Charlie rubbed his chin, and he was silent for a moment. After that, he laughed and said, “You’re right. Both of them are really still very young, and I also feel bad if I were to really ruin their future like this.”As he spoke, Charlie then sighed and said, “Sigh! I can choose to accept a private settlement for this matter since all of you are being so pious, but that will naturally depend on the attitude of both of your families in solving this problem.”As soon as Charlie said these words, the two families immediately understood the meaning behind his words. Since it would depend on their attitude, they would naturally have to show their sincerity, then. So, Walliot’s father, Gregory, immediately said, “Don’t worry, Mr. Wade. As long as you are willing to be magnanimous, I will pay you the two billion euros immediately!” When he said these words, Gregory felt a pain in his heart.Their family originally had a total of ten billion euros in assets, and he had already promise
Charlie already had a death grip over these two people now.Neither Walliot nor Olivia would be able to bear the consequences if this matter were to get exposed. Therefore, they would definitely do their best to come up with a way to solve this problem.Although five billion euros was a lot of money, they would certainly be able to come up with the money if they tightened their belts. Therefore, Charlie felt that sometimes, he would have to force his enemies into a corner. If he did not put pressure on them, they would not know how much money they could actually come up with. At this time, Olivia’s father, Richard, was also extremely nervous.He knew that Charlie already had a firm grasp on his family’s weakness now. If this matter were to truly get exposed, the royal family’s majesty would be wiped out. When the time came, it would be impossible for the people in the nation to allow Olivia, a member of the royal family who was a suspected criminal, to inherit the throne.
The croupier whom Charlie had placed a psychological hint on looked as though he had lost his soul. So, he was taken out by the others. After that, there were only four people left in the room. Gregory then said, “Everyone, we have to reach a consensus in this matter first. That means that we will have to stabilize Charlie tonight, and no matter what it is, we cannot let him expose this matter to the public. Otherwise, both of our families will be done for!” Richard sighed and said, “Charlie is asking for five billion euros. This is ten thousand times scarier as compared to bandits! Where are we going to get so much money for him?!”Olivia looked at Walliot and said angrily, “Walliot! This matter is all your fault because you were greedy! Now that Charlie is asking for five billion euros as compensation, I think that you should have to bear the cost of the entire five billion euros!” “I’ll have to pay for all of it?!” When Walliot heard this, he was instantly angry, and he said
Meanwhile, Charlie and Helena had already arrived at the Queen’s ward on the top floor of the ancient castle. The guards at the door originally wanted to stop them, but they immediately let Charlie and Helena in after asking Olivia for her instructions. When Charlie came to the ward, he sent the medical staff away and glanced at the old lady who was lying on the bed. This was a dying old woman, and since she had been tortured by her illness for a long time, she had already long lost the aura and majesty of a queen. Helena was filled with expectations as she looked at Charlie and asked him, “Mr. Wade, can you cure my grandmother and wake her up?”Charlie said indifferently, “I will definitely be able to heal her as long as she is still breathing.”As he spoke, Charlie then walked to the bed and placed his hand on the old lady’s pulse. A trace of Reiki slipped in quietly. A few moments later, Charlie gradually frowned, and he spoke up and said, “Old lady, I guess you must be th
As he spoke, Charlie then placed a trace of Reiki into the queen’s body, allowing her to have temporary control over her fingers for the time being.After that, Charlie then said, “You can try to control your right index and middle fingers now.”As soon as his words fell, the queen moved her two fingers up and down a few times.Helena was dumbfounded when she saw this, and she exclaimed, “Grandma can really hear what we’re saying?!”Charlie nodded and said, “That’s why I said that she must be really lonely.”After saying that, Charlie looked at the queen and asked, “My first condition is that you will have to announce your abdication and the fact that you will be passing on the throne to Helena immediately after you wake up. At the same time, you will also have to help Helena secure the throne and her position as the queen. If you can agree to this, I can guarantee that you will be able to live for at least another five more years. Can you accept this?”The queen’s right index fi
The queen, who had regained control of her body, tried several times to open her eyes but failed to do so due to the stimulation of the bright light. When Helena saw this, she hurriedly rushed forward and asked with concern, “Grandma, how are you feeling?”The queen spoke up with difficulty, “Helena... I-I’m fine... It’s just that... It’s just that my eyes cannot adapt to the bright light for the time being...”Helena immediately choked up with excitement and said, “Wait for a moment, Grandma. I will go and turn off the headlights!” Upon saying this, Helena immediately got up and turned off all the headlights in the ward, leaving only the softer lights on.It was only then that the queen finally opened her eyes. Immediately afterward, her vision gradually returned, and she could then see Helena’s face clearly. At this moment, the queen could not help but choke up and say, “Helena... It’s all my fault all these years! If I had known that Olivia was such a vicious person, I woul
