Dean and Emma’s eyes lit up in happiness immediately, but they quickly hid the happiness in them the moment Ryan glanced towards their direction. Realizing they’d only embarrass themselves even further in front of Emma and Dean, they turned and walked into the elevator with the hotel attendants following behind them. By the time Emma and Dean returned to the living room to continue their soap operas, they realized it had ended. So they turned off the television and went to sleep. A few minutes later, the door to the house opened as Anthony Miller unhurriedly walked in. He stood at a spot and looked around the living room for a moment before he began walking into the direction he thought the rooms would be in. Aria and Leon were the first to wake up the following morning. Emma and Dean woke up shortly after the hotel staffs brought breakfast. “If only life were as good as this!” Dean moaned in satisfaction as he munched on his French toast. Emma leaned forward and adviced Aria,
However, he hurriedly looked away from him and returned to his call as the man didn’t look anything like the man he was supposed to be meeting. In fact, he wondered what someone like this was doing in the company. He ignored Leon and continued speaking into his phone, “As I was saying, sir, I can’t find you in the lobby. Did you maybe change out of your suit for some reason?” Leon held the phone away from his ear as he retorted, “No, I didn’t. This is what I said I’d be wearing.” The voice coming from the other end and that of the man behind him sounded exactly alike. The assistant still didn’t connect the dots and continued looking around. “Are you sure, sir?” “The program will begin in a few minutes. Don’t keep the chairman waiting.” Leon said conclusively before ending the call. This time, the assistant had no reason to doubt this was really the man he was sent to pick. Grant had warned him about asking any questions and looking the man in the eye. So when he realized he h
The seats of the candidates were arranged in such a way that only those from wealthy families sat in front while those from lesser families sat at the back. Big families paid a hefty amount to always be in front as it offered them more closure. Although, they all knew Grant Wyatt didn’t invest on companies if they didn’t have a good proposal, but being in front was also a way to promote their companies for those in the audience. There were four judges, two males and two females. After asking those in front the usual questions, they began commenting on the business proposals they had submitted. “I must say, I read your proposal and not only will it be helpful to us citizens, but it also has the prospect of making a lot of money, Mr. Smith.” “So not only will it not be a hospital, it’ll also be a hospital where orphans are treated for free. I’m impressed, Ms. Brown. The government loves things like this. Give it a few years and they’d come to personally award you for doing somethin
As he watched them go, Leon frowned deeply, recalling he was too busy going through the company’s finances for the past five years to read the information about the judges Grant had dropped on his desk. He waited until they were out of sight before he walked to a corner and called Grant. “Send me what you have on all four judges.”Aria didn’t think twice before she accepted the judge’s offer. After all, she had heard the other girl say her project was approved when she visited the judge’s office. The office was luxurious and wide enough for a living room and dining room to be situated right inside it without the space looking cramped. “You must be wondering why we’re in my office when I said I’m going to get lunch.” The man chuckled as he walked to the desk situated towards the window while taking off his suit. Aria looked up at him and nodded slightly, “I am.”He got to his office and draped the suit around the swivel chair then stood beside it as he explained. “Well, Kings Tech
In the lobby, Leon leaned on the wall with his phone casually pressed against his ear as he spoke with Grant on the phone. “Mr. Bartlett, James Keal was recommended by another judge who had been a judge in the program for two years.” Leon hummed into the phone, “So you’ve worked with him before?”Grant’s end was silent for a brief moment except for the clicking of his keyboard before his voice came up again. “Yes, sir. The company hired him last year and from the record, he was friendly to everyone. There were no complaints about him.” “I didn’t look into it prior to today because there has been no need for me to, but now that I look at it, it seems he only approves the proposal of those from well to do families, but rejects those from smaller families.” “But the next day, he approves a bunch of proposals he previously rejected. And they are mostly proposals from women.” A cold glint flashed past Leon’s eyes as soon as he heard him. . In James Keal’s office, the man had gone ah
“Mr. Humphrey eats with the Chairman of Kings Technology Group?” Dean couldn’t believe his eyes and didn’t know when he blurted out his thought. Mia held Theo’s arm tighter and looked up at him lovingly. “Don’t be so shocked. Theo is not an ordinary person like us. When he told me he was meeting Mr. Wyatt for lunch, I didn’t believe him at first, but then I realized he isn’t like anyone I’ve known.” “He’s from a bigger and more influential family. Of course it’s a piece of cake that he’s eating with a big shot like Mr. Wyatt!”“Why are you not jumping in joy, Aria? Do you think you could’ve done better?” Ryan hissed from the back, walking to stand beside Mia. “You couldn’t even write a good proposal in the first place. You should be jumping in joy for this opportunity Theo is willing to give you!” Mia chipped in self-righteously. Ryan slipped his hands into his pockets and snorted in contempt, “If Mia and Mr. Humphrey weren’t acquainted, you wouldn’t have this opportunity to meet
