This time, Charlie wanted to give them the medicinal pills, so for sure, they would be very happy. Once Travis, who was from Lancaster, heard of the news that Charlie was inviting guests, he immediately asked Harvey, Charlie’s friend from the orphanage, to drive him to Aurous Hill. Travis had quite a lot of properties in Aurous Hill. Thus, he planned to stay a night in Aurous Hill just in case any unforeseen circumstances might delay his journey. The reason for prioritizing this was mainly because, in his eyes, this opportunity was too rare. Emgrand Group’s Doris was the only one who had not received Graham’s notification.It was not that Graham had forgotten about her. The main reason was that Graham did not have Doris’s contact information. Before Charlie had taken over Emgrand Group, Doris had been the Vice President of Emgrand Group all this while. She was not a young lady from some big family nor was she a rich kid with power. Instead, it w
At this moment, at Aurous Hill’s People Hospital in the in-patient department.As the best-integrated hospital in Aurous Hill and even in the entire district, it was full of people at any time.There were no empty beds no matter which department it was.Not only was it full of patients, but many other patients were still lining up at home, waiting for beds, and seeking treatment.In the intensive care unit for nephrology, an unconscious man lay on the bed with tubes poking out from his whole body. He looked to be around fifty years old.Beside the bed, there was a middle-aged woman. This woman’s features were very similar to Doris.Outside the intensive care unit, there was a small living room and resting area for family members. After all, this was the intensive care unit with the best criteria. Hence, the interior structure was similar to a hotel suite.At this moment, in the living room stood two young people—a man and a woman.The woman was the Vice-President of Emgrand Gro
“Doris, as long as you are willing to leave Emgrand Group and join my company as the Vice-Chairman and also be my lover, I will immediately ask someone to use my private jet to bring the kidney to you. If you say yes to me today, Uncle will have a new kidney tomorrow. What do you think?” “Shameless!” Grinding her teeth, Doris said angrily, “Edmund, how dare you take advantage of me! Moreover, you are already married with kids! How could you disappoint your wife and kids with those kinds of actions?!” Curling his lips, Edmund answered with a carefree attitude, “For me, marriage is just part of fulfilling my family’s mission. Whoever my family wishes me to marry, I will marry her. As long as I’ve married the woman they have chosen, they will not interfere with my private life.” Then, Edmund continued with an oblivious sneer, “As for the kids, I don’t really care about them. They are still young. Wait till they are older, I will make them realize that money is more
Looking at Edmund’s back as he left, Doris was so mad that she was shivering as her tears flowed down her face. Two years ago, Doris’s father had had a severe kidney infection. It had been hard to find a suitable kidney because his blood type was RH negative. At that time, Doris had done a match test, but she was not suitable. Soon after, due to a stroke of good luck, one of her relatives had found a suitable match in Southeast Asia, and the other party had also been willing to donate. Subsequently, Doris had spent a million Oskian dollars to help her dad solve his kidney problem. Initially, she had thought that after finding the kidney, her dad would live for another twenty or thirty years with proper care. However, she never would have thought that just after two years, her dad’s replacement kidney would have a serious rejection response, and the kidney functions started to drop tremendously.Before the Oskian New Year, he had been fine. However, afte
Just then, someone pushed the room door open gently.A middle-aged woman came out and asked, “Doris, has Edmund left?”This woman was Doris’s mother, Faith Saunders.Doris quickly wiped away her tears and turned toward the woman as she nodded. “Yes, Mum. He has left.”Then, she hurriedly asked, “Mum, how’s Dad?”Faith sighed. “Still the same—unconscious.”Noticing that Doris had just cried not too long ago, she swiftly stepped forward and asked in concern, “Doris, why are you crying? What did Edmund say to you? Didn’t he give you his word that the kidney has been found? What did he say after that?”Doris sighed and whispered, “Yes, the kidney has been found, but he wanted me to work for him and be his lover…”“What?!” With her eyes wide open, Faith blurted out, “This… isn’t this person your former classmate? How could he be so shameless?!”Doris answered in extreme frustration, “I also didn’t know that he would become like this after a few years of graduation.”Faith hurried
