Billionaire God of War

The city of Greencliff, International Airport.

"Hurry up!"

"dog!"

A few dozen men in black suits rushed out of the exits, each one with a serious face, as if they were going against a formidable enemy.

All the passengers in the airport quickly made way for them, not knowing who could have caused such a commotion.

The leader of the men in suits frowned deeply, then suddenly turned and left as if he had suddenly thought of something.

Soon they reached the pavement outside the airport.

Ethan Hunt was sitting on a long bench, slowly blowing cigarette smoke out from his mouth.

"Master hopes you can go back, he misses you very much," the leader respectfully addressed Ethan as he stood about five steps behind him.

In front of other people, this leader was of high standing, and nobody dared to go against him.

But in front of this young man, he felt extremely lowly!

"He misses me?"

Ethan turned slightly and there was a smirk on his face. "Does he miss my influence? Or my money?"

If someone else had said something like that, this leader would have despised him. How could the rich and powerful Hunt family from Makrin City ever covet anybody else’s power and money?

But the man in front of him was different.

He was the sole heir of the Hunt family!

What made this leader even more shocked was that he was known as the God of War of the East, with immense capabilities and jaw dropping wealth!

"When he chased me out of the family and married that vixen fifteen years ago, Ethan had died."

Ethan exhaled his last mouthful of smoke, "Ethan Hunt now has nothing to do with that Hunt family back in Makrin City."

He got up to leave.

"Don’t send people after me anymore. Otherwise I’ll kill each one you send!"

His terrifying murderous aura immediately wrapped itself round the leader.

The leader was only able to relax his clenched fists after he saw Ethan disappear into the distance.

His back was already all wet with perspiration.

He was actually nervous in front of Ethan.

There was a car ready at the airport carpark.

Ethan hopped in and immediately made a call.

"Winston, have you arranged everything already?"

A voice came through from the other side.

"Give me the address."

Ethan immediately hung up. He held a crinkled sweet wrapper in his hand and his thoughts floated back to fifteen years ago.

He was fifteen, chased out of the Hunt house and roamed the streets.

He was cold and hungry when a simply dressed little girl gave her only sweet to Ethan.

After that he was taken away by a mysterious person.

When he first appeared, the entire world trembled!

Three years later, he was given the name, God of War of the East. He was only eighteen years old at that time!

Now another twelve years have passed. He had the power of a god and could shock the world, but Ethan had chosen to return quietly.

He would never forget that little girl.

He couldn’t forget those pure eyes.

He couldn’t forget that kind face.

Ethan kept the sweets wrapper away carefully and took a deep breath.

If someone he knew saw this, they would get a shock. The great God of War could feel nervous too?

"I’m back."

The car sped out of the carpark.

Meanwhile, at Fairmont Hotel in Greencliff!

It was really lively in here.

The famous Palmer family of Greencliff was receiving applications from men to find the best man to marry their granddaughter, DianePalmer, and this attracted a lot of attention.

Diane was seated in one of the function rooms, clenching her little pink fists, her eyes bloodshot and feeling utterly bullied.

Her mother, April, was standing on one side, her face redder from anger.

"William, they’re obviously up to no good! If you’re still a man, go and reject your father!"

She shrieked, "You mean you’re going to watch them destroy your daughter’s happiness?"

What crap was this about finding a good husband? Bullshit!

April didn’t believe they were so kind.

The Palmers started as a small shop, and within fifteen years, they had expanded and became a third tier wealthy family in Greencliff. The head of the Palmer family, Gerald, became an example of a successful entrepreneur who started from nothing.

Gerald had three sons: Steven, Nicolas and William.

Steven had taken over most of the Palmer family’s business, Nicolas was in charge of expanding the business in a different city. But William had lost the use of both legs in an accident, so he could only rest at home and was looked down upon.

Steven and Nicolas had ganged up to persuade Gerald to agree to find a husband for William’s daughter, and they even guaranteed to find an excellent man for Diane.

And in the end?

Never mind that all the candidates were nobodies. One of them was even older than Diane by ten years, and had a history of mental illness!

This wasn’t finding a good husband for Diane at all. This was destroying her!

William’s face was also all red. He was as angry as his wife, but he didn’t dare to go against his father’s wishes.

He knew Gerald’s temperament – he always made the final decision. There was nobody in the Palmer family who could go against what he wanted to do.

"He’s Diane’s grandfather, so he won’t do anything bad to her."

After taking such a long time to think, William embarrassedly squeezed these words out of his mouth.

April was going to faint from anger soon. She pointed a finger at William, crying as she shouted, "How did I marry a weakling like you!"

She knew that William was a filial son and was always very obedient to Gerald. After becoming handicapped, he became even weaker and dared not go against Gerald at all.

But regardless of which man he chose for Diane as a husband to marry into the family, this matter would still ruin Diane!

Their family was going to become the laughingstock of Greencliff!

April sobbed miserably as she shouted at William, Diane cried quietly, while William could only grip his numb thigh, showing how much he blamed himself and how helpless he was in this situation.

"Mum, don’t shout at Dad anymore."

Diane managed to squeeze a smile out, but there were tearstains on her beautiful face.

"Perhaps, Grandpa might find me a really nice man?"

Of course she knew this was the ploy of her two uncles.

After graduating from university, she started working for the Palmer Group and had stellar results in a short span of two years, overtaking their children easily.

They were worried that she might fight for control over the business, so they instigated her grandfather to find some man willing to marry into the family for her. This way, she would lose her eligibility to take over the business.

She knew this, her parents knew this too, but none of them were able to fight back.

In the Palmer family, nobody could go against what Grandpa had decided. Nobody.

The chime of the clock rang and Diane got up.

"Let’s go. If we keep Grandpa waiting he’s going to scold us again."

William felt bitterness and helpless when he saw Diane trembling slightly. He dared not look at his wife’s begrudging face.

He knew that it was hard on them to stay in the family, but at least they didn’t have to worry about their living expenses. If they got chased out, what were they going to do?

In the main hall of the hotel, the place was brightly lit and all the guests had arrived.

Gerald was seated right in front, dressed in an exquisitely made tang suit, holding onto a walking stick and his face was glowing.

"Congratulations, Mister Palmer!"

"Congratulations, Mister Palmer! You’ve gained an excellent grandson-in-law!"

All the guests were taking turns to congratulate Gerald.

"Dad, it’s about time to make the announcement."

Steven was standing next to him, his large and burly figure looked imposing.

He looked over at Diane who was not seated too far away, and announced in a loud voice, "We have the results here, and we have chosen the most promising young man among the applicants."

The most promising young man?

Pfft, he knew in his heart that the wonderful son-in-law they had chosen was the worst among all the applicants. This one apparently had some hidden illnesses!

But as long as Diane married him, then she would have nothing to do with the family business.

Gerald would definitely never allow anything that belonged to the Palmer family to land in the hands of someone with a different surname.

"Everyone!"

Gerald stood up. Everyone looked over the moment he spoke. "Today I would like to formally announce the man we have chosen for my granddaughter, Diane!"

When she heard this voice, Diane trembled a little.

She looked up at Gerald who was standing in front. This grandpa had never seemed concerned about her since she was born.

Gerald never even looked at her when she was born, because she was a girl.

Now he was going to choose her husband and make a decision that would affect the rest of her life.

Diane breathed heavily. She was angry and frustrated and she opened her mouth to protest, but suddenly she saw William seated on his wheelchair shaking his head at her, begging her with his eyes.

So she didn’t say anything.

"Ladies and gentlemen, after a selection process by our family, among the ten wonderful applicants, we have chosen the best one to be Diane’s husband. I hope everyone here will bless the new couple!"

With that, everyone applauded.

To Diane, this applause was mocking her. Or even pitying her.

Her eyes were turning red, and she struggled to keep her tears from rolling down.

"Dad, this is the man."

Steven took out a beautifully designed card and passed it to Gerald. The name of their final choice was written on it.

They had checked carefully already. This guy had no background to speak of, an orphan, over thirty years old, poorly educated, uncultured, no skills and was homeless – you could say he could be considered a completely useless man.

And he even suffered intermittent bouts of insanity.

They heard that it was hereditary!

If so, then after this man married Diane, on top of cutting the family business off from Diane, even her children could forget about taking a single cent from the Palmers!

Steven looked at Diane and family seated in one area, and there was a moment of glee on his face.

"Now I would like to announce our final choice!"

Gerald was far-sighted and couldn’t see clearly, so he narrowed his eyes and looked carefully at the card before announcing, "It’s this lucky young man, Ethan Hunt!"

The moment the name was announced, everybody turned to look at the back door of the hotel.

He was marrying into the family, so of course he could only walk in from the back door.

The back door opened and a young man walked in.

William and his wife couldn’t bear to look.

They knew that Steven would definitely choose the worst man to be Diane’s husband.

But Diane turned to look. She wanted to see who would become her husband.

Ethan looked up and met her eyes, but neither said anything.

He walked right across the hall and everyone was looking at him. Strangely the expression on his face seemed mocking, as well as somewhat malicious.

"Ethan, congratulations for making it as Diane’s husband and marrying into the Palmer family."

Steven added on, "You don’t have to thank us, we just hope that you will take good care of Diane."

To him, Ethan should be eternally grateful to the Palmers for giving a homeless orphan like him a home.

Steven walked over to Diane and gently took her hand, his face full of care and concern.

"Come along, Diane."

He took Diane’s hand and brought her in front of Ethan, then placed her hand on Ethan’s hand.

All the guests started clapping again when they saw this, as if they were attending a blissful engagement ceremony.

But William and family knew that everyone was just laughing at them!

By tomorrow, all of Greencliff would know that a man had married into the Palmer family as Diane’s husband, and it was going to be the talk of the town.

Diane’s mind went blank, as if she had been completely emptied out.

She couldn’t seem to hear or see anymore, and didn’t even know what time the banquet ended.

Once the banquet ended, April immediately left crying, while William quickly rolled his wheelchair along after her.

At the hotel entrance, a cold wind blew on her face and Diane came to her senses.

She looked at Ethan who was standing next to her. Her face was expressionless, but her voice was hoarse.

"Uncle, I don’t blame you."

She quietly continued, "You are to be pitied too."

Ethan was ten years older than her, so it seemed appropriate to call him Uncle instead.

Ethan didn’t say anything.

He hadn’t said a word all day.

The person in front of him was that little girl from fifteen years ago. She was still as kind as ever.

She tolerated this situation and suffered this sort of bullying just so that her parents could live happily.

"Oho, my dear cousin, congratulations!"

Suddenly a man walked out from the entrance and smiled with his hands clasped together as he smiled, "Congrats on getting such an outstanding husband!"

He purposely emphasized the word ‘outstanding’, and said it with great sarcasm.

Diane frowned and bit her lips. She looked at Archie Palmer and clenched her fists.

"My dad and the family worked hard over your marriage," Archie sighed as he said. "Well now that it’s all settled and you’ve found someone, my uncle can be at peace too."

He didn’t care about Diane going pale in the face and turned to throw a glance at Ethan.

This useless man was found by his father, Steven. When he thought about the information they had on him, he couldn’t resist laughing.

So a man could be this useless.

"To my new cousin-in-law: now that you’ve married into the Palmers, you’d better be nice to my cousin here," Archie gleefully continued. "Quickly have kids ok? It will make Grandpa happy too."

"No matter what your kid looks like, or even if you give birth to a retarded one, the Palmers can afford to raise him."

Diane couldn’t stand it anymore. "Archie, are you quite done!"

"Diane, I’m just giving my blessings to you guys," Archie replied. "Grandpa also said that he hopes that you guys will have kids soon. I think you’ll complete this mission tonight."

If they really had a retarded kid, that would be even funnier.

"You!"

Diane lifted a hand and Archie’s face immediately darkened.

"What, you want to hit me?"

Diane bit her lips, angry and indignant.

If she dared to hit the eldest grandson of the Palmers, then tomorrow her family would be chased out of the family!

To her grandfather, only grandsons were Palmer family members. She…was not eligible.

Archie became even more gleeful when he saw Diane put her hand down.

Since they were young, only he got to bully Diane. Diane could only dream about taking advantage of him.

"I’m doing this for your own good, but you don’t appreciate my good intentions," Archie purposely sighed loudly, "Your father has been paralyzed for so many years, and your family would have starved to death long ago if the Palmer family didn’t support you. Now we’ve taken so much effort to find you a husband and you’re not just ungrateful but you also want to hit me. If Grandpa knows you tried to hit me, the consequences…"

Diane started shaking.

She looked at Archie with great fury – how could a person be this shameless!

She turned to leave, but Archie blocked her way again.

"Diane, this is Grandpa’s decision. If you’re not happy, go tell him."

Diane started crying from her indignation and her anger had been pushed to its limit.

"What do you want to do?"

Ethan suddenly broke his silence.

Diane lifted her head and looked at Ethan, and blurted out, "I want to give him a tight slap!"

She had just finished talking and there was a loud sound of a slap. Archie held his face as he collapsed on the ground, and he didn’t even have time to shout.

He only managed to react when he felt a burning sensation coming from his face. He was the one who got slapped!

It was Ethan who slapped him!

Archie was stunned, and so was Diane.

Ethan dared to hit Archie?

He was just a man who married into the family!

"You…"

Diane’s face paled immediately from fright.

Archie was going to kill Ethan!

"Why did you listen to me?" Diane murmured.

"That’s because you’re my wife now," replied Ethan.

Diane felt like her head just exploded.

She stared in shock at Ethan. She never expected him to hit someone else for her.

And the person he hit was Archie!

The eldest grandson of the Palmers!

Just because…she was his wife now?

"You’re asking for it!"

Archie got up from the ground and took a punch in Ethan’s direction.

Nobody had ever dared to hit him, and worse still, this was Diane’s husband, a useless man who married into the family!

His fist had just reached in front of Ethan when Ethan used one hand to grab his fist. Ethan suddenly exerted some strength and the next thing Archie heard was a loud crack of his wrist!

"AHHHH!"

It was broken!

Archie howled in pain.

"She is my wife. Nobody is to bully her from now on."

Ethan only let go of his hand after saying this, then he dragged Diane away while she was still completely stunned.

"I’m going to kill you! I’m going to KILL YOU!"

Archie held his wrist, the pain nearly killing him.

He never expected that the piece of garbage his own family found to be a son-in-law had dared to hit him.

Diane was doomed!

Her whole family was doomed!

Archie quickly ran back into the hotel and couldn’t be bothered to treat his injury.

Steven was still in the hall, chatting with some business partners.

"Dad! Dad!"

Archie dashed over immediately, and Steven frowned as his conversation was interrupted.

"Since your son has things to discuss with you, then we’ll talk another time."

The guests got up and left.

Steven scowled and snorted, "What a mess. What is it!"

"Dad, someone beat me!"

Archie clenched his teeth, "Look at my hand, it’s broken!"

"Who did this?"

Steven immediately stood up.

Even he couldn’t bear to hit his own precious son – who dared to be so vicious?

"Ethan Hunt!"

Archie clenched his teeth hard, "That husband of Diane that married into the family!"

They had just given Ethan a new lease of life. Never mind if he wasn’t grateful for this, he actually dared to hit Archie.

He was just a homeless man, a useless piece of garbage, and he was rebelling!

Steven was furious. "That useless man that married into the family?"

According to the information they had, Ethan was homeless and completely hopeless. He even had intermittent bouts of insanity – so perhaps it was his mental illness acting up.

"Diane told him to slap me, and he really did!"

"My hand was hit so hard it’s broken now!"

Archie’s eyes were red from anger.

When had he ever suffered like this before?

Steven frowned, "That guy has some mental illness, and maybe it suddenly acted up."

He immediately ordered someone to get a doctor for Archie’s injury. "Don’t provoke crazy people like him. But that Diane actually got Ethan to hit you. Humph! I won’t let her off easily!"

"Dad, chase her out of the family!"

This was a good excuse to do so.

If Gerald knew about this matter, Diane and family would definitely have to go!

Where did they get the guts to hit the eldest grandson of the Palmers?

"Diane is currently in charge of a project and it’s at a very important stage now, we’re going to sign the contract soon. If we chase her out now, it might affect this project."

Diane was really good at her work – she had taken up several projects in the short time of two years.

But that was precisely why Steven and his son were so worried. They were afraid that Diane would be able to gain footing in the company and pose as a threat to them.

"Dad, since the project is almost good to go, it doesn’t matter who goes to get the contract signed. If I’m the one who manages to get these large projects signed, Grandpa would definitely think more highly of me."

Archie viciously continued, "Chase her out! This family of leeches can all go and die!"

……

Meanwhile, Ethan went home with Diane.

Diane was still stunned the whole way home. She had never thought that Ethan would hit someone for her.

When she had snapped back to reality, she started to worry. Ethan’s attack would probably have offended Archie.

Knowing that idiot’s temper, he would definitely get back at Ethan.

Ding dong!

She pressed the door bell, and after some time, William opened the door and looked at Diane with eyes filled with guilt.

"Diane, you’re back."

William looked at Ethan behind her and his face fell. But he didn’t say anything and just nodded. "Come…come in."

"DO NOT COME IN!"

Ethan hadn’t set a foot in when April came dashing out, her face still tearstained. "Get out! GET OUT!"

"It’s because of you, Diane is going to become the laughingstock of Greencliff, you’ve destroyed her!"

"Get out! NOW!"

April was crying as she shouted. She was not willing at all to let Ethan marry into her family.

If Ethan was an outstanding man, she might be able to accept it.

But then?

Ethan was older than Diane by ten years, no achievements whatsoever and was homeless!

This man was more disgraceful than she could handle.

Ethan didn’t say anything and turned to leave, but Diane suddenly grabbed his hand.

"Mum, let him come in."

If she let Ethan leave now, Archie would surely find someone to kill him.

He had hit someone else for her sake, so Diane couldn’t just leave him like that.

"Diane, he…"

"He is now…my husband."

Diane bit her lips. The word ‘husband’ was so strange to her, it seemed to carry needles that stabbed painfully at her heart.

April’s lips trembled as she shook her head in despair, "I’m washing my hands of this!"

She ran back to her room and slammed the door shut.

"Come in," Diane gently said to him.

Ethan nodded and walked into this house that wasn’t considered large.

The Palmers were a third tier wealthy family in Greencliff, but Diane’s house was even smaller than the average.

"Come with me."

Diane was afraid that April would chase Ethan away again, so she brought him into her own room.

The room wasn’t large, but it was very neat and tidy.

Diane took out a rug and a mat from the cupboard and placed them on the floor. Her voice was a little tired as she said, "You’d better not go out for the time being. Archie won’t let you off. Stay in my house first, he wouldn’t dare to touch you here."

Diane looked at Ethan. It was difficult to imagine that she suddenly had a husband.

"From now on, you’ll sleep on the floor, I’ll sleep on the bed. You live your life and I’ll live mine, ok?"

Ethan didn’t say anything and just nodded.

He knew that Diane definitely couldn’t remember him and definitely couldn’t fall in love with him. Perhaps she even hated him, because he had suddenly become her husband.

But deep inside, she was still a kind person. She was afraid that Archie would hurt him, so even though it made her uncomfortable, she still wanted him to stay, to protect him.

This woman was still so kind even after she had grown up.

Ethan started deliberating whether he should take out the sweet wrapper, but after thinking it through, he decided against it.

Both of them remained silent and the atmosphere became rather awkward.

Suddenly, Diane’s phone started ringing.

Her face turned white as a sheet.

"Diane, from today onwards, you don’t have to report to the Palmer Group for work anymore!"

The phone call was from Archie, and he arrogantly said, "Humph! My dad has fired you! Your family can slowly starve to death!"

With that, Archie slammed down the phone.

Diane took a long time to react.

She had been fired?

Because she had asked Ethan to hit Archie?

Since she was young, this idiot had bullied her so badly, but he never went through any sort of punishment for it.

Diane felt like crying from this unfair treatment.

Ethan immediately frowned when he saw this.

This Archie, was he seeking death now?

Ethan immediately frowned.

Was this Archie asking to die?

He actually started taking revenge on Diane so quickly.

"I hit him, it has nothing to do with you." Ethan spoke directly, "I will settle this."

"No."

Diane shook her head and said with bloodshot eyes, "Don’t look for him, he’ll kill you."

This idiot was very vicious and wouldn’t let Ethan off for sure.

"Also, my parents must not know about this, otherwise they’ll definitely chase you out."

As long as Ethan stayed in her house, Archie wouldn’t dare to come in and hurt him. If he got chased out, then Archie would definitely get back at Ethan.

"It’s just a job anyway. If I can’t work at Palmer Group anymore, I’ll look for something else."

Diane managed a smile.

Then she took a deep breath and went to update her resume.

Ethan didn’t say anything. There was nothing he could say to this kind girl.

The one thing he could do was to make those who bullied her pay the price for doing so!

Ethan took out his phone to send a short text. It was very short, but extremely murderous.

……

Archie was gloating now.

Once he got this project signed, then his position in the Palmer family would rise by another level.

He was going to be the next heir to the Palmer family, and that was only right.

His hand was still bandaged as he made his way to the Foster Group office with the contract.

"I’m looking for CEO Foster to sign the contract."

Archie’s head was tilted upwards as he walked towards the reception, a look of arrogance on his face.

"Hello Sir, do you have an appointment with the CEO?"

"I’m the general manager of Palmer Group, Archie Palmer. We’ve already discussed this project with CEO Foster for a long time now, and we’re signing the contract today."

Archie was displeased. She was just a receptionist, why did she have so many questions?

"I’m really sorry, CEO Foster will not see anyone without an appointment," the receptionist smiled calmly.

"I said, I’m the general manager of Palmer Group!"

"I’m really sorry, I only know Miss Diane from Palmer Group. CEO Foster has given instructions to allow Miss Diane to go upstairs directly if she comes, but he will not see anyone else."

"You!"

Archie was enraged immediately.

What was this meaning of this?

Diane was such a big shot?

She could go upstairs without question, while he didn’t have the right to even see CEO Foster? Why!

"This is a big project, so if it’s delayed, are you able to bear the responsibility?"

Archie waved his hand, "I can’t be bothered with you, I’ll go up myself!"

He had just walked two steps out, and a threatening voice sounded behind him.

"It’s just a small project, I can still afford to lose this!"

CEO Foster was here!

Archie immediately put on a big smile and instantly changed his tone of voice, "CEO Foster, whatever are you talking about, I was just joking!"

"This may be a small project to you, but to Palmer Group, this is a huge project!"

He hurried ran over and looked very respectful, "I’ve brought the contract over today, I’m not sure if CEO Foster…"

"When did I say I was going to sign with Palmer Group?"

CEO Foster frowned instead.

Archie was caught off guard.

He blurted out, "Hasn’t Diane already discussed it with you?"

"That’s right, Diane has discussed everything with me. So if a contract has to be signed, I’ll sign it with her. Who are you?"

Archie became angrier.

He was the eldest grandson of the Palmers, the general manager of Palmer Group, and CEO Foster asked who he was?

"I…"

"I don’t care who you are. For this project, I will only sign with Diane."

CEO Foster’s face darkened and a dozen security guards immediately came running over. "Nobody else has the right to sign anything with me. See him out!"

"CEO Foster, CEO Foster!"

Archie started getting anxious.

If he lost this project, he’d get beaten to death when he got home!

To CEO Foster, it was a small project. But to the Palmers, this huge project could change their fate!

"Why, you want to make a scene?"

CEO Foster turned and glared at Archie, then his face suddenly became serious. "Throw him out!"

Before Archie could react, all the security guards grabbed him and threw him out of the main door.

"OWW!"

Archie yelped from the pain coming from his injured hand.

When had he suffered such terrible treatment before? How could he have been chased out like this!

"Diane! Damn you Diane!"

Archie’s face was all red, and his frustration became rage when he saw many passersby staring at him. "Looks like something shady is going on between you and this CEO Foster!"

If not, why would CEO Foster only sign the contract with Diane and not him?

Diane had been fired by them, so there was no way Diane was going to come here.

But what if the deal fell through?

Archie was furious but he could only clutch the contract and look for Steven immediately.

At this time, CEO Foster was on the top floor of his office, making a call very humbly.

"Brother Winston, I have already done as you told me. I’m not sure which important person was able to ask Brother Winston for such a favor?"

His face was filled with great respect and even some reverence, the total opposite of how he treated Archie earlier!

"He’s my boss. He didn’t ask me for a favor, I’m just carrying out his instructions, get it?"

The voice coming out from the phone made CEO Foster’s body tremble violently. He immediately nodded, "I got it!"

Brother Winston was terrifying beyond his imagination already, so if this was Brother Winston’s boss, that was equivalent to the boss of his boss – how frightening he must be!

He dared not even think about it!

"Tom Foster, have you always thought that everything you’ve achieved in Greencliff over the last five years was given to you by me?"

Winston suddenly asked.

Tom Foster hurriedly replied, "If Brother Winston had not taken the effort to groom me, I would still be a gangster running the streets and wouldn’t be where I am today."

"Think harder," Winston continued.

Tom Foster froze.

This wasn’t the right answer?

But it was Winston who had helped to point him in the right direction so that he could gain the advantage at several important stages, setting his foundation well so that he could advance to where he was today!

Without Winston’s guidance, Tom Foster knew he would never have done it.

Suddenly he gulped and his voice started trembling, "It’s…Brother Winston’s boss?"

"At least you’re pretty smart."

Winston continued, "With one word, he can give you everything. Similarly, with one word, he can take away everything you have. You get my meaning?"

"Got it!" Tom Foster immediately replied. "Thank you Brother Winston for your guidance, I will make sure to do well!"

Winston didn’t say anymore and hung up.

Tom Foster felt his legs go weak, so he walked over to the sofa and sat down heavily on it as he exhaled a long breath out.

There was cold sweat all over his forehead from his nervousness.

So the one behind him was actually that big boss, and it was because of just one word from him, he was where he was today!

What sort of crazy power was this?

He finally calmed down after a long time. But the shock deep inside his heart did not lessen.

In his mind, this boss of his boss had no face, but his mere existence was enough for him to bow down and worship!

"Looks like Diane is connected to Big Boss. Steven and his son are just waiting to die!"

CEO Foster took a deep breath and tried to suppress the shock in his heart.

Steven’s House.

Gerald was seated and drinking tea. He had come to ask about that particular project.

The enchanting smell of the incense smoke of agarwood blew over from one side.

"Dad, this project with CEO Foster is very important to the Palmers," Steven said as he made tea.

"Of course. The Palmers will soon rise one level higher."

Gerald continued happily, "So what’s the status of this project?"

"No problem, Archie has gone to get the contract signed today."

Steven went on, "Your grandson has never disappointed you."

Gerald was pleased and nodded his head.

All the men of the Palmer family were outstanding.

"Dad!"

Archie came running in like a storm, a nasty expression on his face.

When he saw that Gerald was here, he didn’t dare to say anything.

"We were just talking about you."

Steven motioned at his father, "Grandpa wanted to ask how’s the project with CEO Foster going so far, has he signed the contract already?"

Archie looked at Gerald and became a little nervous and stuttered.

"This uh, project…"

When he saw how he seemed to be hesitant with words, Steven’s face fell and he had a bad feeling about this.

"I went to his office today, but CEO Foster had to attend to other matters and wasn’t around. He asked me to go again tomorrow to get it signed," Archie managed to squeeze this out.

If Grandpa knew he lost this deal, Grandpa was going to kill him!

"This CEO Foster started off with nothing and he’s always been very arrogant. Since he asked you to wait one day, then just wait," Gerald replied, his face full of smiles.

"Yes, Grandpa, I’ll wait like you said," Archie forced himself to reply.

But Steven could tell that something was wrong.

He didn’t say anything until his father had left, then he called Archie into the study with a dark expression on his face.

"What is going on!"

He angrily shouted, "If you dare to hide anything from me, I’ll beat you to death!"

"Dad!"

Archie replied indignantly, "This has nothing to do with me! It’s Diane!"

He angrily continued, "That CEO Foster said he would only sign the contract with Diane, and everybody else doesn’t have the right to even see him – I was literally chased out of the office by them immediately!"

Steven had a nasty expression on his face.

His son had been chased out?

"That Diane must be sleeping with CEO Foster, otherwise how could things turn out like that?" Archie said unhappily.

"CEO Foster also said that if the one signing with him isn’t Diane, then we can forget about this project and he doesn’t care."

He could choose not to care, but the Palmers couldn’t!

"Do you know how much the Palmers have invested in this project?"

Steven glowered at his son, all ready to whack him to death. "If we lose this project, even if I don’t kill you, your grandfather will!"

Archie’s face turned ghostly pale instantly.

"What do we do now?" he asked anxiously.

He thought that he could just claim credit for all this work he didn’t do, but who knew it turned out to be such a sticky situation.

"What do we do now?"

Steven scolded angrily, "Who asked you to fire Diane now! Now we’ve lost the project and both of us have to get out!"

Archie didn’t dare to speak up.

His dad was the one who fired Diane, since he was the CEO.

"Get Diane back and sign this project!"

Steven shouted, "Once she’s got this signed, throw her out again!"

"Will she be willing?" Archie asked cautiously.

"Call her now!"

Archie gulped and didn’t dare to argue.

He took out his phone and called Diane, but nobody picked up.

Diane didn’t want to pick up any calls from them at all now.

"Dad, she’s not answering. What do we do?"

"What do we do?"

Steven laughed coldly. "Looks like this young lady has some pride huh, I suppose we have to pay her a visit and ask her to come back."

If this project weren’t this important, he didn’t want to see the three members of William’s family at all.

Oh wait, there was still that crazy son-in-law of his, so four members now.

Now that Diane had lost her right to fight for the family business, he didn’t want to bother himself with these useless pieces of garbage.

But he couldn’t think too much about all this now.

Steven immediately drove Archie to Diane’s place.

Very soon, the two of them reached the old and rundown Magnolia Estates.

Steven frowned as he looked at the area around him, walking extremely carefully as if he was afraid of dirtying his pants.

"It’s this house."

Archie pointed at one of the doors.

It seemed like they would never come to this sort of place.

The Palmers were rich, but the money was all with Gerald, and even though his children worked for the Palmer Group, they only received a salary and annual bonuses.

After William became paralyzed, he was unable to work anymore and so he wasn’t able to support his family anymore. He had a house to live in because his father pitied him.

Archie banged hard on the door.

"Coming! Why do you have to bang so hard on the door!"

That was April’s voice coming from the house.

She opened the door to find Steven and his son standing at the door and she froze for a while.

After her initial shock, her face immediately fell.

"What are you doing here!"

"We’re looking for Diane."

Steven calmly said this as he pushed the door open and walked in. "Where is she?"

"She’s not in!"

April spoke nastily, "What do you want with her?"

"Diane!"

Steven couldn’t be bothered with April and started shouting. "Uncle Steven is here, aren’t you coming out to greet me?"

Diane could hear him from her room. She didn’t expect them to really come to her place.

All these years, even after her father was paralyzed, Steven had never visited them. What did they want today?

"Come along, let’s go."

Ethan pulled Diane’s hand and dragged her out.

Steven started laughing when he saw Diane come outside.

"Diane, still angry with me?"

Diane didn’t respond.

"About the company firing you, that was just a misunderstanding."

A look of ‘I don’t care’ flashed across Steven’s face, "But the company needs you back to sign that contract with CEO Foster. If you still want to leave the company, you can leave after the contract is signed."

Diane’s body started shaking violently from rage when she heard this.

When they didn’t need her, they just fired her. When they needed her, they immediately came looking for her. What did they take her as? A tool to just dispose of it after using it?

April also understood what was going on.

Steven and his son had actually fired Diane, and she didn’t even know.

"Steven, what is the meaning of this? What do you take Diane as? What do you take this entire family as!"

She was furious.

"Auntie April, your family isn’t really worth much."

Archie continued disdainfully, "Now it’s only because Diane is of some value, otherwise I wouldn’t bother to come to such a rundown house like yours."

"You…"

April’s face was filled with rage and she lifted a hand to slap Archie’s face.

"Hit if you dare!"

Steven shouted threateningly, "You old hag, you dare to hit a member of the Palmer family?"

April bit her lips. He just called her an old hag – what an insult!

Suddenly there was the sound of a loud slap.

Archie held his face in disbelief. Ethan had hit him yet again!

"Who gave you the guts to insult my mother-in-law like that?"

Ethan took a step forward and said calmly, "If you need to ask for a favor, you’d better ask humbly and nicely. Didn’t your dad teach you that?"

"You!"

Archie was furious, but he dared not hit back.

His hand was broken by Ethan, this mad man!

He didn’t want to provoke some crazy guy!

Steven frowned. He didn’t think that the husband he had found for Diane was really cracked in the head, and dared to hit Archie right in front of him.

"I haven’t settled the previous matter with you!"

Steven narrowed his eyes, like he was looking down from above.

But in that moment when he looked into Ethan’s eyes, he felt like he had fallen thousands of feet into a deep ravine!

His legs couldn’t help but tremble a little.

It was as if he was looking at a terrifying wild animal waiting to eat him with one bite!

What a scary look!

"Settling with me?"

Ethan continued calmly, "Looks like you guys aren’t here to ask Diane back to the company. You’re here to make a scene."

Steven immediately calmed himself down after hearing this and suppressed the anger rising in his heart.

He wasn’t going to disrupt what he had to do because of a lunatic.

After they got this contract signed, he’d take care of these people!

"Humph! Diane, Palmer Group needs you, come back."

He looked at Diane, and there wasn’t a single bit of sincerity in his voice.

Diane didn’t know what to do.

Even April was stunned.

She had never thought that the day would come when Steven would come personally to invite Diane to work.

But their attitude earlier was simply too infuriating!

"You don’t seem to get it huh."

Diane didn’t know how to respond, so Ethan spoke up for her.

"I will remind you one last time. When you ask for a favor, you have to be humble. If your attitude isn’t good enough today and you have to come back tomorrow, my conditions won’t remain the same."

Steven’s expression finally changed.

His eyelid twitched as he looked coldly at Ethan.

"You think we can’t get this project signed without Diane?"

"If you don’t believe me, go ahead and try."

Ethan was as calm as before. So calm that April and Diane were stunned as they watched him.

Was this…was this really the homeless son-in-law that just married into the family?

"Diane, my dad is giving you a chance, you’d better cherish it!" Archie angrily said.

Diane puffed her chest out and said with determination, "I don’t care for it!"

"Very good! Very good!"

Steven said this as he looked at the three people in front of him with a fake smile on his face. He looked towards the inside of the house and shouted, "William, you’ve done a good job as the head of this family!"

With that, he snorted and left with Archie.

The door of the room only opened at this point. William rolled his wheelchair out, his face all pale.

He didn’t dare to come out as long as Steven was in the house.

"Is my brother angry?"

William asked timidly, "What are we going to do?"

April looked at him and was filled with rage.

Where was he when his daughter was being bullied?

And now even better still, he was asking them what to do!

"It’s just a job, I don’t care for it."

Diane looked at her parents, "Dad, Mum, don’t worry, I can earn enough to take care of you!"

April looked at her daughter, her heart aching.

The responsibility of taking care of the household had fallen on her shoulders.

She had to take care of William, and even if she wanted to help Diane out, there was nothing much she could do.

"There’s still me."

Ethan spoke up, "I’ll take care of both of you too."

William and April turned to look at Ethan.

Ethan had slapped Archie earlier because he had insulted April, and April had taken note of that. Even though she didn’t really like Ethan, she couldn’t really say anything now.

"I’ll go cook."

April turned and went into the kitchen.

William didn’t know what to say either, so he just went back into his room and closed the door.

Diane dragged Ethan back into her room, still stunned by what happened.

"What…what did you just say?"

"I said, I’ll take care of Mum and Dad with you."

"What?"

Diane stared in shock at Ethan

She was still unable to accept Ethan as her husband.

She was even thinking when she could make it clear to Ethan that it was impossible for them to be together.

It wasn’t just Ethan’s background. He was older than her by ten whole years.

"Uncle…"

Diane hesitated.

"You get ready and prepare yourself to sign that contract anytime now."

When she heard Ethan’s words, Diane suddenly forgot what she meant to say.

"Uncle Steven will really look for me again?"

She was the only one who had followed the project with CEO Foster through, but all the details had already been agreed on and they were only left with the formality of signing the contract.

Anybody could go and get it signed, so it didn’t have to be her, right?

Besides, Steven and his son had so many connections in Greencliff. It was easy for them to find someone to connect them to CEO Foster.

"Yup, it has to be you."

Ethan said this very simply.

……

Steven and his son reached home.

BAM! Archie immediately smashed all the cups on the table.

"What the hell is this!"

He roared angrily, "Dad, why did you stop me? I’m going to kill that lunatic!"

He had been slapped twice in a row by Ethan. If word of this got out, how was he going to hold his head high in Greencliff?

Others would laugh at him for actually being hit by a lunatic.

"Don’t provoke these mentally ill people. It’s not considered a crime even if they commit murder."

Steven snorted.

He never thought that in choosing the most useless man to be Diane’s husband, he had chosen a nutjob.

He didn’t want to provoke such people unless he really had to.

But then why was Ethan’s gaze so terrifying? Even though he had been in business for so many years, even he felt terror when he saw it.

But Ethan was nuts, so it was probably normal for him to feel fearful of Ethan.

"Dad, so how now? That slut, Diane, still wants us to beg her humbly? She can dream on!"

He didn’t believe they couldn’t get this project signed without Diane.

Steven narrowed his eyes, then made a few phone calls.

"I’ll have to trouble you then, treat you to dinner some day!"

He found someone who knew CEO Foster to help bridge this connection.

All the details of the project were more or less settled, and signing the contract was merely a formality. He didn’t believe that CEO Foster was willing to sacrifice so much benefit for a lowly woman!

"Relax, CEO Borden works with CEO Foster often, so it shouldn’t be a problem with his help."

There was a price to pay for using this connection, but it was better than having to beg Diane.

Archie was relieved after hearing this.

"Dad, once this project is good to go, I want to throw Diane and family out of Greencliff!"

A wicked idea flashed in Archie’s eyes. "If she weren’t considered like a sister to me, I even wanted to…"

"Archie, don’t go too far. If your grandfather finds out, you’re dead meat."

Archie instantly calmed down.

He had only thought about it. Diane was pretty, but there wasn’t any woman he couldn’t have.

The both of them were talking when Steven’s phone started ringing.

He picked up the phone and saw it was CEO Borden. Looks like this matter was settled already.

"CEO Borden, how was it? This matter is a piece of cake to you…"

"Steven, how are you still so relaxed! You’ve offended CEO Foster and you sent me to take the brunt of his anger? Now my project with him has fallen through! Damn you!"

"Bloody hell, you set a trap for me on purpose, I’ll remember this for life!"

After CEO Borden finished his tirade, he hung up immediately.

Steven froze over.

What did that mean?

Even CEO Borden putting in good words for him didn’t work?

He even ruined CEO Borden’s project?

What did CEO Foster mean by all of this!

"Dad, do we…do we really have to beg Diane?" Archie swallowed hard.

Even CEO Borden putting in a good word for him didn’t work?

Weren’t CEO Borden and CEO Foster really close friends from school?

Archie was still arrogant earlier, but now he couldn’t even crack a smile.

If he really insisted on signing with nobody else but Diane, then they really had to go and beg her humbly.

Steven’s face turned nasty.

He had never thought that this matter would become so difficult.

What did this Diane do to make CEO Foster so protective of her?

"This little slut!"

Steven laughed coldly. "Looks like she’s pretty good in bed huh. She usually acts all pure and innocent, it’s all an act!"

If she hadn’t serviced CEO Foster well, why would he protect her like this?

Bullshit!

If you wanted him to beg Diane now, honestly this was really impossible.

He would rather beg a dog than to beg any useless member of William’s family.

Archie’s phone started ringing.

His face fell even more when he saw who was calling.

"It’s Grandpa."

Archie was about to cry.

He was most afraid of getting a call from Gerald now.

But now he was in charge of this project, so if anything went wrong, he would be first to be blamed.

"Pick it up!" Steven ordered.

Archie had no choice but to take the call.

The consequences of not picking up Grandpa’s call was worse.

"Grandpa," Archie greeted his grandfather.

"Archie, how’s the project with CEO Foster?" Gerald did not beat around the bush.

He was most concerned about this project. This project was terribly important and the Palmers had invested a lot into it.

"Good, everything is going smoothly."

Archie glanced over at Steven and saw his father hinting at him. He quickly lied, "Once CEO Foster has time, we can get the contract signed."

"That’s good."

Gerald then said, "You’d better watch this one closely, we cannot lose this project. If anything goes wrong, you’re going to get it from me!"

He hung up.

Archie’s palm was all sweaty.

He knew all too clearly what sort of temperament his grandfather had.

If something happened, it wouldn’t be settled as easily as just resigning or getting a beating.

"Dad, what do we do?"

Archie was really going to cry.

Diane was so despicable, giving him this difficult task and getting him into such hot water!

Steven looked even worse.

Did the two of them really have to go back to William and beg for mercy?

Earlier they were still arrogant and didn’t couldn’t care less about Diane and family. If they went to beg her now, wouldn’t it be as good as being slapped twice in the face?

Steven couldn’t stand the idea of humbling himself for this family!

"Archie, you go."

After thinking about it, Steven said, "You go plead with Diane, even if you have to beg her it’s ok, even if you have to kneel down you’d better kneel, as long as Diane gets this contract signed!"

"Dad…"

"What, you expect me to do that?"

Steven roared at his son, his eyes bloodshot.

Archie wanted to save his pride, but Steven was even more desperate than his son!

If word got out that an elder like him had to beg a younger family member, he would be utterly disgraced.

Archie dared not speak up after his father had spoken so fiercely.

He was the one who started this mess. If he ended up hurting his father’s pride as a result of this, then he was really dead meat.

Archie could only clench his teeth and dejectedly made his way towards Diane’s house.

…

At this time, Diane and family had started eating.

The table wasn’t very large, each person took one side of the table and ate in silence.

This was the first time Diane’s family had one more person at the table for a meal.

And this was their new son-in-law who had married into the family.

William never talked while eating, while April didn’t know what to say.

She didn’t like Ethan, and worse still, he didn’t fancy her daughter, but she ended up marrying this completely useless man.

But earlier Ethan had come out and spoke up for her. She wasn’t blind and couldn’t pretend she didn’t see any of that.

Diane didn’t know what to say either.

On the contrary, Ethan behaved like he was in his own house, and didn’t bother with any sort of formality at all.

"Mum, you’re a really good cook, this is delicious!"

"I don’t know when I last ate such good food!"

"Can I have another bowl of rice?"

There were more vegetables than meat in the dishes on the table, but Ethan was taking large bites of everything as if these were delicacies.

Watching him eat like this made Diane think that he might have gone hungry many times as a homeless man.

So before April could react, Diane took Ethan’s empty rice bowl and got him another bowl.

"Thanks dear."

Diane was holding the rice scoop in her hand when she heard the way he called her, and her hand immediately trembled.

Just when it was getting awkward, there was a noise at the door again.

William looked up and was about to go back into his room when April glared fiercely at him and he didn’t dare to move.

"Who is it!" April shouted out.

"Auntie April, it’s me, Archie!"

There was some indignation but also some helplessness in this voice.

April and Diane exchanged glances. What was he doing here again?

Was he really back to beg Diane just like what Ethan said?

Mother and daughter turned to look at Ethan, but he was still busy eating.

April walked over and opened the door. Archie immediately put a huge smile on his face.

"Auntie April are you having dinner? Is Diane in?"

Archie put on his most charming face. He’d never smiled like this to even his own father.

He poked his head in and saw Diane seated at the table and quickly said, "Diane, what happened earlier was my fault, so I’ll apologize to you now. I hope you won’t take it to heart and let me off this time."

Diane and her parents were stunned by this.

Archie was really willing to beg for mercy?

"Palmer Group can’t do without you. You’ve not come to work for just one day and the office is a complete mess!"

Archie bowed slightly and kept an awkward smile on, "Come back to the office, there are so many projects waiting for you to complete."

That’s what he said, but he was scolding her in his heart.

Once this project was settled, they’d better watch out!

"Where’s your dad?"

Diane really didn’t know how to respond, and once again, Ethan spoke on her behalf.

He was shoving food in his mouth as he glanced sideways at Archie. "Why isn’t he here?"

Archie was getting angry but kept a smile on his face.

"My dad is too busy so he asked me to come over and apologize to Diane. I hope my new brother-in-law can also forgive me and not hold it against me."

Archie had really humbled himself this time.

He’d even apologized to this man who married into the family.

"This won’t do."

Who would have thought that Ethan merely started shaking his head? "The one who fired Diane is your dad, so he should be the one apologizing, otherwise we’re not accepting it."

Archie nearly exploded.

This man was asking for too much!

"You…" Archie nearly wanted to shout at him.

This lunatic was going crazy again or something!

Diane and her parents looked back at Ethan, afraid that he would blow this matter up.

Archie had already come to apologize, so they shouldn’t push this matter too far.

It did them no good to offend this father and son.

"Dad, Mum, Diane is your precious daughter, so you took care of things when she was bullied."

Ethan swallowed the last mouthful of rice. "Now she’s my wife, so if she’s being bullied, I’m going to take care of it."

He stood up and an intense murderous look flashed in his eyes.

"Whoever dares to bully my wife will pay dearly for it!"

This terrifying murderous aura suddenly froze the air around them and pressed hard against Archie, so much so he couldn’t help but shudder.

"Ethan, you’d better not go too far!"

Archie couldn’t stand it anymore.

He was even prepared to kneel.

But Ethan didn’t even think much of him coming here to apologize, so it was pointless to kneel.

"Tell your dad to come here and apologize. Otherwise you’ll have to bear all the consequences."

Ethan was not polite about it at all. "Still standing there? We’re done eating and we didn’t leave any for the dog!"

Archie was so angry his teeth were chattering.

He had already lowered himself and begged so humbly, and this was the attitude Ethan was giving him?

He had already provided a way out for them and they didn’t know how to take it!

"You…Just you wait!"

Archie shouted this then made a run for it, afraid that Ethan might go crazy and hit him again.

April exchanged glances at William, then they both looked at Diane.

"Are we making too much of a fuss?"

Archie’s last words before leaving were obviously a threat.

Diane couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

She knew all too well what sort of people Steven and his son were.

He had never looked at William as his own younger brother, so naturally he didn’t treat William’s family as relatives.

If they upset him, this man was capable of doing anything.

"Not at all."

Ethan calmly cut in. "He told us to wait, so we’ll wait."

With that, Ethan started clearing the dishes. April rushed over to do it instead when she saw him start clearing.

"Come come, I’ll do it."

This son-in-law had quite the temper.

She didn’t realize it before, but now it was clear that Ethan was going to protect their family and stop Steven and son from bullying them.

Was this really a homeless person?

"It’s been hard on you, Mum," Ethan smiled as he said this.

He was really quick to fit into the role.

William was still feeling uneasy but he didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t the one with the final say in this family anyway.

So he could only hide in his room again and timidly closed the door firmly behind him.

"Now you’ve really offended them."

Diane sighed.

It was already not bad that Archie had come to apologize. She’d never seen Archie humble himself before.

She was still thinking that she should just let it go before it blows up, so that it wouldn’t increase the tension within the family.

But Ethan didn’t seem to care for any of this, and insisted that Steven come personally to apologize.

How was this even possible?

That mean, selfish and prideful uncle of hers was never going to humbly apologize to them.

"You’re wrong."

Ethan’s eyes were clean and clear. "They are the ones who have offended me."

"I’ve said it before. I will not let anybody bully you."

That look in his eyes sent Diane into a panic.

……

One hour passed.

April had finished washing the dishes. When she saw that Ethan had gone to bathe, she quickly ran into Diane’s room.

"Mum?"

"Diane, who is Ethan really?"

April whispered, "Somehow I feel he treats you differently."

Diane blushed.

"What are you talking about, we don’t know each other at all."

She bit her lips. From the first time she saw Ethan, he had constantly protected her and her family from being bullied by Steven and son.

"You’re really going to let him sleep here tonight?"

April was worried about this.

Ethan was Diane’s husband on paper, but they weren’t willing to accept this just yet.

"He has a mental illness!"

She was afraid Ethan might hurt Diane.

Diane hesitated for a while, then she thought of that clean and clear look in Ethan’s eyes.

"He won’t hurt me."

The bathroom door opened and April quickly made her way out, mouthing to her daughter: There’s an iron bat in my room, just shout if anything happens!

Diane’s face was red and her heart was pounding very loudly.

Was she really going to let Ethan sleep in her room?

Someone was banging on the main door again.

William was like a frightened cat, all his hair standing on end.

April’s face was equally pale.

He was here!

Steven was here!

Given his temperament, there was no way he was going to tolerate this!

They were doomed!

Even Diane couldn’t help but become nervous. She walked into the living room and stared at the door, as if there were a dozen gangsters with baseball bats behind that door.

The whole family behaved as if they were going to meet a formidable foe!

"Open the door."

Ethan was using a towel to wipe his hair as he smiled and said, "We’ve got guests."

Diane really didn’t know what to do with this relaxed attitude of his. Was this guy really unafraid? Or he just didn’t care?

She walked to the door and opened it. Steven was standing there with Archie behind him.

"Diane."

Steven’s face was rather nasty looking.

But he still managed to squeeze a smile out. "Your uncle has come here specially to apologize to you!"

Diane froze.

The two eavesdropping with their ears to their room door also froze.

Steven had really come here to apologize?

"Firing you was a misunderstanding, all this is Archie’s fault and I’ve already taught him a lesson."

Steven pointed to his son, and Archie immediately bowed his head, "I’m sorry Diane, I was wrong, please forgive me."

"Some of this was my fault too. I didn’t check properly before firing you, that was wrong of me."

Steven continued, "I hope you can forgive me. The company really needs you."

His tone was as sincere as it could be.

If Diane still didn’t agree to come back, there was nothing else he could do.

"Tomorrow, I’ll be at the office entrance to receive you and reinstate you, then I will also explain what happened to everybody personally so as to do you justice," said Steven.

His apology was filled with sincerity, and his attitude was extremely humble now.

Diane didn’t know what to do when she saw Steven bow slightly.

She turned back to look at Ethan and saw him nod.

"Ok Uncle Steven, I’ll go to work tomorrow."

"Sure, I’ll wait for you at the main entrance of the Palmer Group office tomorrow. Goodnight."

The father and son then left.

Diane closed the door.

Disbelief was still written all over Diane’s face.

Steven had come personally to her house to apologize!

With such a sincere attitude!

When had she ever seen him like that?

"My brother really came to apologize?"

William pushed the door open, his lips trembling and his eyes were a little red.

His family had been bullied so badly by Steven all these years!

When did he ever apologize for any of that?

To Steven, William was a disgrace to the Palmer family. If they weren’t related by blood, Steven would have chased them out of the family long ago!

"He came to apologize!"

"He came to do that!"

April was also very excited about this. She had clearly suppressed her feelings for too long, and was a little out of control now.

As a daughter-in-law of the Palmers, she had been subject not just to Gerald’s mood, but also to Steven, and she had quietly endured for decades now.

When she heard how Steven had apologized so humbly earlier, April couldn’t hold in her emotions anymore.

"This damned bastard, so the day has come when he begs us."

April was about to cry.

When she saw the way her parents reacted, Diane took in a deep breath.

She had always known that her parents had been bullied by this uncle, and had been looked down upon and treated poorly.

But today, even though it was just once, it was enough to see Steven bow his head and apologize.

"From now on, nobody will cause you to suffer anymore."

Ethan finished drying his hair. "Nobody can bully my wife, so nobody can bully my father-in-law and mother-in-law either."

Diane and family looked dumbfounded at Ethan.

This middle aged son-in-law who married into the family was somehow different from other people.

On the other side, Steven’s face had darkened since they left Diane’s house, and it was so dark it was terrifying.

Archie followed behind his father and didn’t dare to say a single word.

Ethan forcing Steven to go up personally to humbly apologize was as good as giving a good slap in the face!

"Tell all the workers to come in one hour earlier to wait for Diane at the office entrance tomorrow!"

Steven smiled coldly, his face full of viciousness. "Also, secretly spread the word that Diane is sleeping with CEO Foster, and wants to force the Palmer Group to bow to her!"

"I’m going to see whether Diane is thick-skinned enough to stay in Palmer Group or not!"

It was late at night.

It was time to sleep, but Diane couldn’t sleep at all.

She was very nervous.

Even though she felt that there were definitely more good people than bad ones in the world, but she had only known Ethan for one day.

Besides, the information they had said that Ethan had some mental illness, so what was she going to do if he suddenly went out of control?

Ethan was lying on the floor and he could sense the anxiety in Diane’s breathing.

"You don’t have to put a pair of scissors under your pillow," Ethan suddenly spoke. "Don’t worry and just sleep. Goodnight."

Ethan then closed his eyes first.

Diane’s heart dropped and she took her hand out from under the pillow.

She bit her lip gently. How did Ethan know she had put a pair of scissors there?

"He won’t hurt me."

For some reason, Diane was more and more confident of this.

So she relaxed, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

The night passed uneventfully.

Diane woke up the next day, and she had slept pretty ok. Ethan was already eating breakfast when she walked out of the room.

Instead it was April who had bloodshot eyes. She obviously hadn’t slept well.

"Quickly come and eat breakfast, Mum woke up super early to prepare it."

Ethan really helped himself around here.

When she saw Diane head for the bathroom, April quickly ran in after her.

"Last night, did he…"

"Nothing happened, Mum."

Diane blushed. "He slept on the floor, didn’t touch me."

After saying that, Diane found herself thinking in a different direction.

Should she praise Ethan for being gentlemanly, or that she wasn’t charming enough?

That wasn’t possible – she had been the prettiest girl around since she was young. If she burnt all the love letters she received, the fire could cook a whole pot of porridge.

April was relieved to hear this.

She was secretly hoping to wait for a good time to separate Diane and Ethan, so they could live separate lives.

"Come on, I’ll send you to work."

Once he was done with breakfast, Ethan wanted to send Diane to work.

"No need, I’ll go by myself."

Diane advised him, "You’d better stay at home, it’s dangerous outside."

What if Archie secretly attacks Ethan?

"Don’t worry, they wouldn’t dare."

Ethan frowned as he saw Diane push her electric scooter out.

A scooter huh.

She was the granddaughter of the Palmers, but her standard of living was really quite poor.

"Thanks then."

Diane felt bad to reject him, so she let Ethan ride the scooter while she hid behind his back. At least this way she didn’t have to endure the cold wind in her face.

Somehow this feeling was a little different.

At the Palmer Group Headquarters Main Entrance.

There were more than a hundred employees standing at the main door waiting to receive Diane.

But you could see anger and displeasure written on everybody’s faces.

They only got the notice at around 1 or 2am the night before that they had to be in office an hour earlier to receive Diane.

And why should they do this anyway?

Especially after they had heard some gossip about Diane sleeping with the infamous CEO Foster, and was purposely showing off to Palmer Group!

Never mind that the company could face tremendous losses, she even decided willfully that she wouldn’t go to work since she didn’t want to.

Even the CEO Steven, her uncle, had to beg her to come back to work!

This was going overboard!

How could there be such a person?

The anger among the employees was enough to reach the sky.

Steven stood right in front and could feel the anger from the employees. This was exactly the effect he wanted.

He didn’t believe Diane could still stay in Palmer Group after ruffling all her colleagues’ feathers!

Once she had signed the contract, she would definitely leave quietly.

"Have you called CEO Foster?" Steven asked.

"I did. When I said Diane would be here, he said he’d drop by personally."

Archie was filled with jealousy.

When he went to get the contract signed, he didn’t have the right to even see CEO Foster. But now that Diane was the one representing them, CEO Foster was actually making a trip to their company.

This slut really had a trick or two huh.

This was better still – he was going to let the entire company see Diane’s true colors!

Ethan was riding the scooter, and as the pillion rider, Diane had nowhere to place her hands and could only gently hold onto Ethan’s clothes.

"I didn’t expect this."

From afar, Ethan could see that Steven had brought a large group of employees to stand at the entrance with him, and a naughty look flashed across his face.

This Steven really didn’t know what was good for him.

Diane alighted and was immediately shocked by what she saw.

Wasn’t it supposed to be only Steven waiting for her? What was the entire company doing out here?

She suddenly felt claustrophobic.

"We welcome back Miss Palmer!"

Archie threw a glance at his secretary and she immediately shouted this.

The next moment, the entire group of employees shouted the same thing in unison.

Diane could feel very clearly that their voices were filled with anger, hate, displeasure and even disdain.

Well, after standing for so long in the cold, anybody would be unhappy too.

She didn’t expect Steven to make such an arrangement.

"Diane, happy now?"

Steven was full of smiles, but his words sounded strange to her.

It was as if Diane was the one who forced him to do all this, and they had no choice but to obey.

Diane’s face started to redden and she felt trapped but didn’t know how to explain herself.

There was no point in explaining right?

The look in those employees eyes looked like they were about to kill her!

"I guess I’m quite happy."

Ethan on the other hand, nodded his head and looked at Steven and calmly said, "You’ve done pretty well."

These words made Steven’s eyes start shooting flames out instantly!

What did Ethan mean by that!

As if he was praising a dog!

He wanted to say more but Ethan ignored him and brought Diane into the office.

"Who does he think he is, he thinks he’s really something huh!"

"So arrogant, no wonder Diane is also so arrogant. Isn’t he just someone who married into the family?"

"I heard he was homeless and has mental illness. This Diane has some strong taste in men!"

All the employees started whispering among themselves.

And got even angrier.

Initially they didn’t believe that Diane was really someone like that, since many of them had worked with her.

But now Diane’s useless husband was equally arrogant and even dared to mock Steven, so surely Diane was even more unreasonable, right?

Looks like she was acting all along.

What a hypocrite!

Diane started tearing up. She wasn’t deaf. The voices weren’t loud but they still made it to her ears.

She felt that this wasn’t fair to her, because she hadn’t done any of these things.

"Don’t worry about what others think," Ethan spoke gently. "It’s the people who aren’t as good as you who will try all means and ways to destroy you, get it?"

Diane looked at Ethan stunned, then she nodded.

Steven had arranged a new office space for her. She had it all to herself, bigger and more luxurious than her previous office.

This made the other employees even unhappier.

Diane wanted to refuse this new office, but Ethan just opened the door and walked in without a care.

To him, it was sad that his wife had to use such an office.

"Dad, I think the entire company hates Diane now."

Archie was overjoyed thinking about this. "And that lunatic!"

Steven smiled coldly. He had plenty of ways to deal with people like that. This was merely a tiny Diane, he didn’t even need to think too hard.

"Is CEO Foster here yet?"

"He should be reaching soon."

Steven nodded. "Later we’re going to expose Diane’s true colors. Do you think that crazy Ethan will go crazy and beat CEO Foster to death when he knows his wife has already been sullied by CEO Foster?"

There was a gleeful look on both father and son’s faces.

CEO Foster had arrived!

Five luxury cars in a row, a Bentley right in the front, what a sight!

In Greencliff, Tom Foster was infamous. He had countless businesses and was probably ranked among the top three richest men.

The more shocking part was that Tom Foster went from rags to riches in barely five years!

Anyone who worked with him was almost guaranteed to profit and not loss.

Palmer Group had invested a lot of resources into this project. Diane herself had worked hard for half a year on this project, working overtime every day and through the night.

Now the project details were finally all ironed out, and the last step was to sign the contract.

Who would have known? Tom Foster, known for his bad temper, would actually come personally to Palmer Group to sign the contract. This had never happened before.

"CEO Foster!"

Steven was already waiting at the door.

The moment he saw Tom Foster’s car stop, he quickly ran up to welcome him, "Welcome, welcome!"

Tom Foster nodded slightly and scanned the area.

"Where’s Miss Diane?"

Steven didn’t tell Diane that Tom Foster was coming over today to sign the contract.

Instead, he brought everyone in the top management to wait in the cold wind at the door.

"Oh, Diane is a bit busy and isn’t free to welcome CEO Foster, so I have to do it even though I’m the CEO."

Steven put on an awkward and pitiful looking face.

When the other directors heard this, they were even angrier.

Diane was busy?

With what?!

She didn’t have any work on her hands and was just sitting in that luxurious office room with her homeless husband. Goodness knows what she’s doing right now.

So much so they had to come out and do this with the CEO.

She had gone too far in abusing her position!

At first they thought Tom Foster would get angry, but Tom Foster unexpectedly just nodded a little and there was no displeasure on his face whatsoever.

"Looks like those rumors were true. Something shady is really happening between Diane and CEO Foster."

"Damn it, it’s better to be a woman after all. Just be kinda pretty, open your legs and you can get any project you want. Whereas we have to work our ass off!"

"This Diane is really outrageous, does she really think Palmer Group is hers?"

Even the CEO had to stand in the cold and receive guests, while she was comfortably sitting in her office with the heater!

The few directors exchanged glances, and their hearts had long turned against Diane.

But to Tom Foster, this was only normal.

If Diane really came out to receive him, he would be terrified!

Even such a big shot like Brother Winston was working for that Big Boss, so who was he to get Diane to receive him?

"This way please!"

Steven stretched a hand out.

A whole row of people walked into the office, straight into the lift and up to the highest floor.

News spread through the company like wildfire.

The infamous CEO Foster had come to sign the contract with them, but Diane didn’t come out to receive him and left it to CEO Steven and the top management to wait in the cold wind for nearly an hour!

She’s gone too far!

She’s too arrogant!

She thinks she’s above everyone else!

How dare she use her secret liaisons with CEO Foster to be so audacious!

Everyone was riled up against her, and many employees cursed Diane viciously behind her back.

They said things like she was a slut, she was dirty…there were even people who secretly spat at the door when they walked past Diane’s office.

Everyone had drawn a line between themselves and Diane in their hearts. They swore to themselves never to walk too close to a woman like that.

She was such a hypocrite!

Steven was in front leading the way while explaining about Palmer Group as well as how much he respected and admired CEO Foster.

After being tossed about in the marketplace for so many years, Steven was excellent at talking, and he always made people feel good after listening to him.

