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Chapter 415
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The Guardian's Return Chapter 416
Stephen started clapping. That was an idea that he had never thought of. Although his negligence caused the wildfire, having everyone cover for him to solve the problem was perfect. If he could just do it better, he could even save his own image. “Good idea!” The others got up and applauded the idea as well. “Mayor Nolan is indeed a wise person! He has a lot of good ideas in his pockets!” “We still have so much to learn from him!” “When I head home later, I’ll study his suggested ideas! It’s great!” They flattered Nolan ceaselessly. “Hmph!” Stephen scoffed. “I wanted you guys to think of a solution, but none of you could come up with anything. Now, we have to rely on Nolan.” Nolan smiled. “You’re giving me too much credit. It’s my job, really. I’m just glad I could help. It’s not as amazing as you’re making it sound.” “Alright, we’ll go with these plans for now. Meeting adjourned,” Stephen replied.He strongly believed Nolan’s idea had helped him solve his most urg
The Guardian's Return Chapter 417
Stephen subcontracted the mining rights for the Stone Village quarry, and in the end, the South Regent’s company got the rights. He was reluctant to hand over the rights to the South Regent, the price the South Regent offered was too generous to refuse—it was enough to repair the freeway. With two major issues now off his plate, Stephen felt a weight lift from his shoulders. It was time to tackle the third problem. Stephen got Nolan to craft a powerful, emotionally stirring speech and then selected a sunny day to hold a fundraising event. At the event, he stood before the crowd, delivering the speech he had prepared. Then, he let the media do their part, broadcasting his speech alongside the fundraising information.Julius’ tragedy had moved a lot of people in Hill City, as well as those following the news online. Now, when Stephen told the crowd that restoring peace and preserving the city's natural beauty had always been Julius’ dream, people were deeply touched. In less than
The Guardian's Return Chapter 418
Edward and Tyler were eager to meet Ethan again. For the past three years, they had lived under the shadow of Ethan, haunted by the fear of his return. In every encounter with Ethan, they had lost every single time, and each time, Ethan would mock them, calling them naive, shallow, ignorant, and stupid. “If thinking is the proof of being alive, I have a hard time determining whether you two are even alive. Can’t figure out why you lost? Well, in that case, I suggest you should just ram your head into the wall.” Just recalling what Ethan said to them back then sent chills down Edward’s and Tyler’s spines. Their lives were perfect before Ethan appeared, their lives had been smooth sailing, and every plan had gone exactly how they wanted. However, then Ethan appeared in their lives. “We’ve been waiting for this day for three years, and he has finally fallen! Today will be the day our family rises again!” With that, the two of them took a plane to Riveria immediately. At dawn
The Guardian's Return Chapter 419
Edward took a deep breath and said, “We’ve been caught. What else can we do? Let’s just go in.” Together, they turned around and entered the mansion. When they arrived, they were confident they could finally take revenge on Ethan. They were sure they would have a chance to humiliate him this time, but now, neither of them could manage a smile. They stiffly went up to Ethan and sat opposite him at the table, feeling uneasy as they adjusted their postures. Ethan pushed some bread over to them. “Care for a bite?” Edward did not touch the bread. “Is this going to be our last meal?” Ethan chuckled. “It’s your honor to have me serve you your last meal.” The two of them were silenced knowing it might really be their last meal on earth! Ethan saw the looks on their faces and knew exactly what they were thinking. “Don’t overthink it. I’m no longer in charge of Riveria. Now, I’m just a convict locked up in Drakthorn Ridge.” Edward’s and Tyler’s heads shot up in disbelief.
