At noon the next day, Charlie and Claire flew to New York in the United States on the transoceanic flight of Air Oskia. The entire flight took sixteen hours, and by the time the both of them arrived in New York, it was already 2.00 pm local time.Charlie was usually used to taking the Concorde which was three times faster compared to a civilian airliner, so when he took this ordinary plane, it felt like a direct descent from a high-speed rail train to a regular train.Fortunately, he had bought them first-class tickets, and they could lie down and sleep in the first-class cabin. Otherwise, the journey would have been particularly tormenting.After a sixteen-hour flight, Claire was still in a very good state, and she did not look tired or exhausted at all. On the contrary, she was feeling some anticipation and excitement. After getting off the plane, the couple took another hour or so to complete the process of entering customs and picking up their luggage. Charlie picked up th
Kelly hesitated for a moment, nodded gently, and said, “That is also possible.”Kelly did not know what had happened to the Fox family and so, she did not know that Kathleen had already started her escape journey with her grandfather at this time. Moreover, Kathleen did not dare to contact these two people at all when she left in order not to leave any clues or traces behind for her eldest uncle. Luckily, Kelly did not think much of it.After all, Kathleen was the young lady of the Fox family, and she was not on the same level as her at all. If Kathleen had something that she needed to deal with temporarily, there was no need for her to inform Kelly about it.So, Kelly put the matter behind her and laughed as she said, “Let’s not worry about it first. Perhaps she will come and look for us after she’s done getting busy.”At this time, Charlie had also completed the check-in procedure. He handed his luggage over to the bellboy so that the former could take them upstairs first, an
When Charlie saw this text message, his heart instantly tensed up, and his first reaction was to call this number back immediately.However, what he did not expect was that the other party would have already turned off the cell phone as soon as he had just received the text message from the other party. Charlie became nervous, and he hurriedly sent a video call request to Stephanie.The video call was quickly connected, and Stephanie, who was on the other end of the call, was standing behind the cashier’s desk with a smile on her face as she asked, “Brother Charlie, why are you video calling me at this time?”When Charlie saw that Stephanie was fine, he became relieved, and he said, “Stephanie, I just received a text message saying that you were in trouble and the other party asked me to go to Vancouver immediately. What’s going on? Are you in some kind of trouble?” “Huh?” Stephanie had a surprised look on her face as she said, “I am not in any kind of trouble... I’m just watchi
After saying that, Charlie asked, “Mrs. Lewis, where did you come back from?”Mrs. Lewis laughed and said, “I just came back from the daycare class. I have nothing else to do, so I often go to help the young people in Oskiatown take care of their children.”Charlie nodded and said, “I heard Stephanie mentioning it the last time we spoke. How is your life over there?”“Good! It’s pretty good!” Mrs. Lewis smiled and said, “Our usual activity area is in Oskiatown, and the place where we live is also an Oskian community. Aside from the different climate and environment, it actually feels similar to us being in Oskia.”At this time, Claire walked out of the inner room and asked curiously, “Honey, who are you video calling?”Charlie hurriedly waved at her and said, “Claire, come over and say hello to Mrs. Lewis!”When Claire heard that Charlie was on a video call with Mrs. Lewis, she hurriedly ran over and came up to Charlie. She then waved happily at the video and said, “Mrs. Lewis! S
Even after Charlie and Claire had returned to their room after having dinner with Kelly, the mysterious person who had sent the text message still had not replied to Charlie.Charlie had also tried to secretly call the other party, but the other party was still in a shutdown state. Charlie still felt a little uneasy, so he sent another text message to the phone number, and the text message read: [If you are Stephanie’s friend and you are just giving me a warning out of goodwill, please give me more specific information. Thank you.]After he had sent the text message, it was still like a stone that had sunk into the sea.Claire was somewhat tired because she had been traveling for the whole day and so, she could not bear the sleepiness and went to bed after taking a bath.After Charlie had taken a shower, he wrapped himself in a bathrobe and walked to the terrace of the presidential suite on the top floor of the building. He had mixed feelings as he looked at the lights outside.
