Mag-log inShare
Chapter 576
Kaugnay na kabanata
The Guardian's Return Chapter 577
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.
The Guardian's Return Chapter 578
“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
The Guardian's Return Chapter 579
“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
The Guardian's Return Chapter 580
“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
The Guardian's Return Chapter 581
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,
The Guardian's Return Chapter 582
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
The Guardian's Return Chapter 583
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 Guardian's Return Chapter 584
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
Pinakabagong kabanata
The Guardian's Return Chapter 880
Thanks to Stephen’s shout out, many tourists came to the town to join the festival. Stephen watched the bustling crowd, lost in thought, when two familiar figures suddenly appeared.Stephen trembled as his eyes widened in disbelief. They were Snow and Lily!He snapped out of his daze and rushed into the crowd. However, when he was standing right where he had seen them, they were gone. He looked around him, but with so many people moving around, he could not look far.“Was it just my imagination?”Stephen calmed himself down. He had been through so much lately that he was starting to hallucinate. How could Snow and Lily be there anyway?Believing he needed some rest, he booked a room and took a nap. When he lay down on the bed, he quickly fell asleep from all the exhaustion.He dreamed about Snow and Lily, as well as Rhys. However, Rhys was surrounded by thick fog that obscured his face.Stephen looked at him and asked, “Did you ever think of giving up?”Rhys said, “There are so
The Guardian's Return Chapter 879
“He’s amazing.” Stephen asked excitedly, “Where is he now? I’d like to meet him.”The mayor took a deep drag of his cigarette and blew it out. “You can’t.”“Huh?” Stephen did not understand.The mayor replied, “He’s dead.”Stephen froze. Rhys, the person hailed as the second Ethan Rivers, was dead? “How could that be?”The mayor gazed at the sky outside the door. “It’s been like this since ancient times. Heroes never live long enough to grow old in this world. He got cancer and passed away not long after Riveria achieved peace. We started this festival to honor him and other heroes.”The mayor’s voice was filled with regret.“He was a good kid. It’s such a shame.”Stephen was lost in a daze. Just moments ago, he was thrilled to hear of Rhys’ past, thinking he was saved. If he could find Rhys, the problems in Riveria would be solved easily. However, Rhys was dead. In fact, he had been gone for several years.Stephen’s so-called hope never existed.“How could this be…” He cou
The Guardian's Return Chapter 878
The mayor looked out at the blue sky, lost in thought.“Since she chose you, I’ll step aside,” Rhys said as he handed his friend the keepsake his childhood sweetheart had once given him when they swore their love.“Besides, given these chaotic times, love isn’t something I can afford to dwell on. I have to live up to the expectations people have of me. I can’t let them down.” He looked at the girl one last time and took a deep breath before saying, “Goodbye.”His family was destroyed at a young age, so Rhys longed for peace more than anyone. He always wanted to be part of the effort to protect Riveria.The year he graduated from university, the Grand Marshal passed away. All of Riveria was in despair, believing that Riveria was doomed. However, Rhys was determined to join Ethan’s forces.In multiple operations, he displayed excellent skills, strategic thinking, and intelligence, allowing Ethan to take notice of him and guide him. In turn, Rhys learned a lot from Ethan.“Study the
The Guardian's Return Chapter 877
The mayor nodded and explained the origin of the festival and its name.“Riveria used to be a chaos-filled land, but many unsung heroes stepped up to make it better. The peace we enjoy today is all thanks to their selfless dedication.“The name Rhys Festival comes from a man named Rhys Estrela. He was once a subordinate of Mr. Rivers, who made great sacrifices for Riveria. There’s a local saying that goes, ‘A single spark can start a prairie fire.’ We always believe that as long as we don’t give up, Riveria will surely thrive.”Those words sent a chill down Stephen’s spine. The mayor mentioned Mr. Rivers, and while others might not know who that was, Stephen knew—it was Ethan! It meant that the festival was related to Ethan. To top it off, the festival was named after Ethan’s subordinate, Rhys Estrela, a name Stephen was unfamiliar with. He had been in Riveria for half a year but had never heard of that name before. He had no idea what Rhys did to leave his name behind like that.