The Guardian's Return Chapter 420
“No. You guys are wasting your time trying to pull me into this. I could do what you’re asking on my own. Working with you will only result in a loss to me,” Ethan said. Edward was rendered speechless. Ethan’s words stung him. He had always considered himself a man with vision, someone strategic and wise, but there was Ethan, dismissing him so easily. Worse yet, he could not argue back because he knew Ethan was far more capable than himself. “Rather than wasting time on me, why don’t you figure out a way to deal with the South Regent? He has strengthened his foundation in two cities already.” Edward heaved a long sigh. “Sigh. You’re stirring the pot again.” He believed Ethan was subtly hinting at him to deal with the South Regent. However, if they did, both sides would only end up in a bitter struggle with no winners. Edward sighed because he knew he could not do anything to change the situation. They and the South Regent were destined to be enemies, unlikely to be allies,
The Guardian's Return Chapter 421
Tyler said, “With our family’s wealth, we must start from Hill City to make a comeback.” Edward answered, “I know. I’ve been thinking about how we can get more benefits from Hill City.” He then texted Nolan, asking for a list of recent happenings in the city. When they returned to Breeze City, they got an update from Nolan, and Edward went through everything Stephen had done recently. “Subsidies were distributed in layers. By the time they reached the villagers, there wasn’t much left. We might be able to use this to our advantage. “He also subcontracted the mining rights of the quarry to the South Regent. We can’t let him get away with this too easily.” “Then, there’s the fundraiser. There’s a lot of room for us to work with.” In just a few minutes, Edward came up with a plan. “We’ll start with the South Regent first.”He planned to sabotage the quarry as it would not only hurt the South Regent’s profits but also create enough distraction for Edward to move in and imp
The Guardian's Return Chapter 422
With a life lost, the situation had become far more complicated and serious. To make matters worse, most of the workers at the quarry were unhappy with their wages. Nolan seized the chance to tell Stephen that he should take back the mining rights if the South Regent’s company could not settle the problem and compensate the injured and deceased workers.Stephen agreed and immediately went to the quarry manager to deliver the message.The manager was displeased by the decision. The miners who survived wanted around 300 thousand dollars in compensation, and the family of the deceased demanded at least 800 thousand dollars. It was not that the company could not offer it, but it was not worth it. “I’ll have to check with my boss.” The manager then contacted the South Regent to get further instructions.The South Regent was made aware of the incident, and after a quick consideration, he said, “Pay them. Let’s keep things quiet for now. After that, launch an investigation to find ou
The Guardian's Return Chapter 423
Stephen was at a loss for words. No matter what, he was the one who hurt Andy. It was his fault Andy was hunted beyond the borders and forced to witness the death of someone who had once saved his life. Stephen sighed helplessly. “How much?” “At least 20 million.” Stephen then thought of the 120 million in funds that he had just received. “Fine, but what are you going to do with the money?” “I want to change people’s lives for the better,” Andy said without a second thought, his tone firm. Stephen handed over 20 million, which left him with just 100 million. He believed it was enough if he could spend it wisely. After getting the money, Andy turned to leave. Stephen called out, “You’re leaving already? Do you want to have lunch?” “No. There’s nothing left for us to talk about,” Andy said without turning back. His words cut through Stephen like a knife, leaving him feeling as though his heart had been shredded to pieces. He never would have thought that the friend he g
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The Guardian's Return Chapter 814
Tyler frowned. “What happened?”“It’s about Riveria.” Nolan handed his phone to Tyler. “Simon and Stephen have completely lost all shame. I can’t believe they said something like this.”After reading the news, Tyler’s expression darkened. “Although I know they’re shameless, I still underestimated them.”In the past, they had slandered Ethan and stole his achievements. Now, after being exposed, they fabricated evidence and worked with headquarters to deceive the public.“Tyler, what should we do?” Nolan asked. “I can’t stand by while they slander Mr. Rivers like this.”Tyler said, “Let me think.”To them, Ethan was their savior. Without Ethan, the Spencers would never have made it out of Riveria alive. It was thanks to Ethan stepping in that they had a chance to start over.However, Simon was shamelessly going further to distort the truth and rewrite history. They could not watch this happen. The truth had to be exposed!A moment later, Tyler said in a low voice, “Let’s go to Ri
The Guardian's Return Chapter 813
The netizens had mostly been deceived by the internet trolls.When they saw Simon and headquarters both speaking out, they fully believed that Stephen was innocent and that everything was part of Leo and Ethan’s schemes. Even the few who had firmly believed in Ethan began to doubt themselves.Online, the uproar gradually died down. At that moment, Simon took the next step! He had someone publish the recording of the gala and instructed the trolls to guide the audience in revisiting the highlights.With that, both he and Stephen were completely safe.When people reviewed the gala recording, it also boosted Riveria’s popularity. It was killing multiple birds with one stone!Simon did not rest. Instead, he took the official statement and the trending discussions online and headed to the jail to meet Leo.“Has he confessed yet?” Simon asked the staff.After Leo was imprisoned, he had been questioned who the mastermind behind this was.“No. He keeps saying there’s no mastermind.”S
The Guardian's Return Chapter 812
