The Guardian's Return

“Ethan Rivers, we’ve received a report accusing you of multiple crimes, including embezzlement and bribery. Please come with us.”

At Villa 88, Grand Tomson in Riveria, two uniformed officers stood before Ethan, their eyes fixed coldly on him.

“Do you have the wrong person?” Ethan frowned.

He was the future son-in-law of the governor, currently managing the entire province on the governor’s behalf. Over the past three years, he had worked tirelessly to increase the GDP of Riveria by fivefold.

Thanks to him, Riveria was transformed from a poor backwater into a developed province with a GDP of 15 trillion dollars!

“There’s no mistake.” A cold voice suddenly sounded from the front.

Ethan was stunned to see the speaker. It was a beautiful woman, who was the governor’s daughter and his fiancee, Rachel Lowe.

Rachel approached slowly, her gaze indifferent as she looked at Ethan. “I was the one who made the report. They’re here to arrest you.”

When he heard her and saw the look in her eyes, everything became clear to Ethan.

There was a time when Riveria was chaotic due to its proximity to the border of Draconia, plagued by drug trafficking, smuggling, and other crimes. The neighboring cities wanted nothing to do with Riveria, and Riverians were often looked down upon when they went.

Yet, with its 15 trillion GDP, Riveria was now an economic powerhouse, making it the most developed province in the country! It was no longer a place others ridiculed but a massive pie everyone wanted a piece of.

Rachel’s father, the current governor, had completed his term and was recognized as one of the greatest governors in history, destined to be remembered for generations.

Many major cities were eager to establish ties with the Lowes, and Ethan had heard rumors that a prominent family from the capital wanted a marriage alliance with them.

As Ethan had no background and was about to marry into the Lowe family, it seemed they now wanted to discard him, claim his achievements for themselves, and ally with a powerful family from the capital to climb higher up the social ladder!

Ethan applauded when he saw through everything.

“What a clever scheme. However, do you really think you can manage Riveria without me?”

Before he took charge of Riveria, the province was overrun with local tyrants, not to mention the foreign threats lurking at the borders.

There was a town named Lytton, with over ten thousand residents, that united and took out over a hundred million in online loans. Even to this day, they were bitter about not receiving high compensation for the newly-built highway that went through their town.

There was also Crestwood, a city with more than fifty thousand residences that once exported large quantities of weapons abroad.

Zimmer Realty, a company that took on a major development project, collected billions in advance sales and had been looking for ways to skip town ever since.

Aquapolis was famous for its clear rivers, beautiful scenery, and abundant aquatic resources, but many had been wanting to set up chemical plants on the land.

Then, beyond the border, a warlord known as ‘South Regent’ was always looking to establish a trade route through Riveria for weapons, drugs, and human trafficking.

…

Currently, Riveria was on edge, with tension high everywhere. Ethan was the only reason things had not spiraled out of control. However, if he were to disappear, there would be no one to keep those forces in check, and the consequences would be unimaginable!

“Haha!” Rachel laughed at Ethan.

“Who do you think you are?” She looked at him with disdain. “You’re just an orphan. If it weren’t for my family providing you with food and shelter, you would’ve starved to death long ago. All the skills you have, you learned them by stealing from us. If someone like you can manage Riveria, we can do even better without you. Do you really think Riveria can’t survive without you? That the world will stop turning if you’re gone?”