Charlie looked on from a distance. He could not help but feel surprised. He never thought that Nanako could be beaten by the American girl. Nanako seemed very passive and would not fight back.Furthermore, her beautiful face was also bruised and bleeding due to repeated hits, especially the corner of her right eye, which appeared cracked. Looking at her made one feel anxious.He could not resist coming over to the side of the arena. He carefully observed Nanako and noticed that even though Nanako was injured and very passive in the situation, both her eyes stared at the opponent’s every move intensely. He could not understand. Since Nanako was observing her opponent, why didn’t she fight back? What was she waiting for?At this moment, Nanako saw Charlie.Besides feeling amazed, she was also surprised. This was because she could see a bit of distress in Charlie’s eyes. She asked herself in her heart, ‘The distress in Charlie’s eyes, is it because of me? Is he caring for me?’ The ne
In the spur of the moment, Ito Nanako’s willpower gave her the strength to push forward. Even with the painful wounds on her body, she pressed forth. It was during that split-second, her body radiated with explosive energy!Immediately, Ito jumped from her position, and in midair, her body turned two hundred and seventy degrees before swinging her slender right leg across Michelle’s face.Michelle was surprised by Nanako’s performance. She didn’t expect her to suddenly strike her with that much energy and power.Plus, the sudden burst of energy in her which was released by Charlie took her by surprise.Nanako’s strike far surpassed her performance during her prime!Michelle gradually recovered from the shock and was about to defend herself against the incoming kick, but it was already too late. The reaction time that Nanako gave her had already passed.She felt as though a shadowy figure had struck her face with a lot of force. The moment she lost focus and tried to recover from it, th
The referee held the microphone to his mouth and spoke, “The Arena Winner is Japan’s very own ITO NANAKO!!!”“The battle today was spectacular! It was truly unexpected that both arenas would have winners that took out their opponents with a single blow! Both the winners are qualified for the finals!”“Firstly, our contestant from Oskia, Ms. Aurora Quinton! Previously she defeated her opponent, Joanna from Brazil! Once again, she has showcased her ability to defeat her opponents in a single strike! Amazing performance!”“Now, Ms. Aurora Quinton will go head-to-head against Japan’s contestant, Ito Nanako! They shall have their showdown during the finals!”“As for the losers of this round, Ms. Victoria from Italy and Ms. Michelle from America shall battle for third place! Stay tuned!”The crowd cheered and applauded!It was unexpected that the Oskian contestant would be able to make it to the finals and even perform extremely well in the competition! She was indeed the black horse of the
Every gift basket was the size of a business suitcase. The entire package was black with strings of gold, which made it look low-key luxurious.Charlie couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Why are the packages so big?”Isaac promptly replied, “Young Master, I purposely chose the best gift baskets which contained all of the most expensive gifts which are worth three hundred eighty-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight dollars. It is the complete package with all their most exquisite products which includes the eye and face cream in big quantities as well.”Charlie nodded. “Thanks for the hard work.”Isaac replied hastily, “This is nothing, Young Master.”Charlie snorted, “Isaac, I’m heading over to Eastcliff for a bit. I’ll pass the stuff here to Albert and you. Please take care of it, especially my wife’s family. You must protect her from the shadows. The Webb family is still lingering out there, I’ve got a bad feeling that they are still unwilling to give up.”Isaac quickly excla
Charlie nodded with a smile and asked. “Is Aunt Matilda there?”“Of course!” Jacob smiled widely and spoke in a very soft voice, “Your Aunt Matilda is sitting next to me now. I am teaching her how to appreciate Yan ZhenQing’s writings!”“No problem, father!” Charlie laughed. “So, you’re currently researching Yan ZhenQing?”“Yes.” Jacob said happily, “Anyway, since when do I only perform research about Yan ZhenQing? I also research Wang XiZhi, Huang TingJian, Liu GongQuan, OuYang Xun, and more. I, your father, do all kinds of research!”Charlie laughed. “Alright. One of these days, I will have to learn from you.”Charlie continued, “Oh, yes! Father, the skincare products that you requested are with me now. Why don’t I send it to you now? If I bring it home and mother finds an extra set, it’s going to be difficult to handle.”The main reason why Charlie had prepared 3 sets of skincare products was because instead of just giving Elaine one as a gift, naturally, he needed to give one to hi
Charlie knew that his father-in-law had a lot of dissatisfaction with Elaine. All these dissatisfactions had been accumulated throughout the years they had lived together.Even more so when Matilda had returned to the country, his father-in-law had seen that Matilda was so much better than Elaine, and this only made him even more dissatisfied with Elaine.It was to the point that he wanted to divorce his wife, Elaine, but she didn’t give him the chance, so naturally, he despised her even more now.Although his intention was good, Charlie didn’t think that it would be appropriate for him, especially when it came to giving Elaine a fake set of skincare products. It was quite embarrassing to present someone else with something fake.It was not because he was afraid that Elaine would find out that the products were fake, but instead, he was more afraid of what his wife would think of him if she found out that he had presented her mother with fake goods.Thus, he turned to Jacob and said, “
