When Lady Wilson asked Hannah to clean every window in the villa thoroughly, Hannah felt as though she was about to collapse. Hannah could not hold back any longer, and she answered back, “Mum! This villa is so huge with so many rooms and so many windows. Even if I started cleaning now, I wouldn’t be able to finish even after the first month of the year!” Lady Wilson sneered and said, “You plan to drag it on for a month?! I tell you! If you’re not able to clean all the windows in this house before New Year’s Eve, I’ll chase you out of the house to eat your reunion dinner!” Hearing this made Hannah extremely angry! If it were not for Christopher, Harold, and Wendy, she would not hesitate to rush inside, push the old lady to the floor, sit on her stomach, and punch her old face. It was a pity that she did not have the chance to do just that. Hannah felt very helpless. Even though she was extremely unsatisfied, she could only swallow her rage and reply in a low voi
Charlie’s abilities were extraordinary. If he was at home, going there would be equal to facing death. Thinking of this, he ground his teeth and said, “Mum! I won’t confront her today, but no matter what, we can’t let Elaine hang those green hats for New Year!” Lady Wilson said disdainfully, “If she wants to hang it, let her! To us, what is face? Money is more important!” Christopher said angrily, “Still, I can’t always tolerate that b*tch, Elaine, for so long, right? When will this stop?!”With a black face, Harold said, “Dad! Didn’t you always say that you wanted to create trouble for Elaine? If we want to do it, let’s do it as soon as possible! Let’s get her before the New Year and let Charlie and his family have a terrible year. That way, we will have a good explanation for Director Webb. If we don’t start messing with their family, Director Webb will lose confidence in us very soon!” Christopher’s expression froze, and he replied, “Correct! Previously, that st
Early the next morning, Claire and Elaine had left the house early to work on their own affairs.Claire’s studio was closed based on the nation’s legislated holidays. The studio was closed from New Year’s Eve till the sixth day of the Oskian New Year, a total of seven rest days.As for Jacob, his calligraphy and painting association was an interest group. Therefore, the association did not follow any of the national legislation holidays, and the visitation was purely based on everyone’s mood. Most of the days, Jacob and Elaine would argue with one another at home. As such, he would rather spend his first day of the Oskian New Year at the calligraphy and painting association.Elaine, on the other hand, did not have much of a social circle to entertain. Therefore, she alone would normally prepare food ingredients for the reunion dinner at home. As for Charlie, after he woke up early in the morning, he would check the operation report of the Apothecary Pharmaceutical that had been
Charlie nodded his head and said, “Okay, Mum. Go ahead and do your things first.”Elaine replied with a smile, “Good! Mum will go out now. If there’s anything you need, just give me a call!”“Okay.” Charlie did not think much of it. After all, Elaine was an adult, and it was normal to go out. ***At that moment, Christopher was in his room balcony, carefully gazing at the door of Charlie’s house. Seeing Elaine hurriedly walking out the door, a wicked smile spread across his face.Then, he quickly went downstairs and said, “Harold, Elaine is out! Are your friends ready?”Harold laughed and answered, “Dad, don’t worry. I’m ready. Elaine will not return home this time!”Christopher said, “Come here. Let’s review the overall plan and see whether I have left out any details!”Wendy and Lady Wilson also came over, their faces full of anticipation.Harold said proudly, “First of all, the facial beauty card was delivered to Elaine by a city courier just now. That beauty
Donald’s life had been miserable recently.His eldest son, Sean, was still at home recovering from his injuries, while his second son, Kian’s condition had not improved. He had basically given up on treatment. Besides all these, Donald’s wife, Alice, had also requested for a divorce recently. The main reason for the divorce was because of the death of Nelson and Kelly. Alice felt that Donald had not protected her brother well and did not find out who had killed her brother. In Alice’s eyes, what was even more unforgivable was the fact that Donald not only did not take revenge for her brother but instead, stayed at home and scolded her deceased brother badly. Donald, of course, despised Nelson. To him, it was that idiot who had utterly destroyed the reputation of the Webb family, which subsequently caused the market value of the Webb family to be affected awfully. Initially, the Webb family was the leading family in the South region. Now, they could not even
Donald thought for a moment before he said, “There are really not that many coal mines in the South Region, so I really do not know anyone who runs a black coal mine.”As he spoke, he seemed to have recalled something, and he laughed as he said, “However, I do have a childhood friend who runs a brick factory at home. The work at the brick factory is not as easy compared to the coal mine. You can send Charlie’s mother-in-law there to work as a coolie!”Christopher immediately smiled as he said, “Oh, Mr. Webb! That is simply perfect! A b*tch like her should just be thrown into the brick factory to suffer!”After he was done speaking, Christopher hurriedly asked again, “Mr. Webb, do you think that it will be convenient for you to tell me the address of your friend’s brick factory? After getting someone to deal with Elaine, I will ask them to send her there directly!”“You don’t have to be so anxious!” Donald sneered as he said, “I hold a deep grudge against Charlie. I have just arrive
