At Zoey’s words, Rachel said excitedly, “Great idea!”She thought about it carefully. If she found someone to replace the Fords and the Lanes, she would get all the benefits without any downsides. Then, she had a new question. Who should she choose to take over the Fords and the Lanes’ fruits of success?Although Rachel had many friends, at this critical moment, she could not think of anyone who would be suitable.Seeing her conflicted expression, Zoey asked, “Are you worried about not knowing who to choose to replace the Fords and the Lanes? I actually have someone in mind.”Rachel immediately asked, “Who?”“Theo Harlow. He’s a friend of mine. He’s a village chief but he’s already young and accomplished. He’s also highly respected in the village.” Zoey shared the story that the Spencers prepared all to arrange for Theo’s rise to power.“Theo Harlow?” Rachel muttered. She had never heard of that name before. “Where is he?”Zoey smiled. “I’ll call him now so you can meet him.”S
Rachel asked Theo, “If you manage these two families, will you end up like them?”Clatter!Theo suddenly stood up. “I swear to the heavens, if I ever betray you or do something that harms everyone, I shall be struck by five bolts of lightning!”Rachel nodded in satisfaction, reassured by his conviction. “Sit down.” She still had other problems, such as how to take over the two families. Should she go to them directly?“What’s on your mind, Rachel?” Zara asked.“I’m trying to figure out how to take over the two families,” Rachel said. “Can I just go and demand from them?”After all, she was the daughter of the former governor and one of the administrators of Breeze City. It should be possible to directly ask them to hand over their entire fortune, right?Zoey shook her head. “Of course not.”“Then, what should we do?” Rachel was confused. She had no management experience. In the past, Ethan was the one who handled all the matters in Riveria. She always felt tired just hearing ab
“They even drove farmers out to the outskirts to farm!”“Just yesterday, they used excavators to destroy other people’s farmland. They’re despicable.”“I’m from Breeze City. I can testify that it’s all true. They really did send excavators to drive people away.”“Are they a criminal organization?”Following that narrative, many people who did not know the truth believed the accusations and thought that the Fords and the Lanes were truly evil.Some of the more rational ones spoke up, telling the others not to jump to conclusions, but they were immediately attacked by the commenters the Spencers hired.“Why are you defending them? Are you part of their organization?”“This is hilarious. Did you go mad from eating contaminated food?”“How dare you defend these heartless companies? Be careful you don’t get hit by a car one day.”Some even sent private messages, cursing them. The rational people were frightened and quickly deleted their comments, not daring to speak out again.Whe
Stephen also noticed the news online. When he heard that the Ford and the Lane family businesses were in trouble, he immediately called Daniel and Caleb.“Did you really sell contaminated grain?”“No,” Daniel and Caleb assured him. They would never sell grain with quality issues. “We just sent our grain for inspection today. The results will come out soon. Once we have the quality report and publicly apologize, it’ll probably clear our names.”Stephen asked, “Do you need my help?” He felt that if he intervened, it would surely help the Fords and the Lanes weather this storm.“There’s no need.” Daniel and Caleb felt that the situation was not serious enough for Stephen to step in. If he helped, it might make it seem like there really was something wrong with them.“Okay,” Stephen said. “If you need help, just contact me.”“Thank you, sir.” They expressed their sincere gratitude.Meanwhile, Zoey told Rachel that the grain from the Fords and the Lanes was undergoing inspection. Wit
Edward was closely monitoring the situation in Breeze City and was pleased when he saw the public’s anger. “Now, it’s time for Rachel to step in.”Zoey called Rachel and told her to take action.The Spencers had even prepared a statement for Rachel. All she had to do was post it online as an administrator of Breeze City, and everything would fall into place.The message was brief: “I have been made aware of the situation and have started an investigation. We will give everyone an explanation as soon as possible.”The netizens cheered when they saw this.“Great! Rachel is here. She’s the daughter of the former governor of Riveria as well as Stephen’s wife. She’s one of Riveria’s administrators now. She’ll be sure to deal with the Fords and the Lanes.”“Someone is finally standing up for us.”“Go, Rachel!”“You got this, my goddess!”The people of Breeze City calmed down slightly when they learned that Rachel was seeking justice for them. Although they did not know about Rachel’
“Forget it. I need to check on David and Caleb first.”Stephen rushed to the prison to visit them and ask what happened. He went straight to their cell. “Why were you arrested? Didn’t you say there was nothing wrong with your grain?”Daniel and Caleb were confused as well. They thought their grain was fine, but the inspection found that it was contaminated. They were also wondering where things went wrong.“Please believe us, sir. We really didn’t do anything.”“We were framed!”Seeing how sincere they looked, Stephen thought that he might need to investigate the matter.However, the Spencers had already anticipated that Stephen would want to clear their names, so they arranged for several incidents to divert his attention.As soon as Stephen left the prison, he received news. “Some animals have escaped from the reserve and are destroying crops. Several fields have been damaged.”“Go and see what’s going on,” Stephen quickly responded.When he arrived at the site, he saw that
While Stephen was reviewing Theo’s information, Theo was also busy. He had gone alone to the Spencers’ residence to meet Edward.“I’ve done what you told me to. I’ve taken over the Fords’ and the Lanes’ family businesses, so it’s time for you to fulfill your promise and tell me where he is.”Theo’s family had long since been destroyed, and he used their remaining assets to secure a position as the chief of a small village. Thanks to the Spencer family helping him from the shadows, he made connections with Rachel and took control of two enterprises.The Spencers told him to acquire the two businesses as a bargaining chip. In return, Edward would tell him information about Ethan.Theo harbored deep hatred toward Ethan, who ruined the Harlows. His father had been killed, his mother committed suicide, and all his friends had left him. He was no longer the young master of the Harlows but nothing more than a stray dog.Now, he was the final survivor of the Harlows. He fantasized about h
Ethan looked at Theo and saw him slowly take out a three-inch-long fruit knife that had been specially sharpened.He said calmly, “I have enough fruit knives. I appreciate the gesture, but you can take it back later.”“This knife isn’t a gift for you. It’s to send you to your death!” Theo shouted and stepped toward Ethan. He had waited three years for that moment. For three years, he had had nightmares every night of Ethan destroying everything he once had. Now that Ethan was right in front of him, he could not wait a second longer.Ethan, however, did not grow nervous or panicked when he saw Theo approach. Instead, he remained calm.“As the son of the Harlows, you should know that your family and several other families joined forces to kill me. However, despite hiring expensive assassins, they failed. Do you think you’ll succeed?”Theo gritted his teeth. “I’m different from them.”Ethan smiled. “You’re exactly the same as them. Whether it's assassins, the Harlows, or other fam
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