Empire of Shadows

"What a lavish dinner!" Madame Charles said, applying makeup in the car's mirror.

Today was the second day of the New Year, and the bustling high society social season had already begun.

Due to Mr. Charles' absence, Madame Charles needed to engage in more "Madame Socializing" to maintain their family's prominence in high society.

In reality, being a powerful and influential person comes with many worries, such as:

If you or your family don't appear in public during key holidays, people will suspect that your family is in trouble, leading to your absence when you're expected to be present.

But if you appear too often and too diligently, they'll suspect you're plotting something, becoming paranoid and suspicious.

Today, Madame Charles had been socializing all day.

In the morning, she attended a high-end fashion salon.

Some of the well-connected ladies from Goldenport City's high society gathered together, along with managers and artistic directors from various fashion brands.

They brought catalogs of their new spring products, promoting this year's fashion trends to the ladies.

They also extended invitations to this year's spring fashion shows, hoping someone would impulsively order an impractical outfit.

Their main task was to compliment each other and then evaluate the new product catalogs before finally concluding the event.

The entire fashion salon lasted two hours, after which she immediately returned home to change into a different outfit and accessories, followed by attending a "New Year's Lunch," also part of the Madame Socializing circuit.

Another group of well-connected or equally-positioned ladies gathered for a meal in a sunroom surrounded by blooming flowers.

The intense fragrance made her feel slightly nauseous.

Fortunately, the dishes weren't too greasy, and the wine was decent.

Women are always very complicated, especially regarding the question of "Are you one of my people?"

Fortunately, the "Flower Rendezvous" in the sunroom at noon had diminished her appetite.

At the tea party, she ate a little pastry, which was cloyingly sweet, but the coffee was good, helping to neutralize the sweetness.

The tea party started with serious topics like international affairs and the domestic situation.

But as they talked, the conversation shifted to how much length is needed to satisfy an elegant lady.

Madame Charles also offered some of her own views, believing that it wasn't just about length, but also about hardness and heat.

Of course, a youthful body and handsome appearance were also important factors.

These women, whose private lives were chaotic, became energized when discussing this topic.

Some of the ladies were swallowing saliva in thirst, and one could imagine they would need to release some pent-up desires after the tea party.

Madame Charles was also a bit thirsty, but she didn't have time to address the issue because she had to quickly return home to change clothes, accessories, and even her hairstyle, before attending a dinner party with her son.

She wanted to curse, but she enjoyed it nonetheless, because it was something every noblewoman needed to experience, and would experience again.

The dinner party was lavish, with dozens of dishes.

This time, it wasn't just a dinner for the ladies, but also for the gentlemen.

It wasn't convenient for Madame Charles to attend such an occasion alone, so she went with her son, Little Charles.

After a busy day, she was finally able to relax for a moment.

She put away her makeup mirror, took off her high heels, and rubbed her ankles, exhausted.

Little Charles, sitting across from her, was just nodding listlessly, still in the "playboy" stage of his life.

Mr. Charles' wealth and power had placed him at the finish line from birth.

Even if he did nothing and indulged in extravagance, the money would only increase.

He just needed to enjoy himself.

Clearly, these dinner parties held by his father's generation were not a good place to enjoy himself.

Everywhere he looked, there were annoying rules and etiquette.

He was fed up with these things, as well as the faces and names he could never remember.

He replied perfunctorily, "It's alright!"

Madame Charles glanced at her son, "I heard you've been spending a lot of time with the young lady from the… family recently."

Her expression was calm, lacking the curiosity and desire to investigate her son's new girlfriend.

"You can play around with her, but you can't marry her.

I don't want to repeat that, and I don't want to see that incident happen again, understand?"

This made Little Charles even more dissatisfied!

He glared at his mother and then turned to look out the window, lighting a cigarette.

He had once been deeply in love with a girl and desperately wanted to marry her, but Mr. Charles warned him that someone like him, who wasn't outstanding enough, had only one destiny: to produce more descendants for the Charles family.

Born into such a family, if you aren't outstanding enough, you can only become a breeding machine, whether male or female.

But even as a breeding machine, you can't just find anyone.

He had to follow the family's interests and choose to marry someone he had never met or didn't like, and then frantically create offspring.

A combination of interests was the only way to continuously strengthen the family.

A few years ago, he was still young.

He always felt he could defeat Mr. Charles and pursue his true love.

He got that girl pregnant.