“How could that be possible?” Carmen blurted, “Dad, it must be because you have not seen Charlie for too many years, and this is the reason why you are still thinking so highly of him now. Let me tell you the truth, Dad. Charlie is nothing more than a little gangster from an obscure and poor place now! Both Sophie and Quinn are talented and wealthy young ladies. How could they possibly be interested in him?!”Jeremiah replied coldly, “I met Yule at the Chamber of Commerce yesterday. I asked him if he still remembers that there is a marriage contract between Charlie and his daughter, Quinn. At that time, Yule told me on the spot that as long as I can find Charlie, he would certainly marry his daughter to Charlie without any hesitation at all!”“Also, Yule even said that Charlie’s current status or identity would not matter to him at all. Even if Charlie is a beggar out on the streets, he would still be the future son-in-law of the Golding family. Their family had already come to a con
Elaine smiled as she said, “Oh! That is truly a coincidence, then. It seems as though God really wants to make it up to me and let me enjoy myself today!”After that, she waved her hand at the clerk as she said, “Okay, you can go out first. I will take the bath by myself. You can ask the beautician to get ready and wait for me.”“Okay!”After the employee came out, she hurriedly reported everything to her boss.When the boss heard that Elaine was already there, he hurriedly called Harold and said, “Harold, she is already here and taking a bath. When are you guys coming over?”Harold replied excitedly, “That is simply perfect! Ben, you have to make sure that you keep her there. Do not slip up and let her discover that something is amiss! I will get ready to go over there right now!”The boss of the beauty salon smiled as he said, “Harold, both of us are just like brothers. Since I have already made a promise to you, I will definitely get things done perfectly!”“Great!” Harold sm
However, to Jacob's shock, Elaine wasn't misled at all as she growled icily, "Why would I ask anyone else?! If there's someone I must question, it's Matilda! She's getting married, isn't she? Good! I will be there and ask her why she hooked up with my husband!"Jacob turned pale right then.Matilda's son and even some of their old classmates would be attending her wedding.If Elaine went, he would be exposed, and he wouldn't be able to stay in Aurous Hill out of shame!His nerves gnawing at him, Jacob could only plead, "Please, just trust me this once! Anything else aside, she's getting married, anyway—there's no way that I'd have anything to do with her! That alone should prove my innocence!"Elaine snorted. "If Matilda returned when I was arrested, it means she has been back for a while! And you're saying nothing happened since? Hell, even if she's married, it doesn't prove that she wasn't up to some hanky-panky with you! Maybe while I was arrested and refused a divorce when you
The driver was left dumbstruck—this wasn't how it was supposed to go.Still, he blurted, "C-Crashing into a Cullinan? I might end up dead instead…""Fine! Then let's change cars, and you crash into ours—how about that?!" Elaine promptly retorted before continuing, "Or we could just stand right in front of your car while you run into us! I just happen to have a death wish, but if you don't kill me now, I'll kill you! Don't think about getting away either—I know your car plate! I'll sell this car and use the money to put a bounty on your head! I don't care what happens to me now! I'll claw my nails into the devil's face even if he shows up!"The driver was actually quite experienced, but even he had yet to meet someone as ridiculous as Elaine.Barely able to keep his hands steady, he threw them up as he apologized, "I'm so sorry, ma'am—I just lost my cool. I'm merely a humble driver of a Honda Civic while you own a Rolls. Hell, I spent fifty bucks buying that red emblem from Amazon,
Elaine may have led a life as if she was above the rules, but beneath that tough exterior lay crippling insecurities and a horrific inferiority complex.She was always afraid of being belittled—but more than that, of being ostracized and betrayed.Over the years, the greatest source of her complexes could all be traced back to Matilda.After all, Matilda had been a star back in their school days. Because Elaine was a close friend of hers, many boys would get chummy with Elaine, but only because they were interested in Matilda.Being from a poor farmer's family, Elaine had been scorned plenty and therefore felt exceedingly inferior around Matilda.It was from that sense of inferiority that Elaine had inadvertently developed a one-sided rivalry against Matilda, and she believed her greatest triumph over Matilda in this life was the moment she had stolen Jacob from her.However, while Elaine presumed that she could hold that victory over Matilda's head, Lady Wilson had soured that v
