Quinn replied indignantly, “Aurous Hill had always been the focus of my father’s investigation. My dad had also made several trips here. He used all of his connections and relationships to investigate and look into the background of all the boys in Aurous Hill who were about the same age as you. He even checked and investigated this matter several times. My father had already checked every rescue station, orphanage, and private welfare organization in Oskia to look for you, but there was absolutely no information about you anywhere at all!”“That’s impossible!” Charlie blurted out, “I’ve been living at the Aurous Hill Welfare Institute for ten years, ever since I was eight until the day I turned eighteen. Moreover, I have not changed my name ever since the day I entered the orphanage. My parents named me Charlie Wade, and all the personal information that I filled out in the orphanage was also under the name Charlie Wade. If Uncle Golding made a trip here, he would definitely have fou
Quinn was puzzled.She felt that her father had been spending so much time looking for Charlie throughout all these years. Moreover, he had even had trouble sleeping and eating because he could not find Charlie at all. He had always felt very guilty deep down in his heart.Now that she had finally met Charlie by chance, she naturally wanted to tell her father about the good news. This would also be a form of relief to her father after so many years.So, she hurriedly asked, “Brother Charlie, why can’t I tell anyone else that I saw you?”Charlie sighed softly before he said, “Well, no matter what happened, it has already been more than ten years. At the very least, I am living very happily and peacefully in Aurous Hill now. Hence, I do not want to provoke anyone in Eastcliff now.”Quinn replied emotionally, “Brother Charlie, you are the young master of the Wade family! Why would you choose to remain at a place like Aurous Hill? If you choose to return to Eastcliff, wouldn’t you inh
As she spoke about this, Quinn burst into tears again.Charlie hurriedly handed her a piece of tissue as he persuaded her softly, “Nana, please stop crying. Many things are not as simple as when we were simply playing house when we were young. Of course, I also admit that I have also totally disregarded this matter. I thought that you were just like me, and since this was something that happened when we were still young, you would have just laughed it off. However, I truly did not expect you and Uncle Golding to have been looking for me for so many years.”Quinn replied angrily, “Playing house? Laugh it off?! Did you know that my father made an oath to Uncle Wade and Aunt Wade back then?”“Furthermore, you have also lived in Eastcliff for eight years. So, you should know that what all of the rich and powerful families in Eastcliff dislikes the most is when their children enter the entertainment industry. They would never allow their children to marry any female celebrities in the en
After getting criticized repeatedly by Quinn, Charlie felt a little ashamed, and he felt even more uncomfortable in his heart.So, he coughed slightly and said apologetically, “Nana, I am indeed responsible for this matter. I sincerely want to apologize to you and Uncle Golding…”“Apologize?” Quinn spoke angrily, “Since you want to apologize, even if you don’t regard my father as your elder, you should also apologize to my father face to face because he had already been looking for you for so many years! No! You even refused to allow me to tell my father that I’ve already found you. What do you mean by that?!”Charlie looked at the angry expression on her face and he said seriously, “Nana, just think about it for yourself. I have been living at the Aurous Hill Welfare Institute for ten years, and Uncle Golding came to Aurous Hill to look for me several times during that period. Still, he always failed to find me. Why is that so? It must be because someone does not want Uncle Golding
Therefore, after hearing that Yule was suffering from pancreatic cancer and that his physical condition was already deteriorating, he immediately decided that he would have to save his life!So, he immediately told Quinn, “Why don’t we do this, then? After we are done discussing the endorsement contract, you can return to Eastcliff first. I will secretly come and visit Uncle Golding in a few days. When that time comes, I will have my own remedy to cure his illness!”Quinn was dumbfounded, and she asked, “What kind of cure do you have that would be able to remedy my father’s terminal illness? Doctors from all over the world told me that his terminal illness cannot be cured at all…”Charlie replied seriously, “It is not convenient for me to disclose anything to you for the time being. However, you do not have to worry. Since I’ve said it myself, I will definitely honor my promise!”Charlie had an elixir in his hand.The medicine that he had refined the first time, that could even cu