“Okay, Old Master Lennard. Thank you for your hard work.”After hanging up Chandler’s call, Charlie could not help but ponder in his heart, “Eldest Uncle came to buy a Rejuvenating Pill, and it seems as though it should be for Grandpa. Combined with Old Master Lennard’s hexagram, it should be that there is some kind of condition with Grandpa’s body.”As he thought of this, a thought also flashed through Charlie’s mind. Shouldn’t he confirm his maternal grandfather’s situation and lend him a helping hand if the situation was critical?However, when Charlie thought back to the doubts that he had when he was thinking about his parents just now, he felt a little indignant.The Acker family was so strong, so why didn’t they ever look into finding out the truth behind his parents’ death even twenty years after their death?In addition, Charlie still remembered that his maternal grandfather had never had anything good to say to his mother when he followed his mother back to the United St
When Charlie saw this text message, he knitted his brows tightly and called the other party immediately. However, a notification prompt quickly sounded, telling him that the other party had already turned off his cell phone!This caused Charlie to feel a kind of anger where he was being toyed with.So, he stood up immediately and said to Claire, “Honey, I’m going out to make a phone call.”Claire realized that something was wrong from the expression on Charlie’s face, and she wanted to ask him the reason. However, she was afraid of delaying Charlie’s business and so, she nodded and said softly, “Go quickly.”Charlie took his cell phone out of the restaurant, and he called Porter directly at a location where there was no one else around.As soon as the phone call was connected, he said to Porter immediately, “Porter, I need you to check a phone number for me. Find out exactly who is using this number and where this person is. The location should be as accurate as possible!”Port
If Porter were to send people from the Middle East to Vancouver, Canada, the flight distance alone would already be over ten thousand kilometers. He did not have a Concorde, and it would take them more than ten hours to get there at the earliest.In that case, if something were to happen to Stephanie within these ten hours, no one would be able to help her at all.So, the person who was closest to Stephanie at this time was Charlie himself.After all, if he were to fly from here, he could get to Vancouver in four hours, and he could also get there in three hours if he could rent a Gulfstream G650.Therefore, Charlie immediately decided to go to Vancouver personally! He was also worried if the person who had sent the text message was simply using this as a diversion to lure him away. In that case, his wife, Claire, would definitely be in danger if she was left alone in the United States. However, once Charlie thought of how the person who had sent the text message was by Steph
As Ian Cash's trio turned and left Treasure Measure, Trippy was still standing there, staring blankly as they headed off to the distance, utterly dispirited.Seeing that, Raymond returned his phone and said coolly, "We had agreed on some ground rules, but not only did you break them, you even tried to sabotage me.""Since you refuse to be honorable, you can't blame me for being cold—starting now, we shall have nothing to do with each other. We'll be strangers even if we bump into each other."Trippy was already choking, and he snatched his phone back before dashing out of Treasure Measure, calling Mick Crane as soon as he left.Mick had just arrived at Vintage Deluxe and hadn't even sat down when Trippy called, and he asked as soon as he answered, "How did it go? What did you find out?"However, Trippy was so exasperated he burst into tears right then, "M-Mr. Crane… My dear Mr. Crane…"Mick was left reeling from shock, and he promptly snapped, "Can't you fucking talk? Why are you
Seeing that the transaction was complete and that the bargain deal had been taken, the other collectors all excused themselves and left.As for Ian, once he had bagged the bronze sculpture, he nodded at Raymond. "I apologize for leaving early, Mr. Cole, but I must return to Eastcliff. However, you can contact me again should you pick up another treasure. I'm quite a spendthrift, and I pay up right away if the item is good and the price is right."Raymond smiled. "Very well. I shall contact you first the next time I get something good."Ian nodded and was ready to leave with his two friends when Trippy chased after them."Please, Mr. Cash!" He cried urgently, his anxiety overcoming him. "You shouldn't buy that! It's a forgery!"Ian frowned at him. "Are you trying to sabotage Mr. Cole? Aren't you supposed to be his friend?""Hell, no!" Trippy promptly replied. "I'm no friend of his—I'm just here to watch, but I didn't think he dared to trick you for 20 million! I can't bear to see
No one except Raymond expected that the terms would be agreed upon so quickly.He was utterly confident in his judgment and even more so in his value appraisal.He was convinced that once they had a good look, any one of these collectors who could afford twenty million wouldn't miss this bargain.After all, an opportunity to secure an item worth millions more than the price they paid was very rare.In fact, when the other nine collectors heard that the first collector was buying it, it was only to be expected even if it left them all gloomy. They had all held the bronze sculpture in their hands—they knew it was definitely worth that much.However, no one in the room was more shocked than Trippy.He looked utterly flabbergasted, his eyes wide and bulging as he stared at the bronze sculpture while asking himself the same question repeatedly.Was that crap really worth twenty million? How?!While Trippy was still stunned, Raymond had already sent his payment details to the first
Unable to nitpick on the air stewardess' response, Elaine pouted, "Well, try to ask management to improve on your first-class cabins anyway. Maybe even make a premium-class or something since it's not like we can't afford it."The air stewardess quickly said, "We will definitely relay your message to the management."Nodding in satisfaction, Elaine waved her off. "Alright. You can go back to work now."Clearly relieved, the air stewardess bowed her head respectfully. "Always happy to be of service."After the air stewardess left, Jacob asked Elaine in curiosity, "Was the private jet that good?"Elaine rolled her eyes. "Didn't you see the stuff I posted in the chat group?""Not really," Jacob blurted. Elaine was ready to snap at him for not caring, but considering that they had made up now and she shouldn't fuss too much over the little things, she snorted, "Just remember to like and comment on all my posts in the chat group, otherwise, I will make you regret it!""No problem!"
