"I have no choice but to let you suffer a little bit. I hope you can understand, Mr. Horne," Nino said.Tom was infuriated, of course. What was he supposed to understand? Running naked to his office? Was it some kind of sick joke? If he did it, it would certainly make the headline news in Goldspire. How was he supposed to show his face in public ever again?"I'm the chairman of Horne Enterprise. You'd better watch it, or else, you can't blame me for not showing any mercy.""Hah! I guess there's nothing more to be said. Sorry about this. Men, undress him.""Yes, boss!"A few burly men subdued Tom and ripped his clothes off. Tom screamed and struggled, to no avail."I'm going to kill you, Nino!" Tom cried out, his eyes bulging out in anger. Alas, this wasn't the worst of it. What came next was the real nightmare, for he saw a massive wolfdog with saliva dripping from its gnashing teeth. Its eyes were ferocious, too.Chuckling, Nino said, "I've raised him for many years now, Mr.
After Gideon left, Marion brought Arnold to Prestige Hospital for treatment. Although he was bleeding profusely, his injuries were mostly superficial, so he was fine. They were most worried about Elara, but despite crying their hearts out, they couldn't do anything."Dad! Mom!"When they abruptly heard the familiar voice calling out to them from the doorway, they looked up and were instantly stupefied.Elara flew into Marion's arms and started wailing.Back at Monarchy Club, she'd been stricken with terror. After managing to escape, she was too panicked to think of anything else. Now that she was at the hospital with her parents, she could finally vent her emotions.Marion was shocked and thrilled. "Ella! I'm so glad you're okay!"Arnold looked a little more alive, too.After a while, Elara finally stopped crying. Only then did Arnold ask, "How did you escape, Ella?""It was because of Gideon."Biting her lip, Elara sighed and said, "I guess you could say he saved me."Marion
The Seymours all sported strange expressions. They didn't know what to say about Matthew, who'd fled off quicker than anyone would've thought. What was he doing here now?Matthew also felt awkward, but he tried to explain himself. "You've misunderstood me, everyone. I only ran off to get help!""To get help?""Of course! How could I have possibly abandoned you guys? If not for the backups I found, Ella wouldn't have been able to return unscathed."Gideon's lips twitched. He couldn't believe how shameless Matthew was. From the looks of it, Matthew was trying to twist things around.However, Marion's eyes lit up as she exclaimed, "It's all thanks to you, then! Here we were thinking it was Gideon who saved Ella."Matthew was secretly pleased. He'd only made it up on a whim to see if he could get lucky. He didn't expect to actually succeed.Was it Gideon who saved Elara? Regardless of whether it was the case, Matthew was certainly going to take the credit for it.He thought, "Oh, G
"I also get a share?" Matthew asked."Of course! If not for you, Ella would've had to suffer, and we wouldn't have gotten five million dollars. You deserve half of it."Matthew was tickled pink. Why would he reject such a windfall? He was getting 2.5 million dollars without having to do anything."Well, in that case, I won't stand on formalities, Mrs. Seymour," Matthew said as he cast a smug look at Gideon.He no longer thought it was Gideon who saved Elara, either. Only a big shot could get Nino to humble himself and hand over five million dollars as a token of his apology. Neither Gideon nor the Snows could do it.Gideon was also thoroughly disappointed with Marion and Elara. Why didn't they use their brains? Did they not stop and consider what kind of family the Carters were? How could they get Nino to back down?"I'm heading home, Dad," Gideon said before leaving the room. He didn't want to waste any more of his breath on them.Marion glared at Arnold and complained, "See th
"I won't take the 2.5 million dollars you're offering me, either. Let's put all five million dollars as an investment in your name. Would that be alright with you, Mr. and Mrs. Seymour?""We couldn't possibly do that, Matthew," Marion said. "It'll be at your expense."Matthew replied, "Ella and I are such good friends. This means nothing to me. It's not like I need the money, either. I'd feel bad about taking 2.5 million dollars from you guys. Let's just invest everything to save you the trouble of having to put the money in the bank."Arnold was a little hesitant. After all, five million dollars was a massive sum of money. He was a bit worried about handing everything over just like that."What's there for you to think about?" Marion questioned. "Matthew is clearly doing us a favor. We should be overjoyed. There's no reason for you to hesitate."While speaking, she passed the box of cash to Matthew."Here. Take it all. We'll invest all five million dollars. I wish you all the be
"Ms. Mosley, I have received an urgent report!" Benny cried out as he came rushing up to Lavinia, who was in the Mayor's Mansion discussing something with Caius Grayson, the mayor of Goldspire.She shot Benny a look and said in displeasure, "Can't you see that I'm talking to Mr. Grayson? What's so important that it can't wait until we're done?"Benny lowered his head before saying, "I'm afraid it's something major, Ms. Mosley."Seeing that, Caius smiled and said, "It's alright. Ms. Mosley. Why don't we hear what it is? I doubt your guard would be impolite enough to interrupt us if it wasn't something serious."Thinking he had a point, Lavinia said, "Go on.""Ms. Mosley, we received an urgent report saying that Reaper, the ninth-ranking hitman on the hitman tier list, has come to Goldspire.""What?" Lavinia exclaimed. She was a little taken aback.Caius' expression stiffened as well. As the mayor of a major city like Goldspire, he was well-informed. The Hitman Guild was a dark do
Oasis Vale was isolated from the rest of the world. Few knew that in this peaceful valley lived a group of extraordinary people, including the overlords of the criminal underworld, business magnates with net worths that rivaled countries, and even core government officials of various countries.It was noon, and Gideon Snow walked out of the cottage with a basket in hand."Sir!"Ajax Bale, a burly, heavily bearded man, scrambled up to Gideon as he herded the goats around him. "As per your punishment, I have tended to the goats for a month. Today is the last day. What should I do next?""You can start harvesting the wheat next.""That's my job, sir! What am I supposed to do if Ajax takes over?" Donald Ingleson, Cherony's minister of defense, asked with a pitiful expression."You can be in charge of cleaning up the dung.""You got it, sir."Gideon had only taken a few more steps when someone approached him and reported, "Sir! Justin Mugler, the military commander of Magaria, and P
"I knew it! It's just as I thought. I knew you didn't die, you old bugger! You tricked me for three years!"Gideon hadn't found a body in the grave, but he had expected as much. Titus had been an enigmatic figure who possessed extraordinary abilities. Why would someone like that abruptly claim to have come to his life's end and decide to bury himself? It was unthinkable.Nevertheless, Gideon couldn't disobey Titus, his mentor, so he had to do as told and guard the grave for three years."If I don't get a treasure that's to my satisfaction, Titus, that means you wasted three years of my youth. I'll make you pay for that at some point," Gideon grumbled.Alas, even after combing through the entire grave thoroughly, he found nothing other than a letter."You old con artist," Gideon ranted before opening the envelope with a scowl on his face. He found two pages of a letter.After he read the first page, his scowl of dissatisfaction was replaced by a moved expression. According to the