Jacob exclaimed restlessly, “Two years is too long! That shrew still doesn’t know that Matilda is back and I can’t hide it for long. What I was thinking is to divorce her first before she knows about Matilda.”Then, he sighed and said in a somewhat depressing tone, “You also heard what the shrew said yesterday. She threatened that she wouldn’t let me off the hook so easily if I have another woman. I’m afraid that she’ll go after Matilda if she learns about her! Matilda is so gentle, dignified, and has such a mild temperament, she won’t be able to withstand the shrew’s attack.”Charlie said, “Dad, I really want to help you with this, but I’m sorry, my hands are tied. You’ll have to figure this out yourself.”Frankly, Charlie wanted to just wipe Elaine clean off the grid. He already had this idea when that woman stole his card, but he couldn’t bear seeing Claire so upset. Otherwise, Elaine would not live another day in this world!If he didn’t release Elaine, Jacob would have the mos
Charlie took out his phone and called Albert.Albert was the king of Aurous Hill’s underworld, after all. He must have a lot more informers than anyone in the city.Albert’s respectful voice sounded as soon as the call was answered. “Master Wade, what can I do for you?”Charlie said in a stern voice, “Last night in Aurous Hill Welfare Institute, there were 10 two to three-year-old children kidnapped by traffickers. You have been the king of the underworld in the city for a long time, help me find out if anyone releases any information about buying children or inquiring about children.”Many cases could be solved not because of the efficiency of the investigators or the high-tech investigative tools they were equipped with, but because the criminals left key clues in their respective groups.For example, when someone is killed, the police would start their investigation by identifying the corpse and proceeding from there, but people in the underworld would know who the victim’s ene
Charlie nodded and said, “Good! When you get anything, let me know as soon as possible!”Albert uttered respectfully, “Okay, Master Wade!”Charlie ended the call. He calmed himself down before turning back to Mrs. Lewis and Stephanie, and said, “Mrs. Lewis, Steph, don’t worry, I’ve asked my friends to ask around. He’s quite capable and he has a lot of informers, I’m sure he’ll have some answers soon.”Mrs. Lewis blurted out, her eyes red with tears, “Charlie, thank you so much!”Charlie quickly said, “Mrs. Lewis, what are you talking about? I grew up in this orphanage and the children here are like my own brothers and sisters. Now that they’re missing, I’ll definitely do all I can to get them back!”Stephanie uttered, choking and sobbing, “Charlie, you donated so much money yesterday. On our way back, Mrs. Lewis said that they’ll install a set of CCTVs around the orphanage thanks to your donation, who knows…”Stephanie couldn’t finish her sentence before she started crying again.
Isaac knew that Charlie must be angry about something when he heard his tone. He said without hesitation, “Okay, Mr. Wade, I’ll get it done right now!”Then, Isaac quickly asked, “Oh yes, Mr. Wade, I’ll pick you up by helicopter right now. Do I go directly to Aurous Welfare Institute?”Charlie didn’t want anyone to know about his capabilities, so he asked, “Is there any place suitable for helicopter landing near the orphanage?”Isaac was silent for a while before saying, “Yes, there is a building nearby called Golden Line Tower with a helicopter landing pad on the roof. You can go there now, I’ll set off now and will be there soon!”“Okay!” Charlie said, “Hurry!”“I’m on it, Mr. Wade!”After ending the call, Charlie turned to the ladies and said, “Mrs. Lewis, Steph, my friend may have some clues. I need to go to meet him now. Please wait patiently for my news and don’t worry.”Stephanie quickly said, “Charlie, let me go with you, please!”Charlie said, “Steph, you’d better stay
A lot of happy families had been completely broken because of the horrid human traffickers!The most hateful thing these traffickers did to the children was after the abduction. If they sold these children to normal families who wanted children, at least the children’s lives would not be threatened. But some of them would disable the child and used them as a tool for begging on the street. It would completely ruin the child’s life!Hence, everyone in the country was watching the news closely, genuinely concerned about the ten children.Meanwhile, Charlie, who was on the roof of Golden Line Tower, wanted to save the children as soon as possible! A helicopter roared loudly from afar, rapidly approaching him.At this moment, Albert sent him a text, saying, “Master Wade, Gibson and his family had left the province, but they didn’t dare to drive on the highway. They’re on the country road, so they have only driven less than 400 kilometers.”Charlie looked at the address and found that
At this moment, the seven adults inside the Iveco Daily van were not even aware that a dragnet was slowly approaching them and was about to catch them.In addition to the seven adults, there were ten children asleep in the van. They had not yet woken up after being drugged at midnight.There was a young man without his right arm in the front passenger seat. The man was Gibson Little.He was giggling like an excited boy and said to his brother who was behind the wheels, “Hey man, we’ll get a million dollars after the transaction!”His brother gaped in shock, “What?! Woah, are kids so expensive nowadays? Didn’t you say that they only cost tens of thousands of dollars per head?”Gibson said, “Yeah, but they were busted a while ago, remember? The Beggar Clan in Kelna Province are in shortage of children, hence the increased price.”His brother grinned delightfully, “We’re gonna be rich!”Gibson nodded excitedly and said, “After the transaction, let’s go for a vacation!”Inside Ivec
