Ganter gritted his teeth. “Okay. I promise you!”Ethan took out his phone and dialed Andy’s number. “Lord Rivers, what can I do for you?” Andy asked respectfully. The more he knew about Riveria and its foreign borders, the more he realized Ethan’s influence. The name Ethan had even become a symbol of power beyond the borders!“Is Jeremy available?” Ethan said, “Arrange a time for Jeremy and Stephen to get on a video call.”Andy was confused as to why Ethan would suddenly want Jeremy to see Stephen. However, since it was Ethan’s orders, he would do as he was told. “What does Jeremy have to say to Stephen?” Andy asked. “Just have him express his true thoughts. Oh,” Ethan added, “If you’re in need of money, you can use this opportunity to get more from Stephen.”Andy immediately understood Ethan’s intention. “Got it.”After the call ended, Ethan gave Ganter a number. “As you wish. Stephen can have a video call with Jeremy.”Ganter said gratefully, “Thank you.”Ethan smiled.
Simon tried to calm himself. “You hate Stephen, don’t you?”“Yes.” Andy was honest. “He nearly got me killed.”“He didn’t mean to.”“It would have been better if it was!” Andy was enraged. Images of the man getting shot in the chest and the team sacrificing themselves to save him flashed across his mind. There were also those people living in suffering, chanting Ethan’s name, yet Stephen, out of his own selfishness, imprisoned Ethan on Drakthorn Ridge. Simon could see from Andy’s reaction that the man did not plan to forgive Stephen this time. He let out a sigh. He had watched Andy grow up and never expected the day would come when these best friends would become enemies. “Let me see him.” Simon decided to give in and pay. The camera shifted, and he saw Jeremy standing beside Andy. After confirming that Jeremy was alive, he asked, “Did Ethan save him?”“Yes.” Andy said, “Because Jeremy is still alive, Stephen has a chance to overcome this, but the irony is that the person
Nolan was getting anxious. Stephen had recovered and would be back in Hill City in no time. Besides, with Stephen having met with Jeremy, Nolan was worried that Jeremy might’ve said things he should not. Adding to that, the South Regent’s forces were about to return to Hill City, and he also had to rescue the South Regent’s men. He started planning how to rescue them while discreetly finding out what Jeremy and Stephen talked about. However, when he learned that Jeremy did not mention him, he sighed in relief. Two days later, Stephen returned to Hill City, accompanied by Ganter and Austin. Ganter had promised Ethan to become a psychologist in Hill City, and Austin realized that he still had much to learn after this incident, so he decided to tag along with Ganter. Stephen was very grateful to Ganter and Austin as both of them had essentially saved his life. Hence, he arranged accommodations for them and even bought a storefront for Ganter. “If you need anything in the future, j
Since it was Stephen’s order, he could not refuse. Besides, he actually knew how Hill City had achieved stability in the past. While Julius did play a part, Ethan was the one who truly made things work.The Spencers had stood up against Ethan back then, so they knew him very well. Ethan would pit the forces in Riveria against foreign forces, causing them to weaken each other. At the same time, he would get a significant amount of money from the forces in Riveria, like what he had done to the Spencers. He had taken away 90% of the Spencers’ assets. As for the foreign forces, Ethan would have the South Regent deal with them, and then obtain benefits from the South Regent, such as money and people he trusted. With money and manpower, Ethan was able to further eliminate the forces in Riveria, keeping useful ones for the city’s development.After Riveria’s GDP surpassed the 20-trillion mark, he began the final clean-up, sparing those willing to change and arresting those who resisted.
Stephen felt a little awkward. “Hill City still has quite a few problems. These problems were similar to what happened in the past. Julius took care of the problems back then, so we wanted to ask if he ever documented any solutions.”Jane understood. “His laptop is still in the room. You can go through it if you need to. Just don’t damage it.”Although Jane did not like Stephen, he came for Hill City this time, so she did not want to be cold-hearted. When she married Julius, she had already made up her mind. Hill City was more important than her life. After getting permission, Stephen quickly brought his men to turn on the laptop to search for information. Stephen did not know the password, but Jane, who was standing nearby, told him the password. Stephen entered the password and successfully unlocked the laptop. Nobody noticed the faint smile that appeared on Jane’s face. Julius had never told her the password. She guessed it using the initials of their name and their wedding
Dr. Steel had always lived in the capital. Although news about Riveria occasionally appeared online, he rarely paid any attention. Now that he was in Hill City, he could see the raging flames from the distant mountaintop from the roof. “How could a fire break out so suddenly?” Before Dr. Steel could think it through, he saw Austin running back in a panic. “Why are you in such a rush?” he frowned and asked. Austin said nervously, “Something’s happened on the next street. There was an armed robbery.” He quickly closed the door to prevent the robbers from coming here and threatening their safety. “Robbery? And armed?” Dr. Steel was shocked. He found it hard to believe that there were still robbers in the current day, even daring to bring guns! They had no regard for their life!Austin was even more worried. “Hill City doesn’t feel safe at all.” They had encountered the forest fire and armed robbery just after they arrived. Was it a coincidence? Or was it simply the state of H
His hair was gray, his face lined with wrinkles, and his clothes were tattered and shabby.Stephen was stunned. “He’s the culprit?”The assistant nodded. “Yes.”Stephen took a deep breath. “Why did you set the fire?”The old man trembled and stuttered, “I didn’t do it on purpose.”Stephen’s face was cold. “Even if it wasn’t on purpose, you have to explain what’s going on.”Hill City’s mountains were ancient and were home to many precious plants and animals. The economic and environmental damage caused by this fire was immeasurable. The old man lowered his head. “Our orchard was destroyed. The subsidies were too little, and our children all went to find work in other cities. Now, someone wants to lease our village land, so I wanted to expand it a bit.”Stephen understood. The orchard was destroyed, leaving them without a harvest. The youngsters went to work elsewhere as they thought the subsidy was too little. At this juncture, some companies wanted to lease the empty and idle
“Send someone over to negotiate and pressure their officials to release our people. If they refuse, send a squad over.”Nolan nodded. “Got it.”After hanging up the call, Nolan thought Stephen’s idea was decent this time, but unfortunately, it was destined to fail because Stephen did not expect the problem to lie with Nolan himself. The guards escorting the criminals and the hijackers were all Nolan’s subordinates, which meant they were from Riveria. The foreign officials had little control over the matter. Most importantly, the situation outside the borders was chaotic, controlled by various powerful forces such as the South Regent. With Nolan around, the squad assault would never succeed. If Nolan willed it, he could easily wipe the squad out as well. Stephen kept his phone and looked at his assistant. “Bring me to that man’s village chief. At the same time, find out which company wanted to lease the orchard land.”He wanted to investigate how a mere two thousand was all tha
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