Stephen took a deep breath. “Head to the warehouse first. There are people going after Theo already. They should capture him soon.”Unbeknownst to him, Theo had already escaped the day before. Supported by the Spencers, Theo was well-informed and had boarded a flight out of Breeze City before being exposed.Now, he had arrived at Drakthorn Ridge. He still had one last wish. Theo entered the villa and slowly approached Ethan. He took out a bank card and placed it on the table gently.“There’s 300 million in here. Please give her this card.”Everything he did was to ensure his sister would have enough money to spend for the rest of her life. He could not let her endure the same hardships he had. Theo had figured it out. He knew that he could not escape, so he planned to turn himself in later.“If possible, I’d like to see her once, even if it’s just for a moment from a distance.”Ethan glanced at the bank card. “Even after everything you did, you still want to meet her?”Thud.
“I...” Theo burst into tears. “I never expected this to happen.”He had done everything for his sister, but unexpectedly, those actions ended up harming her. If he had known earlier, he would never have done those things.Ethan watched as Theo cried and said indifferently, “Stop crying. I gave you two choices. You can pretend she never existed. After all, you’ve lived so many years without seeing her. Letting go is easier than holding on.”Theo shook his head. “No, I can’t do it.” He had suffered for three years and finally found a glimmer of hope through Ethan. There was no way he could let it go now.He was an arrogant and overbearing young master in the past. When the Harlow family fell, he spent three years in pain and hatred. Now, he found out that he had hated the wrong person for three years, and he had walked down a path to a dead end he could not turn back from.When Ethan told him that he had a sister, Theo grabbed it like a drowning man clutching a lifeline. Ensuring hi
“Your time is running out,” Ethan’s voice said.At the same time, the girl slowly turned around. Just as Theo was about to see her face, he woke up!He opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of Ethan’s villa. As he sat up slowly, he realized that Ethan was no longer in the living room. He thought of the words Ethan spoke in his dream and hurriedly left the villa. Outside, he thanked Ethan for his final help again before turning to leave.Theo hurried down the mountain and called Rachel, saying that he was wronged and framed. He wanted to meet Rachel so that he could explain the truth.Rachel believed him and immediately flew over to the capital to meet him.Theo used sweet words to continue to deceive Rachel. “I have evidence to prove that I was framed, but it’s all in Breeze City. We need to go back.”With Rachel’s help, Theo easily returned to Breeze City. Once he was in a safe location, he immediately took action and tied Rachel up with ropes.“I tricked you.” Theo looked at Rac
“Not yet.” Stephen frowned. “Is she important?”“That’s none of your concern. Just hurry up and find her.”A few minutes later, Stephen’s phone rang. Theo immediately answered it on speakerphone. It was a staff reporting that they found a girl who fit the description.Her name was Noelle Harlow, and she had just turned twelve. She was a very lovable little girl.Upon hearing this, Theo’s eyes instantly reddened. He finally found her!Stephen noticed his reaction and connected the dots with the girl’s last name. A bold idea formed in his head. “She’s your sister.”Theo immediately denied it, “No.” He did not dare to admit their relationship. He was afraid that his actions would implicate the girl.Theo said, “Call a doctor. Have them take a sample of my blood and perform a DNA match with hers.”Since both Rachel and Stephen were being held hostage, the staff had no choice but to listen. Soon, a doctor entered nervously with his equipment.Theo did not make things difficult for
Stephen was truly at a loss as to what to do. His head was throbbing. He thought that after everything he had been through, he had done well enough this time. Yet, here he was, with another person dying right in front of him."What else am I doing wrong?"Stephen sat there for a while before regaining his composure. He instructed the doctors to treat the little girl as soon as possible and issued a gag order to the media, prohibiting them from mentioning anything about her.Though he was unsure of the exact relationship between Noelle and Theo Harlow, based on Theo's reaction and their names, Stephen had pieced together the truth. He worried that if the media reported on Noelle's situation, she might face retaliation.After giving his orders, Stephen felt exhausted and wanted to rest. However, he knew that many matters still needed his attention, such as the contaminated grain incident. People were also upset about the destruction of the protected areas and the theft of black soil,
Someone suggested, "We could use the money from both businesses and Theo's assets for compensation. They must have considerable funds."Stephen found that idea rather reasonable.Another person said, "Our immediate priority is ensuring people have access to healthy grain. We need them to dispose of their contaminated grain and purchase safe alternatives.""You want them to spend more money on grains?" Stephen asked.Such a move would definitely trigger massive public outrage."We could plan an exchange to collect the contaminated grain and exchange it at a certain ratio."Stephen considered the suggestion and thought it reasonable as well."As for the destroyed protected areas, we must make arrests. Detain the ringleaders, make them pay compensation for their crimes, and recover the black soil."Stephen nodded. At that point, that was their only option.The meeting ended quickly. Afterward, Stephen finalized the plan and got to work, but he hit a snag right away.Daniel and C
