Andre’s confession sent all the Italian gang members thunderstruck. Someone glared at Gopher and demanded darkly, “Is Andre telling the truth?!” “O-of course not!” Gopher was quick to deny, but voice trembled slightly as he spoke. He pointed at Andre and snarled, “Shut up, Andre! Now that Mr. Wade is letting me be boss, you’re acting like I’m stealing all your influence! You know you’re at risk of losing power, so you slander me with a lie. You’re painting me as a shameless villain so Mr. Wade will be disappointed in me. But Mr. Wade is a brilliant man. He won’t fall for your lies!” At this, a strange grin appeared on Charlie’s face. He played along with Gopher and snapped icily, “Andre, your tactic is quite despicable! The way I see it, this b*stard, err, this man looks loyal and honest. His words are reliable, and he even has a good hairstyle. It’s obvious he’s a loyal person. He’d never be ungrateful.” Having said that, Charlie narrowed his eyes at Andre in distaste. His ton
Since dead men tell no tales, doing so meant that Gopher could secure an opportunity for himself. The instant Gopher stretched his hand out, Porter took action and seized his wrist with swift ease. He exerted a small bit of force on Gopher’s wrist, squeezing it lightly. Yet, that was enough to send Gopher wailing in pain. Charlie said, “Porter, don’t disable his hand. He won’t be of value if he’s crippled.” Gopher didn’t understand what Charlie meant by value, but he had witnessed Porter’s strength earlier and knew that the man only needed to exert a small amount of force to break his right arm. It was Charlie’s words that temporarily rescued him from that predicament. Porter nodded respectfully, obeying Charlie’s words. He turned to his subordinate and said, “Tie him up!” A soldier stepped forward to tie Gopher’s hands. He gave Gopher a kick for good measure, sending Gopher staggering before falling on his knees once more. As his final struggle had failed, Gopher slumped
Andre had tossed caution to the wind, no longer caring if he would be implicated as well. He feared that Charlie would actually promote Gopher. With the Gopher’s style of conduct, he would surely get rid of Andre the moment he got the chance. Andre would rather expose this incident than let Gopher make it to the top! This clear recording was actually a trump card he kept should he ever need to subdue Gopher. To think he ended up using it at a time like this… What rotten luck! In fact, Gopher himself was aware that Andre would definitely leave evidence behind. Since ancient times, proof of loyalty was simply leverage offered to the other party. If he wanted to join, he couldn’t be free of sin. This was an organization where people killed for goods and dominated territories with violence. No one would trust a person who was free of guilt, or treat him like part of them. The only way to join was to kill a few men himself. He even had to bring the heads of those he killed,
Out of curiosity, Charlie asked, “Oh? Do explain yourself. I’d like to know why you claim you didn’t have a choice.” After a brief pause, Charlie added, “Wait a moment. Let me call the victim over.” Charlie turned to Porter and said, “Porter, bring her in.” “Understood, Mr. Wade.” Porter nodded respectfully before leaving. Soon, he returned with Claudia. By now, Claudia’s face was covered in tears. She had been listening to the entire thing from the very beginning. When she heard the recording of Gopher and Andre’s conversation, terrible fury overcame her. She wanted to stab Gopher with her bare hands and avenge her family right that instant. She balled her hands into fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms. Glaring daggers at Gopher, she snarled in a tone that held no mercy, “Gopher! It was my parents who took you in and gave you a new life when you had nowhere to go! Why did you kill them?” Upon seeing Claudia, Gopher blurted out in panic, “Claudia…! I…I was
At Gopher’s threat, Charlie stared at him with an amused smirk. “Wow! You’re nearing your death, but you’re still trying to harm Stephanie? I’m astonished.” Gopher wasn’t confident in his chances, but he knew this was his only way of surviving. Thus, he put on a savage expression and sneered at Charlie, “I’ve instructed my men to capture her when you were gambling at the casino! If you kill me, Stephanie will never see the light of day!” Charlie frowned. “Why did you want to kidnap Stephanie? How is a girl like her of any use to you? Or were you able to predict my plans?” Gopher gritted his teeth and went on, “In certain aristocratic societies, a girl like Stephanie is the strongest hard currency! Hell, she has more value than gold or jewelry! With her exceptional looks and the fact that she’s clean and not at all promiscuous, she can fetch up to a million dollars among the rich!” Then, Gopher added viciously, “Most of the rich men who bid on girls in auctions have mental iss
