Claire leaned in and whispered to Charlie, “What’s wrong with Mom? Why is she in the kitchen cooking?”Charlie laughed and said, “Mom said she wanted me to try her cooking. She said she’s making tomato and egg with noodles.”Claire exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, my mom actually took the initiative to cook. Wonders never cease! I guess she does learn her mistakes and try to correct them.”However, Charlie did not share the same opinion. Instead, he felt that this so-called free breakfast was not free. After all, Elaine had to be up to something that she needed his favor for, otherwise, based on her character, she would never have taken the initiative to cook.Sure enough, at the dining table, as Elaine personally served the noodles for Charlie, she smiled coyly and said, “My dear son-in-law, I have a favor to ask you. I wonder if you will be okay with it?”Charlie replied, “Mom, please say whatever you want. I won’t refuse if it is something reasonable and also within my ability.”El
Frankly speaking, Elaine didn’t want to be a lickspittle to Charlie, but she was currently in a very awkward position.She no longer had the financial power of the family. She was almost penniless. Even the luxurious Thompson First villa was under Charlie’s name, which had nothing to do with her.More importantly, since she had lost more than 2 million in the mahjong scam that Hannah had set up, she knew that her status in the family had dropped significantly. Even Jacob, who had always been shouted at and bullied by her, had turned against her and even beat her up. Under such circumstances, she knew that she did not have the luxury to be arrogant and cocky like she used to be.Thus, Elaine knew that, for now, she could only behave with her tail between her legs, and tried to get on Charlie’s good side. She would be doomed if even Charlie turned against her one day and kicked her out of the house.Moreover, Charlie was even willing to help her ask about the expensive cosmetics. Of
Upon hearing this, Elaine was extremely grateful and said, “Oh, my dear son-in-law! You are the best son-in-law in the world! It’s truly a blessing for me to be able to get an awesome son-in-law like you…”Jacob, who was sitting at the side all along, sighed repeatedly. He knew that Charlie had a knack in some way. When he said he would get them, he would.However, it was quite hard for him to swallow when he thought of Elaine using cosmetics worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.At this moment, Charlie just happened to say to him, “By the way, dad, are you using the car today? I’m kind of in the middle of something today. If you don’t need your car, can you please lend it to me?”Charlie needed to go to the airport to see Quinn off and then rush to Aurous Stadium to watch Aurora’s match. It would be a little inconvenient without a car to commute around.Jacob hurriedly said, “Oh. In that case, you can drop me off at Senior University later. Lunch will be provided there so I won
As a man, Charlie understood the old man’s train of thought very well.Which man on earth would not want his woman to be happy?It was just that there were some people with limited capability, thus, unable to do it.Just like Charlie during those days, not only was he poor, but he also had no assets. There were times when Claire had her birthday or they had their wedding anniversary, Charlie wanted to give his wife a presentable gift. However, due to financial constraints, he could only wish for it.The first worthy gift given to his wife had been after Stephen had found him. At that time, he had bought his wife a jade necklace at Emerald Court.Despite Charlie’s desire to give his wife everything back in those days, with his ability back then, he could hardly even afford some decent makeup for her.Despite Jacob’s old age, his feelings for Matilda after twenty years were the same as first love. Thus, he naturally hoped to give her some presentable gifts.Based on this point, Charlie c
Seeing Charlie at this moment, the heart of the little girl within her burst instantly. She ran all the way to Charlie and held him tightly as she spoke softly, “Brother Charlie, I am going back to Eastcliff today. Are you reluctant to let me go?”Charlie laughed and said, “You should go home as you have to go back to participate in the rehearsal of the Spring Gala Festival. The whole nation is waiting to see your performance at the Spring Gala Festival.” Quinn was dissatisfied with his response and muttered, “You’re not answering me! What I asked was are you reluctant to let me go?”Charlie wanted to say that he was not reluctant, but he felt that if he said that, Quinn would show temper towards him. Still, he could not say that he was reluctant. This was because he actually wanted Quinn to go back quickly. Otherwise, she would continue to stay in Aurous Hill and bring trouble to him.If Claire found out what had happened between him and Quinn, she would be so angry.Thus, he said
While Issac was busy helping Charlie buy cosmetics, Charlie had arrived at Aurous Stadium.Today, the competition had reached the semi-final stage.In the previous round, Aurora’s performance in defeating Joanna had garnered attention on the internet, which had immediately raised the attention of this match to its peak. Thus, today’s semi-final match had attracted the attention of viewers from all over the country. Outside the Aurous Stadium, a majority of spectators had bought tickets at high prices to witness Aurora advancing into the final. Inside and outside the venue, Kobayashi Stomach Pills’ advertisement had been launched with great fanfare. Since they were the main sponsor, their advertisement elements were everywhere. Just using any camera to take a picture would reveal images of Kobayashi Stomach Pills’ advertisements.In fact, the broadcaster for this match also frequently displayed the Kobayashi Stomach Pills’ logo on the lower right corner of the television screen.
After all, Charlie’s appearance had subverted their perceptions of one another as master and apprentice. It had deeply impacted their enthusiasm. Nevertheless, Kazuki still hoped that Nanako could perform well. Even if she could not win the championship, based on her ability, she should have no problems getting the runner-up spot. However, if she could not perform well, she might not even be able to be the runner-up. Luckily, through the video, he found nothing unusual about Nanako as compared to her usual self.Nanako herself was not the type of player to be easily excited. Thus, before her big match, she was normally very calm, like how she was resting at the moment.Seeing that the time was almost up, Hiroshi spoke, “Miss, there’s still five minutes before you enter the venue.”Nanako opened her eyes, lightly nodded her head, and replied, “I know.”Hiroshi continued, “Miss, I am on a video call with Yamamoto-san, do you have anything to ask him?” As he spoke, he quickly switch
Nanako felt very mournful in her heart.After knowing that she had a limited outlook, all she wanted was to jump out of it. Unfortunately, Charlie would not give her this opportunity. Seeing her loss of expression, Kazuki hurriedly comforted her and spoke, “Nanako, now is not the time to think about this. You should win this game first. After that, we can consider the rest!”Nanako nodded heavily. Swiftly, she told Kazuki, “Master, I will enter the arena.”“Go on!” Kazuki encouraged her as he said, “You must give your best in this match no matter whether Charlie accepts you as his apprentice or not. You must let him see your ability! Therefore, in this match, try all you can to win as beautifully as possible!”“As beautifully as possible?”“Correct!” Kazuki affirmed. He continued, “Nanako, after Aurora defeated Joanna the last time, she became famous on the internet. I hope you will go to all lengths when you fight to unleash a killer move to defeat your opponent!”Nanako exclaimed, “
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