He was simply taking advantage of the approval Stephen provided to exploit workers, discharge pollutants, and significantly raise product prices, while preparing to push out competing companies in the future.Even if Stephen objected, he would get fined at most.However, his factories would still remain, running day and night, constantly polluting the environment of Aqua City and damaging the local industry chain...Everything he did was completely legal!Stephen fell into thought.‘He has over a dozen factories in the country, each worth over a hundred million. It’s true that running away is not an option. Besides, I’ve sent people to keep an eye on him, so he can’t escape anyway.‘That means he’s telling the truth. He can’t become the next Brandon or Howard. Did Snow lie to me?’At that moment, Oliver asked, “Why do you suddenly suspect me? Did Snow say something? Alas, I didn’t expect that she would still try to deceive you at this point. It’s my fault for not educating her w
He turned away with a huff.After he left, Snow finally raised her head, her face streaked with tears.Stephen walked out of the gate, and the cold breeze calmed him down a little. “Was I too impulsive just now? Maybe I should’ve let her explain herself.”Should he go back and see her?Suddenly, his phone rang. He took out his phone and saw that it was from the mayor of Aqua City.“Come back quickly. There’s been an emergency!”Stephen’s heart trembled. There was a problem in Aqua City.“What happened?”The mayor hurriedly said, “Tons of dead fish have turned up in the river.”“I’ll be right there!”Nearly half of Aqua City’s GDP came from its aquatic products, so this was no small matter.He glanced back at the station. What should he do about Snow?“Forget it. I’ll come back again.”It would be too humiliating to go back right now.Besides, Snow was locked up and could not go anywhere. In comparison, the issue in Aqua City could not wait!At that point, Stephen did not
Liam stared at the box, thinking about Snow's current suicidal state, and found himself at a loss for words."I have one more request," Ethan said."What is it?" Liam asked, puzzled."After the autopsy, I’d like you to transport the body to a spot I have in mind.” Ethan glanced at the box before explaining, "Earlier, she asked me to send her body back to her hometown. Also, this vial of medicine is quite expensive."Liam reflexively asked, "How expensive?""Five million dollars.""Five million!" Liam was startled.Was this even medicine? What kind of medicine was worth five million dollars? It was more valuable than gold!"I understand. I'll make sure to send her there when the time comes," Liam said.Liam took the box and left Drakthorn Ridge.At the hospital, he looked at Snow sitting on the bed with a lifeless expression and said, "I just visited Mr. Rivers.""He gave you a vial of medicine.""Once you drink it, you will go painlessly."Snow took the box and opened it.
"The hometown you wished to return to," Ethan's voice sounded nearby.Snow quickly looked up. Seeing Ethan standing next to her, she was stunned. "What's going on? I clearly remember drinking the medicine. Didn’t I die?"Ethan nodded. "You did indeed die."Snow understood. "So, you saved me.""But..." she lowered her head, speaking softly, "I don’t deserve your help.”She had already made up her mind to die. Even though she had died once and was now brought back to life, her thoughts had not changed.Ethan removed the silver needles. "Well, someone thought you were worth it.""Who?""Nina Summers."Snow's eyes suddenly widened. "My senior? Is she safe too?"Snow quickly looked around. They were in the middle of nowhere, and a young woman stood next to Ethan.However, she was not Nina. Her appearance, demeanor, and figure were completely different."She's already dead," Ethan said. "She died fighting her enemy, but before she perished, she used 5 million dollars to beg me to
Snow followed the woman into the van.The van started, and before long, it slowly disappeared at the end of the road.Ethan watched them leave with a faint smile on his face. He had two reasons for helping Snow.Firstly, Nina had given up her entire fortune, a whole 5 million dollars, just to save Snow's life.Secondly, having Snow alive would be more useful to him compared to having her dead.If Stephen Quinn learned that Snow was dead, he would certainly be devastated and unable to recover for some time.That would be fine and dandy, but what if he first learned that Snow had died, suffered that blow, and then discovered that she was actually still alive but that he would never have the chance to see her again within his lifetime?Not only would Stephen suffer a devastating second blow, but he would also live in guilt for the rest of his life.After all, the last time he saw Snow, he had not believed her.Worse still, Snow had even left him a suicide note.Despite all this,
Stephen stared at Oliver in surprise. He did not expect such a response from Oliver.In all their previous interactions, Oliver had always spoken politely. Why was he taking up such a tone with him now?Oliver's plan was already complete. He had gotten rid of Snow, legitimately opened factories, and even profited from the sports complex. He no longer needed to pretend to flatter Stephen.If anything, the only people he should ingratiate himself with now would be those who were as successful as Ethan Rivers; not failures like Stephen who had ruined two cities and doubted the words of his own woman."I'll have someone investigate it right away," Stephen hurriedly responded.Stephen had people conduct tests, and the results came back quickly. The factories' pollutant emissions were only slightly above the standard permitted.These levels of emissions would not cause a large number of fish deaths in the river.Oliver looked at the test results and remarked, "Well, you've seen the re
