He handed Dariusthe phone without hesitation and watched him curiously.Darius held thephone up and said without preamble, “I’m sure you’ve already seen the news—oneof your owner’s not-so-loyal dogs, Felix, died after jumping from my window.Yet I haven’t been punished in any way. In fact, I’m free to roam every cornerof Almiron City, whether it’s your company or home. I’m ten minutes away fromreaching the peak of my anger.” After that, he hung up.Ansel gaped athim. He was shocked by Darius’ words but more so by the board members’ actions.He’d noticed that the second Darius started speaking, the booming music on theother end of the line had disappeared. It made him wonder where they reallywere.“They’re at thecorner-most bar on 18th Avenue,” Darius said. Even if Ansel hadn’t asked, heknew what he was wondering.Ansel gaped evenmore. “How’d you know, Mr. Reid? They didn’t tell us anything.”Darius smiled. Heput the phone down and pushed it toward Ansel. At the same time,
Any job thatwould match his education level would require him to have a stable family thatcould support him, not one that constantly wanted to exploit him. Darius felldeep into thought.If this were anyother time, Ansel would definitely notice something was up with Darius.Unfortunately, he was too focused on finishing the document that he didn’trealize this. He sighed with relief when he was finally done and patted himselfon the chest. Then, he lookedup at Darius. The joy on his face immediately disappeared and was replaced byanxiety. His eyes widened, and he didn’t even dare to blink. He said shakily,“Mr. Reid, no one’s looked at me like that before, so I’m really nervous now.”He didn’t hide his true emotions.Darius was theone whose eyes widened this time. He was surprised, but he smiled at Ansel’schange. He could now be frank about his thoughts and wasn’t shy to share them.Darius nodded and said, “I’m surprised that you can express your emotions andthoughts before m
“We don’t know whether his arm would still be the same even if he’d been operated on in a timely manner.”“Is that all? A broken arm?” Darius raised an eyebrow, looking surprised. “Well, have him discharged from that hospital and admitted into another one. I’ll foot the bill but ensure the doctors do their best to keep his arm. Money isn’t an issue.”Ansel nodded and tapped on his phone vigorously. When he was done, he stiffened, not knowing how to answer Darius’ question. To him, the probable loss of an arm was a serious injury, but it didn’t seem to mean much to Darius. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, not knowing what to say. In the end, he shook his head and said truthfully, “That’s not his only injury. He has many broken bones, other injuries, and even organ damage. Someone—likely several people—beat him up violently.” He shuddered at the sudden drop in temperature.The atmosphere in the room was suddenly frosty, and he gulped. He clasped his hands nervously, not darin
Darius smiled at them mockingly. “What a bunch of idiots,” he thought. Then, he said, “That is—if the authorities don’t come after you.” The atmosphere in the room tensed again, and no one said anything. He shrugged. “Now, let me tell you what’s going to happen from now on. I’m sure you’ve noticed that someone’s absent despite this being a board meeting—the manager Ansel hired, the one with a controlling stake, isn’t here. All of you are experienced and successful businessmen, so I don’t think I need to tell you what that means. Now, let me make it clear that I wouldn’t mind if all the board members were to be bankrupt. In fact, I’d be happy to see you lose your wealth, status, and control over your respective companies. There’s a chance that you know nothing about my family because you’re just not wealthy enough to have earned the right to know.”He crossed his legs, looking carefree, but his aura kept the board members silent. They couldn’t refute him at all, and Darius was pleased
“Not a single person in Almiron City has ever had the nerve to say that about me!”The dark-suited board member thought he was already swift enough, as did everyone else. However, to Darius, he was moving at a snail’s pace. He didn’t even need to channel his life force; it enveloped him—seemingly out of instinct. This was his first time watching it actually happen, and it mystified him.Once Darius’ awe over his energy’s new function subsided, he even had the time to sweep his gaze over the other board members—that was how slow the dark-suited board member was moving in his eyes.Ansel let out a yell, but Darius remained seated, looking calm. The dark-suited board member finally stood before him, and Darius couldn’t help feeling like he’d waited for ages. To the others, everything had happened in the blink of an eye.Suddenly, the dark-suited board member’s eyes widened, and he looked horrified. He could clearly see two Dariuses—one was sitting down, looking calm, while the other sto
“But make sure you remember my surname—Gillette!”Darius raised an eyebrow at his words. Then, he bowed his head and lowered his eyes to the ground. It didn’t conceal his laughter, though. The board member in his fifties glared daggers at him—he was a shareholder of the Gillette Group, and it was his main source of income. Now, however, Darius had ruined everything. No one would allow such a person to continue appearing before themselves.The board member in his fifties looked at Darius with unbridled hatred, but Darius merely shrugged and smiled. Instead of making him look more approachable, it only made him seem inexplicably colder and crueler, and none dared look at him aside from the dark-suited board member who was still on the ground and the board member in his fifties.The dark-suited board member was still under Darius’ foot, so he had no choice but to look at Darius. Seeing him up close made the man’s heart tremble, but at the same time, he was relieved that Darius wasn’t wa
The Gillette man didn’t make a sound, and neither did the dark-suited board member, who was still lying on the floor. Darius had long since stopped stepping on him, but he remained there unmoving. Darius didn’t understand his reason for doing this, but he paid the board member no heed. He just sat down and said lazily, “Well, I’m glad none of you have any objection to transferring the ownership of the shares. It looks like we’ll be working together from now on.”The other board members trained their gazes on the table before them, not wanting to spare Darius a glance. To them, it was a terrible disgrace. At the same time, neither of them said anything in response to Darius’ words. At this moment, the dark-suited board member was the only one to make a move. He quickly sat up and shouted, “I object! I’m against Ansel Brezinski transferring the ownership of his shares to you and allowing you to join the board of directors!” He looked at Darius with a determined gaze, held his head hi
“I won’t allow you to do anything other than agree with me.”Suddenly, the dark-suited board member pointed at Darius. His gaze was trained on the other board members, however. He bellowed, “Do you see this? I was right! He refuted everything aside from his family, so he must’ve been lying about everything else!” He turned to glare at Darius. “I’ve been kind and patient enough with you, so you should be smart and not cross the line.”Darius raised an eyebrow. This time, he didn’t say anything. He was sure the dark-suited board member had more to say. As if to prove he was right, the board member continued, “Now, you’re only left with one option—which is to do as I say! Take my shares, then get the fuck out of here!” He sat down and continued lazily, “I’m sure if there were any family wealthier than mine, I’d have some sort of recollection of them—even if someone would need to help jog my memory. Besides, no wealthy family would produce an heir like you!” He looked at Darius scornfu