He had planned to wait until the child was born before telling Mr. Charles and making it a fait accompli.

But he underestimated his father's "protection" of him.

Soon, Mr. Charles learned of the matter, and one day, when he went to see his girlfriend as usual, he saw her lying in a pool of blood.

Her stomach had been stabbed, and her throat had been slit.

At that moment, he felt no anger, only endless fear!

He began to tremble and then vomit!

He was taken home, his face pale, and thrown before Mr. Charles, who sat calmly in a chair, legs crossed, looking down at him, his own son.

"I told her to abort the child in her womb, but she said she would rather die than do it."

"I granted her wish."

He looked at Little Charles, "You are not outstanding enough in academics or family management.

You cannot bear that responsibility, so you must bear the other responsibility."

"Before you get married and have two or three children, I don't want to hear about any illegitimate children, understand?"

From that day on, Little Charles became even more…indulgent.

Anyway, his life had already been decided.

He didn't want to speak, but Madame Charles continued, "Don't blame your father.

I, your father, we all went through the same thing."

"When you grow older, you will understand this principle."

"You are our child, we wouldn't harm you!"

Little Charles said nothing, just continued to look at the scenery outside the window.

As they were about to pass an intersection, he suddenly narrowed his eyes.

The glaring light was so bright that he couldn't open his eyes, and he instinctively raised his arm to block the light source, then squinted to look.

By the time he saw what was happening, his mind was blank!

A truck crashed directly into the car, and the huge inertia pushed the car straight into the roadside.

Things happened so fast that the bodyguards in the escort vehicles didn't even have time to react.

Immediately afterward, several cars entered the intersection where the accident occurred at an extremely high speed.

The people reaching out of the car windows were holding submachine guns, and they quickly dealt with the bodyguards in the two escort vehicles in front and behind.

The whole process took less than thirty seconds.

Then, two people came to the car and pulled hard on the door, but it didn't open.

One of them raised the weapon in his hand and pulled the trigger on the car window, but the bullet only cracked the window, failing to penetrate it.

Only then did Mrs. Charles react, suddenly screaming in alarm. Young Charles, supporting his head, stared in bewildered shock at the cracked window, where new bullet holes continued to appear.

The driver, still able to maintain composure, turned to young Charles and said, "There's a box under your seat that you can pull out. There's a gun inside."

Young Charles immediately pulled open the box under the seat, and with clumsy haste, took out a handgun, his hands trembling as he aimed it at the car window.

Then, he pulled the trigger.

The driver shouted "F*ck!" and ducked down, covering his head. Accompanied by a 'piu' sound, followed by sparks, young Charles suddenly clutched his thigh, his face flushed red, and screamed in agony.

In such a confined space, firing at the curved bulletproof glass, you're really a genius!

Mrs. Charles, strangely calmed by her son's injury, turned to the driver. "He's been shot! You have to help him!"

The people outside were still trying to break the window. The driver crawled from the front to the back, tore open young Charles's trousers, and examined the wound, his expression grim.

"The wound is deep, and the bleeding is abnormal. I can't determine if any blood vessels have been torn. We need to get to a hospital immediately."

"Otherwise, he might die!"

Mrs. Charles stared blankly at the driver. After a moment, she glanced at her son, who was trying to awaken her maternal instincts with "Save me, Mom."

She stared blankly for a while, and finally gritted her teeth and nodded. "Open the door."

Only by opening the door could they get to the hospital.

But as soon as the door opened, the people outside could come in.

The driver sighed in relief. He pressed a button on the car door, opening a built-in vent so his voice could be heard outside. "Don't shoot! I'll open the door right away."

The people outside stopped shooting as expected. After waiting a few seconds, he slowly opened the door.

As expected of a luxury bulletproof car customized for over ten thousand, even after being hit by a truck, the door hadn't deformed to the point of being unopenable.

After a few kicks, it was easily kicked open.

The driver was the first to get out, raising his hands as he crawled out of the car. "Mr. Charles has been shot! He needs a doctor!"

The two people outside exchanged a confused look. They hadn't penetrated the glass?!

The driver awkwardly explained, "He fired a shot inside and hit himself."

The surrounding people couldn't help but laugh, but they still showed some respect for Mr. Charles.

He and his mother were dragged out of the car and stuffed into their own car, which quickly disappeared down the street.

The police cars, which had long since arrived at the scene, only now sounded their sirens as they entered the scene of the incident. They had arrived long ago.

