The expression on Mrs. Lewis’s face suddenly changed because of Charlie’s question!She started panicking all of a sudden!She would never have dreamt that Charlie would ask her this question.So, she panicked and said, “This… this… I have never heard of this matter before. If someone truly came here looking for you, we would definitely not hide or conceal anything. Do you think that there is some misunderstanding in this matter?”Charlie shook his head and said, “No, it cannot be a misunderstanding. Deep down in my heart, I also cannot accept the explanation that this was all just a misunderstanding.”As he spoke, Charlie had a pious expression on his face as he said, “Mrs. Lewis, the reason why I came to you is not to pin the blame on anyone. After all, no matter what it is, you were the one who saved my life and raised me for ten years. Even if there is something that you have been hiding from me, I will never hate you.”Mrs. Lewis felt extremely ashamed when she heard this.
”Yes!” Mrs. Lewis nodded before she cried and said, “Back then, I was not stationed in Aurous Hill, but I was arranged to work at Raventon instead. One night, the Wade family’s steward, Mr. Thompson, sent someone to urgently bring me from Raventon to Aurous Hill. After that, he arranged for me and someone else from the Wade family to take over this orphanage. After a few days, we replaced all of the staff in the entire orphanage with members of the Wade family. After all the necessary arrangements had been made, I found you under Mr. Thompson’s instructions and brought you to this orphanage…”Charlie was extremely shocked!This was the only thing he had heard since he was a child that had left him in utter disbelief!He had entered the orphanage at the age of eight and had lived here for ten years. However, he was only finding out now that all of the employees in the orphanage were people from the Wade family?!Could it be that he had been ignorantly spending his entire childhood a
Mrs. Lewis was actually right.Charlie had undergone tremendous changes since he was a child. He had experienced the best days in the world, but he had also experienced the hardest days too. He had already learned not to take things to heart, and he would not be affected by any tragedy outside.Even if he did not get married to Claire and even if he was still working on the construction site now, he would not be dissatisfied with life. This was because Charlie felt that after the death of his parents, if he worked hard to live and survive, this would be the greatest comfort to them.As for money and status, he had already put it all behind him.He had suffered a lot of humiliation and ridicule after getting married to Claire, but he had never once thought about going back to the Wade family to ask for their help.He could even calmly accept it when the Wilson family repeatedly trampled all over his dignity over the years.Three years of incomparable humiliation passed by just l
However, this feeling of indignation in his heart was fleeting.This was because he knew that Stephen and Mrs. Lewis only did this for his own good.If they did not deliberately protect him like this, he probably would have already died more than ten years ago.In order to protect him, Stephen did not hesitate to replace the entire Aurous Hill Welfare Institute with the Wade family’s own subordinates. This was already enough to prove Stephen’s dedication and loyalty toward him.As he thought about this, Charlie hurriedly stretched out his hand to support Mrs. Lewis and help her up as he said gratefully, “Mrs. Lewis, you don’t have to apologize to me, let alone ask me for my forgiveness. Both you and Mr. Thompson are my benefactors. I should thank you for risking your life to protect me and ensure my safety.”Mrs. Lewis waved her hand in a hurry before she said, “Young Master, you are too polite. This is what we should do.”Charlie sighed and said, “Mrs. Lewis, I am still feeling
As soon as Stephen’s voice fell, his cell phone suddenly vibrated on top of the table.It was a phone call from Charlie.He hurriedly wiped the tears off his face. After that, he put on an act as he answered the call as usual before he said respectfully, “Young Master!”Charlie had already pushed his motorcycle out of the orphanage at this time. He was standing by the side of the road in front of the entrance of the orphanage as he held his cell phone in his hand and said, “Mr. Thompson, thank you for everything that you have done for me throughout all these years.”Stephen hurriedly said, “Young Master, what are you talking about? Why can’t I understand what you are saying?”Charlie replied, “I just came out of the Aurous Hill Welfare Institute.”Stephen smiled as he said, “Oh, it turns out that the young master returned to the orphanage. After all, you must have a lot of emotions and affection for that place since that is the place that you’ve lived in since your childhood.”C
”However, I was afraid that there would be someone in the Wade family who would try to harm you. After all, Lord Wade is already old. If he were to bring you back to the Wade family and expose you to the other members of the Wade family, he might not be able to protect you comprehensively. Thus, I decided on my own to settle you down in Aurous Hill before I proceeded to completely conceal and hide your identity and information from everyone else. I also did not let Yule from the Golding family know about your whereabouts when he came looking for you back then.”Charlie asked again, “Why did you come and find me to ask me to go back to the Wade family some time ago, then?”Stephen replied earnestly, “Young Master, to tell you the truth, Lord Wade’s health has been getting worse and worse over the past two years. However, he is very dissatisfied with the current situation and status quo of the current heirs of the Wade family. Therefore, he is very unwilling to hand over the Wade famil