Doris reached into her pocket, retrieved a pack of ladies’ cigarettes, took one out, and put it in her mouth. Then, she reached for the lighter again, but she had a hard time lighting the cigarette as her hands were trembling. After several attempts, she managed to light the lighter, and the cigarette was finally lit.Her face was extremely pale under the reflection of the fire.When the cigarette was ignited, Doris gently bit the cigarette with her pinkish lips and took in a deep breath. Right then, it was so quiet that she could hear the unique sound of the burnt tobacco.Doris rarely smoked, and she did not like to smoke either, but due to her diligence at work, she was often overly tired as well as upset. Therefore, she would occasionally smoke a cigarette to bring her some relief.As the smoke puffed out from her delicate nose, feeling the stimulation produced by the nicotine in her brain, Doris couldn’t help shedding two lines of hot tears down her cheeks.Her mother’s words
Doris was incomparably frustrated as this was the cruelest and most crucial choice she had ever faced in her twenty-something years of life.***Meanwhile, Edmund sat in his Rolls Royce and simply drove away from Silverwing Hospital.Edmund’s full name was Edmund Whittaker. He was an American whose family was a famous real estate developer in the United States.He had been Doris’ collegemate in earlier years and had always taken a fancy to her, but because he had still been under the watchful eye of his family at that time, he hadn’t dared to take the plunge and pursue a woman of Oskian descent.Nevertheless, Edmund had changed radically from his student days. He now had enough resources in the family as well as the control power, and now that he had taken his business to Oskia and started to enter the real estate sector here, he instantly set himself free from all the nuisances.The first thing he wanted to do was to court Doris.This was not only because he had always taken a
The next day, Charlie went out and bought a few rosewood jewelry boxes to put the pills he was going to give to the crowd tonight in.After all, it was a life-saving magical elixir for them, so he had to package the pills a little decently.On his way home after buying the jewelry boxes, he received a phone call from Isaac.As soon as the call was answered, Isaac’s excited voice resonated, “Mr. Charlie! The case of illegal fund-raising by the owner of the old residence reached a verdict this morning!”“Oh?” Charlie hurriedly asked, “How was it?”Isaac quickly said, “Well, the man was sentenced to a life sentence, and his entire assets were confiscated to pay the defendant’s debts, so now, all the assets under his name will enter the judicial auction process, including the old residence you’ve been concerned about.”“Wonderful!” Charlie immediately instructed, “Isaac, help me put my name in. I want to participate in the auction!”Isaac answered, “Don’t worry, Mr. Charlie. I’ve al
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
Later, after Charlie told Jeremiah over the phone about the joint venture with the Ackers to establish Curtis Autos, the old man was awash with tears, especially after Charlie told him that it was Keith who suggested it. After all, Curtis was his favorite son whose death he could never really get over. Moreover, he once believed that only his family mourned Curtis while the Ackers never did, and he held a grudge over his son's passing. As such, he was surprised that Keith held such great respect toward his late son and didn't hesitate to say yes when Charlie invited him to Aurous Hill to sign an agreement with the Ackers.Still, Charlie wasn't in a hurry to arrange for a specific time, and he was going to let the Ackers sort out the human resources of Godot Autos over a few days. It still wouldn't be too late by then.Moreover, he was keen to allow the buzz to have time to grow so that the automotive industry would be astounded by the joint project between the Ackers and the Wade
