It was a bitter pill to swallow but considering their options, it was the only one that assured them they would remain alive to see another day.Albeit unwilling, Mario handed over the relics with Lucia happily taking them back.Recovering the lost relics brought her immense joy as in a way, she had fulfilled one of her father's wishes.At the end of the day, no matter how much she cursed him out, she loved her dad for making her see the world as a beautiful place.With the relics handed back, Mario waited patiently for what was to be their sentence at the hands of the woman that they wished to crush.Lucia set the relics aside and scrutinized each one of them present.She glanced at Richard but seeing as he didn't pay attention to what she was doing, it meant he gave her complete control of what was to happen.Considering everything that was happening, Lucia considered the Ramirez family a subsidiary of the Smith family, it was a default setting with everything that had happened.In
Richard had considered several reasons as to why the Assistant would wish to meet with him but hardly had he considered the possibility that she would wish for him to work for the Golden Band.Caught off guard by the request, he could only respond with furrowed brows. “Come again?”“What?... Are you shocked by my offer?”“Shouldn't I be?”“Oh please, Mr. Smith, you have proven yourself a more competent Mafia head than most I've come in contact with. A man such as yourself is destined to be a part of our upper echelons and I can guarantee the best benefits if you accept my offer.”Richard stayed silent for a while, scrutinizing The Assistant to figure out if she was joking but it turned out she wasn't and that made him even more perplexed.“So, what do you say?” The Assistant inquired.Richard sighed as he took his seat. “Considering your actions, I'm sure you have dug up enough information about me.”“Indeed I have. Richard Smith, heir to the Smith family Fortune, Owner of Orion Corp.
The drive back to Richard's estate was rather peaceful which was a welcome change to how he had been received the last time he traveled out.When he got home, Maddie and Melinda were on hand to greet him with Jemima and Jayden present to greet Jerome.“Richard!” Maddie exclaimed joyfully as she leaped on Richard, embracing him tightly.Richard chuckled. “How are you?”“Forget about me, how are you?... I heard about everything that happened in Riverdale.”“Huh, how?”“Lolita told me.”Richard glanced at Lolita who casually turned her face away, unwilling to make eye contact.Letting out a sigh, Richard turned to face her. “I’m fine. Contrary to whatever Lolita said, it wasn't as dangerous as expected.”“Oh, Lolita didn't say it was dangerous. She said you were like a god of war sweeping through the battlefield with rather lewd words scattered about.”Suppressing the twitching of his eyelids, Richard remarked. “Regardless, everything is fine now so tell me, how's everything over here?”
Prince Maverick was one of the lesser-known members of the Imperial family.Considering the Emperor had more than 300 children, both known and unknown, from several women, known and unknown, it was a wonder that he was one of the children in the hundreds.Perhaps due to how far he was from the throne, he didn't bother with foolish thoughts like trying to become the emperor or attempting to wield too much power as he was well aware that doing so would only put a target on his back.That was the problem with having large families in such a setting.The crowned prince would always feel threatened by his siblings as long as he lived.In any case, Maverick was involved with the Augustus family which was the same one that was supporting Caesar's campaign in Intercity.Curious to know about the happenings in the city that, on its opening, was touted as the city of dreams and the city with the potential to rival the capital, Maverick journeyed to the city in the company of his guard.Due to t
The first game chosen was chess and Maverick, first insulted could hardly contain himself when he lost to Richard.“How…” Maverick muttered in utter disbelief as Richard checkmated him.The truth was that the Imperial family were all born with an innate mystical ability that granted them a fortune, allowing them to win any game they took part in.Due to this, very few dared to go against a Royal in games because it was a fact that they would lose but right now, Richard had won.The situation left Maverick speechless as he glanced at Richard, expecting him to gloat.However, what he got back was a stern face that remarked with respect.“It was a great game, your highness. Would you like to go another round?” Maverick hesitated but ultimately nodded with Richard quickly setting up the table for another round.Two hours later, Richard had defeated Maverick 3 out of five times with the remaining two ending with one draw and one loss for Richard.Caesar stood at the side, unable to compre
The entire house was draped in silence as Richard read through the text message on Jerome’s smartphone.He hadn't expected anything happening tonight but at the end of the day, he underestimated Caesar and what the degenerate was capable of.Already fast asleep, he was awoken by Jerome only to read a text message that was nothing short of diabolical.It was from an unknown number and a quick check done by one of Richard's security heads showed that the number was linked back to a person that didn't exist which meant Caesar was most likely behind this.Of course, they couldn't just call him out without evidence but this… the text message was just horrible.It was long and filled with terrible words but the summary was short and simple.‘Don’t dare come out tomorrow for the electoral speech tomorrow or your family will pay the price.’By family, they meant Jayden in particular which meant Caesar had crossed all boundaries to go ahead and threaten a child.Maddie was in a corner trying t
Caesar was raised on a simple principle.Politics was a dirty game.Anyone with a brain could see that but what they didn't see was that they were versions of dirt.There was mud, sand, and several more. It just depends on which type.Some would opt for underhanded dealings, using their sweet tongue, money, and power to cajole people to do their bidding while others were more suited to violence, using it to solve their problems.Both were quite useful depending on the situation and Caesar had learned to utilize both which set him apart from several others.Considering the tongue hadn't served its purpose of winning the war, then he would opt for violence but he guessed that Richard would think him the kind to avoid using overt violence.However, he would be mistaken.Caesar had the backing of the Augustus family who had shares in the Imperial army which meant under the right circumstances, Caesar could outfit and send out a small contingent to take care of the situation.And he had ma
Richard hadn't anticipated a sniper, especially one that made use of Spirit-infused military-grade equipment.However, that didn't mean he was completely out of options as his guards rushed over to protect him.He took out the black phone and immediately connected with the drones above.One of them was destroyed, most likely as a result of the sniper but the other which had its camouflage function turned on, wasn't.He watched as the sniper began to shift positions, perhaps in an attempt to get a better vantage point.Richard wasn't about to let that happen.“Protect Jerome. I'll be back.” He addressed his guards before taking off.Knowing fully well that the sniper would most likely be a Combatant, Richard couldn't afford to send his men after him since it would be a waste.He had to be the one to go but in time, once all was ready, Richard hoped that he would be able to cultivate a Combatant army.Of course, now wasn't the time to think about such things.He made his way through the