Seeing the online messages hoping for the Fords and Lanes to return, Stephen could only pretend not to notice. Instead, he moved on to the next phase of his plan to fix that catastrophic mistake.Based on estimates of contaminated grain, Stephen allocated a certain amount of reserve grain and began exchanging it proportionally for the contaminated grain in people’s possessions. Although that initiative initially somewhat calmed people, new problems quickly cropped up.Wealthy people were buying large quantities of contaminated grain to exchange for clean grain, and as a result, the supplies ran out quickly. Very few regular people actually managed to get clean grain through the exchange.To make things worse, their only way of getting clean grain was to buy it from stores owned by the wealthy. In other words, they had to pay for the contaminated grain and then pay again for clean grain without receiving any compensation. They spent twice the money but only got a single portion of cl
The moment the interview aired, the people of Breeze City fell into despair. The Fords and Lanes really were not coming back. Some, still refusing to give up, went looking for the two families. However, they could not even get past the gates.In the past, they would throw firecrackers at the Fords and Lanes’ homes, thinking they were in the right. Now, without that justification and with the two families having moved out of Breeze City, any attempt to intrude upon or vandalize their property would result in immediate arrest.Both families harbored deep resentment toward those people. After three years of hard work, not only did they receive no thanks, but they were forced to leave their home.Now that trouble had struck and the same people had realized their mistake, were they expected to return and suffer for it? No chance.They had held family meetings and decided that not only would they not help, but returning to Breeze City was strictly forbidden. The suffering of Breeze Cit
If they had not chosen to relocate, they would also have gotten millions in compensation!The frustration and despair among the people were growing.“Breeze City is the grain capital of Riveria. This place grows crops and animals but not humans.”Everyone hoped that the developers would pick their land so they did not have to farm anymore, especially the people near the reserves.When Stephen heard the news, he immediately clarified that no one had received such compensation, but no one believed him.If Victor had not come from Metropolis to save them, the grain contamination crisis would still be unresolved. Even now, plenty of people still had to receive treatment regularly at the hospital.Seeing his plan working, Victor continued to spread the news. He told everyone that the land near the river would be developed into factories, which would impact farmland near the area. In the future, clean grain would be a rarity, and grain prices would continue to drop.The moment the new
Meanwhile, Victor was secretly laughing to himself. The plan was his idea, but he let Stephen implement it. That way, he could push all the blame onto Stephen in the future.Seeing that no one had any objections and even seemed to admire him, Stephen felt pleased with himself. He could finally show off and be proud!He immediately scrapped the original plan to reforest the area and implemented his own plan, handing over the land to developers. The space available for development was huge, and with Victor’s arrival, many people saw that as a golden opportunity, so the land was quickly snapped up. Stephen easily earned billions of dollars from that. However, the money was not his but Breeze City’s. Although it seemed like a large amount of money, it could only be used to fill the deficit caused by previous incidents. To make a real profit, he would have to wait until people began buying the homes.Even so, Stephen was satisfied. Since the river water was already polluted, he decided
After handing Rachel the document, Victor was about to leave when Rachel said to him, “Thank you for telling me this.”Victor paused but did not turn around, hiding a smile on his face. He felt that Stephen was truly unfortunate to have married such a woman. However, it all worked in his favor.“No need to thank me. I’m just doing my part,” Victor said before making his way out.At night, Stephen finally came home after working the whole day, completely exhausted. All he wanted was to have a few bites, take a shower, and go to sleep.Rachel’s eyes flickered coldly when she saw him return. It was Stephen’s fault that Theo was dead!She suppressed her anger, stood up, and said to Stephen, “I have something to discuss with you.”Stephen was surprised. Since their marriage, Rachel had rarely initiated a conversation with him. Even after the scandal, she barely spoke to him, but her attitude toward him had improved vastly.“What is it?”Rachel walked over and handed him the document
Rachel had a favorable impression of Victor because he was handsome. Although he could not compare to Stephen, his disposition was slightly better than Stephen’s, just like Theo was.Victor smiled. “I came to see you.”“Huh?” Rachel was a little surprised.“I know you liked Theo,” Victor said, “and I have something to tell you.”“What is it?” Rachel immediately narrowed her eyes. Her relationship with Theo was a secret. Even Stephen did now know about it, so how did Victor know? Was he planning to use that information to threaten her?“Stephen caused Theo’s death.” Victor handed over a document. “This contains information on Theo’s family situation.”Rachel took the document, and as she read it, her expression instantly turned dark.It detailed how Theo was once the heir of a prominent family, but Stephen destroyed the Harlow family. With the Harlows wiped out, Theo was separated from his sister.Theo did not dare to get revenge but wanted to find his sister and protect her.