Claire pulled Charlie to the side and chided him, “Mom was just fooling around this morning! Why did you go and get her such an expensive skincare product? One set costs four hundred thousand dollars?! This is too much! We’re not that kind of family…”Charlie laughed, “I relied on some connections to get these, don’t you worry.”Claire lowered her voice, “Truthfully, I’m more afraid of mom being overly demanding in the future. What if she constantly asks you to buy her such expensive skincare products? What are you going to do then?”Charlie smiled a little. “Don’t you worry. Didn’t you realize that mom has changed a lot? Let’s just say… This is a reward for her? To encourage her to be better in the future?”As he was talking, Elaine had already taken a short video on her mobile phone to send to her friends, and she said, “Look at these two sets of caviar skincare products that my good son-in-law bought for me. They are both platinum packages! Both of them add up to more than seven hun
Claire didn’t believe what her mother had said. She had felt Charlie’s sincerity toward her, so how could he possibly cheat?Claire then turned to Elaine and said, “Mom, you’re overthinking it. Charlie couldn’t possibly cheat!”“What do you mean “couldn’t possibly cheat”?!” One of Elaine’s eyebrows arched upward, and she rebutted, “If that’s the case, tell me, why did Charlie buy three sets of skincare products, and yet, he only brought back two sets? Where is the last one? Where did it go?!”Claire replied, “Most probably he bought it for a friend of his? Maybe his friend asked him to buy it for them?”“Friend?!” Elaine responded with a face hardened from anger. “Only brainless people like you would believe that! It is obviously bought for a woman! You said he was an orphan and did not have a mother, he doesn’t even have relatives here! If so, who else would he buy the skincare products for?! Of course it’s for that vixen!”Claire looked a little uneasy. She knew that whatever her mot
Julien had made up his mind—Charlie had already dragged him into this anyway, and he certainly wouldn't stay as a slave who bemoaned his fate every day.He had boarded Charlie's ship, and the ship had sailed—he just had to come up with a plan so that he could stay on it without any problem.After all, the chances for him to become the next Rothschild head or how long he would get to live were banked entirely on Charlie's decision.If Charlie didn't want him as head, he just had to ask Helena to be his broker and sell some pills to old Harrison, and Julien would be forced to stay as the heir apparent to their empire until he expired.And since the decision was made, he must first show some sincerity by investing into Aurous Hill—it was the ideal way to bring in both capital and human resources.With Julien having indicated his position, Charlie smiled. "Aurous Hill is a land of wealth and prosperity. As a local, I keenly await your investment, Mr. Rothschild."Julien was worried f
Julien shook his head and gingerly asked, "Jordan Fox likes his granddaughter?"Charlie smiled, shaking his head. "And your father doesn't like you as his eldest? Admiration is no guarantee of inheritance. And if we're talking about love, is it not a gesture of love that he provided you with endless cash and a life of privilege that only the world's top one percent can enjoy?"Julien also noticed the flaw in his logic. "Then, do you perchance know why, Mr. Wade?"Charlie nodded. "Jordan granted his position to Kathleen because that was the condition I proposed to him in return for prolonging his life. No succession, no pills—no matter how much he was willing to pay me for it."Then, Charlie looked Julien straight in the eye as he continued solemnly, "If the day comes and I find you more reliable, I will choose you as the sole broker for your father's pills. Just think about it—if the day comes that you're the only person your father can get his pills from, would he say no if you as
Charlie chuckled. "You might think that I'm screwing you over, but in reality, I'm indirectly solidifying your place as heir apparent. From what I've learned, your family has not confirmed who it would be."Julien chuckled awkwardly. "You're right, but I am now. With the pills you've provided, however, my father might live longer than me…"Charlie nodded. "Since we have the fortune of meeting over drinks, I shall cut to the chase—to me, it doesn't matter who between you or your father lives longer. My priority is with whom I could hope for a better partnership."And right now, your father has shown more sincerity than you have, which was why I asked Helena to provide him with my pills."Pausing, Charlie then asked, "Are you aware of your father's recent activities? In Northern Europe?""A little," Julien replied. "A data center or something along those lines."Charlie nodded again. "See, I've asked Helena to make him a new offer—I will provide him with one pill should he build an
