The staff member nced down and saw the amount on the check. Twenty million! That was a generous sum. They were probably here to beg the Lord to take in some unforgivable criminal.


    "Please wait a moment."


    He made a call, and after a brief exchange, another group of armed staff approached them, their faces expressionless. "This way, please."


    "What are you doing?" Felton''s hackles rose as he saw one of them approaching with a blindfold.


    If only he''d brought a gun, he would have lit them up. What was this nonsense? How dare these dogs try toy a hand on Ms. Payne!


    "These are the rules of Liberty Ind!" the staff member said coldly.


    Juniper was annoyed too. What a dump of an ind, and yet it had so many ridiculous rules. If she weren''t in a position where she had to bow to their authority, she would have torn the whole ce down.


    "Give it to me," Shanley said, taking the blindfold and coaxing Juniper gently. "I''ll put it on for you."


    Juniper closed her eyes in frustration, letting him handle it.


    Once they were all blindfolded, Shanley took Juniper''s hand, and they were guided into a ck car that drove towards the Lord''s residence.


    The Lord''s domain was a romantic, pure-white Gothic-style castle, standing tall in the middle of the water. Its architecture was ethereal yet powerful, with exquisitely carved decorations. Dazzling white stained-ss windows shimmered in the sunlight, casting a brilliant glow.


    Beside the main entrance, colorful flowers bloomed amidst lush green grass, adding a touch of life to the otherwise silent and somber castle.


    The west wing served as the office area. On the top floor, which soared into the clouds, floor-to-ceiling ss walls offered a panoramic view of the entire ind. One wall of the room was covered with monitors disying surveince feeds from every corner of the ind.


    The slender silhouette of a figure was cast on the floor from the gray sofa. The Lord of the ind sat with his legs crossed, his gaze fixed intently on the figures in the monitor.


    Era City? Shanley, the head of the Schwartz Group? Liberty Ind had never had any dealings with the Schwartz family. What was he doing here?


    As he pondered, a knock came at the door, and a subordinate entered. "Sir, Mr. Schwartz has arrived."


    "Mm," the Lord grunted, extinguishing his cigarette. He slowly rose to his feet and headed for the door.


    In the reception room, Juniper sat on the sofa, her eyes glued to the snacks on the table. She wanted to try one, but Shanley had forbidden it, saying they might be poisoned.


    As if she wouldn''t know if they were poisoned or not. She had snuck some thest


    time she was on Liberty Ind to steal the herbs.


    When Shanley wasn''t looking,


    Juniper snatched a small cookie and popped it into her mouth, then


    casually strolled over to his side


    They both looked outside. From this angle, they had a perfect view of the castle''s garden.


    Though calling it a garden wasn''t entirely urate. It was split into two parts: the left was for flowers, while the right was for growing vegetables and some medicinal herbs.


    Juniper looked closely and noticed a fair amount oftro growing in the vegetable patch. What a coincidence!


    "Boss, they''ve gone to get the Lord," Felton reported respectfully.


    "I know." Shanley pulled Juniper back to the sofa and sat down, speaking softly.


    "Juniper, do you think the Lord will recognize us?"


    So many years had passed. He thought the chances were slim.


    "I was still growing then, so he probably won''t remember me..."


    Juniper popped another cookie into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "But you might be a different story. After all—"


    She raised an eyebrow, leaned in, and said deliberately, "You bombarded him with cannons. Anyone would remember that vividly, don''t you think?"


    Shanley was speechless.