What Christopher hated the most was not Hannah who had made a cuckold out of him but instead, it was Elaine who had insulted him again and again.Christopher really felt like crushing Elaine to pieces whenever he thought about the twenty green hats that were fluttering in the wind on Elaine’s balcony.Every time those twenty green hats swayed as the wind blew, it was like a merciless lash whipping at him.So, he felt that if they wanted to exact revenge, it would definitely be most appropriate for them to start from Elaine.Most importantly, they would not arouse Charlie’s hatred if they exacted revenge on Elaine.Otherwise, if they started attacking Claire, then it would be tantamount to rubbing Charlie the wrong way. That way, it was very likely that they would lose their lives then.Even Donald did not dare to attack Claire. So, his family would naturally not dare to cause such trouble for themselves.Christopher’s suggestion immediately gained his whole family’s approval.A
Claire’s high school classmate was getting married the next day.The couple drove a super sports car each as they set off at dawn from the villa at Thompson First to Wylland Park, which was a suburb in Aurous Hill.Wylland Park was about sixty kilometers away from the city center. Although it was a little far away, fortunately, there was a direct highway leading from the city center directly to Wylland Park.Claire’s high school classmate lived in the outskirts of Wylland Park. When they had both followed the directions on the navigation system to the community where the other party lived at, they discovered that it turned out to be an old community that was probably at least twenty to thirty years old.All the houses in this community were no more than six floors high and the houses were all built very densely together. The green paint on the outside of the houses was all already mottled, revealing the color of the cement.The entrance of the community was also very narrow. In ad
As soon as he heard this, Charlie asked Claire curiously, “What? She’s getting married today and she only informed you about it?”“Yes…” Claire replied. “She wants me to come and help her out. Otherwise, she really wouldn’t be able to handle everything on her own. I was originally planning to ask her to look for a few old classmates to help her prepare for her wedding. It would be great if they could come just to cheer her up too but she’s not willing to do that.”Charlie replied helplessly, “I guess she doesn’t want to lose face in front of too many of her old classmates. So, it’s actually understandable.”Claire nodded slightly before she said, “I have never seen her being so pitiful before. It is her most important wedding day but her own natal family and her in-laws are both giving her trouble…”As she spoke, Claire could only sigh as she said, “Charlie, in fact, I think I was really fortunate to marry you. If I was really forced by my family to marry a rich heir from a wealthy
At this time, a middle-aged man shouted in a cold voice, “This boy’s family is really bullying and taking advantage of others. You’re already pregnant with their grandchild and they aren’t even willing to give you any dowry at all. Aren’t they afraid that you’re going to abort the baby?”A young man replied, “Why would the Scotson family be afraid? They wish that my sister would abort the baby. This is because they despise and look down on my sister and they think that my sister isn’t worthy of marrying into their family.”After that, he continued speaking, “Sister, why does it seem as though you’re obsessed? Why do you have to marry that guy with the last name Scotson? That b*stard and his whole family are all so wicked! Why don’t you ask around our community and see if there are any other girls who did not receive a dowry from their in-laws when they were getting married? My good friend Samuel’s sister got married to an ordinary man from the next county and the guy’s family gave my
At this time, the abusive voice upstairs had already escalated.The middle-aged woman scolded angrily, “How did I even give birth to a wastrel like you? I worked so hard to support you and pay for your university education. You haven’t even made much money for our family for the past two years and now, you’re already rushing off to give birth to a child for someone else. If I had known that you’d be such an unconscionable person, then I should have thrown you away after I gave birth to you!”The young woman cried as she said, “Mom, the reason why I could attend university is entirely because I was relying on student loans! I’m still repaying the student loan right now. At that time, you did not even allow me to go to university. You even wanted to marry me off when I was just eighteen years old. You told me that the earlier a girl marries, the more valuable it will be!”“I tried my best to get admitted into university but you still refused to let me attend university. You even tried
After she was done speaking, she introduced Charlie to the young boy. “Francis, this is my husband, Charlie.”“Husband?” Francis asked in surprise. “Claire, you’re married already?”Claire nodded slightly before she smiled and said, “Yes, I’ve already been married for more than three years now. Where’s your sister? Is she at home?”At this time, a young girl with a five-fingerprint mark on her face came over as she faked a smile on her face and said, “Claire, you’re here!”This girl was also quite beautiful and she has a very good figure too. She was definitely someone from the upper middle class.However, the girl was obviously wearing a very cheap wedding dress. It could even be seen that some of the lacey parts of the wedding dress was already torn.A man and woman suddenly walked out of the room at this time. The couple looked like they were both in their early fifties and they had very cold expressions on their faces at this time. When they saw Claire, the couple looked at M
