Only now did Charlie know that the news was about Joey.The chat group among the orphanage friends went into a frenzy today.None of them could imagine that they had just had their reunion yesterday, and two friends from the orphanage died today.Max’s death was expected. They knew his true colors and what he did, so they didn’t feel sorry about his death.Joey’s news came like a tsunami to them. They had never thought that Joey, who had always liked to take advantage of others, would turn out to be a murderer.He killed his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s lover!Stephanie sent a tearful emoticon in the group, saying, “Why, why did Joey have to resort to this? Even if his girlfriend cheated, he shouldn’t have done something so horrendous!”Someone replied, “Sigh, although Joey is quite unlikable in person, he is quite pitiful actually. He loved his girlfriend to the moon and back, but this is how she repaid him.”“Joey killed two people, will he be executed?”“The news said th
However, Donald didn’t have time to console Alice at the moment. Instead of feeling sorry for her, as she was on the verge of collapsing in despair, he hated her very much.If it weren’t for her and her good-for-nothing brother, the Webb family would not have suffered such a massive credibility crisis!He didn’t give a d*mn about Nelson’s death, but the video he made right before he died dragged the entire Webb family down with him! It was very likely that the family would lose more than half their assets. If so, they would no longer be the top family in the South Region.Moreover, it was worse to be associated with human trafficking. It was certain that the people of the country would not forget this for a while. Thus, the Webb family would become the target of malicious attacks for a very long time.The consequences of these would result in a devastating and far-reaching effect on the family’s business empire. Perhaps the family’s assets would continue to shrink in the future.I
For the past few months, every day felt like a year to Hannah.She was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Wilson family and she had never really suffered a day of sorrow or despair before. In fact, when the Wilson family was at its prime, she was living a lavish and comfortable life.She couldn’t say that she had lived a royal-like extravagant life, but she did have a comfortable life in the past, so the coal mine was a literal living hell for her when she was reduced to mining coal day and night here.However, Hannah still enjoyed the most comfortable life among those who had been sent to the coal mine at the same time.The men had to work fifteen to sixteen hours a day. They didn’t have enough food to eat or warm clothes to wear and they were as skinny as skeletons after being tortured day and night.Linda, the cheater, was similarly miserable. Because she was ugly and the supervisor didn’t fancy her looks, her daily routine and work schedule were no different from the men’s.Ha
Moreover, since the first day Linda and her family were forcefully sent to this living hell, they had been working with heavy tasks, but Hannah? She became the supervisor’s mistress simply because she spent more time maintaining herself than she did!Hence, Linda glared at Hannah disdainfully and cursed, “Some women are so corrupt and brassy that they sleep with the supervisor simply to get some mediocre benefits! They are so shameless!”Hannah knew that she was mocking her. With her face flushed with anger, she chided, “Linda, watch your tongue or I’ll let you starve tomorrow!”Linda stood upright and growled, “Shut up! Why are you so full of yourself, Hannah? You’re sleeping with the nasty supervisor, that’s all! Do you really think I don’t dare to touch you just because you are his mistress? He’ll dump you when he is fed up with you! You’ll end up like me then!”“Linda, I see that you are very lively and comfortable now! Believe me or not, I’ll just whisper to the supervisor and
Hannah was so scared that she tried to roll away from Linda’s reach, for fear that the iron hook would really hit her face.That thing looked so scary, it might gauge her eyes off!However, as Hannah’s leg was injured, she couldn’t avoid the ferocious Linda’s attack continuously. If she went constantly berserk, sooner or later, she would die under her aggression!Hannah tried to stand up and escape, but her injured calf forced her to fall to the floor again.Linda was already behind her, waving the scary iron hook towards her.Hannah could not avoid her anymore. She closed her eyes in despair, thinking that today was the day she would die.Right at this crucial moment, several Toyota Land Cruiser Prados drove into the coal mine and stopped right in front of them.The dazzling headlamp shone directly on Linda’s face. A bunch of men jumped out of the car, before one of them pointed a gun at Linda and shouted, “What the f*ck are you doing? Put down the hook!”Linda was taken aback
Bryan turned to Hannah and asked, “What’s going on here? Are you his woman?”Hannah wailed desperately, “No, I’m not! He forced me!”Bryan turned to the supervisor and said coldly, “Since she doesn’t admit to being your woman, you can stop your bullsh*t with me too.”During this period of time, the supervisor had enjoyed Hannah’s company so much that he was rather addicted to her. He was, after all, an ignorant bumpkin. He had never experienced a fair and tender lady from the city before, so he found Hannah very seductive and lusty. Of course, he wasn’t happy when these men came out of nowhere and wanted to take her away, so he shouted, “I don’t give a d*mn! I’ll tell you again, she is my woman!”Bryan grinned sinisterly. “Well, since you have a death wish, I’ll grant you one.”He took out a dark pistol from his waist, aimed it at the supervisor, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.With a loud bang and a tiny spark from the muzzle, a bullet flew out of the barrel and pen
The coal mine where Hannah was kept was geographically located in the Janes Province of northwest Oskia, which was popularly known for its vinegar and coal.The province was two thousand kilometers away from Sudbury in the southeast and it might take at least one day and one night to travel to Sudbury by car. But since Sean had urged them to be quick, they had assigned the Webb family’s private jet to fetch Hannah.It took nearly three hours for the convoy to drive out of the dense mountain forest and arrive at the local airport.At this moment, a Gulfstream jet was parked on the airport hanger.Hannah gaped in absolute astonishment. She had never dreamed that a private jet would take her directly to Sudbury!Bryan took her on the plane. Her eyes were opened so wide when she saw the luxurious palace-alike interior of the plane, they almost dropped from the eye socket.Bryan frowned disdainfully at her dirty appearance and urged, “Hey, there is a bathroom behind the plane where yo