But Tom Foster didn’t seem to be paying him any attention.

He only had a patronizing look on his face.

"CEO Foster, the meeting room is this way."

Steven was still smiling, "I’ve already got someone to make copies of the contract, so take a seat here first, I’ll go call Diane over."

Tom Foster was willing to sign the contract with nobody else but Diane, this was crazy in itself.

Nobody had ever heard of Tom Foster having any connection to Diane before.

Besides, given Tom Foster’s worth and status, was there any woman he couldn’t have?

The directors thought these things in their head and could only quietly shake their heads.

"Oh no no no," Tom Foster immediately shook his head. "How can I let Miss Palmer come over here, I should be the one going over to where she is instead."

Steven froze when he heard this.

The directors were also taken aback. What did he mean?

Was CEO Foster angry and saying this sarcastically?

He must be angry. After all, anyone who met someone this arrogant would get angry. Diane was merely a normal employee of Palmer Group.

Or was it because Diane and CEO Foster were really having some illicit relationship but she behaved so arrogantly in front of so many people – was she seeking death?

Many people who thought about it this way started to be happy about seeing her downfall.

"CEO Foster, this…" Steven pretended that he was in a terribly difficult position. "CEO Foster, Diane is still young and immature, don’t be angry."

That was what he said, but he was hoping hard that Tom Foster would really get angry. If the project got tossed to one side or even cancelled as a result of this, then Diane and family would have to just get out!

"Where is Miss Palmer?"

Tom Foster waved a hand with a slight frown and couldn’t be bothered to listen to Steven say anymore useless things. "Bring me there!"

Steven motioned to one of the executives and he immediately went forward."

"CEO Foster, this way please!"

Tom Foster must be fuming now!

You could tell just from his expression. Such a serious face!

Diane was doomed this time.

The entire row of employees started walking quickly towards Diane’s office. When the rest of the company heard about this, everyone became curious.

Many found an excuse to send documents or look for someone, and ran up to the floor where Diane’s office was.

Diane had behaved so arrogantly, so they were waiting to see what would become of her!

Meanwhile, Diane was in her office and she couldn’t sit still at all.

She had never dared to even dream of having such a luxurious office.

And Steven had personally arranged this despite the current situation.

She just felt that something was not quite right.

"Ethan, what is my uncle trying to do?"

Diane was worried. "I feel like there’s something wrong somewhere."

Ethan was seated on the sofa and he calmly replied, "There is something wrong."

"This office is not good enough for you."

Diane was speechless.

If this standard of luxury wasn’t enough, then what ridiculously high standards did Ethan have?

He was just a homeless lad before this.

Before Diane could respond, someone knocked on the office door.

"Please come in," Diane replied.

The director who led the way earlier was outside frowning and feeling very displeased.

Diane wasn’t coming over to open the door and he had to open it for her?

He pushed the office door open and snorted in his heart. Diane was doomed this time.

"CEO Foster, Miss Palmer is in the office. I’m afraid that I’m not at a level high enough to go in."

There was much mocking and disdain in his voice.

He thought that Tom Foster would have a common enemy with him.

But then Tom Foster just looked at him and frowned, "You are really not at a level high enough."

Without waiting for a response, Tom Foster was like a completely different person the next moment. He bowed slightly, put on a smile and walked in with great respect!

"Miss Palmer, Little Foster is sorry for interrupting you like this, I hope you will not be angry!"

His tone of voice was as if he was meeting some really big shot!

That director was completely stunned!

Steven was also shocked, and his throat was like jammed with mud and he couldn’t get a single word out.

All the employees watching also had their eyes widen and their mouths gaped.

What…what was going on?

Little Foster?

Tom Foster was so rich and powerful, and he called himself Little Foster like some entry level employee?

Are you kidding?

Steven felt his ears about to burst. He must have heard wrongly!

All the other executives also felt like their faces had frozen and couldn’t believe what they had heard. They looked at each other as if they were asking each other if they were imagining things.

But since everyone had the same expression, did that mean all of them were imagining things?

"Dad…"

Archie swallowed as he asked, "What did CEO Foster call himself?"

"Little Foster!"

Steven blurted it out then immediately shut his mouth.

If Tom Foster had heard him call him like this, he might die!

He wanted to go in, but Tom Foster shut the door behind him.

Everyone outside was holding their breath and fixed their gaze on the door, too afraid to even breathe too hard.

Just hearing the high and mighty CEO Foster call himself Little Foster had made every single person in the company freeze over instantly.

What on earth was happening?

Didn’t Diane get this project because she was sleeping with CEO Foster? But looking at how reverent Tom Foster was towards her, he was definitely not greeting a lover. He probably had even more respect for her than for his own mother.

Everyone’s head exploded and couldn’t react at all.

Meanwhile in the office, Diane got up and quickly walked over, "CEO Foster, why did you come personally?"

She really had no idea because Steven didn’t tell her about it.

Up till now, this silly girl still hadn’t realized that Steven had been trying to embarrass her.

Tom Foster became even more terrified when Diane looked like she felt bad for him.

"Uhhh…Miss Palmer, you don’t have to stand on ceremony, please, don’t!"

Tom Foster hurriedly replied, "It is only right for me to come to where you are!"

Previously he didn’t know who Diane really was and was arrogant towards her, even harboring a few lecherous thoughts. But now even if you gave him the guts of ten thousand men, he wouldn’t dare to do anything like this.

When she saw how Tom Foster was behaving so respectfully, Diane was taken aback and didn’t understand what had happened.

She turned to look at Ethan. Could this have anything to do with this guy again?

She turned, so Tom Foster turned too and saw that a man was sitting on the sofa, his heart suddenly pounding. Who was this man?"

"I’m her husband."

Ethan introduced himself and then didn’t say anymore.

Tom Foster’s heart dropped.

The boss of his boss’ woman was actually married?

What was going on even?

But that was out of his hands. The only mission he had was to sign the contract and help Diane out.

"Miss Palmer, I’ve come here today to sign the contract. If there are any details you need to change, just let me know and I’ll get all of them done!"

Even if she wanted to take all the profit, Tom Foster wouldn’t even bat an eyelid.

"Thanks CEO Foster for supporting us. Since we’ve already agreed on all the details before this, we’ll just go with that," Diane happily replied.

She didn’t know what happened, but if she could successfully sign this project on, she would be happier than anybody else.

"I nearly forgot, the contract is with the legal department, I’ll go get it now."

Diane motioned to tell Tom Foster to wait for a while and started walking out of the office.

"Miss Palmer?"

Tom Foster couldn’t resist asking, "Do you…know Brother Winston?"

Diane stopped in her tracks. Brother Winston? Who was that?

She shook her head, "Nope."

Tom Foster just went ‘oh’ and then smiled, "Nothing, nothing, I’ll wait here for you to bring the contract over."

Diane quickly opened the door to find a group of people anxiously waiting outside with different expressions on their faces.

Steven’s expression fell. They were done talking already?

"CEO Palmer, where’s the contract? CEO Foster has agreed to sign," Diane asked.

Steven took a moment to react, then quickly turned and yelled, "Contract! Director Quinn, get the contract here!"

He was still stunned though.

The director of the legal department immediately ran to get it.

"Diane, you and this CEO Foster," Steven could help but ask, "How are you related?"

Steven still had goosebumps after hearing ‘Little Foster’.

Diane frowned when she saw how everyone was looking at her. She didn’t like others looking at her like that.

She didn’t say anything, so Steven didn’t ask anymore.

In the office, Ethan was still sitting on the sofa lazily.

Tom Foster nodded his head at him and sat on the other end.

No matter what, this was Diane’s husband, so he should be polite to him.

"This Winston – since when did he become CEO Winston."

Ethan’s words made Tom Foster feel like he was sitting on nails and he leapt up instantly.

He went completely stiff!

Winston!

Of course he knew Brother Winston’s name, but he had never met anyone who dared to just call him Winston!

This man in front of him had apparently married into Diane’s family, but he knew who Brother Winston was and even just called him Winston directly!

"You…you know Brother Winston?"

After asking this question, Tom Foster immediately felt stupid.

His brain suddenly shook and everything clicked. He knew who this Ethan was!

Brother Winston’s boss!

He was Diane’s husband, that’s why he took care of her. Otherwise, why would Brother Winston have called him personally over a woman?

Tom Foster’s face immediately paled and his body couldn’t stop trembling!

"Brot…"

He suddenly wasn’t sure how he should address Ethan. Boss’ boss?

"You just need to know who I am, no need to expose me."

Ethan calmly spoke, "Winston has already told me that you’re familiar with Greencliff, so as long as I stay here, there’ll be plenty of things I’ll need you to do."

Tom Foster immediately stood as straight as a signboard when he heard this.

"Yes sir! Ready to take orders anytime!"

My god, the boss of his boss!

Brother Winston was already amazing beyond words, turning him into one of the most influential people in Greencliff within five years. So his boss…Tom Foster dared not even think about it.

Where did this god come from!

"My wife is a kind person. So kind she gets bullied, and there are always people trying to bully her. You know what to do with those idiots who don’t know what’s good for them, right?"

Big…Big Boss, don’t worry. You don’t have to handle small fry like that, Little Foster here will do it."

Tom Foster hesitated for a while but still decided to call him Big Boss after all. But he felt that he’d better tell Brother Winston about it, in case Brother Winston misunderstood him.

The office door opened.

Ethan went back to his lazy posture, but Tom Foster was still standing in front of him, slightly bowed and with great reverence.

"CEO Foster, I’ve brought the contract here."

Diane was surprised when she saw this. For some reason CEO Foster seemed a little afraid of Ethan.

Tom Foster immediately snapped back to his usual self and smiled, "Miss Palmer, I hit it off with Mr Hunt, so we chatted for a while."

Then he went forward, took the contract from Diane and signed on it without even looking through.

"I’ll need to count on Miss Palmer to take care of this project. If you need anything, call me anytime," Tom Foster said.

He nodded his head at Ethan and went out, but Ethan didn’t even raise his eyelids.

Tom Foster walked out of Diane’s office and exhaled loudly, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders. This expression did not escape the eyes of Steven and the rest.

"CEO Foster…" Steven started.

"CEO Palmer, I’ve already signed the contract for this project, so I have to tell you now. Miss Palmer must be solely in charge of this project, otherwise I’ll terminate it at any time!"

Tom Foster was back to his domineering and unreasonable self. "Yes!"

He looked at the director who opened the door earlier and had treated Diane with disdain. "Idiots like this one here, I think it’s better if the Palmers don’t keep him anymore!"

Tom Foster was well known for having a fiery temper. He certainly hadn’t relied on being merciful to get to where he was in five years!

He snorted and didn’t say anymore. Then he turned and left.

The aforementioned director was frozen where he was, his face red and he didn’t know what to do.

He had only said a few words of sarcasm to Diane. CEO Foster didn’t have to be this angry, right?

"CEO Palmer…"

He looked pitifully at Steven.

"Put your resignation letter on my table tomorrow."

Steven was also helpless here. This was one of his employees, what right did Tom Foster have to fire him?

But the project had just been signed and there were still too many unknowns in this whole matter, so he didn’t dare to anger Tom Foster either.

The director felt his heart turn to ashes when he heard what Steven said.

Everyone else within earshot trembled even more violently.

So he had been fired on the spot because he had just said a few sarcastic words to Diane?

This man was a director of Palmer Group!

It was obvious from the look of it that Tom Foster was standing up for Diane, but the bigger question was, how were the two of them connected?

"What are all of you standing here for? No need to work?!"

Archie shouted and all the employees quickly went back to their work.

He walked over to Steven and frowned, "Dad, what’s going on between Diane and Tom Foster?"

They were definitely not lovers as they had initially guessed. Judging from Tom Foster’s attitude, he treated her with great respect, and there was even some fear involved.

But how could this be?

Who was Tom Foster?

He was a man who could command both the legal and illegal circles!

And even the Palmers had to be extra polite to him.

What did this one Diane do to make Tom Foster treat her so politely?

"Investigate this!"

Steven had a cold expression on his face as he shouted these words.

This sudden turn of events had completely upset his plans.

If Diane and Tom Foster were in this sort of relationship, then he really couldn’t afford to touch Diane.

"Got it!"

Archie immediately left.

Inside the office, Diane finally managed to react.

She walked to where Ethan was, both hands behind her back, as if she was inspecting a little mouse in the cage and looked seriously at Ethan.

"What is going on?"

Diane wrinkled her nose at him. "Don’t say this has nothing to do with you, I won’t believe it."

Ethan opened his half closed eyes and said calmly, "I’ll admit it, this has something to do with me."

She knew it!

Diane knew it – there was no other reason why Ethan was so certain that nobody else but her would be able to sign this contract.

And even more confident that Steven and son would humble themselves and beg her to come back to work.

This was obviously arranged by him.

But…he was just a homeless man, how could he have known Tom Foster?

She thought about how she saw Tom Foster standing reverently in front of Ethan when she opened the door earlier.

"I know Little Foster."

He saw Diane staring at him, waiting for him to explain himself. Ethan laughed, "Before he struck it rich, he was homeless too. Once he was almost dying from hunger and I gave half of my bun to him, so he owes me one now."

Today, he was here to return the favor.

Diane scoffed.

"You think I’m going to believe that?"

She bit her lips. This was beyond her imagination. This Ethan was treating her like a child by telling her this stupid story.

"Do you believe that good people will reap good rewards?" Ethan asked seriously.

Diane thought for a bit, then said, "Are you trying to say that you’re a good person?"

"No, you’re a good person."

Ethan got up. "That’s why you will reap good rewards."

Ethan would never forget that sweet for the rest of his life.

He had been in countless dangerous situations, sometimes on the brink of death. But that sweet wrapper he carried with him all the time gave him hope and strength.

"Alright, don’t think so much. As long as everything is settled."

Ethan continued, "Let’s go, you’re off work."

"What? We just got here."

Ethan ignored her words and dragged her out of the office.

He continued to pull her all the way out of the building, and everyone they saw along the way all stood far far away, everyone afraid to go near.

Diane could feel that they seemed afraid of her.

Ethan wasn’t bothered at all.

He rode the scooter and brought Diane towards a car shop.

"This isn’t the way home, are you going to sell me of?"

Diane was seated at the back, and her voice was nearly blown away by the wind.

Given her looks, she could probably fetch quite a good price.

Ethan ignored her and stopped the scooter right in front of the BMW shop.

"Why did you come here?"

Diane looked at that blue and black logo and was taken aback. "We’re not buying a car."

She didn’t have the money to buy a car.

"Who says we’re not buying?"

Ethan dragged her right into the store.

Diane was instantly attracted to all the new models that were on display the moment they walked through the door.

They were so pretty!

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t thought about buying a car, especially in this unbearably cold weather. But she could only look at either a Cherry QQ or a Jetta, and even so, she still worried about whether she could afford such a car.

Now Ethan had brought her to a BMW shop and she didn’t even dare to touch the cars!

The sales assistants saw Ethan and Diane from afar, but after scanning them, they didn’t even move from their seats.

"Miss, are you interested in buying a car?"

A newbie salesgirl saw that nobody had bothered with these customers, so she went over to attend to them.

The other sales assistants secretly laughed at how this greenhorn was so poor at judging people and gently shook their heads. A look of disdain flashed across their poker faces.

They were excellent at observing people. One look at Diane’s expression and they knew that these two had no money.

Those with money looked way more confident.

So they couldn’t be bothered to attend to the two who walked in. Besides a newbie, who else would be this driven and waste time on people who would only look and not buy?

"Of course."

Diane was embarrassed and didn’t know how to answer the salesgirl, so Ethan spoke on her behalf. "If we’re not buying a car, then why should we come here?"

Then he looked at Diane, "Which one do you like?"

"What?"

Diane looked at Ethan and wondered if his mental illness was acting up again.

What did he mean by which one did she like?

She liked all of them, but really couldn’t afford it.

"Ethan, let’s go back."

Diane started to go red in the face, especially when she could hear some laughter among the sales assistants from afar, and she started feeling very uncomfortable.

"Why don’t you recommend one for her?"

Ethan didn’t bother with Diane and asked the salesgirl.

"This is the 5 series, the latest model this year. The horsepower specifications are all sufficient for her needs. Also, I feel that her demeanor is very compatible with this model."

The salesgirl was obviously new, and didn’t use a lot of sales talk.

Ethan turned to look at Diane and saw that her gaze had fallen on this model, so he nodded.

"We’re taking it then."

"Wha-?"

This response was from both Diane and the salesgirl at the same time.

The other sales assistants in the shop also turned around. What was going on?

They had only come in for less than five minutes and they wanted to buy a car? He must be joking.

He wasn’t going to ask about the price? Or a test drive? Surely he had to weigh the consequences of showing off in front of a girl, right?

"Sir, because this is a new model, we don’t have any discounts for it at the moment," the sales girl kindly hinted.

"No problem."

Ethan pulled out a debit card from his pocket. "The special code is 666666, help me to settle the number plate and all, settle everything in one bill."

The salesgirl took a while to snap back to reality. Then she took the card with both hands and excitedly ran to process the transaction.

"Ethan, stop it. This car is very expensive, you don’t have this sort of money."

Diane started getting worried.

He was just a homeless man and it wasn’t too bad that he’d survived this long. Where would he find the money to buy such an expensive car?

This car, all in all, would cost nearly $500,000 right?

This guy’s illness must be acting up again. Either he beats someone up or does some other crazy thing, and now he must be deluded!

Diane anxiously looked over at where the salesgirl had run off to. If the card got rejected, that would really be terribly embarrassing!

Diane ran to the cashier area and there was already the sound of the cash register printing the bill out!

"Miss, the total price is $487,000, I will register the car for you. We will also be giving a free decal and petrol station topup card."

The salesgirl was extremely excited. She didn’t expect to make a sale so soon after starting work here.

The commission was not little on a BMW either.

She used both hands to return the receipt and card to Diane, and her voice trembled a little. "This is your card and receipt. I’ll get a temporary license plate for the car first, then once the registration is settled, I will install the actual license plate for you."

Diane was stunned.

She didn’t expect this salesgirl to process everything so quickly. And more than that, Ethan’s card actually had so much money in it!

Nearly $500,000!

And it was spent just like that?

She had worked so hard for the last two years, and there was barely $50,000 in her savings. Ethan…was just a homeless guy, where did he get this much money from?

Diane walked over to Ethan, her eyes staring at him like he was a monster.

She still couldn’t believe it. This car had already been bought by them.

It wasn’t just her. Even those sales assistants in the corner felt their stomach churn. They were the ones who first spotted Ethan walk in, but they didn’t bother attending to them and ended up giving this golden opportunity to a newbie.

"He seriously bought it?"

One of them couldn’t help but ask the newbie.

"He did! So cool!" The salesgirl couldn’t hide her excitement. "I’ve seen the symbol on that card before, it’s a very special card, and you need to have a minimum amount in your account to get it!"

Was it 100 million? Or 1 billion?

All the sales assistants within earshot swallowed hard and slapped themselves in their hearts. They’ve made a really huge loss this time!

The salesgirl didn’t care about them. The commission from this sale was enough to make her happy for half a year already. She quickly went to get the car and its temporary license ready.

On the other side, Diane was pouting. The more she looked at Ethan, the less she understood about him.

"How many things are you hiding from me?"

"Not many, I’ll tell you in the future."

Ethan shrugged. All he did was to buy a car worth a few hundred thousand dollars, did Diane really have to look at him like that?

"Hop in and have a feel."

He opened the car door and got Diane to get into the car.

As she sat on the soft car seat, Diane felt like she was in a dream. It was so unreal.

"Sir, I’ve processed the temporary license plate already, and will take another two days to get the actual plate done and you can drop by the shop to get it installed. If you need anything, you can call me anytime."

The salesgirl bowed and politely placed her name card on a very conspicuous part of the car.

"Can we go?" Ethan asked.

"Yes."

"Wait, what about my scooter?" Diane suddenly thought of the scooter that had been her companion for the last two years.

"Leave it."

Ethan didn’t bother saying anything else and got into the driver’s seat, turned on the engine and left.

The salesgirl watched them leave while still feeling flushed. This was the first time she’d seen someone this rich.

He bought a BMW like buying groceries!

Especially that calm and careless look on Ethan’s face. It gave off a strange sort of middle-aged man charm, and she was completely mesmerized.

The other sales assistants were filled with regret, but there was nothing they could do but blame themselves for being blind. So much for being good at judging people – that was all bullshit!

Ethan was driving while Diane sat in the front passenger seat. She couldn’t help but stretch out her hands to touch the real leather interior of the car. She looked at the beautiful dashboard and wondered how she was going to explain this to her parents.

She rode a scooter out and it somehow turned into a BMW when she came back?

"Ethan, you’re not an ordinary person, right?"

No matter how naïve Diane was, she knew no ordinary man on the street would be able to simply spend $500,000 on a car like that.

"Why do you have so much money?"

"If you have so much money, then why did you apply to marry into the Palmers and be laughed at by everyone?"

She had a thousand and one questions.

"You heard of Beggars’ Sect from those old sword fighting novels? My sect is pretty rich," Ethan answered her carelessly.

Diane took a while to react and suddenly realized that Ethan was teasing her.

"Can you be serious!"

"The doctor said my body is weak and I can’t take care of myself and will have to rely on a woman to feed and clothe me, so I came looking for you," Ethan said while smiling.

Diane gave up asking. She knew this guy wasn’t going to tell her the truth. But in these two days, Ethan had given her shock after shock, each one bigger than the last.

She found it hard to believe what was happening. Ethan was supposed to be a homeless man who married into her family and rely on her family for his daily needs.

But why did he have to humble himself like this?

Magnolia Estates.

Diane and family had lived here for the past ten years. Since William was paralyzed in that car accident, they had moved here.

April was pushing the wheelchair along and taking a nice walk with William.

Both of them seemed worried about something and didn’t say anything.

"Oh April, you’re out for a walk again."

One of the neighboring aunties called out to her from afar. "I heard Diane got married, and your son-in-law lives with you."

There was something in her tone of voice that made the listener feel uncomfortable.

April squeezed a smile out but didn’t wish to answer her.

Having a man marry into the family was nothing to be proud of. But after merely two days, the entire town knew about it. How embarrassing!

"Let’s go home," William sighed.

"You’re going back already? It’s not time to cook yet, why not spend a little more time in the sun," the auntie turned around and walked towards them. "Tsk, you had a wedding and didn’t even give any wedding cake out to the neighbors."

"What does your son-in-law look like? What sort of qualifications does he have? I bet he’s really rich right?"

William’s family was also related to that Palmer family. Even if he wasn’t as rich as Steven, surely he couldn’t be that worse off.

April’s face started to turn nasty. "What has that got to do with you?"

The auntie immediately frowned when she heard this.

"What are you angry about? You found someone to marry into the family, and I can’t even ask?"

Of course she already knew all about it before asking.

Who in this tiny estate didn’t know about this huge breaking news?

Diane was such a pretty young lady, but they found someone to marry into her family. They’d even heard that he was a homeless person and ten years older than Diane!

What sort of poor taste did this Palmer family have? Why did they choose a man like that?

"You…"

April started getting angry and her face was turning red.

"I don’t really want to say this, but you are her parents, yet you didn’t help to get a good deal for her. Didn’t I introduce a nice boy to Diane that time?"

"He works for the government, has a stable 9 to 5 job. I was so kind to introduce him to you but you didn’t want him and I even got scolded by his family. Regretting it now?"

She had come to agitate April over this matter.

April was so angry she started shaking. She turned to leave because she didn’t want to bother about this irritating neighbor anymore.

"You two, better chase away that son-in-law soon, and I’ll introduce someone else to you ok?"

The auntie was still persistent, and even had a gleeful smile on her face.

Suddenly a brand new BMW drove through the main gate of the estate and stopped right in front of the auntie. The bright white paint under the sunlight nearly blinded her.

Before she could react, Diane and Ethan alighted from the car.

"Mum."

Diane called out.

The auntie was stunned.

"This…this is your car?"

Her face was filled with disbelief.

She had seen this car before. When one of her relatives got married, they gave this car as part of her dowry and she heard it was $500,000! She hadn’t forgotten that gloating face on her relative’s face!

Diane looked at Ethan and didn’t know how to respond. This car was bought by Ethan, so it wasn’t hers.

"I bought it for her."

Ethan answered for her.

The auntie’s face started turning pale. Ethan bought it? He had married into the family, so how could he have so much money?

"Ethan bought it. He said I’ll catch a cold from riding a scooter to work in the morning."

Diane’s face was red and said this awkwardly.

In that instant, the auntie started to feel jealousy rising in her heart. Because she would catch a cold from riding a scooter to work in the morning?

He still didn’t need to buy a luxury car worth a few hundred thousand dollars either!

"Auntie, what were you chatting with my mum about?" Ethan asked.

The auntie’s face reddened and she waved her hands, "Oh nothing, nothing."

She quickly vanished after saying that. She had initially intended to poke more fun at April’s family since she had been scolded after they rejected the boy she introduced to them. But she didn’t dare to anymore!

That boy working as a civil servant only earned four or five thousand a month. He’d probably never be able to drive such an expensive car in his life!

April was just standing there in shock. William’s mouth was wide open too, and couldn’t speak.

Neither of them could believe it.

"This car…"

April took a deep breath. She thought Diane was kidding.

She didn’t think Ethan could afford it, and she also knew Diane really couldn’t.

"Where’s the scooter?"

William realized Diane’s scooter was missing and quickly asked about it. They had spent more than $2,000 on it.

"The car shop was having a trade in promotion, so we traded it in for a new vehicle."

Diane’s face was all red because she was really terrible at lying. But Ethan’s face was very natural, and said this answer without batting an eyelid.

She nearly fell when she heard this.

Which shop allowed customers to trade a scooter for a BMW?

William didn’t believe it, neither did April. They weren’t stupid.

"Actually there was a lucky draw…" Diane tried hard to think of how to spin a realistic story, but she really couldn’t lie.

"Ethan bought it!"

She finally said it out. It was much easier to just tell the truth.

April looked strangely at Ethan, and she seemed to believe it.

This new son-in-law had surprised her from the first day he stepped into the house.

He had stood up for her and slapped Archie, protecting their entire family from the very beginning. Even though she had not accepted Ethan, but hearts were made of flesh after all.

"Alright, no need to explain to us."

April waved it off. Her heart felt much better after seeing how that irritating auntie had to shut up.

She looked at Ethan seriously but didn’t say anything. Then she pushed William back to the house.

"My mum believed it?" Diane asked softly.

"Does it matter?"

From afar he had seen how that auntie was clearly making things difficult for April. So of course, he wasn’t going to be polite in return and was going to get back at her for April.

He wouldn’t allow anyone to bully his mother-in-law either.

Ethan said, "Come on, let’s go home and eat."

April’s cooking was not bad. Or at least Ethan thought so.

He had travelled round the world and had eaten all sorts of delicacies. He’d even eaten at places that cost a million dollars a meal, but he’d never eaten home cooked food.

When she saw Ethan eat like he hadn’t eaten in years, like a tornado going through the dining table, April’s eyebrow started twitching. She started wondering to herself, was her cooking really that delicious?

"Ethan, let me ask you a question."

After so long, it was William who managed to ask, "That car – did you really buy it?"

He still couldn’t believe it. It cost nearly $500,000!

"Yup. It’s just a car, no need to be all surprised," Ethan spoke without even lifting his head. "Dad, after your legs get well I’ll buy you one too."

This statement made the entire house go silent instantly.

Ethan now looked up and saw helplessness and hopelessness on William’s face. April’s eyes were red and teary, while Diane sighed sadly.

"My legs…" William laughed bitterly and shook his head.

There was no chance that he would recover. He was now a useless man. For the rest of his life.

"I know a doctor who’s an expert in this area, he should be able to do something."

Ethan’s words made William violently look up.

But then he thought about it more. Ethan was a homeless man, what amazing person could he know? This guy seemed pretty honest, but he really loved to boast.

"Really?" Diane on the other hand, couldn’t help but ask.

She knew Ethan was no ordinary man. Even though she only knew him for two days, Ethan had not hidden everything from her, and had displayed some of what he was capable of.

"Of course. He’s now busy overseas, but once he’s done I’ll get him to come to Greencliff," Ethan said casually.

"Rea….really?" William asked anxiously.

Ethan nodded. "Don’t worry."

William became a little worked up, but April gently patted his hand and he calmed down.

Could this new son-in-law be trusted?

After the meal, William went back to his room, while Diane went to her room to prepare the documents she needed for the afternoon. Ethan sat on the living room sofa and watched TV.

"Ethan, come here for a while," April called out to him.

Ethan walked into the kitchen and saw a knife in April’s hands. His face remained calm and there was even a faint smile on his face.

"Mum, you’re looking for me?"

April couldn’t care less what Ethan called her.

She glared at Ethan and said very seriously, "Who on earth are you? What’s your motive in getting close to Diane? If you want to hurt her, I’ll fight you even if it costs my life!"

April was not stupid. Ethan so far didn’t look like a homeless man at all. And he most certainly didn’t look like the stereotypical weakling that would decide to marry into his wife’s family.

On the contrary, Ethan was very strong and domineering! Today he had even nonchalantly bought a car worth a few hundred thousand. You call this a homeless man?

"Mum, I can guarantee you that I have no ill intentions towards Diane, you, or Dad."

Ethan calmly replied, "I want to be by Diane’s side to protect her, so that she doesn’t get bullied by others."

April was still glaring at Ethan and didn’t say anything for a long time.

"Why?" She finally asked after several moments.

"She saved my life before."

Ethan took a deep breath, his memories returning to the time fifteen years ago. "There are some things I can’t tell you now, but please trust me. When the time is right, you will know everything."

A room door opened and April quickly kept the knife away. She whispered, "I’ll trust you for now, but you must not touch Diane, don’t ruin her!"

Ethan nodded.

"Got all your documents?"

Ethan walked out of the kitchen. "Let’s go, I’ll send you to the office."

He then pushed Diane out of the door and sent her to the Palmer Group office.

…

Palmer Group Headquarters, CEO Office.

"Found out yet?"

Steven asked with a cold expression.

"Yup." Archie smiled coldly. He had spent $500,000 to get the answer from one of Tom Foster’s subordinates.

"Before Tom Foster struck it rich, he was also a homeless guy and almost starved to death. But Ethan gave him half of his bun and saved him. They both once lived under the bridge together and can be considered acquaintances. Tom Foster was just returning him a favor."

He was indignant.

It was hard for him to accept that the truth wasn’t that Diane had sold herself to Tom Foster, but it was because of that useless Ethan who married into the family!

"Can’t believe it. Look at who you chose!" Steven shouted angrily.

Ethan was actually chosen by Archie. He had purposely chosen a homeless man who was mentally unstable.

But who could have known that this Ethan actually had such a past with Tom Foster?

"Dad, relax. For people like Tom Foster, after they strike it rich, he won’t let off his old compatriots. Once he’s returned the favor to a homeless guy like Ethan, that’s the end of it!"

Archie continued viciously, "After Diane and family have used up this one chance, who else will help them now?"

Steven narrowed his eyes. He knew people like Tom Foster only too well. They were cruel and vicious in secret, but made themselves look good on the surface. Returning a favor to a person he knew when he was homeless might even make him look better.

But that was about it.

He was determined to make Ethan pay for embarrassing him, and he was going to make him pay more than what he suffered!

"Have you arranged everything at the factory?"

"All done!" Archie laughed coldly. "Diane is definitely going to regret taking this project back!"

Foster Group Headquarters Building, the highest floor!

Tom Foster stood in front of the window to make a phone call. He dared not sit when he was on the phone with Brother Winston.

"Brother Winston, everything has been settled."

Tom Foster asked respectfully, "Do you have any other instructions for me?"

"From now on you only need to listen to my boss. Once I’m done on my end, I’ll go over to Greencliff."

Tom Foster felt his heart tremble. Brother Winston was coming?

"Tom, tell me. Why do you think I supported your rise to success in Greencliff?"

Tom Foster suddenly understood. It was because of Ethan!

Ethan was coming to Greencliff, so he had to make sure everything was setup properly well in advance, so that there would be someone here to get things done for him!

Was Ethan already prepared to come since five years ago?

"You’re a clever person, so you don’t need too many hints," Winston continued. "Do well and Big Boss will reward you well."

Winston hung up.

Tom Foster took a few deep breaths but couldn’t calm himself down.

He knew how scary Winston was, so he was even more reverent towards Ethan. What kind of person would he be!

From Winston’s words, Tom Foster realized his chance was here. His reason for existing was to work for Ethan. Everything that had been prepared for the last few years was now going to be put to good use.

There was a knock on the door, and one of his subordinates quickly walked in.

"Big Boss."

"Next time call me CEO Foster!"

Tom Foster immediately frowned and said very solemnly. "From now on, there is only one Big Boss in the whole of Greencliff!"

"Got it, CEO Foster. I’ve already sent out the news according to your instructions."

Tom Foster narrowed his eyes. "It’s that father and son from the Palmer family right?"

"Archie gave me 500 grand in return for knowing how you’re related to Diane. So I told him that it’s because you went through some tough times together with Ethan and you’re returning the favor now."

Tom Foster nodded. "Ok."

If he really went through tough times with Ethan, that would be the greatest asset in his life!

But sadly he knew he could never qualify to do this.

"This father and son better watch out, otherwise even if Big Boss doesn’t care about these small fry, I, Tom Foster, will not let them ruin Big Boss’ mood!"

Tom Foster sent an order, "Report to me if anything crops up!"

"Got it!"

He had a premonition that a huge storm was coming for Greencliff, like a dragon stepping into shallow waters.

……

Ethan drove Diane towards the construction site of the factory for the new project she had just signed.

The Palmers had invested quite a bit into this particular project. They had purchased a piece of land in the outskirts of the city from a long time back to build a factory for this project.

"What did my mum talk to you about?" Diane asked.

She saw that Ethan was actually able to hold a conversation with April, and couldn’t help feeling strange about it.

She understood April well. Her mother was a very strong woman, so even though she suffered for so much all these years, she was still able to endure it quietly.

But this time, April really couldn’t take Gerald forcing her to take a husband into the family.

"She said I’m doing pretty well," Ethan replied. "She encouraged me to continue working hard, and if she’s happy with me then she’ll get you to marry me for real."

"Nonsense."

Diane felt her face go red. She didn’t believe any of this.

He was only someone April knew for a few days. How could she have said something like that?

"Ok ok ok, no more nonsense."

Ethan turned to look at Diane. "Your mum warned me, if I ever hurt you, she’ll fight me to death."

Now that sounded more like her mother.

"Ethan. Even though I don’t know why you’ve decided to be here, but I know that you won’t hurt me."

Diane took a deep breath. "Thank you."

Ethan didn’t say anything.

The one who should be saying thank you was him.

From afar they could see that there was a large group of people gathered in front of the entrance to the construction site, blocking the way and making a lot of trouble.

Ethan parked the car and Diane quickly ran over.

"What, what do you want?" There was anxiety all over the one of the project managers’ face.

The contract for this project was just signed and the factory had to be completed as soon as possible because the project had to start soon. Why were these people here to make trouble?

"What?"

The leader of the troublemakers sounded nasty and he even had a wooden bat in his hand. "This piece of land is ours, who allowed you to build a factory here?"

"Get out now, otherwise I’m going to beat you up too!"

"Nonsense, this land is ours and we’ve already signed the contract. When did it become yours?"

Diane was fuming mad.

She was the one who settled the contract, so she was very sure of this.

"Your contract is invalid!"

The leader laughed coldly. "Either way, we’re not letting you start work here. I’m going to just stand here and block you. Forget about getting your cement or sand in!"

"You’ve gone too far!"

Diane turned to the project manager and said, "Call the police!"

"Call the police?"

The leader’s face fell when he heard this. "Bloody hell, you dare to call the police? Brothers! Destroy this place!"

With that, he lifted his bat and made a huge swing towards Diane as hard as he could!

Diane’s face immediately paled and she forgot to dodge.

She didn’t expect this group to be this unreasonable and really thrash them.

Suddenly there was a loud muffled sound followed by a howl.

Diane opened her eyes and Ethan was standing right in front of her. He used one foot to send that hooligan flying, and the hooligan was now sprawled all over the floor, unable to move.

"So somebody dares to hit my wife huh?"

Ethan scanned the whole group of them. "I give you ten seconds. Get lost!"

"Ahh…" The hooligan on the floor felt that he had broken at least five or six bones and painfully shouted, "Kill him!"

More than ten other hooligans rushed at Ethan at the same time!

"Ethan look out!"

Diane was in terrible shock. She didn’t think things would turn out like that.

But before she could say anything else, what happened next froze her on the spot.

Ethan’s actions were so fast they were a blur!

In no more than ten seconds, all the hooligans earlier were all sprawled on the floor, with either broken arms or broken legs!

The howls of pain were blood curdling!

All the project managers were pale from fright!

This was too scary to watch!

Ethan walked back to the leader of the gang with a foot on his chest and looked down nastily at him. "Who sent you here?"

"How dare you…beat me, I am Kurt Turner…"

Kurt Turner was in terrible pain and he clenched his teeth, "My boss will not let you off!"

"You lost your chance."

Ethan never asked the same question twice. His foot exerted a tremendous force. Kurt Turner immediately gave a terrible scream and then died on the spot.

All the other hooligans were so scared they felt their guts about to explode!

What was this monstrosity?

Why was he so terrifying?

There were even a few who wet their pants, so scared they were shaking in fear.

Ethan didn’t even bother looking at them. He just pulled Diane along into the site, even though she was still in a daze.

"Miss…Miss Palmer, should we still call the police?" The project manager gulped.

"No need. We don’t need to bother the police with this sort of garbage."

After saying that, Ethan turned around and started counting down. "Ten! Nine! Eight…"

He had only counted till seven and all the hooligans with broken arms and legs were so scared they felt their souls leaving their bodies. They immediately started struggling to get up and leave.

"Run! RUN!!"

"He’s a monster, a MONSTER!"

"Help me up and bring me along!!!"

They were sure that if they didn’t make themselves scarce within ten seconds, this man would make sure they disappeared off the face of the earth.

Diane still looked a little pale.

She had never witnessed something like that before.

"You…why are you so good at fighting?"

Was that Ethan earlier?

The husband that married into her family?

Diane felt like she was watching a movie.

But then perhaps even a movie wasn’t this impressive.

Was Ethan seriously just a homeless man?

"Homeless people have to snatch for food. If you don’t know how to fight, you’d die," Ethan carelessly replied.

Diane was speechless. She knew that if she continued asking, Ethan would tell her nonsense like this was one of the skills their Beggars’ Sect used to survive.

"Alright now, go do your work."

Diane looked at Ethan and gave up asking. She gathered the project managers and arranged for the work that they needed to do.

Ethan stood at the door and narrowed his eyes.

"Looks like there are always people waiting to die."

He didn’t really worry too much about small fry. But if they courted death, that is, if they tried to touch Diane, then he was going to exterminate them without hesitation!

Diane’s meeting went strangely smoothly.

The project managers had initially wanted to make things difficult for Diane since everyone knew her position in the Palmer family was very low.

She was so young and became the one in charge of such a large project, and they were not too happy about that.

But then who dared after seeing that grim reaper at the door?

"You must aim to finish the factory in three months, then we can put this place to good use."

Diane told them seriously, "Once the project starts, the supply chain will be set up. When that happens, I’ll need everyone’s cooperation to make sure this project goes smoothly!"

The moment she went into work mode, Diane was like a different person completely.

Strict, serious, careful, professional.

Ethan leaned against the door and looked at Diane seated at the table, his eyes filled with gentleness.

This woman was really mesmerizing when she was doing her work seriously.

…...

Back at home in Magnolia Estates.

April was massaging William’s legs.

"Dear, it’s been hard on you."

Guilt was written all over William’s face.

He had been paralyzed for so many years, but April remained by his side. He knew how much his wife had suffered, but she still continued to endure quietly.

"It’s not hard. I married you, so I have to take care of you."

April smiled as she said this. "Alright now, you stay at home and watch TV, I need to go to the hospital to get medicine for you, yours is almost finished."

She went to her room and picked up her purse to find that she didn’t have any cash left.

So she went to Diane’s room and took the debit card she usually used for household needs. Diane always left it in the drawer, and April could take it to withdraw money whenever necessary.

April opened the drawer and saw a black card inside. It didn’t look like the card she remembered.

But she didn’t think too much about it and brought the card to the bank to withdraw money.

After getting a queue number and waiting for a long time, April finally heard her number and sat down at the counter.

"Hello, please withdraw everything."

April remembered that this card was only left with slightly over a thousand dollars. The medicine alone cost nearly a thousand and she still had buy groceries, so she might as well withdraw the entire amount out.

The teller saw that she was an older person and didn’t ask her to use the ATM, so she took the card from April.

But when she saw the card in her hands, her face immediately paled.

"Auntie, you…you want to withdraw everything?"

"That’s right," April smiled a little sheepishly.

It was only a little over a thousand dollars, and she was afraid that if she said the amount, the teller would laugh at her.

But who knew? The teller became even more nervous. She looked at the special logo on the card and her hands trembled. Her throat went dry instantly.

"Please wait a moment!"

She immediately flew off her chair and staggered into the general manager’s office with the card.

"Manager! Something has happened!"

The teller was so nervous. "Something big has happened!"

The general manager was making tea and he raised an eyebrow at her. "Look at how nervous you are. What’s happened now?"

"Look!"

The teller passed him the black card. "There’s an auntie outside who brought this card in and said she wants to withdraw everything!"

The general manager lazily took a look and he instantly awoke. He knocked his cup of tea over, scalding himself and making him jump up from his chair.

This was one of those special black cards!

With a minimum of one billion dollars in the bank!

Withdraw everything? They didn’t have this much cash in their safe!

"What does that auntie look like?"

He immediately calmed down. There were very few in the world who could own this card and he’d never heard anyone having it in a small place like Greencliff.

"Very normal looking, dressed very simply, doesn’t look rich," replied the teller immediately.

She was quite sure of her judgment. That jacket that April was wearing looked like she’d been wearing it for at least five or six years. "Could it be…she picked it up?"

She didn’t dare to say the word ‘steal’, but there was disdain on her face.

"Humph! How bold of her to steal such a card! She’s asking for it!"

The general manager immediately ordered, "Tell security to hold her down and prepare to call the police!"

This was a rare card that most people couldn’t possibly own, much less a normal looking middle aged auntie.

April was still waiting outside, wondering why the teller was taking so long to come back.

She was only withdrawing a little more than a thousand dollars, surely the bank had enough cash on hand right?

"Madam, please come with us."

Suddenly two burly security guards walked over, their faces nasty looking, flanking April on her left and right.

"What is it? What do you want?"

April got a shock. What did these two security guards want?

"We have instructions from the manager. Please cooperate, otherwise we will have to use force."

The two guards then pulled April off the chair, intending to drag her into the general manager’s office.

"Let go of me! What are you doing in broad daylight!"

April started shouting in shock and a lot of people started staring, making her feel embarrassed.

She had never done anything illegal in her life, how could they do this to her?

"You’d better cooperate!"

One of the guards pushed April hard and she fell onto the chair. He wanted to do well in front of the general manager. "Manager, I’ve brought her here!

"What on earth are you trying to do!" April angrily shouted.

"What are we trying to do?"

The general manager snorted. "Auntie, you’re really bold!"

April didn’t understand.

"Stop pretending."

There was disdain on the teller’s face as she looked more closely at April. From the old and tattered clothes and wrinkles all over her face, she knew April was someone with no money.

How could she own such a card?

"Spit it out. Did you steal this card or pick this up from somewhere!"

April’s face immediately went red from fury.

Steal?

She never thought the day would come when she would be accused of stealing.

No matter how hard it got for the family financially, she wouldn’t even borrow from her relatives. How could she have gone stealing?

"You…you’re slandering me!"

April looked at the card, "That card belongs to my family!"

"Oho, auntie, the police are on their way here, so there’s no use in trying to get yourself out of this!"

The teller scoffed. If she hadn’t smelled a rat fast, her appraisal this year was doomed!

Luckily she reacted quickly, otherwise she would have been done in by this old hag.

"You’re so old already but you’ve done such a disgraceful thing, how embarrassing!"

April couldn’t stand it anymore when she heard that.

"You let go of me…let go of me!"

April tried to struggle free but the security guard slapped her across the face. "You’d better bloody cooperate!"

Five bright red finger marks could be seen on April’s face.

She was completely shocked.

She had never been humiliated like this before in her entire life. This slap was not just a slap on her face, but her pride!

"How dare you hit me…I’ll fight it out with you!"

April’s eyes turned bloodshot as if she had gone mad. She broke free and made a pounce.

But of course she was no match for the security guard. She was immediately pushed onto the floor and grazed her palm.

"How dare you make trouble!"

The general manager shouted angrily, "Tie her up!"

The two security guards pushed April back on the chair, found a rope and tied her arms and legs up.

In an instant, there were rope burns on April’s wrists.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

April couldn’t break free and her tears couldn’t stop flowing. "How can you bully me like this!"

"Bully you?"

The teller only laughed coldly. "You nearly got me into deep trouble, you know that!"

"Do you know what kind of card this is? This card requires a minimum of one billion dollars in the bank account! For an old lady like you, it’s not bad if you can even take out $100,000. How could you own such a card?"

The teller was so angry her face was all red. Earlier she felt her soul leave her body when April asked her to withdraw everything in the card.

One billion!

April felt a shudder go down her spine. One billion?

There was one billion dollars in this card?

Her lips trembled and her face was filled with disbelief.

"Regret it now? Too late!"

Looking at how frightened April had become, the general manager was very sure that this card didn’t belong to April. Otherwise, why did she look like she couldn’t believe what was happening?

Every person who owned such a card was in a high position, with great influence and insurmountable wealth.

If the owner found out that their card had been stolen and their money withdrawn, their bank’s reputation would take a fatal hit!

Thankfully they realized something was wrong fast, and avoided this terrible calamity.

The general manager gleefully thought to himself about how he would be considered one of the heroes in this incident after April confessed everything and got thrown into jail.

If he could also get in contact with the owner of this card, then his future was bright!

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

He pulled April head back by the hair. He didn’t even bother hiding the disgust and disdain on his face.

If April wanted to try to get out of this, he was ready to call the police to take her away.

"I want to call my daughter…"

April’s voice was trembling, and the tears never stopped flowing.

Diane exhaled deeply after the meeting was over.

Even she herself didn’t expect it to go so smoothly.

These project managers had been difficult to work with during her last few visits.

She looked at Ethan who was standing at the door. He must have frightened them earlier.

"You guys keep a close eye on this side, let me know first thing if anything happens."

Diane finished her instructions and walked out.

She saw that Ethan kept staring at her and she started blushing, returning to her shy little girl self again.

"Why do you keep looking at me?"

"You’re pretty," replied Ethan.

My goodness, did this uncle always praise others so directly?

Did homeless people rely on having a glib tongue to get food?

Diane’s phone started ringing.

She took it out. It was April.

"Mum, what is it?"

She immediately heard the pitiful crying of her mother on the other side and her face instantly darkened. "Mum! What happened? Who hit you? I’ll be there in a minute!"

Diane’s eyes were bloodshot. "Someone hit my mum!"

Ethan immediately frowned. "Get into the car!"

The engine of the BMW resounded loudly like it was angry too. Ethan made a sharp turn and headed for the bank.

On the way, Diane couldn’t help but start crying.

"My mum has never been bullied so badly before, she’s such a strong person…"

April had been detained by the bank and they accused her of stealing. How could this be?

Even if her family had to die hungry from their poverty, they would never stoop this low.

"Even my dad can’t bear to scold her. Someone actually had the guts to hit her."

Ethan didn’t say a word, and stepped the accelerator harder.

Back at the general manager’s office in the bank.

April’s hair was all messed up and there were still those finger marks on her face. After she hung up, she didn’t say anymore but continued to cry.

"If your family can’t explain this, then we will have no choice but to call the police," the general manager told her coldly.

Just as he finished speaking, the office door was kicked open. The door nearly broke into several pieces!

"Who are you!"

The two security guards saw that they had a violent guest and took out their Tasers.

The general manager and teller went pale from fright. "Security! Where are the security guards! Call everyone in!"

Ethan simply went forward and grabbed the general manager by the collar, his face icy cold. "This is my mother! And you dared to hit her!"

The general manager was trembling. He didn’t expect this auntie’s son to be this violent.

"Your mum stole something and you dare to make trouble! Call the police, quick…AHH!"

The teller hadn’t even finished speaking when Ethan gave her a slap. Her mouth was instantly filled with blood.

That fierce look on Ethan made the general manager shake in fear!

"Stole something?"

Ethan took one look at the card in the general manager’s hands. Wasn’t that his?

"You mean this card?"

The general manager swallowed and nodded.

"I gave it to her to buy groceries. Is there a problem?"

The general manager couldn’t help but laugh coldly when he heard what Ethan said. "Do you know what sort of card this is? Buy groceries? What nonsense!"

This sort of special card required the card owner to have a billion dollars in the bank. Who used a card like that to buy groceries?

Did he think he had made it as a bank manager by daydreaming?

Ethan loosened his grip and took out his phone. He quickly dialed a foreign number and there was a voice on the other side in no time.

"Get your bank union CEO on the phone now!"

The call was put through quickly. Ethan snorted coldly, "Theseus, looks like I’m not eligible to use these cards you sent me? A mere bank manager of one of your subsidiaries is questioning me?"

The moment he heard what Ethan said, the Caucasian man on the other end of the line immediately shuddered. He signaled to his staff to use GPS to locate Ethan.

"Mr Hunt! I am very sorry about this! I will settle this for you right now!"

Ethan hung up the phone and walked over to April.

"Mum, I’m sorry, it’s my fault this happened to you."

April still did not say a word.

Diane was panting when she ran into the office. She saw April had cried her eyes out and felt her heart ache, and ran over to hug her.

"Mum, it’s ok, it’s ok!"

A few dozen security guards had already surrounded the general manager’s office.

"Manager! Call the police! Arrest them all!" the teller shrieked as she covered her face.

But the general manager’s face was ashen.

He saw the number that Ethan had called earlier. That was the global bank union’s VIP customer service hotline…

In no time, the office phone rang and the general manager felt his body shudder.

He looked at Ethan but Ethan didn’t bother about him.

"Hello?"

The general manager picked up the phone with some hesitation, and his face paled even more. "President Reid!"

"Are you freaking blind? You dare to question a VIP guest of the bank union? I don’t want to die even if you want to! I’m going to retire soon but now I might be fired! Damn you!"

The other party angrily cursed at him. "If you don’t settle this properly, I’ll kill you!"

The moment he hung up, the branch manager called and scolded him so hard, wishing he could come out from the phone and bite the general manager to death!

The general manager couldn’t hear what his manager was saying anymore. His entire mind was now empty and had exploded.

VIP guest of the bank union?

Ethan said earlier that it was the union CEO who personally sent this card to him?

He couldn’t help but gulp, then started coughing violently.

Doomed! He was doomed!

"Manager…do we still call the police?" The teller was still trying to instigate him.

"Call the police?"

The general manager swung around and slapped the teller hard on the face. "Call the police my foot! Who treats a VIP customer like you do!"

The teller yelped and fell onto the floor as a tooth went flying out. But she didn’t dare to say anymore.

The general manager immediately fell to his knees, "I’m sorry! I’m very sorry! It’s my fault! All this is my fault!"

"I failed to realize who you were and I looked down on you!"

He slapped himself repeatedly. "I hope you can forgive me, please forgive me!"

Ethan still couldn’t be bothered. The iciness on his face sent chills through the general manager’s entire body!

He knew that if this auntie didn’t forgive him, he would have to die here!

This was a VIP customer of the bank union, and this card was sent personally by the CEO even. Nowhere in the world would anybody dare to offend a customer like that.

"Auntie, this is my fault, I’m very sorry, you can hit me or scold me, but please give me a chance! I beg you!"

The general manager crawled to where April was and started to kowtow to her. His forehead started bleeding almost instantly.

"Auntie, please let me off, I have a family to take care of and I really can’t get into trouble. I will bear all responsibility otherwise, but please I beg you to let me off."

April looked at this incredibly pitiful looking general manager. He wasn’t like that just now.

She was very tired and feeling very upset. She had never been humiliated like this before.

"Diane, I want to go home."

"Mum, I’ll bring you home."

Diane glanced at Ethan. He nodded and she left with April.

All the security guards at the door immediately made way for them and didn’t dare to block them at all.

Who dared to now?

Their general manager was still kneeling on the floor!

"Who slapped my mum just now?"

Ethan waited until Diane and April left before asking.

The guilty security guard had just managed to get up from the floor and his face paled immediately. He felt like his heart was going to stop!

"Whichever hand you used, break it yourself. Don’t trouble me to do it for you."

Ethan only threw him a glance, then turned and left.

The moment he walked out of the office door, there was a loud crack from inside, followed by a blood curdling scream…

Back at home.

Diane carefully rubbed ointment on April, her heart aching for her mother.

This slap must have really hurt!

She couldn’t stop her tears from rolling down.

"Silly girl, I’m fine."

April wiped the tears off Diane’s face.

If they hadn’t come in time, she might have been arrested by the police, and she wouldn’t have been able to explain herself even if she had ten mouths.

"Ethan, come in. I want to ask you something."

April walked into her room and Ethan followed her in.

She closed the door. There were only the two of them in the room.

"I’m sorry Mum. This was my fault."

Ethan stood where he was and apologized solemnly.

April looked up at him.

That card required a minimum of one billion in the bank. She knew Ethan was rich, but she didn’t think he was this rich.

Ethan was no ordinary person. So what motive did he have for coming here?

"Who are you really?" April asked again.

Her expression was extremely serious.

She was more worried about Diane than her own suffering.

Ethan knew he couldn’t hide this any longer. He took out the sweet wrapper he had carefully kept for so many years out from his pocket.

"This is…"

April recognized it in an instant.

When the Palmer family just started out, they were a small shop selling sweets.

She had hand wrapped so many sweets with this wrapper back then!

"Fifteen years ago, I was left on the streets and I wanted to end my life. But a little girl gave me this sweet and she said that if I eat this sweet, my life will become sweeter."

"That little girl was very kind and saved me. And not just once."

Ethan took a deep breath. "I don’t want such a kind girl to be hurt, and I just want to protect her."

Of course April understood what he was trying to say. That kind little girl was Diane.

Ethan had come here and gotten close to Diane to return the favor.

He had promised April before that he would never hurt or ruin Diane.

Given his immense wealth, was there any woman he couldn’t have?

"Mum, I know you still don’t understand me, neither do you trust me fully. But I will work hard so that you can accept me. If I can’t become your son-in-law, I would like to at least be your son."

Ethan continued seriously. "I’m going to call you Mum forever."

Earlier at the bank, Ethan had stood up for her with such fury. That was definitely not faked.

He really treated her as his own mother.

Especially when he said, "This is my mother, and you dared to hit her!"

April could still feel her heart trembling.

Nobody had ever protected her like this. Not even William.

April started to feel touched.

Ethan really had no ill intentions, and what happened today was just a misunderstanding.

"Mum, I’m really sorry about what happened today, it’s my fault you were bullied," Ethan apologized again.

"It’s not your fault. I took the wrong card."

April shook her head. She was very clear about what happened, and didn’t lose her temper.

If she hadn’t taken this card, this whole thing wouldn’t have happened.

"Let’s go out. I won’t tell anybody about what you told me."

William and Diane were still outside and she didn’t want them to worry.

When they walked out, William was throwing a fit.

"It’s just a card, did they have to question her like that?"

William was furious when he saw that his own wife had suffered. His eyes were both bloodshot, angry with the bank, angry with himself. Angry with himself for being useless and unable to protect his wife.

Even Diane couldn’t understand how a card could cause such a terrible misunderstanding.

She knew there was quite a bit of money in Ethan’s card, but still.

Ethan didn’t know how to explain this either.

His black card was from the global bank union. There were probably only about a hundred of them in the world, of which ten were sent to him.

"Dad, Mum, this is my fault. I apologize to both of you."

Ethan continued, "Tell you what, I’ll treat everyone to dinner and get Mum over her shock?"

After what happened, April was also in no mood to cook. It was nearly dinner time and everyone was getting hungry.

"It’s too expensive to eat out."

April shook her head. Now that she knew how rich Ethan was, she didn’t want to spend his money.

Diane didn’t have much for her to spend either.

"No it isn’t. As long as it makes Mum happy, no amount is too expensive."

Ethan turned to start the car. "Diane, push Dad out."

Soon enough April and William were seated at the back, Diane in the front passenger seat, and Ethan drove the car out.

At this moment, there was a Porsche that slowly came to a stop at the gate to Magnolia Estates.

"Stop the car!"

There was a fat man in the car with a pudgy face who was laughing. "Just stop here."

"Dad, this is the exit. We’re blocking other people’s way if we park here."

"Are you stupid!"

Ryan Harris spat. "Don’t you know? Luxury cars are for showing off!"

"If you stop here and block them, they might curse you with their mouth, but after looking at your car, they’ll feel jealous. Get it?"

The two of them alighted. Ryan Harris clutched his briefcase and even turned back to make sure his car had completely blocked the exit before entering the estate.

"Come along, let’s go get your aunt!"

Shortly after they left, Ethan’s car had arrived at the exit. He saw a car blocking the way in front and honked twice.

The security guard heard the honking and walked over, his face filled with frustration.

"The driver has gone into the estate already!"

Ethan frowned. "Give him a call and tell him to move his car."

The guard immediately called the number he saw on the Porsche service center label and got through quickly.

"Sir, your car is parked at the exit and it’s blocking others, please come over and move your car," the guard asked very politely. He knew that he couldn’t afford someone who could drive a luxury car like that.

"Move? What for? I’m just leaving it there for a while, tell him to wait!"

Ryan Harris immediately hung up and was gloating in his heart.

His Porsche cost most than a million dollars, who dared to touch it?

Just you wait!

The guard came back out, his expression awkward and helpless.

"He said to ask you to wait."

Ethan’s face darkened. He was waiting to go for dinner with his mother-in-law.

This person merely owned a Porsche and thought that he was a big shot?

"What do we do? Or let’s walk out and get a cab?" Diane suggested dejectedly.

There was really nothing they could do with such a person.

"Otherwise forget it, I’ll go back and cook a couple of dishes," April also chipped in.

"Oh no, I’ve already made a reservation at the restaurant. Besides, Mum, you should rest today. Don’t cook."

Then Ethan changed gear and revved up the engine!

"Ethan, what are you doing?" Diane was feeling extra anxious.

The brand new BMW slammed straight into the Porsche. The front of the Porsche was instantly smashed in.

"Ethan! You’re nuts!" Diane couldn’t help but yelp.

This was a new car!

And they would have to compensate the other driver for knocking into their luxury car!

Ethan calmly replied, "Today is the first time I’m taking Mum to dinner, and I don’t want to be affected by others."

He reversed and continued banging into the car. He banged it three times in a row until the Porsche had been sufficiently banged to one side, then drove the car out.

The security guard at the door was completely shocked by this.

This was way too audacious!

That was a BMW that was so new it didn’t even have a proper license plate yet, and he just used it to bang into another car?

And the other car was a Porsche!

He turned around to look. The front of the Porsche was already all bent in, and there were broken pieces everywhere.

There were many passersby who were watching in shock. There were some who couldn’t resist taking a video, and soon enough the videos went viral on the internet.

"My god! That’s incredible! A new car and he smashed it like that?"

"That owner of the Porsche is an awful person. Bet he parked it at the exit to show off right? Great, he’s met his match!"

"What happened after that? I can’t wait to see the face of the owner after he sees what happened to his Porsche! LOLOLOLOLOL"

The internet was immediately overflowing with comments criticizing how the Porsche owner was terribly inconsiderate, and supported the BMW guy for teaching him a lesson.

You have no idea how many girls started swooning over this, their blood rushing through their bodies from excitement!

Similarly, Diane and family could feel blood rushing through their bodies.

"Ethan, this car is brand new!"

William felt the pain in his heart.

This car was barely one day old, and the front must look awful now. It wasn’t his car, but he felt for it.

"It’ll cost a bomb to repair it, right?" April asked.

Diane didn’t say anything. She didn’t know how much it would cost to fix it. She could only turn to look at Ethan, trying to stop herself from asking if he’d gone crazy again.

"Oh no worries, no need to fix. I’ll just buy another one tomorrow." Ethan calmly replied.

Diane and family stopped talking.

They could feel that Ethan and themselves were obviously people from two different worlds.

This man who didn’t think much of a few hundred thousand dollars was a homeless man?

Why was he willing to marry into their family?

Meanwhile...

There were a few people walking towards Magnolia Estates’s exit. The one right in front was the owner of the Porsche, Ryan Harris. Next to him was his elder sister, Sandra Harris. She was the auntie who was mocking April the other day.

"Sis, I got promoted and now I’ve been transferred to Greencliff Bank’s headquarters, my salary’s gone up by a lot! So I just got myself a luxury car!"

"Luxury car?" Sandra Harris replied. "My neighbor bought one too, a BMW I think. I heard it costs nearly $500,000!"

"A $500,000 BMW?"

Ryan Harris snorted disdainfully, "That sort of car can’t compare to my Porsche!"

He took out his car key and was about to unlock the car when he realized his car had disappeared from the exit!

He pressed the car key and saw the car lights turn on. At the side of the wall, the battered Porsche had only one light working…

"AHHHHHH WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CAR!"

Ryan Harris felt he was going to vomit blood soon, and passed out on the spot.

At Golden Jade Restaurant.

Very famous in Greencliff.

All the best chefs in Greencliff were here. It wasn’t only very expensive to eat here, but you had to reserve well in advance.

Before going out, Ethan had asked Diane to call and make a reservation already.

Ethan pushed William out of the elevator, while Diane and April followed behind him.

This was her first time at such a classy restaurant, so April was a little nervous.

"Diane, this is too expensive, isn’t it?"

She quietly continued, "We can’t simply spend Ethan’s money. This is as good as owing him a favor but we can’t afford to return it."

