LOGINShare
Chapter 679
Related chapters
The Guardian's Return Chapter 680
Victor took 500 million and instructed his subordinate to return the remaining 2.5 billion to Simon, saying, “Some of the money has already been spent, so only 2.5 billion could be recovered.”Simon nodded. “Good job.”He was not particularly concerned about the money. After all, to the Quinns, 3 billion dollars was not much different from 30 dollars. His only goal was to retrieve the money from the hands of the commoners. Recovering 2.5 billion was enough to achieve that goal.After the staff left, he took out his phone and called Stephen.“My son.” Simon was in a jovial mood. To him, Stephen had followed his instructions and acted decisively, managing to retrieve the money in just one week. That was his obedient son who did not disappoint him!Simon laughed and said, “You did well. You did exceptionally well!”Stephen had just finished drinking and was still feeling groggy. He asked in confusion, “What? What did I do?” He glanced at the beer bottle. What was good about drinking
The Guardian's Return Chapter 681
Thanks to Victor’s financial intervention, news of Stephen’s deed spread at an astonishing speed. Better yet, the money he used was what he had just earned from Simon, so Victor completed the whole operation without any losses.Stephen went viral online again. People who did not know the truth were shocked by the news about him."Is Stephen Quinn human? How could he steal money that was meant to compensate the people?""Is he deliberately trying to destroy Riveria?""As long as he stays in Riveria, there won't be peace. Riveria is doomed with him around.""The development zone collapsed because of his decisions. Not compensating was bad enough, but now he's stealing other people's compensation? What kind of person does this?""I understand all these words individually, but together, they don't make sense. Stephen Quinn is truly a monster!"Online, everyone who saw the news about Stephen cursed him. Trying to steal people's compensation money was seen as vile."Why didn't the So
The Guardian's Return Chapter 682
"I’m aware of it, but using the word 'steal' is a bit extreme, isn’t it?" Simon said. After all, it was their money, to begin with. All they were doing was taking it back. How was that considered stealing?"What?" The government staff was shocked. "Extreme? This situation is way more serious than you think! People are constantly reporting Stephen. Some even suspect he's a foreign agent deliberately causing destruction. Get to the bottom of this immediately!"The call ended abruptly, leaving Simon wide-eyed."Is the situation that serious? Are they really questioning whether Stephen is on our side?"Simon immediately opened up the browser on his phone. Before he could even do a search, the numerous ads that appeared gave him his answer."Absolutely inhumane! Stephen Quinn steals the people's money!""Stephen Quinn has committed murder! So far, three families have committed suicide from the stress, and nine people are in critical condition!""No crime goes unpunished! Stephen Qu
The Guardian's Return Chapter 683
As a result of the interloper’s actions, people were now blaming him for stealing the money!Stephen took a deep breath. "I understand. Let me get ready."He had just woken up and had no idea what was happening, but based on past experience and the fact that the federal government was involved, he could tell the severity of the situation.Stephen checked his phone and saw the whole internet cursing him, with some people even taking their own lives. Seeing the suicide reports, his expression turned grim. Although he had known from the start that taking back the compensation money was wrong, the situation was even worse than he had imagined.Immediately, Stephen prepared an apology and called the reporters in for a live broadcast.After so many failures, he knew better. He knew some decisions were wrong, like the current situation with the compensation money. However, the order had come from Simon—his father, and Stephen could not oppose him.Now that things had gone wrong, he had
The Guardian's Return Chapter 684
Simon thought the issue would blow over quickly after the explanation.However, after the broadcast, the viewers’ anger grew. People from other cities who did not know much about Stephen's actions were now outraged too. What kind of explanation was that?"What do you mean it's not considered stealing because it was your money? Why did the people need to be compensated in the first place? Wasn't it because of you?""Let me ask you this. You caused everyone such huge losses, so isn't compensation the bare minimum? What right do you have to take it back?""I’ve never seen someone so shameless. It’s unbelievable."“He’s lost all sense!"If people from other cities were outraged, the locals of Breeze City were even more so.No one could believe that was Stephen's entire broadcast. Nothing they wanted to hear was included. There was no return of compensation, and the apology was not sincere.It was not a real apology; it was just going through the motions. His tone was beyond dismissi