The instant Gopher saw Stephanie, all of his hopes were crushed. At that moment, he knew full well that his fantasies were shattered, and that he would surely die! There was just one thing that he didn’t understand. How did Charlie find out that he would target Stephanie? Out of reflex, he asked Charlie, “So, you losing at the casino twice was just an act?!” Charlie snickered. “Of course. How could I forget the bait when I’m trying to fish?” Gopher was shocked. Then, he frowned and asked, “I don’t understand… You… You weren’t in Canada, so how did you know all this?! This is our organization’s internal secret. Only a handful of people in the organization know about it! And none of them know you, so they couldn’t possibly tell you!” Claudia scoffed. “Gopher, did you think I was oblivious to the things you were doing? You had someone mark Mrs. Lewis’s door. Of course I’d find out! I also knew what that mark meant. It was me who informed Mr. Wade, all for him to come to Canada
Gopher stared at Claudia in shock after hearing what she said. After a moment of hesitation, he dropped on his knees and choked out, “Claudia, I… I was confused. I beg you, give me a chance to change! I’m willing to do anything if you’ll spare my life! We’re relatives, after all! Blood runs thicker than water! Please spare me on account of that! Just this once!” Claudia’s face was icy. “Gopher, don’t you find it amusing to say something like that? You forsook the fact that we’re related by blood and killed my family. Yet now you dare beg me?! I’ve killed you in my dreams countless times every night in the past few months! I’ve been looking forward to the day my wish will come true, and now, I finally have the chance. I’d rather die with you than spare you!” Upon hearing that, Gopher knew that he was destined to die today. And so, he retracted his begging face and laughed. “Who would’ve known… You’re so young, but you’re already so cunning and cruel. Had I known this would happen, I
Ruthlessness was a merit on the premise that one wasn’t actively trying to hurt others. Many people allowed wicked villains to take advantage of them because they weren’t ruthless enough. However, eighteen-year-old Claudia was strong enough to not give her enemy any chances. Charlie said to Porter, “Porter, take this monster away. Tie the others up and bring them to the cargo hold. I want them to witness Gopher being burned to ashes.” Porter answered respectfully, “Understood, Mr. Wade. I’ll have it arranged at once.” Having said that, Porter commanded the Ten Thousand Armies soldiers to tie up the Italian organization members’ hands behind their backs with sturdy nylon cable ties. He then forced them to line up and walk to the cargo hold. A bulk carrier’s cargo hold was like a deep pit made of steel. Not only was it deeper than a ten-floor building, but the interior was also abnormally huge. Since the entire ship was basically empty, the place was quite spacious. About
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
Soon, more collectors had gathered outside Treasure Measure even before Raymond showed up at Antique Street, with over ten of them gathered outside in no time at all.Since Raymond had only prepared ten slips, the rest left in disappointment seeing that they had no chance.Even so, the ten collectors who had gotten a number were nervous—save for the first man who had arrived.The details on the online sales post insisted that the price was fixed, and that first-come first-serve applies.If he bought the bronze sculpture, the other nine would have come all this way for nothing.However, if the seller decided to make it an auction, they would have a chance too, although their net profit would thin in turn. After all, they could have acquired the bronze sculpture for just 20 million, and that meant a solid 8 million in profit.An auction would at least raise the price to 27 million, and more would make it chicken feed.If they gave up at that point, it was a waste of a trip.If
Trippy naturally wasn't going to tell Mick everything word-for-word, so he said vaguely, "Uh, they were just being stubborn and refused to listen to anything I said. They kept saying that they wouldn't know until they saw the actual item."Mick got out of bed, staring at his phone as he mused to himself.This was getting a little ridiculous, was it not? A fool who was scammed, actually able to scam someone else? But if he really could sell it, wouldn't all their work be for nothing?With that in mind, he promptly called Zachary, who wasn't even up yet.Ever since he had started working for Don Albert, his daily routine was no longer the same as the days when he was a humble stall owner working on Antique Street, but a man of importance who slept late and woke up late.In the evening, he would be spending his time patrolling Don Albert's night entertainment properties as well as holding meetings with subordinates to decide on management policies and the like. That was why he wo