“Should I call them again?” the staff member asked nervously.“Forget it.” Simon waved his hand. “It’s their loss. Hmph, such short-sighted people. No wonder they couldn’t become top-tier businesses despite all these years. Contact the small businesses instead.”Originally, Simon had no intention of dealing with the smaller companies because he looked down upon them. After all, what impact could companies worth less than 10 million have on Breeze City? It would be a success if they did not go bankrupt.In Simon’s eyes, those businesses were nothing. However, since the top-tier businesses refused to stay and the mid-tier businesses did not want to meet him, he had no choice but to invite the small ones he looked down on.Half an hour later, many small business owners arrived. They were all excited when they saw the fancy room. They had never thought that their tiny companies would one day get the attention of someone like Simon and be seated in such a fancy room.To them, surviving
There was a time when he was just as blindly confident, thinking nothing could stop him. However, after failing again and again, losing his love, watching his good friend turn against him, and seeing friends die right in front of his eyes, he finally understood just how powerless he truly was.Stephen made a decision that if Simon would not invite Ethan back, he would go himself. He could not allow tragedy to strike again.After leaving the conference room, Stephen found an excuse and secretly went to Drakthorn Ridge to meet Ethan.He arrived at the gate in the evening, seeing the brightly lit mansion, with lush vegetables in the yard and vibrant flowers blooming. The mansion had undergone a vast change after half a year.At that moment, Stephen felt dazed. He remembered that when he was young, he dreamed of having a secret base that only he knew about, where no one could find him. It was a place where he did not have to worry about anything.Even though he was all grown up now, h
Ethan said, “You should understand now that I don’t hate you or care about your fate because everything has been determined. You’re the one who walked the path of your own doom. It’s you who hate yourself. It’s you who won’t let yourself go.”Stephen staggered back, his face pale.Ethan continued, “Even if I solve the problems in Breeze City now, so what? Will it undo the mistakes you’ve made? Will it guarantee you won’t make any more mistakes in the future?“I’ve made it very clear. Only you can resolve these problems. It’s either you have a sudden moment of clarity, make amends for your past errors, and never repeat them again, or you publicly confess the truth and jump off Drakthorn Ridge. If you die, those that hate you will have some peace, and you’ll never make another mistake again.”Ethan looked at Stephen. “Figuring everything out in one night is too difficult for you, so I think you should just end it.”Stephen slumped, his spirit gone.Ethan’s words were like knives, p
Stephen returned to Breeze City, and as soon as he got home, he saw Rachel serving Simon tea. Simon looked at him and asked, “Where did you go?”“Nowhere.” Stephen did not dare to say that he went to see Ethan.Simon did not press the matter. He sipped his tea, glanced at Rachel, then looked back at Stephen. He said, “You two have been married for some time now. When do you plan to have children?”Both Stephen and Rachel were shocked. They had never thought about that or shared a bed after their wedding day.“Let’s talk about that later,” Stephen said quickly. “There’s so much going on now. We don’t have time for a kid.”Rachel echoed, “That’s right. That’s right.”Simon narrowed his eyes, sensing something off. However, he did not ask. Instead, he replied, “Balancing work and life shouldn’t be difficult for you. For the sake of the family’s legacy, you must have children as soon as possible.”Being part of a prominent family, bloodline and inheritance were of utmost impor
Stephen then thought of the village chief who was falsely accused and the victims of the real estate crash who jumped to their deaths. Then, he thought of Snow, Julius, Tommy, and Theo.So many people had died because of his ignorance and arrogance, yet he was worrying about something as trivial as the Quinns’ reputation! Stephen found it ridiculous.He looked at Simon and slowly said, “I don’t care about the Quinn family’s image. I just want to see Breeze City restored to the peaceful state it was before.”“Smack!” The sound of a slap rang out.Rachel covered her mouth with a gasp, her face paling. She had seen the exact moment when Simon suddenly stood up and slapped Stephen across the face.Stephen’s cheek immediately swelled.“You’ve gone mad!” Simon shouted, “What is Breeze City? Even if this city falls, we can withdraw unscathed. How dare you think of trading the family’s reputation for the future of a mere small city? Do you even care about the family anymore?”Stephen
Later, during a mission, Scott’s team was ambushed by the South Regent’s team, leaving Scott injured and unconscious. At the critical moment, Cora arrived with reinforcements and saved Scott.She stayed by his side, nursing him back to health, and they fell in love with each other during their time together. However, Scott was from Riveria, while Cora was from a foreign faction.When the faction learned of that matter, they forcibly took Cora away and beat Scott up, dumping him near the border. He would have died if he had not been discovered in time.To sever Cora’s feelings for Scott, the faction forced her to marry another heir, but Cora refused vehemently.She asked, “Why are you forcing me to marry someone?”Her father said coldly, “I raised you for this very purpose. We’re facing pressure from Riveria, and we need to guard against the South Regent as well. We need stronger allies!”Cora could not understand. “We can stay out of Riveria’s affairs. They’ve never been our enem
