Adrian Cross left the hotel.
The class reunion had originally been his opportunity to get closer to Claire Bennett.
He had deliberately organized the gathering to strengthen their relationship, hoping to make a good impression on her.
Never in his wildest dreams had he expected Ethan to steal the spotlight from the very beginning, only for things to end with an unexpected disaster involving his own business.
Now Adrian’s mind was entirely occupied by the Azure Bay project.
He wanted nothing more than to track down the scammers hiding behind that shell company and make them pay for what they had done.
In his current state, how could he possibly remain in the mood to attend a class reunion?
He ordered his men to carry the badly beaten Frank Doyle out of the room and hurried away with his remaining subordinates.
Once Adrian was gone, the private room gradually fell quiet.
“All right, everyone.
That was just a little interruption.
Please, carry on eating, drinking, and enjoying yourselves.
Don’t let it spoil the evening.”
Ethan spoke in a relaxed tone, neither raising his voice nor making a fuss.
Yet after everything that had happened that evening, his reputation among his former classmates had undergone a dramatic transformation.
With just a few casual words, he had helped Claire uncover a potentially devastating problem threatening her family’s business.
He had also exposed Frank’s corruption and driven Adrian away in a fit of rage.
In the eyes of his classmates, Ethan was no longer merely an old friend who had suddenly become wealthy.
He was practically an all-knowing master!
“Exactly!
Let’s keep eating and drinking!
Ethan’s still here, so everyone should make the most of this opportunity!”
“Ethan, what’s your WhatsApp?
Let me add you!
Don’t look down on us just because we’re not as rich as you!”
“Forget that!
Ethan, you’re a fortune-telling genius now.
My wife’s due in two months.
Can you help me choose a name for our son?”
“Ethan, read my fortune next!”
The atmosphere quickly became lively again, with everyone eagerly crowding around Ethan.
He didn’t mind helping his classmates with their questions.
He even continued sharing his freshly invented stories about how he’d supposedly learned fortune-telling as a child.
After all, they hadn’t seen one another in years.
Who knew when they’d have another chance to gather like this?
Ethan was happy to enjoy the reunion, joke around, boast a little, and relive some memories from their college days.
By eleven that night, not a single classmate had left early.
Even Claire Bennett had voluntarily stayed behind.
She kept asking Ethan questions, trying to figure out how he’d uncovered the contract’s hidden loopholes and what principles supposedly lay behind his extraordinary fortune-telling.
Unfortunately for her, Ethan had no intention of revealing the truth.
“Sir, here’s your bill.”
A waiter approached and handed Ethan the check.
“Wait, why is there another bill?
Wasn’t Adrian Cross paying for tonight?”
The classmate who asked the question had become noticeably more respectful when referring to Adrian.
After witnessing what had happened earlier, nobody was eager to treat the Cross heir casually anymore.
“Mr.
Cross settled the original bill before leaving,” the waiter explained politely.
“However, several additional bottles of red wine and some extra dishes were ordered afterward.
This is the remaining balance.”
“That’s fine.
I’ll take care of it.”
Ethan took out his bank card without hesitation.
“As long as everyone had a good time, that’s what matters.”
He paid the bill, which came to a staggering $540,000.
When the amount was announced, the classmates couldn’t help sighing inwardly.
The gap between people really was enormous.
Ethan had just casually paid more than half a million dollars for one evening’s dinner.
Meanwhile, most of them would have struggled to afford even a tenth of that amount.
The difference was almost enough to make them question whether they were living in the same world.
After settling the bill, everyone left the private room and headed downstairs together, laughing and chatting as they went.
Soon, the group reached the entrance of the Olles Hotel.
“Well, well, Ethan!
Look who’s living the high life!”
A harsh voice suddenly rang out.
“You stole my money, and now you’re spending it at the Olles Hotel!”
Several vans parked nearby slid open, and a crowd of men poured out.
Each carried a club, and they immediately surrounded Ethan and his classmates without offering a word of explanation.
At the head of the group stood a middle-aged man wearing a silver suit and gold-rimmed glasses.
His hair was carefully combed, and his face carried a distinctly predatory expression.
It was Marcus Vale, Ethan’s former boss, the man everyone privately called the Vampire.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Don’t you dare touch Ethan!”
“Get near him, and I’ll make you regret it!”
Seeing the crowd of armed men closing in around Ethan, his classmates immediately stepped forward to defend him.
Although most of them weren’t fighters, none seemed willing to stand by while their former classmate was threatened.
Even Claire was preparing to intervene.
Ethan had just helped the Bennett family avoid a potentially disastrous business deal.
Compared with that, a few glasses of wine and a simple thank-you hardly seemed sufficient.
A group of hotel security guards also hurried over.
“Sir, this is the Olles Hotel.
If you’re planning to cause trouble here, I suggest you think carefully about the consequences!”
The Olles Hotel charged a fortune for its services and catered to the wealthy and influential.
Naturally, its security arrangements were more than adequate to handle troublemakers.
“It’s fine,” Ethan said, raising a hand to stop his classmates from advancing.
“These people are old acquaintances of mine.
They won’t cause any trouble.”
He then turned toward Marcus with a cheerful smile.
“Isn’t that right, Bloodsucker?”
The moment Ethan used the nickname, several classmates couldn’t help laughing.
Marcus’s face darkened instantly.
“What the hell did you just call me?
Say that again, and I’ll rip your mouth open!”
He took a threatening step forward.
“Enough nonsense!
Give me back the money you stole from me!
Don’t think I don’t know what happened.
You hacked into my computer and transferred all the money away, didn’t you?
You’re deliberately provoking me, and now you think you can get away with it?
You’re tired of living!”
“Easy, easy, Bloodsucker.
There’s no need to get so worked up.”
Ethan curled his lip.
“I don’t know where your money went.
But I’ve just made a little prediction, and I’ve discovered something rather unfortunate about your situation.”
“What the hell are you planning now?”
Marcus’s expression grew vicious.
“I’m warning you.
If you don’t return my money, I’ll take your life!
You’d better understand who you’re dealing with.
If you provoke someone you shouldn’t, you’ll end up dead!”
“Whether I’m going to end up dead isn’t something I’ve predicted,” Ethan replied calmly.
“But I have a feeling you’re about to encounter a disaster of your own.”
He raised a finger and pointed toward one of the thugs standing behind Marcus.
“You there.
In ten seconds, you’re going to explode.”
The man blinked in confusion.
Ethan began counting.
“Ten.”
“Nine.”
“Eight.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” the thug cursed.
“Explode?
Your mother should explode!”
Marcus joined in, hurling insults at Ethan as though the prediction were nothing more than another pathetic attempt to frighten them.
Behind Ethan, however, several classmates quietly began retreating.
They had already witnessed too many unbelievable things that evening to dismiss his words outright.
The hotel security guards exchanged uncertain glances, wondering what Ethan was talking about.
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
BANG!
A deafening explosion suddenly tore through the air.
The thug who had been cursing Ethan a moment earlier screamed as a violent burst of fire erupted from his pocket.
His trousers were torn apart, and blood sprayed across the ground as he clutched his badly injured thigh and collapsed.
“AAAGH!”
He writhed on the pavement, releasing agonized screams that echoed through the hotel entrance.
Everyone froze.
The surrounding thugs recoiled in terror, stumbling backward as they stared at their fallen companion.
Their faces had gone pale, their eyes wide with shock and disbelief.
Just a moment earlier, they had been laughing at Ethan’s prediction.
Now, they were staring at the horrifying result.
He had counted down to the exact second, and the explosion had happened precisely when he said it would.
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