“Yeah. I’m from Breeze City. If Stephen is driven away by all your insults, what are we supposed to do?”“All this is part of Ethan’s scheme. He’s deliberately trying to frame Stephen!”This was the next phase of their attack. They accused everyone of being too extreme and then created a victim narrative to gain sympathy. Finally, they flipped the story. Stephen was the pure-hearted and selfless one while Ethan was the true villain!While the internet was being flooded with manipulated narratives, Simon was not idle either. He felt that fabricating transaction records and hiring internet trolls alone was not enough. Ne needed more fabricated evidence.Thus, he had several people in Riveria publicly claim that Stephen had been the one managing Riveria all along.Ethan Rivers? Never heard of him!After a day of work, Simon was drenched in sweat. He felt his heart pound as if it might leap out of his throat.After all, he had not rested properly for days because of the gala. Furthe
The Guardian's Return Chapter 811
Simon stayed up all night thinking.The next morning, a little after 6 a.m., he called someone to forge records that Stephen had lived in Riveria before.At the gala, someone had questioned whether Stephen really was the Grand Marshal’s mentee. His response at that time was that Stephen had always lived in Riveria.Now, he had to fabricate those records as soon as possible and release them publicly. Protecting Stephen’s identity as ‘the Grand Marshal’s sole heir’ was extremely important. As long as that narrative was maintained, it would minimize suspicions from others.“But that’s not enough.”Simon continued to take action and hired internet trolls. Since he could not suppress the public’s interest, he personally intervened and made the trolls comment that Stephen was the one in charge of Riveria while Ethan was a corrupt criminal and that Leo was spewing nonsense!As soon as the money was paid, the trolls began their work.“You guys say that Ethan was the one in charge of Riv
The Guardian's Return Chapter 810
However, the event was quickly losing steam! Leo had shifted everyone’s attention away, and people were more curious about Ethan and Stephen’s true identities. The whole internet buzzed with discussions, and many were engaged in fierce arguments. Even if Simon tried to suppress the controversy, it was nearly impossible to stop it. Quite a few people were even starting to leave the event. Many planned to stay in Breeze City for a few days and tour the city, but after experiencing the incident, they no longer trusted Simon. Therefore, they changed their plans and decided to leave the next day!By the time the event ended at 1 a.m., the audience present had dropped to less than half of the original count. When Simon and Stephen took the stage and saw the half-empty seats, they felt dispirited. The celebrities and singers who attended the event could also barely manage a smile. They regretted coming. The scandal surrounding Stephen’s real identity could easily engulf them, and the l
The Guardian's Return Chapter 809
Stephen immediately raised his head and asked, “Where is she?”Simon fell silent. He had no idea where Lily was. Perhaps only Ethan would know her whereabouts, and he did not know how to answer Stephen. Stephen frowned as he waited for a response. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you say she’s alive? Why don’t you tell me where she is?”Simon took a deep breath. “It might not be the best time to tell you now.”He still tried to brush it off. “What do you mean?” Stephen was getting anxious. “Do you want me to get on my knees and beg you? Don’t you know how important she is to me?” Stephen pointed at his gray hair. “I want to see her again so badly.”As Simon lowered his head, looking conflicted, Stephen fell to his knees with a bam. “What are you doing?” Simon exclaimed and quickly pulled him up. At that point, he realized that he could not hide it anymore. He did not want to say that Ethan saved Lily, but only Ethan knew where she was now. Even if he wanted to lie, he could not. W
The Guardian's Return Chapter 808
“Everything we’ve worked hard on would go to waste, and the Quinn family would be plunged into endless doom. The federal government would cull us. Nobody would let us off.”The issue now was not as simple as stealing Ethan’s achievements and locking him up. They were unafraid to do it in the past because they thought Ethan was an incapable orphan without any backing. They figured he just got lucky. However, they were wrong. Ethan turned out to be the Grand Marshal’s only mentee and the head of the Ledger family’s chosen one. He was also the one who intimidated the South Regent into retreating and achieving peace for Riveria. Everyone in the province owed him their lives.Just the revelation of his identity and achievements would be more than they could handle, and there was a new problem. Under their management, Riveria had nothing but problems. The province was once the nation’s largest, boasting a 15 trillion GDP, but how much of it was left now? It had long since fallen to
The Guardian's Return Chapter 807
It happened all too suddenly. He had done everything he could to prevent this. He had made countless preparations, ensuring no criminals or illegal weapons could get in, and even arranged his own men to be the “lucky audience” chosen for the interactive session. Yet, he had not expected a celebrity of that level to speak out for Ethan. Simon racked his brains, trying to figure out how it all happened. However, how would he know that the celebrity had become famous thanks to Ethan? His mind buzzed, completely blank. He could only say, “We will investigate this matter. Everyone, please wait for our notice. For now, please continue to enjoy tonight’s show!”He handed the mic to the host and rushed off stage. The show had to go on. He had put too much effort into inviting celebrities and pouring money into security to have it go to waste like that.Unfortunately, people’s attention was not on the show anymore. Stephen, Simon, Riveria, and Ethan immediately started trending. The e
The Guardian's Return Chapter 806
However, the truth was that everything she went through had nothing to do with Ethan, while the hardships he had encountered were even more unbearable than hers. However, he always remained calm and was even willing to lend a hand. “I’m sorry.” Snow trembled, tears streaking across her face. There was so much she wanted to say, but she did not know where to start. She could only apologize repeatedly and wipe her tears away. Her heart was filled with resentment toward Stephen, who was no human at all! Lily also spoke, her voice shaking, “I can’t believe you were the author. And you’ve done so much!”She thought back to the first time they met and when she called Ethan petty. Now, she finally understood how generous Ethan was. He had sacrificed himself to protect everyone in Riveria, saved her life when she should have been dead, and helped her find a new meaning in life. Yet what about him? He was imprisoned in that desolate mountain alone. Lily thought about herself. As the
