“Huh? Me?!”Charlie’s words shocked Claudia to the point she could barely react. She was startled and even thought that she had misheard him.Earlier, when Charlie had persuaded Emma to return to Oskia, she had also felt like following them to Oskia.However, Stephanie and Emma were different. They were Charlie’s family. She might have recognized Charlie as her brother, but it was just verbally. How could she be so bold as to propose such an idea?She knew she would be alone again once Emma and Stephanie returned to Oskia. Hence, she was very touched and could not believe that Charlie would suddenly invite her to come to Aurous Hill with them. Charlie said firmly, “Claudie, it’s meaningless for you to stay in Canada alone. Why don’t you follow Mrs. Lewis and Stephanie back to Oskia? Aren’t you already in your third year of high school this year? You can apply directly to the universities of Aurous Hill as a foreign student. As far as I know, the application pass rate is high for
Dawn brought a bright sunlight crown as it gradually spread to the early morning sky in the whole of Vancouver, and the park-like city’s charm was augmented under the morning lights.However, no one knew about the dark side of the city and the filth hidden within it.Dawn came to Seattle too, which was in the same time zone as Vancouver.In an extremely luxurious seaside villa covering hundreds of acres in Seattle, a twenty-seven-year-old young man was restlessly walking back and forth in the living room.The cigarette in his hand was almost burnt out. He wrinkled his brow, and just as the cigarette butt burned to the end, a severe pain suddenly hit his finger, and he involuntarily shouted as he threw the cigarette butt away. Then, with a gloomy face and somber feeling, he asked his subordinate in front of him, “Is there still no news from Franco?”The one who had spoken was none other than the eldest young master of the George family, Franco’s eldest brother, Finley George.Th
At the same time, in Vancouver, Canada.A large number of Italian families in the city had fallen into great fear. They had discovered that their family members had disappeared overnight.Some people’s husbands had gone missing, some people’s children had gone missing, and some people’s brothers had gone missing.They were not terrified at the beginning because they all knew that their family members were engaged in shady jobs. They often stayed out all night, so everyone had long been accustomed to it.However, when these families started to communicate with each other, it was just like opening Pandora's box of fear. If only one or a few people went missing, they might have assumed that they were just busy with something. However, the matter became very strange when at least one person went missing in every family.Many recalled what had happened the previous night and shared that their family members had already been asleep, but they had suddenly received a phone call from the
These people could become a legend with their miserable life too.Old Godfather Ryan was the latter. Ryan had five sons and was very proud of them.In the traditional Italian mafia belief, a son was the only one who could carry on the mantle and inherit their Sicily fighting spirit.Therefore, a patriarchal ideology remained the eternal guiding ideology for this group of people. Those without a son would be too embarrassed to greet people when they went out.Those without sons were envious of seeing those bringing their sons around to kill people, sell drugs, and collect protection fees. That was always why mafia members were very proud of their sons. They could become prouder with more sons.Old Godfather Ryan was blessed with five sons who had been born in a row, and many envied him.Four of his five sons had carried on his mantle and joined the gang except for his youngest son who was too young.His life was originally very hopeful. With his four sons banded in the mafia ga
Old Godfather Ryan's angry roar made everyone feel a little terrified.They could not quite understand why Old Godfather Ryan was so against calling the police.A woman sobbed and asked him, “Godfather, at a time like this... Do we have a better choice than calling the police?”Old Godfather Ryan asked her with a gloomy face, “Has your husband never told you not to call the police for help even if he dies? This is the basic rule that every member of the group should know!”The woman was very dejected to hear that, and she muttered softly, “He did say that before, b-but...”Old Godfather Ryan continued coldly, “There are no buts! You should know that the gangs have always been at odds with the police! There’s no point in making a police report about gangs!”“The Vancouver police have already blacklisted our gang members a long time ago. The police will not file a case even if anyone gets injured, dies, or went missing”“We have already reached a tacit agreement with the police th
The George family search team on the speedboat had finally discovered something. They found more than a dozen floating corpses and some wreckage from the yacht in the tumbling waves, and Franco was among these corpses too.When he was found with the life jacket, his head and shoulders were out of the water, while the lower part of his body was in the water. He looked like a fishing float that was floating and constantly undulating with the waves in the sea. Even if he was temporarily swept into the water by the waves, he would soon resurface due to buoyancy.Everyone was very shocked to see the state of his corpse when they recovered the body.Franco had died miserably.His hair that had been permed and dyed blonde was sticking to his forehead, just above his widened eyes.The George family’s men noticed that Franco was not just dead. He also had multiple gunshot wounds all over his body, and there were even signs of gunshots on his legs and in between his legs.When a man from t
Finley’s satellite phone received a photo message about a minute later.The information was slow because it was transmitted by satellite. At first, he could only see a blurry preview image, but once the photo was completely downloaded, he could finally see a clear image.However, Finley could not stand looking at the preview at all.He could vaguely see the blurry red pixel areas on his younger brother’s head, face, and legs. He could tell that these blurry red pixel areas were all blood.He had to mentally prepare himself to be ready for the clear image, and he hoped he would not be frightened by the photo.Despite that, he still trembled in shock upon seeing the final photo!He shivered uncontrollably, his phone slipping from his trembling hand.The sudden shock made his legs collapse underneath him, and he could no longer stand, consequently falling back. His assistant and a few subordinates hurriedly rushed forward and caught him, preventing him from falling to the ground.