Christian was the first to exclaim in approval, "Yes! Curtis Autos sounds wonderful! It has my vote!""Seconded!" Kaiden nodded, pumping the air with his right fist. "I've looked up to Curtis the most, and I absolutely agree with naming the company after him!"Jaxson was nodding too. "Me too!""Yes!" Lulu chirped.Yolden couldn't help agreeing as well. "Curtis Autos is definitely a good name!"Merlin raised his hand gingerly as well. "Quit it with your flattery already," Keith chuckled, and he turned toward Charlie solemnly. "In the end, Curtis is Charlie's father, and the final decision goes to him!"Charlie's eyes were welling up with tears—his parents had been gone for almost three decades, yet he had never thought of dedicating anything to their memory.As such, Keith's suggestion to use Curtis's name for the car company left him thrilled. After all, wouldn't his father's soul be honored if Curtis Autos rocked the country, maybe even the world?With that in mind, he nodd
Charlie also had to agree that this was an opportunity to formally reconcile the Wades and the Ackers.While he couldn't reveal himself just yet, the Wades and the Ackers had been in-laws for years. Even if they had had a dispute for the longest time, restoring good relations made sense now that the Ackers had come to Oskia, and it wouldn't arouse any suspicion.That was why Charlie agreed to it without hesitation, even making a mental note to invite his paternal grandfather, Jeremiah, to Aurous Hill.The old geezers could meet up and clear the air while deciding on the partnership.Yolden was prepared to resign as a professor as well so that he could help the Ackers and Charlie fully develop their automotive company.With a general direction planned, he asked everyone, "Since we're creating a new brand, has anyone come up with a name?"No one was feeling inspired at that moment, but that was when Lulu, who had been silent throughout, said, "Since Charlie and our family are worki
Neither Charlie nor the Ackers expected Yolden's insight to cover all corners.In fact, it felt like the man had a blueprint ready and was only waiting for the time to put it to use.That was why everyone was immensely approving of Yolden and wanted no other man for the job of CEO.Kaeden smiled, "Well, since everyone has agreed, let's put this to rest as soon as possible—this will be a joint investment between our family and the Wades, and Professor Hart will take the post of CEO. Let's all do our best to make this a good one!"Yolden also made up his mind, deciding that he didn't want to let slip a chance to realize his ambitions. "I'll resign from the university after my honeymoon trip. It probably shouldn't be long, and I can get involved in early preparations via teleconference."Charlie nodded. "Then, we can have Uncle Kaeden stay on schedule while I'll ask the Wades to send a representative over to sign a memorandum for the investment."Keith smiled and nodded. "You should
Charlie hadn't been born and raised in Aurous Hill, but he still started living here at the age of eight and was more attached to this place than Eastcliff.If he was going to take part in this automotive investment with the Ackers, he naturally found Aurous Hill the ideal location.Not only would it create a huge number of jobs for Aurous Hill, but it would also rake in much economic flow for the region.Yolden also nodded at his suggestion. "If the first plant is meant to cover the demand of the entire local market, there's no reason for a coastal plant. Aurous Hill stands at an intersection between the north and the south, so transportation is convenient. It's also killing two birds with one stone, as Mr. Wade is fond of the city."Charlie couldn't help but agree. "I won't lie—Aurous Hill has been good to me, and I hope to give back. Nothing's better than succeeding in that respect."Yolden spread his hands, "Heavy industries are certainly ideal to contribute to Aurous Hill's e
Yolden had actually been researching new energy for a while—in fact, it was when Tesla's first car models were produced.He was passionate about the subject and had his own opinions as well as ambitions, but he was busy teaching, so he couldn't realize any of it.But was this not a golden opportunity tailor-made for him?Seeing that Yolden was clearly interested, Charlie turned toward Kaeden, "Actually, the professor is getting married soon. There's no way we'd split up newlyweds so soon after the wedding, right? So, is it possible to set up base in Aurous Hill instead?""Not a problem!" Kaeden replied without hesitation. "Our family is planning to return to Oskia anyway, and everyone knows about Ashley and Curtis. So, why don't we invest in this enterprise alongside the Wades and have the base set up in Aurous Hill? And then bring Godot under as a subsidiary?"Turning to Yolden, he continued, "By the way, Godot's plant is already in the province—barely 100 miles from Aurous Hill,