Kathleen went along with Mr. Bay’s question and replied with a smile, “Mr. Bay, don’t worry about me. You may continue to focus on the cultural exchange event with Mr. Wilson. The local art exhibition can wait until you’re both back from Korea. After all, I’m planning to stay in Aurous Hill for a long time.”“Oh? Is that so?” Mr. Bay was surprised to hear that. “That’s great to hear! An art exhibition with a budget of fifty million dollars will be one of the top exhibitions in terms of scale. We’ll need more time and energy to prepare so that we can carry out such a large art exhibition successfully.”“Yup!” Kathleen nodded and laughed. “I’ll be frank with you, Mr. Bay. My grandfather is planning to return here sometime later, which is why I came to Aurous Hill. Once I familiarize myself with this place, I’ll get a house ready for him. With that, he could move back to Aurous Hill without worry.”Mr. Bay asked curiously, “Ms. Jane, are you planning to settle down in Aurous Hill?”Ka
Jacob was completely unaware of the consequences of his words. He did not realize that he had unintentionally sold out his daughter and son-in-law to Kathleen. On the contrary, he felt that he had helped them immensely by referring a new client to his daughter and son-in-law.It wasn’t Jacob’s fault for being so unsuspecting. How could he tell that Kylie Jane was not who she claimed to be? Kylie’s real identity was Kathleen Fox, a daughter from a prestigious family with hundreds of billions US dollars in net worth. Little did he know, Kathleen rushed to Aurous Hill with the intent to find Charlie just before the Rejuvenating Pill auction. By the end of the meal, Kathleen was in a good mood.She did not mention Feng Shui and her home renovation for the rest of the meal. All she talked about was closely related to the art exhibition. She made it seem like Feng Shui and her home renovation were simply random topics that happened to come up only briefly earlier.While the group ba
Elaine could have never imagined that Jacob, who had been doing nothing for most of his life, would suddenly strike a pot of gold when he got older.Elaine kept mocking Jacob’s useless position as the vice president for the Calligraphy and Painting Association. Secretly, however, she knew that the position held a certain weight to it.The higher management of such cultural associations were usually cultural and influential people. On top of that, the city leaders respected them.However, Elaine had been tyrannical with Jacob all her life. She couldn’t let Jacob overshadow her with his new achievements, so she deliberately piled more and more ridicule on him to bring him down.Jacob was very displeased with Elaine’s ridicule, and wanted to refute her. Her scathing remark about him being a good-for-nothing who was just there to make up the numbers hit him hard. It stirred his sheer pettiness and deep-seated sensitive feelings of inferiority.He had felt the same as he was in front o
Charlie took the name card and glanced at it casually. He noticed there was only a name and a string of numbers on the card.Kylie’s name was printed on it with a domestic phone number starting with 159. There was still a faint smell of ink from the name card. It seemed as if it was printed not long ago.Charlie didn’t think much about it. He took out his phone, snapped a photo of the name card, and then handed it back to Jacob.He planned to contact Kylie tomorrow, have a quick look at her villa’s Feng Shui, and get it over with.On the next day, Jacob reminded Charlie again during breakfast. “Hey, Charlie. Remember to give Ms. Jane a call.”Charlie nodded. “I’ll send Claire to the office first and contact Ms. Jane later.”Jacob quickly said, “You can skip that. I’ll drive Claire to the office. Anyway, I need to go to the association earlier today, so Claire can leave her car with you. If Ms. Jane is in a hurry, you can drive and meet her immediately.”Claire agreed with anod.
