While Stephen was talking to Simon on the phone, the doorbell rang. “Who’s at the door?” Stephen glanced outside, and when he noticed it was Zane, his brows immediately furrowed. “Dad, I have to go now. Talk to you later.” Simon chuckled and said, “Alright. Talk to you soon.” After the call, Simon happily wandered off to brag about his son’s amazing achievements and bright future. “James, my son will be doing so well next year!” “Tom, my son will be joining the cabinet next year! He will beat your son to it!” “Harry, why don’t you come over to have dinner at my place? My son is coming back next year.” Meanwhile, back at the Lowe’s residence, Stephen answered the door. He looked at Zane, asking, “Mr. Sutton, what brings you here? Have you seen through Ethan Rivers’ true color and come to apologize?” He scrutinized Zane. “If this is an apology, isn’t it a little insincere? Not even a small gift? If you want me to forgive you, this won’t do.” Zane took a deep bre
Just a moment ago, Stephen was telling his father confidently that he could double the city’s GDP in a year and then return home with glory. Now, the city was doomed. In a matter of seconds, sweat covered his forehead and drenched his back. “Get a damage report and issue a warrant for Shawn Hill, Eric Morningstar, and Brandon North! Do whatever you can to control the situation in North Hill City!” That was all Stephen could come up with for the time being. After the call, his legs grew weak. He stumbled backward and collapsed onto the floor, looking utterly defeated. “What happened?” George and Rachel rushed out after hearing the commotion. When they saw Stephen on the floor, they froze. Then, they noticed Zane in front of him, the man’s face ice cold. George bellowed, “Zane Sutton, why did you push him? Can you pay for it if anything happens to him?” Zane stared at George coldly as he replied, “Instead of worrying about him, you should be worrying about yourselves.”
The report of the situation continued through the speaker phone. “Based on our investigations, the ones who wreaked havoc across the city the other day had nothing to do with Ethan Rivers. They were all from the town of Lytton. “However, Eric, Shawn, Brandon, and the town have teamed up together, so they have been covering things up, shifting the blame onto Ethan.” George finally found out about the truth. “It wasn’t Ethan’s fault? He was framed? We’ve wrongly accused him?” Suddenly, the pieces started to fall into place. He understood why Ethan had targeted the three of them. It was because Ethan had known from the start that they were trouble. Both George and Stephen felt ashamed. The insults and things they had said to Ethan had come back to haunt them and bite them in the back. They had accused Ethan of being jealous of people with talent, claimed he was suppressing them out of spite, and thought they had found the brightest people like Shawn, Eric, and Brandon to lea
“Where are Shawn and the others?”“Did they run away?”“Have they crossed the borders?”“Get Simon here now!” Stephen went against the grain and pushed for the appointments of Shawn, Eric, and more. Simon quickly arrived on the scene, carrying a smug smile while stepping into the office. “I was thinking of heading to yours anyway, but since you’re all here. I have good news to share. My son–” Someone cut him off. “That’s enough.” Simon paused. Only then did he realize that tension hung heavy in the air. “What happened?” Simon’s expression hardened as he had not met with such unease in the office before“What happened?” Several smirked in rage. “Well, you should ask your precious son. He destroyed North Hill City.”Simon frowned. The weight of everybody’s hostile gazes was on him. “What did Stephen do? Hasn’t he been doing a great job? His leadership will take North Hill City to new heights.” New heights? Oh, the irony. The group expected improvement too, bu
“Don’t lie to me. I’ll verify this with Stephen.” Simon pulled out his phone. Before he could punch the numbers, his phone rang with a call from Stephen. The suspicious timing of the call made Simon’s heart sink. He dreaded the realization of his worst fear. Simon shakily took the call. “Dad, North Hill City is in trouble.” Those words hit Simon like a ton of bricks. It was true. North Hill City was done for. To make matters worse, they gave the culprits the means to commit the crime. “Shawn and–” Simon interrupted Stephen and said, “I got it. Your priority is to restore order in the city. “Stop the mayhem from spreading. North Hill City’s economy can’t afford another hit.” Then, he ended the call. Simon sat on the chair at a loss, devastated that the city was ruined at the hands of his son. Stephen had become a disgrace. “It’s all your son’s fault. North Hill City is ruined because of the people your son picked. “Your son only realized what was going on when t
The previously swayed businesspeople and investors remained steadfast. “We can talk once North Hill City is peaceful again.” They then turned on their heels to leave. It was now or never if they wanted to get out of there. Thrown in a panic, Stephen grabbed one businessman and said, “Can’t you give me a little more time?” The businessman stopped and gave him a callous look. “You’re not Ethan, though. If Ethan were here today, we would stay even without the perks.“That’s all we have to say. We have a plane to catch.” The businessman shook Stephen’s arm off, leaving Stephen standing there at a loss. Ethan’s name was mentioned yet again, and Stephen could not understand why the public had so much faith in him. Despite Stephen’s humble pleading, the business owners were determined to leave. “How am I any worse than Ethan?” The chaos in North Hill City quickly emerged online, and the public expressed their confusion. “What’s with the sudden mayhem in North Hill City?”
The shame cut through them like a knife. Their hands were stained with blood, not of their enemies, but of a hero who worked silently for the betterment of the people. “Argh!” They let out a loud cry. The public destroyed and deleted their vile creations manically. However, their attempts were futile. The videos and comments were etched into their minds, playing in loops of the harm they did to Ethan. “Shawn, Eric, and Brandon gave us nothing but trouble. Why did we idolize the criminals?” “Ethan shielded us from harm, but we were the ones who hurt him.” “How are we different from devils?” The online community started deleting their vile comments, but reading back their comments stung their eyes with shame.They had said the meanest things about Ethan, and the hurt was reflected in them now. Every word they wrote was like a dagger, stabbing them repeatedly. The pleasure they felt when penning their thoughts, only came back to bite. Those who claimed the most absurd thing
Liam sat in a room by himself, staring blankly at the sky outside the window. Liam’s preferential treatment of Ethan sparked a formal complaint, prompting an investigation. Hence, he was suspended from all duties, the outcome pending. Still, Liam did not think he had done anything wrong. “Click.” The door to the room opened. Liam kept his head down, knowing the grilling had begun. Ethan was now public enemy number one, and his support of Ethan would only mark him the target of public outrage. He was done for. “I’m sorry, Liam.” A voice boomed. Dumbstruck, Liam thought his ears were deceiving him. He turned to the door and saw a group with their heads hung down, puzzled as to what was going on.“You were right to defend Ethan.”“We were wrong about everything.”Their apologies took Liam off guard, but he quickly caught on. He was saved—saved by Ethan. Liam was quickly removed from confinement, and his job was reinstated. On the way back to the precinct, he scrolled on