Chapter 3

Edward's expression twisted. He pointed at the candles that were rolling away, yelling at his bodyguards to put the fire out.

In the next second, the candles rolled out of the cemetery's fire prevention zone and into the piles of dried leaves that littered the forest floor.

It had been months since it last rained, which made the pine leaves extremely flammable. It only took seconds for the leaves to catch fire.

The fire began to spread rapidly, not only on the ground, but also up the trees.

Valerie didn't panic at all when she noticed that one part of the forest was on fire. On the contrary, she felt as if the atmosphere had become even more lively. She sprinted toward the tombstone and lit up the two extra-large candles that she had placed there as well.

Unfortunately, in her excitement, she knocked over one of the candles after lighting it.

The candle rolled in the direction of the forest that wasn't on fire yet. Its massive size added to its momentum, making it roll too fast for anyone to catch up to it and put it out. The candle crashed against the roots of a tree, setting it ablaze.

In the span of a few seconds, the entire pine tree forest was on fire.

The flames shot toward the sky thanks to the howling winds, creating thick clouds of black smoke that covered the entire cemetery.

The surrounding temperature rose rapidly.

The solemn cemetery had transformed into something completely different.

"This is insane! You've lost your mind!"

Edward choked on the thick smoke, hacking out violent coughs. Tears and snot ran down his face.

Through the smoke, he watched with wide eyes as the flames spread across the mountain before moving back in their direction. It engulfed the white marble tombstone that belonged to his ancestors, leaving cracks and scorch marks on the surface.

His entire body shook from fury. He shoved Shane, who was trying to support him, aside and screamed, "Are you paying respects to my ancestors or trying to burn them? Where the hell did you get the guts to start a fire in a forest? I paid you to host a simple ceremony, and this is what you came up with?"

Shane was completely flabbergasted. His mind went blank as he watched the flames continue to set the mountain alight.

He removed his jacket and tried to put out the fire, but he was forced to retreat when a scorching wave of heat washed over him. The ends of his fringe had also been burned to a crisp, emitting a foul stench.

"P-Please let me explain, Mr. Paulson! This is just an accident! I'll call someone to put out the fire now!" Shane stammered.

"Get out of my sight! I'm terminating our partnership!"

Edward looked absolutely haggard as his bodyguards dragged him down the mountain. Right before he got into his car, he turned toward Shane and let out a furious shout.

"Not only am I going to terminate our partnership, but I'm also going to file a lawsuit against you! I'm going to sue you for destroying my property and ruining the state of my family's geomancy. I look forward to seeing you locked behind bars for a long time!"

The strength fled from Shane's legs as he watched Edward's fleet of cars disappear into the distance. He nearly fell to his knees.

On the other hand, Valerie, who was already acting arrogantly before, wasn't scared in the slightest. On the contrary, she rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue.

"Mr. Paulson doesn't know a good thing even when it's right under his nose. We prepared such a grand ceremony for him out of the goodness of our hearts, yet how did he repay us? By turning on us and hurling baseless accusations at us!"

Shane stomped his feet in frustration and roared, "Shut your mouth! Our partnership was worth ten million dollars, but now it's all ruined!"

Valerie scoffed and pursed her lips nonchalantly. "So what if it's ruined? It's not a big deal. We just burned a few trees and that stupid tombstone, right?

"So what if the mountain's on fire? He's rolling in money, so he can definitely afford to build a bigger and better cemetery for his ancestors. It's totally unreasonable for him to overreact like that. As expected, the richer they are, the more difficult they are to deal with."

The other employees stared at Valerie as if she had lost her mind.

However, Valerie seemed to be oblivious to their disbelieving stares. She pointed at a few of them and barked out her orders.

"You! Don't just stand there and watch. Hurry and grab a few branches to put out the fire. Why do I have to teach you something as simple as that? All of you are utterly useless."

The employees exchanged glances with one another before they looked at the fire that had spread across the mountain. The wall of flames was over 30 feet tall.

No one was brave enough to send themselves to their deaths.