“Is that all?” Victor narrowed his eyes.“There’s something else,” the South Regent slowly said. “Back then, I was focused on escaping from Ethan and did not get the chance to face Rhys. I want to see the kind of strength you have for being able to defeat Rhys.”Victor was speechless. “You’re insane.”He did not expect the South Regent to choose to oppose them for such a reason. More importantly, he did not expect that the rumor about them defeating Rhys Estrela would bring them new enemies.“You’re scared,” the South Regent said, “Although I’ve never fought against Rhys, I know a bit about him. You couldn’t have won against him if this is all the courage you have.”He was not afraid of the Hughes family. He dared to challenge Ethan in the past. Although he was let go by Ethan or escaped miserably, he survived Ethan multiple times.After being tortured by the terrifying Ethan for so long, he truly did not think much of the Hughes family’s strength.Victor’s heart sank. He did no
Edward and Tyler looked at the South Regent with wide eyes. They believed that he was telling the truth. Cooperating with them to get benefits was just an afterthought. His real goal was to confront the Hughes family.Edward frowned and asked, “Are you confident?”The Hughes family was formidable. Although they could not compare to the Quinns, they were still a prestigious family from Metropolis. Ordinary families in smaller cities and the backward foreign forces could not match up to them.The South Regent smiled. “How will I know if I don’t try?” He looked at the two again. “Well? Should we work together? This might be a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove ourselves.”They knew very well that they were no match for Ethan, but if they could defeat Victor, it would prove that they were not that incompetent. It was just that Ethan was too powerful.“Okay.” Edward thought about it carefully and agreed to work together.“Good.” The South Regent raised his glass. “I look forward
Edward and Tyler sized up the South Regent. The Spencers and the South Regent had always been enemies. They even fought with each other at Hill City. Why was the South Regent inviting them to dinner so enthusiastically now?Edward asked with a serious face, “Are you here just to mock us?”The South Regent laughed. “Of course not.” Although part of the reason he approached them was indeed to mock them, he also had other motives.“I know the predicament you’re in now. I came to you because I want to work with you,” the South Regent said. “I plan to get involved in Breeze City.”Edward instantly understood. The South Regent wanted to take advantage of the chaos to enter Breeze City, set roots there, and continuously extract benefits from it.It was just like what he had done in Hill City and Celestial City!If the South Regent succeeded, his power would grow even stronger, and a large amount of Riveria’s money would flow out of the borders. This was not good news for anyone living i
Edward and Tyler could not help but feel envious. While they were standing outside under the sun, Ethan was inside, napping comfortably. The difference was immense.The two looked at the jug and the cups on the table but did not dare to drink. They had once challenged Ethan, but now, they did not even dare to breathe loudly in front of him. Even if their throats were burning from thirst, they did not dare to pour themselves water without Ethan’s permission.“Get yourself some water if you’re thirsty,” Ethan said calmly.Only then did Tyler pour a glass of water. He first pushed it in front of Ethan, then gave the second cup to his father and the third for himself.After drinking the cool mountain spring water, they both felt rejuvenated. They both drank three cups each before finally feeling completely revived.“From how you look, I already know why you’re here.” Ethan’s voice made Edward and Tyler freeze in their tracks. They nervously looked at Ethan.“What is your answer, Mr.
Many investors were tricked without even realizing it.Throughout the process, as the managers of the company, the Spencers did not receive a single dime.Edward and Tyler knew that Victor was no longer even pretending. He was openly signaling that they were just pawns he could discard at any time. They felt deeply resentful.The Spencers had experienced countless setbacks over the years, especially three years ago with Marcus’s death and the decline of the family. However, they managed to get through it.Now, Victor was forcing them into a desperate situation. Once Victor abandoned the Spencers, it would be completely over for them.“We can’t let that happen,” Edward muttered.Tyler asked, “What can we do?”They could not think of any solutions.“If only Marcus were still alive...” Tyler could only think of Marcus. Marcus was the genius of the Spencers. His talent and skill far surpassed even Edward. However, Marcus had already died as part of Ethan’s plan.“Alas.” Edward sig