Diane knew it cost several thousand dollars just to eat a meal at Golden Jade Restaurant. A colleague had eaten here before and bragged about it for an entire month.

"Ethan said he wants to treat you to dinner, I can’t stop him."

She hesitated before saying, "You guys just eat. Later I’ll give him the money for our share."

April felt better after hearing that.

Ethan pushed William towards the reception desk, and one of them quickly came forward to attend to them.

"My apologies, Sir, but our restaurant is full. If you still want to eat here, please wait over at the side."

"It’s full?"

Ethan looked around the restaurant then at Diane. "Didn’t you make a reservation already?"

Diane stepped forward and took out her phone, the reservation notification still clearly displayed on it. "That’s right, we made a reservation. You can get your reception to check the records. We reserved for 6pm, but it’s only 5:46pm now."

"My apologies, there were some guests who came and went in directly. Your notification might not have updated in time."

The waiter calmly continued, "Please wait here by the side, or you could come back tomorrow."

"What’s going on? We made a reservation first."

Diane started to feel frustrated. Why was it so difficult to just have a meal?

Surely this restaurant couldn’t do things in any way they fancied just because their business was excellent?

April took one look and tugged at Diane. "Why don’t we go somewhere else?"

This place was too expensive. It only took one look at the clothes the customers inside were wearing to know that the prices here were beyond her.

"Mum, this is the first time I’m treating you to a meal, so we’re not going anywhere else. We’re eating here."

Nobody had ever dared to snatch a table from him before. Whenever Ethan went out to eat, all the restaurant owners always received him with great politeness. Now he had even made a reservation but there was no space.

"Who’s your boss?"

The waiter raised an eyebrow.

Trying to drop names?

He’d seen plenty of such people!

He snorted. "Our boss is Tom Foster, CEO Foster of Greencliff, heard of him?"

Most people knew that they couldn’t afford to offend someone like Tom Foster and would disappear after hearing his name. The waiter had seen plenty of such people, there was no point pretending.

Ethan didn’t respond. He took out his phone and called Tom Foster.

Tom Foster was soaking himself in a hot spring on the highest floor. The young and slim model in his embrace looked very uncomfortable.

The phone at the side started ringing. It was a number he didn’t recognize, but he took one hand off the model and picked up the call.

"Hello?"

"Little Foster, I’m at your restaurant, is there any space?"

Tom Foster immediately became alert when he heard this voice!

He immediately stood up and sprayed water everywhere, scaring the poor model.

"Yes we do! Big Boss, are you at Golden Jade Restaurant? I’m coming down right away!"

He didn’t care that his hair was still wet. Tom Foster dried himself off in a blink of an eye, got changed and took his personal lift all the way down.

Back at the Golden Jade Restaurant reception.

The waiter looked at Ethan as if he was looking at an idiot.

Little Foster?

This guy could really act huh?

There was nobody in the whole of Greencliff who dared to call Tom Foster ‘Little Foster’. Perhaps he figured he didn’t have long to live, so he might as well act cool all the way onto CEO Foster’s turf.

"Young man, why don’t you ask around whose turf this is? If you’re trying to act cool, this is the wrong place!"

The waiter’s face darkened. "I’ll give you one minute to get out. Otherwise don’t blame me for being nasty!"

Ethan ignored him. He wasn’t going to quarrel with a waiter who looked down on customers.

"Didn’t you hear me?"

The waiter’s voice became cold as he took out his receiver and laughed coldly into it, "Brother Geoff, there’s someone making trouble at Golden Jade Restaurant! Please come up!"

William and April started getting anxious.

This restaurant wasn’t a simple place!

"Diane, we’d better go, we can’t afford to offend them."

"That’s right, let’s go home and eat, I’ll cook!"

They had suffered much humiliation and bullying over many years. Now they had become even more timid than before, afraid to offend anybody.

But Diane didn’t move.

Because she knew that Ethan really knew Tom Foster. He’d even split a bun with him, lived under a bridge together before and were fellow brothers of their Beggars’ Sect.

There was a flurry of footsteps as a dozen burly men came rushing over. The one leading the pack was obviously the Brother Geoff that the waiter called earlier.

"Who dares to make trouble here? Tired of living eh!" Brother Geoff snorted coldly.

"Brother Geoff, it’s them!"

The waiter pointed at Ethan. "I told them there was no space but they still wanted to go in. And this guy over here actually called our boss Little Foster!"

Brother Geoff’s face immediately darkened and turned icy.

Little Foster?

Even if he had the guts of a leopard, he wouldn’t dare to call Tom Foster ‘Little Foster’. This fellow here was tired of living for sure!

He rolled up his sleeves and they surrounded Ethan and family.

"You wanna get out of here yourself? Or get thrown down from upstairs?"

Ethan turned and looked straight at Brother Geoff, narrowing his eyes a little.

"You sure you want to be rude to me?"

Brother Geoff was taken aback by this response, then he burst out laughing. "Who the hell do you think you are? For me to kill you is like killing an ant, you still think I’ve been rude to you?"

"Enough of this nonsense. Since you refuse to move, then don’t blame me for being vicious!"

He was about to attack when the elevator door opened and Tom Foster dashed over, his hair still splashing water.

"STOP!"

He roared and Brother Geoff froze.

The waiter also froze. Boss was here!

"Stop it! Every single one of you don’t freaking move!"

Tom Foster stepped forward and slapped Brother Geoff. "Are you blind? You don’t know that he’s my boss? You dare to hit him?!"

Tom Foster then quickly walked to Ethan and took a deep breath.

"Big Boss, Little Foster here is very sorry for coming so late and having such ill mannered subordinates!"

Brother Geoff was completely stunned. He held his face but couldn’t feel the pain.

The waiter was equally shocked. He only felt his legs were trembling and he nearly fell to the floor.

Tom Foster had called Ethan ‘Big Boss’, and actually called himself ‘Little Foster’!

What was going on?

April and William were also stunned, their face filled with disbelief.

Big Boss?

When did Ethan become Tom Foster’s boss?

"What are you still standing there for, apologize to Big Boss now!" Tom Foster yelled coldly.

"I’m sorry I’m very sorry!" Brother Geoff immediately bowed deeply and apologized profusely.

"I’m…I’m sorry!" The waiter’s voice was also shaky.

"I say, Little Foster. If you want to do business then you have to do it properly. How can you let your subordinates change the rules anyway they like?"

Ethan was looking at Tom Foster and speaking very calmly, but Tom Foster still felt tense all over.

"You taught them that? Or that little punk, Winston, didn’t teach them properly?"

Tom Foster felt his heart was coming out of his mouth!

"This is my fault! I didn’t teach them well! Big Boss is right, I will make amends, I will change right now!"

Tom Foster hurriedly turned to the waiter and said, "You can get lost for going against the policies of the restaurant!"

He then turned to look at Brother Geoff. Brother Geoff’s face immediately turned ashen!

"He was just doing his job, no need to punish him," Ethan spoke up.

Brother Geoff immediately clasped his hands together and hurried replied, "Thank you Big Boss! Thank you Big Boss for your forgiveness, Little Geoff here will work hard from now on!"

He was worried that if Ethan got angry, he would get thrown down from here!

Looks like this Big Boss stuck to his principles.

"Big Boss, if you want to eat here, just tell me, why bother with reservations?"

Tom Foster smiled as he said this, then waved his hand and Brother Geoff left with the other men.

He turned and told the receptionists, "Tell all the other guests to leave. Their meals today are all free, don’t let them interrupt my boss from having a meal."

The receptionists were all stunned into silence. They had never seen Tom Foster treat anybody so politely before.

"Ethan." The receptionists were about to inform the guests when April spoke up. "Don’t do this, everyone just wants to have a nice meal, it’s not nice to chase them away."

"Heard what my mum said?" Ethan asked with a nod.

"Oh yes yes, Auntie is right. I’m such a mess, I hope Auntie won’t take it to heart."

Tom Foster then immediately suggested, "Let’s go to my personal room then?"

Ethan didn’t object, so he led the way personally and brought them to a luxurious room.

This room was used only by himself, and nobody else was allowed to.

But since Ethan was here, he wanted to give nothing but the best to Ethan.

William and April couldn’t help but gasp at this room that was even bigger than their own house.

And the fittings in here definitely cost a bomb!

How was Ethan of such high standing?

"One of all the best dishes we have!" Tom Foster instructed.

"Uncle, what would you like to drink?"

William froze. He knew the drinks here were expensive, so he quickly waved his hands. "I’ll just have water."

"That won’t do. You’ve come to my place, and it will be terrible if I don’t take good care of you."

He sent out another instruction to get the best Maotai.

Tom Foster could tell from the strange expressions on William and April that they were very curious about how he was connected to Ethan.

"Uncle, Auntie, don’t stand on ceremony. I know Big Boss from a long time back."

He explained, "Back then we were both homeless and I nearly died from hunger on the streets. If not for that half a bun that Big Boss gave me, there will be no Tom Foster today!"

"So don’t stand on ceremony with me at all. This restaurant is as good as Big Boss’ restaurant. Anytime you want to come, just come. I’ll leave this room for your personal use, and everything you eat here will always be free!"

William and April were even more stunned.

Free?

This meal would cost several thousand dollars. It was free just because he said so?

William immediately recognized that bottle of Maotai that the waiter brought in. Just this bottle alone cost a bomb!

"This…"

Both husband and wife didn’t know how to react. They didn’t even know how they should reject this.

"Dad, Mum, don’t worry about it, he’s a brother to me."

Tom Foster was so happy he could fly!

Did you hear that?

Big Boss said he was a brother to him!

What an honor and privilege!

"Alright, go back to what you were doing," Ethan calmly said.

"Sure sure. Big Boss, Boss Diane, Uncle, Auntie, take your time to eat. Feel free to order anything!"

Tom Foster politely excused himself and closed the door behind him.

It was silence in the room.

William and April were so shocked they felt numb from it.

This new son-in-law had sent shock after shock.

"Ethan, you fellow brothers in the Beggars’ Sect are really close huh," Diane pouted.

She wasn’t stupid. She could tell that Tom Foster and Ethan didn’t behave like brothers. Tom Foster was obvious respectful and fearful of Ethan!

"My wife is so clever."

Ethan wasn’t going to tell her that everything that Tom Foster had now was given by him. As long as Tom Foster did a good job, he would be able to have even more. So much that he wouldn’t believe it!

"Dad, Mum, don’t just sit there, eat something," Ethan said with a smile.

But William and April still didn’t move.

They continued to just sit there, and even became more reserved than before.

All of this was too unreal and too shocking.

They could see clearly that Ethan wasn’t any ordinary man. But this was more extraordinary than they had imagined.

After a long time, April looked at Ethan and asked, "Are you very rich?"

Ethan nodded.

"Compared to CEO Foster?"

"He can’t be compared to me at all." Ethan did not attempt to hide this.

April didn’t ask anymore.

"Are you good at fighting?"

It was Diane’s turn to ask.

"I know a bit of martial arts."

"Compared to the team leader of the Palmer Group security team?"

Diane knew that the team leader was a highly skilled man who had retired from the army. He had no problem taking on five people by himself.

Ethan didn’t say anything, but laughed lightly. There was disdain in that laugh.

Diane immediately understood.

"My legs, can they really be treated?"

The last question came from William.

This was the question he was most concerned about.

"Yes, I guarantee you!" Ethan solemnly replied.

Anyone who knew him would know that these words were of tremendous value!

William took a deep breath, his eyes turning red as he looked at Ethan seriously. Then he picked up the liquor on the table, pouring a glass for himself, then tried to pour one for Ethan.

Ethan hurriedly took the bottle from him to pour his own glass.

"I don’t know what else to say. But this glass is for you! No matter whether I can really be treated or not, I’m grateful for just these words!"

William never drank much, but he lifted the glass with both hands and drank it down in one gulp.

April didn’t stop him. She knew how much her husband wanted to be able to stand again.

Ethan also downed his glass, then poured a glass for both William and April.

"This one is for Dad and Mum."

Ethan continued seriously, "If both of you didn’t bring up such a wonderful girl like Diane, I would not be here today."

He downed his glass after saying that.

William and April exchanged glasses but didn’t say anything and downed their glass.

After two glasses of liquor, the atmosphere wasn’t so tense anymore. William started talking more, and started drinking excitedly.

April and Diane tried to stop him a couple of times but finally gave up. It was rare that William could put aside his worries, so they let him take this time to really relax.

The two men were chatting very happily.

April and Diane watched Ethan and William drink and chat, and suddenly felt like this scene in front of them was very heartwarming. But Ethan wasn’t really their son-in-law.

Before, they felt that Ethan wasn’t good enough for Diane, so they were angry and upset.

But now, after understanding more about Ethan, they knew. They weren’t good enough for Ethan.

"Ethan, I know you’re very rich, but I hope that you won’t simply spend money on us."

April smiled as she said this. "These are all favors we owe you but we really can afford to return it."

Her voice did not blame him or mock him, but sounded a little helpless.

They were not a greedy family.

Ethan looked up at April and understood what she was getting at. He knew that it wasn’t going to be easy to get this family to accept him so quickly.

He laughed. "I’ve been an orphan since young. I had no home, so I’ve never eaten home cooked food before. Now I finally have a home, so I’m very happy. As long as Mum and Dad don’t chase me out, I’ll listen to anything you say."

"You’re an orphan?" April suddenly felt a strong tug at her heart.

"He’s an orphan, otherwise he wouldn’t be homeless," said Diane.

April suddenly felt her heart go out to him.

No wonder Ethan loved eating home cooked meals. He must have suffered so much pain and injustice to become so rich today.

He didn’t have parents by his side since he was young and had to bear everything on his own. Just thinking about it made her heart ache.

"Even if you’re not my son-in-law, you’re still a kind child," said April, her eyes turning red with tears.

"If you don’t mind that my house is small, then stay here first. One day if you find a better place, then you can go!"

"Let’s drink!"

William raised his glass.

Ethan also raised his glass. He could sense that this family had started to change their attitude towards him.

He knew that Diane and family were not greedy people. In fact they were the complete opposite. They were extremely kind and naïve, and were definitely worth protecting.

There was only one thing that April got wrong. Ethan had no intention of leaving at all. This was his home!

They had their fill of food and liquor.

Ethan had drank quite a bit, so he wasn’t allowed to drive.

Tom Foster arranged for someone to take them home.

William had drunk quite a bit. He held April in his arms and kept whispering in her ear all the way home.

"My dear, I love you, I promise to get well and bring happiness to you and Diane!"

"My dear, thank you for taking care of me for all these years, how did I deserve such a good wife?"

"Wifey, let’s be together forever, ok?"

William was like a child, holding onto April, making her turn red from embarrassment, but she couldn’t stop him either.

"The kids are watching!" April couldn’t help saying.

Diane pretended she hadn’t seen anything, but there was a smile on her face.

She hadn’t seen her parents like this in a long time.

It was late at night. Diane was lying on her side while Ethan was on the floor next to the bed.

"Ethan?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome."

The conversation was short and they fell into silence again.

"Next time, don’t spend money like that on my family, ok?"

"I won’t agree to that."

Ethan was unrelenting even in front of Diane. "This is my family, which includes my wife and my parents. If I don’t spend on you guys, then who will I spend it on?"

"But…why?"

Diane bit her lips.

She didn’t know if this man was really stupid or just pretending to be. Given his wealth and influence, he could have any woman he wanted, and there was no need to insist on marrying into her family.

"I’ve been shamelessly living in your house and eating your mum’s cooking, so surely I can’t just stay here for free right?" Ethan replied, "Ok now, go to bed, goodnight."

Diane still had questions, but Ethan didn’t want to respond anymore.

She couldn’t do anything about that. Why was this guy doing this?

The rest of the night went on in silence.

When Ethan woke up in the morning, he found that breakfast was even more sumptuous than the day before.

He didn’t bother with being polite at all. He started eating the moment he was done washing up.

"Where’s Dad?"

"He drank a bit too much last night, so he’s still sleeping," April answered softly from the kitchen.

"Dad has to really increase how much liquor he can hold, otherwise how will he entertain clients in the future?"

He said this very casually, but April froze for a while.

Entertain clients?

Why would William need to entertain clients?

Ethan didn’t elaborate.

"Ok, sure, got it, I’ll be there immediately!"

Diane packed her things and came running out of the room, "Something has happened at the factory and I must go over now!"

There was still a fried dough stick in Ethan’s hand, but he immediately stood up, "I’ll send you there!"

"Mum, we’re going out!" Both of them flew out of the door.

"Diane, you haven’t taken breakfast yet!" April shouted after them, but they had long gone.

She looked back at the table of dishes that looked like a tornado had gone through them after Ethan had ravenously eaten everything and shook her head, then started laughing to herself.

"This boy is really...it’s not as if anybody is snatching the food away from him."

April stacked up the cutlery and was about to walk into the kitchen when the doorbell rang.

She opened the door and saw a few men in suits carrying some gifts. They didn’t look like normal men on the streets.

The leader of the men had graying hair, and he bowed immediately upon seeing April. He asked politely, "Are you Madam April?"

April nodded. "Who are you?"

"Madam April, I am the CEO of Greencliff Bank, Thomas Reid. This over here is the branch manager, Mr Avery." Thomas Reid’s face was extremely apologetic as he said, "We know all about what happened to Madam April at our branch yesterday, so today we have come here specially to apologize to you."

April got a shock.

The CEO and branch manager of Greencliff Bank had come here personally to apologize to her?

"Could we come in?" Thomas Reid asked politely.

"Oh, oh sure, please come in," April let them into the house.

...

Ryan Harris was furiously standing at the management office of the estate.

He hadn’t slept the whole night, and had come rushing over to the management office the moment the staff reported to work.

"Investigate this immediately! Now! Check the CCTV! I want to see which bastard knocked into my car!"

That was the Porsche he had just bought!

It had been damaged beyond repair!

He was going to find the bastard who did this and bankrupt him!

"I’m really sorry, but it was too dark last night, and I think the CCTV might not have been able to capture who it was."

The manager in the office couldn’t stand people like Ryan Harris, and really didn’t want to help him find out who it was.

Ryan Harris was the one who had simply parked his car, so he deserved the way he had been treated!

"Don’t you dare try to smoke us like that! I live here and I know how powerful the CCTV is! Didn’t the CCTV manage to capture who David’s daughter-in-law was having an affair with?"

Sandra Harris’s voice became louder, "If you don’t investigate this, we will have to call the police then!"

The manager had no choice but to get someone to check the CCTV.

The moment she saw that BMW that didn’t even have a permanent license plate, Sandra Harris started shouting.

"It’s them! So it’s them!"

"Sis, you know who it is?" Ryan Harris asked angrily.

"It’s that neighbor of mine. This car belongs to her family, and she even tried to lie to us, saying the man who married into her family was the one who bought it!"

Sandra Harris snorted and continued mockingly, "Everyone here knows that the guy who married into their family is some homeless person, how could he have afford a car?"

"Ha, since they dared to knock into my car, I’m going to teach them a lesson!"

Ryan Harris’s face darkened and dragged Sandra Harris out of the management office and towards April’s house.

He wanted to not just beat Ethan up, but to make them pay!

Since they could afford a BMW, then surely they could afford to buy a new Porsche for him, right?

On the other side.

April poured some water for the guests. Thomas Reid quickly stood up and took the glass with both hands.

"Madam Palmer, you’re being too polite with us."

He waved his hand and his subordinates quickly brought the gifts over.

"Here is a token of apology from us, I hope Madam Palmer will accept it."

April waved her hands, "It’s not appropriate of me to do so."

"No no no, we are the ones in the wrong, so we would like to seek forgiveness from Madam Palmer," Thomas Reid immediately replied. "We are really very sorry for the terrible misunderstanding that happened, and so please let us know how you would like to be compensated, we will comply without questions."

The branch manager stood at one side and didn’t even dare to say anything.

This matter had become very serious.

Nobody could have thought that the CEO, who was retiring soon, was nearly fired over this!

The global union had also warned them that if they didn’t settle this matter properly, Greencliff Bank would be kicked out of the union. That would be disastrous for them!

"The general manager in question has already been sacked, and we will ensure that nobody in the banking industry will ever hire him again."

The CEO continued, "As for the teller, we will sue her for slander. And as for that security guard…"

"Mr Reid," April immediately shook her head when she heard this. "You don’t have to do this, it’s too harsh on them. I believe these young people did not have ill intentions."

She had been humiliated, but all of this was a misunderstanding after all. She didn’t want to ruin the rest of someone else’s life because of this.

Everyone had difficulties that they couldn’t speak of, and as long as they were punished accordingly when they made mistakes and changed for the better, it was good enough. There was no reason to push anyone into a dead end.

Thomas Reid was filled with admiration when he heard this.

He nodded, "Madam Palmer is extremely magnanimous, and I really respect that. I will listen to what you have said."

Then he turned to the branch manager, who took out a gold card.

"This is the VIP card of Greencliff Bank, with five million inside. This is our way of apology to you, Madam Palmer, please accept it!"

Before April could reject it, all of them bowed low and pleaded, "Please accept this, and give us a chance to become better!"

April had no idea how to react at all. Five million!

She didn’t dare to take so much money that she hadn’t earned. Even if this was compensation, she really didn’t need this much.

She had no idea that if she didn’t forgive them, the losses to Greencliff Bank was even higher than 20 billion!

"It’s too much, and I really can’t accept this. Just $200 for my medical bills is enough."

For as long as April did not agree, Thomas Reid and the rest remained bowed, not even daring to lift their heads.

"I’ll just accept it first then."

April didn’t know what to do since she didn’t know how to reject them at all. She decided to wait till Diane came back before finding a way to handle this.

When they saw that April accepted their token of apology, Thomas Reid and the rest breathed a sigh of relief. They had thought that April would ask for way more than this, but now they were embarrassed that they had thought of her that way in the first place.

"April! Come out here right now! You knocked into my brother’s car and now you’re hiding at home? Come out and compensate us!"

"Damn it, so it’s this family? Bloody hell, how dare you knock into my car, you’d better come out and compensate me, otherwise I’m going to bash all of you up!"

There was suddenly a loud voice at the door threatening to barge into the house.

Ryan Harris rolled up his sleeves and was ready to fight!

He wasn’t leaving until they coughed up at least a million dollars!

April started frowning.

Ethan had indeed knocked into a car the night before. A luxury car no less, and it must have been worth a lot of money.

But it was their fault for blocking the way in the first place.

"I’m really sorry about this, let me take a look outside."

April walked out to see Sandra Harris with her hands on her hips and shouting away.

"So what if you own a BMW? What’s so great about that? So much so you even dare to knock into my brother’s Porsche?"

"You know how much that Porsche costs? It’s enough to buy several shitty BMWs!"

Sandra Harris rarely found the chance to shout at others this confidently, so her voice was extra loud and attracted the attention of many neighbors.

She wanted to show everyone that a BMW was practically worthless in front of a Porsche.

"Are you April? So you guys are the ones who knocked into my car last night!"

Ryan Harris saw that April had come out and laughed coldly. "Just because you own a shitty BMW, you’ve become arrogant huh? Let’s see how you’re going to compensate me! Prepare to go bankrupt!"

"That car of mine is worth more than a million! And now it’s beyond repair!"

April’s face turned as white as a sheet.

A car worth more than a million?

They couldn’t afford that for sure.

But it was too late for that. After all, Ethan had indeed knocked into his car.

"Ryan Harris?"

She was about to reply when Thomas Reid walked out from behind her. He frowned, "Why are you here?"

"CEO…CEO Reid!"

Ryan Harris immediately froze on the spot.

Why was the CEO here?

And he had walked out from April’s house!

It was as if he had been struck by lightning and was rooted to the ground. He didn’t even dare to move an inch.

In front of the CEO, a mere departmental head like him wasn’t even qualified to carry his shoes!

"You know each other?" April was surprised.

"This is the Head of Customer Service at the headquarters, and he was recently promoted." Thomas Reid did not conceal any of this.

He could tell immediately that Ryan Harris had some unsettled matters with April, and scoffed in his heart.

They had taken much effort to make sure April accepted their apology, but now Ryan Harris had come to make trouble – what was this all about?

This idiot didn’t know what was good for him – was he trying to get the whole Greencliff Bank into trouble?!

"Ryan Harris, what is going on?" Thomas Reid’s face was dead serious.

"CEO, it’s…it’s them. They knocked into my car last night and damaged it, so I…"

"Nonsense, you were the one who purposely parked the car at the exit and blocked everyone’s way. Others didn’t dare to touch your car, but this family dared to."

"Tsk, there are all sorts of people in this world huh. So he’s a departmental head in Greencliff Bank, no wonder he dares to throw his weight about like that."

"He’s arrogant just because he’s rich. Doesn’t the bank have money only because we put money in? I’m never using Greencliff Bank anymore!"

Some of the neighbors watching were reasonable people, and couldn’t hold it in when they heard the nonsense Ryan Harris was spouting.

Thomas Reid’s face became even nastier when he heard what they said.

This matter had now started to affect Greencliff Bank’s reputation.

He turned and bowed slightly to April, "Madam Palmer, I am really very sorry for yet another disturbance to your life. I hope you will not take this to heart, I will settle this matter."

Thomas Reid’s face grew serious, and Ryan Harris felt weak in his knees.

He had never seen the CEO so polite to anybody before!

How was this woman connected to the CEO?

He turned around to look at his own sister, Sandra Harris, and she was also shocked speechless. She never knew that April’s family had connections like this. Even the CEO of Greencliff Bank had to bow to her?

"I’ll compensate you for your car!"

Thomas Reid wrote a check and threw it at Ryan Harris.

Ryan Harris didn’t dare to pick it up at all!

"Also, you’ve been fired."

Thomas Reid didn’t waste time beating round the bush. "Every employee of Greencliff Bank must be of the highest character. If you are of poor character, don’t even think of joining the company!"

"CEO! CEO! Don’t fire me! I was wrong! I admit my mistake!"

Ryan Harris’s face was ashen.

If he were to be fired, he couldn’t pay the monthly installments on the car loan!

And he couldn’t afford to lose such a good job too!

"Now you know your mistake? Too late!"

"Secretary,, inform HR and make a company announcement. Also, tell the one who recommended Ryan Harris for a promotion to see me in the office first thing tomorrow morning for a reflection session!"

Ryan Harris was now like a deflated balloon, and his entire body was weak.

Sandra Harris was also still standing there, her face all pale. She never thought things would end this way.

She hadn’t even had time to boast about how her younger brother had been promoted and bought a luxury car. And now all this had vanished into thin air?

"April! Have pity on us! Have pity on us!!"

She quickly ran to April and squeezed a smile out, "We’re all neighbors after all, so have some pity on us."

"This is all my brother’s fault, so we’ll apologize to you right now. We’re sorry! We’re sorry!"

April looked at Sandra Harris. No matter how kind she was, she too, could not tolerate how someone could be so two faced.

Sandra Harris had often badmouthed April and family – did Sandra Harris think that she didn’t know about that?

She had called William a cripple and called her an old hag who didn’t know how to make money. Recently she had said their family was a bunch of good for nothings and had to find someone to marry into the family. Did Sandra Harris really think she didn’t know she said all these awful things?

April took a deep breath. "I’m sorry, but you deserved this!"

Sandra Harris’s face immediately paled when she heard this.

She didn’t dare to say anything anymore and dragged Ryan Harris away immediately. If they didn’t leave now, they could be humiliated even further!

"Madam Palmer, I apologize once again for ruining your mood," Thomas Reid looked extremely apologetic.

"No worries, I’m thankful for your help. As for the compensation…"

"Please don’t talk about the money, please don’t, that concerns my pride too," Thomas Reid jokingly replied. "We should get going, we will not disturb Madam Palmer any longer."

With that, Thomas Reid and his subordinates left.

All the neighbors were watching with envy, and some were even jealous!

Nobody knew that April and family were such big shots!

Even the CEO of Greencliff Bank had to be so polite to her!

April was a bit embarrassed by all this, so she just greeted some of the neighbors with a few nods of the head and then went back into the house. She was still in shock about what had just happened.

Meanwhile at the factory construction site office.

Diane’s face was grim. She was so furious, her body was trembling slightly.

"They’re trying to monopolize the market! They’ve gone too far!"

In fact, this wasn’t just monopolizing the market – they were obviously deliberately extorting money from her!

"Miss Palmer, that’s the only way we can get materials in. Now they’ve created a road block and they don’t allow any other suppliers’ materials to come through. If we need materials, we have to buy from them."

Frustration was written all over the face of the one in charge of this, Mr Roger. "But their materials are five times higher than the market rate!"

It was impossible for them to buy because this price would exceed their budget, and the office would never approve this purchase.

The factory had to be built very urgently because the project had already started. If they couldn’t build the factory in time, they would face great losses.

Nobody could shoulder this responsibility at all.

Diane asked, "Who are these people?"

"No idea, they just popped out from nowhere." There was nothing Mr Roger could do.

He had gone to reason with them but was nearly beaten up. "I called the police and they ran once the police came. But after the police left, they came back and continued blocking the road, so I don’t know what to do at all."

He couldn’t possibly get the police to keep coming back either.

Diane was furious now.

These people had obviously come to make trouble.

They had just chased away one group a few days back, and now a new group was here. It seemed like many people had their eye on this project.

Diane didn’t even know who could be so bent on ruining this project.

She sat in the office with the various project managers to think of a solution. Meanwhile, Ethan, who had been standing at the door all this time, hopped into the car and left.

There was only one proper road leading from the city to where the factory was. The road wasn’t very wide, but it was the only way to the factory.

All the building materials the factory needed had to come through this road to get to the factory.

But right now, there was a large sign halfway down the road: Road block ahead, drive slowly.

They didn’t care about ordinary cars, but if it was a vehicle carrying building materials, they would immediately tell the driver to turn back and get lost.

"Boss, I think this Palmer Group factory is never going to get built even if you give them a few decades."

"Hoho, they can’t get any steel or cement or wood in, what will they use to build?"

"Well it’s not impossible. They just have to buy from us! It’s only five or six times more expensive, and their company is filthy rich anyway!"

The few of them were sitting in a little tent by the road. They made sure that not a single vehicle carrying materials for the Palmer Group could get through.

"I heard our brother is still in a coma?"

"That useless fellow, I got him to settle this but he ended up in this state. Boss was very unhappy when he heard about what happened!"

"But who was that guy even? He dared to beat up our fellow brothers – he must be tired of living!"

As they were talking, they suddenly saw a car coming at them at high speed.

They could see from afar that it was a white BMW, but for some reason, the front of the car had been smashed in very badly.

"Tell him to stop, ask who it is," the leader of the group quietly instructed.

The rest of them immediately walked out and held out a hand to tell Ethan to slow down and stop.

But…

The car engine became even louder. He didn’t decelerate, but accelerated instead!

Everyone’s face turned pale.

"Stop! STOP!"

They stood in front of the road block. They had never seen anyone crazy enough to crash right into them.

But the person coming wasn’t just anybody – it was Ethan!

The BMW smashed into the barrier head on, scaring all of them half to death!

The barrier they had was now broken into several pieces.

"Bloody hell! This guy’s nuts!"

"He’s crazy!"

"This is murder!"

The few of them were sprawled on the floor, their hearts coming out of their mouths soon.

If they had reacted that bit slower, they would have been killed.

The car stopped not far from them, and Ethan was slowly walking over. The few of them were now filled with fury. This guy even dared to stop and get out?

If they didn’t beat him today, they’d write their names backwards from now on!

"Get your ass over here!"

"Bloody hell, how dare you nearly kill me, I’m going to kill you!"

"Fuck, you’d better kneel down and compensate me!"

They shouted angrily as they made their way towards Ethan.

One of them reached to grab Ethan’s clothes, but there was a smacking sound as he felt his chest shake violently and a loud crack could be heard. He hadn’t even seen when Ethan had made his attack!

His bone was broken!

"AHHH!"

Howls of pain filled the air!

In a blink of an eye, three of them were on the ground with their limbs all broken!

The last man in the tent heard the noise and rushed out, a knife in his hand.

"You’re asking for it!"

BAM!

Ethan saw him rushing over and suddenly held up his hand. A fist struck the man straight in the nose and blood spurted everywhere.

That man’s face practically sank in.

"Ahhhhhhh….."

That pain was indescribable!

"Who…who the hell are you?"

The man held his nose as fresh blood continued to flow between his fingers. "Do you know who we are?!"

"I don’t care whose dogs you are."

Ethan looked at the rest, his voice as cold as the air in winter. "I will only give you one warning. If you dare to affect the Palmer Group factory’s building progress, you’re going to die!"

With that, he turned and hopped into the car and left.

After Ethan had left, all of them still couldn’t even stand. Part of the reason was because their limbs had been broken, but it was also because the frightening aura that Ethan exuded made them so fearful, they found it difficult to breathe!

It was as if they had come face to face with a violent dragon and not a man!

A violent dragon that could easily tear them to pieces!

"Hurry! Get to the hospital! Hurry up!"

"Tell the Boss! We’ve run into a difficult one!"

……

Back at the meeting room, Diane and the rest still hadn’t thought of a good solution.

These people were very cunning, and it seemed like there was no other way but to meet their demands.

"This won’t do. I’m going to talk to them."

Diane got up from her seat. She couldn’t afford to waste anymore time.

Once they were behind schedule to build the factory, they would have to adjust the timeline for the entire project. She couldn’t afford to be responsible for the losses in their investment they would suffer if that happened.

"No need to talk," Ethan reappeared at the door. "I’ve already talked to them."

"What?"

Diane and the other project managers were stunned.

"When did you go and talk to them?"

"When you guys were having a meeting," Ethan calmly relied. "I’ve already talked to them, they know they were in the wrong, so they’ve already moved the barrier away. You can let the vehicles through now."

Diane suddenly felt dizzy.

They had spent a long time discussing solutions but couldn’t find a good one. Ethan had just gone out for a while and managed to reach an agreement?

That was impossible.

But Ethan had never lied to her. At least from the time she knew him till now, he had never lied at all.

"Miss Palmer?" Mr Roger asked cautiously.

"Tell the vehicles to quickly send everything in," replied Diane.

Mr Roger nodded and made arrangements.

Diane walked over to Ethan and tilted her head as she looked up at him, "How did you settle this?"

"With gentle persuasion and a sincere heart."

Ethan laughed and put up a fist. "Well that’s what I planned to do initially. But after thinking about it, my fists would settle his matter much quicker."

Diane was speechless.

"It’s time to knock off, so let’s go."

"What? Again? Are we going home?"

Ethan dragged Diane into the car and made a sharp turn, causing all the dust to fly everywhere.

"The front of this car is all banged up and looks bad on you. Let’s go get another car."

Back at the BMW car shop.

Diane bit her lips. It was difficult to describe the expression she used to look at Ethan.

"Enough is enough."

She wanted to leave. "One car is $500,000! Stop wasting money like that."

Ethan dragged her into the shop.

The sales assistants recognized Ethan the minute he walked in. He was that super rich guy from two days ago.

He was probably here to install the permanent license plate.

They felt much regret at losing that sale the last time. But luckily it was just one sale, so they could still accept this loss.

"Mr Hunt?"

The salesgirl from the two days ago saw that Ethan and Diane had come and she quickly walked over.

"Are you here to install the license plate? I’ve just received it."

She hadn’t even had a chance to notify them yet.

"Oh no, we don’t need that plate anymore," replied Ethan.

The salesgirl froze. What did he mean by that?

Seeing how apologetic Diane looked, the salesgirl thought: could they be returning the car?

All the other sales assistants guessed the same thing when they heard what Ethan said.

It made sense since he had bought a car worth nearly $500,000 without even test driving it. Sure, it made him look cool, but there were plenty of people who realized they couldn’t afford to maintain the car too.

Ethan must have embarrassed himself.

And the sales assistants all thought he was filthy rich!

Return the car? That was not an easy thing to do – he might have come to create trouble for the shop.

"This car here, I want another one."

Ethan pointed at the car in the showroom. "The same one, I want another one."

"What did you say?"

The salesgirl was stunned, and she thought she had heard wrongly.

Another one?

"Another one. The last one I bought is all knocked up."

Ethan took his card out and passed it to the salesgirl. "Hurry up and get it done, I want to get home quickly to eat my mum’s cooking."

The salesgirl finally managed to react. Ethan was really here to buy another car, and her face was flush with excitement.

Anyone who saw her now would have thought she just did some vigorous exercise!

"Got it! I’ll get it processed for you right now!"

The salesgirl was so excited she was nearly in tears.

It had only been a few days and he bought another car!

She had made another killing!

The other sales assistants gulped as they watched on in envy. They wanted to cry but there were no tears.

They couldn’t even sell two cars in a month, but this newbie had sold two in a row, and to the same person.

Two cars was a million dollars!

Were all rich people nowadays this crazy?

"Ethan, if you waste money like this, my mum won’t be happy about it," Diane commented helplessly.

She knew Ethan was rich, but she felt bad when she saw him spend money like that.

"Don’t worry, I know how to handle her," Ethan replied. "I guarantee you she won’t be angry."

In just a few moments, everything had been settled. The salesgirl was even faster this time round.

"Mr Hunt, your card!"

She passed that special black card back to Ethan. The last time she had gone home to check and found out what was the minimum amount required to own this card, and nearly fainted when she saw the amount.

"I’m afraid you have to wait another two days for the license plate for this new car, I’ll get it done for you as soon as possible!"

"Sure."

Ethan didn’t waste anymore time talking. He took the new car keys from her and turned to leave.

"What do we do with the old car?" Diane suddenly asked.

It was only two days old, but it had become the old car.

"Don’t want it anymore."

When she heard his response, Diane suddenly felt like strangling him.

This wastrel!

The car was only two days old, and he didn’t want it anymore just because he said so?

"No!"

She puffed her cheeks out and said, "You can’t just do whatever you want all the time!"

Diane tuned to look at the salesgirl, "We’ll leave it here to be repaired, is that ok?"

"Of course, that’s our job. I’ll take care of everything, don’t worry!" replied the salesgirl with great gusto.

"Whatever my wife says."

Of course Ethan didn’t object.

"Mrs Hunt, you’re so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who listens to you," the salesgirl quickly added courteously.

Diane’s face reddened and she glared at Ethan.

How dare he call her his wife in public!

She hadn’t acknowledged that yet!

Ethan drove away with Diane in the new car.

Outside the shop, the sales assistants looked at the poor new car that was all banged up and felt deep pain in their hearts.

This was a car that they might never afford in their entire lives, but there were people who could afford to treat it as a toy.

"Do you think he might come back in a few days to buy another one?"

"What, like maybe the ashtray in the car is too full?"

"Enough guys, my little heart can’t take it anymore!"

……

William and April saw them drive a brand new car back home.

April surprisingly didn’t utter a single word, while William took a look and wanted to say something, but didn’t say anything in the end.

"Mum, what’s for lunch?" Ethan smiled. "I’ve been busy the whole morning, I’m so hungry now."

Diane grumbled to herself, what nonsense, I’m the one who’s been busy all morning. You even ate two fried dough sticks this morning.

"Just some simple home cooked dishes, try them," April smiled. "Wash your hands, come and eat."

Everyone gathered round the table to eat.

April took the card she received from Thomas Reid in the morning and placed it on the table.

"The CEO of Greencliff Bank came by this morning. He gave me five million as compensation."

April naturally didn’t dare to accept it. "I didn’t know how to reject them. Diane, how should we deal with this?"

They definitely had to return this money. It was such a large sum, she felt nervous just holding onto the card.

"Of course we’re accepting it."

Diane hadn’t even opened her mouth when Ethan spoke up.

"Five million, that’s letting them off too lightly."

He scoffed. "Their staff slapped my mum – if it were me, if they didn’t pay up at least 5 billion, I’ll make sure the bank goes bankrupt."

Diane was so shocked she nearly dropped her chopsticks when she heard this.

"Mum, you’re too kind for forgiving them so easily."

Ethan wasn’t kidding around. If April did not forgive them, never mind five million – even 50 billion wouldn’t help. All it took was one word from him to make Greencliff Bank collapse in three days!

William quietly continued eating. The amount Ethan was talking about was way too high for him to comment on.

Diane looked with disbelief at Ethan. She didn’t know if he was just joking or boasting.

Only April knew that Ethan wasn’t kidding at all.

This boy…she couldn’t believe how protective he was of her. She felt that even if she really had a son, her own biological son wouldn’t be as protective as Ethan.

"Mum, keep it, this is what you deserve," Ethan saw that April was still hesitant and continued. "I can guarantee you that if you don’t accept this, from tomorrow onwards, the CEO is going to come begging on your doorstep every single day."

How were they to live like that?!

April hesitated again and then looked at Diane.

"Since Ethan has said so, then you just keep it, Mum. They hit you so you should be compensated!"

It’s just that even Diane felt that this compensation amount was way too high. Five million!

But somehow Ethan was still not satisfied with this amount.

"Then…then I’ll just keep it aside first. So when a good time comes for us to return it, I’ll give it back?"

"Mum, just boldly use the money. You can just use it to buy vegetables or something. Or buy more meat! This braised meat is super good!"

Ethan had already finished one bowl of rice, and got up to get another. He was really treating this place like his own home, and did whatever he liked.

…

Meanwhile, at a private hot spring clubhouse.

Steven was soaking in the water with his eyes half closed.

Beside him was a burly and bald man, his upper body covered with tattoos and looked fairly menacing.

"Brother Howard, how is it that each group of men you have is more useless than the previous group? Can’t even settle something so simple?"

Steven scoffed, "I’ve paid two million and you’re telling me that this is the result?"

Brother Howard used a hand to wipe his face and waved it.

Two of his men walked over.

"How many men attacked us?"

"Brother Howard, just one."

"One?"

Brother Howard opened his eyes wide and looked as terrifying as a fierce tiger. "Just one man and he’s beaten all of you up this badly? You useless pieces of garbage!"

Neither of the men dared to reply him.

"CEO Palmer, a dozen of my men are now still lying in hospital, so isn’t it only correct for me to use that two million to pay their hospital bills?"

Brother Howard snorted and turned to look at Steven.

He’d never returned any money he had received.

"In the first place, you didn’t tell me that there was such a formidable character hanging around Diane."

"What formidable character?" Steven continued with contempt in his voice, "He’s just a homeless man who married into the family. I suppose he’s used to fighting for food in the garbage on the streets, so he fights pretty wildly."

To him, Ethan was this sort of person. The less afraid he was to die, the scarier he was.

Besides, he had some mental illness, and nobody could stop him once it acted up.

"I will only ask you once. Brother Howard, can you settle this? If you can’t, I’ll look for someone else."

Brother Howard narrowed his eyes and stared at Steven, then he broke into a wide smile.

"Of course, as long as you pay, I can get anything done. It’s just a matter of how much you intend to pay."

Steven quietly cursed Brother Howard for being greedy, but he didn’t have any other choice.

Diane was solely in charge of this project, and once it was successful, it would be too much of a threat to him and his son.

The old man would never give Diane any important roles, but once Diane had managed to get connections to people like Tom Foster, then it was hard to say.

So even if this project failed, Steven didn’t care. After all, all the losses they suffered now were the old man’s money.

What Steven wanted was all of Palmer Group!

Once Gerald died, everything would belong to him!

Diane and family could dream on about taking a single cent from him.

"I’ll give another 3 million," Steven decided. "I don’t care what you do. Destroy Diane or destroy the factory – I want this project to fail!"

"It’s a promise!" Brother Howard smiled coldly back.

As long as the money was good, he would do anything.

With just a few words, he had gotten his hands on five million dollars. It was still better to work with businessmen after all.

"CEO Palmer, rest assured. Once the money reaches me, I’ll give you results within a day."

"I’ll be waiting for your good news."

Both men looked at each other with cold smiles on their faces.

……

Breakfast the next day was even more sumptuous.

There were even snacks unique to Greencliff, and April had obviously gone super early to the market to get them.

Ethan was so touched, he ate everything without saving a piece for Diane.

"Mum, why didn’t you buy any for me!"

By the time Diane had gotten changed, the plate on the table was already empty and she immediately wrinkled her nose.

It had only been a few days, but her mum seemed to have become Ethan’s mum already. She was too biased!

"You’ve been eating these since you were young, aren’t you sick of it?" April’s replied from the kitchen. "Ethan has been roaming the streets for so many years and rarely got a chance to eat these, so let him eat a few more."

Diane looked at Ethan with indignation, but Ethan was smiling gleefully.

"Let’s go after you’re done eating."

After eating, Ethan and Diane left the house and headed for the factory.

On the road there, Ethan was in high spirits, but Diane was a little unhappy.

She grumbled to herself that Ethan was such a sly fox for gaining her mother’s favor in merely a few days. Her mother was so nice to him, but she hadn’t even acknowledged him yet.

But at the same time, she was filled with respect for Ethan.

Ethan treated everyone in the house sincerely and genuinely, and protected April and William as if they were his real parents.

Human hearts were made of flesh after all. William and April were kindhearted people, so they could see how sincere he was immediately.

But if they both accepted Ethan, did that mean she really had to marry Ethan and they had to actually become husband and wife?

When she thought about this, Diane felt her face go red, and she turned to look at Ethan.

From the side, he didn’t look too bad. He was very rich, but wasn’t money minded. He was pretty good at fighting and so he could really protect the family. But who was this man?

"Why do you keep looking at me? Surely you haven’t fallen in love with me already?" Ethan smiled.

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Diane hurriedly turned away, as if she had been caught red handed.

"Don’t you dare become too proud of yourself. My mum has decided to keep you because she pities you since you’ve been homeless all this time. Don’t think too much about it!"

Ethan nodded, "Got it."

"Also, can you not call them Mum and Dad so naturally? It sounds even more natural than me."

"I won’t agree to this one," Ethan rejected this immediately. "I’m making it a habit, because I’m going to call them like that for the rest of my life."

"You…"

"If you eventually never fall in love with me and we can’t become husband and wife, we can still become siblings."

Ethan smiled and continued, "You can’t stop me from getting them to be my godmother and godfather, right?"

Diane stared at Ethan.

"NO!"

This fellow even wanted to compete with her for her own parents?

These were her parents, and she wasn’t letting him snatch them away!

They bickered and bickered, and soon enough they reached the construction site.

The materials had taken the whole afternoon to reach the site, and so Mr Roger started the construction work first thing in the morning.

He’d never thought everything would go so smoothly. Ethan had gone to talk to those people and settled everything just like that.

That was simply amazing!

When he saw Ethan’s car drive in, Mr Roger ran over immediately.

"Miss Palmer, all the materials are here and we’ve started work already, so we should be able to complete the factory on schedule."

Diane nodded, "We must complete it on schedule."

"I will keep an eye on things. Let me bring you to the work site."

Mr Roger led the way in front while Diane followed behind. When he saw Ethan, he immediately greeted him, "Morning, Brother Ethan!"

After he saw how Ethan had sent a dozen hooligans sprawling on the very first day, he was already filled with admiration.

For a man to be as impressive as Ethan, that was something to be envied.

If anyone ever said that some useless guy had married into Diane’s family, he was prepared to slap them hard across the face.

That was bullshit!

"Let’s go take a look." Ethan patted Mr Roger on the shoulders, and he felt full of energy after that.

Diane and Ethan walked over to view the work site to see that everything was going as planned with no major issues, and she could now relax.

Building the factory building itself was the first step. After that they had to fit in the assembly lines with the technology from Tom Foster’s side, then this project would be considered successful.

Once the production started, then the Palmer Group could start advancing into the production of medical equipment.

Suddenly there was the sound of things being smashed, and Diane’s face immediately changed.

She quickly ran out to see two buses parked at the entrance, and seventy or eighty men rushing at them!

Each one of them had a bat in hand, their faces menacing!

"Whack anyone who dares to continue working!"

"Stop all work! Drop everything! You’re not allowed to work anymore!"

The whole group was shouting at the workers, and all the workers went pale from fright. Not a single one dared to continue.

One of them took a while before stopping, and a rod immediately smacked him hard on the hand, breaking his hand immediately!

"Bloody hell, I told you to stop and you didn’t? I’ll kill you!" one of the hooligans shouted arrogantly.

"What are you doing!"

Diane was furious – why were there suddenly so many people here to make trouble? They even had weapons.

Ethan pulled her behind him as he looked one round at the hooligans. It seemed like his warning the day before wasn’t effective.

"Diane, take your phone out," said Ethan.

"Call the police?"

Diane was nervous and anxious at the same time.

"Keep time for me!"

The moment he finished saying that, Ethan made his move! He stomped hard on the ground, and the surface of the ground seemed to shake! Then Ethan immediately became a mere shadow, making its way swiftly towards the group.

"You’re asking for it! Die!"

"Kill him!"

"Attack!"

There were sixty or seventy of them, and they rushed like mad men towards Ethan, wielding their bats in their hand. They had never seen someone so unafraid to die. He had rushed at them all by himself. If they didn’t kill him, they couldn’t walk with their heads high anymore.

"Ethan!" Diane was in shock. She didn’t expect Ethan to suddenly dash out like that.

They were sixty or seventy strong! How could he be a match for them all by himself? This was too dangerous!

"Miss Palmer, we’d better call the police!" Mr Roger and the other project managers were frightened out of their wits. They’d never thought something like that would happen.

Ethan might die!

He took out his phone and was ready to call the police, but a loud sound made him look up violently.

Ethan’s punch was as insanely powerful as a dragon!

All it took was one punch, and the hooligans facing him flew out like comets. They didn’t even get the chance to howl in pain on the floor because they had all been knocked out instantly. Ethan didn’t have any fancy moves, just the most basic of moves! A punch!

Every time a punch was delivered, a hooligan would go flying out and land motionless on the ground. In the blink of an eye, there were several men all lying on the ground!

The remaining hooligans were immediately stunned. Was this guy even human? This was more like a dragon in human form! It was too terrifying!

But they weren’t too worried. There were so many of them, so why should they fear one man?

But Ethan himself didn’t seem to be tired at all, and each punch was fiercer than the last.

His fists were the most terrifying weapons in the world!

Ethan was wiping them out fast – he had already sent more than thirty of them flying!

The hooligans were becoming afraid! They were finally becoming afraid!

After witnessing the person next to themselves flying and landing on the ground, foaming at the mouth, they couldn’t help but shudder in fear.

This guy was definitely not human!

"Attack! Attack!!!"

"Don’t back out! Don’t move back!"

"He’s all by himself! Kill him!"

The hooligan who was leading the pack shouted with all his might, and his voice was quivering too. But the men beside him kept moving back. Who on earth dared to go over?

With one tremendous sound, even all the men in front of him were sprawled all over the ground, their chests all sunken in. You couldn’t even tell if they were dead or had just lost consciousness.

He suddenly realized that he was the last one standing!

Silence! The entire construction site was so silent, you could hear a pin drop.

And that didn’t take too long.

Diane and the rest were as shocked as each other. It was like...they were watching a movie.

She looked at the time and realized it hadn’t even been a minute!

"Who...who on earth are you?" The leader of the pack felt his legs shake with fear, and he was extremely terrified.

Ethan wasn’t human at all, he was the devil himself! He was definitely the devil!

Ethan suddenly made his move, coming up close to him and slapped him hard, making the leader fall to the ground.

"How dare you make trouble here." Ethan snorted coldly. "Don’t you know this is my wife’s project?"

The leader’s face immediately swelled up.

He clenched his teeth, "You dare to hit me?"

"What, you think I don’t dare to?"

Ethan narrowed his eyes. In an instant, the smell of blood filled the air.

It was as if there was a mass grave of bodies behind Ethan!

The air was so terrifying, it was hard to breathe!

The leader felt as if his throat was being strangled, and he was in great pain.

"You...don’t you dare do anything crazy! My boss is John Howard!"

"John Howard?" Ethan frowned.

The leader breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Ethan’s expression. As he had expected, once he said who his boss was, there wasn’t anybody in all of Greencliff who would dare to cross him.

"I don’t know him!"

But who knew, Ethan’s response would shock the leader silly.

Before he could react, Ethan had placed his foot against his chest and sent him flying with a kick. There was a terrible cracking sound as his ribs broke, and he didn’t even know how many were broken!

He immediately lost consciousness.

Diane was in a daze.

All the project managers, technicians and construction workers were in a daze after witnessing this.

There was nothing but disbelief written all over their faces. Everyone thought to himself, were they filming a movie now?

All sixty odd men had collapsed on the ground!

The few who were still conscious were yelping piteously, and they were in terrible pain.

"Ethan, are you alright?"

Diane finally managed to react, and she was terribly worried.

She knew Ethan could fight, but she never expected Ethan to be this good.

One against sixty odd men!

And Ethan took them down in less than a minute!

It was terrifying!

"I’m fine."

Ethan calmly replied, "These types can’t even touch me."

He eyed them as he thought to himself that he had obviously not practiced in too long, since he actually took nearly a minute to wipe out such poorly skilled garbage.

Ethan took his phone out and called Tom Foster.

"I think there’s some garbage here you need to clean up."

After hanging up, Ethan looked at all the workers who were still staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths.

"You guys can safely continue working, and nobody will disturb you. Got it?"

All the workers nodded.

Mr Roger felt his body trembling.

He was ready to fall down and worship Ethan!

This was a real man, this was a real man of men!

"Brother Ethan!"

He ran over hurriedly and could barely catch his breath. "Don’t worry, I’ll keep a close eye on things here and make sure nothing goes wrong, I won’t disappoint you or Miss Palmer!"

Ethan nodded.

Soon enough, Tom Foster arrived with a bunch of men.

"Tie up all these men!"

Tom Foster fumed, "Who dares to make trouble for my project?"

This project was also considered his. Since someone had come to make trouble, he couldn’t just ignore it.

Besides, Diane was the one in charge of the project, and she was Ethan’s wife!

"Big Boss, it’s my fault for not taking care of things, and Boss Diane has been frightened unnecessarily."

"I’m here, so nobody will be able to hurt her."

Ethan pointed at the leader of the pack. "That fellow said his boss is John Howard."

"John Howard?"

Tom Foster frowned a little when he heard the name, so this John Howard was obviously no ordinary man.

"Why, difficult to settle?"

"A little."

Tom Foster shook his head. "This John Howard is well known for being extremely vicious in the illegal circles of Greencliff. I’ve had a few exchanges with him before, but I didn’t expect him to be behind this."

"Big Boss, leave this matter to me!"

Even if the god of gods gave Ethan trouble, Tom Foster wouldn’t tolerate it.

Since they dared to make trouble for his project, did it mean that he hadn’t shown his face in the illegal circles for too long?

"Tom." Ethan looked at Tom Foster and calmly said, "Winston placed you in Greencliff for so many years, but his intention wasn’t only to let you advance in the legal circles."

Tom Foster shuddered as he looked in shock at Ethan.

"Clear the trash that needs to be cleared, then once it’s all cleared, this area will be clean. Get it?"

Tom Foster felt like his heart was going to jump out of his heart. He understood what Ethan was driving at.

He was going to clean up the illegal circles of Greencliff!

John Howard was a formidable enemy, and Tom Foster was very clear about that.

But judging from Ethan’s tone of voice, he obviously didn’t think too much of this John Howard.

It was as if this man was merely an ant!

"Contact John Howard."

Ethan looked at the sixty odd men who had been tied together with some ropes used for construction. "Tell him to come and ransom his men. Each one will cost him 100k."

"If he gives even one cent less, he’s not taking any of them away!"

Tom Foster immediately nodded, "Got it!"

There were 68 of them in all, so that added up to 6.8 million. Ethan wanted the full amount, and wasn’t letting them go in smaller batches. As long as he didn’t pay the full amount, John Howard could forget about taking even one person.

Diane had been listening by the side all this while, and started to feel worried.

"Ethan, aren’t you blowing things up?"

If even Tom Foster said that John Howard was a difficult character, then by doing this, Ethan was definitely going to offend John Howard terribly.

She had heard of this name before too. He was notorious for being a vicious gangster in the illegal circles of Greencliff!

"Blowing it up?"

Ethan shook his head. "If this tiny matter is considered a big matter, that will be really embarrassing you know."

Anything that he had been through was big enough to send shockwaves through the universe!

Just one John Howard?

Even if Ethan bent down to look carefully, he might still be too small to be seen by Ethan.

"Don’t worry, go do your work, I promise everything will go well."

Ethan smiled as he said, "Nobody will be able to affect my wife’s career."

Diane wrinkled her nose.

This wasn’t the time for jokes, and how dare he call her his wife again.

But then when she saw how serious Ethan was, she didn’t say anymore.

What could she say?

Ethan had sent more than sixty men sprawling on the ground in less than a minute, and Diane still hadn’t caught her breath from watching it happen.

The other workers around her were also in a daze like her. It took them several moments before they could calm their hearts down and continue working.

But there were those 68 men all tied up together not far from them, and looking at them still made their hearts pound.

Meanwhile, back at the private hot spring clubhouse.

John Howard was in a short sleeved floral print shirt, his exposed two arms filled with tattoos, and his face was threatening.

Even though he mixed in the illegal underground circles, he still wanted to cultivate his own classiness.

Using a wine glass to drink Baijiu was one of his unique practices.

He had just earned five million, so he thought it appropriate to celebrate.

"Boss, your call."

A subordinate walked in swiftly. "It’s Tom Foster."

A quizzical look crossed John Howard’s eyes when he heard the name, followed by a look of disdain.

"Why is he calling me? Isn’t he now some important person in the legal circles?"

Tom Foster used to mix in the illegal circles too, but he suddenly advanced very quickly and now he was a successful businessman.

Businessmen could earn money more easily than them, and the risks were much lower.

John Howard took the phone and asked sarcastically, "Why, CEO Foster has personally called me because you have some business for me?"

"John Howard, you’re really bold huh. You even tried to wreck my project?"

Contrary to his expectations, Tom Foster’s tone was cold and direct. "68 of your men are now with me. I want 6.8 million for them. Any less and none of them is leaving this place!"

Tom Foster hung up after saying that.

John Howard’s eyelid started twitching.

He had indeed sent 68 men out. Did they all perish?

And that project was connected to Tom Foster?

Damn this Steven! Steven had never told John Howard about this.

"Call Steven Palmer now!" John Howard immediately commanded.

"Boss, we can’t contact him!"

John Howard immediately understood that Tom Foster meant business.

6.8 million meant that each person was worth 100k. Tom Foster only allowed him to ransom all or none. If he didn’t pay, none of them would come back.

He just earned 5 million but now he had to spit out 6.8 million?

John Howard couldn’t bear to, but he knew that Tom Foster was equally vicious. If he didn’t pay up, Tom Foster was definitely not letting any one of them go.

If the other men knew about this, they might become disloyal to him.

"What a vicious move."

John Howard laughed coldly and got up. "I’m going to see Tom Foster myself!"

They could be considered from the same circle of people, and even though they weren’t on the best terms, they didn’t have to fall out over a small matter like this. It was just a matter of pride, John Howard could understand.

He got someone to drive him immediately to Tom Foster’s office.

"Young lady, tell your CEO Foster, an old friend, John Howard, is looking for him."

John Howard decided to remain polite and got the receptionist to inform Tom Foster instead of charging upstairs directly.

The receptionist saw how threatening John Howard looked and was followed by several men, so she couldn’t help but become nervous. She quickly called the secretary and explained the situation.

"Mr John Howard, CEO Foster asks you to go upstairs," the receptionist told John Howard after putting down the phone.

John Howard went straight into the lift and up to the highest floor.

Tom Foster sat in his office, and when he heard a knock on the door, he calmly said, "Come in."

John Howard walked in and left his men to wait outside.

"Not bad, not bad. CEO Foster is really impressive, your business has grown tremendously."

He looked around at the fittings in the office and thought to himself that he was going to make his own office look like this too.

After mixing in the underground illegal circles for a long time, he had always wanted to come up to the surface and wash his hands off illegal dealings.

John Howard walked over to the sofa, sat down and narrowed his eyes as he said, "CEO Foster, we haven’t seen each other in a quite a while eh?"

"It’s been more than a year."

Tom Foster continued to sit where he was and didn’t get up. "So, you wanted to wreck my project?"

"A misunderstanding! It’s all a misunderstanding!"

John Howard laughed, "We’re all brothers in the same circles after all. Even though I love money, I wouldn’t go against CEO Foster for that little bit of money."

"I’ll tell you honestly, I really didn’t know this project had anything to do with you. That asshole Steven Palmer didn’t tell me at all."

John Howard continued to be upset, "If I had known it was your project, I wouldn’t have dared to do this even if he gave me 10 million dollars."

Tom Foster looked at John Howard’s hypocritical face. He knew very well what sort of person John Howard was – as long as he was paid enough, he would do anything, no matter how crazy it was!

This sort of person only cared about money, and that’s why Tom Foster found him troublesome to handle.

But Ethan didn’t think so.

Anyone who offended Ethan was asking to get killed!

"You’ve come here to settle that matter, right?" Tom Foster went straight to the point.

"Hoho, we all mix in the same circles, and neither of us can avoid seeing each other."

John Howard crossed his legs and laughed, "Come on CEO Foster, give me a little leeway. This is a misunderstanding after all. I’ll treat you to a really nice dinner later."

Tom Foster laughed coldly as his face darkened.

Did John Howard think that this matter could be settled by a dinner?

If John Howard had offended Tom Foster, there was some room for negotiation. But the one offended now was Ethan!

"John Howard." Tom Foster’s voice became very cold now. "You still don’t understand huh."

"If you had offended me, then I might be willing to give way. But you’ve offended someone else!"

John Howard was stunned. There was someone else? This bloody bastard of a man Steven didn’t tell him anything!

"Someone else?"

He was caught off guard for a while, but then Tom Foster must know who this person was. "CEO Foster knows this person right? Could you put in a good word for me and ask him to give me some concession?"

It was a bit troublesome and he might have to pay, but he could cut some losses.

Contrary to his expectations, Tom Foster violently slammed the table and stood up to shout, "You want him to give you concession? You’re not qualified to ask for this!"

This slam of the table sent a shudder down John Howard’s spine.

He had never seen Tom Foster this angry before.

Who was this even? What did Tom Foster mean by he was not qualified to ask for some leeway?