The assistant hurriedly said, “Master, judging by the words on Master Franco’s forehead, the murderer is probably Oskian!”Finley nodded with a dark face, and he pushed away his anger as he agreed, “He’s probably not just Oskian. He should also know many of our secrets...”Having said that, Finley immediately said, “Right! Franco was supposed to pick up the new stocks from the Italians last night. Help me ask them what the hell happened last night!”Hearing that, the assistant said, “I’ll contact them at once!”Then, he grabbed his phone and left the room.Finley finally recovered a little from the shock enough to think it through, and he muttered to himself, “Franco, rest in peace. I’ll find your murderer and avenge your death. I swear to torture him a hundred times or even a thousand times more than your pain!”Soon, the assistant returned with a panicked look on his face. He came to Finley and nervously gulped. He faltered as he spoke, “Master, something about the situation do
"Exactly!"Charlie agreed, striking the metal while it was hot. "To be honest, the years Matilda spent in the States would be wasted if she was actually still interested!" "She's a Wall Street veteran who'd definitely have met so many successful men! Why would she be interested in a loser like Jacbo Wilson? It's not like she returned from the States after thirty years to help the poor, don't you agree?"Charlie then finished with a sigh. "The way I see it? You're the only one who'd be interested in him."Jacob heard that from behind the wall and was left absolutely fuming and humiliated.He was the only one who knew that Matilda had come back for him—even if she was worth millions now.However, he just didn't have the spine to divorce Elaine and get together with Matilda.He presumed that it was no rush and that he could just give Elaine the silent treatment—who knew, she might just give in and ask for a divorce herself, and then, he would have no issues getting together with M
"Her real lover?!" Elaine exclaimed in shock. "What are you talking about?"Charlie put on a serious face as she said, "Matilda came back to Oskia for her one true love, who is now her fiance. His name is Yolden Hart, a top economist who's now a lecturer at Aurous Hill University, who was invited all the way from the States. He's a professional manager and used to work in Wall Street, so he'd be qualified to be a CEO in any Fortune 500 company…""Professional manager?" Elaine pouted. "That still means he's a wage slave!"Charlie laughed. "Don't underestimate professional managers now. Just look at Apple Inc.'s CEO—the man earns around a hundred million USD per year, and that's over seven hundred million in Oskian dollars!"Elaine was left gaping, unable to imagine how a wage slave could earn so much.At the same time, Charlie continued, "To be fair, Professor Hart wouldn't earn that much, but 50 million per year is still no sweat for him. Do you get the amount of money we're talki
Elaine appeared taken aback, and she promptly demanded, "You've met Matilda too?!"It was only then that Claire realized she had let the cat out of the bag, and she suddenly didn't know what to say. "Oh… Uh… Mom… I, uh… didn't?"Nonetheless, Elaine was suddenly pressing her menacingly, "If you've never met her, how would you know she's a serious person?!"As Claire stayed silent, Elaine broke down in tears. "No… You're lying to me too! Aren't you?!"While Claire was left at a loss of how she should salvage this mess, Charlie suddenly entered and said, "Claire didn't—but I did.""What?!" Elaine was left staring at Charlie, stunned.Still, she soon demanded, "Y-You've met Matilda?! Did Jacob take you with him to see her?""Yes," Charlie admitted, nodding.Elaine snapped right then, and she bellowed, "Then why didn't you tell me?! To think that I've always done right by you, treating you like my own son, but you wouldn't tell me that Jacob is cheating on me! Y-You disappoint me!"
