Charlie slowly drove into the Aurous University of Finance and Economics. At this time, it was already the university’s lunch break. Many students were walking on the campus ground. Most of them were walking toward the cafeteria and their dormitories, and some of them seemed to be heading out of the university to eat.Autumn asked Charlie, “Mr. Wade, would my father have already gone out to eat lunch? Should we contact him first?”Charlie nodded before he smiled and said, “I’ll call him in a short while. You should not say anything at all.”Autumn knew that Charlie simply wanted to give her father a surprise. So, she immediately agreed, “Okay…”Charlie parked the car below the administrative office building. After that, he called Yolden via WhatsApp.As soon as the voice call request was sent, the other party answered the call immediately. Immediately after that, Yolden’s voice came over the other end of the line, “Charlie, how are things over there?! Is there any progress?”Char
He knew that he did not have the ability to save his daughter and that he might not even be able to reach the place where his daughter was currently being detained. However, he hoped that he would be able to be closer to her. That way, he would be able to find some comfort in his heart.Just as he was feeling very restless and anxious, there was suddenly a knock on his door. Yolden’s chaotic thoughts were forcibly interrupted, and he could only walk to the door as he stretched out his hand to open the door.As soon as the door was opened, he saw a young and fashionable woman standing outside his door, but the woman was wearing a mask. He could not see her appearance, so he asked in surprise, “Hello. May I know what I can do for you?”Yolden did not recognize his daughter, who was standing in front of him.It was not to say that Yolden and his daughter were unfamiliar with each other, but in his memory, his daughter, Autumn, would not usually wear this kind of fashionable and femi
When Yolden heard Autumn’s words, he was instantly shocked. When he saw Autumn’s face, he yelled out loud in horror and shock, “Autumn?! Is it truly you?!”Although Autumn was standing right in front of him, deep down in his heart, Yolden could not truly believe that this woman in front of him was indeed his own daughter. This was because deep down in his heart, Yolden firmly believed that his daughter was still in Syria at this time.There was no way she could suddenly appear in front of him now.This was especially so since he had just spoken to Charlie just now, and even Charlie had not seen her yet.Moreover, the United States had not sent anyone over there to rescue them. So, it would simply be impossible for the Syrian armed opposition force, who had held his daughter hostage, to simply release her and let her go.Nevertheless, even if the Syrian armed opposition force were to truly be so compassionate and merciful, there was no way Autumn could appear back in Aurous Hil
As he spoke, he hurriedly asked, “Hurry up and tell me how the both of you came back! How did you manage to come back within such a short time? Was the entire process very smooth?”Charlie smiled as he said, “It did not proceed very smoothly at first, but it became very smooth rather quickly. I happened to meet and befriend the commander of the opposition force, and the other party was also very easygoing. So, he let Autumn go.”Yolden hurriedly looked at Autumn, who was aside, before he asked her, “Autumn, did you suffer any grievances when you were there?”Autumn adjusted her sitting posture before she replied awkwardly, “They locked us up in a cellar, and they did plan to kill us at first. But fortunately, Mr. Wade rescued us in time. Otherwise, we would have already been executed one after the other…”Yolden was extremely grateful as he told Charlie, “Charlie, I really owe you my life for bringing Autumn home safely. From now on, my life belongs to you! May I be punished and st
When Yolden suddenly asked this question, Autumn’s face turned even redder.She secretly thought to herself, ‘Am I feeling uncomfortable?! Of course I’m feeling uncomfortable! The lingerie that Charlie bought for me is two sizes smaller than the lingerie I usually wear! I’ve been suffocating all the way until this point, and I feel that it is even tighter when I sit down…’However, she certainly would not be able to say such words. So, she could only hesitate as she replied ambiguously, “Oh, Dad, I’m fine. Perhaps it’s because I’ve not eased my spirit yet, and I’m still feeling a little nervous…”Yolden did not think too much. He nodded gently before he said emotionally, “You must have suffered a lot after staying in that kind of place for such a long time. Moreover, you have experienced war and kidnapping. So, it is normal for you to be feeling a little mental tension.”Autumn had an embarrassed look on her face as she thought to herself, ‘I’m not feeling mentally tensed. I’m feel
As soon as the call was connected, Albert’s voice sounded over the other end of the line, “Master Wade, what are your instructions for me since you’re calling me?”Charlie said, “This is the case. I want to invite a friend over to have lunch. So, I want to ask you if there are any empty private rooms in the afternoon at The Heaven Springs?”Albert did not hesitate at all as he said, “Master Wade, you can just head to The Heaven Springs directly. We have already stopped serving guests in the Diamond Room in The Heaven Springs for a very long time. It is specially reserved for you. So, you can go there whenever you want to!”Charlie said in surprise, “Albert, you don’t have to do that, right? The Diamond Room there is so popular! If you do not serve any other guests, your losses would not be small!”Albert smiled as he said seriously, “Master Wade, I owe my life to you. So, what is a mere Diamond Room? As long you need it, it would not matter even if The Heaven Springs stopped servin
Charlie knew that Yolden had a background as a professor. So, this kind of senior intellect tended to think highly of themselves, and they were bound to be a little prejudiced when judging people like Albert.Still, the good thing was that Yolden did not continue dwelling on this fact. Instead, after listening to Charlie’s explanation of the general situation, he let go of his inner entanglement. Charlie stood up before he said to the father and daughter, “Uncle Hart, Autumn, let’s go.”Yolden nodded before he stood up instantly. As for Autumn, who was aside, she had already been long suffocated to the point that she could no longer stand it anymore. So, she could not wait to stand up.This was mainly because she really felt as though the feeling that she was getting suffocated to death when she was sitting on the sofa was seriously too unbearable.In truth, she had already wanted to stand up a long time ago. However, since her father and Charlie were both seated, she did not wan
‘But that should not be the case! Even if the quality is really bad, at most, there would be a loose thread of the silk, right? There is no reason for it to fall apart!’‘Could it be that…’A possibility abruptly emerged in Charlie’s mind, and he was instantly startled!He subconsciously looked at Autumn, and he suddenly realized that the curve of her upper body, which had been wrapped up by the fitting dress, suddenly seemed to be bulging a little more at this time.‘Could it be that the size that I bought was too small?!’Charlie suddenly realized the crux of the problem!The dress that he had bought was originally a high-end custom-made model. So, it truly showed off the person’s figure.In other words, a person’s strength and weakness would be distinctly exposed as soon as she put on this dress.When Autumn had been wearing this dress previously, he could see that her figure was not that great. Although she was not utterly flat-chested, she was not much better as compared t
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