The Guardian's Return Chapter 685
Stephen glanced at the crowd outside, feeling nervous. He could sense their hostility. If he could not provide a satisfactory explanation, he would have to watch his back whenever he was in public."Do you have any solutions?" Simon asked.Stephen thought for a moment. "At this point, we can only tell the truth. This has nothing to do with me. Let's say someone else did this to frame us."Simon considered it. Although that was not what he initially wanted, the situation was urgent. They had no choice but to go with Stephen's plan.He nodded. "Do it your way."Stephen breathed a sigh of relief.During the earlier broadcast, he felt uneasy, knowing things would go wrong. At least now he had control of the situation.Besides, it was not too late. If he explained everything honestly to the public, they would surely understand. They might even find out who tried to frame him!Stephen immediately called the reporters for a second apology.Soon, the livestream began. The number of au
The Guardian's Return Chapter 686
Even at that point, Stephen refused to take responsibility for his actions. Instead, he tried to shift the blame to others, yet he could not even name a scapegoat. It was pathetic. The people’s anger had reached the boiling point. “Does he take us all for fools?”“No wonder he has the guts to take our money. We’re nothing to him!”“How does someone like him worthy of managing Riveria?”“Stephen, go to hell! Bring back the previous leader of Riveria!”Everyone crowded at the door was cursing angrily, and even the security could not hold them back. The online backlash against Stephen was also growing more vicious by the minute. Seeing the crowd’s reaction left Simon and Stephen confused, especially Stephen. He thought he had told the truth, so why was everyone still so furious? Was he brushing them off? No, he did not. He had told them everything he knew, but why did no one believe him? Looking at the people outside, angry and about to break in, Stephen felt a little lost a
The Guardian's Return Chapter 687
Most people were just happy to get a bit of compensation, grateful even, but while Stephen was living a life beyond their dreams, he still had the nerve to take their money. After taking it, he had the audacity to insist it was not theft, claiming the money was his.He never considered that he was the one who ruined everyone’s lives and that he owed them the money. When the outrage became overwhelming, he came up with a new excuse, which was even more absurd than the last. This time, he claimed it was all a setup, that someone was framing him. Many people were so mad that they laughed instead. How could anyone say something like that with a straight face?It was so obvious he was lying, with no remorse or sincerity. He did not even bother finding a scapegoat to take the blame.Outside, the crowd was in an uproar. The security guards were all tackled to the ground, and even the cars were flipped over. The people smashed the doors crazily, and some had run off to break the windows
Latest chapter
The Guardian's Return Chapter 814
Tyler frowned. “What happened?”“It’s about Riveria.” Nolan handed his phone to Tyler. “Simon and Stephen have completely lost all shame. I can’t believe they said something like this.”After reading the news, Tyler’s expression darkened. “Although I know they’re shameless, I still underestimated them.”In the past, they had slandered Ethan and stole his achievements. Now, after being exposed, they fabricated evidence and worked with headquarters to deceive the public.“Tyler, what should we do?” Nolan asked. “I can’t stand by while they slander Mr. Rivers like this.”Tyler said, “Let me think.”To them, Ethan was their savior. Without Ethan, the Spencers would never have made it out of Riveria alive. It was thanks to Ethan stepping in that they had a chance to start over.However, Simon was shamelessly going further to distort the truth and rewrite history. They could not watch this happen. The truth had to be exposed!A moment later, Tyler said in a low voice, “Let’s go to Ri
The Guardian's Return Chapter 813