Under such dire circumstances, everyone in the Webb family could hardly close their eyes and sleep.When Hannah was taken to the Webb family mansion, Bryan did not bring her to the living area directly. Instead, he took her in the servants’ quarters and went over to invite Donald and Sean.The father and son immediately went to see her when they learned about her arrival.As soon as they appeared, Hannah dropped on her knees and thanked them profusely for saving her.Sean said with his emotionless face, “Hannah Wilson, we rescued you not because we sympathize with you, but because we need you to do something for us.”“Yes, yes! Anything!”“I know that you hold a grudge against Charlie Wade. I do too, and my grudge against him is beyond imaginable. Tell me honestly, do you want to get revenge on Charlie?”Hannah’s face blushed with obvious rage as she growled, “Of course! The b*stard almost killed me and he even sent me to the living hell! I want to kill him and chop him up into
Trippy rolled his eyes as he texted back: [Hell no. I need to start my business instead of wasting my time. You morons can come get a number yourself if you like. Haha!]Still, Trippy had just sent his text when a trio arrived in a hurry outside Treasure Measure.Seeing that the doors were closed, the leader asked Trippy, "Excuse me, can I ask if this is Treasure Measure? Owned by a man named Mr. Cole?"Trippy was at once surprised. "You mean Raymond Cole?"The leader quickly said, "We don't know his first name, only that his last name is Cole, and his handle name was Treasure Measure's Mr. Cole."Trippy chuckled. "That'd be him. Has to be, since he hand wrote that shop sign."Pausing, he then asked in curiosity, "So, you've come to see him being a sucker?"The leader was naturally curious as to what Trippy was talking about. However, he was also reluctant to reveal why he had come since there was a killer bargain at stake. In fact, every other collector who was coming was k
Raymond also added that the 20 million price tag wouldn't be cut or increased. To put it simply, the bronze sculpture was right there in Aurous Hill and waiting—it was a race.Hence, many reputable collectors contacted expert appraisers throughout the night, some even booking night flights straight to Aurous Hill.The best amongst them was a fanatic collector of bronze items in Eastcliff.Following a brief exchange with Raymond online, he immediately called an expert who was also a close friend. As soon as his call was answered, he asked the other man if he had time to travel to Aurous Hill so that no one else would beat them to it—and they would drive out in the night if at all possible.After all, the earliest flight was at six in the morning, and it'd be eight by the time they made it to Aurous Hill Airport and nine by the time they got to Antique Street in a cab.Therefore, the ideal way to get there was by driving over six hundred miles at top speed, and that meant reaching A
While Jacob was feeling delighted after pulling off his con, Raymond had posted details of the bronze sculpture online.The website he was using was the biggest platform for antique collectors and the antique trade where each user could set a favorite tag in the antique category and era. If a user who preferred canvas art pieces of the Tudor dynasty set that label as their favorite, they would immediately be notified with text or desktop notifications in regards to any item with the same label.As medieval bronze sculptures were rare in the first place, most who were interested had already set that label on their favorites and were immediately notified soon after Raymond posted pictures of the bronze sculpture online.The collectors were naturally eager to check it out as gilded sculptures of the medieval era were really rare, and most collectors would go a lifetime without picking one up for their collection.On top of that, the seller had even listed a major flaw and was only ask
"Nope," Jacob chuckled. "We were both working separately and just happened to get back in at the same time."Then, he immediately became smug and excited, "Guess what, dear? I made 200 thousand out of the deal! In net profits!""For real?!" Elaine gaped. "200 thousand in just one night?! That's amazing! How did you do that?"Claire was surprised to hear that too, and she came over to ask, "What deal was it, Dad?"Jacob grinned, "Oh, it's nothing to brag about. It's just that I managed to pick up a nice antique item thanks to my wisdom and then sold it for 200 thousand."Pausing, he then sighed in dismay, "However, the buyer wasn't too rich—I would have squeezed him for 400 thousand, but he couldn't afford more, so I had to settle for less."Elaine quickly exclaimed, "Shit, we're talking about a loss of 200 thousand! People would work a year and still never earn that much…"She trailed off for a moment before asking, "By the way, dear—are we still flying out first thing tomorrow?
Jacob laughed. "Put that issue behind us? Sure, but we're not becoming friends. Hell, I can't even hold a grudge now that you're shit out of luck."Then, his tone changed sharply and suddenly became icy, "But you see, Aurous Hill is not a place you can stay just because you want to. No… After this, you're not going to be able to make a living in the antique trade.""If I were you, I'd be running a thousand miles away, far away from Aurous Hill where no one would know my face to start over. That way, you just might be able to make a living."Raymond simply kept smiling, "You need not be concerned about how I'm going to survive here, Mr. Wilson. I'd be very grateful if you'd cease any form of harassment once you leave my premises."Jacob pursed his lips, staring at Raymond in disappointment. "I'm plenty magnanimous, so I won't stoop to such pettiness. Just do whatever you like!"Clicking his tongue, he huffed, "Tut, tut… And here I'd thought you're tough, but you're just yet another
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!