In desperation, his last resort was Gibson, whom he had gotten to know some time ago. He had wanted to borrow three hundred thousand from him, but he didn’t expect Gibson to be short of money too at this moment.Gibson was whining and complaining about the police’s great efforts in cracking down on human trafficking that had literally restricted his family’s trafficking operation.Gibson also told him that he was looking for children all over the place to sell to the south. The prices for the children were at an all-time high now and they could make a lot of money if they could find a resource.Thinking of the infants and toddlers laying around in the orphanage, Max immediately had an evil plan in his mind.He informed Gibson of the resources and suggested that they worked together to kidnap children from the orphanage.Gibson was worried about the resources. As soon as he knew the orphanage had plenty of what he wanted, he grinned ecstatically and started hatching a plan too.Ma
Several helicopters gathered on the outskirts of Aurous Hill and headed towards the border of the province at high speed, narrowing the distance with the target little by little.On the other hand, the white Iveco Daily was on the federal route, driving according to the speed limit. They often stumbled upon traffic congestion or red lights that limited their overall speed and traveling distance.Gibson chose the federal route instead of the highway because of one main reason, that was, the structure of the road itself.As the highway was a closed-circuit route, it would be hard for them to escape if the police marked them and set up roadblocks. However, federal routes were different. They were connected to various townships and counties, so it would be extremely hard for the police to pinpoint their location and to block their path.Besides, if they faced any problem, they could simply abandon the van and run away. Federal routes provided a lot of excellent hiding locations. They c
Before Charlie had arrived, Jacob was still furious that Matilda would soon marry Yolden.After Charlie came, however, he was instead worried that Matilda would send him a wedding invitation.Meanwhile, Matilda and Yolden were discussing their list of guests.They had different social circles, but most of their friends were Stateside, and they only had some distant relatives in this country.Still, they had colleagues in Aurous Hill. Matilda had classmates too, but she was out of touch with them aside from Jacob, whom she often met.Still, as they discussed who should be invited, Matilda first suggested, "Let's go through everyone. First, our Stateside friends… I don't think we should tell them at all since it's a long journey, and inviting them would seem tactless. What do you think?"Yolden nodded, smiling, "I was just thinking the same thing. We're close with our Stateside friends and always keep in touch, but inviting them to our wedding might be a stretch. We'd just hit a wa
With that being said, once Matilda was thrown in the mix, Elaine would suddenly become an African honey badger, with every bit of black air force energy that was implied.As such, if Jacob had managed to be brave and take that one step back then, Charlie would have tried to help, stopping Elaine from harassing Jacob or Matilda.However, the reality was that Jacob had to bungle the chance when Matilda offered it to him.That was why the best option was for Jacob to understand that he couldn't get together with Matilda now so that he would feel much better.And since he had always been a coward, Charlie's slight intimidation cleared his head considerably.He then sighed, "Well, that's just life—you don't always get what you want, and you should never try to claim what you couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to choose Matilda over thirty years ago, so not being together now only makes sense.""Now, I can only pray that Elaine never finds out… or at least that things don't get out of h
Then, Jacob quickly pressed, "Dear boy, maybe you could stay a few days instead of taking more jobs. At least you could be there to stop my wife if she snaps.""Sure," Charlie chuckled, cheerfully agreeing to it. "Don't worry—Claire's returning in a couple of days too, and you'll be fine with us around. You're cheating in your mind, anyway…"Pausing, he then added a reminder, "But if she's really furious, just bear with her beatings and clawings. Live and let live, as they say."That left Jacob sulking, however. "What the hell! If I knew this would happen, I should have just taken her to court and divorced her openly! That way, I'd definitely make things work with Matilda. Yolden wouldn't even stand a chance!"Charlie had to keep a straight face. "Now, you're not quite right there—don't you know what would happen to your wife if you took this to court?"Jacob snorted coolly. "Elaine would just snap at me, hit me, and make sure I don't get a cent in the divorce. That's no big deal—