As he thought about the past, Stephen could not help but cry so much that he was choking, and there was no sound coming out from him anymore.Charlie felt his heart throbbing when he heard Stephen sobbing.Although many years had already passed, Charlie still felt extreme pain and resentment deep in his heart when he thought about the fact that his parents did not die in an accident, but had been murdered instead!As a son, his parents’ blood feud was absolutely irreconcilable to him.He would definitely do his best to avenge his parents’ blood feud even without Stephen saying it!Otherwise, he would not be worthy of being their son!So, Charlie replied indifferently, “Mr. Thompson, you don’t have to worry about this. I swear to God that I, Charlie Wade, will surely avenge my parents’ death with my own hands! I will deal with every single person who participated in my parents’ murder, and I will not let a single one of them go!”“That’s great!” Stephen was very excited, but he s
After seeing that Stephen had already ended the call, the dean asked respectfully, “Mr. Thompson, what should we do now?”Stephen sighed before he said, “Since the young master already knows about this, you do not need to continue staying at the orphanage anymore. In the future, I will arrange for you to return and assume a post in the Wade family. Thank you for your hard work over the years!”The dean immediately bowed and said, “Mr. Thompson, the second master was very kind and gracious toward me when he was still alive. I will continue to serve the young master, Charlie, until the day I die!”Stephen nodded before he said, “You are all elites who have been personally trained and raised by the second master. It must not only have been very tedious and tiring, but all of you have also suffered a lot of injustice to be condensed and placed in such a small orphanage for more than ten years now. You should also take this opportunity to take a good rest during this time.”“When the yo
Just as Jacob was celebrating fooling Raymond, getting his revenge, and earning 200 thousand on top of that, Charlie was left musing to himself on the second floor of the teahouse.He knew that Billy was a conman as soon as he saw him, but he didn't understand why Raymond would buy from Billy.Could the item really be medieval as Raymond stated?As soon as the thought occurred to him, Charlie was sure of it. Given Raymond's knowledge of antiques, there was no way he would mess up in Antique Street of Aurous Hill.While his father-in-law and Zachary had worked hard to weave this elaborate conspiracy, Charlie still wondered how they would take the news that Raymond had bought something worth millions for just 300 thousand.Meanwhile, Raymond watched as Billy left and locked the door from the inside before studying the bronze sculpture once more.He trusted his own judgment that it was a gilded bronze statue from the medieval era. He was playing down its importance since the bronze
Meanwhile, Raymond sighed unhappily. "I really can't afford four hundred grand—like I said, there's not much to offer here in my shop, which I've been investing a lot in. I'd have to pay rent to the owner soon as well, and everything would end terribly for me if I paid that much…"Billy blurted right then, "You said it's medieval and worth millions, didn't you? You'd make a fortune if you sold it!"Raymond sighed again. "Million-dollar antiques aren't that easily sold, and people would be especially skeptical with a small business like mine. I could sell it at an auction too, but that's only happening when someone decides to organize one, not to mention the troublesome appraisal processes it involves.""And right now, I just think it's medieval in terms of style, but I'm no authority in the matter. In the end, it's up to experts and specific groups that would verify it, and if I messed up, it's entirely my loss.""Even if I'm lucky and it's medieval, I'd still have to wait until th
"Invest?!"Billy was left dumbstruck at the term.What even was this fool up to? This definitely wasn't in the script! What about the questions he was supposed to ask? It was like sitting for a grade-schooler test and suddenly being hit with a bar exam!In the car, Jacob blurted out, "What the hell is that bastard thinking? Is he really going to pay 250 thousand?!"Zachary pursed his lips. "Maybe he's just throwing us bait. Think about it—if we took the deal, we'd have to leave a contact number.""After that, he would trick us and say he sold it for ten million and lure us in for the five million. We'd definitely show up, wouldn't we? Once we came, it might turn out that he has called the cops and would even produce\ the bronze sculpture as evidence. Wouldn't we be just shooting ourselves in the foot?"Jacob was left in misery, his face contorting as he pouted, "But you said the cops wouldn't get involved…"Zachary rolled his eyes, "Yes, they wouldn't most of the time since that
