Stephen hurriedly asked, “What happened?”Blake sighed. “Her son fell into the water and hasn’t been found yet. We’re all by the river. You should come quickly.”Blake gave Stephen an address and hung up.Stephen quickly got up and called someone to drive him to the location. Soon, he saw that the riverside was crowded with people.As he approached, he heard Penny’s wails. He pushed through the crowd to get inside.Blake, Leo, and several other classmates were present, and Penny was sitting on the ground, sobbing. Everyone looked helpless. Even the class president Blake, did not know what to do in this situation.At that moment, Leo saw Stephen arrive.“Stephen is here!”Several people looked up at Stephen, and Penny crawled over to him, gripping his thigh tightly. “Please. Please save my child.”Stephen promised, “I’ll do my best to find him. Don’t cry. Try to calm down first. We’ll definitely find him.”He called a doctor to stabilize Penny, then asked his classmates, “What
The body was soon brought back.Stephen and his classmates could only watch as Penny collapsed over the body, crying uncontrollably.Several classmates wiped their tears, and Stephen’s eyes turned red as well.Not long before this, he was still thinking about how he could start to make amends and make Penny’s life a little better. However, the child was dead. There was nothing he could do now.Penny was devastated and cried until she passed out.Stephen instructed people to handle Penny’s affairs, then said goodbye to his classmates and returned to the Quinns’ estate.When he got home, the butler was still awake, seemingly waiting for him. “You’re back. Do you want to rest now, or would you like to have supper?”Stephen was not in the mood and said, “I’m going to sleep. You should rest early too.”Back in his room, Stephen lay on his bed but could not sleep at all.A lot had happened today. He thought that he had been having some trouble recently, but everyone else was also st
Stephen was startled and quickly looked outside, but everything looked normal. Nevertheless, he still felt uneasy. He raised his head and was just about to call the flight attendant when he noticed that the plane was unusually quiet.Even when the plane shook, there were no panicked voices around. What was going on?Stephen turned to look at the seat next to him, wanting to see why everyone was so calm.However, what he saw caused his eyes to widen in fright.Ethan!The person sitting next to him was none other than Ethan!Ethan held several photos of the still body of Penny’s child and Penny collapsed over the child, crying uncontrollably.“Do you have a grudge against her?” Ethan’s voice sounded.Stephen paled. “N-No.”Ethan asked, “If there’s no grudge, why push her to the brink?”“I didn’t mean to!” Stephen’s body trembled as he said in agitation, “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t want this to happen!”“Sir?” A melodious female voice rang out. “Sir, wake up!”Stephen opened h
Stephen wanted to vomit blood out of frustration.“Cat got your tongue?” Rachel said coldly. “It seems you’re not really sincere about apologizing. It’s just lip service.”Stephen did not know what to say anymore. He wanted her to clarify what he did wrong so that he could change, but she refused to tell him. How was he supposed to correct himself if he did not know his mistake?Stephen took a deep breath and said, “We both need to calm down. Let’s have breakfast first.”Rachael shot him a dirty look, stood up, and left. She had no intention of having breakfast with him.Stephen felt frustrated.The marriage he fantasized about was not like this. He did not expect to be holding each other all the time, but it was supposed to be harmonious and happy, at least. However, the reality was that the one he loved was not by his side, and the person he ended up with was disgusted with him.If only Snow was the one he married. Unfortunately, because of his cowardice and foolishness, Snow
Moreover, there was the South Regent's newly opened mining company in Hill City. Stephen had to find a way to manage the aftermath of these events and keep the South Regent's company in check. He thought about it for a long time, but even when George walked out of the house, he still could not come up with a solid idea. George saw him sitting in the garden and asked, "What are you doing here?" "Enjoying the sun." Stephen made up an excuse."It's good to relax a little sometimes. Don't pressure yourself too much," George replied. At this moment, a car stopped at the entrance. When the car door opened, Liam walked out. He took a glance at Stephen before landing his gaze on George. George noticed Liam and said, "I need to go. The next time I return will probably be in a few years."George smiled bitterly as he spoke. He had never imagined he would one day end up in prison.Stephen felt a sense of heaviness in his heart. "Let me send you off." "Sounds good," George responded.