Elaine was never interested in the amulet. Seeing that Jacob and Claire both had one except for her, she felt left out and voiced her complaints. She did not want Charlie to discriminate against her.When she heard about the two gold bars Charlie planned to give her, the cloud hanging over her disappeared immediately.She assumed that he got the amulets from some wholesale or small market. In most cases, the amulets would be only worth a few dollars or ten dollars at most. How could it be compared to two gold bars?She earned a lot more than them!She immediately clapped happily and chirped happily, “Oh, I see! That’s great to hear! Anyway, I won’t go out for a while until my legs recover. Giving a safety amulet to me is simply a waste. Gold bars make more sense. Besides, I can work out with it! Thanks, Charlie!”Claire shook her head helplessly upon seeing her mother’s obsession with money. She kept the amulet carefully and said softly, “Husband, I’ll leave with Dad.”“Okay,” Ch
Kathleen was still on the way when Charlie arrived at Sonfo valley. Charlie gave her a call and learnt that she would be arriving in ten minutes. Thus, he waited for her in front of the residential area.Initially, he thought of visiting Graham since the latter was just around the corner. However, he decided to scrap that idea since there wasn’t much time.About ten minutes later, a low-profile Cadillac car arrived and stopped beside Charlie.The backseat door opened not long after. A young lady stepped out of the car with grace.Charlie was slightly stunned by Kathleen when he first set his eyes on her. Kathleen was not only tall and beautiful, but had a sensual charm and exuded a witty demeanor. Kathleen scrutinized Charlie, who was standing in the front of his car. She immediately recognized him as Master Wade at just first glance. After all, she had seen him at Shangri-La a few days ago.She was relieved to have finally met him. She approached Charlie and greeted him with a
There was only one downside to staying in Sonfo Valley. The place was far from the urban areas, so the traffic would be inconvenient if one entered and left the city during rush hours.As Charlie came here in the morning, the traffic was considerably smooth. If he were to travel during the after-work rush hour, he would spend at least double the time, and would be mainly stuck in traffic.The most expensive villas in Sonfo Valley were the ones next to the reservoir. There were only five units in total. Graham bought two of them, and had spent a lot more to combine them into one huge villa.While they were approaching the reservoir, Charlie asked, “Ms. Jane, did you purchase a waterfront mansion?”“That’s right.” Kathleen nodded and explained with a smile, “I heard the best units are the ones near the water, but I’m unsure if there’s anything peculiar about the Feng Shui.”Kathleen entrusted the task of purchasing the house to Sherry. At first, she had no idea of her newly bought v
Charlie did not realize that something was amiss, even when Kathleen mentioned his wife Claire. After all, his father-in-law had already told her everything about their family. Seeing that Kathleen planned to renovate such a large house, Charlie immediately told her, “My wife has a lot of projects on hand recently. She’s probably already running at full capacity. Are you planning to do a complete overhaul? There’ll be a huge workload for a major renovation here. I think she won’t be able to take on the project even if she wants to. I think Ms. Jane should look for other companies.”Kathleen nodded lightly and grinned. “If there’s a chance, I’ll visit your wife’s company. It’ll be nice if she can accept the project, but it’s fine if she can’t.”Kathleen was worried. She did not want to offend Charlie, so she quickly explained, “Mr. Wilson recommended her services to me. I don’t want to make Mr. Wilson unhappy by contacting other designers first.”Kathleen used Jacob as the reason f
However, to Jacob's shock, Elaine wasn't misled at all as she growled icily, "Why would I ask anyone else?! If there's someone I must question, it's Matilda! She's getting married, isn't she? Good! I will be there and ask her why she hooked up with my husband!"Jacob turned pale right then.Matilda's son and even some of their old classmates would be attending her wedding.If Elaine went, he would be exposed, and he wouldn't be able to stay in Aurous Hill out of shame!His nerves gnawing at him, Jacob could only plead, "Please, just trust me this once! Anything else aside, she's getting married, anyway—there's no way that I'd have anything to do with her! That alone should prove my innocence!"Elaine snorted. "If Matilda returned when I was arrested, it means she has been back for a while! And you're saying nothing happened since? Hell, even if she's married, it doesn't prove that she wasn't up to some hanky-panky with you! Maybe while I was arrested and refused a divorce when you
The driver was left dumbstruck—this wasn't how it was supposed to go.Still, he blurted, "C-Crashing into a Cullinan? I might end up dead instead…""Fine! Then let's change cars, and you crash into ours—how about that?!" Elaine promptly retorted before continuing, "Or we could just stand right in front of your car while you run into us! I just happen to have a death wish, but if you don't kill me now, I'll kill you! Don't think about getting away either—I know your car plate! I'll sell this car and use the money to put a bounty on your head! I don't care what happens to me now! I'll claw my nails into the devil's face even if he shows up!"The driver was actually quite experienced, but even he had yet to meet someone as ridiculous as Elaine.Barely able to keep his hands steady, he threw them up as he apologized, "I'm so sorry, ma'am—I just lost my cool. I'm merely a humble driver of a Honda Civic while you own a Rolls. Hell, I spent fifty bucks buying that red emblem from Amazon,
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