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
The translator shook his head. “We’ve never met him before. We just know that he can lead us to peace, just like how he led Riveria to peace.”Arnold frowned. Ethan could lead everyone to peace? He felt like he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.Ethan was a criminal known for serious corruption. It would already be considered benevolent if he did not embezzle all the villagers’ money and push them to the brink of despair. Furthermore, the one who had brought peace to Riveria was Stephen! He was the Grand Marshal’s mentee!“It seems you don’t understand Ethan at all,” Arnold said. “He’s not who you think he is.” He wanted to say more, but a few children peeked curiously at the door, interrupting him.The translator quickly shooed them away, but Arnold smiled and said, “Let them come in.”The children entered, staring up at Arnold with wide eyes. One of the girls asked shyly, “Is Mr. Rivers handsome? Is he married?”The translator relayed the questions to Arnold, making
Jason’s eyes widened. “Who wiped them out?”“Ethan Rivers! This name keeps coming up.”Jason froze, taken aback. The bodyguards around him and Lily also looked terrified because the man named Ethan Rivers was right before their eyes! Just moments ago, Jason had arrogantly demanded that Ethan apologize to them.The bodyguards could not help but stumble backward.Jason’s mind raced. Those powerful forces were not much weaker than his family, yet Ethan had wiped them all out.What did that mean? It meant it would be no problem for Ethan to wipe out the entire Ford family!“You should understand now,” said Ethan, “that in my eyes, your family and all other families have no dignity or honor to speak of.”Jason turned paled, and his body trembled uncontrollably. “Who exactly are you?”He never knew that such a terrifying figure existed in Riveria.Suddenly, he understood why Stephen had changed so drastically after coming to Riveria. The place was far more terrifying than the powe
"You're alone with him in his house. Just the two of you, a man and a woman. Aren't you worried about what people will say? And don't forget your place—you’re still the Katzes’ future daughter-in-law!"Lily lowered her head in despair. Only Ethan remained seated, his expression calm as he looked at Jason.“I can assure you that I don’t find Lily attractive. I can also assure you that the Katzes would not dare to say anything even if they found out she spent the night here. Also, a family that sells off their own daughter has no dignity to speak of.”Jason frowned. “Is that your justification? Do you think you can avoid apologizing with that and simply brush the matter aside?”“No,” said Ethan. “I have just one answer. Your family has a vast intelligence network and access to the largest database. Find out who caused the chaos in Riveria three years ago.”Jason did not understand what Ethan was up to. However, he was curious, especially since Stephen had encountered a series of set
“Mr. Rivers.” Lily lowered her head.Ethan looked at her calmly.“I was reckless and irrational yesterday. Please forgive me, Mr. Rivers.”Then, she bowed toward him.In the span of a day, she had experienced Stephen leaving her and her own family locking her up, demanding that she cut ties with Stephen. She had thought things through and came to a realization that the only person in the world who could help her now was the person in front of her—Ethan Rivers. She also understood that she could not walk away unscathed.Her visit today had two purposes. The first was to apologize to Ethan sincerely and earn Ethan’s forgiveness. As for the second...Lily raised her head and looked at Ethan. “I have an unreasonable request. I can’t let him go. Please help me move on from him, Mr. Rivers.”She knew she had to marry Sebastian, so she wanted to move on from Stephen. That way, it would be better for both her and Stephen.Ethan said calmly, “You should go to a psychologist or neurolo
Everyone was surprised. In the past, Stephen would always find excuses to avoid responsibility, but now, he was openly admitting to his mistakes.“He’s actually facing all the issues head-on.”“This doesn’t seem like Stephen’s usual style. Is this a PR tactic?”“Who cares what it is? Just criticize him as usual. None of the previous problems have been solved yet.”“That’s true. He still deserves to be criticized!”“A rotten apple will always be rotten. No matter how nice his words sound tonight, he’ll go back to his old tricks tomorrow.”The public was only slightly surprised at his behavior, but they had no doubt as to what he would do in the future—he would continue to destroy the city’s peace.Stephen was prepared for that reaction.“I’ve made too many mistakes in the past. It’s impossible for everyone to believe in me immediately. However, as long as I keep working hard, they’ll slowly change their opinions of me.”After getting everything off his chest, he felt lighter, l