The netizens had mostly been deceived by the internet trolls.When they saw Simon and headquarters both speaking out, they fully believed that Stephen was innocent and that everything was part of Leo and Ethan’s schemes. Even the few who had firmly believed in Ethan began to doubt themselves.Online, the uproar gradually died down. At that moment, Simon took the next step! He had someone publish the recording of the gala and instructed the trolls to guide the audience in revisiting the highlights.With that, both he and Stephen were completely safe.When people reviewed the gala recording, it also boosted Riveria’s popularity. It was killing multiple birds with one stone!Simon did not rest. Instead, he took the official statement and the trending discussions online and headed to the jail to meet Leo.“Has he confessed yet?” Simon asked the staff.After Leo was imprisoned, he had been questioned who the mastermind behind this was.“No. He keeps saying there’s no mastermind.”S
The Guardian's Return Chapter 812
“Yeah. I’m from Breeze City. If Stephen is driven away by all your insults, what are we supposed to do?”“All this is part of Ethan’s scheme. He’s deliberately trying to frame Stephen!”This was the next phase of their attack. They accused everyone of being too extreme and then created a victim narrative to gain sympathy. Finally, they flipped the story. Stephen was the pure-hearted and selfless one while Ethan was the true villain!While the internet was being flooded with manipulated narratives, Simon was not idle either. He felt that fabricating transaction records and hiring internet trolls alone was not enough. Ne needed more fabricated evidence.Thus, he had several people in Riveria publicly claim that Stephen had been the one managing Riveria all along.Ethan Rivers? Never heard of him!After a day of work, Simon was drenched in sweat. He felt his heart pound as if it might leap out of his throat.After all, he had not rested properly for days because of the gala. Furthe
The Guardian's Return Chapter 811
Simon stayed up all night thinking.The next morning, a little after 6 a.m., he called someone to forge records that Stephen had lived in Riveria before.At the gala, someone had questioned whether Stephen really was the Grand Marshal’s mentee. His response at that time was that Stephen had always lived in Riveria.Now, he had to fabricate those records as soon as possible and release them publicly. Protecting Stephen’s identity as ‘the Grand Marshal’s sole heir’ was extremely important. As long as that narrative was maintained, it would minimize suspicions from others.“But that’s not enough.”Simon continued to take action and hired internet trolls. Since he could not suppress the public’s interest, he personally intervened and made the trolls comment that Stephen was the one in charge of Riveria while Ethan was a corrupt criminal and that Leo was spewing nonsense!As soon as the money was paid, the trolls began their work.“You guys say that Ethan was the one in charge of Riv
The Guardian's Return Chapter 810
However, the event was quickly losing steam! Leo had shifted everyone’s attention away, and people were more curious about Ethan and Stephen’s true identities. The whole internet buzzed with discussions, and many were engaged in fierce arguments. Even if Simon tried to suppress the controversy, it was nearly impossible to stop it. Quite a few people were even starting to leave the event. Many planned to stay in Breeze City for a few days and tour the city, but after experiencing the incident, they no longer trusted Simon. Therefore, they changed their plans and decided to leave the next day!By the time the event ended at 1 a.m., the audience present had dropped to less than half of the original count. When Simon and Stephen took the stage and saw the half-empty seats, they felt dispirited. The celebrities and singers who attended the event could also barely manage a smile. They regretted coming. The scandal surrounding Stephen’s real identity could easily engulf them, and the l
The Guardian's Return Chapter 809
Stephen immediately raised his head and asked, “Where is she?”Simon fell silent. He had no idea where Lily was. Perhaps only Ethan would know her whereabouts, and he did not know how to answer Stephen. Stephen frowned as he waited for a response. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you say she’s alive? Why don’t you tell me where she is?”Simon took a deep breath. “It might not be the best time to tell you now.”He still tried to brush it off. “What do you mean?” Stephen was getting anxious. “Do you want me to get on my knees and beg you? Don’t you know how important she is to me?” Stephen pointed at his gray hair. “I want to see her again so badly.”As Simon lowered his head, looking conflicted, Stephen fell to his knees with a bam. “What are you doing?” Simon exclaimed and quickly pulled him up. At that point, he realized that he could not hide it anymore. He did not want to say that Ethan saved Lily, but only Ethan knew where she was now. Even if he wanted to lie, he could not. W
The Guardian's Return Chapter 808
“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
The Guardian's Return Chapter 807
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
The Guardian's Return Chapter 806
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
