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
She had never viewed this problem from this angle before, but due to her personality, she was afraid and embarrassed to initiate such motives.After listening to her mother, she felt the anxiousness build up within her.Elaine continued yapping on the side, “Sigh. I used to look down on Charlie thinking that he was nothing but filth and garbage, seemingly useless but after taking a good look, now he does seem very capable! Look at how he controlled all those bigshots! That is what I call talented! Plus, this million-dollar villa is indeed great! The air here is fresh, and it makes you feel energetic! Who knows, maybe in the near future, he might even be able to use his talent and get himself his very own island in the Maldives!”“This…” Claire spoke awkwardly, “Mom, stop daydreaming already.”Elaine replied solemnly, “We need dreams! Who knows, maybe that dream might suddenly come true!”As she was speaking, she suddenly lowered her voice. “You… Quickly go and do the deed with him alre
As Charlie was watching television, Claire suddenly came up to him.When she saw that he was watching television, Claire sat down next to him.After that, Claire hesitated for a moment. Then, she asked him in a low voice, “Charlie, I want to ask you something. You have to answer truthfully, and you shouldn’t lie to me.”Charlie nodded before he said, “Go ahead and ask away, dear.”Claire handed the shopping receipt in her hand to Charlie before she asked him, “Why are there three sets of skincare products written on this receipt? It’s not that I do not trust you. However, I hope that you can just explain the situation to me.”When Charlie saw the shopping receipt, he was stunned for a moment. He quickly realized that Isaac must have placed the shopping receipt directly into one of the gift boxes after purchasing the skincare products. Charlie looked around, and when he saw that Elaine was not there, he whispered, “I will be honest, dear. In truth, Dad is the one who asked for a
While Nanako was visiting her mentor, Kazuki, she heard the news that Victoria, the Australian athlete that Aurora had defeated in the match today, was also currently receiving treatment at the Silverwing Hospital.Hiroshi had specifically gone to inquire about the matter, and he came back with results that truly shocked Nanako.It turned out that both of Victoria’s arms had been broken by Aurora’s kick during the match. Now, she had already put on a plaster cast, and she had already officially announced her withdrawal from the match to determine third place in the competition for the day after tomorrow. Michelle, the opponent that Nanako defeated, had immediately obtained the title of third place in the competition due to Victoria’s forfeiture.Moreover, Victoria not only withdrew from this competition, but there was a high possibility that she would be retiring completely.This was because the arms were very important for a combat and fighting athlete. After getting her arms brok
Jacob did not eat dinner at home that night.According to him, he was having dinner with several leaders of the Calligraphy and Painting Association as well as a few core members of the Senior University.Jacob called Charlie a little after nine o’clock.When Jacob called, Charlie was watching television with his wife in the living room.His mother-in-law, Elaine, had put on a caviar anti-aging facial mask as she lay down on the two-seater sofa in a leisurely manner while she scrolled through her online short video platform. As she was scrolling on her cell phone, she muttered, “Oh! That Japanese girl who came to Aurous Hill to participate in the combat and fighting championship has a pretty good appearance!”Charlie knew that she was definitely talking about Nanako. At this time, he did not say anything, but his cell phone had already started vibrating.When Charlie saw that it was a phone call from Jacob, he hurriedly answered the phone and said, “Hello, Dad.”Jacob sounded a
She was very excited, and she said to Charlie, “My good son-in-law, why didn’t Mom find out that you were so good in the past?”Charlie laughed, but he did not say anything. If he had known that he would be able to deal with a shrewd woman like Elaine simply by spending fifty thousand dollars a month, he would have spent that money a long time ago to save himself from all that trouble.At this time, Elaine was simply thinking of flattering Charlie, and she deliberately said to Claire, “Oh, Claire! You are already getting older, and you have already been married to Charlie for almost four years now. I say, it is also about time for both of you to have children already. Our family of four is living in such a big villa, it is indeed a little lonely and cold here. Wouldn’t it be livelier if there was a child running around in the villa?”As soon as Charlie heard these words, he was indeed very surprised!This was perfect!His mother-in-law truly thought of nothing else other than her
