"I don't know what else my father needs until he made me involved in this exhausting escape. I'm really fed up." Naomi passionately vented her frustrations about her current situation.Richard glanced at her, then shifted his gaze away. The word "fed up" she uttered made him involuntarily draw a tight breath. He knew that feeling well because he, too, felt utterly fed up with his life. But what else could he do besides living his life well and trying to maintain what he had?After all he had been through, he knew better than anyone the meaning of being fed up, and had tried as hard as he could in every aspect of his life—whether it was the effort to build something under pressure, to gain his parents' trust, or to be acknowledged. He had tried far more than the woman in front of him had.At least her father, as far as Richard had learned, was kinder than his own father when it came to affection. Her father protected Naomi’s existence and didn’t involve her directly until now. Meanwhil

"So, Richard has returned?" Rachel sprang up from her seat in surprise, her usually calm face lighting up with joy. "Are you sure he’s back?" she asked Wayne, still standing by after delivering the news.Wayne, who was stationed at the Thompson residence due to the ongoing safety concerns for Rachel and the lack of further instructions, had just received word from Smit regarding the possibility of Richard being found."Yes, ma'am." He nodded. "The news isn’t entirely clear yet, but Sir Smit is verifying the message he received by heading to the location where it originated." Wayne relayed the information exactly as he had received it.Rachel’s face relaxed with relief. She had spent days anxiously awaiting news about Richard, worried and restless. She had no idea whether Richard was ill or in a difficult situation.This time, she hoped that the message was from Richard and not some cruel trick. "Take me there, to where they are confirming his whereabouts. I want to see him in person,"

"Ah, why are they suddenly moving so fast?" he muttered in frustration.His current situation was different than expected, though he had anticipated such a possibility beforehand. Something he had planned might not go as expected, but this time, it was beyond his imagination.Richard thought the main problem would be dealing with Naomi. He had faced difficulties with her before—Naomi was somewhat unpredictable. Sometimes, she would oppose his words too much, making him wonder whether she would comply with his suggestion to go on vacation, especially since he had declined her invitation to join her.But it turned out the problem lay with Adam. Adam, who had been around Naomi this whole time, watched Richard's behaviour closely. He was full of suspicion towards Richard, and it was this suspicion that led to the current situation."I need to get out of this mess quickly," Richard thought, searching for a way out. His eyes scanned for an escape route, but he found none.Behind him, he hea

Richard observed the rising smoke from the building area from a high vantage point. The smoke billowed heavily, making the place look like it had just gone through a war. Many scattered building debris could be seen.No structure remained standing; everything was flattened. Large piles of rubble had fallen on many people beneath them, and some areas were still ablaze with roaring fires."It's a shame it had to end this way." This wasn’t what Richard had hoped for. He found the results of his attack quite heavy to bear.He wanted to avoid a full-blown conflict. He hoped that only those directly involved—the henchmen of the Derren family—would be affected, not innocent bystanders.But once again, he found himself in a position where he had to choose between eliminating or being eliminated. He decided to destroy, bearing the weight of the dozens of lives he took today.His soul felt gnawed by guilt, and he regretted briefly enjoying the process of taking their lives. But he had no other

"Didn't you hear the latest news about the Morrison family?" The group of men, sitting in a luxurious restaurant in one of the magnificent hotel buildings, were talking about many new things when they came to the topic of talking about something that had just happened.The man with the short haircut looked up at the person speaking. "What happened?" he reacted with some interest."What I heard is that they're doing well. Their company's situation is also safe and sound. There's no problem with their stock price, so I think there's no problem." The man, dressed in dandy style, revealed what he knew.Many of them agreed; at least three out of seven people there had actually checked the current stock price of Richard's company.On average, all of their companies were in a pretty good situation; there was no specific drop in the stock price or a drastic spike in the stock price.Steve, the man who started the conversation, shook his head. "I heard rumors about them, rumors that are not ju