Those answers were not what Stephen wanted to hear.He took a deep breath and asked, “Are you just going to stand by and watch people die?”Ethan slowly turned around. Stephen’s question almost made him laugh.“You can say that, but I have a question for you.” Ethan asked, “How did Julius and Tommy die?”Stephen was confused by the question. He had explained it back in the ward.“They died protecting Hill City.”Ethan said, “That’s too vague. Tell me again. How did they die?”Stephen thought about it for a moment. “Nico was going to shoot George, but Tommy jumped in to take the bullet. He saved George and died for Hill City. Julius died trying to stop Nico.”Ethan repeated, “It’s still too vague. Say it again.”Stephen’s frustration grew, and he repeated what happened again, this time in greater detail.He even recalled Julius’ final words as he died in Stephen’s arms. “Don’t… be deceived again.”Ethan said calmly, “You still don’t get the point. Say it again.”Cold sweat
The next morning, George rushed over as soon as he heard Stephen was in the hospital. When he saw Stephen on the bed in a daze, he knew something was wrong. He had seen Stephen like that before—back when Stephen learned that he would never see Snow again. However, this time, it was worse. His face was ghostly pale, and his eyes were dim and vacant. If not for his breathing, George would have thought he was dead.“What happened? He was fine last night. How did he end up like this in just one night?”George’s head was pounding. There was a boatload of matters to handle today.According to the plan, they were supposed to hold a funeral service for Julius and Tommy. However, judging by Stephen’s condition, George knew there was no choice but to postpone it.After making the call to postpone the service, he tried using Simon’s way to snap Stephen out of it.“Wake up. As long as you rebuild Hill City, the people won’t blame you anymore.”However, Stephen remained motionless. Even
George looked at Nico’s body and confirmed that he was really dead.At that moment, George felt a mix of tension and relief. He felt tense because Nico had committed suicide to avoid getting trialed, making the situation complicated to handle. However, he also felt relieved that Nico, who had pushed them to the edge, had ultimately chosen to take his own life.News of Nico’s suicide spread quickly. The first to hear were the villagers of Stone Village.Nico was dead, and so was Tommy. The Wyatt family was gone. With no one left to lead them, many villagers felt a sense of urgency, fearing that others might disregard the rules and take all the money for themselves.As a result, many became reckless, openly inciting others and leading people from other villages to raid the orchards and livestock farms. It did not matter if the targets were local or non-local. Everything was up for grabs.Some people also privately produced and sold firearms to local forces. They started mining exces
Before George could come up with a plan, everyone in Hill City found out the news of the death of their mayor, Julius. Furthermore, they learned that his death was connected to George!When the people of Hill City learned that George, who was now in charge of running the city, was the cause of Julius’ death and the chaos in the city, their dissatisfaction with George completely erupted.They condemned George while sharing the news online. As soon as the news spread, it blew up the internet.“Is George an outsider sent to cause destruction?”“How could someone like him be the governor?”“I strongly demand an investigation into George Lowe!”“There was nothing wrong with Julius, but George killed him. Why is he still allowed to manage Hill City?”“We demand an explanation!”While the netizens were outraged, the people of Hill City wanted answers from George. Their painstakingly cultivated fruit trees were ready for harvest, and their livestock was almost ready to be sold, but eve
Would they have ended up like this if they had not ridiculed and insulted Ethan and called for him to return instead?A single decision led to boundless regret!Seeing that he could no longer hide what happened to Julius, George went to the hospital to see Stephen.Alas, Stephen did not show any improvement. He had visibly lost weight.George said, “We need to hold a memorial service for Julius and Tommy.”Their bodies had already been cremated and buried. The memorial should have been held long ago, but with what happened to Stephen and the chaos spreading throughout Hill City, there was simply no time.Stephen did not react as if he did not hear George at all.George said helplessly, “You need to pull yourself together. They wouldn’t want to see you like this. Hill City and Riveria are still waiting for your return.”Stephen still did not move.George told the doctors and nurses to take care of Stephen.Recently, the cause of Nico’s death had been confirmed. He committed su
Now that the orchards were destroyed and the animals were gone, there was no way to earn money from fruit or livestock for the next six months or longer. It would greatly affect Hill City’s GDP!Previously, a large sum of money was spent replacing trees with new tea trees, but they were all gone now. Even the newly repaired highway was severely damaged.So much money had gone to waste. They would need even more funds to fix the highway.A week later, the city somewhat stabilized, and the final losses were calculated. By then though, Hill City’s economic losses reached 900 billion dollars. Its original GDP of 2.8 trillion dropped to 1.9 trillion. It was a massive blow.George looked at the figures and felt as if the sky was falling. With such losses and the sacrifices that Julius and Tommy made, he did not know how to write the report.However, even if he did not report it, headquarters already knew of the situation in Hill City. The online public outcry was overwhelming. They knew
The meeting soon ended.Simon hesitated for a while before calling George. “We came to an agreement...”George was already mentally prepared. “Tell me.”“You’ll have to go to jail, but you’ll be released in three years.”Go to jail for three years?George smiled wryly. He did not expect a governor like him to end up behind bars.He regretted it. If he had not chased Ethan away back then, he could have continued as the governor, living a carefree life.“What about the Lowes?” That was what George was most concerned about. He could handle jail, but what about Rachel?Simon said, “I’ll protect the Lowes. I’ll get Stephen to marry Rachel right away.”Upon hearing this, George felt slightly relieved. If Rachel married Stephen, she would be part of the Quinns. He would no longer have to worry about her.“But Stephen isn’t in a good state right now.”Simon said, “I’ll go see him again. He can’t go on like this!”He hung up and flew back to find Stephen again.When he saw Stephen
Stephen also used to think that he was a paragon among men, but now, he did not dare to perceive himself as such. After all, he knew about Ethan. They were similar in age, but Ethan’s accomplishments far exceeded his own.Stephen only had the position he had now thanks to the Quinns.What about Ethan?He was an orphan that the Grand Marshal adopted for only three years, but he was on his own from then on. However, he stabilized Riveria, drove out foreign forces, and turned Riveria into the top province in the country.George could tell that Stephen still did not have enough confidence.“You should understand now,” George said. “Neither you nor I have a way out. We must manage Riveria well.”Stephen knew that too.This time, George was going to jail to shield him. What about next time?Stephen would be alone in the future.George said, “Prepare yourself. We’ll fly back to the capital in the evening.” Then, he left.Stephen fell silent. He did not want to marry, not yet, at lea