“No?” Several men walked up to the bus. “Last night, he asked you to take him away, but you refused. Nolan Spencer killed him.”Jeremy’s eyes widened at the words.“That can’t be!” He shook his head. How could Nolan have killed someone? He was the mayor. He was a good person!“Why didn’t you save my brother?” The girl stood by the side. “If you had just nodded back then, he could’ve left safely. Was everything he did for Hill City not even worth a nod from you?”In order to take down the Spencer Group, Fabian had infiltrated the company by himself and thought of ways to find information every day. He even saved Jeremy once at the archive. Later, he risked his life to lead Jeremy to Nolan’s house to steal the document.Someone else said, “He told us about you before, saying that he felt that you two were similar. You both wanted Hill City to become better.”Jeremy opened his mouth, but no words came out.Memories of his actions with Fabian flashed in his mind. Finally, the image
More people boarded the bus. They had come to take Fabian back and originally wanted to confront Jeremy, but when they saw Jeremy’s pained expression, they decided to let it go.Their real enemy was Nolan! Both Jeremy and Fabian were simply victims.Everyone got onto the bus, and only Jeremy remained standing by the road. The door closed with a bang.“Fabian, we’re going home!” the girl’s voice shouted from inside.The next second, the others shouted as well. “Fabian, let’s go home!”The bus started and slowly drove away.Jeremy watched it leave, then snapped back to his senses and frantically chased after it, but there was no way he could catch up to a bus. He could only watch as it disappeared.He sat on the roadside in a daze. He had believed Nolan, which caused Fabian’s death. He had betrayed Fabian’s trust!Jeremy took out his phone and called Stephen to tell him about Fabian’s death.Stephen was instantly furious. “You still believe the South Regent?”Jeremy hung up, kn
Ethan sat on the sofa and looked at Jeremy calmly. “What is it?”Jeremy lowered his head and told Ethan everything that happened lately, from Stephen giving him money for his mother’s treatment, the failed surgery, and his working for Stephen to repay him, to being tricked by Nolan and Fabian’s subsequent death.He kept his head bowed, pleading, “I want to expose Nolan’s true colors.”Ethan said, “Then, you should go to Nolan, not me.”“He knows who I am now. I can’t get close to him anymore.” Jeremy knelt before Ethan again. “Please help me. I want to atone and bring Fabian justice.”Ethan asked, “What has that got to do with me? Besides, Fabian’s sister and friends don’t blame you. Why make yourself suffer?”Jeremy did not dare to lift his head. “They don’t blame me, but I can’t forgive myself.”“That’s your problem. It still has nothing to do with me.” Ethan said, “You can leave now. I’m going to take a bath and go to sleep.” He had no interest in their problems. Besides, t
The South Regent showed a pleased expression while Jeremy felt like he was struck by lightning.They both understood what Ethan meant by that. Although he said that it was none of his business, what he meant was that he did not want to care. With just one sentence, he washed his hands of the situation and agreed to the South Regent’s request!“No!” Jeremy quickly shouted. “You can’t agree to this!”The South Regent looked down at him. “Who do you think you are? Do you have the right to speak here?”Jeremy trembled due to the South Regent’s aura, but he mustered up the courage to say, “Don’t act impulsively. I’m very sorry about what happened to Fabian...”“Hah! You still have the nerve to bring up Fabian?” The South Regent interrupted him. “Isn’t snitching your specialty? Go ahead and tell Stephen everything if you dare and guess what he’ll say. Will he say that I’m sinister or will he believe that Nolan is a wolf in sheep’s clothing?”Jeremy was speechless. He knew very well tha
Jeremy paused, not understanding what Ethan meant.“You want to expose Nolan’s true colors, and the South Regent wants to go against the Spencers. In that case, you should work together.“The South Regent will find the foreign forces working with Nolan, and with his help, you’ll join said forces to make deals with Nolan. Then, you can release the transactions online. If you can secretly record the dealings, that’ll be even better.”At those words, both Jeremy and the South Regent instantly understood what Ethan meant. He was telling Jeremy to put his life on the line!Joining the foreign forces to traffic weapons guaranteed death, but since he would be dealing with Nolan, it would be the best evidence against him.The South Regent could not help but gulp, realizing how ruthless the plan was.Thud, thud, thud!Jeremy bowed thrice to Ethan.“Thank you! Thank you!”Ethan said calmly, “If there’s nothing else, then go. I’m going to take a bath and sleep. As for how you two coopera
Under Nolan’s orders, men collecting protection fees began to appear in Hill City. They roamed the streets, demanding money from shopkeepers. They would not say much if the shopkeepers refused, but at night, they would come back to vandalize the stores.The next day, the shopkeepers almost broke down to see their stores wrecked and the losses they incurred. Even when they reported the incidents, the response was always, ‘Just wait’.Nolan had permitted the incidents, so even if the shopkeepers waited forever, they would never see justice.That night, the people collecting protection money came again and further vandalized the stores.When the shopkeepers came back and saw their smashed doors, they burst into tears. This time, most of them obediently paid up when asked for protection fees.There were some who stubbornly refused, but the thugs had power backing them and could afford to play along with the shopkeepers. What awaited the shopkeepers were only two options: pay, or get o
