At this moment, there was a man’s voice from the other end of the line. He was panting heavily while saying in a deliberately low voice, “Hey, quit the nonsense, will you? Just give him the money! Don’t let him ruin the moment!”Joey suddenly became alert and asked, “Janice, why is there a man’s voice over there? Who are you with?”“He’s my cousin! Didn’t I tell you that I injured my waist and am doing the physiotherapy in bed? I can’t get into the right posture, that’s why I’ve let him come and help me.”Joey mumbled an ‘Oh’, remembering that she was doing exactly that when he called the other day, so he did not suspect anything.Janice huffed in annoyance. “Okay, fine, I can’t talk right now, I’ll transfer the money to you right now.”Joey shrieked gleefully and said, “Oh, thank you, Janice baby, thank you so much! I love you!”“Okay, that’s enough, I’ll hang up now!”After ending the call, she indeed transferred five hundred and twenty dollars to Joey as promised.Overjoyed,
Jayden was in the midst of being upset, but this deadbeat loser dared to challenge him while squatting in front of his car! Without a word, he lifted his leg and kicked Joey to the ground. Then, before Joey could turn around and get back up, he rushed to punch and kick him.Joey wailed in extreme pain and cursed angrily, “F*ck, why are you hitting me? Why? Did I offend you or something? Are you f*cking crazy?”Jayden threw a punch directly on his nose, causing his face to cover with his own blood, and cursed, “You’re the crazy one! Why did you squat in front of my car? And what’s with the tone that you talked to me with just now? You’ve earned yourself some beatings!”Then, he hurled a few more punches at Joey that Joey almost passed out in pain, his eyesight became starry and blurry.When Jayden’s men saw the fight, he got out of the car swiftly and joined his boss to beat Joey violently.It was bad enough for Joey to suffer from a single man’s punches and kicks, but he was in
It was very disgusting as Joey’s blood was smeared all over his trousers!Annoyed and furious, Jayden kicked him away and shouted sternly, “Hey, stop it, f*ck! Are you f*cking crazy? Do you really want to die? When did my car become yours?! F*ck!”Joey thought that Jayden was also one of Max’s creditors who was trying to take the car away as collateral, so he desperately rushed forward again, clinging to Jayden’s leg, and shouting, “No, this car is mine! It’s mine! You can’t take it!”Jayden was extremely agitated by now. He grabbed Joey’s collar, slapped him multiple times, and cursed, “Are you F*cking crazy? Didn’t you see that I have the key? When did my car become yours?”Joey wailed loudly, “No! This is Max’s car! He owes me six hundred thousand dollars and I want to repay my debt with this car. No, you can’t drive it away! I’ll be so dead if you do!”“Motherf*cker!” Jayden punched him on his face again and shouted, “You really are out of your f*cking mind! Listen, this is my
Finally, the whole deception unfolded in front of Joey’s eyes.As it turned out, not only was Max not as wealthy and successful as he had claimed he was but had also gotten into massive trouble.He had crashed Jayden’s Phaeton and urgently needed to compensate Jayden with a new car, so he had tricked him into investing six hundred thousand to the so-called get-rich-quick scheme that he constantly boasted about.The worst part now was that the b*stard was dead, which also meant that he wouldn’t see any of his money ever again.At this moment, his heart hurt so much. It hurt more than the physical pain he suffered.Jayden was a little relieved as Joey was not as insane as he had been earlier, and said, “So, now you know this car is mine and I can drive it without any issues, okay?”Although Jayden found Joey disdain, he knew it would be wiser for him to keep his distance away from him after seeing his crazy state.He’d seen a lot of people in the underworld after so many years, so
Then, the man turned away and walked off, ignoring him.Limping, Joey tried to catch up and cursed behind him, “Hey, b*stard, give me back my money! Hey! I’ll f*cking kill you!”“Crazy!”The man cursed, climbed onto his tow truck, and left.Joey glared furiously at the tow truck as it had gone far. He certainly couldn’t catch up with his truck and his anger was slowly replaced by deep despair again.His current main and urgent concern was how to handle the five hundred thousand dollar debt.He felt like his world was crumbling down on him.At this moment, he thought of Janice, his girlfriend. Joey was an orphan with no parents and relatives to rely on. When he and Janice became a couple, he had automatically assumed her as his only relative.Now that he encountered such a major setback and in desperation, his only hope was to see his beloved woman and anticipate the comfort and warmth she would offer him.Hence, he wiped his messy face with his shirt, limped to the community
Laying on the ground weakly, Joey stared at the taxi driver who walked towards him with his fearsome look. His arrogant expression when he threatened the driver had long diminished.He grimaced in despair and pleaded, “Boss, I just went bankrupt, I am penniless and I have a lot of debts! And I was beaten up too! Please, I really have no money to pay you, please let me go!”The driver growled furiously, “Do you think you’re the only one with a debt?! Do you think I would still drive a taxi if I were rich? Do you think that forty-five dollars is easy money? It can fill my stomach for two days, for f*ck’s sake! Hurry up and pay me!”Joey wailed in desperation, “Boss, I really have no money nor any valuables on me. Please have mercy and let me go!”“Argh, drop the act! I’ll call the police if you don’t pay up!”Joey struggled to get on his knees and cried, “Boss, I really don’t have any money even if you want to kill me right now! Please, I beg you, please let me go! Is it not enough
