Rachel was also in a very good mood. She took out red wine and wanted to drink with him too.Rachel sincerely liked Charlie, and she was very satisfied with him. So, the way that she was treating Charlie was no longer as if he was her future son-in-law, but instead, she was simply treating him as if he was her own son.Charlie also really enjoyed this kind of feeling in the Golding family where all three members of the Golding family treated him with utmost sincerity. In addition, both of their families had a family-like friendship for so many years, and thus, this made Charlie truly feel a sense of home. Just as Charlie and Yule’s family of three were happily drinking and dining together, Felix sent Helena back to the hotel before returning to the Wade family mansion to resume his duties.When Jeremiah saw that Charlie did not come back with him, he immediately spoke up and asked, “What’s the matter? Where’s Charlie? Why didn’t he come back with you guys?”Felix had been waiti
Jeremiah frowned when he heard this, and he asked Stephen, “Stephen, you were also at the scene at that time. Do you think that Charlie was being serious when he said those words at that time, or do you think that he was just making careless and irresponsible remarks?”Stephen said respectfully, “Lord Wade, I think that Young Master Charlie truly meant what he was saying. It did not seem like he had any frivolous intentions.”Jeremiah nodded gently and spoke up, “I think so too.”Felix suddenly blurted out, “Grandpa! You cannot possibly be serious, right?! Charlie was obviously taking advantage of Helena. How can you say that he does not have any frivolous intentions?”Jeremiah said indifferently, “In my opinion, Charlie must have seen some kind of health issues on Helena’s body. Based on my understanding of Charlie, he would not act so rashly as to rack his brains just to make up some stories just so that he could take advantage of a girl.”Felix protested. “Grandpa, you’re being
Stephen immediately said, “Okay, Lord Wade. I’ll go and make the arrangements now.”Felix hurriedly stepped forward and asked in a very dissatisfied tone, “Grandpa! Are you really going to arrange for a whole bunch of doctors to go and give Helena a medical examination just because of one word from Charlie?! Have you ever considered Helena’s feelings? What if she is very resistant to this idea? What if she develops any negative thoughts or opinions on our family because of this matter?”Jeremiah waved his hand. “When it comes to this kind of matter, I’d rather believe it to be true than not. Let Stephen go and ask her about it, then. If Helena is resistant to the idea, we will not force it either. However, if she does not have any complaints or opinions about it, we will just proceed with the medical examination, and everyone will be happy too.”Stephen nodded immediately and said, “I will go and make the preparations immediately, then. I will also try to get female experts to go ov
Very soon, eight female experts departed from the Wade family’s private hospital to head to the Shangri-La hotel in Eastcliff.Stephen also rushed over there from the Wade family mansion together with Carmen. At this moment, Helena was leaning against the soft bedrest, and she was feeling very weak.She hesitated as she held her cell phone in her hand. After that, she sent a video call request to her mother who was far away in Northern Europe.There was a six-hour time difference between the countries in Northern Europe and Eastcliff. It was 1 pm in Eastcliff time, which would be exactly 7 am in Northern Europe time.Based on Helena’s understanding of her mother, she would certainly be awake by now. Very soon, the video call was connected. Helena’s mother was sitting alone at the table as she ate breakfast over the other end of the video. When Helena’s mother saw Helena, she could not help but smile and say, “How are you feeling in Oskia? Is there anything that you cannot get
Helena’s mother shook their head and said, “It’s not their problem. It’s because your grandmother’s condition is really not that good now. She’s currently bedridden, and the medical team has also transformed her room into an intensive care unit. Several doctors and nurses are guarding over her every day.”Helena hurriedly asked, “Is it that serious? What is going on exactly?”“It’s very serious.” Helena’s mother said, “The specific situation is very complicated, and the main reason is because she is really old now, and many of the organs in her body are on the edge of failure. I heard that she only has two to three months left at most. These days, your uncle has been secretly preparing for your cousin sister’s enthronement ceremony in private.”Helena nodded gently and said seriously, “If Olivia ascends to the throne, it will also be a good thing for us. At the very least, she will treat you even kinder on account of my sisterhood and relationship with her for so many years.”“I ho