Moreover, given Elaine's ridiculous temper, Jacob knew she would definitely go overboard and destroy him.He wouldn't even have a place to live at that point, and it would really be game over if she held a grudge and stormed the Calligraphy and Painting Association!Under such circumstances, he couldn't ask for a divorce—hell, he might even refuse a divorce if Elaine asked for one!However, that was when Elaine laughed coldly. "Oh, my… You're really not going to divorce me?""Come on—how long were we married?" Jacob quickly reasoned. "Getting divorced at our age? People would laugh at us."Elaine scoffed. "Now I'm curious… Matilda's quite old too, and she's a divorcee marrying again. Won't people laugh at her?""Technically, she's a widow—"Jacob blurted out, but soon turned pale, tensing up again not a second after he had just calmed down, asking gingerly, "W-Why would you suddenly mention her?'Elaine stopped pretending right then and snapped, "It's actually impressive that y
Horrified, Jacob promptly grasped the steering wheel and brought the Cullinan back under control while not hesitating to snap, "Are you crazy?! We're on the highway—that could have killed the both of us!"However, Elaine ignored him and seized the moment to open the armrest box, pulling out the large white envelope.As she opened it, she muttered, "So, it really was a wedding invitation… You really are a terrible friend, Jacob Wilson, hiding a wedding invitation like this! What's the point? Just look at that nervous face of yours—would I suspect you of having an affair with the bride-to-be?"She flipped open the card and was experienced enough to check the names first while disregarding the usual preamble. She wouldn't care about the venue or the time either, focusing solely on the professor who had somehow made Jacob very nervous.That was how Elaine found the names in less than a second: Yolden Hart and Matilda Hall.Matilda?!The name could well be knives stabbing Elaine in th
Jacob's brain blanked out, leaving only a dull hum as soon as Walker mentioned 'Professor Hall'.Already feeling nervous in the first place, he quickly said, "Okay, okay—I got it. Anyway, I'm hanging up if there's nothing else!"With that, he promptly pressed the button to hang up.Nonetheless, Elaine was soon asking in curiosity, "Who's Professor Hall?"If Jacob had any semblance of composure, he would have said 'a colleague at Senior University' as if it was perfectly natural, and the matter would have been forgotten.But the reality was that he didn't—in fact, he was the champion when it came to dropping the ball as a casual question from Elaine left him sweating all over his brow.Even as he slid nervous glances at her face, he stammered uncontrollably, "N-Nobody…"Elaine promptly noticed his strange reaction and frowned. "I'm talking about Professor Hall. What do you mean, nobody? Who are they? And what's this about an invitation? Inviting you for what?"Seeing that he was
Jacob had really had too much to drink and couldn't remember the later parts of what had happened last night—even how he had gotten home was a blur.Naturally, he also forgot that Walker had brought Matilda's wedding invitation, and therefore didn't hesitate to answer the in-car answer button.Over the phone, Walker was positively fawning as he asked, "Mr. Wilson? It's Walker. Why didn't you come in today? Had too much to drink last night?""Uh-huh," Jacob grunted, lethargic. "I did—my head still hurts now… Anyway, what's up? Trouble at the association?""No, of course not," Walker quickly said. "I was just worried you're still hungover, so I called to ask. If you need a driver or anything, you just need to ask!"Then, before Jacob could answer, he continued, "By the way, my wife is somewhat knowledgable in Oskian medicine, and she has recipes for brews that cure hangovers and nourish the liver. I'm sure you'll need the latter since you're always drinking at social events, so I as
Fortunately, Elaine and Jacob's bickering never escalated.Even though Elaine was winning, Jacob found it tolerable.After Jacob finished his lunch and cleaned up, he never looked up as he said, "Charlie sent a text, saying Claire's flight would touch down earlier at three. We will leave at two."Elaine grumbled. "Why leave so early? She's coming back from abroad, and there'd be checkpoints she has to clear—she'd be lucky if she could leave by half past three. I'm sleeping a few winks now, and we'll leave at half past two."As she left the dining room, she didn't even look back as she said, "Clean up for me too."Jacob had a million complaints but said nothing as he kept his head down, throwing Elaine's lunchbox in the trash can as well.With Elaine gone, he sat on the couch as her hangover slowly cleared while his mood soured with the lack of alcohol.In the end, the pleasure of being fawned over at the Diamond Room was but temporary—the pain of his beloved leaving with someone
Vera kept her plan to investigate the identity of the abbess deep in her mind and told Charlie nothing.Instead, she smiled as she said, "It seems that it's both yours and Ms. Ito's good fortune that she has attained enlightenment. You've never had anyone who could attain enlightenment and master Reiki at the same time, so Ms. Ito will definitely be a great help to you in the future."Charlie chuckled and said calmly, "I'm not hoping for her to help. I'm simply happy for her with her enlightenment and excited to have another comrade in my solo ventures into the dark forests."Vera nodded in understanding, and she murmured emotionally, "I've lived for so long, and it's only when I opened my heart to you that I felt that sensation you described."There was a flicker of wistfulness in her eyes.She really did not expect to attain enlightenment before meeting Charlie.Years ago, she thought that she would eventually avenge her father.Now, she no longer hoped to murder Fleur Griffi