When he came to his girlfriend’s house, he knocked on the door but no one came to open the door.He didn’t know that Janice, his girlfriend, was in her room right now, doing the deed intimately with one of her clients who had bought fake cigarettes from her.He tried calling Janice, but she didn’t answer. He thought that she must be asleep, so he went to the flower vase beside the door and found the key.He had coincidentally discovered this secret by chance. One time, he saw Janice’s mother hiding the key under the vase. He assumed that elders tended to be forgetful, so she had placed a spare key there just in case.Thanks to her, it provided convenient access to Joey.After taking the key, Joey unlocked the door and entered the simple front yard of the house.As he approached the house, he found that the door to the house was closed but not locked, so he pushed the door open and walked in.While passing through the living room, there was suddenly an abrupt and strange noise co
Joey struggled to get up. He glared at the man and woman on the bed, his eyes fuming with extreme rage and resentment.How dare they flirt at each other right in front of him! Didn’t they feel ashamed? Did they even see his existence?!He had accumulated overwhelming negative energy today that he desperately hoped for some comfort from Janice as he was on the verge of collapse.However, before arriving at Janice’s house, he had been physically and verbally abused by the taxi driver. He even had to kneel and kowtow to him.This incident had pushed him to the very brink of collapse.Unexpectedly, a bigger bomb awaited him. He never would have imagined that his beloved woman would betray him!He went madly insane at this very moment.He no longer thought about the debts that were crushing him right now, nor the humiliation and beating he had suffered today. All he could think of was how to make the two shameless people pay the price!Thus, he crawled to the kitchen and grabbed the
Raymond chuckled at the title, humble as ever, "The Duke of Wastage? Now, that's quite the royal title, and I don't think I deserve such an honor…"Trailing off, he then made an especially curious look, "By the way, how'd you know they were calling me that?"Seeing that he was still so ignorant, Jacob scoffed. "You bought a Renaissance-era bronze sculpture earlier, didn't you?"Raymond nodded. "I did. But technically, it's medieval and not Renaissance, along with a Renaissance-era base."Jacob clutched his stomach as he laughed, "Oh, please! Medieval? Hahaha… You're killing me, Mr. Cole!"Raymond kept a serious look on his face. "It's really medieval. Why don't you take a look?""No way," Jacob snorted, pursing his lips. "Anyway, word has already spread that someone was selling a counterfeit bronze sculpture to defraud Antique Street for some serious dough. He went first to Vintage Deluxe, but their manager, Mr. Crane, saw through it and didn't buy it… and then he came to you, an
That was why most of the collectors only knew that such an item existed but they did not know in whose possession it was.After registering a new account and paying the ten thousand registration fee, Raymond got in.It was very safe as it was anonymous, and he posted a photo of the bronze sculpture and an announcement with an asking price of twenty million.In his opinion, it wasn't that expensive—if it was still gilded, it would be worth around a hundred million. Without it, it was plenty reasonable to cut the price down to just thirty million.And Raymond was cutting another ten million off that, so twenty million was plenty reasonable.Moreover, medieval bronze sculptures were exceedingly rare, and less than one specimen showed up annually at times. Collectors who desired it would therefore be willing to break the bank for it, and that was why Raymond was sure that someone would put in an order once he posted it.As he wrote the summary of the item, someone knocked on his door
Jacob frowned in disdain. "Why would I be worried? He's no longer the manager of Vintage Deluxe, and he just lost a shit ton of money for messing up his appraisal. I am also the vice president of the Calligraphy and Painting Association, so why would I be worried about some loser who will soon be kicked out of Antique Street?"Straightening his collar, he snorted coldly, "I am now going to see Raymond Cole and humiliate him face-to-face! He thinks he's impressive, doesn't he? Let's see how he will keep up that facade!"Zachary chuckled, "Yes, exactly! People like him need to be given a slap in the face! As hard as you can! Don't worry—I'll be right behind you. If he gets physical, I'll rush in to help. If he doesn't dare to start a fight, you just insult him as much as possible!""Good plan!" Jacob nodded since he was concerned that Raymond might get physical when pushed too far.And with his body, there was no way he could beat anyone…Spreading his arms, he exclaimed, "Come! I'l
Mick inspected every video to see who was getting the most views, and he then paid out of his own pocket to use paid advertising to get the video viral.It cost five thousand and it hurt, but reaching the trending page was definitely worth it.Mick was quite shrewd too, making sure that the paid advertising was focused locally. After all, he knew all too well that five thousand didn't buy many clicks, and clicks from elsewhere might be too sporadic to gain any worthwhile attention.As he worked in Antique Street, he naturally had to come up with a plan to promote himself in this place, ideally presenting himself as a master appraiser.That way, his fame would slowly extend throughout the province and perhaps Eastern Oskia, and eventually the country.As such, focusing on Aurous Hill was the best idea.Moreover, he also had another idea—if Jasmine Moore happened to see this video, she would see him in a new light.When that happened, he could look forward to getting really rich!