Charlie had not spoken all this while. However, when he saw Magnolia’s father picking up the rolling pin in his hand, he suddenly got very angry.It was fine if they were just making sarcastic and cynical remarks, scolding her, as well as attacking her personality. After all, he had simply accompanied his wife here to help her to marry off her high school classmate. So, all he wanted to do was to drive away and leave as soon as possible to complete the task of marrying her friend off.However, he really felt that it was intolerable when he saw the other party’s parents and younger brother acting like such assholes.Therefore, he stood in front of Claire and Magnolia in a very protective manner. After that, he stared coldly at Magnolia’s father as he said, “Do you know that all of your actions are illegal? Interfering in your children’s marriage is a freedom against morality. Moreover, personal attacks and insults, as well as your intention to sell your own daughter are also against
Even though Magnolia’s father was using all of his strength, he felt that he was hitting the rolling pin against hard steel. After that, there was a strong and violent vibration in between his thumb and index finger. He felt so much pain that he released the rolling pin immediately and he held onto his wrist as he yelled out in pain.When he looked at the rolling pin again, he realized that it was already broken into two!This really shocked Magnolia’s father.This man could actually break a rolling pin into half using his bare hands. Moreover, it seemed as though the other party was not in any pain at all. This guy was obviously a well-skilled fighter at first glance!How could he possibly afford to offend someone like this? What if he suffered a concussion after he punched him? Who could he reason things out with then? After all, he was just an old man with no money and no power at all. After getting beaten up, he would have no way to get anyone to avenge him either.As he thoug
Pausing, Charlie then said, "I'll call Steve to drop by later too. I'm sure folks in Aurous Hill won't know him, but your potential troublemaker might.""I-Is that really fine?" Yolden blurted."What's not fine about it?" Charlie chuckled. "He has been treated like a tool ever since he came to Aurous Hill, and now that he has a chance to strut about, he wouldn't ask for more."Yolden appeared slightly relieved at that, and Charlie asked, "By the way, where's Paul, Matilda, and Autumn?""Getting their makeup done," Yolden replied. "Paul's my best man while Autumn's the maid of honor.""Good," Charlie nodded with a grin. "Don't worry—the wedding's going to be a success."As they spoke, Matilda stepped out of the dressing room in a stark-white wedding dress, flanked by Autumn and Paul.Seeing Charlie, Autumn nodded politely, "Good morning, Mr. Wade."As Charlie nodded in turn, Paul started, "G-Good morning… Mr. Wade…"Seeing that he was nervous and tentative, Charlie knew that he
As Yolden and Matilda were remarrying after living abroad for years, the wedding ceremony was much simpler, skipping Oskian customs and having a simple wedding reception for their guests at the hotel hall.There weren't that many guests either—aside from their children and close friends, only a handful of Yolden's colleagues at Aurous Hill University were invited.As the celebrant, Charlie didn't have much to do and was mainly the emcee.He brought along his jacket as he headed out to Shangri-La, not wearing it immediately so that Claire wouldn't guess that he was attending Matilda's wedding.Arriving at the Hanging Gardens before the guests were supposed to arrive, he found Yolden working with the staff to finalize the preparations.Seeing Charlie, Yolden approached him and said, "Thanks for coming this early, Charlie."Noticing that he was a little tired, Charlie asked in concern, "Had a bad night?"Yolden nodded, sighing, "Paul's uncle caused a huge mess. Both Matilda and I a
Tarlon nodded. "How do you suggest we find them?"Fleur scowled. "There's no rush. There are things which I'm still confused about, so just keep a close eye on the Ackers and the Wades for the time being. Report to me right away if anything important comes up—don't afford our enemies any opportunities to exploit.""Yes, milady!" -The next day, more news outlets were covering the joint project between the Ackers and the Wades as word continued to spread.However, neither family revealed too many details, be it the name of the company, who was the CEO, or the scale of their business.While the public was dying with curiosity, nothing else was known.Still, Aurous Hill's officials were especially interested, with the town hall visiting the Ackers the next day and showing utmost sincerity by leasing a whopping 2-million-square-meter land along the southern highway. Still, the condition was for the Ackers to come true on their promise to propel the city's economy to 15 billion US d