Claire never expected Charlie to use money to win her mother over.Even more unexpectedly, the effect of using money to win her mother over seemed to work very well indeed!Claire suddenly felt very embarrassed, and she truly felt like digging a hole and burying herself in it.At this time, when Elaine saw that Claire was not saying anything, she kept urging her from the side, “My good daughter, why don’t I bring you to see that old Oskian doctor tomorrow so that he can prescribe some medicine for you?”Claire felt completely helpless at this time, and she said embarrassedly, “Mom, stop talking nonsense!”Elaine replied solemnly, “How could you say that I am talking nonsense?! I also want to be able to carry my grandson as soon as possible!”Claire knew that if she did not leave now, her mother would definitely talk endlessly. Thus, she pushed Charlie hurriedly and said, “Let’s go and pick Dad up to bring him home now.”Charlie smiled as he nodded and said, “Then, we should go a
In groups like these, any gossip would immediately spread like wildfire as people share everything here with their other circles.Within minutes of these people's good work, Antique Street was abuzz even as the skies darkened: one of the antique traders had been swindled for 300 thousand, and it was Raymond Cole—the former manager of the Vintage Deluxe at that!Some of them wondered when Raymond had actually returned while others were laughing.He was supposed to be the former manager of the Vintage Deluxe, but he had messed up as well? You had to be kidding!Many were dumbstruck too—how would Raymond survive in Antique Street after losing so much money? It had been so long since such a major scam had been pulled!As such, all the antique dealers were asking one question: how did Raymond Cole get fooled?Meanwhile, Mick didn't leak the security footage right away, instead sending his people out to spread the news in other channels, claiming that Raymond thought he had won big by
Mick had already clipped the security footage and was waiting for Zachary's word.He had checked the footage repeatedly as well and was only getting more impressed with his masterful acting by the second. He looked just like a maestro, and every detail he mentioned was flawless and showed experience.Zacahry even said that Raymond had truly slipped up with that bronze sculpture, leaving him endlessly thrilled.The proverbial missing piece of the puzzle was here!Hence, calling all the staff he trusted, he told them excitedly, "Spread the word right away—Raymond Cole slipped up, spending 300 thousand on a fake Renaissance-era bronze sculpture!"His staff had no idea of the conspiracy involved, only that Mick had said that someone had tried to sell a counterfeit bronze sculpture but he had seen through it right away and chased him away, only for Raymond to end up buying the fake bronze sculpture soon after.Someone asked, "Mr. Crane, don't you think Raymond Cole bought from the man
Raymond had said everything he should and shouldn't and with complete sincerity exactly because Billy would never believe it.As Billy just wanted to swindle him, it didn't matter how sincere Raymond was—he wanted the 300 thousand whatever it took. The key here was that Billy had refused a better prospect when told it was possible, and there was evidence that would support Raymond if either he or Zachary realized the truth and came to start trouble.That meant Raymond had nothing to worry about—they could take this to the United Nations but he'd still win this case.Having been in the antique trade for so long, he had seen every form of oddity and was always cautious with people, considering every aspect of any issue.Hence, once he downloaded the security footage to his phone, Raymond decided that he needed to sell the bronze sculpture—not because he was in urgent need of money, but because he realized that there were those who wanted him out of Aurous Hill's Antique Street.Afte
There were those in Antique Street who made their living from swindling the average Joe while others swindled antique traders.In fact, it was already cliche for them to trick antique traders with forgeries, and it was not surprising that someone had tried their luck on the opening day of Raymond's shop.As such, it was strange that he had just started today without any hype or even a proper shop sign, but someone was already after him.That told him that he was being targeted, and Raymond was putting his money on Zachary.The sole reason for that was how Zachary had come earlier to ask Raymond about how much capital he had, and he had humbly said a few hundred thousand.The fact that Billy had come and immediately demanded 500 thousand made even more sense—he wanted to siphon all of Raymond's capital.Even losing money wasn't the worst part—the worst was being labeled as an amateur.When that happened, customers who wanted the good stuff wouldn't come to him, and he would find
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