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 âlucky audienceâ 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, âWe will investigate this matter. Everyone, please wait for our notice. For now, please continue to enjoy tonightâs show!âHe 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, peopleâs attention was not on the show anymore. Stephen, Simon, Riveria, and Ethan immediately started trending. The e
âEverything weâve 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.âThe issue now was not as simple as stealing Ethanâs 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 Marshalâs only mentee and the head of the Ledger familyâs 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 nationâs largest, boasting a 15 trillion GDP, but how much of it was left now? It had long since fallen to
Stephen immediately raised his head and asked, âWhere is she?âSimon 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. âWhatâs wrong? Didnât you say sheâs alive? Why donât you tell me where she is?âSimon took a deep breath. âIt might not be the best time to tell you now.âHe still tried to brush it off. âWhat do you mean?â Stephen was getting anxious. âDo you want me to get on my knees and beg you? Donât you know how important she is to me?â Stephen pointed at his gray hair. âI want to see her again so badly.âAs Simon lowered his head, looking conflicted, Stephen fell to his knees with a bam. âWhat are you doing?â 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
However, the event was quickly losing steam! Leo had shifted everyoneâs attention away, and people were more curious about Ethan and Stephenâs 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 Stephenâs real identity could easily engulf them, and the l
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 Marshalâs 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 Stephenâs identity as âthe Grand Marshalâs sole heirâ was extremely important. As long as that narrative was maintained, it would minimize suspicions from others.âBut thatâs not enough.âSimon continued to take action and hired internet trolls. Since he could not suppress the publicâs 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.âYou guys say that Ethan was the one in charge of Riv
âYeah. Iâm from Breeze City. If Stephen is driven away by all your insults, what are we supposed to do?ââAll this is part of Ethanâs scheme. Heâs deliberately trying to frame Stephen!âThis 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 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 Ethanâs 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 Riveriaâs 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.âHas he confessed yet?â Simon asked the staff.After Leo was imprisoned, he had been questioned who the mastermind behind this was.âNo. He keeps saying thereâs no mastermind.âS
Tyler frowned. âWhat happened?ââItâs about Riveria.â Nolan handed his phone to Tyler. âSimon and Stephen have completely lost all shame. I canât believe they said something like this.âAfter reading the news, Tylerâs expression darkened. âAlthough I know theyâre shameless, I still underestimated them.âIn 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.âTyler, what should we do?â Nolan asked. âI canât stand by while they slander Mr. Rivers like this.âTyler said, âLet me think.âTo 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, âLetâs go to Ri
After everything was settled, the people from HQ went to Ethan again. They apologized to him and begged for his forgiveness.âWeâve dealt with everyone involved in this matter. Are you satisfied with the outcome, Mr. Rivers?âWith that, they lowered their heads to the ground nervously. Their only hope now hinged on Ethanâs 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, âSend someone to help move my stuff down the mountain.âHearing that, everyone was first stunned, and then ecstatic.âOf course!â 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, âWe respectfully
The day of Rachel and Georgeâs 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 judgeâs 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 Georgeâs faces paled to the point that they looked like corpses.The viewers in the livestream finally saw the full picture.âSo thatâs it! The Quinns and the Lowes conspired!ââThey deserve to die! How could they frame Ethan like that? Are they even human?ââThe death penalty! They deserve the death penalty!âThey 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 wivesâ panicked expressions.âWhat did you do out there?ââSo many people came today, asking for you by name.âHow 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.âItâs nothing,â 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.âWhat have you done?â Their parentsâ 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.âHow could this be?âNo one expected this outcome. They thought, âSo what if I insulted him? Are they going to punish me for it? Besides, so many people are insulting him. They canât possibly punish every single person who did it. At most, Iâll post a public apology and promise that Iâll never do it again.âHowever, 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.âWhy are they going this far? Arenât they afraid of causing unrest?âOf 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!âWhere else would she be?â 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.âYou really have some nerve." The people from HQ sneered. âYou fooled us all completely.ââYouâve been hiding Ethanâs contributions all this time, havenât you?ââYou two are nothing but disasters to this country! You deserve to die a thousand times over.âGeorge kept his head down while Rachel sobbed. âI was wrongfully accused!ââShut 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. âAh!âSimon could not take it anymore. He suddenly ran towards the window, trying to end his life. Fortunately, the officials quickly stopped him. âDonât be reckless! Think about Stephen. Youâre all he has now!âThat sentence made Simon stop. Now, Stephen and Simon were each otherâs 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, âIâd like to file a report on someone.âTo 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. âShit!â Someone exclaimed. âI heard Rachel bought a flight ticket overseas. Could she have fled?âThe 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. Stephenâs sudden awakening was nothing short of a miracle. However, after examining him, the doctorâs expression darkened. Stephen had regained consciousness, but the prognosis was far from hopeful.âHe canât move,â the doctor said. âAs of now, heâs paralyzed.âStephen 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. âHe might never be able to leave the bed again.âUpon 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 Simonâs 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 Harrisonâs previous incident, the officials reacted quickly by sending Stephen straight to the hospital.After an emergency rescue, Stephenâs life was saved. However, he paid a heavy price. When the doctor walked out of the emergency room, the officials asked, âHow is he?ââThe situation isnât looking good,â the doctor said grimly. âHis body is in a bad state, and due to long-term emotional distress, he suffered a brain hemorrhage from the emotional shock.âHeâs still in a coma, and we canât say for sure when heâll wake up again. It depends on his will to live.âThe officials drew a sharp breath. âDo you mean he might end up in a coma forever?âThe 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 Harrisonâs desperate pleas to Ethan back in his villa. âIâm willing to trade my life fo