Stephen felt a tug at his heart as he read through the messages. The situation hit close to home.His marriage to Rachel was for similar reasons. He married Rachel not just to compensate the Lowe family and protect her but for him to better and more legitimately take control of Riveria. Some of his classmates also married people they did not love in order to curry favor with powerful families.In fact, he was aware that back in the capital, among the elite families, people his age were already getting engaged or married off to partners they did not care for. Family alliances always came first.“I’m getting married in a few days, but I’ve only met my partner a few times.” Someone commented in the group chat.Stephen saw the name and recalled his childhood memories of playing with her.She was the daughter of the Ford family and quite pretty looks wise. She used to follow him everywhere and call him ‘Steph’. People used to tease them, saying they were destined to be childhood sweeth
“Heh.” Cora’s father, Wesley, sneered in disdain. “So what if he’s working for Ethan? The guy’s small time. There’s no way our issue will catch Ethan’s attention.“Besides, I doubt he’d risk trouble with us over one person. We’re about to join forces with an even stronger faction. Ethan will only be hurting himself if he tries to get revenge on us.”He no longer saw Ethan as a threat.“There’s no way Ethan would expect me to secure a political marriage for my daughter, using it to cozy up to someone even more influential!”After Cora was captured, she cried all day and night, completely lost and defeated. Belle could not bear watching her daughter suffer anymore, so she secretly went to Riveria, hoping that Scott would help one last time.In the hospital, she walked into a ward and suddenly froze. It was because she saw someone who should not be there—Ethan!Ethan sat on the bed, looking at Belle calmly. His eyes seemed completely devoid of emotion. Belle, who could usually read
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
The celebrity host took the stage, delivered a welcome speech, and introduced the theme of the gala. The host was quite well-known and starred in several hit dramas. The audience below the stage cheered her name.Three minutes later, Simon stepped onto the stage and gave his New Year’s greetings to everyone following the prepared script.Then, the opening performance began!Five major celebrities participated in the first act, combining singing, dancing, and a dazzling light show with fireworks, leaving the audience in awe.Each of the five celebrities took turns singing a few lines one after another, mesmerizing everyone. When they came together for the chorus, the crowd could not help but applaud.As the song neared its end, even more stars and singers joined hand in hand on stage, singing together and igniting the crowd’s atmosphere.The audience stood up in excitement, some even moved to tears.Meanwhile, the viewers in the livestream took screenshots, recorded videos, and s
Avery said faintly, “If you’re done apologizing, you can leave now. We’re about to have lunch. After lunch, we have things to do. We’re not idle like you. We’re very busy.”Those words hit a nerve. Stephen did not want to be idle either.Now, he had no friends left. Everyone kept their distance from him. It was New Year’s, but the only person he could think of who he could talk to was just Ethan.However, Ethan was not like him. He had a happy family, and there were countless things to do as a couple such as going for walks or visiting family and friends...Stephen let out a heavy sigh.“I see.” His voice was soft. “Sorry for disturbing you.”Then, he turned and left. When he walked out of the villa, the cold mountain breeze cleared his mind a little.Stephen let out another sigh, then took out a bouquet from his car and slowly walked to the summit. He wanted to go to the place where Lily died to give her a bouquet of roses and tell her that he missed her.Not long after he lef
The next day at noon, Stephen gathered enough courage to go back up the mountain.He was scared now.He was scared of seeing Ethan with a happy family while he himself was a lonely, pitiful man. The comparison would make him feel so miserable that he would not even be able to lift his head.At the same time, he was also afraid of missing this perfect opportunity to apologize to Ethan on New Year’s Day.Stephen arrived at the villa again. Holding a gift in hand, he took a deep breath and slowly walked in. He saw Ethan in the living room and quickly greeted, “Ethan, Happy New Year. I brought you a gift. Please accept it.”Ethan looked at him calmly. “There’s still a gala in Breeze City tonight, and you’re an important guest. Do you have time to run around like this?”Stephen smiled wryly and gently placed the gift on the table. “I’m not interested in that gala.”He knew what the purpose of the gala was. It was just to stimulate Breeze City’s economy. However, that was not a long-t