?Chapter 1616:

Despite his exhaustive travels, he returned only to be greeted with punishment. Corrine couldn’t help butugh at his plight. “Well, go on, tell me what happened.”

“All my efforts for you, and here you are, enjoying my troubles rather than defending me!” Waldo shot her a disgruntled look. He leaned back, eyeing Carl on the sofa and lowering his voice. “Aren’t you curious about the talk between Evelyn and Carl at the engagement celebration that day?”

Carl’s sternmand cut him off. “Stand properly and reflect on yourself!”

Waldo straightened up immediately, his posture bing rigid. “Hurry up and get inside. This is my time for self-reflection, so don’t interrupt me.” Corrine remained quiet.

Inside, Carl sat on the sofa, perusing the guest list. Spotting Corrine, he set the list down and removed his sses. “I noticed you’ve included several families from Pree City on the guest list.”

Lnd handed Corrine a coffee.

She ced the cup aside and exined calmly, “With the recent governmental reorganization of city districts, there’s been some unrest in Pree City. They’re reluctant to involve Lyhaton’s major families in their affairs and have resorted to covert actions. This has caused the Seymour and Brooks families to miss out on several importantnd deals.”

A cryptic sparkle danced in Carl’s eyes. “And so?”

His voice was deep and steady, betraying no emotion, leaving his intentions unreadable.

Corrine spoke with measured calm, her tone steady and deliberate. “If you look back, the friction between Pree City and Lyhaton began with the earliest territorial splits. As the years passed, and the Ford family, along with the other three powerful families, began to rise, Pree City steadily declined. That is why they are so determined to keep the four major Lyhaton families out of their affairs.”

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The situation was simple enough—limited market, unlimited ambition. Greed knew no boundaries.

The major families in Pree City feared that if the Ford family began to dip into their city’s market, the Fords’ influence would soon stretch across it. Once that foothold was established, it would only be a matter of time before the bnce of power shifted—threatening everyone else’s status.

Even the smallest move from the Ford family, or any of Lyhaton’s major houses, into Pree City’s domain was met with immediate resistance—an unspoken pact to push them back.

“You are nning to expand into Pree City,” Carl said.

His tone was rxed, but the certainty behind his words left no room for denial.

Corrine held his gaze, her eyes direct and unwavering. She gave a solemn nod. “Decades ago, Pree City and Lyhaton were one. The split came only because they chose different paths of development. That was the reason the Ford family withdrew their business from Pree City in the first ce…”

Carl, settled deep into the sofa, observed her closely.

She spoke in the inest terms, yet ambition glimmered behind herposed expression.

It was written all over her—the quiet fire in her eyes, the barely veiled hunger. Her gaze practically dered: The Ford family would not stop at Lyhaton. They would dominate the entire nation.

That spark reminded Carl of someone—Kiley.

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