"Tom, stop joking around."

John Howard’s expression also became cold. Both of them were old hands in the illegal circles, so he wasn’t afraid of Tom at all.

"I’m not joking with you."

Tom Foster laughed coldly. "6.8 million. Once the money is in, you can take your men back and this case is considered closed. That’s the current set of conditions. After today, this matter won’t be settled as easily anymore!"

"John, so because we’re in the same circles, let me kindly give you a piece of advice – don’t play with fire and burn yourself to death!"

John Howard suddenly stood up and laughed heartily but coldly.

"Is this a warning from you, or that other person?"

He’d never thought that there was still someone in Greencliff who dared to warn him like this.

He knew all the big bosses in the circle – who dared to talk to him like that?

Even Tom Foster didn’t dare to!

Tom Foster didn’t want to say anymore. He had already been kind enough to drop this piece of advice. If John Howard still didn’t know what was good for him, then that was his problem.

John Howard nodded. "Ok! OK! OKAY! CEO Foster, I’m going to see, who the hell dares to treat me like this in all of Greencliff! HMPH!"

He was going to just leave those 68 men there. He didn’t believe Tom Foster would really kill them off!

John Howard left angrily, and Tom Foster really didn’t say anymore.

He had already expected that given how money minded John Howard was, he would only take from others, and it was impossible to take anything from him.

And now, his men’s lives might be in danger!

"John Howard, there’s a price to pay for greed," Tom Foster calmly murmured.

He didn’t waste anymore time and gave a call to Ethan to explain the situation.

After that, he called a few of his subordinates, "I’ve taken care of you for so many years, it’s time to get cracking!"

...

Back at the factory site.

Diane was talking to the workers about some details, the schedule and the quality of work. Her standards were very strict and she was not going to compromise even the slightest bit.

She looked really adorable when she was working very seriously.

Ethan put down the phone with Tom Foster.

John Howard had rejected his offer.

He walked over to the 68 men, scaring them half to death and sending them trembling.

"What...what do you want?"

"You mean you dare to kill us?"

"Don’t come over here!"

The whole bunch of them were frightened of one Ethan.

"You’re not worthy to be killed by me."

Ethan calmly continued, "I’m here to tell you that your boss, John Howard, has abandoned you guys."

"Impossible!"

"Brother Howard wouldn’t give us up!"

"Stop trying to drive a rift between us, Brother Howard said we’re all his brothers!"

......

The entire group of men continued shouting at Ethan, their voices confident in John Howard.

Ethan merely smiled and shook his head, "You guys have been here for an entire day now, has he come to save you yet?"

"I said that each one of you is worth 100k, and I’ll release you all once I get the money, but he’s rejected that offer. Tell me, is money more important to him? Or you guys?"

In that moment, all of them became silent.

John Howard always said that they were his brothers, but they also knew how much John Howard loved money!

He was extremely greedy when it came to money!

Between money and themselves, John Howard would definitely choose money!

It was just 100k – were their lives not even worth 100k?

They had worked hard and risked their lives for John Howard all these years, but now John Howard couldn’t even bear to pay 100k for each of them. Instead he chose to abandon them.

"It can’t be...Brother Howard wouldn’t do this!"

"This must be your ploy! Brother Howard wouldn’t abandon us!"

"Brother Howard...Brother Howard...he wouldn’t..."

The voices grew softer and softer, and they lost confidence in themselves.

It was only in times like these that they understood how much they meant to John Howard.

Obviously they didn’t mean anything to him.

There was disappointment on all the men’s faces. Then it quickly turned to despair and fury!

"So what do you want to do?" The leader of the pack stared at Ethan with bloodshot eyes as he asked.

Ethan was very powerful!

Frighteningly powerful!

Even if Ethan killed them, they could only blame themselves for being poorly skilled. But they knew that Ethan despised the idea of killing them himself.

"Nothing, I just wanted you to face reality."

Ethan calmly replied, "Now you know what you’re worth to John Howard, right? You thought that by risking your lives for him, he would cherish you guys?"

"Wrong! He would despise you even more! He would just treat you as tools, throwing you away once he’s done using you!"

"You guys have nowhere else to go but to risk your lives for him, so why should he think that any of you is important to him?"

Ethan’s words pierced the hearts of every one of them.

It was difficult to swallow, but every word was true.

Their faces became angry then pale then angry again. It was true that they gained nothing from following John Howard. After all their sacrifices for him, they were barely making ends meet.

No matter how much money John Howard earned, it had nothing to do with them.

"I, on the other hand, could provide you a way out."

Everyone looked up violently.

"Don’t look at me like that, all of you are too useless for my standards. But then since you are all so energetic, it’s not a bad idea for you guys to work on this construction site."

"Are you...are you insulting us now?" One of the hooligans couldn’t help but respond angrily.

"Insulting you?"

Ethan laughed coldly. "Then tell me, what else do you know how to do?"

That man shut his mouth. Besides fighting, he didn’t know how to do anything else.

"Don’t forget, your lives are now in my hands. Each one of you is worth 100k, so you can work here until you’ve earned 100k, then you can go."

"You’re willing to let us go?"

The leader of the pack was stunned by this. He had gone through many fights in the illegal circles.

Once they were in the hands of the enemy, even if they didn’t die, they would be incapacitated for sure!

Ethan was actually willing to let them go at 100k per person. That was 6.8 million in total!

"Once you’ve earned the 100k, you can go. I won’t keep you here even if you want to stay."

Ethan then went straight to the point, "I’ll say it more clearly. Finish building the factory in two months, then you can go."

All of them exchanged glances. So Ethan meant that each month of work was worth $50,000?

"You trust us? Aren’t you afraid that we’d run for it or make trouble or ruin the factory?" asked the leader.

"You dare?"

It only took one sentence from Ethan.

None of them said anything.

Before this, they had to work and risk their lives for John Howard, but John Howard earned all the money.

Now John Howard had abandoned them, so they were no longer obliged to do John Howard’s bidding. Besides, if they offended Ethan, the consequences were very grave!

They remembered very clearly that when Tom Foster came, he had respectfully called Ethan ‘Big Boss’!

If Tom Foster, who was on the same level as John Howard, had to call this man Big Boss, how terrifying he must be!

More importantly, he had convinced them after beating them all up singlehandedly!

"I’ll do it!" the leader was the first to shout. "I hope you’ll keep your promise!"

"Me too! Bloody hell, I’ll fight for my own freedom!"

"Two months to earn 100k to redeem my freedom, I’m doing it!"

One by one they all started shouting in agreement.

No matter what they had to do, it was 50k a month. At least here, they were worth a lot more than before.

Right now Diane was having a headache because it looked like they weren’t going to meet the schedule.

"Can’t we hire more workers? If we can’t finish the building in two months, we can’t fit the assembly line on schedule."

Her plans couldn’t be delayed like this.

"It’s very hard to find people now, especially since this place is pretty far out."

Mr Roger was also having a headache over this. It was expensive to hire workers, but the bigger problem was that few were willing to do this sort of work and couldn’t take the work, so he couldn’t find anyone at such short notice.

Diane was still frowning when she saw that the hooligans from the morning were all walking towards them.

She immediately became nervous, "Who...who untied them?"

Mr Roger became even paler, and anxiously looked around for Ethan.

But Ethan wasn’t around – who could fend them off now?

But the entire group walked right up to Diane and bowed slightly.

"Miss Palmer, we will listen to your instructions for the next two months and work on this construction site!" said the leader.

"Wha-?"

Diane was in shock. What did he mean?

So they weren’t here to make trouble, but they wanted to work on the site?

She was just vexed over how she couldn’t find enough workers to speed up the building of the factory, and now all these men had come just in time to offer to work on the site.

But these men all looked so dangerous and scary, she didn’t dare to hire any of them.

"We don’t need to be paid! We just want to complete the work and regain our freedom!" the leader continued.

Diane and the rest were even more stunned. They wanted to work but didn’t need to be paid?

Work on a construction site was all menial work. It was tough but they didn’t want money, and only wanted to regain their freedom.

Diane turned to see Ethan walking over.

"Ethan, what’s going on?"

"They want to prove that they can do something else besides fight. You’re facing a shortage of workers now, so I told them to come over."

Ethan took one look at them. "Don’t worry about hiring them, they won’t dare to make any trouble."

If anyone dared to, then they couldn’t blame Ethan for turning nasty.

Diane still didn’t dare to believe her ears, so some of the men just went straight into the site and carried some cement bags in.

Once one started moving, the rest of the men moved too. They went asking the other workers what needed to be done, and started work very quickly.

At least this way, they just needed to use the next two months to repay their debt of 100k. They could get their freedom back and get some pride back as well.

Diane watched in confusion as the hooligans who had made so much trouble before were now rolling up their sleeves and working in the hot sun at the construction site. How did this world change so fast?

"They really won’t make any trouble?"

She was most worried that they would cause trouble.

The project couldn’t afford any further delays.

"Don’t worry, these people have been abandoned and they want to prove themselves now. They don’t have any time or energy to make trouble," replied Ethan calmly.

"Then about their salary..." Mr Roger couldn’t help but ask.

"Salary? It’s already not bad that I didn’t ask for money from them," snorted Ethan.

Diane rolled her eyes at Ethan.

"I will consider the issue of their salary. As long as they work seriously and help to hasten the building, then we have to at least provide them with food. We can’t make them work on an empty stomach."

What a kind woman Diane was.

After leaving the factory for home, Diane was still worried. She made several calls to Mr Roger to make sure the men were all still working hard before she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But how did Ethan manage to persuade them?

All these men were gangsters, and were terrifying if they started to fight!

She wanted to ask Ethan, but she could tell from his expression that everything was under control, so she suddenly didn’t want to ask him anymore.

What was this fellow gleeful about.

By the time they reached home, it was dinner time.

April had already prepared dinner long ago, and was just waiting for Diane and Ethan to come home.

At the dining table, Ethan’s appetite was excellent as usual.

William and April never really ate very much, but now she had to cook quite a bit everyday.

"Diane, I heard something cropped up at the factory?" William was quite worried.

He knew very well how kind and easily bullied his daughter was.

"It’s all settled."

Diane put some vegetables into William’s bowl. "Dad, don’t worry."

She turned to Ethan, who was furiously wolfing down his food. She was glad that he had been around, and thought about whether to put some meat in his bowl as a reward.

"It’s all thanks to Ethan, right?"

April put the biggest pork rib into Ethan’s bowl before Diane could. "Eat more."

"Thanks Mum!"

Ethan had a look of joy on his face.

"Who on earth is this person, making things difficult for you again and again?"

William frowned. Ethan was around, but surely they couldn’t always trouble him.

Diane shook her head. She only knew that those hooligans worked for John Howard in the illegal circles, but she didn’t know who was giving them instructions.

"Dad, you know this person very well."

Ethan opened his mouth instead. "Tell me, who is the one who wants Diane to fail the most?"

William was stunned as he exchanged glances with April. It took a while before he finally uttered, "My brother?"

"That’s right, it’s Steven."

Ethan explained, "He’s paid a hooligan five million to ruin Diane’s project, or to ruin Diane directly."

William and April’s expressions immediately darkened and became angry! Anger to the point of fury! How could Steven have done something like that!

"If Diane successfully pulls this project off, then she would have made a huge contribution to the Palmers. Steven and son are definitely not willing to see this day come."

"But by ruining this project, the losses to the Palmers is tremendous!"

William nearly couldn’t resist banging the table.

"So what? The Palmer Group doesn’t belong to that father and son yet, so if they make losses, so be it."

William’s face was all red. He knew that what Ethan said was right.

He was even more aware that his eldest brother wanted full control of the Palmer Group, so he sent their second brother, Nicolas, to Fairbanks to seek expansion opportunities, but that was merely an excuse to send him away. He had found a man to marry into their family so that his own family couldn’t compete with Steven for the business either.

If not for the fact that the old man was still alive, Steven would have made his move much earlier.

"He even wants to destroy Diane, that’s going too far!"

April had no interest in any of the Palmers’ assets, but she would not allow anyone to bring harm to Diane.

"This will not do. I’m going to reason it out with the old man!" April stood up.

"I’ll go!"

William couldn’t stand it anymore either. They were brothers, and Diane was Steven’s niece!

How could he have found it in himself to do this?

He lost all his appetite and pushed his wheelchair to the door. Diane couldn’t stop him either.

Ethan didn’t stop him either. He got April to wait at home while he drove William and Diane to the Palmer house.

Gerald lived in a posh bungalow estate. Ethan drove them to the entrance and wanted to go in with William and Diane.

"Only members of the Palmer family are allowed in."

The man at the door blocked Ethan’s way, and a look of disdain flashed across his face.

"This is my son-in-law!" William retorted, "Doesn’t that make him family?"

"I’m sorry, Old Master has given instructions that only those in the direct bloodline of the Palmers can enter this house." The man at the door wasn’t giving William any concession.

In fact, it seemed like he couldn’t care less about this crippled third son.

"You..." William started getting angry.

He never thought that his position in the family was so low now that even servants looked down on him.

"Dad, I’ll wait for you guys outside."

Ethan didn’t say much. "Diane, go in with Dad."

Diane nodded and she looked apologetic. She didn’t expect that Ethan couldn’t even get past the main door, but Ethan used his eyes to tell her that it was alright.

Diane pushed William’s wheelchair into the house, while Ethan waited at the door.

He hadn’t planned on going in either.

Ethan didn’t stop William and Diane from coming here to look for Gerald and question Steven’s actions because he wanted them to see for themselves that they had already lost their position in the Palmer family long ago.

No matter how hard they worked or how stellar their results were, it wouldn’t change anything.

"People only understand what choice they must make after they see the truth clearly," whispered Ethan to himself.

"Stand further away! Unauthorized persons and dogs are not to stand so close!"

The servant at the door saw that Ethan was still standing there and scoffed, "You’re just someone who married into the family, and you really think you’re a member of the Palmers!"

"Number three can barely stay in the family, and he still wants to bring someone like you into the house, what a joke."

Ethan turned and took one look at the servant, then suddenly punched him in the stomach. The servant immediately paled, clutched his stomach and collapsed on the ground.

"Can’t you be quiet for a while?"

The bungalow was filled with the smell of essential oils.

Gerald was very good at enjoying life, and cherished his days even more after his wife had passed on.

He had eaten a lot of health supplements over the past few years just to keep himself alive for a few more years.

The entire living room was filled with a light fragrance. Gerald felt very comfortable when he smelled it, but William and Diane were not used to it at all.

"Dad."

Diane pushed William in and William called out when he saw Gerald seated on a rosewood chair and reciting Buddhist scriptures with beads in his hand.

Gerald didn’t even open his eyes and continued his chanting, as if he hadn’t heard anything.

Diane was about to call her grandfather, but William waved his hand, telling her not to disturb Gerald.

He knew that they weren’t important enough for the old man to stop what he was doing to listen to them.

Diane bit her lips. This wasn’t the first time she was in such a situation.

If it was Steven and son who came, things wouldn’t look like that.

After a long time, Gerald finally finished reciting all the scriptures, and slowly opened his eyes.

He turned and saw William and daughter, and frowned.

"You’re here."

He had only said these two words calmly and slowly, as if these two people standing in front of him wasn’t his own son and granddaughter.

"Dad, I need to talk to you about something."

William was already used to the way Gerald treated him.

Ever since he became disabled and wasn’t able to contribute to the Palmers anymore and even needed financial assistance from the family, he had lost his standing in the family.

If Steven and son hadn’t gone too far in attacking Diane, he didn’t want to be here at all.

"Speak."

Gerald said very little, as if he wasn’t willing to spend any additional words on William.

"The project that Diane is in charge of. It’s a very important project to the Palmers, right?"

Gerald frowned. He figured that William had come today to get some benefits out of him.

He knew about this matter. Steven had told him before that Diane had used some way of making Tom Foster insist that she remained solely in charge of the project, otherwise he would refuse to do this project.

He was already unhappy about this, but he didn’t want to say anything after considering the greater benefit to the Palmers.

He didn’t expect William to come knocking on his door for benefits.

Did he really think that the Palmers couldn’t manage this project without Diane?

When he thought about this, Gerald had even more contempt in his eyes when he looked at Diane.

It was useless having daughters after all. They were to be married off, and might even take some assets along with them when they got married.

"Yes, it’s very important."

Gerald looked up. "Isn’t Diane in charge of it now? Why? What else do you want?"

Diane felt some discomfort in her heart when she heard this.

Did her grandfather think that they would come here only because they wanted something? Like asking for some benefit for themselves?

"No."

William shook his head. "We are members of the Palmer family, so it’s only right for us to work for the Palmers. I have no requests to make, and I do not intend to reap any benefit for myself."

"But, Steven has been making trouble again and again, affecting Diane’s work and even trying to ruin this project at all costs! Isn’t that going too far?!"

William started getting agitated.

"He found some gangsters to make trouble for Diane, creating trouble at the factory construction site and even wanted to harm Diane. What is the meaning of this? This project belongs to Palmer Group, and not myself or my daughter!"

Gerald’s eyes widened and stared hard at William.

"What did you say?"

Gerald didn’t look like he believed William at all.

"That’s not possible."

He immediately continued, "Steven is your eldest brother, and he’s now the CEO of Palmer Group. He wouldn’t do anything that would cause the company to suffer any losses."

"Dad!"

William became anxious. "Do you think I would lie to you?"

There was proof of everything that happened. Did he have to get Ethan to drag some of those hooligans here to give an account to Gerald before he would believe?

"Hmph, why would I believe you?"

Gerald calmly said instead, "Steven isn’t that sort of person."

William stared blankly at Gerald. He suddenly felt that he was really stupid for coming here to question Steven’s actions.

It was impossible for Gerald to believe him.

To Gerald, only Steven was his son – what was he?

"William, I know it’s been hard on you, being paralyzed all these years. You can’t earn a single cent for the family and you even have to beg me for money, it must feel terrible."

William’s eyes were red now.

"But you shouldn’t slander your brother like that. If he hadn’t helped you financially all these years, your family wouldn’t have survived till now."

"Diane is in charge of this project only because Steven kept recommending her to me, in hope that I would give your family a chance. And now not only are you failing to keep an eye on Diane and making sure she’s working hard, you’ve even come here to badmouth your brother?"

Gerald shook his head, his face filled with disappointment. "You have made me so disappointed."

"Grandpa..."

Diane started getting angry. Gerald was spouting nonsense!

"You don’t talk."

Gerald cut her off immediately. "You have no right to speak in this house!"

Diane’s face darkened after she was told off.

"Do not become arrogant just because you are in charge of this project. You have to thank your uncle for recommending you, otherwise I wouldn’t have given you this chance at all."

The meaning of these words was very clear.

These words were mocking Diane. She had worked so hard without complaining – how much had she suffered?

Steven hadn’t helped her at all and had tripped her several times secretly. Now Gerald was actually asking her to thank him instead.

Thank him for what? Making life difficult for her?

"Grandpa, I’m fine with the fact that you’ve always sided with their family."

Diane took a deep breath. "But can’t you have some principles to differentiate truths from lies?"

"Such audacity!"

Gerald was furious and slammed a palm on the table. "How dare you talk to me like this!"

He glared at Diane furiously. He didn’t think she would have such poor manners.

"William! Is this how you have taught your daughter? If you don’t know how to teach your children, then don’t give birth to any!"

Gerald continued his tirade, "What’s the use of having a child that takes money out and doesn’t bring any in! You want me to count on you? Get out now!"

William wanted to defend himself, but he realized he couldn’t find the words to say.

He saw the pain on Diane’s face and blamed himself. He was ashamed that as a father, he couldn’t protect his own daughter from attacks, and she had to suffer such disdain and humiliation!

William clenched his fists tightly. He had never felt such deep despair before today.

"Diane, let’s go."

He looked hard at Gerald. For the first time, he felt that this father of his was very distant from him.

Diane didn’t say anymore, and pushed William out.

Gerald was still shouting in rage at them from behind.

"Leeches! A whole family of leeches! Not a single bit of gratitude at all! I must have been blind to have given your family a chance!"

William and Diane felt the hurt in their hearts. Such insulting words were hurled at them by someone closest to them.

Neither looked very good as they walked out of the bungalow door.

Their faces were filled with silent suffering, helplessness, disappointment and anger!

Ethan had guessed as much.

After this round, they should now understand that they didn’t have anything to do with this family anymore.

They were able to remain in the family only because Diane was useful to them.

But once this project was completed, Gerald would kick Diane out of the family without hesitation!

He didn’t ask anything. He only walked over and took over Diane in pushing William’s wheelchair. "Diane, go open the car door, let’s go home."

The air in the car was very heavy.

William was sitting at the back, and he finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. He angrily punched his numb legs.

"Useless! Useless!"

William continued punching his legs, "William, you’re a good for nothing!"

"Dad!"

Diane’s heart went out to her father. She turned and her tears started flowing. "Don’t be like this."

"Diane, your father is useless and I have let you down! I have caused you to suffer like this."

William’s lips were trembling.

He blamed himself, he was ashamed of himself.

If he hadn’t become paralyzed, they wouldn’t be in this situation today.

Even if Gerald despised Diane for being a girl, at least he would have been able to protect her and not allow anyone to bully her.

"Dad, I don’t blame you. Really, I’ve never blamed you at all."

Diane shook her head. "You and Mum love me very much and I know that both of you have always given me only the best, you don’t have to blame yourself."

Today she had seen very clearly for herself that her family had no place in Gerald’s eyes at all.

So what if they worked hard?

In the end, they weren’t even worth a few nice words from Steven.

William pulled at his own hair. He hated how helpless he was. The more Diane tried to console him, the more ashamed he felt.

"Dad, it is indeed your fault that Diane has suffered so much."

Ethan had remained silent all this while, and he glanced into the rear mirror.

Diane turned back, "Ethan, what are you saying!"

"It’s because you’ve been so weak, so all the people in the Palmer family look down on your family, trampling all over Mum and Diane. They are women, but they’ve had to endure so much bullying, so it’s only right that you feel ashamed of yourself."

"Ethan!"

Diane shouted at him, "You are not to talk about my father like that!"

Her eyes were all red and her tears couldn’t stop flowing.

Nobody was allowed to talk about her father like that!

Ethan just ignored her. "If you were firmer, or if you stood up against all this, you think Mum and Diane would have been so badly bullied?"

"Mum has worn that dress for several years now, hasn’t she?"

"Does she still buy any cosmetics at all?"

"Diane could have furthered her studies, but why did she enter Palmer Group immediately after getting a basic degree?"

"She goes out first thing in the morning and comes back late at night, working harder than anyone else, working more tirelessly than anybody else, but is her salary higher than everybody else?"

Every word from Ethan was going to tear William apart!

He didn’t leave a single bit of sympathy, shredding William’s pride to pieces with a few words.

William couldn’t take care of his wife nor protect his own daughter – what sort of man was he?

"Ethan...I beg you, don’t say anymore."

Diane tugged at Ethan’s sleeve. "Don’t hurt my dad anymore, please?"

Ethan looked at Diane, then parked the car at the side of the road.

"I’m not hurting him. The one who has hurt him all this time is himself."

Ethan continued, "His legs have lost all feeling, and so physically, he can’t stand. But now? He can’t even stand emotionally."

"Ethan is right."

William laughed bitterly. "I’ve knelt down for too long and can’t stand anymore, it’s not because of my actual legs."

"I can make sure your legs are healed and you will be able to stand again. But if you don’t pick yourself up and stand up in your mind, then it’s meaningless to treat your legs," Ethan responded without reservation.

William looked up and met Ethan’s eyes.

"Mum chose you – can you bear to see her be a loser for the rest of her life?"

William suddenly felt like his head exploded.

Let April be a loser for the rest of her life?

She had married a weakling like himself, a disabled weakling. She had been laughed at by her own family so many times, but April had never grumbled about it in front of him before.

He pretended that he didn’t know about any of this, but could he still continue to pretend?

"No!"

William suddenly clenched his fists and his expression became fierce. "I won’t let her be a loser for life! She’s my wife, and I won’t let anyone laugh at her because of me!"

Ethan nodded and started the car again.

"That’s good enough. Prepare yourselves, our family is going to rise from the ashes."

William and Diane were both confused. Their family was going to rise from the ashes?

What did Ethan mean by that?

But Ethan didn’t elaborate further.

When they reached home, William’s eyes were all red. He didn’t say anything and went straight to sleep, and April was a bit worried.

"Diane, what happened?"

Diane shook her head.

William had become like that after what Ethan said. She was also worried, and she glared at Ethan. Why did he have to say such pointed things?

"Mum, don’t worry, Dad is just tired. Tomorrow he’ll be a changed man."

With that, Ethan went into his room.

......

Meanwhile, at the hot spring clubhouse.

John Howard’s face was very nasty.

He stared at Steven and coldly said, "CEO Palmer, it’s not very ethical of you to hide so much from me."

"Why didn’t you tell me that the project was linked to Tom Foster?"

"Brother Howard, what are you talking about? That project belongs to the Palmers, what has it got to do with Tom Foster? He’s merely sold us some things, and that’s all settled."

Steven snorted. "But that Diane is really something, I suspect she’s sleeping with Tom Foster and serving him really well, and that’s why she’s so daring."

"I don’t care about any of these."

John Howard waved his hand. "Because of this errand I ran for you, I still have 68 brothers stuck at the construction site. 100k per head – you tell me, how are you going to settle this?"

Steven smiled calmly and didn’t speak.

How was he going to settle this?

Bloody hell, John Howard had taken five freaking million from him, still hadn’t managed to fulfil his mission and was now asking him how he was going to settle this?

John Howard’s men were all useless pieces of garbage!

When he saw Steven look as though none of this was his business, John Howard cursed in his heart.

He knew that Steven wasn’t going to give him anymore money. After all, he had taken his money but hadn’t settled what he was supposed to do, so it wasn’t going to be easy to get anymore money.

"Now that Tom Foster is involved, it’s going to be difficult to settle."

John Howard continued, "Besides, I’ve looked up Tom Foster already. He says there’s someone backing him, and it’s someone I can’t afford to offend!"

"Why, there’s still someone in Greencliff that Brother Howard can’t afford to offend?"

Steven raised an eyebrow. "That’s to say, I’ve found the wrong person for this job."

John Howard looked at Steven and felt that this businessman wasn’t much better than him – was he already expressing his displeasure?

If Steven spread word of this, it would affect John Howard’s reputation negatively.

"Hmph, CEO Palmer, don’t look down on me now."

John Howard replied, "I know how much weight I can pull!"

"So what are you going to do about my brothers who are still being detained at the site?"

"They’re all my men, so I can’t just leave them there. Otherwise their hearts will grow cold, no?"

There were some subordinates standing not too far off and nodded inside their hearts.

They had been observing John Howard’s reaction and were hoping that he would do something to bring their fellow brothers back. But John Howard still hadn’t done anything till now.

6.8 million – John Howard couldn’t bear to part with that much.

"I don’t believe that they would dare to detain my men and not let them go! They can keep them then!"

John Howard coldly snorted, "Those brothers of mine would find the first chance they have to escape. Then we’ll see how I shall deal with that idiot Tom Foster!"

The subordinates standing at one side froze.

What John Howard meant was that he wasn’t going to take any money out to redeem the men. Instead he was going to wait for them to think of a way to escape?

Was money more important than these so called brothers to him?

There was even a flash of contempt on Steven’s face. If John Howard led his men this way, it was a matter of time before problems cropped up.

"Brother Howard!"

Someone came in from outside and he didn’t look too good. "Something’s happened!"

"Now what?!"

John Howard was getting angry now. Why was something constantly going wrong?

"It’s those brothers that were detained."

There was a strange look on his face. "They’ve been set free."

"Set free?"

John Howard’s mood immediately improved. "That’s a good thing! I knew it, Tom Foster was just pretending in front of me. How could he dare to continue detaining my men!"

That way, he saved 6.8 million!

"But..."

The person who came to report hesitated for a moment before managing to continue, "They didn’t come back because they’re working at the construction site. And they’re working for free."

"What did you say?!"

John Howard got up with a start.

He stared hard at that subordinate. "Say that again!"

His eyes were about to spew fire!

His men were working at the construction site for someone else and they were doing it for free?

Were they trying to embarrass him as much as they could?!

"Brother Howard, you weren’t willing to pay the money to redeem them, so they...they had to work to earn enough to redeem themselves."

The subordinate spoke very softly, not daring to say this too loudly.

"Bullshit!"

John Howard kicked one chair aside, his face all red with anger. "Are they good for nothings? There are more than 60 of them and they can’t find a chance to fight their way out? Is there someone watching them round the clock?"

"Bloody useless idiots, embarrassing me!"

"They’re such useless idiots and they still hope that I’ll spend 100k on each of them? Are they worth it even?!"

John Howard’s frustration became fury, and he started shouting angrily.

He’d never been this humiliated before.

He had sent out nearly 70 men, but they couldn’t get things done and got tied up by the other party instead.

That was shameful enough.

And now? They were working for the other party for free?

This was taking his pride and using their shoes to step hard on it!

"Brother Howard, looks like I’ve really found the wrong person for this job."

Steven got up and smiled as he shook his head.

He had spent five million to get this result. Could John Howard get any more embarrassing than this?

John Howard had claimed that there was nothing he couldn’t get done in Greencliff. And now? He’d been soundly slapped in the face! What a loud sound these slaps made!

"CEO Palmer, don’t worry, since I took your money, I’ll settle this matter for you for sure!"

John Howard angrily said, "I’ve been in Greencliff for so many years, and I’m not going to let a small thing like this destroy my reputation!"

Steven didn’t say anything, but his doubtful smile made John Howard even more upset.

"Call all the brothers together!"

John Howard clenched his teeth as he shouted, "Nobody has ever dared to just do anything they want like this, not even Tom Foster is allowed to!"

"Tomorrow, go drag those useless things back and I’ll teach them a lesson!"

Steven couldn’t care less about John Howard’s tirade. What was the use of sounding fierce in front of his subordinates?

He couldn’t even get a small thing like this done. It seemed like even though John Howard’s name meant black tiger, he wasn’t anything like a tiger at all.

Steven’s phone started ringing and he saw it was from Gerald. He couldn’t help but frown a little.

"Dad."

He walked out to take the call.

"Come to my house immediately!"

Gerald’s tone was very severe, and he hung up immediately after that one sentence.

Steven’s heart quivered a little. He could hear some anger in Gerald’s voice, but he couldn’t figure out why.

He didn’t dare to delay too much, so he quickly drove to Gerald’s bungalow.

He rushed into the house with great hurry and put on a worried face, "Dad, what happened? Is it Archie? Did he make you angry again? I’ll go back and teach him a lesson now!"

Gerald was sitting in his chair as he slowly opened his eyes. "It’s not Archie."

"It’s not him? Then who made you angry?"

"It’s you!"

Gerald’s voice suddenly increased in volume. "Steven, did you arrange for someone to disrupt the construction of Diane’s factory?"

Steven’s heart dropped. How did the old man know about this?

John Howard!

That useless idiot! His men were also a bunch of good for nothings!

"Yes, it was me."

Steven didn’t deny it and nodded his head.

He knew that since Gerald had asked about it, he must know everything. He couldn’t hide anything, because defending himself would make Gerald even angrier.

"Why?"

Gerald’s face was still solemn, but he was not as angry as before already.

"Because Diane is getting benefits out of this!"

Steven clenched his teeth as he continued, "She’s been ganging up with Tom Foster to take over the Palmer Group! I suppose you don’t know, but earlier this month, she bought a BMW worth $500,000! Where on earth would they get this sort of money?"

Gerald’s eyes instantly narrowed.

"This Diane looks innocent and kind, but she’s actually really cunning and ambitious. She’s been unhappy with the family and unhappy with you for a long time, accumulating hatred in her heart, so she’s going to take this chance to swallow everything we have!"

Steven continued to huff and puff, "What else has this family done besides asking us for money? Nothing!"

"We’ve been so kind to them, but what about them? They’re repaying our kindness with evil!"

"Now they’re not satisfied and they want even more. As the one in charge, there’s no way I’m allowing these thieves to get a single cent from the Palmers!"

Gerald’s expression had calmed down considerably.

"But this project is extremely important because we’ve invested so much into it. If you make trouble like this, we will suffer losses too!"

Gerald tapped his finger on the table.

"I didn’t want to either."

Steven laughed sadly, his expression full of frustration. "But if we don’t cut ties now while we can, it’ll become more difficult later. If Diane really manages to take over everything, do you think we’ll still stand a chance to take this project back?"

"I didn’t want Dad to know about this matter, I could have handled this myself. You’re getting on in years, and you shouldn’t have to worry about Palmer Group anymore. I’ve been too useless, letting you worry so much."

Steven put on a big show of being filial and concerned, making Gerald feel even more comforted.

"William came earlier to look for me, and accused you of getting in Diane’s way."

Gerald continued, "This William has changed. He has become greedy and scheming, I’m so disappointed."

"William has gone too far!"

Steven started getting angry, "Nicolas has been working hard for the family in Fairbanks, I’ve been losing sleep over our family business, but William?"

The more he said, the greater the disappointment on Gerald’s face.

If William weren’t his biological son, he would have disowned him already!

"Dad, don’t worry, I’ll protect this family. I won’t let anyone take a single cent from us!" declared Steven.

Gerald nodded, "I can rest easy after hearing you say this. Then William and family..."

"I have a plan, so Dad, you don’t have to worry, leave it to me."

After taking some time to console Gerald and say things that he liked hearing, Gerald’s mood started to improve.

Steven left the house and his face was very grim.

He’d never thought that the usually weak and timid William would actually come and tell on him.

But so what?

To Gerald, Steven was the only son that was outstanding and was the one Gerald trusted the most. Everything William said was like someone farting!

"Looks like I can’t untie this dead knot!"

Steven’s eyes were cold and vicious. "William, you asked for it, so don’t blame your brother here for being nasty!"

The night slowly quietened down.

Everything became peaceful again, but Ethan knew that it was the start of unrest.

He was lying on the floor, but Ethan knew Diane was still awake.

"Don’t go to the site tomorrow. Go shopping with Mum and buy some clothes and health supplements."

"Why?"

Diane turned around, but she couldn’t see Ethan’s face clearly in the dark. "What about you?"

"I’ll go to the site."

Diane paused for a moment. "Whatever for?"

She was the overall person in charge, while Ethan had nothing to do with this project, so what was he going to do there?"

"There’s some garbage I need to clear out for you," replied Ethan calmly.

The next day, William woke up very early in the morning.

He washed up and shaved, then changed into a nice shirt that he hadn’t worn in ages. He opened the lock of his bookshelf, took out the dusty business related documents he had and started studying them very seriously in front of the balcony.

April didn’t know what happened at all, and she felt like William had become a different person.

The look in his eyes, the way he carried himself, and even his expression was completely different.

She got a bit worried.

The night before, Ethan had told her that she would get a new William from today onwards, but what on earth was going on?

"Mum, Diane will go shopping with you today, to buy some clothes and health supplements."

Ethan grabbed breakfast from the table, eating as he went out of the door. "Dad has to revise a lot of things, so don’t disturb him."

Soon enough, there was the sound of the car starting up outside, and Ethan left.

Diane walked out of the room, her face helpless.

Ethan didn’t allow her to go to the site and said she must go shopping with April, like it was more important than anything else.

"Mum, after breakfast I’ll go shopping with you. We haven’t gone shopping in ages."

"What’s there to buy? I don’t have anything I need to buy."

April quickly added, "That’s just wasting money!"

Even though she had accepted that five million, but to her, it was money that she was returning to Greencliff Bank sooner or later.

"We have to...If we don’t buy anything today, Ethan said he’ll go buy them after he comes back."

Diane pouted.

If she let Ethan go out and shop, she was afraid this idiot would buy the entire shopping complex!

After returning from the bank that day, she went online to check what was so special about Ethan’s black card. She had just sat there in shock for an hour after she found out.

She couldn’t believe it at all. Ethan was THIS rich!

"Mum, if you don’t buy some clothes today, Ethan would definitely end up buying the entire shopping complex for you to choose from," Diane said powerlessly.

Ethan was definitely capable of doing something like that.

"Alright then."

April wasn’t going to let Ethan simply waste money on them again, so she decided to just buy a couple of clothes on discount.

......

At the factory construction site.

With the help of an additional 68 workers, the work went much faster than before.

Besides, these hooligans worked extra hard.

Diane had given instructions to make sure that meals were provided for them, to make sure they had enough to eat and strength to work. There was even dessert and fruits for them.

When these hooligans saw these, their eyes were all red and on the verge of tears.

They had worked so hard for John Howard, but were never treated like this before!

For the first time in their lives, they didn’t think it was so difficult to work and earn their own keep anymore, and there was even dignity in doing so.

Ethan sat in the car listening to music and waiting quietly.

Soon enough, a few large buses stopped at the entrance of the factory, and a huge group of people rushed out from the buses.

"A bunch of useless things!"

John Howard walked right in front and saw that his men were really working at the site and was so angry, his face was all red. "Useless things! All of you are a bloody embarrassment to me!"

"What’s the point of feeding all of you? In the end you’re so weak, you’re moving concrete at a construction site! How shameful!"

He continued shouting angrily, "Why are all of you just standing there? Get back here right now!"

The hooligans working at the construction site were shocked to see that John Howard had actually showed up.

Was he here to save them?

Judging from John Howard’s expression and how he had brought so many men along, he wasn’t here to save them at all. He was angry that they had embarrassed him, and he was here to make trouble for them.

All their hearts turned even colder.

When he needed to pay to redeem them, John Howard didn’t say a single word because he couldn’t bear to part with the money.

Now that his pride was at stake, he had come shouting at them. Did he really take them as dogs?

To be at his beck and call?

"Stop right there!"

Tom Foster had already arranged for men to guard the entrance to the site, and their leader was Brother Geoff from the other day.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at John Howard. "Isn’t this Brother Howard? Why, have you brought more people here to work? Our site isn’t short of workers anymore, you know?"

"You’re fucking asking for it!"

John Howard yelled angrily, "Where’s Tom Foster! Tell him to come out right now!"

"CEO Foster tried to strike a deal with you, but I thought Brother Howard rejected it? 6.8 million is not a very large investment, but you couldn’t bear to part with that money."

Brother Geoff didn’t pull any punches, and delivered attack after attack on John Howard in front of everyone.

John Howard’s expression immediately darkened.

Since when did small fry dare to talk to him this way!

"I’m going to bring these embarrassing things back today, and you’re going to stop me?"

He had a threatening look on his face. With a shout, the hundred men behind him held up their bats!

Brother Geoff sniggered and cracked his neck. He clapped his hands and nearly 300 men came running out from the site. There were way more of them than John Howard and gang!

"I’ve heard all about the infamous Brother Howard. CEO Foster said that if Brother Howard wants to teach me a lesson, then I can go ahead and play this game with you!"

All the men behind Brother Geoff took a step forward!

John Howard’s face became nastier.

A mere dog under Tom Foster dared to speak so rudely to him?

"Don’t force me!" John Howard angrily replied.

Brother Geoff used a finger to dig his ear, "The moment Brother Howard makes a move, we will also make our move. Today, it’s either you die, or I die!"

How vicious!

When it came to exchanging vicious words, Brother Geoff was never afraid of anyone!

Besides, there was a grim reaper sitting in the car!

Brother Geoff had witnessed how powerful Ethan was, so now he was full of confidence.

John Howard became furious upon hearing this, the fury overtaking his head. "Whack him! Whack all these bloody idiots who don’t know what’s good for them!"

In an instant, both sides violently clashed and a huge fight broke out!

Brother Geoff wielded his bat fiercely and didn’t hold back at all. He finally got a chance to prove himself in front of Ethan, so if he didn’t put in effort, Ethan would have spared his life previously in vain!

Brother Geoff’s side definitely had an advantage in terms of numbers, and their ferocity was equally unbeatable!

The boss of their boss was right behind them, so what was there to be afraid of!

In just a few minutes, John Howard’s men started retreating. There were too few of them, and the other side was obviously well prepared.

John Howard was very strong and could take on five or six men without a problem. But Brother Geoff took no chances and surrounded John Howard with another dozen men without any regard for John Howard at all.

Brother Geoff got hit by a punch on the shoulder, and he kicked John Howard in the stomach in retaliation. He gleefully wiped the blood from his lips, excitement overwhelming him.

"Come at me again, Brother Howard!"

"If you don’t kill me today, I’ll kill you!"

John Howard was so angry he clenched his teeth. He looked up and saw the men who had now become construction workers hadn’t even reacted!

"I’ve raised a bunch of ungrateful idiots!"

John Howard shuddered. There was no point in fighting anymore – so what if he brought back this bunch of useless idiots?

They would probably not listen to him anymore!

It made him furious!

His reputation was going down the drain this time.

"Tom Foster, you’re really vicious! I’ll remember this!"

John Howard threatened, "From today onwards, I’m going to fight you to the very death!"

With that, he turned to leave.

"You come when you want to, you leave when you want to."

There was suddenly a voice behind him. A calm yet somehow terrifying voice.

"Did you ask me first?"

John Howard violently came to a stop and slowly turned around.

He saw a man walking towards him.

His footsteps were light, but each step he took felt like he was stepping on John Howard’s heart!

Stepping on his heart hard, again and again!

John Howard suddenly felt his heart rate suddenly increase and blood rushed to his head, as if he was being watched by a fierce tiger.

"Who are you?"

John Howard swallowed and was shocked to hear himself – his voice had actually changed.

A deep fear rose from his heart, and it was a very strange sort of fear. He had mixed around in the illegal circles for so many years, but he had never felt fear like this before. All it took was one look at Ethan, and fear would take root in his heart!

"You aren’t qualified to know."

Ethan calmly replied, "It’s the third time you’ve come to make trouble here."

He had already warned John Howard, but John Howard didn’t listen.

If this were a war, Ethan wouldn’t have given him any chances and would have killed him off immediately.

"Hmph! Very confident huh! Where’s Tom Foster? Tell him to come out and see me right now!"

John Howard subconsciously took a step back.

He sensed deep in his heart that this man in front of him was the man that Tom Foster told him about. He was arrogant enough alright!

Ethan ignored him.

He glared at John Howard and his voice became very cold. "In Greencliff, you’re the first one who doesn’t know what’s good for him."

Then he suddenly made his move!

It was so fast!

It was as if a shadow just slid past, and everyone was in awe!

A loud bam was heard, and the ground seemed to shake a little.

After that, it was the sound of a blood curdling scream!

"Ahhhh!!"

Both of John Howard’s legs were bent as he knelt on the ground, and both his knees had sunk into the ground!

The pain made John Howard’s face pale as a sheet. He used his hands to support himself and tried to stand, but he couldn’t get his legs out at all.

They were broken!

His legs were broken and they were numb now. Besides the terrible pain, he couldn’t feel anything else.

"This is just a light punishment."

Ethan looked down at John Howard, "You admit defeat now?"

John Howard breathed hard, his face all red. The intense pain made his mind extremely alert.

He stared straight at Ethan. He hadn’t expected Ethan to really make a move without warning, and he was so strong. Earlier...how did he do that?

He hadn’t even seen how it happened, so how could he have reacted at all?

Was this the man that Tom Foster said he couldn’t afford to offend?

When did such a terrifying man appear in Greencliff?!

"I...I won’t admit defeat, kill me if you dare!"

John Howard clenched his teeth as he roared this with bloodshot eyes.

Another foot kicked John Howard in the jaw. With a crack, John Howard’s lower jaw broke. He collapsed onto the ground and couldn’t say another word.

Ethan didn’t even bother wasting any words on him.

He wouldn’t admit defeat?

Ethan would make him!

All the men that John Howard brought were all staring with their eyes wide and mouths open.

This man was way too heavy handed!

Ethan made a move just because he said so. But that was John Howard, famous for being vicious in the illegal circles.

But now he had been beaten so soundly by Ethan that he couldn’t fight back, and now he couldn’t even talk.

They held the bats in their hands tightly, but nobody dared to even move.

Ethan scanned them and they took a step back.

He couldn’t even be bothered with these pieces of garbage.

"Throw all this garbage out. If anyone tries to come in and make trouble, whack them." Ethan finished his instructions and left.

Brother Geoff was super excited!

He had never seen anyone as strong and powerful as Ethan all his life. Even a notorious man like John Howard was even smaller than an ant compared to Ethan.

"Throw him out!"

Brother Geoff himself picked up John Howard with a few other men and threw him out like they were throwing a dead dog out.

None of John Howard’s men dared to move!

They saw that John Howard had lost consciousness and his face was covered with blood, so they could only carefully carry John Howard into the car and run for it.

The hooligans in the construction site were all frozen as they watched this happen.

They knew Ethan was formidable, but they didn’t expect him to be this crazy!

That was John Howard!

He was notorious for being a vicious man in Greencliff’s illegal circles, and apparently he had killed people before too, but Ethan...he looked at John Howard no differently from looking at a dog.

Just how powerful was this man?

"Brother Geoff, who is he?"

One of the hooligans couldn’t resist asking Brother Geoff. "When did such a terrifying man appear in Greencliff?"

"Who is he?"

Brother Geoff snorted, "You’re not qualified to know. All I can say is, don’t offend him!"

Even Brother Geoff didn’t know who Ethan was. He only knew that even Tom Foster had to be polite to Ethan!

The entire site became silent. Soon after, they all quietly went back to work. Earlier they had thought of fighting back, but after witnessing Ethan’s powerful kicks, all those thoughts instantly vanished.

This move from Ethan shocked everyone to the core!

He didn’t continue to stay at the site. After instructing Brother Geoff to keep an eye on things, Ethan drove towards the shopping complex to pick up Diane and her mother.

......

It had been ages since they last went shopping.

April had worn this dress for several years, and couldn’t bear to buy a new one.

"Mum, we’ve looked at several shops already, isn’t there anything you like at all?"

Diane shrugged helplessly, "These are all new arrivals for the season, so nothing is on sale yet."

She knew April was looking for a shop with discounts, and was prepared to just buy a couple of discounted pieces of clothing.

"Let’s look a little more, there’ll be one somewhere," April smiled sheepishly.

Their family was not well off, and she wanted to save up so that they could afford to treat William’s legs, so she couldn’t simply spend money.

Diane felt a little sad for her mother.

April was very pretty when she was younger, and William had become paralyzed in that accident not long after they were married. And because of their family’s situation, April never dolled herself up anymore.

She almost never bought clothes even.

"Mum, this shop has some clothes that look suitable for you!"

When she thought about this, Diane dragged April into a branded clothing store.

Even if it cost her an entire month’s salary, she was going to buy some nice clothes for April.

"Diane, this is branded! It’s expensive!"

April whispered to Diane as she backed out of the shop.

Any piece she picked up cost several thousand dollars, and that was way too expensive!

"Don’t worry, we’ll just take a look. Take a look first," Diane pulled April back in.

"Miss, if you’re just going to take a look and not buy anything, please don’t crumple any of the clothing."

A very heavily made up salesgirl walked over from the counter. She had a smile on her face, but she didn’t speak nicely at all. "It will be difficult for us to sell to someone else if that happens."

This salesgirl had seen many of such people.

They came in just to look but they couldn’t afford any of the clothes. They would touch the clothes, try the clothes on and make them all crumpled, so the staff had to iron them all over again.

April’s face turned red from embarrassment.

But Diane got angry. "Why do you talk like that? Aren’t these clothes hung out here for people to see and try on?"

"And what if I do intend to buy?"

"Miss, if you really intend to buy, then you could try them on. But could you prove that you can pay for them first?"

There was a faint smile of contempt on the salesgirl’s face. She had noticed that the sleeve of the dress that April was wearing had been patched up before, and so she was very certain that this mother and daughter didn’t have money and couldn’t afford to buy any of these!

Diane was furious. This was the first time she had ever heard that she had to prove her purchasing power before she was allowed to buy clothes.

This salesgirl was behaving too arrogantly!

"Diane, forget it, let’s go."

April didn’t want to argue with others. It was too rash of her to spend a few thousand dollars on a dress in a fit of anger.

"That’s right. If you can’t afford it, then you’d better get going. It’s good enough that I’ve let you even see the clothes."

The salesgirl looked at them mockingly, "This is the latest collection, you can go online and take a look, I think imitations should be available soon."

What she really meant was, Diane was here to just see which designs they liked and then they would eventually buy the imitations.

Did they think she couldn’t see through their ploy?

"Why, you!"

Diane was really angry now.

"Where’s your manager? I want to lodge a complaint against you!"

She didn’t know how to curse, otherwise she really wanted to give this salesgirl a dressing down. Who on earth did business like that?

"Miss, you can’t afford the clothes so you want to lodge a complaint about me? I’m not the one who caused you to be unable to afford these clothes you know."

The salesgirl’s voice had attracted the attention of some customers near the door. "This store is part of a global chain and is the anchor tenant of this mall. I think you’ve come to the wrong place. Isn’t there a sale going on downstairs? You could go there and have a look."

"Alright now, don’t waste my time anymore, please leave."

The salesgirl ordered them to leave!

Diane felt her body shaking with anger.

She had never met a salesgirl of such poor character. What sort of attitude was this!

April was equally angry. It wasn’t that she couldn’t afford the clothes, she just couldn’t bear to spend the money. But she couldn’t tolerate the way this salesgirl looked down on her and her daughter either.

"Wrap up all these clothes."

Suddenly there was a voice behind them.

Diane turned – Ethan was here!

April suddenly felt a boost of confidence when she saw Ethan.

"Ethan!"

Diane bit her lips as she looked pitifully at him. She was always being bullied.

Ethan nodded at her, then turned to the salesgirl. "Didn’t you hear me? I said, wrap up all the clothes here!"

The salesgirl was in shock. "Everything?"

All the clothes in the shop added up to a few hundred thousand dollars!

Was this a joke?

Ethan didn’t say anything and just pulled out the black card. He waved it in front of the salesgirl and her eyes immediately lit up.

This materialistic woman definitely recognized this black card. Even though she couldn’t ever own one, she dreamed of seeing one of these every single day!

She didn’t expect this man to be so rich!

"Yes yes yes! I’ll do that right away!"

She immediately put on her brightest smile. She was happier than anyone else when this sort of rich man, particularly the type who loved showing off in front of women, came to buy things. She was willing to do anything to let him bask in the moment since she could get a huge commission out of this!

The salesgirl quickly ran behind the counter and grabbed several shopping bags, hurriedly packing all the clothes in. She didn’t bother hiding the immense excitement on her face.

These were worth a few hundred thousand!

Her commission would be 20 or 30 thousand!

All the people watching outside were also shocked. Wrap up everything? This man had really too much money to spend.

This salesgirl had really barked up the wrong tree, insulting a wealthy family like this. It was really a slap in her face.

But that salesgirl couldn’t care less. As long as she could get her commission, she had already thickened her skin for this.

"Ethan..."

April knew that Ethan was standing up for her, but it was such a waste to just buy everything like that without even trying them on.

She knew Ethan was rich, but he didn’t have to spend money on her like this.

"Don’t act rashly."

Ethan didn’t say anything.

Diane looked at Ethan and wanted to tell him not to spend money rashly. Now that she had calmed down, she felt that this salesgirl could have purposely provoked them into making such a purchase.

But she was also feeling upset by this at the same time.

She had come out happily with April to do some shopping, but ended up getting mocked by this salesgirl!

"Sir, everything has been packed! Everything adds up to $328,409, you can pay over here!"

The salesgirl had packed everything in a great hurry and didn’t care if the clothes were crumpled or not, because she was afraid that Ethan might regret this decision after calming down.

"Pay?"

Ethan looked at her. "Who said I was buying?"

When he said that, Diane, April and all the bystanders were in shock. The salesgirl also froze in shock.

She was sweating buckets from wrapping all the clothes up and Ethan wasn’t buying?

"You...didn’t you tell me to wrap all the clothes up?"

The salesgirl’s mouth started to twitch as she continued to stare at the black card in Ethan’s hand.

"That’s right, your clothes are not for trying on, not for touching and not for buying, right? Then don’t display them, just keep them wrapped up."

Ethan then kept the black card into his pocket, took Diane’s hand and turned to leave, "I asked you to bring Mum shopping, but why did you walk into such a lousy store?"

"One piece is only a few thousand dollars, you think that’s good enough for my mum? Let’s go to the shop over there."

"......"

Everyone watching was shocked.

The salesgirl was stunned too, and was about to vomit blood soon!

Ethan played her out!

He had treated her like a zoo animal!

Everyone watching had just been watching her do tricks!

She was so angry she stomped her feet. She had wrapped every single piece in the shop, and now she had to take them all out and iron each one all over again.

Ethan couldn’t be bothered with her, and he took Diane to the shop right across the corridor.

This shop was even more expensive.

"This one, this one, this one, and this one. Let my mum try them on."

Ethan had a keen eye and picked a few in just seconds. He threw the card at the salesgirl, "Just take $200,000 first. If we don’t spend at least that much, Mum, you’re not going anywhere."

The salesgirl’s eyes lit up as she picked the card up politely. "Yes, sir!"

"Ethan..."

Diane and April really started feeling awkward now.

Especially as many people standing outside had started crowding around on this side, as if they thought that Ethan was going to play this side out as well.

But the two ladies knew that Ethan really wasn’t short on cash at all.

"Mum, don’t just stand there, go try the clothes on."

Ethan smiled as he gently pushed April towards the fitting room.

Diane pouted. "Ethan, my mum doesn’t want you to waste money."

"My dear wife, you’re so petty."

Ethan looked at Diane, "Buying clothes for our mum is considered wasting money?"

Diane’s face turned red, upset that she had been called petty. She just...wasn’t as rich as Ethan.

April tried on a dress and walked out, and Diane went into a daze immediately.

"Mum, you look so nice!"

April was already pretty when she was younger and still was. So with a new and well fitted dress, it accentuated her beauty.

"So pretty!"

Ethan couldn’t help but sing praises, "My mum is so pretty, Dad is so lucky!"

April’s face turned red since the children’s praises made her feel shy. "Is it really nice?"

"Nice!"

Ethan continued, "I guarantee you that after Dad sees this, his nose is going to bleed."

April’s face was now as red as an apple and full of charm.

After they were done at the shop, the salesgirl used both hands to carry all the shopping bags for her customers. She wasn’t going to let an important customer like Ethan carry more than ten bags himself.

"You can get off work for the day, I’ll hire you to carry the bags for me instead. $10k enough?"

Ethan still wanted to buy clothes for Diane and William, and also wanted to buy some cosmetics and health supplements, so it didn’t seem sufficient to only have one person carrying bags.

He turned around and he saw the few who were following behind him immediately run up to him.

"Boss, do you still need someone to carry your bags?"

Ethan felt he had to get a different car.

This useless BMW’s trunk was way too small and couldn’t even fit all the things he bought in just one shopping spree.

When they got back to their estate, April’s face was still a little red. She walked into the house first as Ethan and Diane took their time to carry all the other things from the car to the house.

William was resting, but looked up when he head the door. "Dear, you guys are back?"

When he saw April walk through the door, he was completely stunned.

He even stopped breathing.

His eyes were open wide, as if he had been stunned by a great beauty!

"What...what are you looking at, why are you looking at me like that?"

April’s face turned even redder. "All I did was get a new set of clothes."

William took a deep breath and there was an intense fire in his eyes. "Dear, you’re really beautiful!"

April was so red that even her neck was red.

"How old are you? Still spouting such nonsense?!"

She heard Ethan and Diane coming through the door and quickly ran into her room. "I’m going to change!"

Ethan had more than ten bags on his hand and William was stunned into silence when he saw this.

"You two..."

"We did a little shopping."

Ethan smiled, "Dad, I got you a few suits."

"You silly child, why waste money on me? Why would I need a suit..."

"Mum chose them."

All it took was these three words from Ethan to stop William from saying anything else. "Try them on later, ok?"

There were bags of health supplements, cosmetics, and even some things that William didn’t know what they were.

Then he spotted a small box and his face immediately turned red. Why did Ethan buy this sort of thing?

Had he and Diane already reached this stage?

That’s too fast!

"It’s for you and Mum to use."

Ethan threw it over and William quickly stuffed it into his pocket. He glared at Ethan and his face turned completely red.

"You little punk!"

William’s face was all red and his voice turned into a whisper.

He was about to say more, but April had changed into her usual clothes and came out of the room to prepare dinner. So William didn’t say anything but he used his eyes to ask Ethan if April had seen him buy this.

Ethan used his eyes to answer: she didn’t.

These two men had developed such great chemistry in such a short time.

After keeping everything away, Ethan walked into the room and saw Diane at the desk, busy keeping records.

When he peeked at what she was writing, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

"You’re keeping records of how much was spent?"

"Wha-?"

Diane quickly used her hands to cover what she was doing. "Why didn’t you knock before entering?"

"Why do I have to knock before entering my own room?"

"What if I’m changing?!"

Diane pouted and looked a little guilty.

"Good for me."

These words made Diane want to smack him.

"You’re keeping a record of everything I’ve spent on this family because you intend to return the amount to me?"

"I’ll work hard and return you bit by bit."

Diane didn’t say this very loudly, and it was obvious she wasn’t too confident of accomplishing this.

That was her initial intention, but while Ethan’s purchases started small, the two cars he bought added up to a million dollars, and her head started to hurt.

Then he started spending more and more, and it was probably more than what she could earn in her entire lifetime.

"Anyway, I will try my best! Also, don’t simply spend money on my family anymore, ok?"

Diane looked pitifully at Ethan because she really couldn’t afford to return this sort of money.

"I didn’t waste any money. I didn’t buy you anything today either."

"You...I won’t spend your money!"

Diane scoffed. Ethan really hadn’t bought anything for her. Somehow she felt like Ethan was April and William’s son, and she was more like their daughter-in-law now.

She ignored Ethan and continued to write down Ethan’s expenses carefully into her notebook.

She would return all of it anyway, and if she really couldn’t repay everything...did she have to use herself to pay him back?

"If you want to return me the money, then you really have to work hard."

Ethan wasn’t joking now. "Speed up things at the factory and finish everything within the next month. Once everything is fixed up, prepare to get busy."

"If you continue to work hard like this, you might be able to return me this money very soon."

Diane turned and looked at Ethan. "That’s the Palmers’ assets, so even if it makes money it won’t be mine."

"It won’t be soon."

There was a bright flash in Ethan’s eyes, and Diane couldn’t help but freeze. She didn’t understand what Ethan was talking about at all.

......

At the hot spring clubhouse.

John Howard had been carried back, and his men got a doctor to perform emergency surgery for several hours, but he couldn’t save John Howard’s legs.

John Howard lay on the bed, his face extremely swollen, his jaw fractured. He couldn’t say a single word and could only use his nose to snort.

"Who beat my brother into this state? WHO!"

A man with a strong resemblance to John Howard stood by his bed, but he was of even bigger build compared to John Howard.

When he had heard that something had happened to John Howard, Eli Howard immediately rushed over from Fairbanks.

He’d never thought that there would be someone in Greencliff who would dare to touch his younger brother!

"It’s one of Tom Foster’s guys." one of the subordinates replied nervously.

They knew that John Howard could be this arrogant in Greencliff because his elder brother, Eli Howard, was very powerful in Fairbanks, so nobody in Greencliff dared to offend John Howard.

"Tom Foster?"

Eli Howard raised a thick eyebrow. "This piece of shit dared to touch my brother!"

Tom Foster was someone who had come up in recent years and he had barely rooted himself. But he had dared to create such big trouble in Greencliff already.

Eli Howard had never been very bothered about the illegal circles in Greencliff, because they were way smaller and less cruel compared to Fairbanks. So he allowed John Howard to continue doing whatever he wanted in Greencliff, but he never thought John Howard would be thrashed like this.

His two legs were now paralyzed and would never stand again!

"Brother Eli, that guy can really fight." The subordinate finally spoke up after some hesitation.

Eli Howard turned around and glared at him with a cold and murderous stare.

He could really fight?

There were plenty of people who could really fight, but so what?

Anyone who dared to touch his brother had to die!

"Looks like a lot of people have forgotten what sort of person I am after I stopped appearing in Greencliff. They even dare to injure my brother now."

He had a cold smile and a fierce expression, making the subordinate next to him shudder in fear.

John Howard was merely greedy for money, but Eli Howard was an extremely violent character.

He had become notorious for being vicious more than a decade ago, becoming the most vicious gangster in Greencliff. He was then picked by someone to expand his territory in Fairbanks.

Apparently his standing in Fairbanks’s illegal circles was also very high. He had come back this time to stand up for John Howard, and all of the underground circles in Greencliff would be trembling in fear now.

"Tell Tom Foster, bring 50 million here within the next three days and kneel down and apologize, otherwise he’s dead meat!"

"Got it!"

The news spread through all of Greencliff’s illegal circles, and shocked many.

Eli Howard was back?

The most vicious gangster was back?

Tom Foster had actually dared to incapacitate John Howard? That was Eli Howard’s younger brother!

Tom Foster was a successful businessman and famous even in the illegal circles, but now he had offended Eli Howard – there was no point in having a successful business if he was dead.

There was a great uproar in the illegal circles of Greencliff in an instant.

Everyone’s eyes were on Tom Foster. There were some who were hoping to see his downfall, and there were some who pitied him. But everyone knew that even if Tom Foster really took out 50 million and knelt down to beg Eli Howard, he might not make it out alive.

...

Over at Golden Jade Restaurant.

Ethan had come to pack a couple of William’s favorite dishes home.

Tom Foster had been waiting in the restaurant for a long time already. The moment he saw Ethan, he instructed the chefs to prepare his order and then brought Ethan into his private room.

"Eli Howard is really here."

Tom Foster took a deep breath. "He’s told me to pay up 50 million as compensation, then kneel in front of him to apologize."

He too, knew that this was only what Eli Howard meant on the surface.

Even if he knelt down and brought the 50 million compensation, Eli Howard would definitely incapacitate him.

When he was still in Greencliff, this vicious man had beat so many into bowing to him – he was really ferocious!

And precisely because his elder brother was like this, John Howard dared to do whatever he liked in the illegal circles of Greencliff and nobody dared to offend him. But this time he had perished in Ethan’s hands.