Carmen could not help but feel a little suspicious when she saw that Helena did not even hesitate to reject the proposal for the doctor to perform a medical examination on her. Furthermore, Helena seemed to have a very nervous and apprehensive look on her face. Generally speaking, only poor people or those who were not so well-off would be more afraid to see a doctor.This was because they grew up knowing that as long as they went to the doctor, it would have to be in the case where they were ill. It was precisely because they would either be getting an injection or eating medication whenever they went to the doctor that this left a psychological shadow in their hearts, and they could not help but feel a little nervous as soon as anyone mentioned a doctor. Many people from such families would also have a great fear of doctors even when they reached adulthood. They also had the basic principle of not going to the hospital as much as possible in their daily life. However, Helena
As she thought of this, Helena could only toughen up her attitude and say with some dissatisfaction, “Madam Wade, I know that you have good intentions, but you’ve suddenly brought a bunch of medical experts over here, and you are forcing me to undergo a medical examination against my will. This is a little unjustified, right? Although I am about to marry Felix and become the Wade family’s daughter-in-law, can’t I have some basic human rights at least?”Carmen smiled and said, “Oh, Helena! You’re making it sound too serious. Why are you talking about human rights now? No one is trying to deprive you of your human rights. We simply want to give you a medical examination so that you will not have any health problems.”Helena said very seriously, “The most direct response to human rights is that I should not be forced to undergo a medical examination against my own will if I refuse to undergo a medical examination. If I cannot even have any right to this freedom and if my basic human rig
The first thing that Carmen, who had been denied entrance, did when she returned to the Wade family mansion was to go and complain to Lord Wade.When Lord Wade saw her, he was also a little surprised, and he asked, “Carmen, why are you back so soon? Did you perform a medical examination for Helena already?”Carmen replied unhappily, “The princess from Northern Europe simply refused to allow me to do so. I kindly offered to give her a medical examination, but she said that I was violating her human rights, and she even raised this small matter at the level of big issues relating to society, morals, and politics. I could also see that she was very determined. If I insisted on giving her a medical examination, she would definitely have gone back to Northern Europe.”When Jeremiah heard this, he could not help but frown and mutter coldly, “If Helena is being so resistant toward a medical examination, this only makes me feel even more convinced of Charlie’s judgment. There must be someth
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
Vera was inwardly disappointed to hear that Claire was returning.That meant there were fewer chances of Charlie visiting the Scarlet Pinnacle Manor, as were her chances of seeing him again.Still, she didn't let it show, instead asking casually, "How are things at Champs Elys? Are the warriors improving at a rate to your satisfaction?""Well, most of everyone's improvement is within expectations…" Charlie explained, just as he remembered a certain someone. "By the way, there's something I haven't told you yet. Are you perhaps acquainted with the name Ito Nanako?""Yes," Vera smiled. "The Japanese lady who was with you. What about her?""She attained enlightenment days ago.""Enlightenment?" Vera did a double take and soon pressed, "Enlightenment in what sense? Essential Qi or Reiki?"After all, the former was the path to enlightenment in martial arts, while the latter meant enlightenment in cultivation.But despite the distinction between both domains, enlightenment was a comm
While Charlie had long since gotten used to Elaine and Jacob's bizarre marriage, being near the heart of the storm still took a toll on his senses—to the point that he felt physically sick.Leaving right away was therefore his best solution.Once he left, however, he realized he didn't have anywhere to go. Champs Elys was quite far, and it would take a lot of time.As he started to feel bored stiff, he remembered Vera for some reason and called her.Once Vera answered, she quickly asked in curiosity, "To what do I owe the pleasure? Lunch, perhaps?"Charlie chuckled. "Since you've put it that way… I haven't eaten either, so lunch it is!"Vera giggled. "Come over to my place, then. It's cold outside, and I was just lighting up a hot pot. I'll have Madam Marilyn prepare an additional portion.""Okay!" Charlie agreed to it without hesitation. "I can return her car too. Just wait, I'll be right there!"Once he hung up, he got on the Rolls Roycs he had borrowed from Scarlet Pinnacl