Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Guardian's Return: Kabanata 581 - Kabanata 590

Stephen was truly at a loss as to what to do. His head was throbbing. He thought that after everything he had been through, he had done well enough this time. Yet, here he was, with another person dying right in front of him."What else am I doing wrong?"Stephen sat there for a while before regaining his composure. He instructed the doctors to treat the little girl as soon as possible and issued a gag order to the media, prohibiting them from mentioning anything about her.Though he was unsure of the exact relationship between Noelle and Theo Harlow, based on Theo's reaction and their names, Stephen had pieced together the truth. He worried that if the media reported on Noelle's situation, she might face retaliation.After giving his orders, Stephen felt exhausted and wanted to rest. However, he knew that many matters still needed his attention, such as the contaminated grain incident. People were also upset about the destruction of the protected areas and the theft of black soil,

Seeing the online messages hoping for the Fords and Lanes to return, Stephen could only pretend not to notice. Instead, he moved on to the next phase of his plan to fix that catastrophic mistake.Based on estimates of contaminated grain, Stephen allocated a certain amount of reserve grain and began exchanging it proportionally for the contaminated grain in people’s possessions. Although that initiative initially somewhat calmed people, new problems quickly cropped up.Wealthy people were buying large quantities of contaminated grain to exchange for clean grain, and as a result, the supplies ran out quickly. Very few regular people actually managed to get clean grain through the exchange.To make things worse, their only way of getting clean grain was to buy it from stores owned by the wealthy. In other words, they had to pay for the contaminated grain and then pay again for clean grain without receiving any compensation. They spent twice the money but only got a single portion of cl

Due to the grain contamination, many people chose to leave Breeze City. The city was experiencing population loss, and many farmlands were being abandoned.When Stephen learned they could not locate those who destroyed the protected area and stole the black soil, he was furious. However, upon hearing that many farmers were threatening to quit and work elsewhere, his anger quickly turned to anxiety."Why are there so many problems popping up?"He quickly called for a meeting. They had to find a way to keep people in Breeze City.Once population loss started, the city's economy would certainly decline. Breeze City was the source of Riveria's grain, and they could not afford to let it slip away. However, with the many problems that plagued them, no one could think of good solutions. The mayor, Desmond, added, "The federal government knows about everything that’s happening here. They're trying to work it out too."Hearing that, Stephen's face paled. His worst fear had come true—the

Edward and Tyler were stunned. Even the Hugheses knew about Ethan and saw Ethan as an enemy? “We don’t understand what you mean,” Edward spoke. He did not understand why the Hugheses would see Ethan as an enemy. Could it be that they wanted to take control of Riveria like the Quinns? Victor’s eyes held a trace of nostalgia. “It’s not something I need to hide anymore. Four years ago, we were already in Riveria.”When he said that, both Edward and Tyler appeared shocked. They even seemed terrified. That single sentence carried an enormous amount of information.The Hugheses came to Riveria four years ago, at a time when the region was far from peaceful, chaotic, and full of dangerous characters. Afterward, the Hugheses disappeared without a trace. Now, connecting that with what Victor had just said about Ethan being an enemy, a terrifying thought emerged in their minds. The Hugheses had also tried to seize Riveria back then but was driven out by Ethan. Now that Ethan had fall

“One more thing.” Ethan calmly said, “Rhys did not die at your hands.”Victor was stunned. “How is that possible?” Although they did not witness Rhys’ death, they had heard the news of Rhys passing in the hospital a month after they left Riveria. They were confident their plan to break him had worked, pushing him over the edge.Ethan took out a paper from his book and handed it to Victor. Reading it, Victor was dumbfounded. It was a medical diagnosis, stating that Rhys had died of cancer, not from their schemes!While Victor stood there in shock, Ethan continued, “You thought Rhys died because he couldn’t handle the blow you dealt him, but he never told you, and you never bothered to dig into his past. “He lost his family when he was eight, and his childhood sweetheart gave up on him when he was seventeen, choosing his best friend instead. After college, he worked alongside me and was always dedicated to Riveria’s affairs. Saving Riveria was the only thing on his mind every da