Charlie had actually invited Julien over to bring him aboard his metaphorical ship.While not particularly down-to-earth, Julien was still the second most important figure in the Rothschild family, and having him on board wouldn't hurt.Moreover, just having drinks with Charlie and Raymond here basically told everyone they were friends. If Harrison knew that Julien was meeting the son of Curtis Wade as well as 'Biden Cole', who had taken the Four-Sided Treasure Tower from the Rothstchilds, he just might have Julien shot.While Julien may not become the head of the Rothschild family anytime soon, he would prove very useful.With Helena basically controlling Harrison and Charlie himself controlling Julien, traveling Stateside would be no different from going home."It seems I must reevaluate my opinion of you now with that attitude."Charlie smiled at Julien and raised his cup, "Come, let's have a toast—to friendship."Julien nodded, picked up his cup, exclaiming cheerfully, "To f
Pausing, Julien then said, "I mostly drink wine and the occasional whiskey.""How much are those, usually?" Raymond asked.Julien thought about it. "If it's table wine, 10,000 to 50,000 USD. For bigger occasions, it'd be something over a hundred thousand."Raymond nodded and pointed at the bottle of Oskian vodka he had bought. "Guess how much that is?"Julein shook his head. "I don't usually drink Oskian alcohol, so I'm not too sure…""Come on," Charlie chuckled. "We're not asking if you know—we're just asking you to take a guess.""Then…" Julien quickly said. "I'm guessing, three thousand?""Three thousand?" Raymond chuckled and shook his head. "That's way too flattering. It's around 7 USD.""Seven bucks?!" Julien exclaimed, and he blurted, "You usually drink something that cheap, Mr. Cole?""Well, not stateside," Raymond smiled. "But I liked it after I ordered one from a diner yesterday. It's cheap, and it has quality."Julien gulped as he stared at his own cup filled to th
Julien flinched and promptly threw his hands up. "No, no, no… please don't say that, Mr. Wade! That's not what I mean—as a son, it's only right that I hope my father lives long and prospers. Why wouldn't I want him to?"Charlie pointed out, "Then why'd you say that I've screwed you over repeatedly?""Oh. I, uh…" Julien wasn't sure how to respond to that, and he groaned unhappily, "I was not being mindful with words. I take that back…" Charlie nodded. "Then, I'll give you another chance.""Huh?" Julien was left confused, and he quickly asked, "Another chance… for what?"Charlie clapped him on the shoulder again, smiling, "We're old friends, aren't we? Why would I screw you over? Anyway, your turn."Julien was left utterly aggrieved as he read through Charlie's intention—that was precisely the definition of screwing him over!If his father knew he had come to Aurous Hill to hang out with these two, especially Biden Cole, he would definitely be removed as heir! And yet, Charlie
Having seen a sliver of the common folk's plight, Julien turned back to the journey at hand.Soon, his MPV arrived at Aurous Hill's Antique Street.As it was closing hours, the place appeared bleak, almost as though it had been completely abandoned. It was only during opening hours and the few hours before closing that the place became most alive anyway.Most of the time, the vendors and employees outnumbered the guests, and during closing hours, it would get very quiet. One wouldn't even find strays here as there weren't scraps around.Still, Julien had no idea what the hell the place was, even as he arrived outside Treasure Measure following the location Charlie had sent.Once he was sure he was at the right place, he called Charlie, immediately sounding respectful and flattering, "I'm here, Mr. Wade. If you don't mind opening the door…""Alright, just hang on," Charlie said and put down the phone while turning to Raymond, who was putting the food on a folding table, "Our frien
The lawyer then finished, "To be honest, cases of regretting a donation and seeking a lawsuit to get the money back? Law firms usually won't even get one per year, and that makes it especially newsworthy for the press."Also, court records are always public. That means anyone can access the verdict, and there's no hiding anything. So, if you want the lawsuit, you'd better be prepared."Jacob was already left in despair.All he wanted was to get his money back, but he didn't think that it would end up as public knowledge.And Mr. Bay had just told him over the phone that he would try to quell the scandal's pressure and try his best to protect Jacob's place as vice president.If Jacob's name was suddenly mentioned in a lawsuit attempting to reclaim an 'accidental' donation, even Mr. Bay couldn't save him at that point.Hence, after thinking long and hard about it, Jacob realized that he was not getting his 300 thousand back.The thought crushed him, and he burst into tears, "What
At this hour, most of the employees at Talbot Associates had already left.However, there were several lawyers who had just finished a meeting regarding a certain case, and they were just leaving when Jacob arrived.Seeing that they were packing up their bags and ready to leave, he asked, "Excuse me, are you still able to take cases?"The leader smiled, "Yes, but it's a little late now. Why don't you come again tomorrow morning?"Jacob shook his head impatiently. "This is very urgent—please help me and hear me out, then see if it will work. 300 thousand banks on this, so I'll give you twenty percent whether or not I get it back!"300 thousand was really neither here nor there.However, if it were an easy civil case, that twenty percent commission would still mean sixty thousand.The lawyer thought about it. "Fine. Tell us what your problem is, and we will assess the situation first. If it's easy, we can give you a general strategy right now. But if it proves difficult, we'll hav