Charlie was dismayed by Helena’s sudden question.He did not understand why Helena would suddenly make this ridiculous request when he was sincerely talking to her about fate.He subconsciously asked, “This... doesn’t seem to be related to the topic that we are talking about, right?”Helena winked wryly and smiled. After that, this was followed by her body suddenly leaning forward as she then kissed Charlie tightly on his mouth with her red lips. Immediately after that, Helena bit her lower lip slightly with her teeth as she said bashfully, “Mr. Wade, if there was no BMW car and that antique vase, we would not have met at all. You would not have saved me, and I would not have fallen in love with you in such a short time. We would not have had that kiss just now, and you would not have taken my first kiss away, then. So, Mr. Wade, you’re right. Destiny is really amazing. I understand! I totally understand!” Charlie was speechless for a moment.Charlie did not expect that Helena
After saying that, Helena then asked Charlie again, “Mr. Wade, so many of your confidantes came up to Mount Wintry to help you yesterday despite the danger to their lives. Did all of them only fall in love with you after a long time? Is it possible that none of them fell in love with you in just a few days as I did?”Charlie was speechless for a moment.Among his confidants, aside from Quinn, whom he had known since his childhood, the one whom he had known for the longest amongst the others, was Jasmine, whom he had only known for just over a year. The time that he had known Nanako, Sophie, and Rosalie was actually even shorter.When Helena saw that Charlie was remaining silent, she said emotionally, “Mr. Wade, the reason why I’m backing out is not because I’m really afraid of becoming the queen. It’s just that I am afraid that I will not have the chance to meet with you again after I become the queen... instead of that, I would rather not become the queen, and I would rather take
“The matter where you said you like me?”Charlie was taken aback for a moment before saying casually, “We will put aside the matter where you like me for the time being. It’s not too late to talk about it after you have secured the throne first.”Helena could not help but ask, “Mr. Wade, is the matter where I like you directly related to the throne itself?” Charlie nodded and said indifferently, “Of course it’s related. I’m the kind of person who does not like weak people. Even those confidants of mine whom you have mentioned just now are mostly the head of several major families. All of them hold a certain degree of resources and connections and so, there is still a lot of collaboration that we can have between each other.”Upon hearing this, Helena understood the meaning behind Charlie’s words immediately, and she secretly thought to herself, ‘Mr. Wade is so strong, and he has just become the head of the Wade family. If I do not sit firmly on the throne, I’m afraid that I will n
Helena hesitated for a moment, but she still nodded. After that, her voice was a little choked up as she said, “Take care of yourself then, Mr. Wade!”Charlie smiled slightly and replied, “You too. You have my phone number, so you can call me directly if you need help.”Helena said with flushed red eyes, “I understand. Thank you, Mr. Wade!”“You’re welcome.” Charlie smiled and nodded. He then pushed the car door open and strode up to the Concorde with big steps.After boarding the plane, Charlie sat on the spacious sofa seat in the passenger cabin. He could see Helena, who was still sitting in the car as she looked up at him, through the porthole window.At this time, Helena’s eyes were already filled with tears, and there were several times when she could not help but cry.However, when she realized that Charlie was also looking at her, she then resisted the urge to cry, quietly wiped away her tears, smiled, and waved at Charlie. Charlie also nodded slightly at her in acknowle
As Charlie was returning to Oskia under the Northern Europe night, the members of the Wade family’s collateral family who had previously fled were all returning to Eastcliff one after the other with an apprehensive and worried heart. They faced the rising sun as they headed up Mount Wintry in order to face their sins in front of Ten Thousand Armies. This was because Ten Thousand Armies had made a public announcement that they had gotten the name list for the Wade family’s ancestor worship ceremony. Ten Thousand Armies also demanded that all the people on the list should come back. Therefore, these members from the Wade family’s collateral families could only desperately return to Eastcliff. When they had fled overnight earlier, they did not think that there would be anything wrong with them leaving overnight.This was because in their opinion, they were just members of the Wade family’s collateral families, and this should not be implicated in the grudge between Ten Thousand Armie
Tony was furious, and he cursed angrily, “You... You lackeys actually dare to hit me?!”Stephen said coldly, “Three seconds are up. Break his leg!”As soon as they heard these words, many of the members of the Wade family’s collateral families instantly had a stunned expression on their faces. No one would have expected Stephen to have such courage.At this time, Stephen’s subordinates had already pinned Tony down on the ground. One of the men then took a golf club and suddenly swung it hard so that the metal at the head of the club would hit Tony’s right knee directly, thus instantly smashing his knee into pieces!Tony wailed in despair and rolled on the ground in pain as he clenched his teeth and cursed under his breath, “Stephen Thompson! I... I will f*cking kill you!” Stephen said coldly, “If you say one more word from now on, I’ll get someone to smash your other knee as well!” As soon as Stephen’s words came out, Tony held back the pain and anger that he was feeling immedi
When Porter led the soldiers from Ten Thousand Armies and strode down from Mount Wintry, the members of the Wade family’s collateral families who were kneeling on the ground were already frightened to death.They knew nothing about the events that had happened up on Mount Wintry yesterday, and they only knew that the Wade family had already bowed before Ten Thousand Armies and given Ten Thousand Armies half of the family assets as compensation.And now, Ten Thousand Armies was targeting them.In their opinion, Ten Thousand Armies was definitely going to target their assets. At this moment, Porter had a straight and indifferent expression on his face as he walked at the forefront, followed by nearly a hundred core soldiers from Ten Thousand Armies. Whenever Porter got one step closer to them, these members of the Wade family’s collateral families would get even more frightened and nervous. When Porter finally stood in front of these people, many of them were already trembling i
As soon as Porter said these words, there were wailing sounds at the scene.Taking out half of their family assets would be even more ruthless than skinning them alive!After all, the skin was just a thin layer, but Porter was asking for half of their assets!The group of people kept begging, and Tony even choked up as he said, “Lord Waldron, we are just the Wade family’s collateral families. You cannot treat us like how you’re treating the core Wade family! As far as I know, the core Wade family only took out half of their assets, so how can you ask for the same conditions from us, then?”Tony’s words immediately resonated with the others. They realized that there would be nothing good when Ten Thousand Armies ordered them to return to Mount Wintry today, but they did not expect Ten Thousand Armies to actually have such a big appetite! Asking them to take out half of their assets was even more terrifying to them as compared to taking their lives.These collateral families had
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