At the Santos family residence, the main residence where Matthew, the old family head of the Santos family resided with his wife, there was a group of people that arrived.

Matthew was already standing outside his mansion, ready to welcome the guests. He was dressed officially, a black suit, a white shirt and a red tie.

A large portion of his hair had already turned gray, the proportion having increased as compared to just a week ago.

The wrinkles on his face and also increased, and his blue eyes were filled with fatigue. Even though he maintained a straight posture, if one looked closer, they would be able to tell that the old man was barely holding on.

Standing next to the old man was none other than Newton, Michael’s uncle. Despite the fact that he was young, strands of gray hair had already began appearing on his head.

Dark circles could be seen below his eyes, clearly, he had not slept for quite a while.

As a Mercedes Maybach came to a stop, the driver’s door swung open, as a man in a professional driver outfit stepped out. He went ahead and opened the backseat door of the car.

In the next moment, someone stepped out of the car, and the expressions of both Matthew and Newton shifted. There was tension faintly visible on their faces as they looked at the woman.

The woman looked to be in her early thirties. She had black hair that fell to her shoulders and a pair of brown eyes. Her features were soft, and her figure was slim and graceful.

She wore a light brown coat over a dark green sweater, paired with black pants and brown ankle boots, a simple outfit suited for the cool autumn morning. A small handbag hung elegantly from her shoulder.

Matthew approached first, a smile etched on his face. He extended his hand for a handshake as he said brightly, "Welcome, miss Rico."

The lady’s expression did not shift in the slightest. She extended her hand, shaking Matthew’s extended hand for just about a second before she let go.

Matthew was not the least bit displeased by her action. Instead, he moved to the side as he welcomed her into the mansion.

"Rachel, what are you waiting for? Are you waiting for me to invite you to get out of the car?" Margaret suddenly asked, catching Matthew and Nathan’s attention.

Neither of them had expected that Margaret would bring someone with her. Just the previous day, they had been informed that Margaret would be coming over.

This had caused quite some tension in the Santos family. They all understood what Margaret wanted to do during her visit.

It was just that they could not fulfill what she wanted, which was something that gave them tremendous pressure.

The issue regarding Margaret’s request was something that they were not sure on how they were supposed to handle it.

Overnight, the entire family held a meeting, and even those that were not around had to join the meeting through video calls.

Despite the effort that they put in to discuss better solutions, they did not find any.

If this was just a normal situation, it will not have caused so much panic within the Santos family. After all, the Santos family was the one behind the silent order syndicate.

The silent order syndicate was not a small force to begin with. But how many forces like them existed in this nation? And then, there was the blood reapers syndicate, which was continuously eyeing them, looking for a method of eliminating them.

If there was a chance for them to falter even for a moment, it could lead to devastating consequences.

The Rico family was quite big, with businesses spread to different industries. They held domination in a few, and could be considered monopolies in some small industries.

Additionally, they had some deep connections with people in the government and the military. Because of this, they had great influence as compared to the two syndicates.

If it was just about dealing with the Rico family, it would not have been much of a problem, considering that it was not as though there was a bit conflict between them.

The problem was that, if the Rico family was offended, they might decide to join up with the blood reapers syndicate, and that could be detrimental to the Santos family.

Of course, if they could join the Santos family, that would be better. The Santos family could use this chance to eliminate the blood reapers syndicate, which was causing them quite a lot of problems.

One might wonder, why was it that Margaret’s obsession was indulged by the Rico family. But, Margaret’s status within the Rico family was not low.

She was a genius. In terms of business acumen, she was among the top in the nation.

To understand this better, she had only just began taking over some of the family businesses when she developed an interest on Michael’s father, Zachary.

Because she wanted him to marry her, she decided to use the family, to make everything official. Unexpectedly, despite expressing her interest, Zachary did not agree to her proposal.

Eventually, he eloped with Michael’s mother. That was when Margaret was just in her early 20s, 22 years old to be exact.

For the past 18 years, the development of the Rico family could be visibly seen. The family’s net worth had increased by an astonishing 40%.

At a first glance, 40% did not seem to be a huge increase. But, that depended on that 40% being related to what amount.

Currently, Rico family’s estimated net worth was about $212 billion. This implied that before she began taking charge of the main businesses of the Rico family, the net worth of that family had only been a little over 150 billion dollars.

Within just 18 years, an increase of an astonishing over $60 billion was something that many could never match. This was especially with the fact that there were not many unexplored opportunities as of now.

It was because of her importance that the Rico family would do anything that she wanted. After all, for those big families, it was mainly about the benefit of the family, before anything else.

As for the issue regarding the marriage between Zachary and Margaret, it was expected that Zachary would marry into the Rico family. The Rico family would obviously not allow a genius like her to be taken by another family.

Back to the present, a few seconds after Margaret had called out, the other backseat door swung open. Then, a young lady emerged.

The young lady looked to be around 19, with long blonde hair that flowed down her back in soft waves. Her gray eyes were clear but had hints of reluctance in them.

Despite her young age, she had a voluptuous figure that gave her a mature appearance.

Unlike Margaret, she wore a fitted burgundy sweater dress that reached just above her knees, paired with black tights to keep out the cool autumn air.

A short cream-colored jacket rested over her shoulders, while a pair of knee-high brown boots completed her outfit.

As Matthew and Newton looked at her, they were left puzzled for a moment. But it did not take them long to understand who this lady was, and why she was here.

Immediately, they felt nervous. After all, they had not anticipated that Margaret would bring this lady along. Now, things had gotten much more complicated as compared to before.

Despite what the two of them were thinking, they tried as much as possible not to show it. Unfortunately for them, Margaret, who had a sharp vision, immediately noticed that something was off about the two of them.

The moment that she realized this, she frowned. Still, she did not say anything, as she gazed at Rachel, giving her a nod before she followed Matthew and Nathan into the mansion.

Rachel followed behind the three, but it was as if someone was forcing her. If someone looked at her, they would be able to clearly tell that she did not want to be here.

Her emotions at the moment were complex. After she lost her parents, it was Margaret who took her in, taking care of her as a mother would.

She really was pampered by Margaret, and anything that she wanted, she would get. That was especially considering Margaret special position within the Rico family.

But recently, things changed. She had just gotten a boyfriend, and went to inform Margaret about it. The moment that Margaret found out that she had a boyfriend, she became angry.

She immediately asked Rachel to break up with her boyfriend. If she did not accept, then Margaret would make sure that he would disappear from this world.

Left with no other choice, despite how reluctant she was, Rachel could only break up with her boyfriend. But of course, she developed some resentment towards Margaret.

It was only because she remembered the kindness and love that she had received from Margaret that she did not express much of her dissatisfaction.

Of course she had to ask for the reason why she was not allowed to date. And when she was told about the reason, she just could not believe it. She had never expected that Margaret would actually arrange for someone for her.

And today, she was supposed to meet that person. She did not even know how he looked, knew nothing about him, but she was asked to marry him, despite the fact that she already had someone that she loved.

A little while later, after everyone had settled in the living room, and drinks had been served, Margaret looked at Matthew and asked directly, "Where is he?"