“Got it,” Rory answered.Rory Carter was an efficient subordinate of Nolan’s. Both his parents worked for the Spencer family, and he had basically lived with them since he was born.Thus, he considered the Spencers his own family, and he obeyed Nolan without question. Rory called the forces abroad and requested more goods.The foreign forces said that the goods would arrive tomorrow. After hanging up, the leader told everyone to be prepared.“Newbie.” The leader walked up to Jeremy. “Tag along as well. Watch closely and learn. In the future, you’ll be leading your own group in these transactions as well.”Jeremy was excited. He had joined them a week ago and finally had the chance to take action. He had to seize this chance to record evidence! He would not let Nolan continue to get away with this.Nolan had just put his phone down when it rang again. He looked down and saw that it was Stephen calling.“What does that trash want this time?” By now, Nolan had figured out Stephen’s
Rory was confused. Why was Jeremy here? Did he betray Stephen?After the deal, Jeremy left with his group. Rory took the goods and called Nolan on the way back, telling him that he saw Jeremy.“Hm?” Nolan was first stunned, then started to laugh. “Poor Stephen. I didn’t expect Jeremy to betray him too. I wonder how he’ll react when he finds out.”At that thought, he called Stephen excitedly.“What is it?” Stephen asked.Nolan smiled. “I know where Jeremy is.”“What?” Stephen instantly grew serious. “Where did he go? He ran off with my money. I’ll lock him up when I find him!”“He went abroad,” Nolan said. “He joined one of the foreign forces and is smuggling contraband into Hill City. He’s involved in the problems that Hill City is facing right now.”Stephen was stunned. He never expected this.“That bastard! Ingrate!” Stephen felt like he was going crazy. He had given Jeremy money, but the latter betrayed him and even joined foreign forces to smuggle contraband into Hill City
After everything was settled, the people from HQ went to Ethan again. They apologized to him and begged for his forgiveness.“We’ve dealt with everyone involved in this matter. Are you satisfied with the outcome, Mr. Rivers?”With that, they lowered their heads to the ground nervously. Their only hope now hinged on Ethan’s response.They did not dare to ask for much. All they hoped for was that Ethan would not leave the country.Ethan glanced at them calmly and said, “Send someone to help move my stuff down the mountain.”Hearing that, everyone was first stunned, and then ecstatic.“Of course!” they replied in unison.They understood what Ethan meant. He was staying! Although it was not his complete forgiveness, he was willing to give them another chance.They were all overjoyed. As long as Ethan did not leave, there was plenty of time to slowly make amends.They took out their phones and made arrangements to help Ethan move.After the call ended, they said, “We respectfully
The day of Rachel and George’s trial came.The livestream began at 10 a.m., and hundreds of thousands of viewers joined instantly.Rachel and George slowly walked into the courtroom in handcuffs.Bang! The judge’s gavel fell, and the room went silent.It was not a lawsuit. It was a trial to expose the sins of Rachel and George.The judge read out their crimes one by one, until Rachel and George’s faces paled to the point that they looked like corpses.The viewers in the livestream finally saw the full picture.“So that’s it! The Quinns and the Lowes conspired!”“They deserve to die! How could they frame Ethan like that? Are they even human?”“The death penalty! They deserve the death penalty!”They were all furious.Many people had lost their families as a result of supporting Stephen and scolding Ethan. After watching the livestream, they realized just how deeply they had been wrong.They were accomplices to the Quinns and the Lowes' crimes in framing Ethan!Their current
They suppressed their disgust and returned home, only to see their parents and wives’ panicked expressions.“What did you do out there?”“So many people came today, asking for you by name.”How were they supposed to answer those questions? They could not just say that they had insulted Ethan online.If they did, their parents would beat them to death before anyone else could.“It’s nothing,” they replied stiffly. They had no choice but to hide the truth. After all, they could not say that they had insulted Ethan, or that they had lost their jobs.However, the next second, their parents received text messages. After their parents glanced at their phones, their expressions instantly changed.It was a message from the bank, stating that their child had been listed as a defaulter and urging them to repay the loan immediately.“What have you done?” Their parents’ voices trembled.Seeing that there was no way to hide it anymore, they had no choice but to confess the truth.They los
