlike me, you're not privy to a lot of information. It's normal that you couldn't deduce something was wrong with the sudden influx of business at West Atlantics Int'l."His gentle tone eased Erin's anxiety. "Understood, sir. Thank you." She shut her eyes, breathed deeply, and quickly composed herself. Then, she opened her eyes and said, "Now that I've gotten a grip on myself, I'll look into these prospective business partners. I won't allow them to do any harm to West Atlantics Int'l!"Darius smiled and nodded. "That would be for the best."On the other end of t
It was perfectly normal for Darius to be able to discover something like that because of how sharp and bright he was. This employee's appearance, however, told Erin that she was wrong to think of things that way. He was only an intern, yet he had thought of things she hadn't. To Erin, this meant her work capabilities had deteriorated, and by a whole lot! Even someone who didn't know as much as she did could detect such a considerable risk, yet she had been utterly blind to it.Erin shut her eyes and sighed. The employee waited and waited for her to say something but was only greeted by silence. As the seconds ticked, he felt the atmosphere grow increasingly tense. He shuddered, looking fearful. He wanted to ask Erin what had happened to make her display such emotions, but he knew it wasn't his place to do so. Then, he parted his lips and said almost inaudibly, "Miss Erin, can I leave now? I still have some work to do, so I can't keep standing here." His eyes darted around as he spok
"I apologize for the nasty attitude; none of this is your fault. I'm the one with the problem." Erin waved a hand. "Alright, you can go now. As compensation, I'll pay you a sum from my personal account—it's equivalent to two months of your salary. You can speak to the HR department about that if you genuinely want to leave. Of course, if you're willing to stay, know that you're welcome." She shut her eyes. When she didn't hear anyone leave even, she said, "I know I should probably see you off or say something else, but I'm really not in the right state of mind to do that. My mind is messed up now—how could I have been obtuse enough to miss something that was right before me? I had to rely on others for something so simple. It makes me feel like such a failure."The employee faltered, then sighed and walked toward Erin. "Alright, stop looking so gloomy. I still admire and respect you—you discovered this early enough to prevent the company from making losses, so the rest of the employe
The employee couldn't help feeling like the world was full of surprises. His eyes widened, and his breathing sped up; he wanted to ask Erin more, but she obviously didn't want to linger on the subject. She turned away from him and sat behind her desk, resting her fingers on the keyboard. Then, she started typing and pulling up the names of all their existing and prospective business partners. As she did this, she asked the employee, "I want to know how you concluded that West Atlantics Int'l's rapid expansion had plateaued and arrived at a stable stage."The employee didn't know whether his answer would upset Erin. After all, his words earlier had already made her fly into a rage, and she still didn't look too happy now. They'd already gotten into an argument earlier, and he didn't want it to happen again. Keeping things peaceful was the best thing to do. So, he gulped and said in a small voice, "I don't know whether what I'm about to say will be to your liking, but it's the truth.
Darius raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Sure, go ahead. Deal with it as you see fit. Send me whatever documents you need me to sign to grant him the powers, and I'll handle them as soon as possible."Erin suddenly flushed and lowered her head. Then, she took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry for making another mistake. I haven't done what I'm supposed to …""Because you don't know what the guy's called?" Darius' smile widened. "That's fine. The fact that you remembered to introduce him to me is already surprising enough—at least your memory hasn't deteriorated too much." He chuckled. Then, he put the phone on speaker mode and placed it on his desk. "Alright, I'm sure you can handle everything else on your own." With that, he hung up.Erin pursed her lips as she listened to the dial tone, looking helpless. Because of her mistakes, Darius had yet to know the name of an employee that was about to be promoted. He could've had a bright future, but she'd ruined it. This wasn't her intention
"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