George's prison cell was tiny with only a bed and a toilet, and the door was made out of iron bars, offering zero privacy. His face turned pale the moment he saw the cell. "Will I be living here from now on?" Liam retorted, "What did you expect?" "It can't be, right? No matter what, I was…" George said. "Forget about your past. Why not ask the people of Riveria if they'd let you serve your sentence in a mansion?"George lowered his head. How could the people let him live comfortably? If it were not for him, Julius would not have died, and Nico's plan would not have succeeded. People probably wished they could just kill him. "Take this set of clothing. If you behave yourself here, perhaps you'll be granted an early parole," Liam said, handing him the prison uniform.Bang. The iron door closed. George sat on his bed, filled with regret. Given his former status, he had thought he could have gotten a slightly better cell, but it seemed like this could not even be compared to th
"Lord Rivers, sorry to bother you." The South Regent walked in with a smile, carrying the goods, then instructed the ladies around him, "Don't just stand there. Get to work!" Two ladies beelined toward the kitchen to start cooking, and the others approached Ethan, ready to massage his shoulders and thighs to help him relax. The South Regent sat on the couch across from Ethan and placed the two bottles of fine wine he had brought on the table. "You don't mind having dinner together, right?" he asked with a smile. Ethan said indifferently, "Will you leave if I say I mind?"The South Regent replied awkwardly, "Lord Rivers, you must be kidding." "Just speak what's on your mind." Ethan glanced at him, knowing he must be here for a reason. He would not have brought several women along if he merely wanted to share a meal together."Nothing gets past you, does it?" the South Regent said with a sigh. "There are indeed a few matters I'd like to discuss. "Since I've already establishe
The South Regent said with a smile, "Perfect timing. Lord Rivers, why don't you try these two lovely ladies’ cooking? They're the best cooks we have." Ethan glanced at the two ladies. Although they were quite beautiful, he was unaffected. After tasting the dishes, he found that they tasted decent. "How is it?" the South Regent asked with anticipation. Ethan replied, "Their outfits and cooking skills have room for improvement, but it's not bad overall." The South Regent turned to the two and said, "Hurry up and thank Lord Rivers for his comments." "Thank you," said the two ladies at the same time. The South Regent was in a good mood, so he opened a bottle of wine. He poured Ethan a glass and then poured one for himself as well. Although his main goal was not achieved, it was still not considered a failure. Meanwhile, Stephen had returned to Hill City. He had had enough of enduring Rachel's coldness at home. Moreover, although they had been married for several days, she wou
Returning to his senses, Victor murmured, “By now, the mental pressure on them should be enough. We can act tomorrow.”Earlier, the South Regent had contacted Simon and told him their plan to apply enough pressure on Simon and Stephen. That would force the father and son to seek George for help, and that was when Victor would swoop in and win George over. Now, the pressure had done its job. George had decided to betray the Quinns, but Simon still had no idea about it and was probably still relaxing, thinking the worst was over. Thus, tomorrow was the perfect timing to kickstart their plan! They were not even afraid of Simon coming up with a solution despite telling him their plan in advance. Ethan had seen through them. Seeking George was a dead end, running was a dead end, and even destroying Breeze City was a dead end. The next day, Daniel and Caleb were the first to call in the media to make a public statement. “Hi, we are Daniel and Caleb. I trust you are all familiar with
At that moment, Ethan’s statement rendered everyone speechless. They were all shocked. With the plan, they would be killing two birds with one stone. George and the Quinns would be in a miserable situation while they would remain completely uninvolved. “Perfect! It’s perfect!” Even Victor could not help but marvel. “It’s so perfect that it fills me with despair. I couldn’t think of any way to solve this situation.”Without George, Stephen would fail to answer all the questions about what happened in Riveria over the past few years. However, if they used George, he would betray the Quinns and sabotage them from within, making it impossible for Stephen to answer the questions correctly. It was a deadlock!The South Regent gulped. “It is a ruthless plan. They’ll have no way to get past this. It’s a good thing I ran fast back then.”He thought the plan was devised to drive Stephen to his death. Tyler, Nolan, Daniel, and Caleb all nodded blankly. At that moment, they understood h
He could not let that happen. George was extremely useful at that moment. If George really were to return to prison, Stephen would be in trouble. “No.” Liam shook his head and glanced at George. “You’ve proved yourself recently, so you’re free to move around for the next month.”George’s eyes widened in shock. Did such luck befall him? He had never heard of such a thing before, but he soon realized he did not get a month of freedom because he had proven himself. It was the man who called him yesterday proving himself! Even with Simon’s status and position, the man could only grant him a month of freedom, and now, Liam had come with orders to grant him another month again. It only meant one thing—the man held as much status as the Quinns!If someone with as much status as the Quinns wanted to help him, he might have the chance to break free from the Quinns. At that thought, George could not contain his excitement. Simon, on the other hand, was still unaware of what had happene