Theo got up as soon as he saw Grant Wyatt talking with someone as he walked into the restaurant. Walking behind them was his assistant who kept looking around the place. When he saw Theo rushing towards Grant, he frowned slightly and blocked him from getting close to him. “Mr. Wyatt doesn’t want to meet anyone.” “I know, Mr. Wyatt.” Theo said, struggling to escape the man’s grip only to realize he couldn’t.So he turned his eyes to Grant and yelled out, “Good afternoon, sir. I’m Theo Humphrey. From the Humphrey family of Westwood County.”“We spoke on the phone a few weeks ago about partnering with you and you said to send someone over to sign the contract.” The assistant frowned deeply and shoved him backward saying, “I’m the one you spoke with on the phone with. The one you have business with is me.”“What?” Theo blurted out in surprise. But gritted his teeth in anger the next second and continued yelling out to Grant. “My father went to the same high school with you. He said y
Theo blinked twice and thought fast before he hurriedly stepped forward nervously. “N-no, I didn’t say it like that. I said you know my father. That you were close buddies. You went to high school with him, remember?” Grant narrowed his eyes at him almost immediately. “Where did you say you’re from?” Theo walked to his side before answering confidently, “Westwood. Westwood County. The Humphrey Group is a billionaire company.” “You were looking for a company that will supply you materials and my father called to speak to you.” “You hired us which is why I’ve come all the way from Westwood to sign the contract with you.” Theo was trying hard to show Aria he wasn’t bluffing. By mentioning the partnership with Kings Technology Group, he was also trying to tell Grant he wasn’t just anyone. Grant massaged his jaw slowly with a pondering look in his eyes before he parted his lips. “I transferred twice during my high school years.” “I only stayed in the school in Westwood in my firs
“Yeah, it’s Aria.” Ryan’s eyes darkened as he said dispiritedly. “Aria, hurry up here. These gentlemen have better things to do than to stay here.” Joseph urged her, forcing on a wide smile. Aria gripped the hand of her bag tighter and swallowed hard when her eyes met the furious look in Stella’s eyes. Nevertheless, she lowered her eyes to the floor and strutted towards the men. “Miss Aria Miller?” The second man repeated, raising his brows questioningly as she got close to him. She nodded, “Yes, I am.” As soon as the words rolled off her tongue, the one with the invite reached into the pocket of his suit jacket for it. He handed it over to her with a gentle look on his face. “Ms. Miller, you’ve been invited to Carolyn Jensen’s fundraiser which is being held tonight.” “The venue and time is written in the visitation. Ms. Jensen looks forward to seeing you tonight. Have a nice day.” Then they left immediately. As soon as they walked out of the door, Joseph snatc
Aria hurriedly closed her eyes to shield the water from getting in. Then, she wiped it off with her palm and slowly opened her eyes to gaze blankly at Ryan.The corners of his lips hooked up into a mocking smile as he dropped his hand and snorted, “What is that scary look for? Is this your way of thanking those who do good deed for you?” Some staffs who were lurking behind him chipped in with a huff, “She can’t even thank you for giving her water.” “How ungrateful. If I were Ryan, I wouldn’t give her anything ever again.” “Look how hard she’s glaring at him after what he went through to bring her that water.” When she kept looking at him without saying a word, he scoffed in contempt, “You still won’t thank you? I just saved you from dying from thirst and you repay me by glaring hard at me?” “Honestly, if I knew you’d be like this, I would’ve saved myself the time and energy of bringing you this water.” “No one even remembered you were standing outside except me. Yet, this is how
“Mr. Bartlett, this is not somewhere I can be. Keegan Gyst isn’t someone that I can just cross into his territory.” “He may not be around now, but when he returns and finds out I crossed into his territory, he won’t take it lightly with…” Rex Mercer was saying, fear laced into his voice as he walked into the basement with his boys, but instantly fell silent when he saw the sight in front of him. He didn’t know which was more shocking; the sight of Keegan’s men heaped onto each other as they groaned in pain or the sight of Keegan himself lying helplessly under Leon’s foot. The shock in his eyes disappeared after a few seconds and he rushed towards Leon unable to hide his excitement. He stood above Keegan, his eyes wide open in disbelief. “Y-you defeated him! You defeated him!” “Do you know anyone called Carolyn Jensen?” Leon blankly asked without turning to look at him. Rex Mercer’s happiness dwindled a little and his brows knitted into a small frown. He was silent for a moment b