While the ten collectors were taking turns studying the bronze sculpture, Jacob and Elaine were boarding their flight.As they were flying first-class, they had priority over the other passengers and boarded from the separate plug door at the first-class section.The capacity of the Boeing 777 was huge, and the wide-body aircraft could be connected to a special double corridor bridge where first class and business class passengers boarded separately from the economy class passengers.As the terminals to economy class and business class were connected, Elaine and Jacob were able to get through the first-class terminal unimpeded, but the passengers in economy class had a queue of over two hundred passengers. Even as she walked, Elaine was looking over her shoulder and exclaiming at Jacob, "Must be nice being rich! We used to have to queue like the rest of them, waiting for over thirty minutes just to board our flight." "In first class, we may be in the same plane, but we don't hav
Meanwhile, once Raymond had briefed everyone about the rules, he opened the door and invited everyone into Treasure Measure.It was not that wide but appeared spacious since the interior was mostly empty—it was not really crowded even with thirty-ish people.Then, locking the door from the inside, Raymond told them, "I can tell from everyone's faces that we are all veterans here, so I'm sure you understand the rules while appraising: no photos or videos, thank you very much."Indeed, there were many rules that governed the hobby, the most important being respecting the seller's requests and privacy.As the collectors listened, they knew that Raymond was selling but did not want the public to know too much about him.They all nodded, and those who had their phones out slid them back into their pockets.With that, Raymond took out the bronze sculpture that he had brought, leaving Trippy a little surprised.He had never seen the bronze sculpture with his own eyes before, only from
"Alright!" Trippy was at once fawning, tagging along behind Raymond like a little child.Around thirty people were waiting in front of Treasure Measure by now. The collectors came in twos or threes, and all ten numbers had since been taken.Before Raymond arrived, he had a brief look at the collectors' faces through the security cameras before walking over, and he was really relieved to see no familiar faces.Having traded Oskian antiques for years abroad, it was only natural that he was acquainted with some of the elite collectors in the country.He also knew that they were especially demanding with the quality of their collection and wanted almost flawless items. As such, the bronze sculpture which had been completely lost wouldn't interest them.Still, he was also a little concerned that amongst the elite collectors he knew, there might be some who were losing money and losing purchasing power in turn. If they happened to take an interest in the bronze sculpture on top of that,
Trippy grinned. "I mean, just look at my stall—ain't no way I'm getting any business here. Why not let me check out this item of yours? And see how interested they are? I'm really interested in learning and upping my game."Then, as if worried that Raymond would refuse, he quickly added, "Don't worry—I promise to stay in a corner and just watch."Still, Raymond could guess right then that someone must have sent Trippy to spy on him.It didn't matter whether it was Mick, Jacob, or Zachary either—they were all in this plot together, and one knowing meant all three knowing.Trippy was a gossiper in nature. If he was allowed to witness the whole process, everyone down Antique Street would definitely know before long.In fact, he could use someone like that right now, and Trippy had come straight to his doorstep.With that in mind, Raymond smiled, "Come join me if you're interested. It's not like there's anything to hide…"Pausing, he then warned Trippy, "But since you're going in my
After watching Mick's video, Jasmine's opinion of the man improved considerably.She was actually well aware that the decline of Vintage Deluxe was mostly due to Mick's incompetence.However, as Jasmine was now managing a billion-dollar company, she couldn't spare any time to ask many questions about Vintage Deluxe's performance. In her opinion, as long as Vintage Deluxe didn't lose too much money or ruin the reputation they had worked so hard to build, she wasn't interested in a regime change.It was the same mindset as Marianne Long, who begged her father to keep that lane full of food stalls in Hong Kong over sentiment.As such, seeing that Mick actually had some skill pleased her considerably.She couldn't resist checking out the comments of the video too.She saw that many were praising the manager of Vintage Deluxe for taking a tough stand against the scammer as well as how Vintage Deluxe's reputation was long-standing and without comparison.She soon noticed Jacob's comme