Quinn’s mood improved slightly after hearing Charlie’s affirmative reply.She finally stopped crying and carefully wiped the remaining tears off her face with her fingers. After that, she laughed at herself as she said, “Ahh! Brother Charlie, I’ve made a fool out of myself in front of you. To be honest, I have not cried for many years. As a result, after my dad fell ill, it seems as though I have reverted back to the young child I used to be. I simply cannot stop my tears from flowing at times. I am absolutely hopeless.”Charlie smiled slightly before comforting her, “Don’t think that way. It is only natural for everyone to have their own emotions and desires anyway. If a person can laugh, a person will also cry. If a person can be happy, a person can also be sad. So, there is nothing hopeless about you at all.”Quinn nodded softly as she asked, “Brother Charlie, do you still shed tears even now?”Charlie smiled wryly before he said, “I must have shed too many tears when I was eigh
Quinn had mixed feelings, and she looked into his eyes as she asked angrily, “Aren’t you afraid that I will tell her that I am your rightful fiancée and that she is the third party in our relationship?”Charlie felt a little embarrassed and he said, “That is the reason why I have an additional request.”Quinn snorted before she said angrily, “You want me to hide the relationship between you and me from your wife, right?”Charlie replied, “She has always thought that I was an orphan and she does not know anything about my identity or family background at all. I do not want her to find out about it.”Quinn asked incomprehensibly, “She is your wife. Aren’t you going to tell her about your true identity at least? Do you intend to continue hiding it from her?”Charlie replied, “It is not that I do not want to tell her about it because I want to hide it from her. However, the time is not right. I will talk to her about it when the time is right.”Quinn wrinkled her nose and said, “I wa
Charlie was taken aback by Quinn’s words.Marrying a divorcee? Was she talking about him?!This young Golding girl was too silly, right? It was just a verbal agreement made between their parents when they were still young. What era was it now? Who would still take this kind of thing so seriously?She was young, beautiful, cold, and arrogant. She looked like the kind of girl who definitely had her own ideas and plans. So, why was her thinking so conservative?As he thought about this, Charlie could not help but say, “Nana, you really should not take everything that happened between the both of us when we were still young so seriously. You should not take things too hard and miss out on your own happiness!”Quinn replied earnestly, “Charlie! You are truly a bad man with no conscience at all. I have already been waiting for you for more than ten years, and you are actually asking me not to take it seriously? Do you believe that I will hold a press conference tomorrow to make a public
Reservations in Heaven Springs had always been unpredictable, and most rooms weren't open to the general public—even if said rooms were vacant for the night.It was not as if Albert Rhodes didn't want to make money when he built Heaven Springs. He simply didn't do it solely for profit, but only mostly for social events and posturing.Back when he was a humbler member of society, he realized that many bigwigs and even his fellows cared for pride a lot. Be it food, liquor, or even simply everyday consumption, they always strove for the best and the most expensive.That was why polite society valued their privacy and established their respective social circles, which was why Heaven Springs ensured that everything was first-rate: atmosphere, service, food, and clientele.Just like how bigwigs wouldn't dine at the same table as their goons, said goons wouldn't eat at the fancy places those bigwigs frequented even if they had money, as it may appear as if they were overstepping.That wa
As such, intent on keeping up his pretense, Jacob answered the phone, "Looking for me, Matilda?""Uh-huh," Matilda replied, and asked, "You didn't show up at Senior University, and your sub is saying you probably won't be coming for a while? Is that true?""Oh—right, that," Jacob quickly said. "Well, it's true—the gist of it is that the Association is getting busy with a project. As the vice president, I probably shouldn't be staying at Senior University all the time, right?""Heck, Mr. Bay called me last minute, telling me how busy we're going to be and that I was needed. That's why I had to go back, but I will head over to campus again when I have the time."Matilda knew right then that those were all excuses.However, she did not expose Jacob, instead asking, "Well, when are you free? So that I can send you my wedding invitation?""Oh, the invitation?" Jacob quickly chuckled. "You really didn't have to come to me—just pass it to Walker, my sub lecturer. He can pass it to me wh