Fleur had repeatedly mentioned the conspiracy theory of Ashley using a body double over the last twenty years.Tarlon had investigated from many different angles, but everything from the gender, age, dental records, to body figure pointed to the fact that the deceased was Ashley Acker.And yet, Fleur had never bought it, insisting that Curtis was prepared for them just because Curtis' son had gone missing soon after.There was no way Curtis would save his son but not his wife, and the disfigured corpse only added fuel to Fleur's suspicion.Thus, over the last twenty years, Fleur had kept a close eye on the Ackers, arranging for two 'scholars' to be embedded amongst their ranks as sleeper agents. She went that far all to determine if Ashley was dead or had faked her death.However, the scholars had since been killed in action, and they had no spies within the Ackers left.As for Tarlon, he still doubted Fleur's theory even now, but he remained respectful as he spoke, "Milady, I mu
Meanwhile, on the edge of the South Pole, Tarlon Griffin rushed outside of Fleur Griffin's room, knocking the door gingerly as he announced, "I have news, my lady!"Fleur didn't respond, but the thick wooden door between them slowly opened as if pushed by an invisible force.Tarlon entered to find Fleur seated on the floor with her legs crossed at the ankles. Her eyes remained closed as she molded her Reiki, asking, "What is it?"Tarlon quickly answered, "News from Oskia. The Ackers are partnering with the Wades on a joint venture into electric-powered vehicles."Fleur slowly opened her eyes, asking quietly, "And you're telling me because?"Tarlon quickly explained, "It just came out of the blue, so I thought I should report it to you right away."Fleur sighed. "After I tried and failed to wipe out the Ackers so many times, they wouldn't dare set foot stateside. If anything, they must have decided to seek asylum in Oskia by offering a substantial investment, and it's a base whe
Silent for a while, Matilda then asked Yolden, "Do you think I can do it?""Yes!" Yolden nodded without hesitation. "You definitely won't have any problems!"Matilda sighed, shaking her head. "We traveled far abroad to study while we were young, but we didn't return to Oskia to help the country's development. It's been thirty years since, and now that we have returned to the country at the same time, I definitely wouldn't turn down such an opportunity to help."Pausing, she then said, "That said, major corporations make it a point to not hire family members. Forget spouses—employees aren't allowed to date, and one of the two will be asked to resign if necessary."Don't you think it's inappropriate since we are legally married, having gotten our certificate and all? And if we set these precedents, we would have trouble asking other employees to follow that policy. You are going to be a CEO, so you need a very clear answer on this issue."Yolden shrugged. "In the first place, that p
Yolden nodded slightly. "He does.""My gosh…" Matilda murmured. "That's too much… Ashley's son? A member of the Acker family and the Wades?!"Pausing, she then asked in confusion, "Wait, if Charlie has so much power and influence, why would he permanently reside in Aurous Hill… No, why would he be content as Jacob Wilson's son-in-law? Does Jacob know who he really is?""Definitely not," Yolden shook his head. "There were some compelling circumstances, and his identity is a sensitive one. That's why I'm asking you to tell no one except Paul—and even then, you should only tell him if he can keep the secret."Matilda was sharp enough to pick up on the reasoning, too. "Charlie's hiding because of his parents' accident, isn't he?""Yes," Yolden sighed. "He has his plans, but I didn't pry since I can only do that much, let alone help him on that.""Got it," Matilda nodded repeatedly. "Don't worry. My lips are sealed… And you just said you're resigning? Are you going to help with this e
"That would be Ashley Layna Acker," Matilda replied without hesitation. "She was our age, as well as a major investor in Silicon Valley, while we were only starting to get our first clients. It's no exaggeration to say that she's the shining example in many case studies when it comes to business."Pausing, she then continued, "And she used to be your classmate, right? I remember you mentioning that in our conversations before.""Yes," Yolden sighed emotionally. "She was a classmate and the star of our generation."Matilda nodded but soon shook her head, "Wait, weren't we talking about Charlie's car company? What does that have to do with Ashley Acker?" "Here's where I let you in on a secret," Yolden said. "But first, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone except Paul."Matilda nodded without hesitation. "Don't worry—if it's a secret, I won't tell Paul either."Yolden scratched his head. "Actually, Paul should know. We are going to marry soon, and he's my stepson, lega
In fact, the legal department of major enterprises covered many responsibilities, the chief of which concerned intellectual property, which was why veterans were needed to lead.Additionally, Charlie trusted Matilda's accomplishments in the legal field, especially since she had worked in the United States for years.With Curtis Autos' intended expansion worldwide, that meant the legal department should also know the laws of countries abroad, ready to file or respond to lawsuits at any time. After all, competitors may use the law to impede their growth, along with the government applying unfair policies to impede their development and impact on local businesses.Moreover, Charlie considered Paul young and therefore lacking in experience, not to mention that it was not likely he would abandon his family's law firm. As such, the ideal solution was to poach Matilda for now.As for Matilda, she was still in the dark and had no idea what she was in for, asking Charlie in confusion, "Lega