"50 million – I don’t have that much to give, and I couldn’t possibly give that either."

Ethan was the one who beat John Howard up, so if he compensated John Howard for it, that would embarrass Ethan. "Big Boss, how do we deal with Eli Howard?"

"Let him come."

Ethan didn’t seem to care. "He’s just a little worm, what are you worried about?"

Tom Foster laughed awkwardly.

To Ethan, Eli Howard was just a little worm. But to him, Eli Howard wasn’t someone he wanted to offend.

Eli Howard was not just notorious for his ferocity, since he had caused quite a bit of trouble in Greencliff before. More importantly, Eli Howard now was of high standing in the illegal circles of Fairbanks.

If they did anything to Eli Howard, they would offend his backers in Fairbanks too.

He knew Ethan was really powerful, but Ethan had barely stepped into Greencliff and offended such a big shot already, so things could become very tricky.

"Tom, you’ve earned quite a bit in the last five years here in Greencliff, right?"

Ethan suddenly asked this question.

Tom Foster nodded. "Thanks to Big Boss and Brother Winston, I’ve indeed earned a tidy sum."

"I’m good with your legal businesses making profit, but there are some dirty things that you’d better throw away."

Tom Foster felt his heart pounding.

Ethan narrowed his eyes. "I will only remind you once. There is some money out there that might burn your hands, and if you continue to play with it, you might lose your life in the process."

Beads of perspiration started appearing on Tom Foster’s forehead.

He had indeed dabbled in some illegal dealings. He had mixed around in the illegal circles for so long and he knew what made money easily. It wasn’t legal, but money was earned fast.

He had kept these dealings very secret, but Ethan still found out about them!

This wasn’t a reminder – this was a warning!

He suddenly remembered that Ethan was here to clean up the illegal circles of Greencliff, and now he realized that included himself too.

"Yes! Got it! Big Boss, I’ll remember your words and settle everything right away!" replied Tom Foster with utmost respect.

Ethan was giving him a chance, so he had to grab it while he could.

"Winston said that you’re not a bad person at heart, so I’m giving you this chance. Cherish it."

Ethan got up since he figured the food was done. "I’ll help you settle that little worm, you settle what you need to do."

"Got it!" Tom Foster replied respectfully.

Ethan left with his food, while Tom Foster realized his back was already drenched with sweat.

Ethan hadn’t said anything threatening at all, but Tom Foster could sense that anybody who had any dirty dealings would meet a terrible end for sure!

Ethan had come to Greencliff not just for Diane, but with other motives too.

"All of you, get rid of all the dealings on your hands. Any money you get out of selling everything off, donate it to some charity!"

Tom Foster was very resolute. "Give it to the government to build libraries and playgrounds, or donate to schools and hospitals, got me?!"

"Boss, we’ll make a lot of losses that way."

"Hmph, you’re still thinking about earning money?"

Tom Foster fumed. "We should not be earning this sort of money that will eventually come back to burn me! Back then I was obviously delirious from some fever, and now you guys are feverish too? GET IT DONE NOW!"

"Yes boss!"

Another storm went through the illegal circles instantly.

Tom Foster was selling his businesses like crazy.

There were some dealings that were just slightly shady, but he sold them away at a loss without hesitation. There were even some legal businesses that Tom Foster decided not to keep too.

It was as if he had run into some trouble and required a huge amount of cash fast.

"Tom Foster is scared now, so he’s trying to gather enough funds to compensate Eli Howard."

"Of course he’s scared. Eli Howard is a nutcase! No matter how much Tom Foster is now worth or how famous he is in the legal circles, anyone who offends Eli Howard is definitely dead meat!"

"50 million! Tom Foster will really make a huge loss this time round. But it was his fault for offending that nutcase in the first place, of all people."

There were many in the circle discussing this matter. Many of them were mocking Tom Foster for not having enough foresight to predict this outcome when he beat up John Howard.

Now he had to kneel and beg Eli Howard for forgiveness – what a quick slap in the face.

Suddenly many people started to look at Tom Foster with contempt, and looked down on him.

There were even other gang leaders who purposely took this chance to buy up Tom Foster’s illegal dealings at extremely low prices.

Tom Foster didn’t try to negotiate at all, selling when the price sounded about right and didn’t even frown.

All this dirty money was even scarier than a time bomb, so Tom Foster just wanted to rid himself of everything as soon as possible and he didn’t even care who took it from him.

The news reached the hot spring clubhouse, and there was disdain on Eli Howard’s face.

He had expected this outcome already. He had based the 50 million on the fact that Tom Foster’s legal business wouldn’t be able to cough up so much cash in such a short time.

So the only thing Tom Foster could do would be to give up his businesses in the illegal circles and completely lose any standing he had left.

"Brother Eli, Tom Foster should have hit his target by now. Not sure when he’ll come in to apologize to you."

All the men had been waiting for this day to come. "Hmph, once he gets here, Brother Eli is going to incapacitate him!"

"You think I’d let him go just because he’s paid up?"

A glint of viciousness flashed across Eli Howard’s threatening face. "I’m not going to just break his limbs, I’m going to make him lose everything he has!"

"Tom Foster is going to experience for himself what it means to fall from heaven into hell."

Since he dared to touch his younger brother, then Tom Foster was doomed!

Eli Howard wasn’t going to let him die too easily. If he didn’t torture Tom Foster to the point where he wanted to commit suicide, that wouldn’t count as avenging his brother.

But after one day, Tom Foster hadn’t appeared.

Two days passed and there was still no sign of Tom Foster.

On the last day, Tom Foster still hadn’t come. It seemed as though he hadn’t taken Eli Howard’s words seriously at all.

All of Greencliff’s illegal circles were waiting to see how Eli Howard would get back at Tom Foster, and how Tom Foster was going to beg Eli Howard humbly for forgiveness.

But Tom Foster never appeared at the hot spring clubhouse and didn’t even care about Eli Howard’s threat!

Eli Howard’s expression was extremely nasty.

The time limit he had given was almost up already, but Tom Foster didn’t seem to intend to appear at all, much less pay the 50 million and kneel and apologize!

This was like a slap in Eli Howard’s face.

This was saying that Eli Howard’s words were just like a fart and carried no weight!

"Tom Foster!"

Eli Howard clenched his fists so hard, all his knuckles cracked and the veins started to pop, and he exuded a terrifying and murderous aura.

"Brother Eli, someone is here to see you!"

A subordinate came running in to report.

Eli Howard looked up. "Who?"

He only wanted to see Tom Foster and nobody else.

Now he only wanted to see Tom Foster grovel at his feet!

"The one who incapacitated John Howard with his own hands."

Ethan walked in confidently with his hands behind his back.

It was as if Ethan was walking around in his own backyard. He walked in calmly and wasn’t nervous at all.

Eli Howard immediately stood up when Ethan walked in!

"You were the one who beat my brother up?"

Those eyes were suddenly filled with a scary murderous glint!

The door behind Ethan was now closed, and everyone inside the clubhouse immediately filled up the room Eli Howard was in.

"Quick!"

"Hurry up!"

A large group of men gathered in the room, each one as fierce looking as each other.

They never expected that the man who beat up John Howard would dare to come all by himself to the clubhouse. He was waiting to die!

"Yup, it was me."

Ethan calmly replied, "You didn’t teach your younger brother well, so I had to help you teach him."

He walked over to a chair and sat down. He turned around to find that the door was blocked by several men who were all looking coldly at him.

Eli Howard’s expression was threatening, and he looked at Ethan as if he was looking at an idiot.

"Tom Foster sent you here to die?"

This was the only possibility he could think of.

Tom Foster knew that he had offended Eli Howard so he dared not come, but sent a subordinate here to die on his behalf?

Dream on!

Ethan shook his head. "I’m the one who wanted to look for you."

He looked at Eli Howard. "I want to give you a chance."

"You want to give me a chance? HAHAHAHA!"

Eli Howard felt like he had heard the funniest joke in the world. This man was on the brink of death, and now he said he wanted to give Eli Howard a chance?

Did he need anybody to give him any chances?

"Sure, you tell me, what chance are you giving me?"

Eli Howard started walking towards Ethan, his murderous aura bursting through the roof. He clenched his fists and cracked his knuckles, as if there was some violent energy that he couldn’t contain anymore!

"A chance to live."

Ethan continued to sit where he was as he lifted his head slightly to look at Eli Howard walk towards him.

"HAHAHA, give me a chance to live? That will depend on whether I’m going to give you the chance to live first!"

With that, Eli Howard suddenly picked up speed!

A strong and violent fist was aimed right at Ethan’s head!

This fist of steel had broken so many people’s heads. Today, Ethan was also going to die from this same fist.

This was the price to pay for incapacitating his younger brother!

"DIE!" Eli Howard gave a great shout and put all his strength into his punch. He wanted to see Ethan’s head turn to mush!

But Ethan was still sitting there. He had stretched a hand out to catch Eli Howard’s oncoming fist.

Eli Howard’s eyes narrowed violently. All the other hooligans gathered around felt a shiver down their spine. Ethan had stopped Eli Howard’s fist just like that? That was Eli Howard’s fist! The fist of the most vicious gangster of all Greencliff was stopped by him just like that?

"So I suppose you don’t want this chance?"

Ethan’s expression remained calm. So calm that it made Eli Howard feel uneasy and fearful deep inside.

Nobody had ever been able to catch his fist like that before…

"You…"

Eli Howard could feel Ethan’s kick and he immediately tried to block the attack with his leg, but he was too late. Ethan was too fast!

There was a thud as Ethan’s kick landed on Eli Howard’s knee, followed by a loud crack, then a howl of pain from Eli Howard as he fell kneeling before Ethan! His fist was still in Ethan’s hand and he couldn’t get it out of his grip!

It was completely silent. The whole room went silent in an instant! You could hear a pin drop! Eli Howard was on his knees?

John Howard had been forced to kneel and lost both legs, then Eli Howard threatened to incapacitate Tom Foster because of that. But now Eli Howard was kneeling in front of someone he had never met before?

"AHH!!!" Eli Howard’s face was murderous and trembled. He never thought that he would end up kneeling.

"You’re dead meat!"

He gave a low shout and since he couldn’t get one hand out of Ethan’s grip, he used his other hand to send a hard punch towards Ethan.

Ethan gave another kick, and this one landed on Eli Howard’s chest.

There was a loud thud as Eli Howard collapsed on the ground. He didn’t know how many ribs he broke.

The air in the room became even more tense.

"I gave you a chance but you didn’t cherish it."

Ethan got up. "There’s so much blood on your hands, so it’s not bad that you’ve lived till this age already."

He had wanted to give Eli Howard a chance to surrender and repent, but then when he thought harder about it, there was no way Eli Howard would have accepted that chance.

Eli Howard was on the floor staring straight at Ethan. "You..who the hell are you!"

Ethan walked over and stepped on him.

CRACK!

"Ahhhh!!" Eli Howard howled in pain as both his hands were broken.

"I’m a janitor." Ethan calmly replied, "A janitor that specializes in clearing garbage like you."

Next he stepped on Eli Howard’s legs, and they were both useless now.

Everyone standing around felt their hair stand on end! Who was Ethan exactly, and how could he be so terrifying? He hadn’t just incapacitated John Howard, but now he had done the same thing to Eli Howard! He remained calm throughout and barely even blinked!

Eli Howard went into a fit. "Kill me! Just kill me!"

"You’re not qualified to be killed by me." Ethan turned around. "Now that you’re incapacitated, all your enemies will come for you."

With that, Ethan looked at the hooligans holding their bats and guarding the door. He gave them one look and the whole group of them felt terror in their hearts.

It was as if Ethan alone had surrounded them, and not them surrounding him!

Nobody dared to block him and quickly moved aside to let Ethan through. They all stood as faraway as possible, their faces all pale and their throats dry! He was too scary!

Eli Howard, known as the most vicious gangster, was completely defenseless in front of Ethan, and ended up kneeling instead. And in less than half a minute, Eli Howard had collapsed on the floor and was incapacitated. Who was this frightening monster?

Eli Howard was still howling on the floor but he couldn’t move at all. He knew that he was doomed for sure. He had so many enemies, and once they came looking for him, his life would be a living hell!

But now he couldn’t even kill himself.

Ethan couldn’t be bothered. He just walked straight for the door, but suddenly stopped at the door, making everyone tremble in fear and their legs nearly gave way.

He turned around and looked around at everyone. His gaze was like a sharp knife, and nobody dared to look back at him!

"Be a good person, and you’ll live a little longer."

Then he turned and left. The terrible tension they felt earlier immediately dissipated.

All of them felt like their lives had been graciously spared and couldn’t be bothered with Eli Howard who was lying paralyzed on the floor. Everyone threw away their bats and made a run for it, afraid that Ethan might suddenly come back.

Even if they couldn’t become good people, none of them dared to commit evil in Greencliff ever again!

In one night, that hot spring clubhouse stopped operations and was closed for good.

Meanwhile...

Tom Foster was holding a meeting. A meeting in the illegal circle.

Several gang bosses were seated around and looking meaningfully at Tom Foster.

"Just surrender, it’s no big deal. We’re all in the same circle, so Eli Howard would probably spare your life."

"I can’t believe you dared to incapacitate his brother. Don’t you know what sort of person that nutcase is?"

"You’ve sold away so much of your business and we’ve benefited greatly from that, so we’ll put in a good word for you."

Every one of them was trying to persuade Tom Foster to humble himself and go kneel and apologize to Eli Howard.

Once Tom Foster had been humbled, they could get even more!

But Tom Foster continued sitting where he was, and kept a calm expression on the whole time.

He lit a cigarette, blew out some cigarette smoke and narrowed his eyes at everyone.

"He’s just a little worm and all of you are scared silly?"

A little worm?

All the bosses looked back at Tom Foster and wondered if he was so scared he had become stupid, or if he was really ready to go on an all out fight.

He actually said Eli Howard was just a little worm!

Given Eli Howard’s temperament, just these words alone would anger him enough to kill Tom Foster.

"Mr. Foster, there’s still some room for negotiation, so you don’t have to burn this bridge."

One of the bosses spoke up. "If you’re sincere enough, we can all help you."

"That’s right, we’re all in the same boat, so there’s no need to fight to the very death. We’re living in modern times now, you know?" another boss spoke up.

Tom Foster scanned the room and could see the greed clearly on their faces.

None of them intended to help him. All of them were waiting to swallow up all his businesses and assets.

"I’ve already made my stand clear. Are you all deaf or fucking idiots?"

Tom Foster added on, "I, Tom Foster, have never been bothered by a mere little worm."

This declaration made everyone frown immediately.

Tom Foster must have gone crazy!

"If you all called me over just to talk about that little worm, then there’s no need to talk anymore. I’m very busy and I don’t have time to waste talking to you guys about this."

Tom Foster got up and looked at them before smiling coldly, "If you don’t have enough guts, then you’d better go explore the world and increase your exposure. If you just stick around in Greencliff, the longer you stay here the dumber you’ll get."

Then he left the room.

One of the bosses wanted to stand up and stop him but the rest told him not to bother.

"Who does he think he is!"

"How dare he talk to us like that?"

"If we didn’t buy up those businesses of his, where would he find the money to apologize to Eli Howard?"

They had used the lowest possible price to buy over these businesses and thought that now Tom Foster would owe them one. But of course, all of them were just trying to take advantage of this situation.

"Forget it, he’s going to die anyway, so I suppose he’s completely given up."

"For offending a nutcase like Eli Howard, even if Tom Foster doesn’t die, he’ll get skinned for sure!"

"I heard Eli Howard is under that person in Fairbanks."

All the bosses exchanged glances and didn’t want to talk too much anymore.

Eli Howard was known as a mad man and was the most vicious gangster around back then, but nobody really cared that much about him before. But now Eli Howard was under that person in Fairbanks, so the situation was completely different now.

None of them was willing to offend Eli Howard.

So since Tom Foster had injured John Howard, Eli Howard wouldn’t let him off for sure. They were more than happy to take advantage of the situation and take over all the businesses and assets under Tom Foster.

"Boss!"

One of the bosses’ subordinates came walking in with a very grim face.

"What happened?"

The boss frowned. His subordinate didn’t seem to know how to behave in front of so many other bosses.

"Something bad has happened."

The subordinate reported, "The hot spring clubhouse has closed for good."

"What?"

The boss’ body shook violently after hearing this, causing the ash from the cigarette in his mouth to land on himself and burned a hole in his clothes!

"Eli Howard has disappeared, and someone said his enemies came and dragged him away like a dead dog. The entire clubhouse is a mess and it’s closed down!"

The meeting room suddenly went all quiet. Nobody spoke.

Everyone turned to look at the person beside them, hoping to understand what was going on, but everyone only had a look of disbelief.

The hot spring clubhouse had closed down overnight? Eli Howard had also collapsed? He had only returned to Greencliff for barely three days!

"What’s happening with Eli Howard?" The same boss couldn’t help but ask.

"I’m not sure, but apparently his four limbs have been broken and now he’s completely useless."

One of them took in a long and deep breath, and felt very cold suddenly.

The most vicious gangster had been incapacitated? Eli Howard and John Howard – both brothers had been incapacitated!

"Tom Foster!"

All of them exchanged glances as they suddenly remembered what Tom Foster said earlier. He said he had never been bothered by a mere little worm!

Where did he find the guts to say something so insane? This matter must have something to do with him.

"I never thought there’s someone so highly skilled working for Tom Foster. We have underestimated him."

Someone else scoffed, "Then why did he sell off all these businesses? He was willing to even sell at a loss, so now you mean it wasn’t to raise funds to apologize to Eli Howard?"

Eli Howard had already been rendered useless, so why bother raising funds?

All of them fell silent, unsure whether this was done by Eli Howard’s enemies, or done by Tom Foster. But either way, nobody could explain why Tom Foster would have just sold off his illegal businesses like that.

…

Meanwhile, Tom Foster was in his Bentley when he got the news.

Even though he had expected this, his heart still pounded furiously.

This was pure ferocity! Ethan was way too ferocious! Nobody could stop the power of his fist.

He took in a deep breath as he became even more resolved to follow Ethan all the way. Even if he died doing so, he knew must never go against Ethan, because he would meet a worse end than death for sure!

"Call all the directors to my office for a meeting now!"

Tom Foster immediately gave orders, "Nobody is to be absent."

Ethan had given him a mission, and that was to transfer all his legal businesses to Diane’s name.

That was to say, everything that he had fought for and earned in the past five years, was to be transferred to Diane without question.

Initially Tom Foster was reluctant, since those were his assets after all. But now he understood very clearly that none of this belonged to him in the first place. Everything he had, starting from the day Winston chose him five years ago, was given to him by Ethan!

Ethan had prepared all of this for Diane, and Tom Foster was only here to work for Ethan.

Besides, Ethan needed him to use his talents elsewhere, and he could achieve even more in the future!

This was a high stakes bet, but Tom Foster had only hesitated for a moment before making his decision.

Ethan’s potential was right in front of him and it was greater than anything he could imagine. So all he had to do, was to obey everything Ethan commanded him.

……

Meanwhile.

Steven was making preparations.

The factory was coming up at an incredible speed, and was almost ready to start operating.

Once all the fittings had been completed, they could start production.

He had to chase Diane out from the Palmers before that happened and get that factory!

"Where’s Archie?" he asked.

"Young Master has gone out with a few friends from Fairbanks."

Steven frowned but didn’t say anything. Those rich kids from Fairbanks were experts at having fun. But if Archie could make friends with them and make use of the influence their families had, that would be of some benefit.

"This useless John Howard, he took my five million but got nothing done."

Steven was furious. "Still no news?"

"CEO Palmer, I heard John Howard has been incapacitated by Tom Foster’s men."

The secretary continued in a low voice, "Also, I just saw the news. The hot spring clubhouse has closed down and John Howard is nowhere to be found."

"What?"

Steven’s expression became even angrier.

He had thrown away five million for nothing!

John Howard must have taken the money and run for it, right?

These gangsters were really unreliable, all of them were useless pieces of garbage.

"Hmph, since they’re all unreliable, I’ll do it myself!"

He got up and looked at the secretary. "Inform all the directors that I want to hold a directors meeting and fire Diane!"

…

Over at the factory.

The main building was done. The addition of these 68 workers had really increased the overall efficiency.

This was one month ahead of Diane’s schedule.

Diane exhaled deeply as she saw that the factory had now entered its final stage of building before operations could start, and she felt a sense of achievement.

"This is the first time I’ve managed to complete a project so smoothly," she couldn’t help but blurt out.

"Oh? So there were many people who bullied you in the past huh."

Ethan smiled and looked at her. "Go home and write all their names on the wall, I’ll get back at them for you."

Diane rolled her eyes at Ethan. This guy just couldn’t be serious.

"Once all the machinery is installed, we can start production. I’ll work hard and prove myself!"

She clenched her fists.

If she did a good job, then she could earn a bit more and repay Ethan earlier. Otherwise she was afraid that she would really have to use her body to repay him.

Riiiinnngg…

Diane’s phone started ringing.

It was a call from the company’s HR department.

"Diane, the company is going to hold a directors meeting, please come back to the office before 10am to join the meeting."

The person hung up after that instruction.

Diane froze for a while. What did the directors meeting have to do with her?

She wasn’t in upper management, neither was she a director of the company. So she didn’t have the right to join the directors meeting at all.

But Ethan narrowed his eyes. He knew in an instant what was going on.

Steven didn’t just want to chase Diane out of the family, but he also wanted to humiliate her in front of everyone. Since he had come with a death wish, then he couldn’t blame Ethan for being nasty.

"What are you still thinking about? Since they asked you to join the meeting, go join them."

Ethan pulled the car door open. "Let’s go, I’ll go with you."

Diane didn’t really want to go. This sort of high level meeting had nothing to do with her. So if she went, she was probably sending herself in to be embarrassed.

But then if she didn’t go, then Steven was going to have more points to criticize her with, and who knew what awful things he would say about her family in front of Gerald?

The BMW turned and left the construction site for Palmer Group’s office.

…

At this moment.

In the main meeting room of Palmer Group’s office, Steven sat in the highest position, while all the directors and other upper management staff had all arrived.

"This Diane thinks she’s really some big shot huh. How could she make so many people wait for her?"

The HR director snorted unhappily, "I’ve already notified her that the meeting starts at 9am, can’t believe she’s actually late."

She had clearly told Diane 10am, but who knew?

"Hmph, she must think the entire company’s sales depends on her, so it’s only normal for her to believe she’s a big shot."

"You don’t say. Besides, she’s got something going on with that Tom Foster. You’d better be careful of what you say, in case she gets you fired or something, and you won’t even be able to find a place to hide your face!"

The resentment towards Diane was very great now.

Especially since the last incident where a director had been chased out of the office for just making one sarcastic remark towards Diane.

"Enough."

Steven frowned and stretched his arms to relieve his stress. "This Diane – never mind all of you, even I can’t afford to offend her."

"It’s all because she’s in charge of the most important project to the company now."

Steven scoffed and took one look around the room. "So I’ve already reported this to my father. He is greatly angered by this and has made a decision. Today, I’m here to announce this decision!"

All the directors immediately perked up at this.

They had heard long ago that Gerald had always been unhappy with Diane and family. He had mercifully allowed Diane to stay in the family, to give her family a chance.

But Diane had disappointed the old man time and again, so it was obvious that she had to get lost now!

"CEO Palmer, Diane is here."

The secretary had pushed the door open. "Do you want to let her come in?"

"Let her come in!" Steven shouted loudly.

Diane walked in and Ethan followed behind her.

All their eyes fell on Diane.

"Unrelated persons should not enter the meeting room." Steven frowned.

He really couldn’t stand this crazy Ethan.

He had slapped Archie twice, and even made him and his son humbly go to William’s house to plead for mercy. He hadn’t settled this feud with Ethan yet!

"Oh really? Alright, Diane, let’s go."

Ethan laughed and pulled Diane to leave.

Since unrelated persons were not to enter, then Diane wasn’t related to this company either.

Steven had to suppress the immense fury in his heart. This Ethan was really very irritating!

He was going to fire Diane today, and was going to humiliate her in front of everyone – how could he allow Diane to just walk out now?

"Hmph! Sit down!" huffed Steven.

Ethan pulled a chair over and got Diane to sit on it. He turned and realized there wasn’t any other available chair, so he used one hand to literally pick a director off his chair.

"You, stand and listen."

With that, Ethan sat down on the chair.

Everyone immediately glared at Ethan angrily!

That was way too arrogant of him!

He was just a man who married into the family and he dared to be so audacious. Did he really think he was a member of the Palmer family now?

"You!"

The director who lost his chair pointed a finger at Ethan and was about to shout at him when Ethan caught his finger and exerted a little force on it. The director immediately turned blue in the face and nearly screamed from the terrible pain!

"Any questions?"

"No, no! None at all!"

Ethan let go and looked back at the furious Steven. "Say whatever you want quickly. Diane is very busy you know."

Steven took a deep breath. He really had an urge to just go over and strangle Ethan on the spot.

But the focus today wasn’t on Ethan, so he wasn’t going to ruin his plans just because of him. He suppressed his anger and then turned to glare at Diane.

"Diane, I’ve asked you to come here because I have an announcement for you."

Diane didn’t respond. She could already feel that there was something amiss when she entered the meeting room. Everyone looked like they were obviously all out to get her.

"All these years, you’ve been performing fairly well in the company. You’ve worked hard at your work, worked to improve yourself, and the directors and myself have observed all these things," Steven started with authority in his voice. "So we have put you in charge of the most important project to the company."

It sounded like he was actually praising her – Ethan shook his head in contempt.

"But you’ve disappointed me, and you disappointed your grandfather!"

Steven’s tone suddenly changed and he even slammed the table in anger.

"You used your position as head of the project to reap benefits for yourself, to line your own pockets, and even leaked trade secrets to others – this is considered a breach of confidentiality and embezzlement!"

Steven continued to shout angrily, "And now you’re in cahoots with Tom Foster to take over all of Palmer Group for yourself. Does the Palmer family, this company and its board of directors still matter to you at all?!"

Diane’s face paled. She didn’t expect Steven to be this shameless. He had actually falsely accused her of so much wrongdoing in front of so many people.

When had she done any of these?

How was she going to continue staying in Greencliff after being humiliated like this? This was obviously a move to cut off all her connections here and chase her out of Greencliff!

"CEO Palmer…"

She tried to explain herself.

"You don’t need to explain yourself!"

Steven laughed coldly. "Who doesn’t know about that BMW you just bought that costs nearly $500,000? You think I don’t know how much your salary is?"

"A few days ago you even went shopping and bought a few hundred thousand dollars worth of clothes – since when were you this rich? You can tell the police where you got the money from!"

"Diane, Diane, it’s alright to be a little greedy, but now you’re too greedy!"

Steven declared angrily, "I will now announce that Palmer Group is terminating you, and we will call the police so this matter can be handled by the authorities!"

Many directors immediately nodded upon hearing this declaration.

"I agree!"

"I agree too!"

"Call the police now! Send her to the authorities!"

……

They didn’t hesitate at all. The amount that Diane had embezzled was enough to send her to jail for more than ten years.

She had bought a BMW and a few hundred thousand dollars worth of clothes. How could Diane possibly afford that much with her little salary!

Greed!

Diane was too greedy. Did she really think that just because she had some connections with Tom Foster, she could get away scot free?

The directors looked at Diane with glee in their hearts as they watched her downfall. It was so satisfying to watch her fall from grace!

They were even more gleeful when they saw how Diane’s face had gone all white and didn’t even know how to defend herself anymore.

Now she knew how much it hurt to fall from a high place and crash hard onto the floor.

Everyone in the meeting room fixed their eyes on Diane, waiting to see her break down, to look fearful, to kneel down and beg for mercy from all of them.

But Diane only continued to bite her lips and didn’t say anything.

Her eyes were bloodshot. She was so disappointed in Steven and the Palmer family.

Diane didn’t explain herself because there was no need to explain what she hadn’t done.

Ethan suddenly started applauding with great gusto. "Bravo! Bravo!"

He took out his phone. "CEO Palmer, I’ve recorded everything you’ve just said. You’ve really spun an exciting story."

"Hmph, Ethan, don’t spout nonsense here. Everything I said is the truth, and I didn’t have to spin anything!"

Steven smiled coldly. Once Diane couldn’t stay in Greencliff and get out, Ethan would also be chased out and become a homeless man again.

"The company has clear records of Diane’s monthly salary. How would we not know how much money she has?"

"She’s the sole breadwinner of her family and they can barely make ends meet. It’s not bad if they even get meat to eat, and now she’s bought a car? Why didn’t she just buy a house?"

The directors started making snide remarks and weren’t polite about it at all.

Ethan didn’t bother about them. Instead he started digging something out of his pockets, and Steven immediately became wary.

Surely this nutjob hadn’t brought a knife in, right?

He quickly said nervously, "What are you trying to do? If you try anything funny, you’re doomed! Where are the security guards? Call them quickly!"

Ethan threw a glance at Steven as he threw receipts from his pocket onto the table.

"I’m sorry everyone, the car, the clothes and everything else are all bought by me."

He looked at Steven. "It’s just petty cash amounting to just over a million dollars and you’re all worked up? Even if my wife spent 100 million dollars, that would also still be just petty cash. You have a problem with that?"

"Impossible!"

Steven felt like he had heard the greatest joke in the world.

Ethan was just a homeless guy. If Archie hadn’t chosen him, he would still be begging for food on the streets right now.

He had money?

And he gave it to Diane to buy a BMW and clothes worth a few hundred thousand dollars?

It was amazing that Ethan managed to say something so ridiculous. Was his mental illness acting up again?

Ethan slammed all the receipts on the table. "Open your lousy eyes and look carefully. If you need, I’ll call the CEO of Greencliff Bank to come over and let him tell you that all this money has nothing to do with Palmer Group."

Steven’s face was frozen.

The directors also froze on the spot. One of the directors sitting closest to the receipts decided to take a peek at the receipts, to find that all of them had Ethan’s name clearly stated on them!

How could this be?

He had married into the family and had to rely on them for food and shelter. It was already not bad if he had food to eat, so how could he have so much money?

"Diane must have transferred the money to you and used your name to buy all this!" shouted one of the directors.

Ethan slapped him across the face. "Are you an idiot? Or you think everyone is one?"

It was very easy to check something like that. Which idiot would do this?

"You…"

The director held his cheek, furious that Ethan had actually slapped him.

"CEO Palmer, I said earlier that I’ve already recorded all the things you said just now. So we’ll hire a lawyer and sue you for slander. I’ll see you in court then."

Steven’s face turned nasty. He didn’t expect things to turn out like that.

He didn’t have proof of anything he said. He had only heard about these things from Archie.

He knew Diane and family very well. They couldn’t have had so much money, so the only explanation was that she had either been in cahoots with Tom Foster, or she must have embezzled it from the company.

Who needed evidence to prove this?

But now Ethan had evidence that this money was all his. But how could this be?

He found it hard to believe that a homeless lad like Ethan would have so much money.

Suddenly his face paled. Ethan had given Tom Foster half a bun back then and saved Tom Foster’s life. Could Tom Foster have given Ethan this money as a token of gratitude?

His face looked even worse now. He wasn’t successful in humiliating Diane, and now Ethan was going to bring them to court.

"Diane, is all this money really Ethan’s?" Steven couldn’t help but ask through clenched teeth.

"Yes."

Diane smiled coldly.

All of this was bought with Ethan’s money. "CEO Palmer, are you very disappointed that all this money wasn’t from me embezzling company funds?"

Her words were like a slap in Steven’s face.

Steven’s face reddened.

"Hmph! I don’t care whether it’s your money or this homeless man’s money, it doesn’t matter!"

He continued shouting, "You’ve leaked company secrets and so Palmer Group cannot trust you anymore. The chairman has already sent instructions to fire you, so from today onwards, all projects under Palmer Group will have nothing to do with you!"

This was in order to forcibly take the project back from Diane’s hands.

"CEO Palmer, you’ve got it wrong again."

Ethan didn’t wait for Diane to say anything before continuing, "Today, Diane is here to resign."

"It’s not that your company is firing Diane, your tiny company isn’t worthy of us."

Ethan glanced at the directors and continued calmly, "I mean, seriously, my wife is such an outstanding lady, but she has to work with this bunch of idiots here, what a waste of her talent."

"Ethan, you’re outrageous!"

"The outrageous one is you."

Ethan wasn’t polite anymore. "About that project that Diane is in charge of. What has that got to do with Palmer Group?"

Steven was so angry he burst out laughing. "That belongs to the Palmer family!"

"Oh really?"

Ethan smiled cheekily. "Is that what it says on the contract?"

Steven’s heart suddenly dropped and he got the legal department to bring the contract over. The contract stated clearly that one party was Tom Foster’s company, but the other party was Diane. There were many clauses that stated clearly that the only person involved in this entire project was Diane, and had nothing to do with Palmer Group.

The land and partners in the project were all stated as having an agreement with only Diane. Every single step of the way was managed and handled solely by Diane. All traces of the project had only connection to Diane alone.

"What…what is going on?"

Steven was going mad. How did the contract become like this?

The director of the legal department was as pale as Steven. She was very sure that the contract she had approved didn’t look like this.

The contract had been swapped out! But that was impossible!

"You Palmers want to try and snatch something that belongs to Diane."

Ethan shook his head. He shook it with great disdain. "CEO Palmer, all of you are very greedy."

Steven was on the verge of vomiting blood!

Something that belonged to the Palmers had been taken away and now he was accused of being greedy?

The Palmers had invested so much into this project so that they could advance further into a bigger market and bring the Palmers to a new level.

But now this has become Diane’s!

All the contracts and related documents clearly stated it was so.

Did all the legal department staff of Palmer Group grow up eating shit?!

Steven’s hand was shaking, and the director of the legal department felt her whole body shuddering, her face as white as a sheet.

"CEO Palmer, it wasn’t me. I didn’t do this. I’m very sure the one I checked had no issues. No problems at all!"

Her voice started trembling, "These contracts must have been swapped out somehow."

Steven didn’t say anything. Ethan must have prepared all this ahead of time, which explained why he spoke so confidently. Steven had lost this round.

He glared at Diane and took a deep breath. "Diane, how unexpected. I’ve really underestimated you."

Diane didn’t say anything.

She didn’t know anything at all. She might not have accepted something like this in the past, but now she suddenly felt gleeful when she saw how Steven was so angry and frustrated.

"You’ve prepared all this for many years now, right?"

Steven continued sarcastically, "You think by taking this project away, the Palmers will be greatly hurt? That you can get back at us?"

Diane remained silent because she didn’t know what to say.

"I tell you now, NO WAY!"

Steven slammed the desk angrily. "You’re going to regret this! You’re definitely going to regret this!"

Ethan stood in front of Diane and calmly replied, "The one who will regret this will not be us. All of you bullied Diane in the past, so now we’re going to claw everything back bit by bit."

He took Diane’s hand and turned to leave.

They had walked until the meeting room door when Ethan turned and said, "Oh by the way, besides tendering her resignation, we’re also here to invite CEO Palmer to come and visit us tomorrow when our Palmer Group officially opens for business tomorrow."

With that, Ethan left with Diane.

The air in the meeting room was so heavy, it was terrifying.

Steven’s face had darkened and one could see all the veins on his neck.

Their Palmer Group was opening for business?

They even started a new Palmer Group!

This was openly challenging them! This was insulting them!

Ethan had even invited him to attend the opening ceremony of their Palmer Group? Steven clenched his teeth so hard that even his dentures were going to break. He had never suffered such humiliation before.

He had been thoroughly insulted by Ethan and Diane in front of so many directors and management staff. And even the most important project to the Palmers had been snatched away by Diane!

"CEO Palmer, what they’ve done is illegal, right? Shouldn’t we call the police?" asked the director of the legal department cautiously.

Steven violently raised his head. He looked ready to eat someone now!

He grabbed the glass on the table and smashed it on the floor.

"Useless idiots! All of you are bloody pieces of garbage! What’s the use in feeding all of you all these years?"

Steven started shouting and screaming at everyone to let his anger out, and the whole meeting room was filled with nothing but his cursing.

Ethan brought Diane downstairs.

"This is the first time I feel that the air outside is so refreshing."

Diane took in a deep breath. Her eyes were still a little red as she said, "Ethan, thank you."

If it wasn’t for Ethan, Steven would have used the most insulting method he knew to chase her out today.

She had faced the possibility of not just having to go to jail, but also the risk of her family not being able to stay in Greencliff. Steven was so heartless, and he hadn’t cared about how they had familial ties at all.

Then again, what familial ties did they have anyway?

From today, Diane’s family would have nothing to do with the Palmers.

Diane didn’t feel guilty about taking this project away at all, because she felt that her family did deserve to have it.

"Thank me for what?"

Ethan smiled, "I’ve said so before, nobody is allowed to bully my wife."

"Just now you said that we’re going to start our own Palmer Group. That was just to make Steven angry, right?"

"Nope, I meant it."

Ethan continued, "It’s tomorrow. I’ve already checked the date with the geomancer. This will be my first present to you."

Diane froze. Ethan wasn’t kidding?

She knew Ethan was very rich, so starting a company was no big deal to him. But this was really unexpected.

Besides, how was she going to return this much money?!

Diane still had some doubts. Ethan was definitely joking with her. Even with this one project she had, it wasn’t quite enough to start a company for it, right?

Ethan didn’t elaborate further and brought Diane home.

April was making lunch, and Ethan could smell sweet vinegar ribs the moment he stepped into the house.

He had just casually said that he wanted to eat sweet vinegar ribs in the morning, and April had actually made them in the afternoon. Mum was so nice to him!

"Time to eat!"

April brought the cooked dishes out of the kitchen and glanced at her room. "Diane, call your dad out to eat. He’s been studying all this material lately, as if he doesn’t need to sleep or eat."

Diane walked into the room and found William seated in his wheelchair with some business related documents in front of him. These were all from the time when he was still working, and he was trying to get his touch back by reading all of it.

"Dad," Diane called out.

William turned and smiled, "What is it? You look troubled."

"From today onwards, our family will have nothing to do with the Palmers."

Diane didn’t want to talk about what actually happened earlier in the office. Otherwise William would definitely angrily look for Steven to try reasoning with him, but it was meaningless to do so.

After hearing what Diane said, William didn’t have any strange expression on his face, as if he had already predicted this would happen. He just nodded, "Yes. Our family is just our family, and we have nothing to do with that Palmer family."

"Let’s eat."

Diane pushed William out.

At the dining table, Ethan had already happily helped himself to the rice and started eating, disregarding all formality.

Diane rolled her eyes in annoyance at him. "My parents haven’t sat down at the table yet!"

"It’s alright, Ethan has worked tirelessly all morning, let him eat first," William smiled.

"See how my dad and mum dote on me," Ethan purposely smiled gleefully at Diane. "Don’t be jealous of me."

Diane scoffed. She was really a little jealous alright.

Ethan had barely set foot into their house. At first he had come in as a useless man who had been forcibly married into their family, so April couldn’t stand him and William hated him. But in barely a month, he had practically become their biological son.

Even this daughter here didn’t get such special treatment.

"Dad, just to let you know,"

Ethan turned to look at William, "Tomorrow, our new Palmer Group will be open for business. You’ll be the chairman, and Diane will be the general manager."

"What? New Palmer Group?"

William had just picked up his chopsticks, and now he nearly dropped them on the floor again.

New Palmer Group?

He hurriedly turned to look at Diane, and Diane could only nod her head. Ethan never discussed with her before doing anything. All he did was to announce the results of what he had done.

"So both father and daughter will have to work hard."

Ethan continued seriously, "Whether this new Palmer Group will succeed or not, will depend on both of you. So you have to prove yourselves."

William took a deep breath in and his eyes immediately teared up. Prove himself? He had been waiting all his life for a chance to prove himself.

And now Ethan had put this chance right in front of him!

He was so touched he couldn’t respond immediately.

"But of course,"

Ethan spotted April walking over and quickly put in some words for her, "Our family needs Mum to lead us and work hard together!"

"Eat your pork ribs!"

Diane glared at Ethan and dumped a pork rib in his bowl.

This guy was such a sweet talker, so good at knowing exactly what to say to who.

Ethan couldn’t care less, as long as their mother was happy to hear it.

They all sat down to eat happily.

William was still extremely excited and didn’t know what to say. So after eating, he returned to the room to continue his revision.

Diane went to help April wash the dishes while Ethan watched TV on the sofa.

"Diane, Ethan is not bad at all."

April said this while washing the dishes.

Diane turned to look at her, "Mum, don’t be fooled by him. We barely know him!"

What was the world coming to? April was saying nice things about Ethan already?

It had only been about a month.

This Ethan was really good at stealing hearts huh.

"That’s not what I meant."

April shook her head. "What I meant was, Ethan is too outstanding."

"Huh?"

Diane froze.

"We shouldn’t be a burden to him."

April looked back at Diane. "Once the timing is right, we should annul this marriage and give him back his freedom."

Ethan and Diane had collected their certificate of marriage, but they had not consummated their marriage.

Previously, April had felt that Ethan was not worthy of her daughter. But now she felt that Ethan was too outstanding, so outstanding that she couldn’t imagine that her own daughter could be worthy of him.

After living for a few decades now, she could tell that Ethan was no ordinary man.

She didn’t know why he had come to their family, but Ethan had no ill intentions towards them. He had continuously protected and helped them, and April was very grateful for this.

She had even thought that even if Ethan wasn’t her son-in-law, it wasn’t a bad idea for him to be her godson.

But even so, they couldn’t continue to tie Ethan to them because that would be tying his happiness to them as well.

Diane was quiet for a while after hearing April’s words, then she said resignedly, "Mum, I never intended to go for something that I can’t reach."

She wasn’t that sort of person.

There were still some soap bubbles on April’s hand, but she reached out and gently pinched Diane’s face. "Mum knows! None of us in this family is that sort, so let’s all work hard and return his favor, got it?"

"Got it!"

Diane nodded her head in all seriousness.

……

Meanwhile, in Gerald’s bungalow.

He had changed the type of wood in his incense burner, and now the smell was even stronger.

Gerald sat on his rosewood chair, chanting and moving his Buddhist beads in his hands.

He heard the door open and there was the sound of familiar footsteps walking in, so he knew exactly who had come.

"Where did you find the time to visit me?"

Gerald opened his eyes and smiled. He stopped his chanting and turned to see Steven. "Where’s Archie? This boy hasn’t come to see me in quite a while."

Steven’s face didn’t look too good.

"He’s entertaining a few friends from Fairbanks these few days," Steven replied.

He walked over to Gerald and opened his mouth but closed it again.

"What, you have something to say?"

Steven had never been the type to beat around the bush, why was he so hesitant today?

"Something’s happened."

Steven suddenly fell on his knees with a thud. "Dad, I’ve let you down!"

Gerald got a shock when he saw Steven fall to his knees, and he rushed over to pull him up. "What happened? What’s happened?"

Steven had fallen to his knees like that, so something terrible must have happened.

"The medical equipment factory project has been snatched away by Diane."

Steven felt his face burning as he talked about this. He felt like Diane and her family had slapped his face several times when he thought about what happened earlier.

It hurt so much he felt pain, humiliation and anger!

"What? What did you say?!"

Gerald’s beard shook. He thought he heard wrongly since he was getting old.

"Diane pulled a lot of dirty tricks, so all the contracts we have state that this project has nothing to do with Palmer Group, and is an asset under Diane’s own name."

Steven was furious. "We’ve invested millions of dollars, putting in huge amounts of human and financial capital, but in the end…everything was really being done for Diane!"

Gerald’s entire body was shaking.

This project was the most important project to advance his company, so he had put in a lot of investment. And now it has been taken away by Diane?

"Bastards! All bastards! How did I raise such an ungrateful bastard!"

Gerald started shouting angrily. "Where’s William? Does he know about this?!"

"I’m sure he knows. Part of this might have even been his doing too, we’ve really underestimated him."

Gerald took a few deep breaths and felt giddy, as if he was about to faint.

Steven ran over to help him up.

"Dad! Dad! Calm down, calm down!"

Gerald’s face was all red as his blood pressure soared, and he was so angry he couldn’t catch his breath…

He should have seen this coming. Why would William and family take this lying down? After suffering for so many years, they wouldn’t just quietly continue to tolerate.

In fact, they might have eyed the Palmers for a long time now, and done all sorts of things to hurt the Palmers’ profits. They had been helping a bunch of animals!

"Diane said that her family is her family, and has nothing to do with our family."

Steven angrily continued, "These ungrateful leeches, I must have been blind to have given them a chance!"

Gerald didn’t say anything and only continued breathing hard so that he wouldn’t faint from anger.

After a long while, his breathing became more normal. He looked at Steven with bloodshot eyes, disappointment and anger written all over his face. He really wanted to slap Steven hard for not being able to protect what belonged to them.

But when he saw how Steven’s eyes were bloodshot and his face was so fatigued, he couldn’t bear to.

"Back then…when they had that ungrateful child, I should have drowned her!"

Gerald clenched his fists and roared.

He took another deep breath to help himself remain as calm as possible.

There was no point in saying this now.

"Hmph, even if they’ve snatched it away, we’ve got to get it back!"

Gerald continued, "Steven, listen up. I don’t care what price we pay, but you’ve got to make sure they regret doing this. Got me?"

"Got it!"

Steven nodded seriously.

He hesitated again. "There’s something else Dad. I’m not sure if I should say it."

"Spit it out!"

Was there something even worse than this?

Gerald was almost going mad with fury.

"Tomorrow, William and family will start a new Palmer Group, and they’ve invited me to the opening ceremony."

Steven’s face was all red from the humiliation and anger he felt.

"New Palmer Group?"

Gerald’s blood pressure had just gone back to normal, and now it soared again.

Suddenly everything went black. Gerald gave a cry, then his face turned red, and opened his mouth to spit a mouthful of blood out. He was so angry, he fainted and collapsed on the floor!

"Dad! Dad!"

Steven’s face was drained of color and he held onto Gerald. "Somebody! Call the ambulance! Now!"

All the servants rushed over to help, and nobody noticed a glint of evil flash across Steven’s lips.

The ambulance arrived shortly and took Gerald away.

Steven followed the ambulance and clutched his father’s hand with worry written all over his face.

"Dad, don’t worry! It’ll be fine, nothing will happen to you!"

Gerald’s mouth was a little crooked to one side, his speech unclear, and his hands and feet were shaking violently. He wanted to say something but wasn’t able to.

Gerald had suffered a stroke.

The news reached William quickly. He only shook his head and didn’t say anything.

Diane and April didn’t say anything either. The Palmers had nothing to do with them anymore.

To Gerald, their family was no longer part of his family from a long time ago.

The next day, William got up early in the morning, shaved and set his hair nicely.

He had on a new suit, new tie and leather shoes.

April personally helped William to put on his tie. Her eyes became a little teary as she looked at this charming and handsome husband of hers.

She hadn’t seen William this energetic in years.

"Dear, I promise, I will work hard so that you and Diane will be able to live well," William said solemnly.

April nodded. "I know, I’ve always believed that."

Ethan drove the family to the office.

The night before, Tom Foster had already arranged for someone to change the signboard from Foster Group to Palmer Group. He had also arranged for people to renovate the office.

All the workers in the office were waiting in the hall for the new chairman and general manager to arrive.

Nobody had expected the company to change its owner overnight. And what was even more shocking was that Tom Foster was the one who saw to it personally.

Ethan stopped at the entrance. Tom Foster immediately went over to take out the wheelchair from the trunk and put it in front of the car door.

"Come Dad, I’ll help you."

Ethan helped William onto the wheelchair while Tom Foster held the wheelchair steady. Once William was comfortably seated, he gently pushed the wheelchair along.

"CEO Palmer, everyone’s waiting for you," said Tom Foster to William with a smile.

"Thank you!" William replied with great sincerity.

He had no idea how any of this happened, but he knew that if Ethan said there were no problems, then there really weren’t any problems.

This could be the only chance he had to prove himself in this life, so he was going to cherish it.

When William and the rest entered the main hall of the office, everyone started applauding.

"We welcome the chairman!" Tom Foster shouted loudly.

"We welcome the chairman!" the crowd shouted in unison.

Tom Foster went up and addressed the crowd happily, "Everyone, I would like to officially announce that this company has changed its name to Palmer Group. William will be the chairman, Diane will be the general manager. As for me, I have finally completed my mission, so I can retire in glory now!"

Everyone suddenly understood what was going on. So Tom Foster had been working for William all this while?

What a shocker!

"All company matters will be handled by Chairman William, so I hope all of you can cooperate with him and make this company even better than before!"

Tom Foster had officially handed the company over.

With that, he pushed William to the front, and there was a round of applause.

"Thank you everyone."

William was touched and excited at the same time, so he didn’t really know what to say. He looked at Ethan and saw Ethan nod at him, so he continued, "I won’t let all of you down, I will work hard to make this company better. To let everyone here lead better lives!"

There was another round of applause.

The whole handover ceremony wasn’t complicated since all the procedures had been completed beforehand.

To the workers, there was no difference besides a change in the owner, so they weren’t too bothered.

Tom Foster didn’t interfere too much into the operations before this either. So as long as William kept everything status quo and allowed everyone to continue working the same way as before, that was enough for them.

When William saw his newly renovated office, he immediately turned to thank Tom Foster.

"Tom, my brother, I really don’t know how to thank you!"

This company used to be Tom Foster’s, but now he had willingly given it to William – this was doing him a tremendous favor.

But when Tom Foster heard William call him a brother, he quickly replied, "Oh no no, you’re being too polite with me. This company was set up for you and your daughter to take over in the first place."

"All I did was to help you to manage it for the past few years. Now the time has come for me to hand it over to you, and I believe you can give these employees a better life ahead!"

Tom Foster called Ethan ‘Big Boss’, while Ethan was William’s son-in-law. How could William say Tom Foster was his brother – they were definitely not of the same rank at all.

"Go ahead and familiarize yourselves with everything here. If you need anything, just call me."

Tom Foster then left.

"Dad, Ethan named you the chairman and named me the general manager. What about himself?"

Diane had some doubts. It was obvious that this company actually belonged to Ethan, and Tom Foster was just running it for him.

William and April both shook their heads. Ethan didn’t say anything about that.

Meanwhile.

Ethan was downstairs!

There were 50 men in front of him, and they were all elites handpicked by Tom Foster.

"So you guys are the elites that Tom mentioned?"

Ethan took a few glances at them and was amused.

If these people could be considered elites, then that was cheapening the meaning of the word itself.

There was a look of disdain on his face and he didn’t hide it at all. He shook his head, "I’m a little disappointed."

The faces of all 50 men fell immediately.

Ethan had gone too far by looking down on them like this.

These were all men groomed by Tom Foster. Even though they hadn’t had to fight all these years, they were confident that they were equal or better than others, and they only needed an opportunity to prove what they could do!

But now, a man had suddenly appeared in front of them and talked to them like that. Who would take this lying down?

"What right do you have to say such things about us?"

One of them stood up straight and spoke coldly, "We only listen to CEO Foster, who are you even!"

Tom Foster was observing from afar, and cursed in his heart. This chap was too bold for his own good, how could he talk like that to Big Boss?!

If Ethan hadn’t told him to stay out of sight, he would have kicked that fellow hard by now for being so rude.

Tom Foster couldn’t understand at all. Ethan had taken the company from him and let William be the chairman and Diane be the general manager. But he had put himself as the head of security.

This title wasn’t worthy of Ethan at all!

But this was Ethan’s decision, so naturally he didn’t question it.

"CEO Foster, what do you think Big Boss is trying to do?"

Brother Geoff was standing behind Tom Foster and couldn’t understand what was happening at all. "All these guys here are our best fighters, and Big Boss doesn’t think much of them?"

Tom Foster rolled his eyes. "Our best fighters? Better than Big Boss?"

Brother Geoff didn’t have any response to that. Even another 500 of them couldn’t fight off Ethan.

He suddenly laughed gleefully. "This is a prideful bunch of people, and they don’t know how amazing Big Boss is, eh? They’ve always refused to listen to other people, thinking that they’re better than everyone else. We’ve got a good show ahead."

A few others also spoke up, obviously unhappy with Ethan.

"I am the head of security, Ethan. And all of you are now under me."

Ethan went straight to the point. "If you’re not happy about this, you can come out here."

Within seconds, a number of them stepped forward, followed by another group of them. All of them stared straight at Ethan and none of them were polite about it.

Ethan looked at all of them and shook his head with even more contempt.

"I thought all of you were unhappy, but it seems that there are some useless ones who are ok with this."

In an instant, all 50 of them had stepped forward. The fire of their fury was about to spew from their eyes.

"Excellent."

Ethan looked at all of them again. "I love it when people are unhappy with me."

"That way, I’ll beat you until you admit defeat, and it makes me so satisfied."

"Don’t be too arrogant!"

"If it wasn’t for CEO Foster, I’d have beat the shit out of you by now!"

"Exactly! What right do you have to be in charge of us?"

All of them started speaking rudely, just short of actually hitting Ethan.

Tom Foster was sweating buckets while watching from afar. These idiots really didn’t know what was good for them. They were just saying anything they liked now.

Beat the shit out of Ethan?

Did they think they were better than even Eli Howard and John Howard?

They had both been incapacitated!

Tom Foster started to get worried. He was worried that Ethan might get angry and then paralyze all 50 men here. He had put in a lot of resources to train these guys.

"CEO Foster, what are you doing?"

Brother Geoff pulled him back. "These idiots need to be taught a lesson, otherwise their noses would remain high in the air!"

"Big Boss asked you not to interfere, so don’t."

Brother Geoff knew that these 50 men had a good foundation in fighting. Tom Foster had picked them based on the criteria set by Winston, and many of them were either retired soldiers or had learnt some martial arts.

But still, they were too proud and always felt that they were better than others.

Now that they’d even dared to be so rude in front of Ethan, even Brother Geoff would be pissed off if they weren’t taught a good lesson.

Ethan didn’t say anything. He took a look around, then waggled a finger at them.

"I’ll do it!"

One of them immediately took a step forward. His muscles bulged from his bulky figure.

"Not enough."

Ethan continued to waggle his finger. "All of you can come at me at once, don’t waste time."

He calmly continued, "If anyone can hit me, then you can take my position."

"Audacious!"

All 50 of them were furious. This Ethan was way too complacent.

He wanted to go up against all 50 of them by himself?

Did he have a death wish?

Some of them dashed forward while the rest stayed behind. If they really all went up at the same time, that would be an insult to them.

In a blink of an eye, all those who had dashed forward had flown back even more quickly and rolled a few times on the floor before stopping.

Everyone’s face immediately changed.

Ethan was a true master!

"Lousy! So lousy! Elites? I think you’re all garbage."

Ethan didn’t mince his words. "Looks like Tom Foster has really poor judgment, spending resources to train garbage like you guys."

"You’re asking for it!"

All of them couldn’t stand it anymore. Ethan kept provoking them with such words. Did he think they really wouldn’t attack him?

All 50 of them roared and dashed towards Ethan, every one as violent as a dragon. Even if they got chased out by CEO Foster for doing this, they were going to teach Ethan a lesson.

This man who had no regard for anybody!

……

"You haven’t eaten yet or what? Your fists are so weak, are you a girl?"

"What is this kick? Are you crippled?"

"You learnt martial arts before? With moves like this, you’d starve even as a busker!"

Every word from Ethan agitated them to the point of madness. They went all out in their attack, but only got soundly beaten in return.

Brother Geoff couldn’t bear to watch.

Tom Foster had wanted to dash out several times from heartache!

He had paid a high price to train these men, and he hoped Ethan wouldn’t cripple them just like this.

In less than a minute, all 50 men were lying on the ground, unable to move!

Ethan stood where he was and looked around at all the men who were still unwilling to admit defeat. He shook his head, "Why, still not happy?"

"HMPH!"

The skinhead leader of the 50 clenched his teeth. His face showed that he wasn’t willing to admit defeat, but he was shocked beyond belief in his heart.

Ethan was too strong!

All of them were like mere children in front of Ethan. Never mind hit Ethan – it was hard to even touch Ethan’s clothes.

The moment Ethan’s fists moved, even if they managed to see it, they weren’t able to dodge it. That one fist was so powerful, they nearly stopped breathing.

The scariest part was, Ethan wasn’t even sweating!

"There is always someone better, and there are always greater heights."

Ethan calmly explained, "I am that greater height."

He was one who had reached the sky, while the rest were only fit to be looked down upon by him.

"Those who want to become stronger can stay. The rest can get lost. I don’t need garbage, and I definitely don’t need good for nothings."

Ethan then turned to leave. The 50 men sat on the ground and exchanged glances, mixed feelings written all over their faces.

All the pride, confidence and complacency they used to have in themselves were shattered completely in less than a minute by Ethan’s fists!

…

In the security department office.

Ethan was seated, while Tom Foster was standing and sweating profusely.

"Big Boss, these guys have some talent already. If they all choose to leave, then it’ll be hard to find replacements at such short notice."

Tom Foster was worried that these men would spiral in self doubt after being beaten so soundly by Ethan and choose to leave.

"If they’re all useless, then you’d prefer that they stay?"

Ethan took a sip of water and calmly continued, "Even if a useless one wants to stay, I won’t want him."

Ethan couldn’t be bothered anymore. He was anxious to get off work and go home for dinner, since April had prepared Szechuan spicy fish.

After seeing Ethan out, Tom Foster breathed a sigh of relief.

The assistants that had followed him for many years couldn’t understand what was going on.

"CEO Foster, we’ve been fighting so hard to get to where we are today. But now you’ve given everything away, and some of us really can’t understand."

"Precisely. CEO Foster, we won’t say anything since we respect your decision, but there are some brothers who have lost their livelihood, and I’m afraid that they might make trouble."

The few of them were very worried.

Tom Foster had given the main company to Diane and family, and that was fine with them.

But there were many who relied on the illegal businesses for a living.

Tom Foster had just sold everything off like that, and it was hard for some of them to accept it.

Especially since all this had started with just one word from Ethan, making those who didn’t know what was going on very unhappy.

"Make trouble?"

Tom Foster scoffed. "Whoever dares to can try!"

"Geoff!"

He turned to look at Brother Geoff. "If anybody tries to make trouble, don’t bother being polite!"

He couldn’t be bothered to explain further.

"Got it!"

Brother Geoff immediately nodded.

He had followed Tom Foster right from the start and knew very well what sort of person Tom Foster was. Since Tom Foster had chosen to listen to Ethan, then there was definitely no problem with that.

Besides, Brother Geoff was already sufficiently shocked and amazed at how powerful Ethan was, even though he had only seen the surface of it. He didn’t dare to question anymore.

There were some subordinates who had wanted to make trouble recently. Some of them were secretly unhappy and wanted to demand an explanation from Tom Foster.

"If you dare to make trouble, don’t blame me for being nasty huh!"

Those on Tom Foster’s side were all worried and upset, while the other bosses of the illegal circle were more than happy to buy up all of Tom Foster’s dealings at the lowest price possible. This was an extremely profitable deal.

They even laughed at Tom Foster, saying that the day had come when he had made a bad judgement.

These were businesses that were doing well, but he just sold them like this, some even sold at a loss. Instead it was all these other bosses who benefitted without having to do anything.

Tom Foster had become a laughingstock overnight, and even his subordinates were laughed at. So they became more and more unhappy with Tom Foster’s decision.

But nobody expected that a huge storm was coming their way!

Within a short span of three days, the authorities swept through the illegal circles with great force to clean everything up. All the businesses that were operating in gray areas of the law had been hit harder than they ever had.

All those big bosses in the illegal circles found it hard to sleep. All the assets and businesses that they had just taken over and even their own assets had suffered tremendous losses.

There were even more people who had disappeared overnight!

The illegal circle of Greencliff was shaken up and everyone was terrified. Even though Tom Foster was already prepared for this to happen, he still broke out in cold sweat and was very fearful after hearing this news.

He sat on the sofa in his house and took several deep breaths before he managed to calm down.

"If I hadn’t listened to Big Boss, then I might have disappeared by now!"

Tom Foster knew how powerful this cleanup was. There were even a few bosses who couldn’t keep their positions and suffered terrible losses!

Those problematic assets that he had given up were all tiny time bombs ticking away. Even Tom Foster himself never thought that in such a short time, these bombs would explode just like that.

"Is there anyone who is still unhappy now?"

Tom Foster looked up at all his subordinates who seemed as shaken as he was. "If not for Big Boss, all of you would be dead meat right now!"

All of them had pale faces. They knew very well how blessed they were to have escaped this terrible disaster.

"If anyone dares to question Big Boss’ decision ever again, don’t blame me for being nasty!"

"Yes sir!" The entire group shouted in unison.

"Also, from today onwards, nobody among us shall touch any business that is illegal. We should all strive to be upright and law abiding people. If anyone tries anything funny, I’ll kill him myself! No need to trouble Big Boss!"

Tom Foster’s voice resounded resolutely.

He knew what everyone was worried about, so he went straight to the point. "I handed the company over to Diane and her family because I believe that they are able to help everyone earn enough money legally to feed your families."

"Don’t you want others to look up to you?"

"There’s something more important than survival in this life, and that’s dignity!"

He loudly continued, "Big Boss has told me before that all of you should have dignity. But this is not something that Big Boss will give you, but something that you have to earn for yourselves. Understood?"

"Understood!"

Tom Foster dismissed everyone and took a deep breath.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Ethan’s power was way beyond his imagination.

How had he known about this cleanup operation? Apparently the order had come down from very high up, so did that mean…Tom Foster dared not think about it anymore. He only knew that he had made the right choice. In fact, he had to make sure he never wavered and followed Ethan all the way, to live a life filled with dignity!

……

Ethan was the most relaxed during this time.

William and Diane quickly got the hang of things and took over all of the new Palmer Group’s operations. They even started to make improvements, because they didn’t want to let Ethan down, and didn’t want to let down anybody who trusted in them.

The two of them were very busy and worked until the wee hours of the morning almost everyday before agreeing to rest.

