Darius knew this call probably wouldn’t bring him the news he wanted to hear, but he still answered it. It was noisy on the other end of the line. A few seconds later, a man’s drunken voice rang out. “Darius, I really don’t get you. Why did you treat me like this? I was your senior once upon a time, wasn’t I? Didn’t we work together well? How could you ruin everything just like that? I refuse to accept this!”The man obviously had difficulty getting the words out, but Darius could still tell who it was. He said coldly, “Ansel, you’ve had too much to drink.” He slowly leaned back and shut his eyes to conceal his disappointment. He’d once had high hopes for Ansel and thought he was a person who could stand by his side as his equal in the near future, but Ansel had betrayed him. In fact, it seemed he hadn’t paid much of a price for his betrayal.Ansel obviously didn’t share Darius’ heartache. He burst into manic laughter and roared, “You want to return to Ashweir City, don’t you? Dream

Ansel shut his eyes in despair. "I know I made a huge mistake, but I lost the ability to think when I read the message they sent me. They told me they wanted to explore the possibility of me marrying Pearl!" He squatted down and wrapped his arms around his head, saying shakily, "I knew I shouldn't have gone there, but I couldn't control myself." He looked up at Darius tearfully. "And that's why I betrayed you—the Chamberlain family agreed to have Pearl marry me."Darius sat behind his desk, looking icy. "You betrayed me? What did you tell them? Was it about me or West Atlantics Int’l?"Ansel looked lost for a split second before shaking his head vigorously. "No, no! I didn't say anything!" His voice became smaller toward the end of his sentence, and he dared not meet Darius' eyes. Darius tapped a finger on the desk rhythmically, making Ansel gulp and pale. However, his tone was firm. "Mr. Reid, regardless of what you think of me, I swear on my life that I didn't reveal any informati

“You obviously don’t belong to any of those categories, so I think you should address me as ‘Mr. Reid’ and not anything else.” Darius’ eyes were cold.Ansel’s mind went blank for a second. He didn’t know what Darius was implying…or perhaps he did know but refused to think further. He smiled bitterly, knowing Darius’ words made sense. Even if the Brezinski family had fallen from grace, he was still its only heir—his existence was essential to its sustainability, which meant he couldn’t follow Darius everywhere he went, unlike Alicia or Erin. “I understand, Mr. Reid. Is there anything I have to do or a price I have to pay to continue working with you?”Darius leaned back and rested his arms on the armrests. “We share the same alma mater, so I have no doubts about your abilities. I’m sure you’ll be able to set up the largest TV station in the country!”Ansel’s head shot up at his words, and he stared at Darius in disbelief. “I don’t think I misheard you, Mr. Reid, but I’m finding it har

“But I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Darius tapped his fingers on the desk in rapid succession. “And so, I have to apologize for turning down your request.” He stared at William without moving, as if he’d suddenly turned into a statue.However, William knew Darius was only waiting for him to respond. Feeling nervous, he gulped and opened his mouth to tremulously say, “I understand, Mr. Reid. It’s my fault for not thinking the matter through, and I’ll improve on this.” After saying that, William hurried out of the room as quickly as possible.When silence descended upon the room once again, Darius leaned forward. He propped his head up with his arm while reading the report William had just handed to him. It was a surprise to see how concise and well-presented the report was; for the longest time, Darius thought William was useless. Now, it seemed he was wrong. In fact, the report was very well done, and it made him raise an eyebrow.He hadn’t had much time to pay attention to how W

A tall woman stood beside him; the dwarf only reached her waist. Darius gave them a quick look before leaving, but things didn’t go as planned. As soon as he turned to leave, the dwarf hurried to stand in his way. “I’m talking to you, brat. I’ve never seen you in Almiron City before; you must be one of those people who came for the prize money.” The dwarf looked at Darius arrogantly and continued, “I’d advise you to leave now—you paupers have no idea what it’s like to be wealthy, so there’s no way your suggestions will be accepted!” The woman beside him laughed mockingly, then said, “Give them a chance, sir. At least they’ll be able to have a free meal.” Darius raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. He merely sidestepped the dwarf to leave; all he had to do was have someone kick the dwarf out. However, when his back was turned, Erin let out a sharp yelp. He frowned and turned to see the dwarf gripping Erin’s wrist tightly. Darius asked coldly, “What are you trying to do?” H

