“Thanks to your support Mr. Rivers, not only have our lives improved, but the people in Breeze City are doing well too. But…” Daniel and Caleb lowered their heads, saying, “Something went wrong recently.” “I know. This video call is to resolve the problems,” Ethan said. The Fords and Lanes had always been loyal, dedicated, and doing their best to carry out Ethan’s orders. Breeze City’s current prosperity owed much to their contributions, and Ethan believed they should not end their lives behind bars. “Your best choice is to leave Breeze City. You’ll still retain enough assets to rebuild your fortunes later or live a quiet, ordinary life.” Ethan said. Daniel, Caleb, and their sons were stunned by that suggestion. Why was Ethan advising them to leave Breeze City? Had Ethan lost trust in them? Did he think they were involved in something shady? “What did we do wrong?” Daniel and Caleb were so close to passing out from the shock. Others blamed them for selling contaminated
Daniel and Caleb hung up the video call with a heavy heart. Their sons, Timothy and William took their phones back, still struggling to accept the harsh reality unfolding before them. Ethan had contributed a lot to Riveria, yet someone else was reaping the rewards of his hard work, leaving him locked up in Drakthorn Ridge. “Mr. Rivers, are you sure you don’t want to leave with us?” The two young men wanted to persuade Ethan to change his mind. Ethan smiled. “I like it here.” There, he was free to do anything. He could plant, relax, watch the sunrise and sunset, listen to the birds, and write a novel. When it rained, he could just lay on the rocking chair in front of the door with a pot of tea beside him, enjoying the sounds of nature. He could also watch as Stephen slowly ruined Riveria. Timothy and William sighed helplessly. “Mr. Rivers, we have one last question.” They knew that would be the last meeting with Ethan, so they had to ask every question they had in mind
Ethan calmly said, “Money? You know what the Spencers did and you have proof. Just go to them for the money. As for how they’ll give you the money, it’s their problem to figure it out.” Timothy and William were stunned as a sudden realization dawned on them. They could get money from the Spencers.It was a solution they had never considered, but the more they thought about it, the more sense it made. After all, the Spencers had taken money from their businesses—it seemed only fair to ask for it back.“We understand!” They thanked Ethan once more for enlightening them. After asking all the questions that bothered them, they left with a heavy heart.“Goodbye, Mr. Rivers.” As they walked out of the mansion, they saw the city further away. Three years had passed, and the once-rural city became a modern one filled with skyscrapers. The changes were drastic, and the one who made the changes was locked up in the mansion behind them. Their thoughts returned to their own predicamen
The wild animals would often damage the crops in front of the farmers. The farmers were driven crazy, but they could not do anything to the protected animals. They had to come up with ways to drive the wild animals away without hurting them. “This isn’t going to last.” After driving another wave of animals away, one of the farmers lay sprawled down on the ground. His body was covered in mud, but he was more worried about the future. “Maybe this will happen once or twice only. It shouldn’t last forever. We can’t hurt the animals. What else can we do?” The others sighed helplessly, feeling aggrieved and angry but they could not do anything. In order to minimize the damage to the crops, some farmers started to move their farms further away. Some of them reported the incident to the authorities, hoping to get a solution. When Rachel learned about the news, she said, “Let them be. This is their problem, not ours. I am not here to clean up their mess.” She decided not to help and d
Rachel had been spending so much time with Theo lately that she barely had ten minutes with Stephen in a single day. Stephen looked at the feast on the table but felt lonely. He got emotional, wondering if his house was still his home. He missed his carefree days, especially when he was living with Snow. He could do whatever he wanted in the past, unlike now as he felt restrained. “Sigh.” He sat down and had dinner himself. The next morning, when Stephen came out of the room, Rachel was already prepared to go out. “You’re early,” he said, his tone surprised. Rachel usually woke up around noon, so this was unusual for her. She scoffed, “Do you think I’m as lazy as you?” She then strode out the door, leaving Stephen alone and baffled. Stephen had doubts. Had he ever been lazy? Now that Rachel mentioned it, ever since he came to Riveria, he barely had enough sleep. He worked hard whenever he opened his eyes but had never done anything big. “Whatever.” Stephen shook his hea
Those who could not afford the branded grains or were not interested were forced to purchase the normal quality produced, which were actually the contaminated ones. The farmers saw their incomes shrink while facing challenges such as water shortages and animal damage. These issues deepened their grievances and made them less meticulous in cultivating their crops. As the quality of the crops went down, the water in the reserve was being drained even more. Farmers started to look for other jobs to feed their families. Foreign companies came into play and started to acquire chernozem. There was a lot of chernozem, or black soil that was extremely fertile and productive, in the reserve area, so people started to sneak in, smuggle the soil out, and sell it to the companies. Rachel and Stephen were unaware of these activities. Stephen was pleased that Breeze City’s GDP was going up. “It’s finally going up.” His eyes teared up. Before this, each city he took over went down in ru
Several hospitals were overloaded with patients, and some of them even had to stand outside by the road. The incident started trending online. “A massive cold! Is there a plague coming?” Stephen noticed this, so he sent his men to investigate further. While waiting for an update, he felt strange while reading the comments online. Why would so many people get sick all of a sudden? Could it be a widespread disease? Soon, his men came back with an update. There was no outbreak of disease, but those who fell ill experienced a significant weakening of their immune systems. Stephen frowned. He did not notice anything strange as he assumed it was normal that one’s immune system would weaken during a cold. He told his men to release a statement online: “The cold that everyone is experiencing is not a disease or a plague. Don’t worry and carry on with your daily activities.” Stephen even said, “I swear on my name that it is just a coincidence. People around me are not sick at al
