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
Stephen quickly had the trending topics suppressed to prevent the situation from escalating further. At the same time, he started a meeting to discuss solutions.Nolan had worked for two decades, so he was quite experienced.“The incident with the old man wasn’t our fault. We can clarify that he accidentally started the forest fire and took his own life out of guilt, not because we drove him to do it. As for the shooting and hijacking of the prisoner transport, those were provocations by foreign forces. We need to issue a public statement warning them.”Stephen felt that those were good ideas. Although it would not completely calm the online backlash, at least, it was a reasonable explanation and would reduce their criticism.Without a moment’s hesitation, Stephen immediately followed Nolan’s suggestions.He first clarified the cause of the forest fire, stating that several corrupt officials had already been arrested and that others were being pursued. A complete explanation was t
Stephen could not hold on any longer. He had just been discharged from the hospital and had yet to fully recover, but he had stayed up for more than 24 hours. He had reached his limit long ago.“I’ll rest for a bit. Call me if anything happens.”He found a bed and fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.Nolan looked at the team’s location and secretly sent the coordinates to his own forces.Stephen’s team had no idea that their enemies were fully aware of their movements. When they reached the designated spot and prepared to infiltrate...Whoosh!Suddenly, several floodlights lit up, momentarily blinding them. When their eyes adjusted, they realized that they were completely surrounded.“We’ve been ambushed!” The team members gripped their guns tighter, their faces tense.“I didn’t expect you to actually come.” A young handsome man slowly walked out from the darkness. His name was Jared York, a man trained by the Spencers. He was also acting on the Spencers’ orders this time
The villagers’ anxiety instantly disappeared as they crowded around Arnold, carefully observing him.Arnold’s determined gaze, righteous demeanor, and his distinct uniform left no doubt that he was one of Ethan’s people. After all, three years ago, Ethan had also led a team wearing similar uniforms to this village.Arnold had stumbled into the village by accident and wanted to leave quickly to avoid dragging the villagers into trouble. However, he was surrounded and could not escape. He looked at the villagers cautiously and said, “Everyone, please step aside. I’m a fugitive. If I don’t leave, you might be in danger too.”The villagers did not understand him until they summoned someone who had lived in Riveria for a while.The person understood Arnold’s language and translated to everyone, “He’s being pursued.”The villagers were shocked. Who would dare to pursue Ethan’s man?“Have you heard of Ethan Rivers?” someone asked.Arnold nodded at the translated question. Although he w
The Spencers’ past flashed in Jared’s mind. The Spencers used to be untouchable until Ethan came along.Whether it was Marcus or the other families in Breeze City, they had proven one thing with their lives—not to provoke Ethan Rivers!Jared took a deep breath, glaring at Arnold with anger and reluctance. “We’re leaving.”Then, he turned to leave.His subordinates considered fleeing the moment they heard Ethan’s name. If Jared had not been there, they might have already run. As soon as they were given the order to withdraw, they quickly left. Their cars swiftly drove away, returning silence to the village.Arnold watched the scene happen in a daze, his expression filled with confusion and disbelief. He could not understand why Jared left with his team when they heard that he was one of Ethan’s men. They had been clearly furious and reluctant to leave.After Jared left, the villagers looked at Arnold. The chief asked in concern, “They’re gone now. Do you need to go to the town cli
Hugo waited until Natalie fell asleep before leaving the hospital ward with the South Regent. He said in a low voice, “Please take me to see Mr. Rivers.”From that moment onward, he also addressed Ethan as Mr. Rivers.Ethan did not only save his life but also Natalie’s. He would repay that debt with his life.“Are you sure?” the South Regent asked. “If you take Natalie and her grandfather back to Metropolis now, you can stay out of all of this.”Natalie’s grandfather’s health had also stabilized after treatment.If Hugo wished, he could take them back to Metropolis, where the medical treatments were better. Furthermore, Hugo had worked as a psychologist for many years and even treated Stephen, so he had saved up over a million dollars.If he managed his finances well, he would not become rich, but it was enough for Natalie to grow up safe and healthy and ensure that her grandfather retired peacefully.Hugo did not hesitate. “I’ve made up my mind.”He played a part in how things
“Stephen has always lived in Riveria. He is the Grand Marshal’s sole mentee and the one who brought three years of peace to Riveria. Ethan is a corrupt criminal.”Scrolling further down, there was also an apology video from Stephen. He claimed that the statement was true and expressed regret that he caused an outcry and wasted public resources.Hugo fell completely silent after watching it.How could this be? Others might not know whether Stephen truly was the Grand Marshal’s mentee or not, but he did.Victor had told him about Ethan’s achievements. Even assassins feared Ethan. Stephen had also admitted in front of him who Ethan really was.Only Ethan could save Riveria.In the past, Hugo thought that Stephen was just being misled and used, which was why he wanted to help him.However, now, Stephen insisted that he was the Grand Marshal’s mentee and that he was the one who had managed Riveria in the past.As a psychologist, Hugo could tell from Stephen’s expressions in the vide
The doctors told Hugo what happened.“Back then, you had already lost too much blood. You’re lucky that there was a young man with the same blood type as you when you were brought in, so he gave you a transfusion. Then, our family head sent us to take care of you. If not for our excellent medical skills, you probably wouldn’t have woken up.”Hugo was confused. “Family head? Did Simon send you?”The two doctors suddenly froze, their expressions turning dark.“Watch what you say. Simon didn’t send us. Ugh!”They were so angry that they stopped the examination.Hugo was stunned at the sudden change in their attitude. They were not sent by Simon? Furthermore, why did they react so strongly to the mention of Simon’s name? If not Simon, who else could be the ‘family head’?“Who sent you?” Hugo asked in confusion.“We’re from the Ledger family,” the doctor said coldly. “Who’s Simon? We don’t know him. Don’t lump us in with that filth.”“Huh?” Hugo was still bewildered. “The Ledger fa
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 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
“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
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
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
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