If he did, what did his presence here today mean? A barrage of thoughts flashed through Darius' mind—he could already imagine how the other members of the Evans family would reach when they heard about this. He crossed his arms, looking expectant. Everyone present probably had their questions, but not all of them could be answered at the moment. And so, Darius pushed his questions to the back of his mind for the time being, quietly waiting for Emerson.Through the computer screen, he could see that Emerson was nervous. The latter gulped and said agitatedly, "Thank you for giving me the chance to take up your time. Now, allow me to introduce myself in more detail. My name is Emerson Evans, and I come from the Evans family right here in Ashweir City. I'm not exactly close to my relatives, but there's no denying that we share the same forefathers. Also, it's been a while since I've come into contact with them, so I have no intention of working for them or any company under the Evans Con
"In essence, supporting me is in direct contradiction to supporting your parents and family," Darius said. His gaze became interested when he saw the surprise on Emerson's face. Emerson seemed to be caught off guard by Darius' question, and his mind went blank for a second. Why was Darius asking him this when it had nothing to do with West Atlantics Int'l? Wasn't that a personal matter? Emerson frowned slightly and gave Darius a hesitant look. Darius raised an eyebrow and smiled mockingly. "There's no need to be shy. Go ahead and say whatever's on your mind. Keeping things to yourself like this isn't gonna get you anywhere."Emerson took a deep breath and shook his head. "I'm not being shy. I just think it's incredibly unprofessional of you to bring up something like this in front of everyone present." When the other members of the board heard this, they turned to give Darius odd looks as if in agreement with Emerson.Darius' mocking smile grew. "I'm surprised you're capable of makin
Now that he'd passed the test, Emerson didn't see how it had been strict in any sense. He gaped a little but ultimately remained silent. Then, he regained his composure and smiled. "Thank you, sir."Darius reached out to grab his phone. He flipped to his conversation with Erin and sent her a message. "The meeting can be ended now. Feel free to join in when I speak to Emerson later."Erin glanced at her phone and relaxed. Then, she turned her microphone on and said, "Alright, everyone. We're gonna end the meeting here, so thank you for your time. Before I turn everything off, let's have a round of applause to celebrate the inclusion of a new member of our company's elite!" She ended the meeting amidst the applause, then sighed in relief at her dark screen. Erin placed a hand on her chest, feeling her heart race; she knew the upcoming meeting with Darius and Emerson would be nerve-racking. Still, she quickly shook it off and put on a smile, knowing that she had to look confident.Only
"Bennett started harassing my mother from the moment they first met, making every other member of the Evans family mock and insult her for being shameless. When she was a freshman in university, Bennett's mother shoved her to the ground and stepped on her face in front of all her classmates. Later, my mother swore to cut ties with Bennett, even choosing to drop out of university to get away from him. Still, she failed, and Bennett locked her up in his home. She wanted to flee, and it was during one of these attempts that she met my father. Alas, money makes the world go round. Ultimately, she failed to escape from Ashweir City. I don't think I need to elaborate on what happened next—you're both intelligent enough to guess."Darius raised an eyebrow. Indeed, he could guess what had happened, but that didn't diminish the shock. He heard Erin gnashing her teeth through the speaker and shook his head helplessly. Though his tone was gentle, his words were cold and ruthless as he said, "Wha
Knowing it was abnormal, Erin wondered why Darius had reacted that way. On the other hand, the situation had already left Darius' mind by then. His focus was on his phone's chat box with a conversation between him and Hansley. Sighing, he typed, "I'm sorry, Mr. Hansley, my mistake left you with no choice but to stay in the hotel for an extended period. I haven't been able to deal with your son's affairs, but perhaps we can meet to handle that issue now that I got discharged from the hospital. Are you free to do so?"After sending the message, Darius shut his eyes, leaned back into the chair, and awaited a response. He was so exhausted that he didn't bother looking at his phone. Little did Darius expect the screen to light up almost instantly, cutting his break short. He looked toward the desk, only for his brows to shoot upward in the next second. Darius couldn't believe that Hansley had texted him back in such a short time. Shock filled his mind as he picked up the phone and saw H
"I didn't have any other choice!" Tears gathered in Hansley's eyes as he spoke.Adversely, Darius remained calm like always. He crossed his arms while wordlessly staring at the former. That said, he no longer seemed curious; instead, there was a distant look in his eyes as if he had fallen into deep thought.Hansley noticed it but soon shifted his gaze away from Darius. Chills crawled into his heart as he lowered his head and took a deep breath. Only then did Hansley continue, "During the incident, I saw a man in black robes sneaking you out of the car. There were also other black-robed figures there, but I still followed the person that took you away, thinking I could save you since he would eventually be alone. What happened next shocked me; the man brought you to an orphanage without hurting you. He didn't leave a scar on you, which I didn't think was possible! Yet, it did. Because of that, I thought long and hard before deciding to conceal the truth."Not a flicker of emotion sho
Darius' mind was in disarray throughout that conversation. He knew Hansley had likely sided with the enemy. Still, he knew such a sudden switch couldn't have happened randomly. It was likely that things had strayed from his plans, meaning something had occurred in the hospital during his coma. Upon realizing that, he placed both hands on the keyboard and speedily typed something. The only person that could work faster than him was Erin, who had already sent a reply after receiving his instruction to investigate past happenings at the hospital."Apologies, sir, I knew about this long ago. I failed my job again by not informing you firsthand," she stated in her text before explaining the situation, "A figure in black robes entered Stephen's ward while you were unconscious. However, nothing mattered more than keeping you two safe at the time, so we set the matter aside when the figure didn't cause any trouble. We planned to deal with the matter later on but didn't have time to do so unt
Darius straightened his back, placed his hands behind his back, and gazed ahead calmly. He even spoke composedly. "There's no need for that because those people outside are a match for Bridget, even if they attack her all at once. Besides, we're in my villa, so Bridget isn't the only bodyguard on duty; Edward's here too."Hansley's pupils constricted in defeat as he met Darius' calm but confident stares. With a long exhale, he replied, "There's nothing much I can do to help you since that's the case. Nevertheless, I still want you to protect my son by keeping him with you. He's not a rotten egg—that, I'm sure. After all, I have faith in my and my wife's genes. Perhaps he's merely figuring out himself and bumped into the wrong influences along the way that caused him to end up how he is now. My heart aches at the thought of parting with my son. I also know it's irresponsible of me to entrust him to your care, but this is the best option for all of us."With that, he exhaled deeply, the