"Fuck!" When Jacob heard what Charlie said, he was horrified. He nervously asked, "Matilda isn't going to come to our house to deliver the invitation, is she? If Elaine finds out that I've been hiding Matilda's return from her all this time, I'll be so dead!" Charlie, having long seen through Jacob, knew he would never escape the shadow and claws of Elaine. He shook his head and said, "Whether they'll invite you, I have no way of knowing. If you're worried, you can tell Matilda that you don't want to be invited to her wedding and that you don't want to go." Jacob sighed. "That's just a temporary solution. Even if she doesn't know now, she'll probably find out sooner or later. A lot of our mutual friends already know about Matilda's return. You went to the gathering too. But those friends are not really in contact with Elaine, so she hasn't found out yet." Charlie smiled and said, "Matilda's return to the country was at a pretty sensitive time. If I'm not mistaken, she came b
Jacob then realized that Charlie was also driving a Rolls-Royce, and it was a more expensive Phantom. Surprised, he asked, "Charlie, where did you get this car?" Marilyn had prepared the car for Charlie when he left Scarlet Pinnacle Manor. He had driven it to Thompson First, so he had decided to use it today. Charlie replied, "A client lent it to me. You sounded urgent, so I drove it over." Then, he added, "You're something else. You're crying like a baby yet you're still in the mood to ask about the car. What's going on? Your friend said you'd cried twice already?" "That bloody Simon!" Hearing this, Jacob became furious and cursed, "He still doesn't have the slightest clue! He's such a damned fool! The more I try to avoid him, the more he keeps blabbering on and on. Argh, he's so stupid!" Charlie asked, "What exactly is bothering you?" Jacob's face instantly turned dejected, and with a long sigh, he choked up and said, "Charlie— Matilda— She's getting married—" "Gettin
Things were a little different and unique in the United States, though. Westerners tended to approach marriage with greater caution. Many couples stayed together for years, had several children, and yet remained as boyfriend and girlfriend. Being together, having children, and raising them jointly didn't necessarily mean they would get married. In fact, it was not uncommon for some to walk down the aisle only after having multiple kids. Because of this environment, elderly couples in the West often limited their relationships to dating, and at most, cohabitation. Very few progressed to the stage of marriage. However, Yolden, like a young man in the throes of passionate love, had invited her on a trip, secretly prepared a proposal ceremony by the seaside, and gotten down on one knee with a ring to propose. These actions deeply moved Matilda and, at the same time, gave her an unprecedented sense of security. Now, Yolden had moved their wedding up a big step and set the date just on
Hearing Jacob's tone, Charlie could tell that Jacob must have already learned about Matilda's plans to marry Yolden. So, Charlie said, "I'm just around the corner. I'll head over now, and we can meet at the gate." Choking up, Jacob replied, "Alright, I won't drive then. I'll wait for you at the gate. Hurry!" "Okay," Charlie agreed, but after hanging up, he deliberately waited for a few minutes. It was because Yolden had just left moments ago to pick up Matilda at Senior University. If Charlie had gone there right now, all four of them could have run into each other at the gate, which would make things even more awkward. Charlie wasn't worried about feeling awkward himself—he was more concerned about Jacob being further hurt. After intentionally waiting a bit, Charlie finally drove to the university. Just as Charlie drove toward Senior University, Matilda was waiting for Yolden by the roadside at the entrance of Senior University. At this moment, Jacob stumbled out of th
Charlie asked, "There are too many new domestic energy brands now. Do you think they still have a shot in vehicle manufacturing?" "Of course," Yolden affirmed. "There are indeed many new energy brands now, and many of them are struggling on the edge of survival. A lot of them have already disappeared, but the automotive market is so vast, and new energy vehicles only account for a small portion of it, which proves that the future of new energy still has great potential. Now, if the focus is only on competing with other new energy brands, the scale is indeed a bit small. The scope should be broadened to compete with traditional gasoline vehicle manufacturers. If you can cut Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai's global sales in half, that would truly be a giant." Yolden paused for a moment, almost as if remembering something, and then said, "Actually, you could consider researching this field. You don't lack money or resources, and with Ito-Schulz Ocean Shipping Group as your logistics channe
When Jacob came to his senses, he was already in tears. The student presumed he was unwell and asked, "Mr. Wilson, do you want me to call your wife to pick you up?" Elaine's sarcastic face immediately popped up in his mind, and he trembled with fear. He quickly wiped away his tears and stammered, "D-don't bother... I... I just got something in my eyes..." The student obviously didn't believe him and asked worriedly, "Why don't you call your wife? Or I'll call a cab for you." "No, no." Jacob waved his hand and said, "I'll call my son-in-law to pick me up. He has just returned to Aurous Hill, so it shouldn't be a problem." After that, he quickly took out his phone and called Charlie. Just a few minutes ago, Charlie had left the cafe and was about to walk Yolden to his car. When he saw Yolden walking straight toward a domestic new energy vehicle, he asked curiously, "I don't think you were driving this model before, were you?" "I just bought it," Yolden replied with a smil