Stephen's current plan was to deal with Oliver and his group after the sporting event, once other businesses had come in.How dare they deceive him, use him, and make him hurt Snow's feelings?He absolutely would not let these people off the hook!This grudge must be settled!Oliver chuckled. "If that's the case, let me lay off a batch of workers first, then I'll tell you how much compensation we need."Laying off workers would also have a severe impact on Aqua City’s economy.Stephen could smell the thinly-veiled threat behind Oliver’s words. He clenched his fists, thinking that as soon as the sporting event was over, he would get rid of all these people!After striking the deal, the pollutant emissions from several factories began to decrease.However, there were too many factories set up, and pollutants were still being discharged, which served little to alleviate the river pollution situation.Moreover, a new issue had popped up too—an invasion of non-native species. As if
At that moment, his phone rang.He looked at the screen and saw that it was Stephen calling.Simon’s heart skipped a beat, thinking that Stephen had already found the truth.Despite his experience, the always composed Simon felt a bit nervous now. He answered the call and asked, “What is it?”“There’s a small problem in Aqua City,” said Stephen.Simon sighed in relief.It was about Aqua.Thank goodness.It would be a much more serious problem if Stephen found out that Snow was dead.Wait!Simon snapped back to reality. There was a problem in Aqua City again!He felt incredibly overwhelmed. Snow’s issue was already serious. If something happened in Aqua City as well, it could not be overlooked!“What happened?”Stephen said quietly, “Oliver tricked me.”“Hm?” Simon frowned.Tricked?He instantly had a bad premonition.What was the cause of North Hill City’s ruin? Shawn, Eric, and Brandon had tricked Stephen. In the end, there was also Danny.What was the cause of Seasi
After everything was settled, the people from HQ went to Ethan again. They apologized to him and begged for his forgiveness.“We’ve dealt with everyone involved in this matter. Are you satisfied with the outcome, Mr. Rivers?”With that, they lowered their heads to the ground nervously. Their only hope now hinged on Ethan’s response.They did not dare to ask for much. All they hoped for was that Ethan would not leave the country.Ethan glanced at them calmly and said, “Send someone to help move my stuff down the mountain.”Hearing that, everyone was first stunned, and then ecstatic.“Of course!” they replied in unison.They understood what Ethan meant. He was staying! Although it was not his complete forgiveness, he was willing to give them another chance.They were all overjoyed. As long as Ethan did not leave, there was plenty of time to slowly make amends.They took out their phones and made arrangements to help Ethan move.After the call ended, they said, “We respectfully
The day of Rachel and George’s trial came.The livestream began at 10 a.m., and hundreds of thousands of viewers joined instantly.Rachel and George slowly walked into the courtroom in handcuffs.Bang! The judge’s gavel fell, and the room went silent.It was not a lawsuit. It was a trial to expose the sins of Rachel and George.The judge read out their crimes one by one, until Rachel and George’s faces paled to the point that they looked like corpses.The viewers in the livestream finally saw the full picture.“So that’s it! The Quinns and the Lowes conspired!”“They deserve to die! How could they frame Ethan like that? Are they even human?”“The death penalty! They deserve the death penalty!”They were all furious.Many people had lost their families as a result of supporting Stephen and scolding Ethan. After watching the livestream, they realized just how deeply they had been wrong.They were accomplices to the Quinns and the Lowes' crimes in framing Ethan!Their current
They suppressed their disgust and returned home, only to see their parents and wives’ panicked expressions.“What did you do out there?”“So many people came today, asking for you by name.”How were they supposed to answer those questions? They could not just say that they had insulted Ethan online.If they did, their parents would beat them to death before anyone else could.“It’s nothing,” they replied stiffly. They had no choice but to hide the truth. After all, they could not say that they had insulted Ethan, or that they had lost their jobs.However, the next second, their parents received text messages. After their parents glanced at their phones, their expressions instantly changed.It was a message from the bank, stating that their child had been listed as a defaulter and urging them to repay the loan immediately.“What have you done?” Their parents’ voices trembled.Seeing that there was no way to hide it anymore, they had no choice but to confess the truth.They los