Ethan stood at the entrance of the company. All fifty men had chosen to stay behind.

Even though all their faces were swollen and bruised, the indignation on their faces was very apparent.

"You said you can make us become strong? How strong?" The leader of the group asked Ethan seriously.

"To a level beyond your imagination," Ethan calmly replied.

"Then I’m staying!" The leader immediately responded.

He was indignant and even though he didn’t admit defeat to Ethan out loud, his heart had already admitted defeat.

"I’m staying too!"

"I want to become strong and challenge you again!"

"I can’t take this lying down, so I have to stay!"

All fifty of them were riled up and chose to stay, none of them willing to be left behind.

Ethan scanned the group and calmly said, "But I won’t take you just because you want to stay."

"If you’re not able to pass my training requirements, you still have to get lost. I said before that I don’t want any trash or good for nothings. At this moment, none of you catch my eye."

Ethan’s words were like a needle stabbing into everyone’s heart and he wasn’t polite about it at all.

Everyone had indignation on their faces, but in their hearts, they knew that Ethan had the right to say things like this.

"Tom Foster spent a lot of effort to groom all of you, so I’ll give you a chance. But if you don’t take this chance and prove to be useless, then all of you won’t be the only ones who have to get lost. Tom Foster will have to get lost too!"

Ethan’s words were so domineering, it made all of them feel even more determined.

If they didn’t buck up and work hard, they might even drag Tom Foster down with them!

"Gather at the Palmer Group factory in the countryside tomorrow."

Ethan then returned to Diane’s office after that.

Diane was so busy she could hardly breathe. When she noticed Ethan just sitting there and drinking tea leisurely, she couldn’t help asking, "Why do I feel as though I’m working for you now?"

Ethan laughed, "Nonsense, this is a business shared between husband and wife."

Diane didn’t reply to him nicely. "Those security guards are already outstanding enough, but you still want to train them?"

"Outstanding?"

Ethan scoffed. "Our security has to be the best in the world. The word ‘outstanding’ isn’t enough."

These people were going to become the core strength of the Palmers. Ethan already had plans for how far the Palmers were going to rise in the future.

They had to at least surpass the Hunts in Makrin City!

Ethan was going to let that old man know that creating a wealthy and powerful clan was nothing to him.

He noticed that Diane was rolling her neck and looked terribly tired. Ethan got up and took Diane’s hand.

"Where are we going?"

Diane pouted. "I still have a lot of work to finish."

"It’s time to eat, so let’s eat at Golden Jade Restaurant."

Humans were strong but they still needed food to survive. He wasn’t going to let Diane starve.

...

At this moment.

Golden Jade Restaurant.

Archie had brought some important guests here to eat.

"Golden Jade Restaurant is a famous restaurant in Greencliff, so I think you guys would like it."

Archie smiled and said, "I’ll get the best private room, this way please!"

There were a few young men around the same age as him standing in front of Archie. Judging from their dressing and demeanor, they were obviously extremely rich and of high standing.

Archie had been entertaining them for the past few days. He had brought them around Greencliff to have fun and eat good food, and today he had chosen to bring them to the famous Golden Jade Restaurant.

"I’m Archie, give me your best private room!"

Archie walked right in front and pulled a card out as he arrogantly said, "Money isn’t a problem!"

"Archie? Are you Archie from the old Palmer Group?" asked the waitress.

"What old Palmer Group?" Archie immediately frowned and his face fell when he heard this question. "Greencliff has only one Palmer family!"

Diane had set up a new Palmer Group, and this made Steven furious. Archie was equally furious, but he was more jealous than furious. He couldn’t see how Diane had managed to become independent.

"I’m really sorry, but this restaurant will not entertain anyone from the old Palmer Group."

The waitress kept a smile on but rejected him quite directly.

"What did you say?" Archie was furious.

He had brought so many friends here but he couldn’t even step past the door of the restaurant?

Was there anything more embarrassing than this?!

"Archie, what’s going on? I thought you said that everyone in Greencliff panders to your family?"

"Yeah that’s what you said. But now we can’t even enter a restaurant, so were you just joking with us?"

The few rich young men with him started laughing and Archie’s face turned red.

He slammed a hand on the counter and roared angrily, "I said I want the best private room you have! Can’t you understand words?"

"The one who doesn’t understand words is you, right?"

A voice came from behind. "She’s already made herself clear. They won’t entertain anyone from the old Palmer Group. Get lost."

The moment he heard this voice, Archie spun around violently and his anger instantly sprung up.

"Ethan!"

He hated this crazy man to the core! This lunatic who slapped him twice!

"Diane, I can’t believe you’ve actually become a couple with this crazy man."

Archie was so angry. He was the one who had found this homeless Ethan, but he had actually really gotten together with Diane now.

When he saw how intimate they were, Archie couldn’t help but laugh coldly. "How’s it going? Is a homeless man more energetic than others? His service makes you feel really good huh?"

Diane frowned but didn’t say anything.

Ethan raised his hand and slapped Archie across the face without holding back at all.

"You…you dared to hit me again?!"

Archie’s eyes were spewing fire and he wanted to charge at Ethan.

Ethan used his leg to kick Archie in the stomach, causing him to instantly fly out.

"Be more polite when you’re talking to my wife."

Ethan continued coldly, "The swelling on your face just went down and you want it to be swollen again?"

Archie felt his face and ears were all red. Ethan had actually dared to hit him in front of his important guests.

Archie and his father had been so angry over Diane setting up the new Palmer Group that they hadn’t been able to eat for several days now.

His grandfather just had a stroke and the Palmer family was a mess now.

He had wanted to entertain these rich young men from Fairbanks in hope of getting connected to the families they were from. That way, the Palmers might have a chance to expand into Fairbanks.

But he didn’t expect to meet this damned Ethan and Diane here!

"Aren’t you being a little too arrogant?"

One of the young men stepped forward to help Archie up. He frowned slightly but his gaze never left Diane.

"We’re all civilized people here. It’s too uncultured to use violence."

After Joe Stewart finished saying this, he put a smile on and said to Diane, "Hello there, my name is Joe Stewart, from the Stewart family in Fairbanks. So you’re Diane?"

He had heard Archie mention that he had a very pretty cousin called Diane.

He didn’t believe Archie at first, but now that he saw her for himself, he now wanted her for himself!

He didn’t care that Diane’s husband was right here.

"Young Master Stewart, be careful. This guy is a lunatic, and he hits people the moment his illness acts up."

Archie clenched his teeth and he was hopping mad.

His face was burning with pain and he feared that there would be five fingers clearly imprinted on his face now.

Joe continued to look gentlemanly and didn’t care about Ethan at all.

Archie had told him that Ethan and Diane were just husband and wife on paper, and Diane couldn’t possibly have allowed Ethan to touch her. In that case, Diane was still a virgin.

Joe became even more interested now.

"Miss Palmer, if you need my help, I could help you to get rid of this crazy man pestering you."

Joe arrogantly said, "As for the clash you have with the Palmers, I could help you settle that too. I believe the Palmers would be agreeable on account of the Stewart family."

He then turned to look at Archie.

"Yes yes yes, if Young Master Stewart says the word, then the Palmers would definitely do this favor."

Joe looked smugly back at Diane and waited for her to agree.

"Are you sick in the brain?"

Diane unexpectedly frowned and replied curtly, "If you’re sick, then go see a doctor."

"What did you say?"

Joe’s face became grim.

He had never seen a woman who was so poor at understanding the situation she was in right now.

There was no woman he wanted that he didn’t get.

He had given Diane a chance but she didn’t cherish it at all!

"Are you deaf? Looks like he’s quite ill." Ethan just shook his head. "We’re going to eat now, so you all better get lost now, don’t affect our appetite."

He couldn’t be bothered with these lowly people and just walked away with Diane.

Joe stretched a hand out to block Ethan and Diane as a cold glint flashed across his face.

"Nobody has ever dared to refuse me before!" Joe stared at Diane. "I’ll give you one last chance. Spend a day with me, otherwise…"

Before he could finish speaking, Ethan slapped him too, and the force of his slap was tremendous.

This slap was much harder than the one he gave Archie!

Joe yelped in pain and he instantly went flying and ended up sprawling on the floor. He looked back at Ethan in disbelief.

Ethan had actually dared to hit him!

In fact, Ethan had actually hit him hard enough to make him fall to the ground!

Joe had learnt taekwondo before and held a pretty high rank, so he had no problem taking three people down by himself. But Ethan had hit him so quickly that he hadn’t even had time to react before his face started burning from pain.

"How dare you say such things to my wife! You’re asking to die!"

Ethan’s face grew grim and didn’t hide the murderous intent in his expression.

There was suddenly a terrifying force that seemed to rush out like waves. Joe had opened his mouth to retort but stopped himself from doing so.

This force was too frightening!

This was truly a force that could kill!

Ethan didn’t have to care about these lowly people who were mere ants to him. But when it came to those ants that insisted on climbing up his foot to disturb him, they couldn’t blame him for stepping on them and killing them with his foot!

"You…"

Archie’s voice was trembling, "You dared to hit someone from the Stewarts!"

"If you continue to get in the way, then you’re not going to be let off with just one slap!"

Ethan didn’t hold back at all. His icy cold words made Joe shudder uncontrollably.

He was nuts! A real lunatic!

He finally believed Archie when he said that Ethan was pretty much Diane’s crazy pet.

"Throw all of them out!"

A few people appeared from behind Ethan and grabbed Archie and Joe to throw them out.

Ethan looked up to see that there was one more person who hadn’t said a single word the whole way.

"I’m travelling with them, but we’re not the same kind."

That young man smiled and nodded as he clasped his hands together. "Sorry to disturb."

He then left on his own accord.

Diane was a little worried. She wasn’t afraid of Archie, but that Joe was from the Stewart family in Fairbanks. She now recalled that the Stewarts in Fairbanks were a very powerful family.

"Ethan, do you think you’ve made things a little too big? I heard that the Stewart family of Fairbanks is very powerful."

Ethan has blown up so many matters since she first met him, hadn’t he?

"I won’t let anyone bully you."

Ethan looked at Diane. "Never mind this Stewart family. Even if those wealthy families in Makrin City say anything bad about you, I’ll make sure they disappear overnight!"

He had an extremely serious expression on his face and he wasn’t joking at all.

Diane blushed immediately.

This fellow…when he protected her, he really made her feel very touched.

Ethan didn’t say anymore. He took Diane’s hand and went to their usual private room to let her have a good meal.

But just downstairs.

"OWW!"

Archie and Joe were literally thrown onto the pavement like dead animals, attracting the attention of several passersby.

"They tried to cheat a meal out of the restaurant and got thrown out huh. Don’t they know where they are?"

"They looked pretty well dressed but they’ve done something like that. It would have been better if they had asked for leftovers from the back kitchen instead."

The comments of the passersby made Joe and Archie nearly puke blood.

Did they look like people who tried to cheat the restaurant of a meal and got thrown out?!

"Damn it! This bloody idiot! He’s dead meat!"

Joe was shaking all over. He had never been humiliated like this in his entire life. He hadn’t brought a strong fighter with him today, otherwise he would definitely cripple Ethan on the spot!

"Young Master Stewart, that Ethan is a loon, but he’s really vicious when it comes to hitting others. I’ve been hit three times already!

Archie really wanted to cry now.

"Young Master Stewart, are you alright?"

Gentry Price, the other young man, came out with a very concerned expression on his face.

Joe’s face burned with rage as he clenched his teeth, "I can’t believe I got thrashed in Greencliff. I’ll make him pay for doing this!"

He couldn’t take this lying down!

"Young Master Stewart, don’t be angry. Why get angry with a crazy man?" Gentry tried to console him, "We’ve come to Greencliff just to have fun, don’t make any trouble."

"Don’t make any trouble? I’m Joe Stewarr! Is there any trouble I fear?"

Joe glanced at Gentry. This young master of the Price family was really as cowardly as what everyone had said about him. He was afraid of offending a lunatic?

He had helped to stand up for Archie, but Gentry had just stood there without saying a single word! So useless!

"A strong dragon doesn’t try to go up against the poisonous snake either," Gentry laughed bitterly.

"HAHAHA! I’m so scared! He’s just a mad man and you consider him a poisonous snake?"

Joe had a cold smile on his face. "Young Master Price, you’re really only as bold as a mouse. Just watch – I’ll torment that stupid mad man and make him watch me have my way with his wife!"

Joe then turned to leave, and Archie hurriedly caught up with him.

Gentry shook his head slightly as he watched how the other two seemed to have lost all reason.

His expression immediately changed.

His expression now looked reliable and careful, and was completely different from how cautious and timid he looked earlier.

"Hmmm. There’s actually someone so impressive in Greencliff."

Gentry looked up at Golden Jade Restaurant’s signboard. "If he proves useful to me, then I wouldn’t have come to Greencliff for nothing after all."

There was a meaningful glance in his eyes as he thought about how he would save Ethan just before Joe really kills him, and then Ethan would owe him a favor.

When that happened, Ethan would definitely be loyal to him and lay his life down for him!

When he thought about things this way, there was a gleeful look on Gentry’s face.

He never liked wastrels like Joe who only cared about having fun and playing with women. If the Stewarts weren’t incredibly wealthy, Joe would have used up the family fortune long ago. But he was confident that he could make the Prices surpass the Stewarts in ten years!

Joe immediately made a phone call when he got back to the hotel room.

"That’s right! Get all of them here! I need to kill somebody!" Joe roared, "NOW! Get here as quickly as you can!!"

He slammed the phone down hard. The imprint of five fingers on his face hadn’t faded yet.

"Young Master Stewart, will this matter get blown out of hand?" Archie cautiously explained, "This Ethan is crazy so it doesn’t matter what happens to him, but he has some ties to that Tom Foster."

"Tom Foster? Who the hell cares about him?!"

Joe was filled with disdain. "You Greencliff people are like ants to us Fairbanks folk!"

"They just went to start their own Palmer Group right? I’ll make them bankrupt right now!"

To the Stewart family, this was nothing.

Archie was secretly gleeful in his heart when he heard this, so he added fuel to the fire, "Young Master Stewart, once they’ve been forced into a corner, then Diane will obediently climb into your bed."

Diane’s face immediately appeared in Joe’s mind. He couldn’t wait to pull off all her clothes and have his way with her.

This bloody bitch actually dared to reject him. He was going to see if she still dared to do something like that after he made her kneel down in front of him and scream and cry.

…

At the same time.

Ethan and Diane were eating at Golden Jade Restaurant.

Diane was a little embarrassed when she saw that Ethan didn’t eat much and just kept staring at her.

"Why do you keep staring at me?"

Diane blushed, "Quickly finish eating, then I have to get back to work."

"I was just wondering if it was a mistake to set up a new Palmer Group, since it’s made you so tired," said Ethan. "I don’t want you to overwork yourself."

"Ethan."

Diane put down her chopsticks and had a serious expression on her face. "If I don’t work hard and earn enough money, how am I going to return you this favor?"

"You don’t have to return it."

"I have to!"

Diane shook her head and insisted. "I must return you everything I owe you. My mum has told me that we shouldn’t hold you back. So don’t feel any pressure, you can just tell me whenever you want to call this marriage off."

She didn’t give Ethan a chance to speak.

"I know you’re very rich and you’re not an ordinary person. I’m really grateful that you’ve helped my family, but I…I’m not worthy of you."

Ethan didn’t say anything. He just continued staring at Diane, then he suddenly burst out laughing.

The solemn and serious atmosphere was instantly ruined.

"What are you laughing about!"

Diane’s face turned a darker shade of red. It had taken her so much to say all this out so seriously.

"Nothing, nothing. I’ll listen to everything you say. But before that happens, you’re still my wife." Ethan took a deep breath. "So I’ll keep protecting you."

He looked at her so gently that Diane’s heart was thrown into confusion.

She quickly got up and avoided Ethan’s gaze. "I’m done eating! Back to work!"

After sending Diane back to the office, Ethan sat in the security guard office downstairs.

Tom Foster came.

He had an invitation card in his hands.

"Big Boss, we’ve received a malicious invitation." Tom Foster’s expression was dead serious and he wasn’t kidding around at all.

"I’ve followed your instructions and got rid of anything that dabbled in illegal activity. Those other bosses in the illegal circle thought they made a killing, but this cleanup by the authorities has made them suffer terrible losses!"

They hadn’t only lost money. Several people, including two of high standing, had been arrested and thrown into jail as well.

Now all of them thought that Tom Foster had purposely laid this trap for them.

All their wrath was now aimed at Tom Foster.

"They’ve decided to hold us responsible for doing all this." Tom Foster passed the invitation card to Ethan. "Tonight, I’ll go pay East Lake Teahouse a visit."

He wasn’t confident at all. He knew that those people wouldn’t be nice to him, and they were all ready to exact revenge on him.

"You’re scared?"

Ethan didn’t look at the invitation card, but continued looking at Tom Foster.

Tom Foster smiled a little awkwardly. "The main problem is that they’ve invited me to a boxing match, but Big Boss, you know those guys with me…even if I get Geoff to fight, he might not get us anywhere either."

His best fighters had all been taken away by Ethan, and Ethan didn’t think much of them either.

On the surface, this boxing match was supposed to be a friendly exchange, but the truth was that the other bosses wanted to crush Tom Foster. If Tom Foster didn’t attend, then his reputation would be in ruins. But if he attended, then he would suffer even greater losses.

The other bosses must have prepared for this long ago, and had called some highly skilled boxers to come.

"Tonight, right?" replied Ethan. "It would be a good chance for me to see how many big fish are swimming around in Greencliff’s swamp."

Tom Foster’s heart immediately leapt for joy when he heard this.

"Alright! Big Boss, I’ll get Geoff to pick you up tonight!"

If Ethan was making an appearance, then Tom Foster didn’t have to fear anything!

Even if all the bosses of Greencliff’s illegal circle was against him, they were the ones who were going to be dead meat.

Ethan’s aim was to clean up all of Greencliff’s illegal circle. If he didn’t disturb the waters, then how was he going to get the big fish to come out?

Or perhaps there were no big fish here, but Ethan’s plan still started from here anyway. Then he would move on to Fairbanks, and gradually move along the coast to clean up all the cities along the way.

This was his last mission!

As the God of War of the East, he had gone through countless missions and relied on his iron fists to send shockwaves everywhere!

A dragon that entered shallow waters would surely cause huge waves in the water!

"My dear, dear Master. We could have settled everything easily but you insist that I use such a troublesome method."

Ethan couldn’t help but shake his head, then started laughing. "But since I got to see Diane again, I guess it can be considered a good deed on the old man’s part."

His experiences over the past ten years had built up an unimaginable level of emotional stability and intelligence.

He knew the duty he had to perform, and he also knew what the phrase ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ meant.

…

At East Lake Teahouse.

This was considered a famous spot in Greencliff.

This huge manmade lake had been left behind from ancient times and had been dug out completely by hand. There was a small teahouse in the middle of the lake, and it had been around for a few centuries now.

One had to take a boat to get to the teahouse.

There were several bosses seated in the various private rooms of the teahouse.

"Master Han, I’ll have to trouble you this time round."

Bill Hale was seated at the front of the table and there was a viciousness in his expression. "I just want to teach Tom Foster a lesson, and of course fists and feet don’t speak. But things aren’t so clear when you talk about whether one can survive a boxing match."

These were very direct words.

A bulky and bald man sat across the table from Bill Hale. He looked like he was close to forty, but he still looked ferocious.

His eyes were half shut and cut to the chase with an arrogant attitude.

"500 thousand. Once I get the money, anything is negotiable."

Bill Hale nodded. He waved and his subordinate brought a box over and opened it in front of Master Han. "If you win, then it will be 500 thousand. If he dies, I’ll add another 300 thousand."

Bill Hale was really going all out!

He really hated Tom Foster to the core.

He had thought that he got a good deal by taking over a whole bunch of assets from Tom Foster. Everything had cost him more than 30 million in total, but before a month was up, everything was lost!

On top of that, some of his best men were stuck in jail and he couldn’t get them out. Otherwise he wouldn’t have had to find someone outside of his men.

"I heard that Boss Rodney Davis has also hired an expert in Muay Thai."

Bill Hale looked at Master Han and knew how impressive this martial arts practitioner of thirty years was. "If you can also win that Muay Thai expert, then I’ll give you a million."

The first instruction was to get revenge, while the second one was to make sure he didn’t lose out to his rivals.

This boxing match was the way the illegal circles gained clout. In these modern and harmonious times, they couldn’t just fight and kill each other. But they could always hold some competitions among themselves.

You could say that Tom Foster had ensnared the entire illegal circle of Greencliff all by himself. He had offended every single person and all of them wanted to teach Tom Foster a lesson.

They wanted Tom Foster to lose, to humble himself and compensate them before they were satisfied.

Master Han kept his eyes half shut as he calmly replied, "Muay Thai is just a pretty way of fighting, but it won’t do much damage."

Bill Hale nodded and felt much more assured when he saw how confident Master Han was.

Teaching Tom Foster a lesson was only one of his motives today. His other motive was to frighten his opponents.

Otherwise he wouldn’t have spent so much money to hire a fighter like Master Han.

"Has Tom Foster arrived?" Bill Hale turned to ask his men.

"Not yet. He’s probably trying to find a fighter for himself."

"Humph, what sort of fighter could he possibly find? That stupid dog of his Geoff? Master Han could probably cripple him with one finger!"

Bill Hale was filled with disdain. "Let’s drink our tea and quietly wait for Tom Foster to come here and meet his doom!"

At this very moment.

Tom Foster had already started making his way to the teahouse, and he sent Brother Geoff to pick up Ethan.

"Where are you going at this hour of the night?"

Diane had taken a shower and changed into house clothes. Her clothes were loose fitting but it still couldn’t hide her figure, and her soft fair skin that peeked out from under her clothes.

She sat on the sofa and asked as she saw Ethan on the way out.

"I have some matters to attend to."

Ethan walked over to Diane and looked down at her. Diane went into a panic and shifted backwards a little as she clutched her chest and her face immediately reddened.

"Come…come back early!"

"If you want to eat anything for supper, call me."

Ethan then walked out of the house.

"Where’s Ethan going at his hour?"

April had just come out of the kitchen with a plate full of cut fruit.

Diane’s face was still a little red as she replied in a hurry, "He…he said he was going to buy supper. Mum, what do you want to eat?"

Brother Geoff had waited for a while at the door. When he saw Ethan emerge from the house, he immediately opened the car door for him.

"Big Boss!"

Ethan nodded. "Let’s go."

Brother Geoff was excited on the way there because he was going to be able to watch Ethan fight again. He couldn’t wait to watch, so he started stepping harder on the accelerator.

When they reached East Lake Teahouse, Tom Foster was waiting for them at the jetty.

"Big Boss, they’ve all arrived already."

Tom Foster smiled and motioned for Ethan to go ahead of him.

"You walk in front," Ethan calmly replied.

Tom Foster understood immediately. It was better to keep Ethan’s identity a secret as far as possible and not to let him be seen in public too much. The purpose of having Tom Foster around was to be Ethan’s spokesperson in Greencliff.

They took a boat and headed for the teahouse in the middle of the lake. The nervousness Tom Foster felt earlier had all disappeared.

"Did Tom Foster chicken out? Look at the time! Where the hell is he?!"

"I think he’s chickened out. This bloody bastard really got us into hot soup!"

All the bosses were still furious.

They hadn’t hired any highly skilled fighters to come. Bill Hale had Master Han while Rodney Davis had a Muay Thai expert. That was enough for Tom Foster to lose miserably and humble himself before them.

"The world of doing business is like that. Either you profit or you lose. You mean if any of your businesses profit, you’d give me a share of it?"

Tom Foster’s voice floated in from the door, and it was still calm and confident.

"When all of you bought over my assets at such a low price, I didn’t see that any of you were unhappy about it."

He didn’t hold back at all. Ethan was here, so he didn’t have to fear!

Tom Foster walked in with large strides, fearlessly and confidently, and looked fairly imposing.

Ethan and Brother Geoff followed closely behind him. He could ignore Brother Geoff, but he could sense the confidence coming out from Ethan.

He sat down and the other two behind him also sat down.

"CEO Foster, you’re a real big shot huh. So many of us here have been waiting just for you," Bill Hale said sarcastically.

"You didn’t have to wait."

Tom Foster scoffed. "If you think I’m an eyesore, then I’ll just leave."

But how could any of them let Tom Foster leave this place?

They had set up this match today to teach Tom Foster a lesson. If they didn’t teach him a good lesson today, then they had set all this up for nothing.

"Enough with the nonsense. CEO Foster, where’s your fighter?"

Rodney Davis had lost all patience. He had lost 60 million in this cleanup operation!

"Don’t tell me it’s that dog of yours. If he dies, then you won’t have a dog to order around anymore."

Brother Geoff knew that Rodney Davis was insulting him, but he didn’t say or do anything. There was no anger on his face, and he actually looked quite happy that all these people were going to be in big trouble tonight.

Brother Geoff looked at the dark skinned young man seated behind Rodney Davis. His triangular eyes looked fairly sharp and the skin on his arms and legs were taut, so this young man was obviously a fierce fighter who practiced all sorts of martial arts.

A bald middle aged man sat behind Bill Hale with his eyes half closed, and continued to look on arrogantly.

"Bloody hell, these two damned things really spent a ton of money!"

Brother Geoff looked at Ethan. Ethan didn’t even look at that Muay Thai expert and Master Han, and started playing with his phone instead.

"You said enough of this nonsense, so why are you spouting so much rubbish? If you want to start, just start right now. Hurry up and finish this, I have other things to do," Tom Foster replied as if he didn’t care.

He then turned to look at Ethan, and Ethan kept away his phone. He looked up and scanned the room. His gaze completely ignored Master Han and the Muay Thai expert and he looked disappointed.

"Where are your strong fighters?"

This one question from Ethan made Master Han and the Muay Thai expert’s faces become grim instantly.

They hadn’t even started fighting, but Ethan was now challenging them.

Martial arts practitioners had a different aura around them and they had noticed this about Ethan when he walked in. But this question had instantly infuriated the two of them.

Ethan clearly didn’t think much of them.

That disappointed look in particular, made them even angrier.

Even though that Muay Thai fighter might not have understood what Ethan said, he could understand that look of disdain on Ethan’s face.

"How audacious!"

The first one to speak was Master Han.

His eyelids twitched as he slowly opened his eyes. There was a glint in his eyes as they opened. "You young punk, how dare you be so bold!"

When he saw Ethan’s figure, he knew that this fellow probably only knew a few moves and was no match for him.

Master Han didn’t even think much of that Muay Thai fighter.

At most, the Muay Thai fighter might be just a little more troublesome to handle.

But if he was going to make a move, he was going to attack the one who started all this first.

Master Han stood up and walked to the center of the boxing ring. He looked up and kept his hands behind his back as he emanated much power and confidence. "You, come over here!"

This 500 thousand seemed too easy to earn.

He didn’t even have to be a strong fighter.

Bill Hale and the rest were also offended. Tom Foster’s subordinate was way out of line.

He had actually asked directly where their strong fighters were.

Were Master Han and the Muay Thai expert ghosts or something? Couldn’t he see them sitting there?

"Tom Foster, you’re really out of line, and your subordinate is worse. But this is not a place for you to do whatever you like!"

Bill Hale continued calmly, "If you admit defeat now, kneel down and kowtow to me in apology, I can let him off."

What he wanted was for Tom Foster to humble himself.

But Tom Foster didn’t seem to have heard anything.

"Geoff, get the restaurant to prepare a feast. After we’re done with the fight here, we’re going back for a drink."

"Got it."

Brother Geoff immediately made a call to arrange things.

Upon hearing this, everyone present, not just Bill Hale, had a nasty expression on their faces.

They were all gathered to watch Tom Foster bow down to them, but Tom Foster actually dared to behave so audaciously!

So it seemed like he would rather his subordinate be beaten to death than to humble himself to others.

Everyone’s gaze fell on Ethan.

There were many who looked on in disdain and sympathy. To them, Ethan had followed the wrong boss and was going to meet with a terrible end. He was willing to lay his life down for Tom Foster but Tom Foster didn’t seem to care whether he died or not.

Ethan’s phone suddenly rang.

He pulled it out to find that Diane was calling him.

"Where did you go to buy supper? Why haven’t you come back yet?"

Diane sounded worried over the phone.

"Ask Dad and Mum what they want to eat."

Ethan simply answered for them, "Mini lobsters? Got it."

He hung up and turned to Brother Geoff, "Put in an order of mini lobsters for me, I’ll pack it home."

The whole place fell silent.

A deathly sort of silence.

Bill Hale slammed a palm on the table with an angry face.

This was going way overboard!

Tom Foster and Ethan had gone way too far!

What did they take this place as?

How could they be talking about what they wanted to eat later and packing mini lobsters home?

Their useless lives were going to be lost right here!

Ethan only kept his phone away after he saw that Brother Geoff had made another call to arrange for his order. He then got up and walked to the middle of the boxing ring, standing only about five steps away from Master Han.

"Young man, you’re too audacious. You have to pay for this."

Master Han kept his hands behind his back. "I’ll give you a cha-…AHHH!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Ethan made his move!

Ethan was as unmovable as a pine tree!

The moment he moved, he moved like a typhoon!

Master Han’s pupils instantly narrowed. Ethan was too fast!

Before Master Han could react, Ethan had already come right in front of him and smashed his ferocious fists down. His attack was like a rush of sea water, vast and fierce at the same time!

Master Han felt like he was going to drown in this sea water.

This mighty punch smashed down hard on Master Han’s chest. There was a muffled sound as Master Han flew out like a kite whose string had broken, smashing into two tables. But he didn’t stop there. He kept flying until he finally hit a wall and there was a loud boom.

He opened his mouth only to spew a mouthful of blood out, then he fainted.

There was only a faint sound of people breathing in the air. There were some who had forgotten to take a breath even.

They didn’t even know what happened. They were all waiting for Master Han to make his move and show his power and beat Ethan to death, but…

But within a blink of an eye!

Master Han flew out and fainted, while Ethan was still standing where he was, as if he hadn’t moved.

"So much nonsense," Ethan muttered calmly.

Bill Hale’s expression became grim. The men surrounding him also came closer to protect Bill Hale.

Rodney Davis and the other bosses were also filled with great fear.

What sort of skill was this?

Even the most vicious man back then, Eli Howard, couldn’t compare to this at all.

Where did Tom Foster find this fighter from? He was way too terrifying.

"Oh my, Bill Hale, this Master Han that you hired is only capable of this much?"

Tom Foster’s heart was also still beating very quickly, but he kept a calm face on. He told himself that this was just a small fight. As long as he followed Ethan, he was going to go through even bigger battles than this.

"Don’t tell me you picked him up from some park?"

These words weren’t polite at all, and were like a tight slap across Bill Hale’s face.

If he wasn’t just some old man practicing taichi in the park, then how could he be so weak?

How could a real fighter not be able to even take one punch?

"I heard you spent 500 thousand?"

Tom Foster’s words made Bill Hale’s expression turn nastier. He clenched his fists and the veins started to pop. He wished he could fall out with Tom Foster right now.

"Humph."

Bill Hale managed to hold his anger in. He turned to Rodney Davis, "Rodney Davis, Tom Foster is too audacious, so I’ll have to see what you can do."

Master Han had been dragged out by some men, and the expression on the Muay Thai fighter’s face was also rather grim.

Rodney Davis noticed his expression and lost all his confidence.

He had spent a small fortune to hire this Muay Thai expert, who won more than ten fights in a row in Thailand’s illegal boxing matches. He had also beaten several famous boxers to death, so his strength and skill were really at a frightening level.

But that one punch from Ethan was way too shocking.

"Li, beat him to death!" Rodney Davis instructed.

The Muay Thai expert, Li, was wearing only shorts and no shoes. His hands and legs were bound with bandages, and looked like he was going to burst with energy and power.

Those eyes of his looked just like a hungry wolf.

He walked to the center of the boxing ring and stared at Ethan with eyes that were so cold, it made one shudder.

The air became very tense, as if there was gunpowder in the air and would explode with just a touch.

"HAAA!"

Li didn’t bother saying anything unnecessary. His expression was extremely grim as he knew that Ethan was much more power than that Master Han from that punch that he threw earlier.

He was a strong rival!

He gave a low shout as his muscles tensed up. He swiftly made his way towards Ethan and gave a punch. There was the sound of air bursting as he did so.

Ethan just stood where he was and his expression didn’t change as he also gave a punch.

Both fists smashed hard against each other!

Li’s lips flinched clearly and his face paled. But he didn’t retreat and sent another kick out.

But Ethan was faster than him. He also sent a kick out and landed his foot on Li’s shoulder. The kick sent Li flying!

Then there was the sound of bones breaking!

"Ahhhhh…"

That blood curdling cry of pain made Rodney Davis and the rest feel their hair stand on end.

Li roared loudly and didn’t care that his shoulder had just been fractured. He swung his fists again and there was murder in his eyes.

This man was really vicious.

Unfortunately for him, he was faced with an even more vicious Ethan.

Three consecutive fists slammed into Li’s good shoulder and his two legs, and there was a clear bone breaking sound with each one.

Within the blink of an eye, Li collapsed onto the floor. He couldn’t move anymore except struggle by twisting his torso, and roared in a low voice.

His four limbs had been broken.

The teacup in Rodney Davis’s hand smashed to the floor.

Bill Hale wanted to stand up, but he felt that both his legs had gone weak and couldn’t get up at all.

All the other bosses were either holding their breath to focus, or taking in deep breaths, or gripping onto the handles of their chairs tightly. They felt like they were close to death!

Their subordinates next to them all looked like they were faced with a mighty enemy.

When Ethan’s gaze swept across the crowd, there was a fear that rose from their very bones, and there was only one thought in their minds.

If they went up against Ethan, they would surely die.

Even Tom Foster and Brother Geoff felt the same way even though they already knew how powerful Ethan was.

Tom Foster had to maintain an image of being a boss, but if he didn’t dig his nails hard enough into his flesh, he might have fallen off his chair too.

As for Brother Geoff, he was now definitely a devout worshipper of Ethan.

He felt that he could even see an aura around Ethan!

That man was a freaking god!

"You call this one a skilled fighter?"

Ethan dusted his palms off and looked around. His eyes fell on Bill Hale and Rodney Davis, causing them to feel like they were sitting on needles. "Have you two hidden your fighters away?"

Bill Hale and Rodney Davis cursed in their hearts.

What skilled fighters could they be hiding?

If they had more highly skilled fighters, they would have freaking called them out to kill Ethan by now!

But of course they didn’t dare to say any of this.

Ethan was now like the grim reaper.

Where the heck did Tom Foster find him?

They noticed a similar stiff look on Tom Foster’s face and realized that even Tom Foster was terrified.

"Who else?"

Ethan called out, "If you wanna fight, come out now!"

He didn’t have that much time left to spend here. He still had to bring supper home for Diane. It was rare for this girl to actually want supper even though she was always afraid of getting fat.

The entire teahouse was silent.

Even those who thought that they were not bad at fighting could only keep quiet now, and nobody dared to even say they knew how to fight at all.

They could fight, but they could fight humans, not gods!

Since nobody was coming out to fight, Ethan turned to leave.

Tom Foster stood up immediately.

"Bill Hale, Rodney Davis, aren’t you two wasting my time by doing this?"

Tom Foster stuck his chin out slightly. He rarely had a chance to be arrogant like this. So he calmly continued, "I thought you two had brought along some really impressive fighters. I’m a little disappointed."

Then he waved and said, "Alright everyone, I won’t stay here any longer, I’ve got to go for supper now."

Brother Geoff noticed that Tom Foster’s legs were trembling slightly.

After Ethan and the rest left, the teahouse was still completely silent.

After a long time, some color returned to Bill Hale’s face and he exchanged a glance with Rodney Davis.

"This Greencliff is going to change completely."

Rodney Davis didn’t say anything. His face was grim as he brought his men out of the teahouse.

They had come to teach Tom Foster a lesson, but he had taught them one instead.

Who was that man? How was he so terrifying?

Greencliff hadn’t seen such a vicious one in recent years. Could he have come from Fairbanks? That was the most probable explanation now.

If the people from Fairbanks had their eyes on Greencliff, then the illegal circle of Greencliff were going to really change completely.

The cleanup operation by the authorities had just ended, causing them to suffer great losses, and now there were people from Fairbanks. The foreboding they felt in their hearts reached its maximum in just a few moments.

After leaving East Lake Teahouse, Ethan and the rest went straight to Golden Jade Restaurant.

Tom Foster’s face was red from excitement and remained red for quite a while.

Brother Geoff just followed behind and wanted to say something several times, but in the end he didn’t dare to say anything.

"Big Boss!"

Tom Foster packed the freshly prepared mini lobsters well and passed it to Ethan. "It’s been hard on you tonight."

Ethan shook his head. "I’m a little disappointed though. I thought there should be some big fish in Greencliff, but they’ve all turned out to be trash."

Tom Foster nodded.

To Ethan, Bill Hale and the rest were just trash.

"I’m not interested in settling this sort of trash, so I’ll leave it to you."

Ethan hopped into his car.

Tom Foster froze. Ethan was leaving them to him?

It was easy for Ethan to give these instructions, but it wasn’t an easy task to settle Bill Hale and the rest himself.

"One month."

Ethan went on, "I’ll take one month to train those punks. After that, you have to settle the rest. I want to keep my wife company."

He then got Brother Geoff to drive him home.

Tom Foster took a deep breath. He only snapped out of it after he could no longer see the lights of the car.

Ethan was only going to take a month to train those fifty punks?

And then Ethan wanted him to completely get rid of Bill Hale and the other bosses who had been around in Greencliff for the past few decades?

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Ethan. He just continued to feel that this was too hard.

Brother Geoff drove Ethan back to Magnolia Estates and respectfully opened the door for Ethan. It was like he was facing a high and mighty god, and Brother Geoff was being extremely pious.

"Big Boss!"

Brother Geoff hesitated for a while before speaking again. "I…Could I drive Big Boss around for this month?"

Ethan thought about it. The car they had right now was for Diane and he wanted to buy another one, but April would definitely chide him for spending money unnecessarily.

"You want to join the training?"

Of course Ethan could tell what Brother Geoff was really thinking about.

"YES!"

This time he didn’t hesitate, because he knew Ethan liked people who spoke their minds. "I want to become strong too!"

"Sure."

Ethan nodded and then went into the house.

Brother Geoff clenched his fists and punched them excitedly into the air before carefully driving off.

It was nearly 10PM.

Diane was still sitting on the sofa with a tablet in hand and looking at all sorts of company reports.

The fragrance of mini lobsters immediately made her wrinkle her nose.

She turned to see that Ethan had already prepared bowls and chopsticks, and even had tissue ready.

"Come over and eat. Mum and Dad are asleep?" Ethan asked quietly.

"Yeah they’re sleeping."

Diane walked over to the table in her slippers. The smell became even stronger. "Will I get fat if I eat supper so late?"

She felt that she wouldn’t look good if she became fat.

"You’re pretty even if you’re fat."

Ethan seemed to know what Diane was thinking about, and said that while peeling one for her to eat. "Come, have a bite."

Diane told herself that she should only eat a few, but soon enough, she totally forgot that she had told herself this.

She ate one every time Ethan peeled one, and Ethan only let her wash up and sleep after she had finished everything.

Nothing eventful happened that night.

Diane took her guilt of eating supper to bed and slept till the next morning.

When she woke up, the mat in the room had already been packed away and Ethan was nowhere to be found.

She sat up with a start. "Ethan?"

There was suddenly an empty feeling in Diane’s heart. Had Ethan left?

She walked out of the room to find that familiar figure still gobbling his food at the table, chomping down the breakfast that April made. Diane immediately felt assured.

"You lazy bum, if you continue to wake up so late, I won’t leave any breakfast for you next time."

"Humph, don’t you dare!"

After breakfast, Brother Geoff was already waiting outside the door.

He sent Diane to the office first, then sent Ethan to the factory in the countryside.

None of the fifty men were late, and all of them had come early to wait by the factory entrance.

When they saw Ethan’s car approaching, there was a change in their eyes.

They didn’t know how strong Ethan could make them, but they believed that Ethan had this ability.

There was an empty piece of land behind the factory, so while the factory was being built, Ethan had also gotten the workers to build a training facility that he had designed on this empty piece of land.

The training facility was densely filled with all sorts of obstacles, and everyone’s hair stood on end.

They hadn’t started yet, but they knew it was going to be really tough by just looking at it.

"Out of fifty, I’ll leave only thirty at most."

That was the first thing Ethan said.

"If you join my training program, you will become strong. But you might also die."

That was the next thing Ethan said.

"Whoever wants to back out may leave now."

There was the third thing Ethan said.

Before seeing this training facility, there might have been some who wanted to quit. But nobody wanted to at this moment.

Everyone had been trained before, and they could see how terrifying this training facility was.

If you wanted to pass, you would need several months of training. Otherwise it was impossible!

"Excellent."

When he saw that nobody wanted to leave, Ethan nodded. "I’ll demonstrate just once."

Then he suddenly moved, and his movement was insanely quick!

He was like a dragon moving at top speed, and he leapt onto the first obstacle in a few moments – the balancing beam.

All fifty men’s expressions changed instantly. That balancing beam wasn’t tied to anything!

There was no pattern to its movement!

But Ethan was running across it as if it was flat ground. His speed was like lightning, and he had passed the first obstacle in a flash.

The second stage had numerous sandbags falling from above. There was also no pattern to their falling, and there seemed to be only one narrow path that would make it across. And Ethan…flew across it in an instant!

All their faces became even grimmer.

He was too powerful!

This wasn’t just the ability to fight. This was a combination of balance, agility, strength and speed.

Ethan punched a sandbag so hard it exploded, and quickly reached the sixth stage.

He was too fast!

The eyes of Brother Geoff and the rest could barely keep up with Ethan, and their throats were dry. Was Ethan even human?

They felt that they would probably need several days to just pass the first stage, but Ethan seemed to be taking a walk in the park.

Ethan had reached the end point before they could even react.

He had taken 49 seconds!

Not even a minute!

All of them held their breath and focused. They didn’t even dare to breathe. They were all nervous, raring to go, filled with expectation and even a hint of excitement.

"I don’t expect much of you guys, just finish the course within ten minutes," Ethan said after he turned to look at them. "I’ll just give you one month, and I’ll keep the first thirty who make it. You may begin."

Ethan then left.

Brother Geoff took a deep breath and looked at the rest. When he realized none of them was moving, he shouted, "Don’t all of you have great endurance or something? Didn’t all of you say you were highly skilled? GO ON!"

Then he pulled his shirt off and ran towards the first stage.

But the moment he stepped onto the balancing beam, it shook slightly and he lost his balance, falling into the mud immediately.

"Damn it! It’s so hard!"

Brother Geoff had a nasty look on his face. This was so embarrassing.

He clenched his teeth and tried again. This time he fell even harder and wasn’t able to even take one step forward, never mind how Ethan walked like it was flat ground.

The other fifty were just watching him. Of course, they knew how tough Ethan’s training was.

With just one month, how could they possibly achieve that?

But if they managed to get through the course, they could imagine how much stronger their bodies would become!

"DAMN IT!"

Brother Geoff didn’t give up. He tried again and again without giving up, even though his face was covered in mud.

It wasn’t easy for him to have this chance, so he wasn’t going to give up!

Soon, someone started moving. Then a second one, a third one, a fourth one…

Nobody wanted to be left behind. Everyone wanted to become stronger, and nobody wanted to embarrass themselves in front of Ethan!

Soon enough, the training facility was filled with angry roars as figure after figure rolled in the mud and was sent for a ride through the various stages.

If they failed once, they’d try again, and again…the more they tried, the more excited they became, and the more indignant they became!

Ethan didn’t bother about them.

He knew very well that if they made it in a month’s time, then their bodies would have seen an improvement beyond belief. But who could make it to the end?

That depended on one’s willpower and endurance level.

Ethan drove the car towards Palmer Group, and at the same time, Joe Stewart’s men had arrived in Greencliff.

They were two muscular men, and it was obvious that they were twins.

"Cain Brockman, Abel Brockman! Your mission is to find that crazy guy and cripple him!"

Joe had a threatening look on his face as he threw Ethan photograph at them. "Break his hands and legs, understood?!"

"Understood!"

Both muscular men had short cropped hair, a wide back and strong hips, and it was scary to just look at them.

Then they both left for their mission.

"Archie, my side is ready to go."

Archie was so excited.

Joe was going to personally deal with Diane and the rest, and he was happier than anyone else.

The Stewarts were a powerful family in Fairbanks. They could topple a newly set up company by just saying one word.

"Young Master Price isn’t joining us?" Archie paused for a moment before asking.

Gentry had gone back the day before, and didn’t seem interested in attacking Diane.

"Humph, don’t bother about him. He’s just a piece of trash who’s only as bold as a mouse!"

Joe said disdainfully, "I’ve already talked to the business partners who work with them, so if they still dare to work with Diane even though they know I’m from the Stewart family, then they will have to wait to suffer the wrath from the Stewarts!"

Archie was so excited. "Young Master Stewart, you’re amazing!"

"Just watch. In less than a day, Diane’s cash flow will instantly face issues, and their newly set up company will go bankrupt immediately!"

Joe narrowed his eyes and waited for the results quietly.

He didn’t feel a great sense of achievement since he was merely squashing an ant and it didn’t even need him to do this personally.

But when he thought about how Diane would beg him for mercy when she was pushed into a corner, he felt deeply satisfied.

"Young Master Stewart, then those business partners…"

Archie smiled, "My family has some related businesses, so I’m wondering if you could pass them to us?"

"Humph, this is only a small matter. If you want it, all I have to do is say the word."

Joe had an arrogant look on his face. "As long as the Palmers are obedient and help the Stewarts to control the market in Greencliff, then all of you, are one of mine."

"Yes yes yes!"

Archie immediately bowed respectfully when he heard this. "Young Master Stewart is our master. The Palmers will definitely listen to everything you say!"

Even if he had to become a dog, it was fine to become the Stewart family’s dog. Who could remove the Palmers from their position in Greencliff once they were under the Stewarts?

…

A few directors came looking for Diane urgently the moment she reached the office and told her something bad had happened. .

"Thirteen of our partners have called off their partnership. They’d rather pay compensation than continue working with us."

"Now our cash flow is facing a problem, and there are two investment companies who have been calling us before the day started to ask for their money back."

"They’re ganging up to shut our company down!"

None of the directors expected something like that to happen suddenly. The new Palmer Group had just been set up and had just started business when they were hit with such a fierce blow. This had a huge impact on the morale in the company.

Diane frowned and didn’t say anything. She knew that someone must be doing this on purpose to destroy her company.

This rival was really malicious!

She immediately went to William’s office, to find that he was calling the various business partners.

"CEO Jones, aren’t you going too far by suddenly withdrawing your investment?"

"We’ve always been working well together but now you’re telling me that you don’t even want the interest. CEO Borden, I don’t really understand why you’re doing this. Can you tell me what’s going on?"

William had made several calls, but all of them insisted on calling off their partnerships.

His face was grim. He didn’t expect matters to become so serious, and this had come so suddenly.

They were obviously ganging up to attack Palmer Group together!

"Dad," said Diane. "It must be the Palmers."

After thinking about it, she knew the Palmers didn’t have such tremendous power. "And the Stewarts from Fairbanks."

This must have been Joe’s doing. Otherwise it wasn’t possible for these Greencliff business partners to do something like that.

They couldn’t afford to offend the Stewarts. If the Stewarts came down hard, they would perish as well.

So even if they weren’t willing to, they had no choice but to cut themselves off from Diane and her father.

"How’s the company’s situation now?" William was still calm.

"Our money is very tight. The business partners have pulled out, we can’t remit any money, and the investors are pushing for their money. We’re in a very bad state now."

Diane’s eyes were tearing up.

The company had just started but someone had already come to make trouble for them. And this way of doing it was obviously someone trying to use their power to bully them.

"Assure the staff."

William made a decision quickly. "We will get through this."

"Also, get a loan from the bank. We cannot let our cash flow have any issues."

The moment their capital was cut off, then that was the end of them.

"Ok!"

Diane immediately went to get this done. She started calling a few banks that worked with them and asked them about getting a loan.

At this moment.

Ethan realized someone had been following him.

He only laughed quietly.

His senses were too sharp, so there was no one in the world who had been able to follow him without being detected yet.

Ethan’s expression didn’t change. He drove the car to a more deserted area, and the car behind continued to follow behind him and kept a certain distance away.

He got out of the car and walked into a park that was still under construction and sat down on a long bench.

Ethan lit a cigarette and slowly blew smoke out without even looking back.

"You’ve followed me for so long already, so what are you waiting for?"

Two figures appeared in front of Ethan.

Both of them were skinheads with a ferocious air about them and icy cold stares.

Ethan could immediately tell where these two came from.

"You shouldn’t have offended the Stewarts," said Cain Brockman coldly.

"Now we’re going to cripple you. Do not resist us," spoke Abel Brockman.

Then the two of them were ready to make their attack.

"So people who left John Garrett’s team are actually ok with being someone else’s dog?"

That one statement from Ethan made their expression change greatly as they stood where they were and didn’t move as they glared at Ethan.

"Looks like I have to ask our dear Little Garrett. How did he teach his subordinates to behave like this? Is he asking to die?!"

It was as if a huge bolt of lightning had frozen Cain and Abel Brockman to the ground and neither dared to move forward.

There were only a few people who dared to call John Garrett ‘Little Garrett’!

And there was only one person who dared to say that John Garrett was asking to die.

God of War!

That almighty God of War!

Their team leader from before had remained excited for half a year because he had gotten a tip from the God of War.

Their breathing quickened as their bodies tensed up. They didn’t dare to even think of attacking.

Ethan was just sitting there, but they could both feel an extremely frightening pressure coming towards them.

The two of them stood where they were and didn’t dare to move. They had solemn faces and there was a trace of guilt.

They felt guilty because they had embarrassed John Garrett.

Ethan continued to sit there, as calm as water, and quietly blew out his cigarette smoke.

"I’ll give you a chance to explain."

"After we were demobilized, we went home to find that our mother was seriously ill, and the Stewarts gave us enough money to save her."

Cain Brockman’s voice trembled slightly. "So we agreed to work for the Stewarts for two years."

Abel Brockman opened his mouth and wanted to say that they hadn’t done anything bad before, because that was their most basic principle in life. Even if they had already left John Garrett’s team, they would never make any exceptions.

This time, they were willing to make a move only because they had heard that the target was someone from the illegal circles.

They never thought that their target would turn out to be…

"Then what about now? Still want to cripple me?"

Neither of them spoke.

They obviously didn’t have that ability, but on top of that, if John Garrett found out that they had dared to offend the great God of War, John Garrett would get all his men to beat them to death!

Ethan got up, put out the cigarette and threw the butt into the trash can.

"Remember where you came from."

Ethan didn’t say anymore and left.

Cain and Abel Brockman continued standing there for a long time before they finally breathed a sigh of relief, and their backs were all drenched from cold sweat.

They knew that Ethan had let them off. Otherwise, the crippled one would have been themselves.

Ethan reminded them to remember where they had come from. They had come from a place where it was a serious offense to use the skills that they had learnt for evil.

"The Stewarts don’t know what’s good for them!" said Abel Brockman coldly after taking a deep breath.

Offending the almighty God of War was as good as asking to die!

"Contact the team, I’ll bear the punishment that we deserve." Cain Brockman smiled bitterly.

Even though they had left the team, they still felt that they were members of the team. If John Garrett knew that they had nearly offended the God of War, John Garrett would probably wake up in the middle of the night from fright.

When the two of them returned to the hotel, Joe was enjoying himself with the company of a few women in his arms.

"All settled?" Joe asked excitedly the moment he saw the two brothers return.

He knew very well how powerful these two were. The Stewarts had been able to strike fear in the hearts of people in the last two years mostly thanks to these two.

Unfortunately they were too old fashioned, and were a little too principled.

If he hadn’t said that Ethan was someone from Greencliff’s illegal circle, they wouldn’t even have agreed to come out.

"Young Master Stewart, from today onwards, the favor the two of us owe the Stewarts has been paid in full," said Cain Brockman with a cold expression on his face.

"What?"

Joe was stunned. They hadn’t finished their two years yet, so how could this favor be considered repaid?

"I’m asking you what happened to Ethan!"

"Young Master Stewart, there are some people whom you cannot afford to offend. Please don’t go down this road! You will die!"

Cain Brockman didn’t want to waste anymore words on Joe. He turned and left with Abel Brockman.

If the Stewarts continued to be stubborn, then they themselves might even make a move on the Stewarts to make sure they understood that one should not simply offend the almighty God of War.

Joe was furious when he realized that the two of them had obviously returned without completing their mission and still dared to talk to him like this.

"Fuck you! I’ve spent so much money feeding you and this is how you do things?! Trash! Useless pieces of trash!!" Joe cursed loudly.

He had no idea that Cain Brockman and his brother had just gone through the scariest moment in this world.

"Young Master Stewart, don’t be angry. Ethan has offended so many people, so he’s doomed to die sooner or later. Let’s wait for Diane to come kneeling in front of you to apologize first," said Archie as he sat on one side.

He gave a knowing smile and had an expression that all men would understand. "Young Master Stewart, I’ve already booked the presidential suite upstairs. I’ve also prepared a few things that I know you like."

Joe scoffed as an evil thought flashed through his eyes.

"You sure Diane is still a virgin? Wait till I have my way with her!"

Archie immediately nodded.

"Young Master Stewart, rest assured, Diane is definitely still a virgin. She wouldn’t fall for that lunatic."

He knew Diane well. She was a kind and innocent girl, as pure as a blank sheet of paper. She had never done anything out of line before.

She would definitely never allow just anybody to touch her either.

But that turned out to be a good thing now, since that satisfied Joe’s request.

"Humph, I think it’s about time. Come along, let’s go see what a mess Diane looks like now."

Joe got up and said smugly, "If I make her embarrass herself in front of her own company and force her to kneel down and beg me for mercy, I wonder if she’d cry."

He knew that Diane wouldn’t dare to let the company go bankrupt. Her staff would probably all hate her to the core.

Archie hesitated for a while, and nodded anyway.

…

At this moment.

Diane’s head was going to burst.

She had made calls to all the banks that had worked with them before, but all of them actually rejected her.

The reason they gave was the same – the new Palmer Group was going to become bankrupt and close down soon, so it was too risky to offer a loan at this point.

Diane was so angry that she was shaking.

How dare they say that Palmer Group was going to go bankrupt and close down!

"CEO Palmer, the company is under tremendous pressure and a lot of workers are beginning to change their minds."

A few directors had a conflicted expression on their face. "There are two managers who turned in their resignations."

Diane bit her lip and took a deep breath. She didn’t know what to say.

"Accept their resignations."

Then a voice came from behind. "Why bother keeping such people? If they don’t resign, I’ll fire them."

Ethan walked in and didn’t look worried at all.

"Ethan."

Diane looked like she was in great pain, and she also looked fairly guilty.

She had just taken over this company and something so major had happened. "I’m sorry."

She felt that she had let Ethan down.

"Silly girl."

Ethan reached out to pat Diane’s shoulder. "It’s not a big deal."

He turned to look at the director who spoke up earlier. "Go ask around who else wants to resign, I’ll approve them all."

This was a good time to see who was trustworthy, so Ethan thought that this was actually a good thing.

As for the trouble they were in…was this big enough to be considered trouble?

"CEO Palmer, the CEO of Greencliff Bank, Thomas Reid, is here."

A secretary came running in, her face all red. "He says he wants to meet with you and talk about a loan."

Diane was stunned and immediately turned to look at Ethan.

They had never worked with Greencliff Bank before. But the other banks all rejected their request, so why was the CEO of Greencliff Bank knocking on their door now?

"Nothing to do with me," Ethan shook his head.

He hadn’t gone looking for anyone in Greencliff Bank.

The company was just short of money anyway. Ethan had his bank card on hand all the time and he just needed to take some out to settle this problem.

"Let him come in!" Diane immediately replied.

Thomas Reid and his subordinates then went into Diane’s office. Seeing that Ethan was around as well, Thomas Reid quickly greeted him.

"Mr. Hunt!"

Ethan sat on the sofa and just nodded slightly, then continued drinking his own tea.

Thomas Reid was not here to look for him.

"CEO Palmer, I heard that your company has some issues with cash flow, so I came to see if there’s anything we could help you with."

Thomas Reid put it very nicely.

"Aren’t you afraid that we’d go bankrupt and close down?"

Diane was very direct.

All the other banks had used this reason to reject her request.

Thomas Reid smiled and didn’t say anything.

This company wouldn’t close down on account of that man sitting on the sofa. Even if Greencliff Bank closed down, Palmer Group wouldn’t.

But of course, he had sent an order to make sure that nobody else outside the bank knew that Ethan backed Palmer Group, so that other banks wouldn’t compete with his.

"We believe CEO Palmer, and we believe in Palmer Group."

Thomas Reid continued to explain, "I gave Chairman Palmer a call before coming. As for the loan, Greencliff Bank is agreeable to provide a loan at low interest and we can allow five years for repayment. This is to ensure that we can continue to work even more closely with Palmer Group in the future."

He didn’t beat around the bush and explained his terms very clearly.

He hadn’t come here today just to help Palmer Group. He also hoped that he could have the opportunity to do more business with Palmer Group, and so he offered such good terms to her.

Diane was stunned.

Other banks would have demanded extremely high interest even if they were willing to loan her money at this point in time.

Thomas Reid had not just given her a good deal on the interest rate, but had extended the repayment period to five years. This was as good as lending them money without any strings attached.

"CEO Reid, are you sure you’re not kidding?"

Diane found it hard to believe.

"Of course."

Thomas Reid had a very serious expression on his face. "But I would need Mr. Hunt to agree to my offer."

Diane was even more stunned.

Greencliff Bank was willing to give them a loan with such favorable terms and that was already considered a loss to them. And now this offer still needed the go ahead from Ethan?

She had never heard of anything like that. Who needed someone else’s permission to lend your own money out?

Diane turned to look at Ethan, but he waved his hands.

"When it comes to business operations, you guys go ahead and discuss, I won’t ask about it."

Thomas Reid was relieved to hear this from Ethan.

Of course he knew that if Ethan wanted to settle this matter himself, he didn’t need any money from the bank. Ethan had so much wealth, it only took one word from him for all the banks to come running to him with money!

But business was business. Since Ethan passed all operations to Diane and her father, he naturally didn’t want to interfere.

Thomas Reid had made a good judgment of this.

"Since Mr. Hunt has no opinions on this, what about CEO Palmer?"

Diane was still in a daze. But of course she didn’t have any problems with such a good deal.

"If CEO Palmer is alright with everything, then we can sign the contract. I’ve brought it along."

Thomas Reid seemed much more anxious than Diane to sign this contract. He didn’t want to miss this opportunity to work with Palmer Group.

After signing the contract, Diane still seemed to be in daze while Thomas Reid happily left with the contract and even his footsteps were lighter.

"Ethan."

Diane pouted. She knew Ethan must have done something. "You were behind this, right?"

She felt that she was really useless. She needed Ethan to help her all the time.

"Oh no, it’s your own charm."

Ethan looked very serious as he shook his head. "I’m not even close to him, so how could I have been behind this? He’s caught onto Palmer Group’s potential."

Diane scoffed. Ethan was really good at coaxing others, but did he think she would fall for that?

"Move aside! Where’s Diane? Aren’t you going to beg me for mercy?!"

"Diane, your company is going to close down soon and you’re not going bow down to me? You’d better bow down and admit your mistake, and I could consider giving you another chance!"

There was an awfully arrogant voice coming in from outside.

Joe pushed aside the staff that tried to block him as he happily continued shouting, "Diane, if you miss this chance, then you’re really doomed this time round!"

Archie was next to him and looking just as arrogant.

The last time he came here, he had been chased out by Tom Foster. Once Diane went bankrupt and had to close the company, this would become his territory!

Joe walked in as if he was walking around his own company. He was smug and looked down on everybody.

He wanted everyone to watch Diane kneel down before him to apologize and beg for mercy!

"I was wondering who on earth was pulling these dirty tricks and dared to make my wife so unhappy."

Ethan walked out and his face darkened the moment he saw Joe and Archie. "Any last words? Quickly spit them out now."

Archie shuddered when he saw Ethan.

He was fearful the moment he saw Ethan. He had been beaten into fear!

But today was different. Diane was going down with her company, so how could Ethan still be so confident?!

"Stop putting on a pretense!"

Archie laughed coldly. "This stupid company is going to close down soon, so aren’t all of you despairing now?"

He glared at Ethan and Diane. "I told you before, going up against Young Master Stewart is as good as seeking death! You’d better obediently kneel down and apologize, and maybe Young Master Stewart might spare your lives!"

Joe stood where he was with a disdainful look.

If those two brothers hadn’t been so useless, Ethan wouldn’t be standing here right now.

But none of that was important anymore. Once Diane was finished, then Ethan wouldn’t have anything to eat since he married into their family.

But he didn’t want Ethan to die so quickly. He wanted Ethan to watch his own wife scream and moan under him.

"Despair?"

Ethan’s lips suddenly curled up as he lifted his hand and slapped Archie hard across the face. "You are the one who should be in despair now!"

"You…"

Archie held his face. This wasn’t the first time Ethan had slapped his face!

Ethan wasn’t polite at all and didn’t want to waste anymore energy talking.

He sent a kick flying over and Archie immediately sprawled on the floor. He was all curled up like a prawn, and the pain was so bad that he couldn’t even speak a word.

Joe’s expression changed.

He had nearly forgotten that Ethan was a crazy man! And he would hit others when his illness acted up!

His company was going to close down soon, so Ethan’s illness must have acted up from the shock.

"If you dare to do anything, you’re dead meat!" Joe threatened. "I’m from the Stewart family, my dad will kill you!"

Ethan used a hand to hold onto Joe’s neck and lifted him off the floor.

Joe’s face turned red instantly as his feet dangled in the air and his eyes were filled with terror. How was Ethan this frightening?!