The Guardian's Return Chapter 876
Hearing Stephen’s positive response, the people in Riveria calmed down slightly.“I hope they can recover the money soon.”“I took out a loan on my house to invest. If we don’t get it back, my family is done for.”“Let’s believe in Stephen. No matter what, he was the Grand Marshal’s mentee.”“He did a good job running Riveria before. I’m sure he can do it again.”“Yeah. This is just a minor issue compared to before.”Most people expressed their trust in Stephen. They could tell that he was far more worn out than before. His hair, which had shown signs of turning black again, had faded back to white again. Some people even felt sorry for him.However, there were others who doubted his abilities. The scammers had fled abroad. Would Stephen be able to catch them, and even if they were caught, could the money be recovered? What if the scammers had laundered the money by auctioning off artwork?They voiced their concerns online. Some people agreed, understanding why they were worrie
The Guardian's Return Chapter 875
Stephen looked at the contract. Other than the high price, there were no other problems.However, the high price was a humiliation for both Stephen and the whole of Riveria.He wanted to refuse and even curse them, but he had no leverage against the other party and was completely passive in this situation. If he did not agree, the crops and livestock in Riveria would be finished.Stephen closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Even though he knew that many people would hate him, he still signed the contract.“Pleasure doing business with you.” The foreigners took the contract and chuckled. With that, they left.The meeting room was silent, Stephen being the only one left. He slumped into his chair, uncertain if he had made the right decision.Half an hour later, his phone rang, snapping him back to reality. He had more work to do.Many people in Riveria had been scammed into buying virtual currency, losing over ten billion. Stephen had to give the people an answer.“How did the
The Guardian's Return Chapter 874
Stephen had no choice but to use a translation device, continuing the discussion while they mocked him.Despite his utmost sincerity and effort, they refused to lower their price at all, confident that they had Stephen cornered.His only option was to take money from the Quinns and pour it into developing the medicine. However, he knew the Quinns well. There was no way they would take out billions at once for something like this, especially when there were other diseases to deal with as well.They were no match for Ethan, but the Quinns were nothing to them, let alone Stephen.“We’ll get to the point.”They spoke in Stephen’s language to make sure that he understood. “You’re not good enough. Only Mr. Rivers can manage Riveria. You can’t even protect the people around you. How do you plan to protect Riveria?”Stephen’s expression soured. He knew that they were telling the truth. He had no way to refute, and being stubborn would only make him look more ridiculous.“I’m not as good
The Guardian's Return Chapter 873
Stephen felt that he could come up with a solution that could save both Riveria and protect the Quinns.However, did such a solution really exist? He was not confident.“I’ll go back to my room first.” Stephen walked away.Back in his room, he sat at his desk, deep in thought.“A perfect solution...”Stephen could not think of one. The more he tried, the more his mind uncontrollably drifted back to the past.“No.” He shook his head. “I need to focus.”However, his mind and body had deteriorated from the multiple tragedies. His hair had turned grey, and he struggled to maintain focus.Stephen sighed and planned to think of a solution later. Now, he needed to address Riveria’s current problems.Crops and livestock were falling ill. He sent people to investigate the cause, but research required massive funding. Replacing the crops and animals with new ones would not be easy either.At that moment, foreign corporations suddenly announced that they had the right medicine to cure t
The Guardian's Return Chapter 872
In the past, George also thought that Riveria would not collapse even without Ethan. With himself and the Quinn family, Stephen could still bring Riveria to new heights.Now, he understood.What the former governor, Liam, and the others said was true: Riveria would fall without Ethan.Neither the Lowes, the Quinns, nor even all the families in Metropolis combined, could manage Riveria.Without Ethan, Riveria was doomed.Stephen lowered his head. If it were in the past, he would have laughed if he had heard such words, thinking it was a joke.How was he inferior to Ethan? Whatever Ethan could do, he could do too, and better at that!Now, he could not laugh.He realized the truth too.The first city’s downfall was a coincidence, the second was due to negligence, and the third was an accident, but what about the fourth? The fifth?He could come up with a thousand excuses, but it would not change the truth.The reality was that he was far inferior to Ethan. Only Ethan could save