Stephen was stunned. She said that he accused Theo out of jealousy, exactly like how he accused Ethan? The moment the words entered his ears, a realization struck. When Daniel and Caleb were locked up and Theo quickly took over the two companies, he already felt a sense of familiarity. Now with Ethan in the mix, he finally knew why it felt so familiar. It was the exact method he had used against Ethan. He had accused Ethan, framed him for something he did not do, and then locked him up so that he could take over everything. His body was shaking as the thought rose in his mind. Even though the investigation of the crops and grains was still going on, he already had the answer. Theo must be the problem. He must have sold the contaminated crops and grains! Daniel and Caleb were clean; they were framed! “Nothing to say for yourself?” Rachel scoffed, “Did I expose you and leave you speechless? Others don’t know you but I do.” “Shut up!” Stephen’s head was in a mess. He refused
“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
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
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
Leo continued, "The song I just performed, my breakthrough hit, was written by him, and not just this song, but many other well-known songs and TV shows… He was behind them all."He listed several works that were famous nationwide and even worldwide, like "The Cosmic Conundrum," "Nick's Maritime Tales," "An Aquatic Adventure," "Billy and the Magical Realm," and "The Divine Ring.”The audience was stunned. The list Leo provided included many of their beloved works. They never imagined that the creator of these treasured pieces had done so much good for society.Even more shocking was the author's fate. He was falsely accused and had his achievements stolen. Worst of all, he was wrongfully imprisoned!The audience's anger ignited as they shouted from below the stage."Who was treated so unjustly?""Tell us who it is! We can't allow a hero to be treated this way!""Those who sacrifice for others shouldn't be left to freeze in the storm!""Was it Ethan Rivers who did this? He's cor
"I regret not being there in person. Hearing this live would've made my life complete.""Tell me about it. I had tickets but gave them away. Now I'm kicking myself.""Who wrote this song? It reminds me of graduation day."Three years after its release, the TV show was trending again because of the song."Even after three years, I wish the writer would change the ending.""Forget changing it completely, just give us a glimmer of hope!""Please just kill me. Why write such a heartbreaking ending?"Back at the mansion, a group of people discussed the drama over dinner.Cora sighed. "The female lead died of cancer, and the male lead ended up going to their dream university alone. That ending destroyed me.""I know." Lily wiped away tears. "Everyone in my class talked about it. We all thought it was too tragic."Avery nodded. "It was seeing separations like this that drove me to study medicine."After witnessing the Grand Marshal's death and the drama's ending, she threw herself
A celebrity slowly walked onto the stage.The crowd erupted in excitement when they saw him, shouting his name. It was Leo Cross, the hottest singer of recent years.Though in his forties, he was good-looking. Combined with his naturally husky voice, his song "One Person Remembering Another" went viral three years ago."Hello, everyone." Leo smiled as he walked to center stage. "I'm Leo Cross. Today, I'll be performing my breakthrough hit, 'One Person Remembering Another.'"The audience burst into thunderous applause.The song was universally known not just for its beautiful lyrics but also for being the theme song of a wildly popular TV drama. The show, which centered around school life, young romance, and heartbreak, moved millions to tears with its finale where the leads parted ways.Viewers, devastated by the ending, took to social media demanding the writer change it. Even those who had not watched a single episode felt the weight of that ending. The show was hailed as that
That step was called "forging the heart." The logic was simple: if they could kill someone they loved, what else would they hesitate to do?Yet, even with such brutal training, those assassins failed, and their organizations were eventually destroyed root and branch."If it were me," the South Regent said, "I would ask him: 'Everyone around you, in every city you've been to, has met with misfortune. You had solutions to all these problems, so why did you just stand by and watch it happen?'"He turned to Ethan with a grin. "What do you think of my question, Lord Rivers?""Don't ask such foolish questions during dinner," Ethan replied coolly. "If you want to break him, just have Hugo ask him when he plans to die."The South Regent froze, stunned by the vast difference between his approach and Ethan's. Ethan's question was not just more concise; it was lethal.Hugo was Stephen's greatest weakness. If Hugo were to ask Stephen about his death, the results would be devastating. A blow
Perhaps he would end up coughing up blood and being hospitalized again. Then, all their previous efforts to comfort him would be instantly ruined. On top of it all, those questions would reveal many truths they had desperately tried to conceal.Simon quickly had someone escort the lucky audience member away while ordering others to forge Stephen's spending records. After that, he hurried up on stage himself."I’m sorry. There was a small interruption just now. I know all of you have many questions, so let me explain everything. Stephen is indeed the Grand Marshal's only successor. As for what that person said about the spending records, those were baseless lies. I've gotten someone to retrieve the spending records, which will be published online later.”Simon spoke with conviction. "That person earlier was deliberately trying to sabotage the event."Due to our excellent security measures, they found no way to disrupt the event. And so, they got desperate and started making up lies
The number of viewers in the livestream skyrocketed.Everyone wanted to know if Stephen’s skills really came from the Grand Marshal. Would the Grand Marshal really have trained a student like him?All eyes were on Stephen.Now, it was Stephen’s turn to be silent. He had not expected this question, and he instinctively wanted to lie.However, just as he was about to speak, Ethan’s words from today flashed through his mind.“You don’t even dare to tell the truth. What right do you have to apologize?”Maintaining a lie often meant weaving an even bigger one, over and over, until the truth was inevitably exposed.Should he admit the truth?Stephen hesitated. If he revealed the truth here, everything would end. He would not have to be so exhausted anymore.“What are you waiting for?” Suddenly, Simon’s voice rang in his earpiece, “Hurry up and answer. You are the Grand Marshal’s student. The gala is our only hope. Nothing can go wrong!”Stephen’s heart instantly sank. He wanted to