The beach went silent.Kyle and Charles stared each other down, neither willing to give an inch.The tension between them was almost tangible.No one had expected the Lee brothers to step in just when Joseph appeared to be cornered.The confrontation had suddenly become far more serious.Joseph was more confused than anyone.The night before, he had found several people drifting near the shore and pulled them from the water. They were still breathing, so he had helped them. That was all.Bruce had been bleeding badly, so Joseph had stopped the bleeding and bandaged his wound.He had not even known their names at the time, much less that they came from an influential family.Only now did Joseph understand why Alice had suggested feeding the other survivors.Nearly everyone on the ship had come from a powerful background.A single act of kindness could earn an unexpected ally.“So you have no intention of letting me reclaim my property?”The corner of Charles’s mouth twitched.He was no

It took only a day for the survivors to accept the grim reality of their situation.Every phone and electronic device they recovered had been ruined by seawater. Even if any of them still worked, there was no signal.For now, they had no choice but to survive on the island and wait for rescue.Joseph gathered the people who had chosen to follow him.“If you’re staying with me, you’re going to work.”His tone left no room for argument.“No one gets to sit around and live off everyone else.”After everything that had happened that morning, Joseph had earned a measure of authority among the survivors. Even those unused to taking orders did not immediately object.He divided them into two groups and began assigning tasks.The island was covered in thick vegetation, but food meant nothing without fresh water. Seawater would only dehydrate them faster.Fortunately, after searching inland, Joseph discovered a small waterfall not far from the cave.For the moment, their drinking-water problem

“Poverty breeds pettiness!” Charles declared. “A lowborn man can only conceive of such pathetic methods of revenge.”“He has taken advantage of your desperate situation and gambled with your lives. What makes it even more infuriating is that you trusted him so completely!”Charles now appeared utterly outraged on their behalf.Anyone watching might have thought he had been the one forced to suffer, rather than the man who had tormented them earlier.Inside, however, Charles was beside himself with delight.Go on. Make a scene.This was exactly what he wanted.He wanted to watch Joseph’s camp descend into chaos. He wanted to see Joseph rejected and scorned by everyone around him.Once Joseph had been abandoned by all, Charles’s moment would finally arrive.Joseph had been so adept at winning people over earlier. Charles could not wait to see how he intended to escape this predicament.He would make sure everyone remembered that no one who crossed Charles Martin ever came to a good end.

“Fuck!”Joseph had to admit that Charles had surprised him this time. A man did not reach Charles’s position without possessing a certain degree of cunning.But the moment Charles turned his malice on Joseph’s wife, Joseph could no longer tolerate it.“So you’ve finally crawled out from behind the women?”“Done hiding?”Charles had been waiting for this.“Or have you finally realized there’s nowhere left to hide, so you’ve come out to offer everyone an explanation?”“Fuck you!”Joseph’s immediate response left Charles dumbfounded.This was nothing like the reaction he had expected.It was not only Charles. Even the corners of Kyle’s mouth twitched.Joseph truly was unlike anyone else.Charles’s face darkened.“Have you resorted to insults because you know you have no excuse?”“You’re damn right I’m insulting you!”“What kind of man bullies a woman?”Joseph’s temper flared.“Do I need a reason or an excuse to curse someone like you?”“Do you expect me to list every filthy thing you’ve

Before Kyle could ask, one of Charles’s followers suddenly clutched his stomach.“My stomach hurts!”“Mine too...”“I need to use the bathroom...”The first cry was immediately followed by several more. One after another, people doubled over, clutching their stomachs as their faces contorted in agony.The fruit slipped from their hands and fell to the ground.“What the hell is happening?”Charles’s expression changed as more and more people around him succumbed to the same symptoms.“Don’t panic! Everyone stay calm!”Charles himself was already growing nervous.Everything on the island was unfamiliar to them.How could he remain calm when so many people suddenly fell ill at once?But before Charles had time to make sense of the situation, his own face twisted in pain.It felt as though a blender had come alive inside his abdomen, churning his intestines into knots.Then his entire body clenched.“Mr. Martin, the toilet paper...”A woman staggered over to him and reached for the packet