Keegan Gyst’s brows perked up slightly when he saw Calvin Heinz. But he only stared at him for a second before he threw his face to the side again.Calvin was bulkier and more muscular than Leon, but there were several of Keegan’s men with the exact same built. “It would take more than one backup to save you from dying today.” Leon stood behind Calvin and slipped a hand out of his pocket to look at the time on his wrist. Then he probed Calvin stoically, “Hurry up, I don’t have all day.” Calvin nodded and began advancing towards the thugs. Robert Weathers saw this and cackled loudly. “Don’t let those muscles in your arms fool you into thinking you can get out of this room alive.” “Instead of running towards the cause of your death, shouldnt you be running out of here? Seems you’re all muscles but no brains.” Calvin’s eyes shifted to him. The coldness in them made Robert flinch in fear and subconsciously huddle closer to Keegan. Calvin snatched the axe from the first thug he got
Robert Weathers sneered and turned on the light switch. The basement illuminated instantly, revealing the dozens of thugs wielding daggers and axes in the room. Leon’s eyes landed on the bulky man sitting in their midst. He had a gruesome knife scar which slanted from his left eyes down to the right side of his lips. Had he whoever gave him the scar slanted his hand a little further and they would’ve damaged his eyes and cut off a side of his lips. “I’ve worked for Mr. Gyst for over 10 years now and I’ve encountered worse scenarios that threatened to end my life, but I never gave up.” “Did you really think a retard like you was capable of making me turn against the man I revere with everything in me?”Leon listened to him with an indifferent look on his face as his eyes roamed the basement. Keegan Gyst stared at Leon intently before he scoffed in disbelief. “So this is the man who beat those bulky men I sent out with you earlier? I expected someone taller and muscular.” “But g
Leon still didn’t respond. The silence was killing Robert. Every second that went by, the more the back of his shirt got soaked sweat. He peeled his eyes open and swallowed dryly when he saw the blank, unimpressed look on Leon’s face. He couldn’t take it any longer and cried out, “I’ll do anything you want me to. Anything. Just name it!” Leon’s expression finally cracked into a small smile. “Go meet my father-in-law. He’s the one who cares about stuffs like this.” Robert nodded without hesitation before the thugs dragged him to Anthony. Anthony would’ve jumped in fright seeing the thugs and Robert walking towards him had Leon not been with them. As soon as he got to him, Robert pointed at the woman, who was still sprawled on the ground sobbing quietly. “I will return this woman’s child to her and also lead you to Keegan’s next big transaction. I will also tell you whenever he’s about to take another kid. I’ll help you put him out of business.” Anthony stared at him with a susp
Robert Weathers scoffed seeing Leon maintain his confident stance. He looked away and slipped out his phone from his pocket, opened the camera app and started video recording. “I’ll record you being beaten up so I can watch it when you’re long dead to remind myself someone as stupid as you lived before.” Leon ignores him and slipped his hands into his pockets, sizing up the dozen thugs running towards him with his eyes. They all had their daggers and axes raised high up in the air. Their movements were erratic and uncoordinated. No doubt, these were just average people who were recruited by Keegan Gyst and given weapons. The first thug to get close to Leon charged at with a wild overhead swing of his axe. Leon stepped to the side at that very moment, just in time to save his arm from being hacked off.As the thug stumbled past him, Leon grabbed the his wrist, twisted it, and disarmed him in a single fluid motion. “Arghh!” Before the others could react to their colleague’s pain
Anthony was speechless and had no idea what to do. This was the first time he was facing something like this. He had been doing this work for the past 25 years and none of the men he rescued children from ever found him. He reasoned since they hadn’t found him for the past 25 years, they would never be able to. So now that it finally happened, he had no plan in mind. He clenched his jaw tightly and glared hard at the restaurant owner, “You can’t do that! Don’t you see the weapons they’re wielding? If you send us out there, there’s no telling what will happen to us!” “To say the least, you and everyone in this restaurant will become an accessory to murder. That’ll be bad for your business, so you should hurry up and call the police!” The restaurant glared back at him and retorted, “You offended Keegan Gyst, he may not be the most dangerous person in Wentworth, but he’s someone you do not want to cross and neither do I.” “Furthermore, he has people in the police. If he finds out I
Thanks to the tempered glass, Robert Weathers could see the people inside the restaurant. His eyes flickered across the place for a moment before he turned to the van again and dragged out a severely bartered woman. Her eyes and cheeks were swollen and her lips were bled from all sides. The state of her face almost made it impossible for Anthony and Leon to recognize her. After a few seconds, Leon recognized her to be the mother of the boy they had rescued from Robert and taken back to the rescue home. .His eyes dimmed slightly and he pointed it out to Anthony, “Father-in-law, it’s the woman from the rescue home.” When Anthony recognized her, he panicked and shot out of his seat. He was about to stroll towards the door of the restaurant when he saw a dozen thugs holding axes and daggers climb out of the van to stand behind Robert. Robert pulled the woman by the hair and barked something into her face. Unfortunately, they were outside and far from Leon and Anthony. Hence, they