“You sure like joking around, Dad,” Rachel responded, trying not to show how much she actually cared about the situation.Then, she added, “It’ll happen naturally.”Simon did not expose her either and simply said, “Do as you please.”He stood and left. He still had a lot to handle, such as the companies leaving in droves and the problems with the development zone.After he was gone, Rachel immediately stood up and went upstairs to look for Stephen. She wanted to take action immediately.When she walked into the room, she saw Stephen sitting at his desk, reading through some documents.“Stop reading that.” Rachel stepped forward and tried to drag him to bed.However, Stephen was not in the mood. His mind was a chaotic mess, consumed by the proposals in front of him and the haunting image of Lily breaking into tears when he left her.“Don’t bother me.” Stephen pushed Rachel away.Rachel was stunned. Stephen had always cared deeply for her. Since their marriage, she had not even
At the foot of the mountain, Lily and Stephen, sitting in their car, had no idea that the family of three they had just encountered was Scott and Cora from the story.They had no idea that Ethan saved both Scott and Cara and even led them to live a blissful life together. However, watching the happy family caused Lily and Stephen to feel even more upset.They were from prestigious, powerful families, with more money than they could ever spend and the kind of influence most people could only dream of. Yet, in their marriages, they were not even as happy as random strangers on the street. Not only had they missed out on love, but there was not even a moment of fleeting passion between them.Lily wept quietly, but Stephen had no idea how to comfort her. He merely sat beside her, his head bowed.Just then, his phone rang. He did not want to answer it, but the caller was persistent. Stephen took out his phone, and when he saw that it was Simon, he reluctantly picked up.“Have you wrapp
Lily shook her head. She knew what the result was just by looking at Stephen’s expression. She smiled wryly. “You’ve done enough. I’m very happy about all you’ve done for me. Let’s head down the mountain.”Stephen was barely keeping it together, so Lily drove them down. She seemed fine on the surface, but once they reached the foot of the mountain, she could not hold back anymore. She stopped the car and burst into tears.Stephen listened to her sobs but was powerless. He knew why Lily was crying, but he could not comfort her.Just then, someone knocked on the car window. Lily held back her cries and rolled down the window.A couple carrying a child stood outside, and the man asked in concern, “Is something wrong? Do you need help?”Lily looked at the happy family in front of her and felt worse.“I’m fine. Please leave.”Then, she rolled the window back up.The couple exchanged a look before leaving helplessly.Inside the car, Lily choked out, “Steph, I don’t want to leave y
There were many things Ethan could say to refute that statement.For example, Lily was a young lady of a wealthy family, and her partner would be the heir of another wealthy family. No matter how much emotional pain they were in, they had more money and resources than most people could dream of. Life was not just about romance, and this was what people meant by crying over nothing. However, all Ethan said was, “What has that got to do with me?”Stephen thought about it and replied, “I can give you money.”Ethan said indifferently, “I have enough money as is.”Too many people had offered him money, and there was nothing he needed money for at the moment. He had long stopped worrying about cash.Stephen paled. Emotional appeals did not work, and neither did money. He had run out of ideas.He glanced at Lily beside him. “Go outside first.”Lily’s mind was a mess. Every word Ethan spoke hit her hard. It was her first time meeting Ethan, and she had no idea how to handle it.She n
Seeing Stephen so timid, Lily muttered in disappointment, “Steph…”Ethan could not be bothered to continue the conversation.“You can go now. I won’t help you.”Lily looked at Ethan, feeling resentful and disappointed. “People call you a clairvoyant, but you call Stephen a coward. In my eyes, you’re the real coward. You have the ability to help, but you choose to do nothing.”She was angry at Ethan’s unwillingness to help and his insult to Stephen. To her, there was nothing Stephen could not do. How could she allow him to be humiliated like that?However, the next second… “Shut up! Don’t be disrespectful to Ethan. Apologize to him now!” Stephen rebuked her.Lily froze, her eyes wide as she looked at Stephen with shock and disbelief. She defended him, and not only did he not help her, but he even scolded her and told her to apologize to Ethan.She could not believe it. Was he really the Stephen Quinn whom she knew?Stephen did not care what Lily was thinking. All he knew was t