“A hundred and ten years old?!” The queen murmured and repeated it in a dumbfounded manner. She really could not believe that this ordinary pill would have such a powerful effect.However, as soon as she thought of her personal experience just now, she threw all of her doubts aside. At this moment, she thought to herself, ‘This pill is really amazing! I just took a quarter of it earlier, and I managed to wake up completely. The effect will definitely be even more miraculous if I could take the whole pill, then!’ As she thought of this, she then said respectfully, “Don’t worry, Mr. Wade. I will definitely give Helena my full assistance and cooperate with your requests fully from today onward!” Only those who had come back from the dead would know how valuable life was. This was exactly the case for this Queen of Northern Europe, who was already elderly. She had already experienced the feeling of almost dying, and she had experienced that long darkness and loneliness. Therefor
Charlie had become an orphan at the age of eight, and after being exposed to so many years in society, he had experienced the cruelty and darkness of society.He knew very well that in the real world, the words ‘money is supreme’ had always been the eternal and unchanging truth for many people. Therefore, when he had brought up the price of five billion euros to Olivia and Walliot, he had never expected that this group of people would agree to it.The reason why he had given them half an hour to consider the matter was so that he could force them to have the intention to kill him.Charlie had deliberately chosen to save the queen at this time in order to drive Walliot and Olivia into a dead end. If they had decided to accept his terms and honestly concede defeat since they had taken the bet, he would also be somewhat more merciful toward them on the account of the five billion euros. However, if they decided to kill him, they would definitely go all out to kill the queen at th
As Zachary agreed to do a favor for Vintage Deluxe's Mick Crane in passing, he and Jacob agreed to meet up at 7pm at the car park by Antique Street.He first took Jacob back to the Calligraphy and Painting Association and called Billy, one of his boys whom he thought was smarter than the rest, giving him the gist of the plan and telling him to familiarize himself with the script.Then, he took the sculpture back to Heaven Springs and met up with Billy in office, telling Billy what to do in finer detail and making sure he committed everything to memory.Zachary's strength as a judge of character certainly proved itself—Billy had never done anything like this before, but he took to the plan like fish to water. He committed the script to memory soon enough, and he was flawless.Once he made sure that Billy was fine, Zachary called Mick.As soon as Mick answered, he immediately asked, "Hello, Mr. Evans. How is that thing we talked about going?"Zachary chuckled. All the arrangements
Zachary continued, "Why do you think casinos are always making a profit? It's exactly because no matter how unassuming a guest is the first time, they would be allowed to win a couple of hands, making a little profit.""And suddenly, they would think that they are the chosen one, destined to win against all odds and always come out triumphant! Once such radical, blind confidence hits them, every last bit of his money would be lost to the casino!""At that point, you can get anything from them—their house, their wife, their children… hell, they'd be willing to die if you'd just let them gamble again!"Turning toward Jacob with a grin, Zachary then asked, "So, with all the points I made and that sculpture you're holding… Do you still think Raymond wouldn't fall for it?"Jacob laughed out loud. "Oh, talk about a plan within a plan! No one would ever see it coming! Raymond Cole is so screwed!"Zachary smiled and nodded. "That's why there's no reason to rush—I'll arrange a man to get r
As soon as they drove out of the village, Jacob asked Zachary eagerly, "So, when do you think we should make our move? I can't wait!"Zachary didn't hesitate, "Let's do it today. It's better than waiting! I'll get someone reliable to bring this to Treasure Measure and get him interested. I'm sure that since he has just returned to Antique Street, he'll need a hot deal to generate hype and make himself known. That's why I'm sure he'll take this sculpture."Jacob nodded repeatedly as he chuckled. "I think so too. Today is definitely best since I'll be going to Dubai soon and probably leaving once I'm done with this. Once you get this settled by the end of today, I'll get tickets for the flight tomorrow!"Zachary grinned. "Don't worry, chief. We will definitely get it settled today…"He trailed off for a moment before continuing, "Still, you should be a little patient. We should do this in the evening—at the second just before Raymond Cole closes shop.""But why?" Jacob asked in curi
