Chapter 8

After Samantha spoke, everyone burst out in laughter. “You came to Alyanz to reason? What’s going on in that head of yours?” “The business world is like a battlefield. If you lose, you lose. If you can’t deal with that, don’t run a company.” The crowd jeered. Celine looked at Samantha with a smug look, taunting her. Everyone there wanted to work with her, so they were willing to do anything to get into her good books. Samantha knew that there was no way she could win over them, but she wanted the truth from Celine. She said, “Celine, you forced me to sign the agreement to give away my company. I’m here to tell you that I’ll let it slide if you give Bailar back to me. We won’t have to go to court over it.” “Hahaha!” Celine covered her mouth and laughed so hard that her tears started falling. Everyone looked at Samantha as if she were a joke. Celine smiled and said, “Samantha, you’re going to sue me? With what? Do you think you’ll win? I’m going to tell you the truth. Yes, I played you. To me, it was like playing with a dog.” Celine arrogantly looked down on Samantha. Samantha took a deep breath. That was the most arrogant thing she had ever heard. But before she could say anything, Celine continued. “Listen, Samantha, even if you tell the legate about this, it won’t help because he’s on my side.” When Celine heard the news that the legate would be visiting, she never expected that she was so well-known that even he would want to meet her. She reckoned herself to be a big shott in the city too. Right after she said those words, a voice came from outside, “Celine Blanche, those are some big words. Do you think the legate would side with trash like you?” Everyone turned their heads. Daniel, who was in his military uniform, had brought with him twenty soldiers in full gear. The crowd let out an audible gasp. “It’s General Summers.” “If he’s here, the legate is probably here too.” Everyone in Swallowston knew who this man was. The entire place quieted down following his appearance. When they saw Daniel, Samantha, Rue, and Adaline were surprised. He really showed up? Samantha remembered that Adrian said Daniel would show up, so she looked curiously at Adrian and realized that he was just calmly standing there. Something was not right here. *** Daniel’s men quickly took over the hall. Celine had not expected him to suddenly show up and was afraid that he had overheard what she said. “General Summers, you…you’re here?” Celine said awkwardly as she watched him get closer. Daniel suddenly slapped her and she fell to the floor. Her face burned and her skin broke. “Who do you think you are? How dare you claim the legate is on your side,” Daniel admonished her. Everyone was shocked and did not dare move a muscle. Even Samantha took a few steps back out of shock, but Daniel prevented her from leaving. Rue and Adaline were shocked too. They thought that Daniel had been too violent by slapping Celine so hard. Celine was so stunned that she started crying. She got to her feet and held her face. “G-General Summers, I’m sorry for saying that. I’ll apologize to the legate!” Celine was so ashamed. She would not have said those words if she knew Daniel would show up. “You don’t deserve anything,” Daniel said icily as he glared at her. “I…” Celine was dumbfounded and the arrogance and smugness she had when she was speaking to Samantha disappeared. Now, she was just ashamed and fearful. She never imagined that Daniel would have such a temper. Daniel turned around and looked at the crowd. “Everyone, the legate is standing among us and is watching all of this unfold.” When the crowd heard this, they gasped. Celine was anxious. If the legate was here, that meant he had seen everything that she had done. Her soul left her body. Everyone present was excited. “What? The legate is here?” “Where? Who is he?” “Where is he?” Nobody had met the legate before, so they started looking around. When Samantha heard this, her mind started spinning. Daniel said that the legate was here, but she knew everyone there, and none of them was the legate. She then recalled what Adrian had said. No… Impossible! She snapped out of it and looked toward Daniel who said, “There’s no need to look. He doesn’t want to announce who he is, but he saw everything that happened. “He has told me to convey a message. If there’s anything you would like to bring up, do it, and he will listen.” After he said that, everyone looked around. No one spoke and no one moved. Daniel spoke again, “Are you not brave enough? It’s not every day that the legate shows up, so if you have anything to say, now would be the time.” Celine started shaking as she looked toward Samantha and tried to warn her. As long as Samantha kept her mouth shut, everything would be fine. Samantha knew what Celine was trying to say, so she said, “General Summers, Celine Blanche threatened me with the safety of my family so I would give my company, the house of Bailar, to her. I’ve reported this to the authorities many times, but they all sided with her. I hope the legate will help me seek justice.” Celine panicked. “General, she’s lying!” Right after that, Daniel slapped her again. “Shut your mouth. You have no say in this.” “Ms. Samantha, what do you think will be a satisfactory solution to this? The legate will follow your instructions.” “I just want my company back,” Samantha replied. Adaline and Rue were nervous because they did not know if the legate would help. Daniel was there to solve Samantha’s problem. He looked toward Adrian who nodded back at him. After getting approval, Daniel said, “I’ve gotten a reply from the legate. From today onwards, the Alyanz Chamber of Commerce will be disbanded. All groups and companies under Celine Blanche will be temporarily suspended.” “Take her away for further investigation.”