Seeing that message, they immediately felt as if their world had ended.Because they had insulted Ethan, they lost their jobs, were blacklisted, and could not find work again.“How could this be?”No one expected this outcome. They thought, ‘So what if I insulted him? Are they going to punish me for it? Besides, so many people are insulting him. They can’t possibly punish every single person who did it. At most, I’ll post a public apology and promise that I’ll never do it again.’However, now they were all fired. Everyone who had insulted Ethan had been dismissed from their jobs.It seemed like there were several tens of thousands of people involved! It was hard to imagine just how many people had lost their jobs in real life.“Why are they going this far? Aren’t they afraid of causing unrest?”Of course, HQ had considered that. However, they knew what was more serious.If Ethan went abroad and cooperated with foreign countries, the consequences would not be limited to a few pe
George thought that Rachel had already escaped abroad, so he was not afraid when he arrived.Now, when he saw Rachel there as well, he completely panicked.This was not what he had expected!“Where else would she be?” someone from HQ asked.George looked nervous and stammered, unable to say a word.With Rachel caught and him being brought here, it was clear that HQ already knew the truth. Coupled with his fear of Ethan and his helplessness in the face of reality, he no longer had the strength to make up any excuses.He had resigned himself to fate.“You really have some nerve." The people from HQ sneered. “You fooled us all completely.”“You’ve been hiding Ethan’s contributions all this time, haven’t you?”“You two are nothing but disasters to this country! You deserve to die a thousand times over.”George kept his head down while Rachel sobbed. “I was wrongfully accused!”“Shut up! Are you still trying to fool us at a time like this? You were wrongfully accused? By who? Sim
They brought this on themselves, forcing themselves into a corner with no way out. “Ah!”Simon could not take it anymore. He suddenly ran towards the window, trying to end his life. Fortunately, the officials quickly stopped him. “Don’t be reckless! Think about Stephen. You’re all he has now!”That sentence made Simon stop. Now, Stephen and Simon were each other’s support and burden. Simon slumped on the ground weakly. Right now, they both wanted to die, but neither of them had the courage to follow through. All they could do was live on in pain. After a long silence, Simon said, “I’d like to file a report on someone.”To obtain some kind of reward and survive a little longer, Simon decided to turn in George and Rachel. When the officials heard him, they were stunned. They did not expect Rachel to be involved in framing Ethan. “Shit!” Someone exclaimed. “I heard Rachel bought a flight ticket overseas. Could she have fled?”The room was filled with dread. If Rachel ra
Seeing that Stephen was awake, the others rushed to get the doctor. The doctor was astonished as well. Stephen’s sudden awakening was nothing short of a miracle. However, after examining him, the doctor’s expression darkened. Stephen had regained consciousness, but the prognosis was far from hopeful.“He can’t move,” the doctor said. “As of now, he’s paralyzed.”Stephen could open his eyes, but the rest of his body was unresponsive. He could not move his limbs or his neck and mouth. The only part he could move freely was his eye. Even his breathing was dependent entirely on medical equipment. “He might never be able to leave the bed again.”Upon hearing that, Stephen closed his eyes in despair, tears continuously rolling down his cheeks. He had fought so hard to wake up, only to realize he had missed his final chance to meet Snow and Lily. Worse yet, he also lost the ability to move. From now on, he would be confined to the bed and hooked up to machines just to stay alive.
His father died a miserable death, his son was in a coma, and the Quinn family was shattered, leaving only Simon behind to finally realize all his mistakes. However, it was too late. Harrison could not come back to life, the Quinn family could not be whole again, and Stephen could not recover. Simon would forever be haunted by pain, despair, and regret for the rest of his life. At that moment, in complete darkness, Stephen heard Simon’s voice. He was conscious but failed to open his eyes or speak; he could not move a muscle. He wanted so badly to sit up and tell Simon that it was not solely his fault. They were all wrong, and this was their retribution!Just then, two women walked into the ward. When the officials saw them, their eyes widened in shock. For a second, no one even breathed. They were Snow and Lily!The officials thought they were seeing ghosts. Those women were supposed to be dead. Why were they there? Snow and Lily noticed their shocked gazes and offered them
Due to Harrison’s previous incident, the officials reacted quickly by sending Stephen straight to the hospital.After an emergency rescue, Stephen’s life was saved. However, he paid a heavy price. When the doctor walked out of the emergency room, the officials asked, “How is he?”“The situation isn’t looking good,” the doctor said grimly. “His body is in a bad state, and due to long-term emotional distress, he suffered a brain hemorrhage from the emotional shock.“He’s still in a coma, and we can’t say for sure when he’ll wake up again. It depends on his will to live.”The officials drew a sharp breath. “Do you mean he might end up in a coma forever?”The doctor nodded. No one saw coming that Stephen would fall into a coma, with little chance of ever waking up again. However, it also meant he did not have to die anymore. He would be alive but confined to a bed. Suddenly, they thought of Harrison’s desperate pleas to Ethan back in his villa. “I’m willing to trade my life fo