"I’m sorry to disappoint you, but Palmer Group won’t close down. But I have my eyes on the Stewarts now."

If someone who knew Ethan was around to hear this, that person would feel a chill in their bones.

Anyone that Ethan set his eyes on never came out alive.

"Let…let go of me!"

Joe’s body started to stiffen up, but Ethan’s hand was like a plier.

Ethan allowed Joe to continue struggling, but he didn’t loosen his grip on Joe.

There was a terrifying feeling of being strangled to death, and Joe felt that he was going to die any moment.

But no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t break free.

After two kicks, Joe also landed on the floor like a dead dog, and fainted immediately.

"Throw them out!" Ethan coldly gave orders.

The security guards quickly ran over and dragged them out.

All the staff were staring with their eyes and mouths wide. They didn’t know Ethan was this ferocious!

One was Archie from the Palmer family, the other was the heir to the Stewart family in Fairbanks. Ethan hit them just because he said so?

"Everyone," Ethan addressed the crowd seriously after looking at all of them. "All of Greencliff will only have one Palmer Group, and you can all safely work here. Over here, Diane will make sure that you will get better and more things than anyone else outside can offer."

He didn’t have any fancy words.

In order to let people work here in peace, then the company had to pay them enough and treat them with enough respect.

Mentioning anything else was basically trying to pull a fast one on the workers.

"I will help Diane to announce one thing first," Ethan declared loudly. "From today onwards, everyone’s salary is going up by 50%!"

The office was silent for two seconds before there was thunderous applause.

The company had just met with a terrible crisis and there were many who couldn’t hold on and took the chance to quickly resign first. They were still standing in the office with the confirmation of their resignation in hand. Now all of them were stunned.

It had only been about half an hour since they resigned. How much had they lost?!

Their stomachs churned.

But Ethan didn’t care about them.

After they returned to her office, Diane couldn’t help but take a deep breath. She really had no idea that Ethan wanted to do this.

But an increase of 50% in the salary would be more convincing than anything else to ensure that the staff would work even harder and be more assured of their jobs.

"Ethan, you’re a really generous boss."

Diane pouted.

She and William were pretty much working for Ethan. This huge company was all Ethan’s.

"My wife’s salary has to go up too."

Ethan smiled and pulled his own card out. "You can keep this card and take it as allowance."

Diane took one look and saw that it was the same sort of black card as before, and she didn’t know how much money was inside this one.

"Then what about you?"

She pretended to be upset and scoffed. "By giving me your money, aren’t you afraid that I’ll just take all your money and run?"

"I have some more."

Ethan spread his hand out to reveal several more identical black cards.

Diane didn’t say anything anymore.

She suddenly felt like pinching Ethan to death. How rich was this guy?

He had used that card to buy two cars for a million dollars, then spent another few hundred thousand on clothes for her family. This amount of money seemed like just a few cents to Ethan.

He hadn’t even blinked an eye.

"You said earlier that Greencliff has only one Palmer Group?"

Diane changed the topic. She didn’t want to think anymore about how much money Ethan had, since he definitely had more than her.

"Yup." Ethan nodded.

"Do you intend to go up against Palmer Group?" Diane asked a little worriedly.

"Palmer Group? They’re not worthy to make me do anything to them." Ethan shook his head. "There are plenty of intelligent people who will go wherever the wind blows. We don’t have to do anything at all."

Diane didn’t really get it.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that she had been tricked. This Ethan wasn’t a homeless guy at all. He was reliable, calm, smart and bold – surely he couldn’t have been trained into this sort of person by the Beggars’ Sect?

…

At the roadside next to Palmer Group’s main entrance.

Joe and Archie were like two dead dogs, sprawled on the ground and completely unable to move.

Anyone passing by quickly avoided them, afraid that they might be scammers trying to pretend that they had been beaten up or knocked by a car.

Gentry was standing not too far away and his expression was fairly grim.

He hadn’t left at all and was all ready to save Ethan after Joe had pushed him into a corner.

But he didn’t expect Ethan to have settled this problem himself without Gentry having to do anything.

In fact, Joe had been beaten so badly that he fainted.

"Young Master Price, what do we do now?"

His subordinates didn’t expect this to happen either. Things weren’t going according to Gentry’s script.

This made them very surprised because Gentry’s plans had never gone wrong before.

"Send Young Master Stewart back to Fairbanks."

Gentry looked at the large building in the distance and his gaze sharpened as he laughed coldly. "Looks like he hasn’t been pushed hard enough. I’ve underestimated him, but I’m now even more interested in him."

He immediately ordered someone to send Joe back to Fairbanks.

Nobody cared about Archie. He remained sprawled and curled up on the ground like a homeless man. He couldn’t speak from the pain, and he couldn’t move either.

Soon, a stray dog came over and sniffed Archie. Then it lifted a leg and started peeing on Archie’s head…

At this point in time.

Thomas Reid had returned to the Greencliff Bank headquarters and called for an urgent meeting.

He requested that the whole of Greencliff Bank treat the new Palmer Group as their most important business partner.

His solemn expression made everyone in the highest management of Greencliff Bank understand that this was an opportunity. It was an opportunity that could bring Greencliff Bank up by another level.

So because of this, the shareholders requested that Thomas Reid continue in his position for another few more years even though Thomas Reid already made plans to retire.

There was a lot of movement in Greencliff Bank, causing their competitors and other big players in Greencliff to notice something unusual.

This new Palmer Group had just changed its name and was setup not long ago, and it faced a tremendous crisis just a few hours ago.

They had not just sent a challenge to the old Palmer Group, but they had also offended the heir to the Stewart family of Fairbanks.

Almost everyone could see for themselves that Diane was in a very difficult situation and was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy.

And because of this, all the banks that were working with them rejected Diane’s request for a loan.

But Greencliff Bank hadn’t just reached out to them. The CEO himself had gone to pay them a visit, which was really strange.

Everyone was intelligent, and everyone was also shrewd.

Nobody woke up early for fun, and nobody would do anything that they wouldn’t benefit from. In particular, someone like Thomas Reid, who was famous in these circles.

The investments he made never made losses!

"Contact the new Palmer Group and discuss a new way to work with them! Also, make sure we get back all those capital loans from the old Palmer Group, their payments are already overdue!"

All the banks started doing the same thing at nearly the same time.

They were all within the same circle, so the moment there was any change in the situation and they didn’t react in time, then they would have lost a chance to even fight.

It wasn’t just the banks. There were several other companies and business partners that also sensed this unusual smell in the air.

The old and new Palmer Groups didn’t have any clash on the surface, but the fight was very fierce beneath the surface!

They had all thought that the new Palmer Group wouldn’t have made it past today. But it was clear that the tables had turned.

Just like what Ethan said, there were plenty of intelligent people in the world. They might not become the wind that led others, but they knew how to tell the direction of the wind, and they followed the wind wherever it blew.

"Stop those projects with the old Palmer Group, we can’t afford to take this risk."

"After this contract ends this month, stop working with the old Palmer Group, we shouldn’t continue this relationship anymore."

"The old Palmer Group has ordered goods from us. Don’t send the goods out, return their deposit, even if we need to pay double!"

This wind suddenly blew very violently, and many people instantly understood that there could be only one Palmer Group in Greencliff, and that one company was the new Palmer Group.

But Steven Palmer hadn’t sensed anything at all at this point in time.

He was in an excellent mood.

Archie had called him in the morning to say that Joe had made his move. He was using the authority of the Stewart family to attack Diane.

Their so-called new Palmer Group might not even survive the day!

"This Greencliff can only have one Palmer Group after all."

Steven looked very smug.

He turned around to look at Gerald lying on a bamboo chair after getting a stroke.

"Dad, look. I’ve taken over the Palmers for just a short while, but we’re going to reach greater heights soon."

"I’ve successfully signed on six new projects and made countless investments. Our Palmer Group is going to double in size!"

"Number three thinks he can compete with me? He’s just a useless cripple!"

The more Steven said, the more excited and gleeful he became.

But Gerald had no expression on his face.

He couldn’t say anything. When he was agitated, half of his face could still tremble. The only hand he could still move couldn’t even hold a pair of chopsticks properly.

When he heard Steven say all this, he wasn’t happy at all. He was sad, regretful, and even angry.

After suffering a stroke, he had become a useless person. Steven never showed him any concern anymore, much less respect.

Initially Gerald could still feed himself, but once he had accidentally dirtied Steven’s clothes, and Steven slapped him twice.

Gerald couldn’t believe it. This Steven was the son who was always so respectful to him and even knelt down in front of him.

He was Steven’s father for crying out loud!

"Oh I almost forgot, you’re also a useless thing now."

Steven glanced at Gerald with contempt, "You should have died long ago and passed this family business to me. What else are you still holding onto?"

"Better still, you got a stroke, you didn’t die, and you still need people to serve you."

He shook his head and didn’t need to hide the disgust on his face at all.

Gerald’s lips trembled as he glared at Steven. He couldn’t wait to strangle this ungrateful son!

Now he suddenly realized that out of his three sons, William and his family were the most filial to him. But how had he treated them?

He regretted it! He regretted it now!

Steven’s phone rang.

It was one of the company directors.

Looks like good news just kept coming.

"What is it?" Steven smiled broadly as he picked up the call.

But his face immediately paled after that.

"What did you say? CEO Borden refuses to work with us? What is going on?!"

"What? CEO Jones remitted the compensation money to us already and wants to annul the contract now?"

Steven’s face darkened.

What shitty good news was this?

He had just signed the contracts for these two projects. Why did they both fall through?

He was so angry that he nearly smashed the phone.

After he hung up, the phone rang again. Steven suppressed the anger in him as he saw that it was the bank manager of a partnering bank calling, and immediately put a smiling face on.

"Manager Larson…wait, what? Didn’t we just agree on this loan two days ago? You said it wouldn’t be a problem, so why isn’t it approved now?"

"Hello? Hello! Manager Larson?!"

Steven’s breathing started to quicken.

What the hell was going on.

After he hung up, another partnering bank called to chase Steven to quickly repay his previous loan along with the full late payment charges, otherwise the bank was going to get the court to freeze his assets.

The veins on Steven’s neck started popping.

He had no idea what had happened.

His phone never stopped ringing. Every time he hung up one call, the phone would ring again, and each one carried bad news. Steven felt like he had fallen into an igloo and felt terribly cold.

In the end, he started trembling every time he heard his phone ring and didn’t dare to pick the call up at all.

This string of troubles was enough to make his Palmer Group collapse overnight!

Happiness was always short lived, but sadness had come too bloody quickly this time!

He had just said that Greencliff would only have one Palmer Group. But he never thought that the Palmer Group that would collapse was his.

Steven started shaking. There was anger, indignation and frustration.

"What is going on? What is going on?!"

Steven roared because he couldn’t believe that he had lost so badly. Nothing had happened to Diane, but he had suffered tremendous losses.

He turned to see Gerald looking at him, so he gave his father a tight slap.

Five bright red finger marks were clearly imprinted on Gerald’s face.

Gerald’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to croak but couldn’t speak. But he couldn’t hide the fury in his eyes.

Steven was so angry he had gone mad and didn’t care anymore. He slapped Gerald’s face several more times until Gerald’s lip started bleeding.

"How dare you glare at me! Are you asking to die?!"

When he saw the fury in Gerald’s eyes slowly become fear, Steven stopped hitting him, but still looked like he was going to gobble Gerald up whole.

"William, Diane, I want both of you to die!"

Gerald was trembling and avoided looking at Steven.

There was blood on his lips and he didn’t dare to make anymore noise because he was so terrified.

Steven took a deep breath, then pulled out another phone and made a call.

It took a while for the other side to pick up, and there was a low voice that came from the other end.

"Steven."

Steven scoffed. "Oho, number two, you’re having fun in Fairbanks, aren’t you? You actually remember you have a brother?"

"What do you want."

Nicolas sounded rather impatient.

He only listened to Gerald, and didn’t have much of a relationship with this eldest brother of his.

Nicolas was quite unhappy when Steven had persuaded Gerald into sending Nicolas to expand his business in Fairbanks.

"Something’s happened at home."

Of course Steven knew that Nicolas wasn’t happy with him, but he didn’t care.

He calmly went on, "Dad got a stroke and I don’t know how long more he’ll live."

"What?"

Nicolas’s voice immediately became louder. "How did you take care of Dad? You took such good care of him that he got a stroke? Steven, I tell you now, if anything happens to Dad, I’m going to have it out with you!"

"What has that got to do with me?" Steven snorted. "I wasn’t the one who made him angry."

He couldn’t be bothered to say too much to Nicolas. "Find a time to come back. If you’re too late then you might not get to see Dad for the last time."

He then hung up.

He knew very well that Nicolas and William were both obedient sons and listened to everything that Gerald said.

William was weak, but Nicolas had a more domineering personality. So because Steven wanted everything the Palmer family owned, he had to send Nicolas to Fairbanks.

He had never thought much of William at all, but now William’s family had caused so much trouble for him!

"When number two comes back and finds out that you got a stroke because number three angered you, what do you think he’ll do?"

Steven turned to look at Gerald, but Gerald immediately closed his eyes and dared not look at Steven.

He had heard the entire phone conversation earlier but he couldn’t say nor do anything.

Given Nicolas’s temperament, he would definitely beat William to death!

This second son of his listened to nobody else and only cared about Gerald. If he saw how Gerald had gotten a stroke, he would definitely hit the roof.

But the one who caused him to be in this state was Steven!

This evil son, this animal – he wanted Nicolas and William to kill each other.

…

At this time.

On the other side of the phone call.

Nicolas put the phone down and his face was grim. A cold murderous intent slowly filled the air.

"Brother Nicolas, do you want to refuse Boss?" a subordinate asked respectfully.

"No need to refuse him. I happen to be going back to Greencliff, so go check on Eli Howard’s matter!"

There were several scars on Nicolas’s short haired head. They looked very frightening, like there were a few scary scorpions climbing on his head.

The veins on his arms started popping and his eyes started to twitch.

"I’m leaving right now!"

Something so big had happened in the family and Gerald had suffered a stroke. How had he only found out about something so big now? This bastard of a Steven – what sort of family head was he?!

He couldn’t think so much about this anymore. Nicolas immediately took some men with him and left Fairbanks for Greencliff.

……

Behind the factory in the countryside.

There were several men covered in mud and still climbing and tumbling about.

After two days, many of them had managed to get through the first stage, but they couldn’t be compared to Ethan at all when it came to speed.

The harder they trained, the more they realized how terrifying this training course was. And the more they understood how terrifying Ethan himself was.

Brother Geoff had gone mad now.

He had no other thoughts besides training and getting through the stages. His eyes were all bloodshot and he refused to rest unless he couldn’t move at all from fatigue.

"Charge!"

"Again!"

"I don’t believe I can’t get past this stage!"

Whenever someone fell, he would slam a palm angrily against the ground and get up to start over.

They were especially motivated when they saw someone else in front of them.

It had only been two days, but they could feel that they had improved significantly. This was really scary!

Mr Roger, the project manager in charge, had arranged for staff to prepare food and water for them.

When he saw how these mud covered men were tumbling in the mud like they had gone crazy, he felt like they were impressive even though he had no idea what they were doing.

"Brother Ethan, can I join in this training?"

He cautiously asked Ethan who was sitting at the side and drinking tea.

"You’d better stick with your desk job."

Ethan glanced at him. "If this factory does well, you can have some shares."

Mr Roger felt like he was going to stop breathing.

As an ordinary employee, he was already happy enough to be someone in charge. But Ethan wanted to give him shares?

"You can’t finish earning money," Ethan explained. "Anyway, I’m not short of money, so it’s more important to stay happy."

"Thank you Brother Ethan! Thank you!"

Mr Roger clenched his fists. "Don’t worry, I’ll make sure this factory does well even if it costs me my life!"

Then he was all pumped up and motivated as he went back to continue working.

Ethan really didn’t care about money.

He had more than enough money to last him several lifetimes. How much more he earned didn’t really mean much to him.

But if he could do something that was more meaningful, like making sure that kind people were well rewarded and making sure that people who lived honestly lived a better life, then that wasn’t too bad.

He lifted his head and looked out in front at Brother Geoff and the rest trying their hardest. He knew in his heart that their foundation was really very poor.

It was nearly impossible for them to reach his standards.

What Ethan was looking out for were men with enough willpower and resilience.

"Are all of you useless?" he shouted loudly. "All of you were shouting about how you didn’t want to admit defeat, so how about now? Wanna admit defeat now?"

"This training course is so small and so simple but you still look like this after two days. How disappointing!"

"If you can’t make it, get lost! Don’t stay here and embarrass your mother!"

"Even old grandmas run faster than you! If you can’t do it, then just admit it! Just say that you’re a lousy kid!"

Every word that Ethan said agitated them.

Those who had run out of energy and wanted to take a rest suddenly found the strength to angrily pound the ground and jump onto the balancing beam again.

"I can’t beat Big Boss in a fight, but I really want to whack him now!"

There was still mud in Brother Geoff’s mouth as he tried to suppress the indignation in his heart.

"Don’t waste your breath, just do it! If I don’t get past the second stage this time, I’ll admit that I’m his grandkid!"

"Damn it! Grandpa! I failed again!"

……

In the evening.

Nicolas had arrived.

He went straight to Gerald’s bungalow, bringing along three cars worth of fierce looking men with him.

"Nicolas, what’s the meaning of this? Why did you bring so many men along?" Steven commented unhappily as he glanced at Nicolas.

Nicolas ignored him and walked straight in. The ten odd men behind him just pushed the security guard at the door aside.

"Move further away!"

He was incredibly domineering.

Steven scoffed and didn’t say anything. If Nicolas weren’t this domineering, he would actually have been worried that Nicolas might not be able to go against William and family.

When he saw Gerald lying there with a slightly swollen face like he was completely paralyzed, Nicolas’s eyes immediately teared up.

"Dad!"

He fell to his knees with a thud as he grabbed Gerald’s hand and angrily sad, "Who caused you to become like this! I’ll kill him!"

Gerald wanted to cry. He moved his lips slightly and really wanted to tell Nicolas that he became like this because of that bastard, Steven,

But he couldn’t say a word.

He looked up to see Steven walk in, and there was fear in Gerald’s eyes.

"Who else? It’s that useless crippled brother of yours, William!"

Steven glared at Gerald as a glint of viciousness flashed in his eyes. Gerald immediately avoided Steven’s glare.

"You have no idea how William has caused so much trouble for our family!"

Nicolas’s face was instantly filled with murder.

He turned around to stare at Steven, as if he was an angry wild beast.

"Explain what happened!"

When he saw how furious Nicolas was, Steven became less anxious on the contrary.

"You went to Fairbanks to expand, so I’ve always been the one helping Dad here. Dad said Diane has reached marriageable age, so he wanted to find her a husband. So after much effort, we found the best man to be her husband, but we didn’t expect this Diane to be ungrateful and actually started harboring a grudge towards Dad."

"She got involved with Greencliff’s Tom Foster, took over the most important project to Dad and so Dad was so angry he got a stroke. Not just that, William has purposely set up a new Palmer Group and told everyone that Greencliff can only have one Palmer Group!"

"Over the past few days, Palmer Group has been attacked for no reason and we’ve suffered terrible losses. If this goes on, this will really be the end of our Palmer family, and this Greencliff will really be left with only William’s Palmer family."

Steven pushed all the blame to Diane and family.

After all, the only one who knew the truth was Gerald, but he couldn’t speak because of his condition, so everything that Steven said became the truth.

Nicolas’s expression became nastier and nastier as he heard these words. He clenched his fists tightly and a loud cracking sound could be heard.

"How dare William do this! Is he trying to rebel?!"

William had actually tried to destroy the Palmer family and made Gerald suffer a stroke. He was an evil son!

"Oh, and he also said that you’re lucky to be in Fairbanks. If you were in Greencliff then you’d be in trouble too."

Steven scoffed. "This younger brother of yours has never cared about both of us before!"

"All these years he’s just been enduring silently and pretending to be a useless bum. When he finally showed his true colors, Dad and I didn’t even have enough time to react."

He purposely pretended to look like he was suffering greatly as he walked over to Gerald and grabbed his hand, frightening Gerald so badly that he averted his eyes.

"I was the useless one who didn’t take good care of Dad."

The guilt and frustration on his face made it look like everything he said was real.

Nicolas’s face was filled with fury and didn’t care what expression Steven had at all.

That ferocious face of his was really frightening!

"Dad, I’ll seek justice for you. With me around, nobody can destroy the Palmers and nobody will dare to be so presumptuous! Not even your own son!"

He then stared at Steven. "Take good care of Dad. Since the Palmer family has been passed to you, I won’t fight with you for it. But if you don’t take good care of Dad, I’ll finish you off as well!"

Nicolas then brought his men and left the house.

There was a gleeful look on Steven’s face.

Nicolas was fierce enough, so he managed to survive pretty well in Fairbanks. But he wasn’t clever enough.

"Dad, do you think Nicolas will kill William’s entire family?"

He turned to look at Gerald, so much so that Gerald’s lips were trembling and his eyes were filled with fear.

"Did you want to tell Nicolas that all this was my doing?"

Gerald tried hard to shake his head but he couldn’t move at all.

"You can try telling him. That way, maybe you might die earlier and you don’t have to suffer all this pain anymore."

Steven had said these words very calmly, but Gerald started shaking from fear, and soon there was the smell of urine.

Gerald’s pants were all wet.

Steven looked at him in disgust as he walked away while pinching his nose and couldn’t be bothered with Gerald.

…

At this time.

William and Diane had reached home.

It was rare that they didn’t have to work overtime and could go home on time to eat the sumptuous dinner that April had prepared.

During this time, both father and daughter had worked hard to make sure the company got off to a good start, and had put in a lot of time and effort.

The good part was that everything had gone smoothly.

"Why isn’t Ethan back yet?" asked William. "I wonder what this fellow has been up to these last two days."

He wanted to have a drink with Ethan.

"He’s attending to some matters at the factory and he’s been there most of the time recently. He should be on his way home already."

Diane washed her hands and sat at the dining table as she grinned, "Looks like he won’t be able to fight with me over the dishes tonight."

She was about to start eating when April took the whole plate of Ethan’s favorite sweet vinegar pork ribs away.

"I’ll take it out again after Ethan comes back. I don’t want it to get cold."

"Mum~~~" Diane really wanted to cry. "I’m your child, Ethan isn’t!"

She loved to eat it too, but after Ethan came to this house, April didn’t allow her to take any from Ethan if she prepared them.

Now April didn’t even let her eat any and kept everything for Ethan.

William couldn’t stop laughing loudly when he saw how his own daughter looked so upset.

"Let’s eat first, don’t bother waiting for him."

He was about to pick up his chopsticks when suddenly…

BOOM!

Someone had kicked the house door open.

The loud sound shocked April. She loosened her grip on the plate of sweet vinegar pork ribs and everything fell to the floor.

Diane and William also got a fright and turned quickly to look.

"My brother!" William greeted him as he looked at the murderous looking Nicolas.

"Who’s your brother?" Nicolas smiled coldly. "William, you’re really bold!"

"When I wasn’t around in Greencliff, you dared to treat Dad this way? Are you still human?!"

William was shocked. What had he done?

"Second Uncle…"

Diane was so frightened that her face was all pale. Nicolas was really frightening.

He had actually kicked their house door open with one foot.

"Don’t call me Second Uncle! I don’t have a scheming niece like you!"

Nicolas’s eyes were cold and he was filled with murderous intent. "Don’t you two want to destroy the Palmer family and kill Dad? I’m going to kill you first!"

He then took large strides towards William, used a hand to pull William up from the wheelchair and bashed him with a fist.

"AHHH…" William yelped in pain as he collapsed on the floor. Nicolas didn’t stop there and continued to kick and punch him.

"Stop it!"

"Stop right now!"

April and Diane were instantly shocked and ran over to William.

William was so weak and frail, so he was definitely no match for Nicolas. He could get beaten to death at this rate.

Nicolas couldn’t be bothered. He kicked William’s already crippled leg hard.

"Trash! I thought you were just trash, but I didn’t expect you to turn out to be a scheming piece of trash!"

"You’ve used all sorts of methods just to harm Dad! Did you think I was dead?!"

William tried hard to endure the pain as he clenched his teeth and said, "I did not!"

"You dare to argue back?!"

Nicolas started hitting him even more fiercely.

"Stop!"

"Stop!!"

April held onto Nicolas’s leg and Diane rushed over to stand in front of William.

"Don’t hit my dad!"

Nicolas became even more furious.

"Forget about making it out of here alive today!"

He continued to roar, "Today, I’m going to beat all of you to death! I’ll see if you still dare to be disrespectful to my father after this!"

He then lifted a fist and punched it down towards April’s head.

A rock flew over rapidly like a bullet.

Nicolas felt a coldness behind him and couldn’t proceed with hitting April as he tried to avoid the oncoming rock.

But there was no way he could avoid it.

The rock landed hard on his back, causing his expression to change. He pulled his leg out from April’s hands and took two steps back.

Ethan was standing in the doorway and the murderous air emanating from his body was incredibly terrifying.

It was way more terrifying than the murderous air around Nicolas.

The temperature in the house suddenly dropped, as if they were now in an igloo.

There was a great fear that welled up in Nicolas’s heart. A fear of dying!

"Since you’ve come all the way here and even hurt my dad, I don’t care who you are. Don’t even dream about walking out of here!"

That icy cold voice made Nicolas’s heart shudder.

That rock had hit him so hard on the back that it hurt terribly. He didn’t have to look to know that his back was definitely bleeding.

Nicolas turned and glared at Ethan with a stern expression. "Who are you!"

"You don’t need to know who I am. You only need to know that you’re going to die now!"

Ethan didn’t bother talking unnecessarily.

He made his move.

His movement was so quick, he seemed to have appeared in front of Nicolas instantly.

He didn’t want to speak anymore to scoundrels like Nicolas.

Nicolas was even more furious when he saw Ethan charge at him. Someone actually dared to attack him directly?

Even in Fairbanks, nobody dared to do something like that!

"You’re asking for it!"

Nicolas raised his fist and swung it violently across.

April and the rest paled from fright.

They all knew what sort of person Nicolas was. He loved to fight since he was a young boy and was extremely vicious. He had even gone to jail for crippling someone before.

If he decided to go all out, then Ethan was in trouble.

April was about to rush over to stop him when she saw Ethan suddenly stretch a hand out.

Ethan held onto Nicolas’s fist so that it couldn’t move even half an inch forward.

Nicolas’s expression changed immediately.

Ethan didn’t hesitate. He exerted a great force and Nicolas’s wrist was broken with a cracking sound.

Sweat drops immediately appeared on Nicolas’s forehead. He howled in pain, frightening April and the rest as they froze.

They didn’t think that Ethan was this powerful. Nicolas couldn’t even defend himself at all.

"How dare you hit my dad and mum!"

Ethan didn’t stop at just one hand. He grabbed Nicolas’s other arm and there was a loud cracking sound.

Another sound of bones cracking filled the air.

April felt like her heart was going to leap out of her mouth.

"You…"

Nicolas gave a howl. His arms were in such great pain that they went numb.

He raised his leg to kick Ethan, but Ethan was faster than him. He landed one foot on Nicolas’s knee, and with another crack, Nicolas lost his balance and collapsed to the floor.

He had just come face to face with Ethan and his arms and one leg were broken already.

He remained on the floor as Ethan put a foot on his good leg. His icy cold gaze terrified Nicolas.

He had never felt so frightened before. And he had never been beaten to a point where he didn’t even have the strength to fight back like today.

Ethan looked down at Nicolas and sneered, "I don’t care who you are. Since you dared to hurt my mum and dad, I’m going to kill you."

The entire house was silent, and even Nicolas didn’t dare to make a single sound.

He was a vicious man, but it was clear that Ethan was way, way more vicious than him.

He was domineering, but Ethan was even more domineering.

He was very sure that the ten odd men that came with him were all sprawling on the ground already, otherwise Ethan couldn’t possibly have made it into the house.

"Ethan…"

William spoke up, "Don’t…don’t kill him!"

Ethan was now raging with anger. If he wanted to kill someone, nobody could come after him for it.

Ethan relaxed his fist when he heard what William said. If not, this fist would definitely kill Nicolas.

"He’s my brother after all." William took a deep breath. "Don’t kill him."

Ethan narrowed his eyes. Diane and family were too kind, and that’s why they were bullied by such people.

"Dad, you treat him as a brother, but he might not treat you as one."

Ethan put it across very clearly. "If I hadn’t rushed back in time today, he would have beaten you to death."

Nicolas was breathing heavily. The terrible pain was beginning to numb his nerves.

Now he realized that Ethan was the man that married into Diane’s family.

Steven said that he had found the most outstanding man for Diane and Nicolas didn’t believe it at first. He knew what sort of person Steven was and what sort of attitude he had towards William’s family.

But now…he had no idea where Steven found such a terrifying man like Ethan to be Diane’s husband.

"I know."

William laughed bitterly.

He turned to face Nicolas. "Nicolas, from today onwards, we’re through and we’ll go our separate ways. But what I want to tell you is, I wasn’t the one who caused Dad to become like this."

He then looked up at Ethan, "Let him go."

Ethan snorted.

"This life of yours was spared by my dad, remember that well."

He let go of Nicolas’s leg and Nicolas immediately used that good leg to stand up as his entire body was trembling.

He had a threatening look on his face. He had just had his arms and one leg broken and he had to thank William?

His cheeks trembled and seemed to be smiling, but it made him look even more threatening than before.

"William, you’re amazing! With such an impressive son-in-law, it’s little wonder that you’ve become so bold!" Nicolas laughed coldly. "Dad didn’t turn out like this because of you and the Palmers haven’t been destroyed by you. I believe you! SURE I BELIEVE YOU!"

He then glared hard at Ethan. The murder in his eyes didn’t lessen, but had actually increased.

After staring at Ethan for several seconds, Nicolas finally clenched his teeth and hopped out on one foot.

Ethan went over to help William sit back on the wheelchair. April and Diane ran into the room to get the first aid kit and handled William’s wounds.

April was about to cry from the pain in her heart.

"You silly man! Do you think he’ll let you off just because you let him off?"

"Since you were children, the other two behaved like real brothers, but you? They both ganged up to bully you, don’t you know?"

"He beat you up so badly but you still…"

April became more and more upset as she spoke, and even became a little angry.

Of course, she didn’t want Ethan to kill anybody either. She wasn’t willing to let Ethan ruin his life over a scoundrel like Nicolas.

William didn’t say anything and just shook his head.

Diane’s eyes were bloodshot and she was equally upset.

When she saw April berate William, she didn’t want to say anything at all.

She got up and walked over to Ethan and felt an urge to start crying.

"Why do all of them want to bully us?" Diane looked towards Ethan.

"Because you’re not powerful enough," Ethan replied in a quiet voice. "One day, when you’re powerful enough, nobody will dare to bully you again."

"Then when will I become powerful?" Diane asked this question very seriously.

Ethan reached a hand out to gently touch her nose. "Soon."

He knew that this family was too kindhearted. It didn’t matter whether it was William, Diane, or even April, who hated the Palmer family to the core. None of them was willing to let him kill Nicolas.

They weren’t thinking about Nicolas. They were thinking about Ethan.

But they didn’t know that Ethan had the authority to decide if these scoundrels lived or died.

Nicolas had told Ethan to let Nicolas off, but Ethan knew that they had completely cut ties with the Palmer family.

From now on, Diane and her family would no longer treat the Palmers kindly.

…

At this point in time.

Someone had arrived at East Lake Teahouse, and this person made Bill Hale, Rodney Davis and all the other bosses of Greencliff’s illegal circle feel nervous.

"We really don’t know anything about Eli Howard."

There were a few people seated quietly at the table, as if they already expected that someone from Fairbanks would come.

"He had come here for John Howard. Since someone had crippled John Howard, then as his elder brother, Eli Howard wasn’t going to just sit there and do nothing."

The man seated at the front of the table was a subordinate under Nicolas, Gus Thompson. His eyes were narrowed and there was a glint of viciousness in his eyes.

"Then who crippled John Howard in the first place?"

Bill Hale and Rodney Davis exchanged glances. They saw many messages in each other’s eyes.

Someone from Fairbanks was here.

This Nicolas was as famous as Eli Howard among the illegal circles of Fairbanks.

Now that Eli Howard had perished after returning to Greencliff, the even more vicious Nicolas had come along too.

Gus Thompson wasn’t some big shot, but since he was one of Nicolas’s, Bill Hale and the rest didn’t dare to offend him.

"John Howard offended Tom Foster."

Bill Hale finally spoke up after some hesitation.

It was hard to hide something like this. One could find out very easily by just conducting a simple investigation.

There were also too many people who knew about how Tom Foster wasn’t afraid of Eli Howard at all and even said that Eli Howard was merely a worm.

"Tom Foster?"

"John Howard took money from the Palmers to create trouble for Tom Foster and was crippled, so Eli Howard returned to Greencliff because of this."

After explaining this, Bill Hale added on, "By the way, the Palmers I’m talking about is Steven’s side of the family."

Gus Thompson’s expression became even grimmer.

So in the end, this matter concerned Steven again.

John Howard had been crippled by Tom Foster, so Eli Howard’s matter probably had something to do with Tom Foster too.

He had heard about this Tom Foster before. He had risen in Greencliff in just a few years so he was definitely pretty resilient. But how could he disregard the other big players just because he was resilient?

Gus Thompson didn’t say anything. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table and there was a unique rhythm to it.

Bill Hale and Rodney Davis didn’t say anything either.

No matter how much they didn’t like Tom Foster and even wanted him dead, at this point in time, all the illegal circles of Greencliff had to stand united.

This person from Fairbanks had come here with ulterior motives.

As expected, Gus Thompson looked up and didn’t ask further about Tom Foster. It was clear that this information was sufficient, and he had his own plans on what to do about it.

"The recent cleanup operation came very suddenly, and even Fairbanks didn’t get any wind of it. You’ve made pretty big losses, right?"

He looked at Bill Hale and the rest as he calmly spoke, "It’s really hard to survive these days."

Bill Hale’s expression flinched slightly. He could hear what Gus Thompson was driving at.

"Well, no matter how hard it is, we have to continue anyway. Since this is a road we’ve chosen for ourselves, then of course we have to keep walking." He laughed coldly. "You mean we have a way out?"

Gus Thompson laughed and looked at Bill Hale for a while.

"There’s no end to this sea of suffering but there’s also no turning back. Then again, you could also choose to hop onto a large ship so that you’d be able to survive in a storm."

He didn’t choose to hide anything and spoke directly, "Our big boss is very sincere about this. Why don’t all of you think about it."

These words were very clear.

They wanted to take this chance to take over Greencliff’s illegal circles!

Bill Hale and the rest thought that Gus Thompson might just hint at this issue, but they didn’t expect him to be this direct.

This was as good as forcing them to make a choice. The choice they made would decide what consequences would befall them.

"No need."

Bill Hale just got up from his chair. "I, Bill Hale, always walked on my own and I don’t like following behind other peoples’ butts."

His expression was nasty and he brought his men out of the teahouse.

Rodney Davis continued to sit there but he had a nasty look on his face too.

Everyone wanted to be independent and didn’t want to be controlled by others. But the people from Fairbanks were much more powerful than them in every way, so if they didn’t listen to them, things would definitely become very difficult for them.

"Bill Hale is too shortsighted. What about the rest of you?"

Gus Thompson decided to try a different angle.

"My big boss said that in this world, if you’re not a friend, then you’re an enemy."

His words were filled with threats.

The faces of Rodney Davis and the rest instantly fell.

This was an outright threat.

If they didn’t go along with this, they would meet a terrible end. Nicolas was already here and he wouldn’t let them off for sure.

In fact, he was quite sure that if he didn’t agree today, he would lose his life the next day.

When times were bad, even though they were people who called the shots in Greencliff, they were merely tiny fish and shrimps to those who were really powerful in Fairbanks.

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you."

Gus Thompson spoke again. "Things in Fairbanks are going to change soon."

When they heard this, Rodney Davis and the rest paled.

Something was going to happen in Fairbanks’s illegal circle?

This was a huge wave coming their way!

Even if they didn’t go with Gus Thompson, someone else would come the next day. As long as they didn’t follow someone, they would end up dead.

Rodney Davis took a deep breath and exchanged glances with the rest as if he was going to make a very difficult decision.

"Fine."

Rodney Davis finally spat one word out after a long time.

Even though he was extremely indignant, he had no other choice. Bill Hale had left too early and didn’t know about this, so he missed his chance. Once he missed this chance, he would lose everything.

"We don’t have any objections either."

The rest quickly piped up the moment they saw that Rodney Davis had nodded.

Gus Thompson started smiling now.

"You have made an excellent choice."

He then stood up and didn’t want to waste anymore time here. He had come with two purposes in mind. One was to get Rodney Davis and the rest to follow his boss, and the second thing was to investigate what happened to Eli Howard.

Now he had finished doing both things. Since Bill Hale didn’t agree, then there was no need for him to continue to exist. A storm was coming soon.

Gus Thompson had just walked out from the teahouse when he received a call. The smug look he had just moments ago immediately fell.

"Brother Nicolas! I’ll be there immediately!"

He was filled with horror. Someone had actually thrashed Nicolas?

What crazy place was this Greencliff? Eli Howard had perished here and now Nicolas got thrashed as well. He hadn’t even had the chance to tell Nicolas the good news and such a terrible thing happened.

Gus Thompson immediately ran over to find that besides Nicolas, all the other men that went with Nicolas had broken legs too. Gus Thompson nearly stopped breathing.

What the hell was going on?!

"Call big boss to send people over right now! NOW!" Nicolas lay on a bed with a grim expression on his face.

"Got it!"

Gus Thompson’s heart was pounding very quickly and he opened his mouth to ask about what happened. But after seeing how Nicolas looked ready to eat someone, he didn’t dare to ask at all.

After a pause, he said, "About the illegal circle of Greencliff, they’ve all agreed except Bill Hale."

Nicolas didn’t have the mood to care about Bill Hale. He looked up at Gus Thompson and there was such intense murder coming out from his cold eyes that Gus Thompson felt a chill down his spine.

This vicious man’s gaze was enough to strike fear into people’s hearts. How had someone managed to break his arms and leg?

"I know what to do," replied Gus Thompson immediately. "The moment our men arrive, I’ll act on it!"

"We don’t have to do it ourselves."

Nicolas suddenly spoke up and there was a vicious glint in his malicious looking eyes. "Aren’t those fellows who chose us going to do anything to prove themselves?"

Gus Thompson felt his heart move and he nodded. "Got it."

After Gus Thompson left, Nicolas took a deep breath. He wasn’t going to bother about the things on this side for the time being.

It was a matter of time before the illegal circle of Greencliff was taken over. Even if he didn’t do anything, other powerful groups from Fairbanks had already set their eyes on this place.

It was such a big piece of meat, so everyone wanted a bite.

His mind was filled with only one thing now. He wanted to kill Ethan and kill William’s entire family!

…

Back at Diane’s house.

All the furniture that had been knocked over were all tidied up. April and Diane carefully applied medicine on William’s bruises.

He refused to go to the hospital.

William now had a fairly serious expression on his face, and he looked both steady and decisive.

It was completely different from how he used to be gentle, weak and quiet.

Ethan pulled a cigarette out and remembered he was at home. He was about to put it away when William said, "Give me one."

April didn’t say no, so Ethan took it out and put it in William’s mouth and lit it for him.

This was probably the first cigarette William had in many years. After inhaling once, he started coughing and his face was all red.

"Take your time," said April with a frown as her heart ached for him.

She didn’t stop him, but lightly patted William’s back.

"You girls go back to your room first," said William. "Ethan, let’s have a chat on the balcony."

Ethan nodded and pushed William to the balcony.

The wind blew the cigarette smoke away, so Ethan lit one for himself too. The two men remained silent for a few moments before William broke the silence.

"I’ve come to my senses too late."

He had nearly finished his cigarette already.

Ethan didn’t say anything. He just pulled another cigarette out and passed it to William. "No it’s not too late."

After Nicolas had come to make trouble, William was now fully awake and had clearly drawn the line between himself and the Palmers.

He now only had one family. April and Diane were his only two relatives.

"I want to make your mum happy, but I’ve owed her too much all these years."

William inhaled deeply and it made his eyes turn red. "And Diane too. I owe her so much too."

"Well then you’ve got to make it up to them," replied Ethan. "Part of Diane’s share is my responsibility, but I won’t fight with you over Mum’s. That’s your business."

They both exchanged glances.

William nodded. "Ethan, thank you."

If Ethan hadn’t appeared, he would still be living in a daze, he would still be threatened by Gerald and he would still be weak and helpless.

He would have allowed his wife and child to suffer humiliation and disdain along with himself.

But William had now come to his senses. He was now more determined and decided on what he wanted to do.

"Next month, that doctor will come to Greencliff." Ethan didn’t continue on the same topic and said this out of nowhere.

William couldn’t help but feel excited when he heard this. He knew Ethan was referring to the doctor who could heal his legs!

"After you get well, it’ll be time for Palmer Group to stretch its arms and legs."

Ethan laughed, "I don’t know anything about doing business, so I’m counting on you."

……

The next morning.

After sending Diane and William to the office, Ethan went to the training facility in the countryside again.

Fifteen days had passed, so the atmosphere was getting heated up.

There were still several men rolling around in the mud.

They didn’t seem to know what fatigue was, and they couldn’t hide the excitement on their faces.

They had only persevered for fifteen days, but everyone could see a clear improvement in themselves.

This was really crazy!

It didn’t matter which area it was – strength, speed, agility, response or intensity – there was an obvious improvement and they all behaved like they had discovered some great treasure.

This sort of improvement was something they had never experienced in the last twenty to thirty years of their life. It was so terrifying that they themselves found it hard to believe.

But all this was real!

Nobody complained it was too tough, and nobody complained about being tired. And nobody regretted making this decision.

Their only worry was whether they would be able to make it into the top thirty.

So everyone gave it their best shot.

Ethan leaned against the car, lit a cigarette and glanced at them.

There were ten stages in total and some had managed to get to the eighth stage already. So there should be someone who would make it past the final stage after a few more days.

But he felt that they were still too slow.

"Big Boss, those people from Fairbanks are here with ill intentions." Tom Foster stood by the side. "Besides Bill Hale, the rest have decided to compromise."

Nobody could hide this information.

Ethan didn’t say anything, so Tom Foster continued, "There’s quite some movement in Fairbanks. I received news that Nicolas brought more than ten men here, and they’re all highly skilled fighters." Tom Foster’s expression was very solemn.

"Thirteen of them."

Ethan accurately reported the number of men.

Tom Foster was shocked.

"They came to my place yesterday."

Tom Foster felt all the hair on his back stand when he heard this. Nicolas had brought his men to Ethan’s house? That was crazy!

He knew Nicolas was under the Talon family and actually intended to tell Ethan to be careful. But now it was clear that the two sides had already clashed head on with each other.

Since Ethan was still standing here in one good piece, that meant…

"Big Boss, it’s my fault for not making proper arrangements," Tom Foster immediately replied. "From today onwards, I will make sure there are people to ensure the safety of Miss Palmer and her family around the clock!"

With Ethan around, Diane and family wouldn’t run into any trouble. But Ethan had to train Geoff and the rest, so he couldn’t be with Diane all day.

Ethan didn’t object. This was necessary. It was one of the reasons why he was training Geoff and the rest. Ethan didn’t say anything. He finished his cigarette and got into the car to leave.

He wound down the window and calmly remarked, "Tom, these guys you groomed are really not worth much."

Ethan then drove off.

Tom Foster gulped. He knew what Ethan meant. He started to run and yell at Geoff and the rest.

"Can you be even more useless than this? What an embarrassment! You guys have embarrassed me again!"

"It’s been freaking half a month now and not a single one of you has passed through the whole thing yet? What a bloody slap in my face! My face is all swollen already!"

"Geoff! Are you going to make it or not? If you can’t then get out of there! Fuck it, I’ve given you a chance for nothing!"

……

Steven’s expression was extremely nasty.

He thought that if Nicolas went there himself, then even if the entire family didn’t die, at least one of them would be crippled, and they wouldn’t be able to continue their business.

But to his surprise, William and Diane went to the office as per normal today, and they were in one good piece.

On the contrary, he hadn’t heard anything from Nicolas.

"You said that Ethan even dared to hit Joe Stewart?" He looked at Archie and asked this question.

"He hit him, and hit him really hard. Harder than when he hit me! I think he’s probably crippled or something now."

Archie could still feel a chill in his bones when he thought about it.

The moment he thought of Ethan’s face, he would feel that his entire body was trembling. That fear he felt seemed to come from deep in his bones, and it refused to go away.

"Then what happened to Joe?"

"Someone took him away."

Archie’s tears streamed down his face. "Dad, let’s not offend Diane’s family anymore, I’m really scared…"

He had been hit so hard by Ethan that he was terrified now.

That lunatic dared to hit anybody. Ethan didn’t even let the heir to the Stewart family in Fairbanks off at all, and Archie was worth even less.

The thing that made him even more upset was that Archie was the one who had chosen this lunatic from dozens of applicants. He had taken the time to really choose the best person to become Diane back then.

Steven slapped his son. "You useless thing! How did I have such a useless son! Diane has snatched away these things from us so I’m definitely taking it back! I’m not just going to take those things back. I also want what she has, including her life!"

Steven’s face was at its most threatening stage now.

Now everyone in Greencliff was saying that his Palmer family was going to collapse while William’s family was on the rise and that Greencliff had only one Palmer family! How could he take this lying down?

"Go to Fairbanks right now!" shouted Steven.

"Dad, whatever for?"

Archie shook his head. He didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to go anywhere and only wanted to hide at home.

But Steven’s face was so threatening that Archie dared not say what he was thinking about.

"Go to the Stewart family!" Steven laughed coldly. "Tell the Stewarts who beat up Joe, and show them how sincere we are…"

At this moment.

The city of Fairbanks was much more powerful than Greencliff in many areas like their economy, their culture or even their influence.

The Stewarts were a powerful family even within a place like Fairbanks.

Joe was still unconscious as he lay on the bed. The head of the Stewart family, Quentin Stewart, was looking at his son and his expression was grave.

"Master Stewart, Young Master Stewart’s injury is quite serious, so I would think it is difficult for him to fully recover."

A doctor spoke very solemnly and cautiously. "The injury to his knees in particular, will make it difficult for him to even stand in the future."

Quentin Stewart’s expression became even graver.

"Please forgive me for being unable to do anything," the doctor sighed. "But there’s a famous doctor from overseas coming to the province of River Port next month. He might have a solution."

"Thank you doctor."

Quentin Stewart nodded and got someone to see the doctor out.

He tucked Joe into the blanket and walked to the living room. A murderous air started seeping out from his malicious looking face.

Quentin Stewart had gotten this son late in life. He was over forty now and Joe was his only son, so he pampered him like no other.

Whatever Joe wanted, he would give it to him. If Joe made a mistake, as long as it could be settled, he wouldn’t even scold him.

Little did he expect Joe to nearly lose his life after just going to Greencliff to have fun!

Even in Fairbanks, nobody dared to touch his son. Who was it in Greencliff who had the gall to do this?!

When Gentry brought Joe back, he didn’t say anything, as if he was afraid of that person. But Quentin Stewart wasn’t afraid at all.

"Both of you. I don’t care who that person is, I just want him dead. That’s not difficult for the two of you, right?"

Abel Brockman and Cain Brockman stood in front of Quentin Stewart and shook their heads resolutely.

"Mr Stewart, the two of us owed you a favor, so we would like to leave you with a stern warning," Abel Brockman spoke up. "Don’t offend this person. Young Master Stewart was in the wrong this time."

They had repaid this favor now.

The two of them had come to bid farewell to Quentin Stewart. They couldn’t help the Stewarts anymore, otherwise before Ethan came for them, their hot tempered leader John Garrett would hack them to pieces. After they finished saying this, they left.

Quentin Stewart’s mouth flinched and he laughed coldly for a while.

"These ungrateful bastards!" Quentin Stewart roared.

They didn’t want to help him and even told him to give up? So Joe had been thrashed for nothing? Crippled for nothing? What did they take the Stewart family as?!

He thought that after making Abel Brockman and Cain Brockman owe his family a favor, they would be a valuable addition to the Stewarts. But now it seemed that they were completely useless. These two brothers were just useless cowards after all.

"Master Stewart, the heir to the Palmer family in Greencliff is here, he says that he has something to tell you."

"Palmer family? What Palmer family?!"

Quentin Stewart was still angry. "I don’t want to see him!"

Who the hell thought he had the right to meet with Quentin Stewart?!

"He says this is concerning Young Master Stewart. He has information on the culprit."

Quentin Stewart’s eyes narrowed. The culprit?

This boy from the Palmer family was the one who entertained Joe when Joe went to Greencliff, so he definitely knew who did this.

"Let him come in!"

Archie’s arms were both bandaged as he came in. After he respectfully bowed, he went straight to the point.

"Master Stewart, the person who hurt Young Master Stewart is Ethan Hunt, the son-in-law of William Palmer in Greencliff!"

He clenched his teeth and said, "He beat me up, and even declared that he was going to kill Young Master Stewart. If I hadn’t protected Young Master Stewart in time, he might have…"

"William and his family don’t have any respect for the Stewarts at all. He even said that if the Stewart family wasn’t hiding in Fairbanks, he would make the Stewarts disappear overnight!"

"My family is in part to blame for what happened this time round, so my father would like to express his apologies by giving you 30% of our company shares, and we hope that Master Stewart can give us a chance."

Quentin Stewart could understand everything clearly with a few sentences from Archie.

The person who beat up Joe was Ethan, William’s son-in-law, while Archie’s family wanted to be an ally of the Stewarts.

And what Quentin Stewart needed to do wasn’t just to cripple Ethan, but to make sure William and family turned to ashes!

……

There was a storm in Greencliff’s illegal circle. Within a few days, so many things had happened. Bill Hale had been reduced to nothing. And this was done by Rodney Davis and the other bosses.

These few bosses had ganged up along with some strong fighters from Fairbanks to beat Bill Hale up without mercy. They took all his assets, broke his legs and threw him out of Greencliff.

There was a great uproar in all of Greencliff’s illegal circles all of a sudden.

Everyone knew that Rodney Davis and the rest had decided to follow the people from Fairbanks. They were now trying to prove their worthiness by helping these Fairbanks people to tidy up Greencliff’s illegal circles.

Rodney Davis had sent out word that anyone who obeyed would benefit, while anyone who disobeyed would die. Bill Hale was the first one to die!

More and more people met their doom over the next three days.

These were all those who publicly rejected the invitation to rely on the people in Fairbanks. Every single one of them met with a tragic end with no exceptions.

Some were still hesitating at first, but now they didn’t dare to think anymore and obediently followed suit.

Rodney Davis had never felt this good before. This feeling of being on top of everyone else really made him feel great.

He didn’t even need to do it himself. The men sent from Fairbanks were all great fighters.

He thought about how he would have met a terrible end by now if he had rejected this offer like Bill Hale did.

"Rodney Davis, who’s next?"

Gus Thompson was a little uneasy these few days.

Everything was going on smoothly, but for some reason, he kept feeling like something would go wrong somewhere.

Because Nicolas had been thrashed. Eli Howard also perished here. This place was like a huge tornado, and they were now getting closer and closer to it.

"Tom Foster."

That was Rodney Davis’s answer.

All the various powers, both big and small, had made their decision. Just like he had said, anyone who obeyed would benefit, while anyone who disobeyed would die.

Besides Tom Foster, there was nobody else standing in the way.

Gus Thompson frowned slightly when he heard Tom Foster’s name.

He already knew that Eli Howard and Nicolas’s predicament had something to do with this Tom Foster.

"Don’t proceed for the time being," said Gus Thompson.

"Why?"

Rodney Davis couldn’t understand. "We should strike when the iron is hot."

They had brought along such highly skilled fighters, so getting rid of one Tom Foster shouldn’t prove a problem at all.

He had seen for himself how vicious these men could get.

Besides, he heard that Nicolas had come as well. That was a man who was even more vicious than Eli Howard.

"Don’t be in such a hurry." Gus Thompson still shook his head.

He preferred to wait for Nicolas to arrange this matter himself and didn’t dare to decide for him.

"It’s too late though," Rodney Davis snorted. Tom Foster had humiliated him so badly at the boxing match the last time, so how could he resist the chance to get back at him now? "I’ve already sent someone to send Tom Foster an invitation to join us."

And it was an extremely humiliating sort of invitation.

Gus Thompson’s face darkened but he didn’t say anything. He just felt the uneasiness growing within his heart but he didn’t know what he was uneasy about either.

…

At this moment, Rodney Davis’s right hand man was sitting arrogantly in front of Tom Foster.

He turned his nose up slightly and calmly said, "This is your only chance, and I hope CEO Foster can cherish it. Anyone who obeys will benefit, while anyone who disobeys will die. My boss isn’t saying this for fun."

"My boss is giving you a chance because we’re all people from Greencliff’s illegal circle. CEO Foster, you can’t always take and not give."

Tom Foster merely laughed.

He calmly lit a cigarette and had a cheeky look on his face as he said, "Bro, there’s no point in telling me all this. Why don’t I take you to see someone?"

Ethan was currently inside Diane’s office.

He was leisurely making tea and eating cake.

Diane was so ridiculously busy, and he seemed too free compared to her.

"Excuse me, can you not agitate me in my own office like that?"

Diane really felt that she was working for Ethan.

It was fine if the boss didn’t want to work hard along with his staff. But he was now agitating her by behaving so leisurely in front of her. Wasn’t that being mean?

Ethan saw a message from Tom Foster on his phone.

He got up and laughed, "Alright alright, you continue what you’re doing, I’ll go take a walk downstairs.

At the little park near the Palmer Group office building.

Ethan sat on a bench facing Tom Foster and Rodney Davis’s right hand man.

"What’s the meaning of this? Why did you bring me to this sort of place to discuss business?"

Rodney Davis’s right hand man was obviously not in a very good mood.

During this short period of time, they had become the real leaders of Greencliff’s illegal circle.

As long as Rodney Davis’s side sent word out, everyone bowed down to them. Nobody wanted to offend anyone from Fairbanks, and nobody wanted to be wiped out immediately by those people from Fairbanks either!

"I don’t mean anything at all. But you should tell my Big Boss what you said to me earlier, that would make more sense."

Tom Foster smiled and lit a cigarette for Ethan. "I’m just a subordinate and I can’t make any decisions."

Rodney Davis’s right hand man’s expression changed immediately.

He recognized Ethan as the man who crippled Master Han and the Muay Thai expert on the spot that day during the boxing match!

He had only used one punch.

And he was actually Tom Foster’s boss?

What was going on?

"Spit it out. What is it?" Ethan glanced at him. "I give you one minute."

"I don’t care who you are. You have one day to decide whether you’re going to follow my boss Rodney Davis, otherwise…" His expression turned cold. "…you will bear the consequences."

"Sure, I got it."

Ethan nodded.

He looked at Tom Foster and Tom Foster immediately understood.

A few men suddenly rushed forward and pressed Rodney Davis’s right hand man against the ground.

"What are you trying to do!"

"Anyone who obeys will benefit, while anyone who disobeys will die, right?! Can’t you tell what our decision is?" replied Tom Foster in a cold voice.

Then he was dragged away.

"Bill Hale has already met his end, and some others who didn’t agree have also perished," said Tom Foster. "Rodney Davis is now very smug and feels that he’s now right on top and wants to control all of Greencliff’s illegal circle."

Ethan didn’t reply to him on this matter. He calmly asked, "How many of them have passed?"

It was nearly twenty days now.

"Eight of them!" Tom Foster reported excitedly.

After he scolded them that day, all of them were motivated again and worked even harder.

Soon enough, someone got to the last stage, and they kept going through the stages faster and faster.

Today, eight of them had gotten through the full course.

"I just need thirty. You can make arrangements for the rest."

Ethan threw his cigarette butt into the trashcan. "I’ll go over tomorrow and make sure they cherish this opportunity."

Ethan then went back upstairs. Tom Foster knew what Ethan was implying and quickly went to the training facility.

After they heard what Ethan said, they all went crazy.

Even the eight who had passed through didn’t dare to be complacent at all.

Because they knew how much they had improved after going through everything, and this improvement was really incredible.

They wanted to become stronger, and just like what Ethan said, they wanted to become stronger than what they could imagine!

The rest of them were still fighting for the last 22 places.

…

At this time.

The man that Rodney Davis had sent to look for Tom Foster was now lying in front of him. His arms and legs had been broken and there were three large words written with a red sharpie on his face.

Fuck your mother.

Rodney Davis slammed a palm hard on the table. "Tom Foster is asking for it!"

"Humph, he probably doesn’t know that Nicolas is keeping a close eye on him, so he’s going to die sooner or later!"

Tom Foster had gone too far with Eli Howard and his brother and offended the folks from Fairbanks. Rodney Davis had given him a chance to live but he didn’t care for it and even insulted him in return.

"Boss, what do we do now? Tom Foster has that strong fighter by his side, so it’s very hard to settle this."

They all remembered that vicious man under Tom Foster.

That man thrashed a Muay Thai expert with just one punch, so how could they go up against him?

"Tell Gus Thompson and let him settle it himself. Tell him that Eli Howard and his brother were beaten up by Tom Foster!"

Rodney Davis narrowed his eyes.

He had chosen to follow the people from Fairbanks, but he knew that he would get more this way. Nicolas would need a spokesperson in Greencliff’s illegal circle, and that spokesperson was going to be him.

He was using the influence and power of the people from Fairbanks to remove all the obstacles in his way, and had expanded tremendously.

Without their help, how could he have gotten rid of Bill Hale, his rival for so many years so easily?

But the uneasiness in Gus Thompson’s heart grew stronger and stronger.

He didn’t know why either. His strange fear and panic made him feel like a small animal before an earthquake was about to strike.

"Brother Nicolas, this Tom Foster isn’t simple, I think we have to formulate a plan first." Gus Thompson seemed very cautious.

Rodney Davis had been going around killing off everyone and was unwilling to let them interfere. But now he told them to deal with Tom Foster themselves.

There was something very wrong with this.

And if Tom Foster was the one who thrashed Eli Howard and his brother, then it proved that this Tom Foster was no sitting duck and wasn’t easy to handle at all.

"Formulate a plan my ass!"

Nicolas’s arms and legs were in a cast. He clenched his teeth and said, "Boss didn’t give us a lot of time. We have to finish this off quickly and settle everything in Greencliff. I still have use for the men!"

He wasn’t going to stop until he crippled Ethan!

Gus Thompson didn’t dare to say anything else. He was only one of Nicolas’s men and didn’t have any power to make decisions. But he was much more intelligent and more sensitive compared to Nicolas.

Nicolas instructed him to get ready to attack. He had a maximum of three days to clean up Greencliff, otherwise things would get messy if other big players from Fairbanks came here too.

Gus Thompson accepted these instructions, but didn’t go looking for Tom Foster directly. Instead, he went to finish off a few other smaller players first.

It was early morning in the countryside and the air was especially fresh.

Ethan thought to himself that he could buy a piece of land here and build a bungalow. That way the whole family could live here and it would be great for their health.

The mud from the training course was all over the place, and the thirty who made it stood in front of him.

The other twenty were indignant, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Ethan had said that he only wanted thirty, so he didn’t want anymore than that.

If they wanted to try again, then they had to perform well in other aspects and wait for another chance.

"From today onwards, Geoff is number one, you are number two, you are number three…" Ethan went down the line. "All of you only have numbers and no names!"

Brother Geoff immediately became alert.

He was the first one to get through the entire course, and he had gone through a tremendous change.

"Thirty of you will be my Wolves!" Ethan declared loudly.

Brother Geoff and the rest instantly became excited. Ethan’s words had a strange sort of power that could make their blood rush through their bodies.

Wolves!

"Next would be your first mission."

Ethan glanced at all of them and said without any expression, "Bathe, eat and sleep!"

Wolves always came out at night.

After they bathed and ate, the thirty of them slept for an entire day.

For the past twenty days, they had been pushing the hidden energy within themselves hard, refusing to rest even if they were tired.

Tom Foster felt a bit frightened when he looked at these thirty men in front of him.

Less than a month had passed, but these men suddenly seemed like strangers to him. It was like they were so strong and powerful that they seemed strange to him.

"Where’s Big Boss?"

Brother Geoff didn’t see Ethan around, and he was very excited.

This was the first time he was going to carry out Big Boss’ instructions, so he wanted to perform well in front of Big Boss.

"He’s at home eating with his wife."

Tom Foster’s mouth twitched.

Spending time with his wife was the most important thing to Ethan. Tom Foster could arrange the rest.

"This is a small matter, so Big Boss doesn’t have to handle it himself."

Tom Foster scoffed. "If you can’t get this small thing done, then you can get lost!"

All thirty of them instantly became serious.

They had only one mission tonight. They were to remove all obstacles in the illegal circle!

In one night!

That was the mission that Ethan gave them.

"Go!"

Tom Foster gave the order and all thirty of them disappeared into the night.

The night grew darker as a pack of wolves started appearing in the concrete jungle of Greencliff. But their prey hadn’t sensed anything yet.

Rodney Davis was very happy now.

He had managed to suddenly accomplish what he couldn’t do for the past ten years within the past ten days, so he was feeling a little gleeful.

Now he called the shots in Greencliff.

Even if he had to listen to instructions from Fairbanks’s side, his own name was the one that resounded in this place.

"Bill Hale’s gone. Everyone who didn’t listen is all gone."

Rodney Davis was sitting in his own headquarters, wearing a sleeping robe with a glass of red wine in hand and looked very happy with himself.

His face was all red and he had obviously gone through a fairly fierce battle just moments ago, and he was still wanted more. After all, he had coveted that woman he snatched from Bill Hale’s side for a long time now.

"Finding a large and stable boat in such circumstances was a really lucky thing."

Rodney Davis closed his eyes and leaned against the sofa and relaxed.

Suddenly there was a loud sound as the main door was banged open and a figure went flying into the room with a yelp.