Jacob was naturally gleeful that he could get the late medieval bronze sculpture along with its base. Right after he wired the agreed upon ninety-eight grand to Mr. Cardensky, he was already imagining how Raymond would buy it from him for several hundred grand.On the other hand, once Mr. Cardensky received the transfer, he saw the name on the account: Jacob Wilson.He was left perplexed—wasn't that man's last name Montague? Who was this Jacob Wilson?Still, he didn't worry about it too much since most antique hustlers preferred to work with anonymity and therefore, using a different name was perfectly normal.He then carefully wrapped up the bronze sculpture before passing it Jacob, asking politely, "Would you happen to have any other requests, Mr. Montague? I have plenty of other items here if you'd permit me to give an introduction."Jacob shook his head, "Just this sculpture will do. I'm not fully confident in your work either since this is our first deal, so I'm just trying i
Jacob asked, "Then, what would this sculpture be worth if it was genuine?"Mr. Cardensky thought about it. "Well, there are standards when it comes to Renaissance relics, but with something this exquisite, it'd definitely be auctionable for one or two million—and that's the conservative estimate.""How much would you sell it to me for?" Jacob then asked."Thirty percent of the market price," Mr. Cardensky quickly replied. "As I've said, the conservative estimate for this one is around one to two million, so we will set the price with the median estimate value at 1.5 million. And thirty percent means 450 grand."Jacob shook his head right away. "No, no, no… that's too expensive. What if I end up unable to sell it, on top of that?"In his mind, while he could barely accept that pricing, he still needed Raymond to be able to afford it if he wanted to swindle Raymond for twice the money.Mr. Cardensky quickly chuckled, "Oh, Mr. Montague—now you're being too serious. In this business,
"Okay!"Mr. Cardensky smiled and pointed at a nearby farmyard. "There's our workshop—the good stuff is all in there. Allow me to take you there!"The farmyard seemed uninteresting at first glance, but Mr. Cardensky soon led them to the stables and brushed off the straws covering the floor, revealing a plank laid flat on the ground.Mr. Cardensky then lifted it, revealing a passage below—they had dug a cellar into the ground beneath, with the stables as an entry point.As Jacob followed Mr. Cardensky down the cellar, he exclaimed in awe, "Your operation is definitely big, digging such a huge cellar!"Mr. Cardensky smiled humbly. "Anyone working in the business would have sustained their losses before. In the end, we're all folk of humble origins, starting out with raiding tombs or excavating artifacts. Just digging a cellar is really nothing."As they conversed, they cleared the stairs and arrived at the main hall.It was certainly a hall as it was around a hundred square meters,
Zachary nodded repeatedly. "Mr. Montague? Very well!""Yes!" Jacob grinned smugly. "Longer last names are simply better—it just sounds so authoritative."With that agreed upon, both men alighted, where the master was waiting nearby.Seeing them get off, he hurried over to them, smiling, "Please, follow me."Zachary looked around and huffed, "Honestly, Mr. Cardensky, isn't this way too far from the highway? The road is narrow and terrible, and I have to park my car all the way out here. Just coming here is taxing."Mr. Cardensky smiled in turn. "My friend, that's exactly why we picked this place. Do you remember seeing a couple of cars parked by the road, occupying half of it?""We arranged for them to be there. Anyone coming by car would have to slow down that way, buying time for us to see who they truly are. If it's cops, our watchers would quietly text us while we clean the house and bail."Zachary exclaimed in realization, "You boys really run a tight ship!""For sure," Mr.
After working in Antique Street for years, Zachary's connections and influence were naturally special. And yet, though he was acquainted with some of the more impressive individuals, he was not that close with them either.For example, the forgery masters who worked specifically to deceive experts only accepted jobs from major clients, usually antique traders high in social status and wealth.In contrast, they wouldn't ever be interested in frivolous people like Zachary. Even if he could reach them, they might not look at him twice.If one would describe them as the cartel boss, then Zachary would be a low-level enforcer, managing night joints or goofing off.But now, Zachary had turned over a new leaf—he worked under Don Albert, so one of those masters was pleasantly surprised when he called one of them, inviting him to his own workshop for a visit and further discussion.As such, Zachary picked up Jacob and went over to the master's hideout where the latter worked on his count
Zachary was naturally shrewd enough to read Jacob's intention.In reality, he wasn't offering to pay just because he wanted the profit. He merely wanted to get in Jacob's good graces. After all, wouldn't Jacob be even more grateful that he wasn't just helping his revenge but also helping him make money?As such, he didn't hesitate to tell Jacob, "Well, chief—since you'll be paying, I will make sure that you will get every cent of profit that you deserve."Jacob was grinning ear-to-ear, but he said, "Oh, you don't have to! If we really are making a profit, there's no way I would let your good work go unrewarded!"Spreading his arms, he continued generously, "How about this? I will pay the full cost while you get twenty percent of the net profit!"Zachary laughed. "Now, that can wait, chief. We need to pay as soon as we decide on the item we want, and there's no time for buyer's regret. But if Raymond doesn't take the bait, all that money will go down the drain, and whether we can s