However, neither Zachary nor Jacob expected Raymond to confuse them further as he asked Billy, "If you can afford to wait, you can leave the bronze sculpture with me as a consignment. I'll only take 10% off the sales while you get the rest—how about that?"Jacob was stunned and asked Zachary, "What the hell is he up to? Did he get too deep into character?"Zachary shook his head. "I don't get it either… is he trying to keep the bronze sculpture to use as evidence against us?"Jacob frowned. "I thought you said there was a gentleman agreement in this business, and the cops won't really care anyway?"Zachary snorted. "He said he would keep it as a consignment, meaning that he won't spend a dime. What if he told all the antique dealers instead of going to the cops? He would prove that he's sharp, making a name for himself… and what can we do? Do we take back the bronze sculpture? Even if we do, can we really ask for it?'"Fuck!" Jacob swore. "Then what are we waiting for? Tell Billy
In Treasure Measure, even Billy was having a hard time understanding what was going on.Before he came, Zachary made it very clear that he was here to dupe Raymond Cole, and he had come.As such, his job was now to claim that this bronze sculpture which was made in the last century was actually from the Renaissance era and then sell it to Raymond at a cutthroat price.But now, Raymond himself was saying that it was medieval? What was that supposed to mean?Even as he was left confused, he blurted out, "Sir, if you say it's from medieval times… then how much is it worth?"Raymond thought about it and said, "It's quite an unpopular item, but it's not to say that no one would buy it or that no one likes it. The main issue is that there were plenty of wars at that time, and most bronze would be used for weapons. Copper production would be low with rationing as well, so bronze tools were naturally rare for civilians.""Gilding is common for better quality items, and from the northern
Zachary couldn't help pointing at the screen and snapping, "Fucking loser! The more you feel pressed, the less you should be nervous! What are you thinking?! You're falling right under that bastard's trap!"Jacob was frustrated too, growling through his teeth, "Shit! I didn't think that bastard was a sly old fox. Fucking hell!"He then sighed, shaking his head. "Forget it, Zachary—I'm going home to pack my shit, and I'll depart for Dubai first thing tomorrow. Just handle that bronze sculpture for me and wire the money over."As he was about to get off, Zachary sighed in exasperation and apologetically said, "Sorry, Mr. Wilson… but it's fine! Even if this plan screwed up, just let me cook up another plan to destroy Raymond Cole!"Jacob ignored him as he strode out of the car, but that was when Raymond spoke audibly from Zachary's phone, "You can calm down. I'm not accusing you of lying to me. I just think that it's not Renaissance… Rather, it's medieval.""E-Early medieval…?" Billy
In Treasure Measure, Raymond unwrapped the red cloth around the bronze sculpture in front of Billy and the camera.There was a brief flash of surprise on his face, and it was soon gone.Still, he picked up the bronze sculpture, fiddling with it as he asked, "Do you know where it's from?""Yeah," Billy nodded. "A Renaissance-era sculpture. I think the base makes it obvious."Raymond looked up at him and asked in curiosity, "Are you sure about that?"Billy, presuming that Raymond had already noticed a catch, quickly said, "Well, the old man had an expert check it, and the expert said it was immediately obvious! To be honest, I want to sell it because the old man just passed away—gotta sell this baby before my brother goes for a garage sale."He had certainly added more details to the script, and Raymond nodded as he said nonchalantly, "But it doesn't look Renaissance to me. Sculptures from that era—be it the craftsmanship or the unique attributes? It's quite different from this one
In the antique trade, items that raised eyebrows would only be shown in the evenings—when various shops were about to close.That was certainly the case in Antique Street, as most items arriving in the evening were either freshly excavated, stolen, or forgery used to dupe unsuspecting victims.Even if Raymond had started his career abroad, he had learned every last unspoken rule during his earlier stint in Aurous Hill.Seeing the wariness on Billy's face and the way he was holding something in his arms, Raymond knew right away that what he carried wasn't legal.Still, the antique trade was no different here than it was abroad.Tomb raiding, forgery, or adding some touch-ups that increased the value of an item—everyone across the globe pretty much played the same tricks, and Raymond had his fair share of experience.Still, he did not let his wariness show, instead grinning, "Yes, of course. Come on in—let's talk inside!"And with that, he quickly led Billy inside.Meanwhile, bot
"Five hundred grand?"Mick chuckled. "Well, the sculpture looks Renaissance, and the craftsmanship as well as the material are all ideal. It would sell for up to two million in an auction, while established antique traders like us could offer up to a million. So, why the lowball?"Bill sighed. "I won't lie—it belonged to my old man, who just croaked this afternoon. But you see, he left a will stating that every antique in the house would be given to my brother… Since he's playing favorites, I thought I had to get something for myself.""That's why I quietly sneaked this baby out without anyone else knowing and am trying to sell it quickly to change my own circumstances. You don't have to tell me how many millions it's worth—I'm not that greedy. Give me five hundred grand, and it's yours."Mick shrugged as he shot back, "If it's as you say and your old man intended for your brother to have it, the fact that you sneaked it out here makes this theft. Do you think I'd buy stolen proper