If the Lance family's people hadn't succeeded in intercepting, they would have taken the initiative to intercept these people.

The reason?

That was too simple: speeding!

As for kidnapping?

Sorry, didn't see it!

The news of Mrs. Charles and young Charles's kidnapping quickly reached the Charles Manor, and Mr. Charles's butler immediately made the call.

The Speaker of the House relayed the matter.

After he finished speaking, Mr. Charles closed his eyes tightly. He took a deep breath, rubbed his face vigorously with both hands, and slowly exhaled.

Everyone's attention was focused on him.

After about four or five seconds, the hands covering his face suddenly clenched into fists and slammed heavily on the table. He glared fiercely at Mayor Williams, then looked at Lance.

Everyone knew that Mayor Williams and Lance must have done this. Only in this way could they sabotage this "coup."

"I... need to leave temporarily," he said, supporting himself as he stood up.

This was troublesome.

If his son died, he would most likely have no heir, and his siblings would not let this opportunity pass.

This way, his assets would have no inheritor and could be divided among them.

The larger the family, the more they are centered around interests, the more indifferent and detached they are to kinship. Their eyes are only on profit.

What was the purpose of so many years of hard work and struggle?

Just to enjoy himself?

If it was just to enjoy himself, he could have stopped long ago. The status and wealth he had acquired were enough for him to enjoy for a lifetime.

In the end, it was still for the sake of passing it down from generation to generation, so that people would always know that there was such a "talent" in the Charles family.

The Speaker of the House couldn't stop him on this matter and could only nod. He picked up his coat and walked outside while putting it on. After he went out, his cursing could still be heard outside.

The Speaker of the House couldn't help but glance at Lance and Mayor Williams, both with expressions that said, "It's nothing to do with me."

Without evidence, the Speaker of the House couldn't say anything. What if it really was a coincidence?

With Mr. Charles gone, the mediation would be difficult to continue, and he also realized that he most likely couldn't handle these people.

He tidied up the things on the table, shook his head, "It seems that we won't be able to reach an agreement on these matters tonight. We'll talk again after Mr. Charles's matter is resolved, which will give us some time to buffer and consider."

"Then..." he picked up the documents and stood up. Lance and Mayor Williams, as well as some other gentlemen sitting opposite, also stood up.

The Speaker of the House looked around at the two groups, put the documents into his briefcase, "That's it for now, I'll give you news later!"

After he finished speaking, he nodded and left with his briefcase, led by his secretary.

Mayor Williams also had a faint smile on his face. He showed a regretful expression and walked outside with Lance.

Just as they entered the elevator to return to their rooms, Mr. Charles didn't know where he came from and prepared to rush into the elevator, but was stopped.

He stood outside the elevator, looking at the bodyguards who had their hands inserted into their chest pockets, their expressions particularly unsightly.

Through these people, he looked at Mayor Williams, "Is this your plan?"

Mayor Williams shook his head, "I don't know what you're talking about. What 'my' and 'your'?"

Mr. Charles took a deep breath, "You've crossed the line, Williams."

Mayor Williams snorted lightly, "When you kidnapped Arthur, why didn't you say this to yourself?"

He didn't give Mr. Charles any further opportunity to communicate, "Alright, it's getting late, I need to rest."

"Instead of wasting time here talking to me about these meaningless words, why don't you think about how to get your family back, or have another one?"

A mocking smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and then he had people close the elevator.

The elevator slowly ascended. Mayor Williams faced the elevator door, "Do you think he'll go back?"

Lance curled his lips, "Can he not go back?"

A happy smile finally appeared on Mayor Williams's face, "This is the best news I've heard so far this year!"

With a 'ding' sound from the elevator door, the two walked out of the elevator, then said a few simple words and returned to their rooms.

On the other side, after the Speaker of the House returned to his house, he made a call to Congress. He reported the matter here in detail and added his own views.

"I believe that both parties refuse to mediate. Continuing to force them to sit down is meaningless."

"My idea is... let them do it. As long as the situation doesn't escalate, someone will win eventually."

"Moreover, even if they give up the conflict now, conflicts may break out in the future. If problems arise at that time, the destructiveness will be much greater than resolving it now."

"We need to consider the situation in wartime."

The senator on the phone thought for a while and didn't answer him immediately, "We'll discuss it. Your mediation work is temporarily suspended. I'll notify you when there's news."