Rodney Davis’s expression changed slightly and he immediately dodged the figure that flew towards him. But the man had knocked the glass of wine out of Rodney Davis’s hand and smashed to pieces.

"Who is it!"

Rodney Davis yelled loudly, "Where is everyone! Come here right now!"

His men had come alright, but all of them had been kicked into the room. Everyone crashed hard on the floor, then fell into silence as they fainted.

Rodney Davis’s expression changed more dramatically.

He had nearly a hundred men outside and now everything had gone quiet.

When he saw Tom Foster saunter in, a cold glint flashed across Rodney Davis’s eyes.

"Tom Foster, do you know what you are doing?!" Rodney Davis roared angrily. "You’re waiting to die!"

Tom Foster smiled and walked over to the table to pour himself a glass of red wine. He took a sip and smacked his lips.

"I heard that your wine cellar has quite a lot of good wines? I’m taking it."

"You…" Rodney Davis was furious. "Are you picking a fight with me?!"

"Oh no no," Tom Foster shook his head. "This is just my side rolling you flat."

He snapped his fingers.

After a series of noises, the entire place was soon completely quiet.

Rodney Davis was feeling numb.

He saw it with his own eyes. It was as if thirty wolves were ravaging the entire place, and nobody could stop them at all.

He could see very clearly that there were many whom he had seen before. None of them caught his eye a month ago, so what was happening now?

Rodney Davis sat on the sofa in a daze and his legs started trembling.

All of this had happened too quickly and he had no idea what was going on.

Tom Foster poured a glass of wine for him. "Drink it. It’ll be your last glass for the rest of your life. After you go to jail, you’d probably only get to drink pee."

Rodney Davis’s lips twitched.

"Tom Foster, don’t be so quick to cut ties, sometimes the wind blows this way and sometimes it blows…"

Tom Foster slapped Rodney Davis, slapping the wine glass aside and red wine spilled everywhere.

"You think those bastards in Fairbanks can save you?" Tom Foster asked coldly. "They’ll die even faster!"

Rodney Davis clutched his face and glared fiercely at Tom Foster.

He never thought that Tom Foster would rise this quickly in such a short time.

He had gotten rid of Eli Howard and his brother and didn’t even have any respect for the people from Fairbanks. Now he had come right to Rodney Davis’s doorstep and was going to finish him off.

Who was behind him?

"I’m with the one who controls Fairbanks! Nicolas and Gus Thompson are both in Greencliff!" Rodney Davis clenched his teeth and sent his last threat out.

"You’ve offended them by crippling Eli Howard and his brother. If you touch me, they’ll kill you for sure!"

He had become a little hysterical.

Tom Foster merely smiled faintly.

He looked at Rodney Davis as if he was looking at a pitiful dog.

"People outside of Greencliff don’t get any say about Greencliff’s illegal circle."

Those were Ethan’s words, and Tom Foster quoted them word for word for Rodney Davis. "Where is Nicolas? I’ll go look for him now."

He didn’t stop there. He called Brother Geoff over, and he broke Rodney Davis’s legs before leaving.

He still had a message for Nicolas and Gus Thompson.

The police came shortly after to arrest Rodney Davis and all his men. Evidence of all their illegal activity had already been placed on the desk of the higher ups.

...

In a villa in the mountains.

Nicolas had been recuperating here for several days now.

He was waiting for everything in Greencliff’s illegal circle to settle down and waiting to recover from his own injuries before going after Ethan’s life.

But before he could get to Ethan, Tom Foster appeared first.

Gus Thompson was instantly wary. The ten odd men with him were all strong fighters, and they stood in front of Nicolas.

"Don’t come here with a death wish!" Gus Thompson shouted, "You can have a taste if you dare to attack us!"

Tom Foster replied, "Oh really."

The thirty men behind him were exuding a ferocious air.

They had just gone through so many big battles, flattening more than a dozen big players. But they were still full of energy and didn’t seem tired at all.

Now Gus Thompson and the rest felt the pressure even though the thirty of them were just standing there.

How could these people be so terrifying?

When did Tom Foster have so many strong fighters under him?

"Tom Foster, I’m surprised. You’ve hidden so many strong fighters, you must be very ambitious."

Nicolas was still leaning against the sofa as he laughed coldly. "But if you want to use these people to twist our arms, I think you’re overestimating yourself!"

Tom Foster lifted his head to look at him.

"I’m here to bring you a message.

He calmly went on, "You don’t get to interfere in Greencliff at all!"

"How dare you!" Nicolas roared. "What are you even!"

"Of course I’m not anything. But my Big Boss said those words, so that’s a different story altogether."

There was pride on Tom Foster’s face. "Besides, even though you offended my Big Boss, he didn’t have to bother himself with trash like you guys. But the brothers under him can’t take this lying down."

Brother Geoff and the rest stood behind Tom Foster with vicious looks in their eyes, as if they were really frightening and malicious wolves.

They were going to tear Nicolas and his men to pieces.

"Your Big Boss?"

Nicolas and Gus Thompson’s expressions changed and they both asked at the same time, "Who is he?!"

Tom Foster stared at Nicolas. "The person who broke your arms and legs!"

"Ethan Hunt!"

Nicolas’s expression changed completely.

How could it be him?

He was just a man who married into William’s family and he was just a homeless man!

That was what Steven told him, so how could he be…Tom Foster’s Big Boss?

"This Steven is really vicious."

Tom Foster ignored the look of disbelief on Nicolas’s face and sighed. "He even set a trap for his own brother. It’s a death trap no less!"

Nicolas suddenly felt fear in his heart.

He had experienced for himself how frightening Ethan could be. But he was even more shocked at who Ethan had turned out to be.

And judging from Tom Foster’s words, Steven knew about this long ago.

That bloody bastard purposely made him create trouble for Ethan and was trying to use Ethan to get rid of him!

"Get it now?" Tom Foster said. "Looks like you’re not stupid after all. So why did you think of coming to Greencliff to suffer?"

Nicolas looked up violently. "Tom Foster, don’t be too arrogant! And that Ethan! We’re definitely taking Greencliff, nobody else can have it!"

Tom Foster didn’t hold himself back at all. He slapped Nicolas hard on the face.

That hard slapping sound made Gus Thompson and the rest want to make their move.

But they didn’t dare to because they were surrounded by thirty wolves.

Gus Thompson knew very well that if they made any move, then none of them were getting out of here in one good piece.

So Nicolas had to suffer this humiliation.

The five bright red finger marks on his face made Nicolas widen his eyes. He never thought that he would face such humiliation after returning to Greencliff.

He wanted to retaliate and even wanted to kill Tom Foster. But he couldn’t move at all now.

"Bring my words back. Don’t come back to Greencliff."

Tom Foster scoffed. "There’s an order here that other people can’t afford to disrupt. Whoever sticks a hand in to try will get their hand chopped off by yours truly!"

He then turned and left.

When he reached the door, he used a casual voice to say, "As a small punishment for offending Big Boss, let’s break his last good leg."

There was a blood curdling scream after he finished saying that.

Shortly after that, a truck meant for transporting pigs would drive along the highway and stop in front of the boundary marker of the next city and throw more than ten people covered in pig droppings out of the vehicle.

The truck drove away, leaving Nicolas and the rest wallowing in humiliation and shouting for help.

……

In just one night, Greencliff seemed to have gone through an earthquake.

All of the illegal circles had been washed cleanly.

There was a huge stack of documents on the mayor’s office desk, all evidence against Rodney Davis and the rest. The mayor only managed to beat his chest and exhale deeply at 3AM.

"Which amazing person managed to do what we haven’t been able to do for so many years in one night?"

He was sure it must be some big shot helping them secretly to settle this matter. But they could only watch and wait to see what happened next.

At least, Greencliff’s illegal circle would become more stable and orderly for the time being.

The mayor was rubbing his temples when his secretary came in.

"You’d better rest early. You still have to attend two donation ceremonies at two elementary schools," said his secretary with concern. "There are more and more businesses making generous donations recently, so this is a good thing."

"That’s right, it’s a good thing. I hope more good things will keep coming."

There were many people who couldn’t sleep that night.

Including Diane.

She lay on the bed. The dim light from the streetlamps outside the room shone through the thin curtains and into the room, and landed right in front of Ethan’s mat.

She continued staring at this man in a daze.

It had been barely two months since Ethan first appeared.

But the surprises and shocks he had given her in these two months had increased time and again, and each one was bigger than the previous one.

How many times had Ethan protected her?

How many times had he protected her parents?

Just like what he said, the two of them weren’t just her parents. They were his parents too.

What was that? Diane was annoyed. She hadn’t completely accepted him yet.

But at the same time, Diane suddenly felt that April was right. She wasn’t good enough for Ethan now.

How was he so outstanding?

She took a deep breath and for some reason, there was an additional pressure on her heart. She felt that she had to work even harder.

She didn’t know when she fell asleep. When she woke up, the fragrance of breakfast wafted in from outside the room.

"He’s so early!"

Diane glanced at the space beside her bed to find that the mat and blanket on the floor had already been put away nicely. It had been packed so nicely that nobody would believe that the person who slept there was a homeless man.

She washed up, changed, ate breakfast and it was time to go to work.

Diane didn’t speak much that morning. Or rather, she didn’t say anything at all.

She sat in the car and didn’t turn her head nor look at Ethan, as if she was purposely trying to draw the line between herself and Ethan.

"Next time, can you let me settle it myself?"

Diane finally spoke after a long time.

"What?"

"I’m referring to company matters. I’ll settle them myself, I can do it."

Diane turned and her expression was resolute.

"Sure."

Ethan smiled and didn’t say much, but just nodded.

…

At this time at the Ministry of Health, in the office of the director in charge of food and drug safety.

There was one more person seated next to Steven Palmer. He was leaning against a sofa, smoking a cigarette and looking very snobbish.

"This new Palmer Group has left out so much paperwork but they dare to proceed with production. That’s irresponsible of them."

The man seated on the sofa frowned, "Nixon, this matter is under your jurisdiction, right?"

"Stewart, you’ve come all the way to Greencliff just to talk about this?" Director Nixon looked at Anthony Stewart seated on the sofa and he couldn’t help but chortle.

The two knew each other for many years and were quite close privately.

Since Steven was around today, it was very obvious what Anthony Stewart meant to say.

"Of course not," laughed Anthony Stewart. "I know you love drinking tea, so I’ve gotten you a batch of good tea. Since I happened to pass through Greencliff, I brought it over to you."

He glanced at Steven and Steven immediately passed Director Nixon a box of tea.

Director Nixon’s eyes immediately lit up. He took the box of tea and tried to estimate how much there was inside by weighing it in his hands.

"We’re all old friends so why bother bringing anything. Are these tea leaves expensive? I don’t dare to accept it if it’s too expensive!"

His hands seemed to be refusing the tea.

"Oh no, it’s not expensive at all. I bought it from the village so it’s not worth too much," Anthony Stewart said with a smile. "This tea is really delicious, so take your time to drink it."

He then got up and Steven also got up. "I’ll make a move first. Come to Fairbanks when you have time, call me and I’ll make arrangements."

Director Nixon got up and saw them out, then came back and closed the door. He opened up the box of tea and there was glee in his eyes. He immediately closed the box carefully and stuffed it into the lowest drawer of his desk. He picked up his phone and made a call.

"I’ve just gotten a complaint. Go take a look at new Palmer Group and see if they’ve not complied with any manufacturing laws. If you get solid evidence, you know what to do, right?"

The front half of these words weren’t important. The back half were pretty much instructions.

After hanging up, Director Nixon narrowed his eyes into a slit.

He wasn’t new at this. He kept one eye closed on some of these matters in the first place. But if someone caught any loopholes, then he would just make a few comments. Those who knew how to behave would be let off with a little fine or be ordered to make some changes.

As for those who didn’t know how to behave, there were plenty of ways to play with them.

He wondered if he should do something if the new Palmer Group had people who knew how to behave.

Steven walked out with Anthony Stewart and got into the car.

"So sorry that I had to trouble CEO Stewart to come all the way here."

Steven was fairly polite.

As the second in charge of the Stewart family, Anthony Stewart was of very high standing as well. The fact that he had come personally to Greencliff showed the Stewart family stand on things.

"In all of Riverport province, nobody dares to offend the Stewarts."

Anthony Stewart scoffed. He didn’t care for Steven’s bootlicking. He had heard such words countless times. Besides, he looked down on the Palmers.

They had actually allowed a cripple to snatch their most important assets. Didn’t they feel embarrassed about it?

"This is just the first round to beat William half dead. Later there will be many more rounds to beat him until he can’t even lift his head!" Anthony Stewart smiled coldly. "In order to deal with others, you have to use your brain and ride on others’ influence. Understand?"

He was only a little older than Steven, but he spoke like he was speaking to someone of the younger generation.

"Yes yes yes," Steven nodded vigorously and politely replied, "Thank you for teaching me this."

"Alright I’ll go back first. Nixon will take care of his side. Clear on what I asked you to do?"

"I’m clear. Once that famous doctor from overseas arrives in Greencliff, I will inform the Stewarts immediately and make sure he heals Young Master Stewart’s legs," Steven immediately replied.

Joe’s legs were almost as good as useless.

The only person who could treat them was probably that famous doctor from overseas.

But this doctor apparently had a strange temperament and it cost quite a bit to arrange for him to treat Joe’s legs.

What made Steven unhappy was that the Stewarts wanted him to bear the cost.

Anthony Stewart didn’t say anymore. Coming to Greencliff personally over one mere William Palmer was already more than he should have done. He didn’t need to stay here any longer, so he went back to Fairbanks immediately.

…

Meanwhile.

Diane had reached the office and started getting busy.

All the company decisions were left to William. He had just started, but since he used to be an excellent manager, he found his feel for it very quickly.

Ethan wasn’t the slightest bit surprised by this.

Diane refused to let Ethan stay in the office because she said that he was a distraction.

Ethan had no choice but to go downstairs and have tea inside the security department’s office.

"Move aside! Move aside!"

There was a threatening voice at the door.

"We’re from the Ministry of Health and we’ve received a complaint, saying that Palmer Group’s manufacturing standards have issues. We’re here to check!"

Walter Gore stood at the door and flashed his badge quickly, then tried to push the security guards aside to go in.

"Wait!"

Standing at the door were the twenty who had been eliminated from the fifty men.

They were now security guards for Palmer Group. This was their second test and their final chance, so nobody dared to be sloppy about it.

When he saw that Walter Gore wanted to rush in, the leader of the guards immediately blocked his way.

"What, a measly security guard dares to block us?" Walter Gore laughed coldly. "Or do you have a guilty conscience?"

He was discrediting them right from the start.

The security guards exchanged glances. It was hard for them to deal with this. They glanced over and someone ran to inform Ethan.

Walter Gore looked smugly at them when he saw that they knew what was good for them, and brought his men in.

He really didn’t care for a few security guards.

He thought about what Director Nixon instructed him. The least he had to do was to fine them, but when it came to how much to fine them, on the surface it should depend on the law, but in reality, that would really depend on whether Palmer Group knew how to behave.

He hoped that Palmer Group knew how to behave, then he wouldn’t have to go through all this for nothing.

Walter Gore and his men entered the lift and headed upstairs.

Inside the security guard office, Ethan was still sitting there and drinking his tea leisurely.

"Someone from the Ministry of Health?" He didn’t even look up. "What has our company got to do with them?"

"He said that we haven’t completed some business paperwork."

Ethan laughed coldly.

How could this be?

This company was taken over lock, stock and barrel from Tom Foster, and everything was already in place. Ethan was always assured that Tom Foster did a proper job of everything.

So the only explanation was that someone had fiddled with the documents.

Or purposely got the authorities to make trouble for them.

"Alright, got it."

Ethan nodded his head slightly and didn’t seem very bothered by this.

Diane just told him that morning that she would handle everything, so this girl was pretty strong headed.

But Diane wouldn’t be able to settle this one at the moment.

Ethan pulled his phone out and dialed a number. After just one ring, the other side picked up and sounded quite frightened.

"Tyson, how’s the ribbon cutting going? Fun?"

The other side didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.

"I started this company because I wanted to contribute to Greencliff’s economy and donate to more schools and libraries, so why is someone making my life difficult now?"

Ethan’s second sentence made Mayor Tyson feel his head go numb.

"If this is how it is, then I’ll shut the company down and move elsewhere."

The third sentence was like a bolt of lightning and Mayor Tyson felt his legs go weak. He quickly replied, "I’ll be there in a minute!"

After hanging up, Ethan continued making tea. As if nothing had even happened.

…

At this moment.

At the highest floor of the company’s headquarters.

Everyone in the office looked up. Nobody expected someone to suddenly come and conduct an inspection.

"All the paperwork and other documents are all here. Is there anything I missed out?"

The director of the administrative department didn’t look very friendly.

They had done all the necessary procedures but someone actually came to make trouble for them.

"Everything?"

Walter Gore took a few glances and scoffed. "Don’t you know that you have to change to a new business license? If you don’t change it in time, you’d have to bear the responsibility!"

The admin director wasn’t new, so he held his anger in and asked, "What responsibility?"

"A responsibility that you can’t afford to bear!"

Walter Gore hadn’t expected the staff of Palmer Group to be this obtuse.

Most other people would have humbled themselves and started talking politely. They would have said that they were on it and would even invite Walter Gore and his men to have some tea in a meeting room to chat.

But this fellow in front of him didn’t seem to understand any of this!

"Or you mean, you want me to come here every single day?"

There was a hidden meaning in these words.

The admin director’s face fell. Of course he knew what Walter Gore was thinking about.

These guys were here to make trouble!

"What’s going on?"

Diane walked out after hearing the commotion and quietly asked the director after glancing at Walter Gore.

"CEO Palmer, this man here says that we have missing paperwork and cannot continue business until everything is complete."

How were they going to continue working if the authorities made trouble like that?

Once any of their projects were halted, the losses they would suffer would be tremendous.

There was no problem at all, but the authorities were trying to insist on finding a problem. These scoundrels!

Diane had no expression on her face as she looked at Walter Gore. "What are we missing? Tell us and we’ll get it done."

Walter Gore looked back at Diane and frowned slightly. He wasn’t too happy with the way Diane spoke to him.

"Filing paperwork is a long and complicated process and your company might not necessarily pass through. Suspend operations for the time being and wait for us to notify you."

He couldn’t be bothered to say anymore. Since Diane didn’t know what was good for her, then she couldn’t blame him for being harsh.

After all, he called the shots on whether to deal with them extremely harshly or leniently.

"Suspend operations?"

Diane remained calm. So calm that Walter Gore felt uneasy.

"Sure, we’ll suspend operations."

Walter Gore got a shock when he heard what Diane said.

He didn’t expect Diane to just agree without even raising any questions.

That wasn’t normal.

Even the director next to Diane was taken aback. He didn’t expect Diane to agree either.

"From today onwards, everyone will be on leave until the authorities inform us that our paperwork is in order and we can resume our business."

Diane continued to speak very calmly.

The calmer she was, the more uneasy Walter Gore felt.

That director nodded and sent out the message. Soon enough, many employees had packed up and left after saying goodbye to Diane.

Walter Gore’s face grew grim.

He just wanted to pressurize Diane into behaving properly, but he didn’t expect Diane to fight back and just suspend the business like that.

"Hoho, CEO Palmer, you’re a really decisive person huh."

He laughed coldly and said nastily, "You can slowly wait for us to notify you when everything is done!"

Walter Gore then turned and left.

He didn’t lose anything this way, so why bother about Diane’s reaction?

He didn’t think that such a large company could just suspend operations like that. How would Diane deal with such tremendous losses?

"Let’s go!"

Walter Gore left with his men. Just when he got out from the elevator, he saw a figure walking over with more than ten men behind him.

He felt his throat and eyes dry up immediately.

"Mayor Tys…"

How had the mayor come as well?!

Not just the mayor, but Mayor Tyson was followed by all the ministers in Greencliff. What was going on?

Walter Gore didn’t dare to say anymore. He didn’t even have the right to greet Mayor Tyson!

"Apologies, but our company is temporarily closed."

Mayor Tyson had hurried over and was about to go upstairs when the receptionist at the entrance politely blocked him and said this.

"What?"

Mayor Tyson felt like he was going to puke blood soon but couldn’t, so he swallowed it and said, "Temporarily closed?"

"That’s right."

Diane walked out from the elevator with her bag in hand. "Our paperwork wasn’t complete and we were ordered to suspend operations, so we have to abide by the law."

She looked at Walter Gore next to her and calmly explained, "This good sir over here just informed us."

More than ten pairs of eyes instantly turned to stare at Walter Gore and his men, and he felt a chill in his heart.

"Which agency are you from?" Mayor Tyson asked angrily.

"M…Mayor, I’m from the Ministry of Health…"

"Minister Small!"

Mayor didn’t let Walter Gore continue speaking. He just turned and yelled for Minister Small and his face became stern. "One of yours?"

A slightly plump middle aged man’s face paled as he hurried to the front.

The ministers had gone with Mayor Tyson for a ribbon cutting ceremony, and halfway through Mayor Tyson suddenly left in a hurry, saying something big had happened, so everyone became nervous too.

When had they seen Mayor Tyson look like that?

He was in a panic!

"Which department are you from?"

Minister Small spoke loudly, "You’re really bold! What are you doing here?"

Walter Gore was already frightened to pieces. This was the first time he had seen so many state leaders.

"I’m from the business division, under Director Nixon…"

"There are some changes in Palmer Group’s processes and it doesn’t comply with our standards, so I was here to inform them to quickly…"

"Doesn’t comply with our standards?"

Minister Small knew immediately that Walter Gore was spouting rubbish!

All this paperwork was done by the agency itself in accordance to their standards. Every business had to do it this way, so how could any business have anything that didn’t comply with the agency’s standards?

Wasn’t that putting a foot in his mouth?

He turned around and saw that Mayor Tyson’s expression was so nasty and darker than the night sky.

"So because they don’t comply with our standards you told them to suspend operations?"

Minister Small was shuddering too. Even a stupid person could tell that this Palmer Group was no ordinary company.

All the charity events recently were all supported by this Palmer Group.

Never mind who was behind Palmer Group – nobody dared to make trouble for a business that contributed so much to society!

"That…"

Walter Gore's face was pale and didn’t know what to say.

He never imagined that so many leaders would suddenly appear.

He only wished he could find a hole to hide himself in now.

Diane couldn’t be bothered.

"Sorry everyone, I’m really sorry. I didn’t know you were coming, and I’m not able to entertain you."

She shook her head and said, "We can’t resume business until we get an official notice."

As Diane was saying this, more employees emerged from the elevators with their bags and left the building. It was clear that they had really suspended all operations.

"CEO Palmer, don’t be anxious."

Mayor Tyson decided to speak up because he had no choice. He had meant to leave it to Minister Small to settle this, but it looked like if Diane really left, then he would be in deep trouble over what happened today.

"Minister Small!"

That one shout made Minister Small’s large body shudder.

"Since all these processes follow our standards, how could they be non-compliant? You’re spouting rubbish!"

Minister Small continued to scold him angrily, "I think your investigation processes are the ones that aren’t complete! I will investigate this matter!"

"If I find out that you have gone against the rules or broken the law, I’m going to punish you severely!"

Walter Gore’s heart sank. Were things so serious?

"Why are you standing there? Apologize to CEO Palmer!"

"I’m…I’m sorry."

Walter Gore quickly ran to Diane and bent his head like a child who had made a mistake, and his voice was so soft now.

Diane still shook her head. "I’ll wait for the notice."

She then turned to leave.

Mayor Tyson’s heart sank this time. He couldn’t let this happen!

He quickly ran to Diane and smiled, "CEO Palmer, don’t be angry. The lower ranks didn’t do their job properly, so Minister Small will manage and discipline them accordingly. You can’t let the company suspend operations because of that."

"I came today because I wanted to see the company that has been contributing greatly to Greencliff’s economy and society, so how could you suspend operations?"

Diane really didn’t know who the man in front of her was. But she could tell that he wasn’t an ordinary person.

"But we haven’t received the notice," she replied with a straight face.

"We’ve sent the notice already! We’ve sent it!"

Minister Small quickly spoke up, "I’ll get someone to send the official notice immediately!

He then made a phone call.

Diane finally nodded. "But my staff have almost all left, so I can’t entertain all of you today."

"No worries, no worries. All of you work very hard so it’s good to take a break today, I’ll come another time!"

Mayor Tyson breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Diane went back upstairs.

Mayor Tyson still had a nasty expression on his face.

The men behind him were also filled with fear. They were very clear now that nobody must ever touch this Palmer Group.

"Minister Small, I want the results tomorrow."

He turned to face Minister Small with a stern expression. Walter Gore felt like his soul was going to leave his body. "If you can’t settle this properly, turn in your resignation letter yourself!"

Minister Small really felt like his soul had left!

Everyone was dismissed from there, but Mayor Tyson came back and cautiously knocked on the door of the security guard office.

When he saw Ethan seated inside, he stood very straight and didn’t dare to breathe too loudly.

He only knew a bit about this man in front of him. But this little bit was enough to scare him half to death. Such a legendary man was actually in Greencliff!

"Why are you being so polite? Have a seat."

Mayor Tyson didn’t dare to sit at all. He didn’t have the right to sit with Ethan.

Ethan calmly said, "Now that the illegal circle has been cleaned up, you can stretch your arms and legs out to do something for this city, right?"

These words made Mayor Tyson perspire all over. So the person who had cleaned out all of the illegal circle in one night was Ethan.

Mayor Tyson didn’t dare to say anything. He was still thinking that the only person who could possibly do this was that legendary man. And today, this legendary man was sitting right in front of him.

"Greencliff is a port city along the coastline and has a unique advantage. But it hasn’t been able to develop much over the past few years, and all this is your responsibility to bear."

Mayor Tyson nodded, "Yes, yes, it is my responsibility."

"Now the biggest obstacle is out of the way. You still have any questions?"

"No!" replied Mayor Tyson immediately.

"It’s very important to develop this place and I believe you know what to do. Go develop what needs to be developed and fix up what needs to be fixed."

Ethan poured a cup of tea out. "Allowing the people to live better lives is your responsibility. Remember that."

Mayor Tyson used both hands to receive the cup and replied seriously, "I’ll remember that!"

He took a small sip but still couldn’t contain the nervousness inside. "What about you?"

"Just pretend that I don’t exist," Ethan replied casually.

Mayor Tyson understood his words. He put down the cup of tea and left.

Ethan had settled the problem that had plagued him for years overnight, so this was a huge favor. Ethan didn’t want Mayor Tyson to expose who he was, but Mayor Tyson knew that there were some things he had to help Ethan to settle properly.

Director Nixon sat in his office, and that box of tea in the drawer seemed to be emanating a faint fragrance.

"I think there’s twenty of them."

He had felt the amount and he should be correct.

Someone pushed the door open and Director Nixon got a fright.

"Are you asking to die?" He cursed immediately.

Thankfully he hadn’t taken that box of tea out. It would be very troublesome to explain it if someone else saw it.

But the moment he lifted his head, he immediately stood up and his face paled.

"Minister Small!"

Minister Small’s face was grim and there were two other officers behind him.

"Lance Nixon, you are now under investigation for corruption and bribery!" Minister Small didn’t hold back any of his words.

"No wait, Minister Small, what’s going on?" Director Nixon went into a panic.

He didn’t understand what was going on at all. Why did they suddenly want to investigate him?

"Go ask Walter Gore!"

He waved his hand and coldly said, "Happily receiving boxes of tea, aren’t you? Go and relive those memories in jail!"

Before Director Nixon could explain anything, the two officers went up and dragged him out of the office.

…

At the same time.

Steven was sitting in his office and in an excellent mood. Pulling a small stunt like this was enough to make life difficult for William.

As long as they stopped work for a few days, there was no way William could bear the losses of those few projects they had.

Then he would use his connections with the Stewarts to get those projects. All the deciding power would return into his hands again.

"Dad, this move is really amazing!"

Archie buttered his father up. "Looks like this time Diane and family are really going down. HAHA!"

"Humph, they already overestimated themselves when they offended the Stewarts!"

Steven was feeling gleeful in his heart, but continued to look calm. "Number three is number three after all. How could he surpass number one?"

The father and son duo couldn’t help but feel happy over William’s misery.

They didn’t have to really push William too hard. Just making his company stop work for a few days was enough to make him suffer tremendous losses already.

Once those business partners saw that there were problems with William’s side, then they’d lose confidence in him and won’t choose to work with him again.

That was Steven’s chance!

"They even dared to hit Joe Stewart. Now the Stewarts are preparing in secret, so the moment they make their move, Diane and family don’t even stand a chance of surviving."

Archie now really hated Ethan and Diane to the core. Once they fell, he was going to step hard on them.

Just as they were talking, there was some commotion outside.

"We are from the Tax Department. We suspect your company of tax evasion and we’re going to conduct an investigation now."

The voice from outside the door made Steven’s expression fall.

He thought he heard wrongly.

After he heard even more noise outside, he immediately stood up and walked out in a hurry. He saw many men in uniform taking out their warrants.

"Dad, why is the Tax Department here?"

Archie panicked even more inside. His accounts weren’t clean at all.

Besides, hadn’t the authorities sent someone to check on William? Why were they here instead?

Steven’s heart sank but his expression remained calm and he told Archie not to say anything.

"Hello everyone…"

Steven walked over with a big smile on his face. "What’s going on? Want to have a chat in my office?"

"Do not block us from carrying out our duties!"

The leader of the tax officers had a stern face. "We already have a lot of evidence on our hands, so it will be better if you cooperate with our investigation."

Steven frowned. His accounts weren’t clean at all. They couldn’t hold up against any investigation. But the man in front of him clearly looked like he wasn’t going to give in at all. The moment his accounts were checked, Steven was doomed!

Archie’s expression became nervous and no longer looked smug. Before he could hear about Diane and Ethan getting into trouble, he was going to be in trouble first.

He looked at Steven with a plea in his eyes. If the authorities conducted an investigation, he was doomed for sure!

Steven started thinking hard. "Ok, we’ll cooperate, that’s only what we should be doing."

He got his staff to bring the officers to the finance department, then pulled out his phone to make arrangements.

…

At the same time.

Ethan was sitting innocently in Diane’s office.

"It really has nothing to do with me."

He held his hands up. "I’ve been sitting in the security guard’s office the whole day and I don’t even know what happened."

"I don’t believe you."

Diane scoffed. "I know you must have done something."

Ethan shook his head and refused to admit it.

William came rushing over after finding out what happened and was a little worried.

"Why did they come?"

William was obviously very surprised. Everyone in Greencliff who could make people move with just a word had arrived at Palmer Group earlier!

"Who were those people?" Diane asked.

William was a little stunned, then shook his head helplessly. His daughter was too kind and innocent, but didn’t she at least read the news or watch TV?

He turned to look at Ethan and Ethan merely laughed.

"I just happened to meet them at the charity event today," William explained. "As long as we’re fine. I heard that Steven’s side is being investigated."

"What?" Diane was surprised.

At first she thought that Steven was the one behind all this. But they were being checked too.

"They deserve it!" she snorted. She didn’t have any more sympathy left for Steven and his son.

Besides, she knew that Steven’s side couldn’t hold up against an investigation. There were problems everywhere.

"It’s just that," William shook his head, "Nothing happened to them."

"How can that be?"

Diane was even more surprised. "Those two aren’t clean at all, so problems would definitely surface."

Ethan immediately understood what happened. He looked at William and said, "Looks like these two are really sly and made arrangements in advance already."

He slowly continued, "I suppose all the dirty water is on Gerald’s head, right?"

The best candidate to be the scapegoat was Gerald.

William had a conflicted expression as he nodded.

"Steven, he’s really an animal!"

Steven had caused Gerald to suffer a stroke already, but now he had become his scapegoat too! Even animals didn’t do something like this.

William was really angry, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

If Gerald knew that he would end up like this today, would he regret his decisions?

"Dad, there are consequences for every decision made, and many things are already set in stone," Ethan said calmly. "We can’t control other people, so we can only watch ourselves."

William nodded and took a deep breath. "I know."

This attack came quickly and left quickly too. It was easily settled without causing any disruption.

Of course, Diane didn’t believe Mayor Tyson had so coincidentally come to the office to have a look. William didn’t believe it either.

"By the way, that doctor is going to reach Greencliff soon. So Dad, rest well these few days and prepare yourself," said Ethan suddenly. "Leave the company matters to Diane, she can do it."

He then winked at Diane. That was what Diane told Ethan that morning. Of course, Diane knew that if anything happened to the company, the first person to come out and settle it was Ethan.

She scoffed and quietly swung her little fists to warn Ethan not to tease her.

But Diane couldn’t help but feel excited when she knew that doctor was coming and William’s legs could be cured.

"Sure! I’ll listen to whatever you say!" William nodded gravely.

After William left, Ethan suddenly felt a hand reach for his waist…

First the hand grabbed a piece of flesh, then twisted it.

He gasped and turned to look at Diane. He nearly shouted.

"Domestic violence!"

There were other people around, so Ethan could only mouth this at Diane.

"Humph, that’s for teasing me!"

Diane ignored Ethan and pretended to look angry.

She had just told Ethan that morning to leave all the company matters to her. But almost immediately after that, Ethan had delivered this slap in her face. Did he think girls were easy to bully? What an awful man!

But she knew that without Ethan, she really couldn’t have handled all those people who came in the afternoon. She also knew that Ethan would do something, and that’s why she dared to agree to suspend all operations. But she felt so indignant.

When Ethan saw how she was only pretending to be angry, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Diane had pinched him hard, so he had to pretend that it really hurt too.

This time, the authorities couldn’t get Steven and his son, but they had caused him pretty severe damage. It wasn’t just the tax department. Practically every department came to check, and Steven was going to slam tables soon.

He was glad that he was already prepared for this. He paid a fairly high price to make sure all the biggest issues were blamed on Gerald.

His face was now sullen, and Gerald started trembling when Steven looked at him.

"You should thank me. If I didn’t make you suffer a stroke, you’d have to go to jail now," Steven laughed coldly.

He was really worse than an animal. He actually wanted Gerald to thank him?

"I kept you alive precisely to be my scapegoat. Never thought of it, eh?"

Steven laughed. "Dad, you’re still useful to the Palmer family."

He then turned and left.

Gerald couldn’t say anything. The only hand that could still move really wanted to clench its fist to punch Steven, but Gerald couldn’t do it either.

Eventually he was only left with two streams of tears of regret that kept flowing down his cheeks.

Steven walked to the living room to find Archie leaning against the sofa and still reeling from shock. He nearly went to jail!

"Dad, Diane is so evil!"

Archie clenched his teeth. "How did this happen? Didn’t the Stewart family already settle this beforehand?"

He didn’t believe that the authorities would listen to Diane or William. They weren’t capable of this.

Could it be that Ethan?

But that crazy guy only knew how to fight when he went mad, so he probably wasn’t capable of doing something like this either.

"I’ve asked already, the instruction came from the higher ups, apparently they’re going on some anti-corruption drive now."

Steven cursed. "Diane and family just happened to get lucky!"

Director Nixon had been arrested and it was such a bad time to be arrested. That was exactly why Diane had been able to come out unscathed, and Steven was the one who was in trouble.

Steven was now very unhappy with the Stewarts. They were such a large family but their connections weren’t reliable. What an embarrassment.

"That famous doctor is coming in a few days, so keep an eye on things. Once he reaches Greencliff, I’ll go straight to Fairbanks to pick up Joe," said Steven. "As long as we help to get that doctor to treat Joe’s legs, then the Stewarts will owe us one."

"Got it!"

Archie said, "That doctor is coming to Greencliff’s First Hospital to give a lecture and I heard he’s a real money grubber. Dad, how much money do we have to give?"

Steven frowned and felt a pain in his heart. "Take a million first. It’s enough to treat two legs."

Three days later.

There was a huge banner at Greencliff International Airport to let everyone know that the famous doctor arriving was no ordinary man.

Archie immediately informed Steven when he got the news.

Steven immediately went straight to the Stewarts in Fairbanks himself.

Archie had prepared the money and went to pay the Vice-chairman of Greencliff First Hospital, hoping that he could use this connection to get that famous doctor to treat Joe.

Steven reached the Stewart house in no time.

Quentin Stewart finally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that the famous doctor had arrived.

"Why did such a renowned doctor go to tiny Greencliff instead of Fairbanks? Tsk." It would have been much more convenient if he came to Fairbanks.

"Mr. Palmer, are you sure there’s no problem?" Quentin Stewart had only one son and he couldn’t let him remain a cripple.

"Master Stewart, don’t worry, I’ve arranged everything already," Steven said as he patted his own chest. "I promise you that everything will be alright when Young Master Stewart returns home."

Even if he had to spend a bit more money, he didn’t mind at all. If he could get the Stewarts to owe him one, even spending a few million dollars was to his profit!

"Anthony, you go along with him."

Quentin Stewart was still worried. "I still have matters to attend to here and can’t go. You go and help to take care of Joe."

"Sure."

Anthony Stewart kept an icy face on and didn’t have much expression.

None of them wasted any more time. Anthony Stewart quickly followed Steven to send Joe to Greencliff and prepare for the surgery.

…

On the other side.

William was very nervous.

These two legs had been crippled for many years now, and he didn’t have much confidence himself.

"Ethan, is it really possible?" William asked nervously. "I also heard that the doctor is extremely expensive, we…"

"Are we short of money?" Ethan asked. "Besides, he doesn’t take any money from me."

"Why?" Diane found it hard to believe.

All of Greencliff had gone into a frenzy when the famous doctor reached Greencliff.

So many people had prepared a lot of money for him to treat them.

"When I was homeless, I gave him half a bun," Ethan replied with a serious face.

Diane didn’t want to bother about him anymore.

When he was homeless again? His Beggar Sect friends again? Half a bun AGAIN? How many buns did Ethan have on himself when he was a homeless man?! Wasn’t there too many talented people in this Beggars’ Sect?!

Diane wanted to ask some more, but April tugged at her. She knew that Ethan wasn’t an ordinary person, so since Ethan said there wouldn’t be any problem, then there really wasn’t any problem. There was nothing to ask.

"Dad, let’s go." Ethan smiled and didn’t want to explain further. He pushed William’s wheelchair out and said, "We can throw this wheelchair away after today."

At Greencliff First Hospital.

The carpark was full.

A dozen security guards were perspiring heavily as they directed the traffic in and out of the carpark. Most of the cars were trying to come in and very few were going out.

All of them were here for this famous doctor!

Dr John was a world famous surgeon. He received the warmest welcome everywhere he went.

Many top hospitals in the country were so jealous that he had gone to Greencliff.

All the orthopedic surgeons of the hospital had gathered in the hall. Nobody wanted to miss a lecture by John, even if they were already professors in medical schools.

The chairman of the hospital was also sitting at one side, and there was pride and glee on his face.

This sort of expert was someone they could never invite even if they tried. But Dr John had actually taken the initiative to contact them and said he wanted to have a tour of Greencliff First Hospital and was willing to operate on one patient for educational purposes.

"Many chairmen on the boards of major hospitals in Fairbanks have called me to ask how I managed to invite Dr John," the chairman was quietly boasting to someone. "But who could I tell him a business secret like that?"

"We must take good care of him! For Dr John to come and give our hospital pointers is our privilege!"

"Yes yes yes, I’ve already made arrangements. Also, since we have to choose one person to be treated, this person…"

There was a glint in the Vice-chairman’s eyes.

This was a business opportunity.

It was a rare chance to witness a surgery done by Dr John.

The chairman’s expression didn’t change. "Follow what we agreed on beforehand."

This sort of chance would probably come only once in his entire career, so he had to grab this chance to make sure his name went down gloriously in this hospital’s history.

Dr John was on stage talking about his own experience, while the Vice-chairman had already walked out.

Archie had been waiting for a long time in his office.

"Chairman, you’re finally here!"

Archie was very smart and dropped the word ‘vice’. "How’s it? Can you confirm the candidate already?"

"This is under my care, so I’ll let you stand right in front, and it’s basically yours."

The Vice-chairman continued calmly, "After all, the one who will make the final decision is Dr John, and I can only give suggestions."

Archie immediately got excited when he heard this.

Under such circumstances, most people would go along with the host. Since the Vice-chairman was the one giving the suggestions, then that famous doctor was likely to listen to the Vice-chairman out of courtesy. After all, who went for the surgery didn’t make a difference to the doctor.

"Chairman, here’s a small token of my appreciation, I hope you can accept it." Archie immediately took a box of tea out. "It’s the amount we agreed on the last time."

But the Vice-chairman didn’t take it.

He glanced at the door to make sure it was shut, then smiled broadly, "Young Master Palmer, I’ll be honest with you. The people who came looking for me these few days have been driving me nuts."

"When I just came in this morning, the general manager of Flashpoint Logistics was already standing here waiting for me with two boxes of the same tea. Isn’t that putting me in a spot?"

Archie looked a little awkward.

He cursed the doctor for being a greedy old man in his heart, but he quickly put a smile back on his face.

"I was the rude one," Archie smiled and said, "This is just meant as a greeting."

A million dollar greeting!

"After everything is settled, I’ll send two more boxes of tea."

The Vice-chairman still didn’t take it. He didn’t even say anything. He only looked at the time and looked a little impatient.

Nobody took in payment only after the deed was done when it came to things like this.

Archie cursed in his heart. He pulled out a check book from his pocket and scribbled in an amount quickly. "I’ll give it to you now, so you don’t have any further questions, right?"

The Vice-chairman finally smiled. He took the check, checked it through carefully, then nodded.

"Don’t worry, I’ll only recommend you."

This old fogey only said he’d recommend but didn’t say he’d guarantee.

But to Archie, it was pretty much a done deal.

He thanked the doctor a few more times before quietly leaving the room. He walked out of the hospital just in time to see Steven bringing Joe and Anthony Stewart in.

"How is it?" Anthony Stewart immediately asked.

"No problem!" Archie patted his own chest. "I’ve made all the arrangements, so Young Master Stewart’s legs can definitely be healed!"

Anthony Stewart breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. Joe was excited too as he sat on his wheelchair.

He had enough of this wheelchair and had enough of being a cripple. He couldn’t even stand when he wanted to!

"Mr. Palmer, if you settle this matter well, I will tell my older brother."

With that statement from Anthony Stewart, Steven was more than happy to spend any amount of money.

"Come along, let’s go in. Young Master Stewart, don’t worry, the recovery time is very short, I heard this doctor has an amazing technique."

Meanwhile.

Dr John’s lecture was nearly done.

Very soon, he was going to pick a lucky patient to undergo surgery and be treated for a complicated problem.

There were tons of people outside the hall.

"Everyone!"

The Vice-chairman was the emcee, so he held the microphone and stood right in front and spoke passionately. "We’re so glad to have Dr John come to Greencliff First Hospital to give us these pointers. Your lecture was simply amazing!"

Everyone applauded.

Steven and the rest were queueing right in front, and were only about 30 feet from Dr John.

Joe’s eyes were filled with excitement and hope.

He wanted to stand up, recover quickly and kill off Ethan and family!

"This time, Dr John would like to choose a patient to perform surgery on and treat a complex and nearly impossible problem. This chance is really hard to come by!"

The Vice-chairman continued to exclaim, "We also believe that the doctors of Greencliff First Hospital can also grasp these incredible medical techniques after observing and learning, so that we can serve the patients better and bless the people!"

Another huge round of applause was heard.

Everyone below the stage was getting a little impatient.

The Vice-chairman walked over to Dr John and spoke to him in English. He pointed to Joe in the front row, saying that his condition was more suitable and could ensure that the surgery would be effective.

He was basically recommending Joe.

Joe got excited when he saw the Vice-chairman point to him. Anthony Stewart was assured, while Steven and his son were even more excited.

"Don’t worry, they’ve already made arrangements," Anthony Stewart comforted Joe.

Steven also nodded, and looked like he had everything control.

Three million!

He had freaking spent three million dollars only to get a recommendation. This foreign doctor was really arrogant, while this Vice-chairman was really greedy, but he had to give them whatever they asked for.

Little did they expect Dr John to shake his head and only glance once at Joe before looking towards the crowd.

Joe’s heart sank. Had he been rejected?

Anthony Stewart had an equally nasty face, while Steven turned violently to look at Archie.

"That’s not possible! I’ve already given him the money!" Archie hurriedly explained.

The Vice-chairman looked a little awkward as he continued to speak in English, "Dr John, do you have a more suitable candidate? This man in the front row is the candidate that best suits the conditions you set for the surgery."

John didn’t bother about him and looked around. When he saw someone push a wheelchair through the door, his eyes immediately lit up.

Before the Vice-chairman could react, John immediately gave a shout and started speaking Mandarin fluently.

He started running over while talking, until he reached Ethan and he excitedly said, "Hey! Why did you come only now? I’ve taken several months to prepare for this surgery, you know?"

If not for Ethan, there was no way John was coming to such a tiny city.

This place wasn’t befitting of his status and position!

When he heard John speak such fluent Mandarin, the Vice-chairman was stunned.

He was one of the best English speakers in the hospital, and that’s why he got the chance to be the emcee. But John actually understood everything.

So had John also understood all the things he had muttered to himself earlier?

When he thought about this, the Vice-chairman’s face paled. He was doomed this time. His reputation was going down the drain!

Everyone was also stunned. Nobody expected that this foreign doctor would speak such fluent Mandarin.

Joe, Steven and Archie in particular, had to watch as John decided against them and ran to Ethan…ETHAN!

"Hello Uncle, Auntie! This must be Mrs. Hunt, huh?"

John spoke so well, and Diane and her family were still stunned.

"He…Hello!"

William and April quickly greeted him back.

They didn’t think that this famous doctor was so familiar with Ethan. Was he really from that Beggars’ Sect? All of them were so surprised and couldn’t react.

"I’m good friends with Ethan. Back then we were both homeless and I nearly starved to death, but because Ethan shared half a bun with me…"

Diane felt her head go numb.

Were all these fellow homeless people all so incredible?

She didn’t notice John cheekily winking at Ethan. She was just wondering to herself where this Beggars’ Sect came from.

"Enough of your nonsense. My dad’s legs."

Ethan frowned and John became serious instantly.

"I’ve been preparing for this for the last two months and I’ve looked through all the necessary information in great detail. I’ve already decided on how to go about the treatment procedure, so there’s no issue."

Since he said there was no issue, then Ethan was good.

"When is the surgery?"

John turned to look at the Vice-chairman. "Is the operating theatre ready?"

He wasn’t polite about it at all.

"Yes it’s ready! It’s ready!"

The Vice-chairman didn’t dare to say anything else. Since John didn’t mention what happened earlier, he was testing him now.

"We can begin the surgery now," replied John.

"Wait!"

Anthony Stewart immediately shouted with a nasty expression as he glared at Ethan and the rest. "Who said you were going to get the surgery?"

"If you’re going to perform the surgery, then it will be on my nephew!"

He continued to snort coldly, "Otherwise everyone else can forget it!"

"That’s right!"

Archie stood up too and glared nastily at the Vice-chairman. He was furious.

Three million!

He had thrown three million dollars out only for him to recommend Joe, and his recommendation was actually rejected.

Never mind that they had been rejected. The doctor had gone to choose to treat William’s crippled legs. How could Archie let this happen?

He would rather anybody else have this chance than to let William have the chance to stand.

"Someone’s making a scene!"

The Vice-chairman reacted very quickly and was already prepared for this.

Within seconds, several security guards dashed in with Tasers and shields.

Steven and his party immediately looked nasty.

"How dare you come here and make a scene!" the Vice-chairman roared, then spoke with a righteous voice, "All who offend Dr John today will be part of the Medical Association’s blacklist and no doctor will treat him ever again!"

These words were a real threat!

Who could guarantee that they’d never fall ill?

It wasn’t so bad if you got a mild illness. You could just get any ordinary doctor. But what if it was a serious illness or even a possibly fatal illness?

All those famous doctors were all members of the Medical Association, would they really not save someone on the brink of death?

"We as doctors have a duty to save the dying and help the wounded, but we also have to protect our pride as a doctor!"

The Vice-chairman became even more agitated. "Dr John came to our country to conduct a lecture and forum so that we can advance in medical science. How could he tolerate all of you making a scene here?"

Anthony Stewart’s face paled.

He wanted to say that he was from the Stewart family, but he suddenly came to his senses when he saw that Ethan’s expression had turned cold.

He was in Greencliff!

He wasn’t in Fairbanks. He was in Ethan’s territory.

Since he had even dared to cripple Joe, then if he kicked up a fuss now, they would never leave this place in one piece.

Steven and Archie were even more furious.

Three million!

They had sent three million out and the deal fell through. On top of that, they were even being threatened now.

What logic was this? Why was there a person like that?!

"You…"

Archie was going crazy from anger. He pointed at the Vice-chairman and was about to start shouting.

"Throw them out!"

The Vice-chairman wasn’t going to give him that chance. He gave the order and all the security guards rushed over. The Tasers in their hands started buzzing and giving off sparks, so Archie had to swallow all his words.

He had given everything in cash so there wasn’t any evidence at all!

There was no point in saying anything!

"Save me! Save me! I want to be operated on!" Joe shouted loudly and was becoming hysterical. "I don’t want to sit on a wheelchair, I don’t want to sit on a wheelchair anymore!"

Nobody bothered about him. They carried him out and threw everyone out with him.

Greencliff First Hospital had prepared everything well, so John didn’t delay any further and got Ethan to send William to the operating theatre.

There were several bodyguards continuing to guard outside the operating theatre.

They weren’t going to let anyone disrupt the famous doctor’s surgery.

"Ethan, there won’t be any problems, right?" April was a little anxious and she clenched her fists tightly.

She wanted to go in to accompany William, but she was worried that she would affect John from performing his surgery.

"Don’t worry, since he said no problem, then there will be no problem," Ethan consoled April.

John was one of the top surgeons in the medical world, and there were so many top athletes around the world who had been restored by his hands.

William’s legs had been crippled for some years and was a bit more troublesome, but Ethan wasn’t worried.

He noticed that Diane was frowning and looked worried and anxious. He quietly consoled her, "Don’t worry, everything will be ok."

Diane looked up at Ethan and her heart immediately relaxed.

"Ok."

The surgery took more than five hours.

The Vice-chairman stood outside the operating theatre with them without leaving at all.

He could see clearly that Ethan was on very good terms with Dr John, so he had to treat them well.

The light of the operating theatre finally went out. John walked out and his forehead was covered with sweat.

"Dr John, how did it go?" April and Diane immediately got up and walked over as they asked anxiously.

"The surgery was very successful. The Achilles tendon has been reattached, and the nerves are still working. He should feel something after a month, then start recovering after two months. I’ll give him maximum 6 months to start walking."

This was a conservative estimate. "Of course, if you follow my physiotherapy instructions, it will take less time."

April and Diane burst into tears of joy. Their tears were unstoppable. William could finally stand again!

"Thank you doctor! Thank you doctor!"

April was going to fall to her knees soon.

John quickly helped her up. "Auntie, don’t do this, you’ll shave years off my life!"

She was amused that this fellow knew this sort of Chinese superstition.

"I…I don’t know how to thank you!" April’s eyes were all red from crying.

"Ethan is my brother, so you don’t have to be so formal!" John laughed. "I heard Auntie makes really good sweet vinegar pork ribs, so it’s enough if I get to try some."

April quickly nodded her head vigorously.

"Enough. So much nonsense."

Ethan glared at John. How dare he try to snatch food from him? John could dream on.

That was a dish his mother-in-law prepared specially for him, so there was no way Ethan was letting anyone else eat it.

Ethan was even scarier when he was protecting his food than when he was angry.

"Since everything is settled, you should go do whatever else you need to. What dinner do you want?"

Ethan had never been polite to John.

John could only shrug when he saw Ethan’s reaction.

He looked at Diane with a meaningful glance. He was surprised that there was actually a woman who managed to capture Ethan’s heart. That was amazing!

"I’ve already prepared Uncle’s recovery plan, so as long as you get a professional to supervise, then there shouldn’t be any problem."

He did have other things to do. In order to perform this surgery on William, he had pushed aside all his other engagements and specially took two months to prepare for the surgery.

In this world, the only person who could make him do something like that, was Ethan.

John really left after that and didn’t waste a single minute.

He was afraid that if he didn’t leave now, the food protecting Ethan wouldn’t let him leave in one good piece anymore!

William’s face was still a little pale when he emerged from the operating theatre. But he couldn’t hide the energy in his eyes.

He could feel that he was going to be able to stand up soon!

"Mr. Hunt, I’ve already prepared the VIP room and physiotherapy room. There will be a professional physiotherapist on hand to help with that part," the Vice-chairman smiled and tried to butter up to Ethan. "Please be rest assured, Dr John’s friends are our friends, so everything will be free of charge. Also, we will do our best to take good care of Chairman Palmer."

He was most afraid that Ethan would refuse his offer.

"Sure, I’ll have to trouble you then."

After thinking about it, Ethan nodded and added on, "I’ll make my own arrangements for security."

"Sure, sure, no problem!"

The Vice-Chairman was so excited.

If he could get close to Ethan, he would do anything for him. Every little thing counted as a favor.

Then at least he had a small chance of inviting Dr John back for another lecture.

He ran off to make arrangements.

"Ethan, thank you," William said very seriously.

He knew that all this was possible because of Ethan. In the operating theatre, there were more than ten experts in the field serving as John’s assistants.

Those were the best of Greencliff First Hospital!

But they were all like students in front of John, and it was clear how amazing Dr John was.

"No need to be so polite with your own son," Ethan laughed. "Your son-in-law is half a son too."

"You’re one full son," William said as he took in a deep breath.

Their family owed Ethan too much and he really didn’t know how to repay him.

William then glanced at Diane and actually sighed.

Diane’s face immediately reddened.

Was her father going to use her to repay Ethan?

April pushed William to his ward to rest. The two of them talked among themselves and Diane couldn’t tell what they were talking about.

Ethan left with Diane.

He gave Tom Foster a call so he could arrange for men to guard William round the clock.

"Ethan, I think I’m doomed." Diane lowered her head and finally spoke up after a long time in the car.

"Why?"

"I feel that…my parents are going to use me to repay you."

Diane had a completely helpless look on her face. "What am I going to do? Do I really have to marry you now?"

Ethan nearly puked blood.

"You’re not willing?" he asked on purpose.

"I’m not worthy of you," Diane replied him very seriously. "You’re too outstanding."

"Besides, all of you from this Beggars’ Sect are all too outstanding, so I shouldn’t be a burden to you."

Ethan suddenly pulled the brakes and parked the car at the roadside, giving Diane a shock.

"What are you doing?!" Diane asked in shock as she patted her own chest.

He shocked her by suddenly pulling the brakes. She hadn’t said whether she was willing or not, so why did he have such a huge reaction?

"I’m very rich," said Ethan.

"I know. I don’t think I can ever repay what I owe you," Diane sighed.

She had no idea how rich Ethan was, but it was definitely over 10 million.

"I still have many more friends."

"I know. Your fellow Beggars’ Sect disciples are all over the world, and every single one of you is a great talent."

Diane thought that she was pretty outstanding, but the more she knew Ethan, the more ordinary she felt.

April was right. She wasn’t worthy of Ethan, so she shouldn’t hold him back.

"But all this added together cannot be compared to you."

This sudden statement from Ethan stunned Diane.

"You are the most outstanding, not me," Ethan continued seriously. "I’ve always felt that I’m the one who’s not worthy of you, that’s why I’ve been working very hard, because I hope that one day I’ll earn the right to stand next to you."

Diane's eyes lost focus and her heart started beating quickly. She didn’t know what to say.

Was she that outstanding?

"Your kindheartedness is the most beautiful thing in this world."

Ethan took a deep breath. "Can I give you something?"

Diane nodded almost mechanically.

She owed Ethan too much to repay him anyway. Her parents were definitely giving her to him.

But Ethan didn’t take out anything valuable. He held out a crinkled sweet wrapper in his palm.

But to Ethan, this was the most precious thing in the world.

He took Diane’s hand and carefully put the sweet wrapper in her hand as he gently said, "After you eat this sweet, your life will become sweeter and sweeter."

It was as if lightning struck Diane’s brain. Diane felt that these words seemed very familiar.

This sweet wrapper…wasn’t this a sweet that her own family used to manufacture when she was very young?

She used to carry a few on herself all the time and gave it to those who had nothing to eat.

She wished that everyone could live well, and she wanted to give warmth and strength to everyone.

But this sweet wrapper design hadn’t been in production for more than a decade now, so why did Ethan have one of these?

"Diane, be my wife, ok?" Ethan asked in an extremely serious voice.

"You’re worthy of me, definitely worthy. From today onwards, you’re my wife. For real."

Diane was feeling giddy.

She didn’t know how she should react.

There was a blurry image in her mind that was slowly becoming clearer. This sweet wrapper. These words. And Ethan in front of her. He was too wonderful to her. He was equally indescribably wonderful to her parents.

There was nothing she could complain about him. Besides, they were already husband and wife since they were legally registered.

But she felt that she wasn’t worthy of Ethan and wanted to let him go, but he refused and insisted on being with her.

"Should…should I be agreeing to it?"

Ethan nodded.

Diane bit her lip. Her face was all red and her heart was about to leap out of her chest. "Then…then I’ll give it a shot? If we’re not suitable for each other or you have a better option, then just tell me, ok?"

Ethan shook his head. "You’re the option for me. In this life, you’re my only option."

Diane felt like her entire body was numb.

This was the first time she realized that it was so lovely to hear Ethan say such passionate words.

Diane couldn’t stand it anymore. She looked down, her face so red that even her neck was red too and she shyly nodded. She didn’t know what else she could do besides nod.

She decided that she could just give it a shot. Even if it was just courtship, she had to try before knowing if it would work out.

Ethan looked at her reaction and took a deep breath. Did Diane not know how mesmerizing she was?

The car started again.

"Ethan?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I take it back?"

"Nope."

Steven, Archie as well as Anthony Stewart and Joe Stewart were chased out of Greencliff First Hospital and were thoroughly embarrassed.

Anthony Stewart responded nastily no matter what Steven said.

He even left Steven with one last phrase: The Palmers could die for all he cared!

"Bastard! That bastard!" Steven cursed and was shaking from anger.

He turned to glare at Archie and Archie quickly tried to explain himself.

"Dad! I had already made the arrangements! 3 million! It’s that Vice-chairman who bloody tricked us!"

Steven slapped his son hard across the face. "You useless thing!"

His son couldn’t even get such a simple thing done properly.

He was even angrier that Dr John had chosen William over Joe, and now William could stand again.

He wasn’t going to allow something like that to happen.

"It was a pity I didn’t kill you in that car accident back then!" Steven fumed and his face was so threatening that Archie didn’t dare to say anything.

The Palmers had been taking hit after hit in recent days and they had suffered terrible losses.

At this rate, Greencliff was probably really going to be left with William’s Palmer Group.

Once William got to stand up again, then who would be able to block him?

Steven’s expression darkened and he started thinking about how to kill William again.

He couldn’t use Nicolas anymore, and William was protected by Ethan. There was no chance even if he tried.

But he couldn’t bear to watch William recover and watch him expand the new Palmer Group either.

"Archie, leave Greencliff right now and look for that man. Tell him that I’m agreeable to the conditions he offered the last time," Steven coldly said. "I just want one thing. Destroy William’s family!"

Archie shuddered. "Dad…"

"Go now!"

Steven’s face was nearly twisted. "In the Palmer family, I’m the boss and nobody can threaten me. Nobody!"

At the same time.

Anthony Stewart sat in the car and looked at Joe, whose eyes had lost its soul and looked like he had no more life left in him. Anthony Stewart didn’t know how to answer to his brother when they got home.

That famous doctor had already left, and looking at his relationship with Ethan, there was no way he would treat Joe’s legs.

"Uncle, am I never going to stand ever again?" Joe spoke in a low and sad voice as he couldn’t help but start crying.

"That’s not true. There are many famous doctors in the world, we’ll think of something."

Joe’s body started trembling. "I shouldn’t have incurred the wrath of that lunatic, I shouldn’t have…"

He started bawling.

He really regretted it now.

Anthony Stewart didn’t say anything.

"Uncle! Kill him! Kill him!" Joe suddenly looked up with a vicious glint in his eye. "Kill him to avenge me!"

"Don’t worry, the Stewarts will definitely make him pay for this!"

Nobody had ever dared to offend the Stewarts like this. This was a feud that could only be settled if either side died. Otherwise, if others knew that the Stewarts did nothing even though Joe had been crippled, they would be laughed at.

Anthony Stewart had already heard the news about how Greencliff’s illegal circle had been raided and was now left without anyone in charge.

All the bosses in Fairbanks weren’t going to let go of this profitable chance and they all had their eyes on this place already.

Especially after Eli Howard and Nicolas had both been beaten and thrown out of Greencliff. It made one feel an even stronger desire to conquer this territory.

"With just some arrangements, it won’t be difficult to kill off Ethan and family along the way."

Anthony Stewart had his own connections, so this sort of thing wasn’t difficult to him at all.

But how could he just kill them so easily?

He was going to make sure he slowly tortured that family. He was going to make William a cripple again, make sure Ethan really became a lunatic, and that mother and daughter were quite pretty…

Now that Greencliff’s illegal circle had suddenly been cleared out, the biggest obstacle to the advancement of the legal activity in Greencliff was gone.

Within just a couple of weeks, there were calls for investors again and again.

Previously Bill Hale and the others always made it difficult for the investors, so nobody was willing to invest in Greencliff.

There was always someone disrupting the business or creating trouble for the companies. They had to either fight to take control or be forced to sell and buy, so who would dare to do business in Greencliff?

But now this great obstacle was gone.

Besides that, any company that wanted to set up office in Greencliff could even get the protection of the illegal circle.

Tom Foster had already sent word out that he welcomed anybody to start a business in Greencliff and he would guarantee that nobody would create any sort of trouble for them.

Tom Foster’s name was extremely powerful now.

Even though most people didn’t know the details, they knew very well that Tom Foster called the shots in Greencliff’s il