Darius raised an eyebrow at the bruise and put an arm around Erin’s shoulder. Then, he stepped on Vic and said, “I intended to let you off the hook, but it seems you don’t think that’s necessary. Perhaps you’ll only be satisfied when you’re lifeless and carried out in a body bag.”Vic’s eyes widened at Darius’ words, but there wasn’t a trace of hesitation in his tone when he roared, “That’s enough! Do you realize how unreasonable you sound? I was just interested in the beautiful woman in your arms and wanted to take her home with me, yet you want to take my life! That’s extremely unfair!”Darius smiled, but the crowd shuddered at its iciness. He applied pressure on his foot, stopping when he heard a bone snap. Vic lay on the ground, looking ashen because of the pain. However, he couldn’t make a sound; something seemed lodged in his throat!Darius looked at him scornfully, then turned to the security guard. “Are you linked to West Atlantics Int’l in any way?”The security guard paled a

“Mr. Reid, I realize I’ve made a huge mistake. I hope you’ll give me another chance—I swear I won’t allow this to happen anymore!” The security guard trembled violently, unable to say another word. He looked at Darius pleadingly, not knowing how he would react. He knew nothing about Darius, only having heard others say he was formidable. Based on what he’d heard, Darius was not only intelligent but also more powerful than the average individual—apparently, he rarely came across opponents more powerful than him, so no one had ever witnessed Darius losing a fight. Now, this god-like person stood before him. Darius had given him a chance earlier, but he’d let it slip through his fingers. The security guard descended into despair at this thought—his only hope was that Darius was kind enough to give him another chance. Soon, however, the security guard knew he was out of hope. Not only had Darius not forgiven him, but he hadn’t even spared him a glance. Darius’ gaze swept around the c

Alicia pressed her skirt down before running outside as quickly as possible to look for Darius. She’d made a huge mistake and had to apologize to him before it was too late.On the other hand, Darius was already in the car. However, he hadn’t started it. Erin sat in the backseat instead of riding shotgun as she’d done on the way here. Darius leaned back with his eyes shut. He didn’t say a word, but the atmosphere in the car was so tense that Erin felt smothered. She was about to give in when Alicia ran over to them and stopped by the backseat. She placed a hand on the handle and was about to open the door when it popped open to reveal Erin’s smiling face.Alicia was surprised by this and blurted, “Erin?”Erin’s smile grew wider. “You can get in the front. Mr. Reid has been waiting for a long time.” Her voice was gentle, making Alicia relax. She nodded and shut the door before getting into the passenger seat.Darius didn’t start the car. He said calmly, “As far as I know, you’ve alway

Erin’s eyes lit up at Darius’ words. They’d already started preparing to return to Ashweir City the night before, but it had been delayed because they had to deal with these menial matters.She smiled and pulled her phone out to book the flight tickets, sighing in relief when she was done. “Sir, I’ve booked us a flight for 4 pm; we’ll be in Ashweir City by 6 pm.”Darius nodded. “It’s time for us to pack up, then.”Time flew—before they knew it, it was almost 4 pm. The packing had gone without a hitch, making Darius uneasy as they boarded the flight. His instinct as an enlightened martial artist told him something would go wrong; he kept trying to figure out whether he’d forgotten anything, but nothing came to mind. He frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing.Then, he shut his eyes and took a deep breath, allowing the life force in the air to enter his body. It traveled through his organs and mixed in with his blood. Soon, he found that it started to form a system of

Darius’ voice became much gentler. “You can sit; nothing’s gonna happen to the plane.”On the other hand, Erin had already gotten a change of clothing for him from her carry-on. She handed them to him with both hands, along with some wet wipes and tissues. “Sir, you can’t shower on the plane, so you’ll have to make do with these.”Darius didn’t expect this, and he smiled. He nodded and said, “Thank you.” Then, he got up and headed into the lavatory with the clothes and wet wipes. Just as everyone thought he would shut the door and change, he stopped abruptly and turned to stare at a corner of a plane. A girl who looked to be about eighteen sat there.He narrowed his eyes and walked over to her. The people he walked past felt their hair stand on end because of their fear. The girl stared at him fearfully, but there was also a trace of stubbornness in her eyes. Darius curled his lip and said, “Miss, I thought I made myself clear earlier. Anyone who takes photos of or records my people