George was stunned. He could not believe his ears. Freeing him from the Quinn family’s control? Did he really want to leave the Quinn family? If it were two days ago, he would never have entertained the thought, but now, the situation had changed. He was sent to prison because of Stephen, yet Stephen could not even be bothered to pay him a visit as they entered a new year. When Stephen finally came to see him, it was because he needed George’s help to solve his problems. Stephen showed no gratitude or respect whatsoever.As for Simon, that man once criticized Rachel right in front of him, showing no regard for him. Although he wanted to leverage the Quinn family’s influence, helping them by framing Ethan and letting them gain total control of Riveria greatly benefited them. After all he had sacrificed, could he not get a shred of respect from Simon for his daughter? George took a deep breath and suppressed the temptation. “I don’t know who you are. How can I trust you?”He genu
If he had not falsely accused Ethan, the Lowes would not be in its current state, and his daughter would not have to endure such lectures.George deeply regretted his actions. If he could turn back time and fix them, he would. Meanwhile, Stephen went upstairs to check on Rachel's room while she was washing up. After carefully checking and confirming that no man had been there, he sighed in relief. Although he did not love Rachel, she was still his rightful wife. He could not tolerate the idea that she did not care about him.A few minutes later, Rachel walked out."Come to the meeting," Simon said.He then explained the situation to George and Rachel.Rachel had never been interested in such matters and did not care much about it. Besides, she had no feelings for Stephen either, so she remained indifferent.On the other hand, George frowned. Sometimes, he admired and envied Stephen. Trouble always followed Stephen wherever he went, and each time, it was anything but simple.W
Stephen frowned. "What's going on?"Meanwhile, Rachel was woken up by the phone call. When she glanced at the screen and saw Stephen's name, she had no intention of answering. She simply put the phone on silent and pretended she had not seen it before going back to sleep.Only George and she had dinner together last night, and she was up late worrying about the future.In the airport, Simon asked, "What's wrong?"Confused, Stephen replied, "She didn't pick up. She's probably still asleep."Simon fell silent. He knew the problems between Stephen and Rachel could not be ignored. He rubbed his temples. He could not understand why relationship issues like that had to happen in the Quinn family, and they were happening to his son, the future head of the family!"Forget it," said Simon. "I'll have my assistant pick us up. We'll go straight to the prison.""Okay," Stephen replied.After landing, Simon and Stephen took a car to the prison and soon met George."What brings you here?"
Simon sat on his bed and racked his brain, desperately trying to think of a way to prepare for the questions the South Regent might ask. However, he could not think of anything!No matter how beautiful he had spun his lies, a lie was still a lie. It would never change the truth that he and Stephen had only been involved with Riveria less than a year.Stephen had been here the longest, but only for half a year. He knew nothing about Riveria's history, let alone the chaos of the past few years.Which forces and families were involved? What had they done? How did they disappear in the end?The only person Simon could think of right now was the South Regent. However, the South Regent had made it very clear that if they had to pay 100 million to every person Ethan had tormented, the Quinns would go bankrupt before they could pay up. That meant there were at least hundreds of them, and he had never seen or even heard of most of them.How was he supposed to defend against that? It was im
Simon frowned. He failed to understand why the South Regent would call him at a time like that. Could the man be calling to wish him a Happy New Year?He answered the call. "What?"The South Regent chuckled. "Simon, your trick of twisting facts and lies is quite impressive."Immediately, it all clicked. The South Regent must have seen how he resolved the issue at the gala and was so frustrated that he could not sleep. That was why he called so late at night."Yes," Simon said. "Can't find a way to counter me, huh? It's not just you. Even if Ethan himself came, he wouldn't be able to do anything."He was confident that his damage control strategy was top-tier. Even if Ethan personally stepped in, the latter would be powerless.No matter what they said, it could be dismissed as rumors. The narrative was in his hands. He could say whatever he wanted, and Ethan could do nothing but watch."Is that so?" The South Regent chuckled.Of all the things that Simon could have said, he said
Meanwhile, Rachel hired a chef to prepare a lavish dinner and delivered it to the prison.George felt a twinge of disappointment when he saw Rachel come alone. The last time he was taken out was to help Stephen, who had broken down, and the person who caused the breakdown was another woman.Although Rachel and Stephen were married, George always felt that she never truly had a place in Stephen’s heart, nor was she important to him. It made him worried about the future of the Lowe family.However, he held on to a sliver of hope and asked, "Is it just you?"Rachel said helplessly, "Stephen is busy. A lot of things are going on in Breeze City."George sighed.He knew there were issues in Breeze City, but they were not problems that could be solved overnight. One should rest when it was time to rest. It was New Year's, yet Stephen did not even spare the time to bring a meal to his father-in-law.At the end of the day, it was because George was not important to him. Maybe Stephen nev