Seeing that message, they immediately felt as if their world had ended.Because they had insulted Ethan, they lost their jobs, were blacklisted, and could not find work again.“How could this be?”No one expected this outcome. They thought, ‘So what if I insulted him? Are they going to punish me for it? Besides, so many people are insulting him. They can’t possibly punish every single person who did it. At most, I’ll post a public apology and promise that I’ll never do it again.’However, now they were all fired. Everyone who had insulted Ethan had been dismissed from their jobs.It seemed like there were several tens of thousands of people involved! It was hard to imagine just how many people had lost their jobs in real life.“Why are they going this far? Aren’t they afraid of causing unrest?”Of course, HQ had considered that. However, they knew what was more serious.If Ethan went abroad and cooperated with foreign countries, the consequences would not be limited to a few pe
George thought that Rachel had already escaped abroad, so he was not afraid when he arrived.Now, when he saw Rachel there as well, he completely panicked.This was not what he had expected!“Where else would she be?” someone from HQ asked.George looked nervous and stammered, unable to say a word.With Rachel caught and him being brought here, it was clear that HQ already knew the truth. Coupled with his fear of Ethan and his helplessness in the face of reality, he no longer had the strength to make up any excuses.He had resigned himself to fate.“You really have some nerve." The people from HQ sneered. “You fooled us all completely.”“You’ve been hiding Ethan’s contributions all this time, haven’t you?”“You two are nothing but disasters to this country! You deserve to die a thousand times over.”George kept his head down while Rachel sobbed. “I was wrongfully accused!”“Shut up! Are you still trying to fool us at a time like this? You were wrongfully accused? By who? Sim
They brought this on themselves, forcing themselves into a corner with no way out. “Ah!”Simon could not take it anymore. He suddenly ran towards the window, trying to end his life. Fortunately, the officials quickly stopped him. “Don’t be reckless! Think about Stephen. You’re all he has now!”That sentence made Simon stop. Now, Stephen and Simon were each other’s support and burden. Simon slumped on the ground weakly. Right now, they both wanted to die, but neither of them had the courage to follow through. All they could do was live on in pain. After a long silence, Simon said, “I’d like to file a report on someone.”To obtain some kind of reward and survive a little longer, Simon decided to turn in George and Rachel. When the officials heard him, they were stunned. They did not expect Rachel to be involved in framing Ethan. “Shit!” Someone exclaimed. “I heard Rachel bought a flight ticket overseas. Could she have fled?”The room was filled with dread. If Rachel ra
Seeing that Stephen was awake, the others rushed to get the doctor. The doctor was astonished as well. Stephen’s sudden awakening was nothing short of a miracle. However, after examining him, the doctor’s expression darkened. Stephen had regained consciousness, but the prognosis was far from hopeful.“He can’t move,” the doctor said. “As of now, he’s paralyzed.”Stephen could open his eyes, but the rest of his body was unresponsive. He could not move his limbs or his neck and mouth. The only part he could move freely was his eye. Even his breathing was dependent entirely on medical equipment. “He might never be able to leave the bed again.”Upon hearing that, Stephen closed his eyes in despair, tears continuously rolling down his cheeks. He had fought so hard to wake up, only to realize he had missed his final chance to meet Snow and Lily. Worse yet, he also lost the ability to move. From now on, he would be confined to the bed and hooked up to machines just to stay alive.
His father died a miserable death, his son was in a coma, and the Quinn family was shattered, leaving only Simon behind to finally realize all his mistakes. However, it was too late. Harrison could not come back to life, the Quinn family could not be whole again, and Stephen could not recover. Simon would forever be haunted by pain, despair, and regret for the rest of his life. At that moment, in complete darkness, Stephen heard Simon’s voice. He was conscious but failed to open his eyes or speak; he could not move a muscle. He wanted so badly to sit up and tell Simon that it was not solely his fault. They were all wrong, and this was their retribution!Just then, two women walked into the ward. When the officials saw them, their eyes widened in shock. For a second, no one even breathed. They were Snow and Lily!The officials thought they were seeing ghosts. Those women were supposed to be dead. Why were they there? Snow and Lily noticed their shocked gazes and offered them
Due to Harrison’s previous incident, the officials reacted quickly by sending Stephen straight to the hospital.After an emergency rescue, Stephen’s life was saved. However, he paid a heavy price. When the doctor walked out of the emergency room, the officials asked, “How is he?”“The situation isn’t looking good,” the doctor said grimly. “His body is in a bad state, and due to long-term emotional distress, he suffered a brain hemorrhage from the emotional shock.“He’s still in a coma, and we can’t say for sure when he’ll wake up again. It depends on his will to live.”The officials drew a sharp breath. “Do you mean he might end up in a coma forever?”The doctor nodded. No one saw coming that Stephen would fall into a coma, with little chance of ever waking up again. However, it also meant he did not have to die anymore. He would be alive but confined to a bed. Suddenly, they thought of Harrison’s desperate pleas to Ethan back in his villa. “I’m willing to trade my life fo