The exclamation caused Trisha to pause in her tracks just as a soft radiance emerged from the other side of the room.Struck by terror, she glanced at the origin to find that it was the flower Geraldine used to test Melinda's potion.‘How?... How is this possible?... This doesn't make any sense?’ Unable to accept this, Trisha exclaimed. “Impossible!... You cheated!... You must have cheated!” “How can you be so sure?” Richard inquired, feeling rather amused.“You must have tampered with the flowers!”“But you checked them yourself, are you saying you doubt your capabilities?”“... That, I don't agree with this. Use that flower on my potion and you'll see.”Richard shrugged as he moved to Melinda's cauldron while Geraldine moved to Trisha's own.Performing the same thing, the results came out the same with Richard's flower glowing with an effervescent glow.“No…” Trisha muttered as she realized that had indeed lost.“But how?... You haven't even created a core yet?... I poisoned the c
“You two take Melinda back to the estate while I try to divert the attention of the attackers,” Richard remarked causing Melinda's expression to immediately darken.“Richard, no!... You can't do that, it's too dangerous. You already risked yourself once, why are you trying to do so again?”“Look, we have no choice. Both of us running together would put us both at risk. I have my ways to get out unscathed, but not you.”“Richard stop, please. You might be able to resist a few bullets but those people are using explosives and projectiles, please, just come with us.” Melinda pleaded.Richard shook his head. “I'm sorry, Melinda. But it's for your good.”Using a simple technique, Richard knocked her out and handed her over to the escorts.“Now, make sure to take her back to the estate unharmed. I'll divert the attention of the attackers.”“Alright, Mr. Smith, please be careful.” “Mn, you too.” With that, the guards quickly picked up Melinda's unconscious body and ran in a certain directi
A gunshot echoed in the forest as Melinda subconsciously shut her eyes and took a sharp breath.Simeon had a sinister grin on his lips as he expected the bullet to pierce Richard's knee and send him sprawling to the ground.His employer had told him not to touch Richard as he wished to do so himself but it was unavoidable now so he had to ensure that didn't do too much damage.What Simeon hadn't revealed was that his gun was a spirit-infused pistol that was handed to him by his employer.It had a limited number of bullets but each was lethal enough to destroy a normal jeep if aimed right.So how could a man like Richard possibly defend against it?Simeon expected Richard to fall and cry out in pain, at least, that would cause Melinda to realize the gravity of the situation, however, that never happened.Instead, Richard stood upright, his gaze trained on Simeon as his expression took a dangerous turn.Simeon frowned as he glanced at Richard's leg only to realize that it hadn't penetra
The return to the Dawson's estate was quiet and without trouble allowing Melinda to breathe a sigh of relief after she had arrived at their destination.“Melinda!” Vincent exclaimed as he rushed over to meet her.Ever since he'd received information that her entourage had been attacked, he was unable to stay in place for a single moment.“Grandpa!” Melinda excitedly called out to him as she moved to meet him, with the duo embracing once they got within arm's length.“Oh, my sweet granddaughter, you don't know how worried I was.”“Sorry, granddad, I'm home now.”“Indeed you are, come quickly, we have much to discuss.”Leading the way, Vincent leads Melinda to one of the houses with the other members of the Dawson family present, staring at her with varying degrees of envy.But did any of that matter?... Hardly.Richard and Lolita followed closely behind.On getting into the building, Vincent dismissed all the guards before leading them further to his study and isolating it from those o
The owner of Smith Cuisines was Grace, the same lady who had suffered at the hands of the previous owner of the building, Lesley.Lesley at that time, was using the authority granted to him like a tyrant because his uncle was the owner of Jade Panda and so, who would dare to go against him?Yet Grace had stood her ground and at her moment of immense trial, Richard had saved her and elevated her status from a mere waiter to the owner of an establishment.Initially, Smith's Cuisines was meant to be hers alone but she didn't want that and so, after gaining permission from Maria, Grace had gotten her restaurant to become acknowledged as one of the subsidiaries under Orion Corp.Of course, her business was currently the smallest compared to the giants of the business world Richard had managed to acquire but that didn't matter to Grace.As far as she was concerned, all she wished for was to never be ungrateful to Richard for what he had done for her.He had saved her life and even if it wer
They ate and made merry, barely caring about what the others said as they had fun amongst themselves.A few ladies, being ardent fans of Richard, came over and asked for autographs and even a photo before they returned to their seats.Apart from that, no one else interrupted their meal and Richard was quite happy about this.“Sir, our current monthly expenditure is tagged at 10 million while our earnings are roughly 14 million,” Grace remarked with Richard nodding as he replied.“So a net 4 million is made as profit.” Lolita grumbled at the side. “What's the point of business talk when we are eating? Ugh, that's just not how it should be.”Ignoring her words, Richard remarked. “Have you considered expanding?”Grace hesitated before she slowly nodded. “Yes sir but it took a lot to have this restaurant get to its current state. I'd rather focus on one than have to split myself into too many for no reason at all. But is that okay by you, sir?... I'd completely understand if you want me
When Letitia was attacking Grace, Richard had taken the chance to take out the black phone and activate [Eyes of Truth].Lolita who had seen him do this, glanced at the phone screen only to realize that there was nothing special about the phone which meant apart from Richard, no one else could see the black phone's true contents with others that attempted to do do so, only passing it off as a normal phone.Anyways, utilizing the [Eyes of Truth], Richard used it to evaluate what Letitia had said only to discover that most of what she had said had been a lie, though it was hardly any surprise.However, on checking the man in the wheelchair which she claimed to be her husband, he found that the man was indeed suffering from a stroke which meant some of her words were indeed true.Pondering on this, Richard made an initial analysis. The man had indeed gotten a stroke but not from Smiths Cuisines, but Letitia, for reasons unknown decided to pin the blame on the restaurant, perhaps in a bi
Richard took the ingredients Grace had gotten for him and immediately began to concoct a special brew using the water from his table.Meanwhile, the waiters that came with Grace, went to stand at each of the exits around the restaurant to ensure that no one ran out though they were unsure why Richard felt like people would want to run.For this, even the security outside was mobilized to ensure that anyone who dared to use the windows to make a getaway would immediately be apprehended.None could understand why Grace gave them such tasks but Grace knew that Richard would never give an order without reason.That was just how much she trusted him.However, no one took notice of the heightened vigilance shown by the restaurant workers as they watched Richard do his thing, mostly confused about what he was trying to do.“Is he going to use whatever he is making to cure the man's stroke?”“Bah, what are you saying?... That makes no sense, if it were so easy, would stroke be such a dangerou