The next afternoon, there was a sudden change of lecturers for the calligraphy class.Despite being the vice president of the Calligraphy and Painting Association, Jacob never showed up, instead getting a substitute instructor to replace him.Matilda had come with the invitation Yolden had written for Jacob, but seeing that Jacob wasn't at the lecture hall, she waited until the class was over to ask the sub, "Excuse me, can I ask why Mr. Wilson wasn't teaching this class?""He's busy at the association," the sub replied. "So, I'm taking over his class."Curious, Matilda pressed, "Then, would you happen to know when he will be coming?""Probably not for a while," the sub replied. "He delegated other classes to me as well, telling me that I could just stick to the PowerPoint slides."Then, he asked, "Do you have business with Mr. Wilson?"Matilda nodded. "Yes, but I can call him myself. Thank you."Leaving the lecture hall, Matilda called Jacob, who was goofing off in his office
On the other end, Matilda was left staring at Jacob's reply in confusion.She had presumed that Jacob would understand when she mentioned inviting his whole family that he should be coming up with an excuse to skip attending her wedding.That was the most ideal solution.As such, she was shocked that instead of playing along, Jacob's reply was short and blunt.[No problem. The four of us will be there!]Perplexed, Matilda was left wondering what Jacob meant. Was he really going to attend her wedding with Elaine?The thought left Matilda frowning as she absolutely didn't want to see Elaine—especially not at her own wedding.Yolden was writing an invitation when he saw the somber look on her face, and he couldn't help asking, "Is there a problem?""Jacob replied," Matilda admitted. "And he's saying that he will bring his whole family.""Really?" Yolden was confused too, as he was hardly as eccentric as Jacob. "But he's afraid of his wife and shouldn't be telling her at all…
Charlie was driving Jacob to Thompson First when the latter received the text from Matilda.Seeing that they were reaching the front gates, Jacob promptly snapped at Charlie, "Charlie, stop the car now!"Charlie did so and asked in curiosity, "What's wrong?""Matilda just texted me," Jacob replied, showing the chat log between him and Matilda.Charlie was just glancing at it nonchalantly when he saw that Matilda's contact name was 'AAA July Florist'."Wait, why is that Aunt Matilda's contact name?" He exclaimed in surprise."I changed it."Jacob explained gingerly while reading through the text Matilda sent. "Her profile picture is an iris, so I changed her contact name to a florist since I'm mostly worried Elaine would peek into my phone.""Anyway, she's asking if I'm attending her wedding with Yolden. They would send us an invitation if I accept, extended to our whole family… what do you think I should say?"Charlie asked in return. "You're planning to skip it, aren't you? T
Then, Matilda suggested, "How about this—I'll ask him before deciding." "I'll pass on inviting the rest of my former classmates too. They're too vain and love comparing, so I'd rather not have anything to do with that. Also, there are our Korean friends who have it together, and they were telling us to invite them if we were going to get married. We have to keep our promise, right?""Yeah—then, it's basically decided. Aside from Charlie, we shall invite our colleagues and Korean friends while we wait for an answer from Jacob."Yolden nodded and said, "Now, I'll talk about the honeymoon—cut me short if you have a different opinion."Matilda nodded, resting her chin on her hands and smiling. "Shoot. I'm all ears."Feeling a little embarrassed by Matilda's glowing stare, Yolden took a sip of his ice water before continuing, "My idea is to head to the States for our honeymoon after the wedding…"He trailed off, staring at Matilda and waiting for a response.However, she was merely
"Oh, Jacob…?"Matilda chuckled awkwardly. "Just today, he offered to buy me dinner, but I said I didn't have the time, and I also told him about our wedding… So, we should invite him since he's aware of it.""Jacob offered to buy you dinner?" Yolden exclaimed in surprise. "Did he say why?""Nope," Matilda shrugged, smiling. "Probably just dinner between old classmates."However, she was actually smart enough to guess Jacob's intention even though Jacob was inviting her somewhere near campus. That was why she had also mentioned she was marrying Yolden while turning down Jacob, all so that he would give up on her.After she had managed to get over their past fling completely, she didn't want to give Jacob false hopes before she walked down the aisle.In the same regard, she didn't want to worry Yolden, and therefore, had deliberately discouraged Jacob.Be that as it may, Yolden was smart too.He knew about Matilda and Jacob's past and that her son, Paul's full name was Paul Jam
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