Soon, the video of Mick's staged act was uploaded to the online group, and everyone eagerly watched it as soon as it was done uploading.Mick certainly set a new bar with his acting as none of them could see that it was an act.Moreover, everyone could see that the bronze sculpture looked like the real deal, and they might have been swindled if it were them.As such, they couldn't help being impressed as Mick had easily seen through Billy's con, and he was the definition of a pro in that video.No matter how Billy had packaged it, there was no tricking real experts like Mick Crane. Just a quick glance and he had seen through that it was a postmodern replica, matched with a base from the Renaissance era to misdirect and beguile.With that, many fellow antique dealers changed their opinion of Mick.After all, Vintage Deluxe's business had been declining after Mick took over as manager, and people were presuming that his skills were lacking.But now, they were all shown that he had
"Amazing, Mr. Crane!""It's Mr. Crane who shines through, in the end! His eyes see through everything!""I guess Miss Moore made the right choice firing Raymond and appointing Mr. Crane! Mr. Crane is infinitely better!"Mick was immediately thrilled to see them fawning over him, and he laughed, "You flatter me—I'm merely sharing my personal perspective on this. In this trade, anyone who knows would understand how hard it is to get the good stuff in this age of technology.""There are plenty of people who hold ulterior motives and change their tactics knowing that there are always those scheming to get their hands on vintage treasures, so they just have to make it. That is how they started making counterfeits of everything, from scrolls to sculptures to statues, each of them so real just to trick those fools who think they could get rich overnight!""Exactly!" Someone promptly agreed. "There's never a lack of any such fools, and I just happened to meet one. I had this piece of jade
In groups like these, any gossip would immediately spread like wildfire as people share everything here with their other circles.Within minutes of these people's good work, Antique Street was abuzz even as the skies darkened: one of the antique traders had been swindled for 300 thousand, and it was Raymond Cole—the former manager of the Vintage Deluxe at that!Some of them wondered when Raymond had actually returned while others were laughing.He was supposed to be the former manager of the Vintage Deluxe, but he had messed up as well? You had to be kidding!Many were dumbstruck too—how would Raymond survive in Antique Street after losing so much money? It had been so long since such a major scam had been pulled!As such, all the antique dealers were asking one question: how did Raymond Cole get fooled?Meanwhile, Mick didn't leak the security footage right away, instead sending his people out to spread the news in other channels, claiming that Raymond thought he had won big by
Mick had already clipped the security footage and was waiting for Zachary's word.He had checked the footage repeatedly as well and was only getting more impressed with his masterful acting by the second. He looked just like a maestro, and every detail he mentioned was flawless and showed experience.Zacahry even said that Raymond had truly slipped up with that bronze sculpture, leaving him endlessly thrilled.The proverbial missing piece of the puzzle was here!Hence, calling all the staff he trusted, he told them excitedly, "Spread the word right away—Raymond Cole slipped up, spending 300 thousand on a fake Renaissance-era bronze sculpture!"His staff had no idea of the conspiracy involved, only that Mick had said that someone had tried to sell a counterfeit bronze sculpture but he had seen through it right away and chased him away, only for Raymond to end up buying the fake bronze sculpture soon after.Someone asked, "Mr. Crane, don't you think Raymond Cole bought from the man
Raymond had said everything he should and shouldn't and with complete sincerity exactly because Billy would never believe it.As Billy just wanted to swindle him, it didn't matter how sincere Raymond was—he wanted the 300 thousand whatever it took. The key here was that Billy had refused a better prospect when told it was possible, and there was evidence that would support Raymond if either he or Zachary realized the truth and came to start trouble.That meant Raymond had nothing to worry about—they could take this to the United Nations but he'd still win this case.Having been in the antique trade for so long, he had seen every form of oddity and was always cautious with people, considering every aspect of any issue.Hence, once he downloaded the security footage to his phone, Raymond decided that he needed to sell the bronze sculpture—not because he was in urgent need of money, but because he realized that there were those who wanted him out of Aurous Hill's Antique Street.Afte