Given what Frank said, it was clear that the old man knew Frank and Helen herself.And Helen knew Frank enough that there was a fight between them.Helen then subtly glanced at the helicopter in the distance. It was clear the helicopter had been parked there for a while, or it would not have drawn so many people. "Sir," she said. "Please don't be upset with Frank. I understand you've waited for a while, so why don't you come sit inside?""Oh, you have good manners. That's great." Fenton smiled.Before he could get in, however, Frank stood between him and the doors. "No, you don't have to go in. Say what you need to say here and leave." Helen frowned at Frank's rudeness.However, she also remembered that Frank was not the type who disrespected elders.And if Frank was being rude, she should not overstep and correct him.Nodding apologetically at Fenton, Helen hurried inside."Go on. Say what you need to say." Frank glowered, his tone cool. "If you're going to ask me to retur
Gina hurried toward them just then, her expression thrilled. "Look, Helen! This ruby… Its hue is better than every gem I've seen at the expo! Gosh, how much would it sell for—""Mom!" Helen snapped angrily. "Could you not mess around with something so precious? We're sending that back!""What?! No!" Gina flinched, hugging the box in reflex as she stared at Helen in disbelief. "Your name is on the box, so it's clearly meant for you! Why would you send it back?!"Helen shook her head. "It's too valuable. I can't accept it."Gina rolled her eyes at her insufferable daughter. "It's someone's sincerity! How could you reject it?!"She would not be sending it back either way!Cindy agreed. "Just take it, Helen. It's a gift from Mr. Lawrence's family, wishing you the best for your marriage with him."Helen turned to Frank instead. "You should send it back. I'd rather not owe such a huge favor…"Judging from every word Frank had said earlier, Frank was clearly on bad terms with his fami
Seeing that Frank was ready to hurry past her to chase down Winter, Vicky strode to the side and stopped him.Then, puffing her fair chest, she continued to interrogate him.Just then, a yawning Helen emerged in her pajamas. "Who was it, Frank?"Still, she was at once alert when she saw Vicky at the door, their eyes meeting with a dangerous, cracking spark."No way!" Vicky growled through her teeth."Yes way." Helen puffed her chest, smiling proudly."I don't believe you!" Vicky snapped, though she appeared dejected."Believe what you want!" Helen stood akimbo beside Frank, asserting dominance.Vicky was wheezing and glaring hostilely. "I'm surprised you can go that far, Helen—I'll give you that!""You flatter me." Helen smiled victoriously as she leaned against Frank."Stop it!" Frank had enough even as both women sandwiched him and stopped the confrontation.Sighing exasperatedly, he turned to Vicky. "You haven't had breakfast, have you? Come in and eat. Madam Zims made br
Mona called out, "Wait for me, Winter…"As her voice faded into the distance, Helen and Vicky's were staring coolly at Frank."She's a martial elite I met in Southdam. I took her in as Winter's bodyguard," Frank replied."Who's a bodyguard…? Wait, is everyone gone already?" Kiki asked as she left her room.There were dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was a mess—she clearly did not sleep much last night.Helen was left gaping as Kiki showed up before turning toward Frank in disbelief.He braced himself as he explained, "She's Kiki Moss. She's staying here to hide from the Soranos.""Hello, I'm Kiki!" Kiki flashed a professional smile at Helen.Helen remained silent before asking quietly, "How many other women are staying here, Frank?""She's the last one," Frank quickly assured her.However, that was when Frida Blue also left her room, nodding at Vicky in greeting. "Hi Ms. Turnbull. I've made a full recovery, so I can return to work now."She then did a double take wh
Vicky raised a brow, her meaning all too clear.Frank said quietly in turn, "Anyway, I helped Bravo Lambert reclaim a plot of land that his gang rented to the Salazars. The Salazars built a factory over it, and their precision machinery for producing pharmaceutical products is still in there.""Really?" Vicky's eyes lit up."Exactly. After we took back the land, I rented the factory from Bravo, so I'm going to—""Aha! I expect nothing less from my head of pharmaceutical research." Vicky cut him short."So? How much is Bravo asking for? I'm taking everything," she said, adding with a wink. "You'd get a twenty percent revenue cut too.""No," Frank shook his head. "I intend to sell the factory to Helen and Lane Holdings.""What?!" Vicky sprang to her feet before sighing in disappointment. "I see—I get it now. I still have work to do, so I'll be going."Frank caught her wrist before she could leave, frowning, "I'm not finished.""What's there to say now?" Vicky chuckled, repressin
Helen nodded. "I agreed. I'd rather not put Frank on the spot."With that, the two girlbosses of Riverton shared the factory Frank repurposed from the Salazars.Further details were up to those two—it would not be Frank's business either way.-At noon, Randall Young was sitting in his jewelry store at Riverton's Square Street, holding up a magnifying glass as he studied a bright ruby. After a long while, he breathed a long sigh and put away the magnifying glass.Then, looking up at the girl standing opposite him, he cleared his throat. "Well, the luster and form rank it among the best of the best—it's a ruby fit for Talnam royalty. So, would you mind telling me where you got it from?"Naturally, Cindy was the one standing opposite Randall.She brought him the ruby that Fenton delivered, though she shook her head in hesitation. "It's a gift. I can't say.""You can't say…" Randall breathed a long sigh and shook his head. "Ma'am, I'm actually afraid to buy this from you because
Cindy finished, "You can trust Randall Young even if you don't believe me, right, Aunt Gina?""Frank Lawrence!" Gina shrieked right then. "You lied to me! I thought you'd finally come around, but you're just tricking me with some glass orb! No, I can't let him take Helen away like this. I'll take this up with him. He could kill me in front of Helen if he wants!"After her rant, Gina hung up, while Cindy smiled greedily and passed Randall the ruby. "500 million it is!"-In the evening, Frank finally had Helen and Vicky agree about the factory.Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, however, his phone started ringing."Hello?" Frank asked, and heard wheezing from the other end."Hello?!" he pressed, his voice louder this time. Mona finally answered just then. "Frank! Winter and I are being chased on campus! No—!"The call was cut off with Mona's scream."Mona?! Mona?!" Frank shouted, but his only answer was static beeping."What's wrong, Frank?" Vicky, who had just made
Frank drove at top speed to Riverton University, arriving in under fifteen minutes when it would normally take half an hour.He narrowed his eyes as he immediately spotted the ambulances at the gates, feeling a foreboding sensation right then.He rushed toward it and found paramedics tending to several students, each bleeding all over their faces.Thankfully, he did not recognize any of them.Then, as he started toward the campus building, a girl suddenly appeared and got in his way. "Hey, stop! The cops have already set up a police line—no one's allowed in!"They were both surprised when they saw each other's faces, since the girl was none other than Winter's best friend, Jean Zims. "Frank?!" She appeared stunned."What happened here, Jean?!" Frank asked, repressing his panic as much as he could."I don't know—a bunch of black-clad men suddenly charged into the campus," Jean cried urgently, tugging on Frank's sleeves. "They hurt the security and kept shouting for Winter, but