Jacob certainly left Charlie speechless—the man might get kicked out of the house, but he was more worried about his car.Sighing in exasperation, he told Jacob, "Look, if it fails, I won't be able to get you a nice place, let alone leave the Cullinan with you."Jacob blurted out, "But why—""Don't forget—I'm still living in this house even if you're gone!" Charlie explained, his expression dead serious. "If I let you have a nice place and the Cullinan, God knows how terrible a grudge your wife would hold against me. I need to have a sense of self-preservation too!""If I got you a rundown apartment, I could at least defend myself even if she gets upset about that. I mean, I can't let you sleep in the streets, can I? Claire and I would be guilty of abandoning our elders."Seeing the serious look on Charlie's face, Jacob breathed a long sigh as he clapped him on the shoulder, groaning mournfully, "Oh, I get it. I wouldn't want to upset Elaine if I were in your shoes too…"Charlie
Charlie sighed. "I told you it'd blow up, Dad, but you had to doubt me.""I wasn't doubting you," Jacob promptly defended himself. "I thought I might catch a lucky break—"Charlie cut him short, "Fair enough. Then, how are you going to handle this? I can try to stop Mom from going to that wedding and prevent her from getting in the hall even if she went, but what's going to happen to the both of you? Do you want a divorce or do you want to stay with her?"The light in Jacob's faded as he shrugged and sighed. "If I could divorce her, I would've—and I would be living happily with Matilda now. What company would I have if I did it now? Do you think Elaine would let me stay in Thompson First, with that attitude of hers?""In the end, I'd be chased out without a place to stay, and I can't suffer the humiliation of moving back with my mom and brother, can I? Hell, they might not even take me back!""So, that's a no?" Charlie pressed.Jacob smiled wryly. "At my age, even if I could, I w
Hearing that Elaine was threatening suicide, Claire exclaimed urgently, "Take me to her now!"The traffic police officer quickly nodded. "Come on!"As the traffic police officer quickly led Claire to Elaine, Charlie arrived just then and gave chase after leaving the luggage by the entrance.Stopping them, he asked, "Excuse me, officer—where's the gentleman who came with Madam Parker? May I see him?""And who are you?" The traffic police officer asked."I'm his son-in-law," Charlier replied. "I was thinking that while my wife talks to her mom, I can talk to my father-in-law, make peace, and take them both home.""Oh, that'd be great!"The traffic police officer exclaimed and quickly beckoned at a colleague, "Come over. Take this gentleman to Jacob Wilson!""Okay!" The other traffic police officer was also quite enthusiastic.Charlie entered the room where Jacob was first, immediately seeing a disfigured Jacob taking deep puffs of his cigarette.Another traffic police officer w
Charlie frowned in thought for a while, before saying, "Well, there is a plan, but I can't vouch for the chances. I also need you to cooperate with me and not let anything slip, or everything will go to waste. Can you do that?""I can!" Claire nodded, determined, before quickly asking, "So? What's the plan?""Well, it's not specific," Charlie replied. "We just have to improvise as we go along. Let's just head in for now!"-They left the airport and took a cab to the traffic police's headquarters. Just as she entered, they saw their Cullinan parked outside.Charlie sent Claire in first while he carried her luggage before following.Meanwhile, Elaine was wailing in her room, "I've been married to him for years! Suffering so much pain and humiliation, only for him to hook up with an old flame behind my back! Is it wrong if I struck out?"The traffic police officer was on the verge of a breakdown, but he still said patiently, "Ma'am, I've told you many times—what he did was wrong
Claire wasn't all that experienced in love and hence didn't know how a person caught in a love triangle would think or why they would experience such terrible mood swings.Still, Charlie's explanation gave her a general idea, and she sighed, "Actually, Dad looked really bad when Matilda came back. He was so obsessed with her that he didn't care if Mom was alive—even bringing her home for dinner. I'd be seething if I was Mom."Charlie sighed in exasperation. "Well, let's not loiter about. Let's go to the traffic police station.""Yeah!" Claire nodded, before holding his arm, "If they're there, that means they're safe, and they won't be fighting with those officers around. So, let's not head over so quickly."Charlie raised a brow. "What are you getting at?"Claire sighed, clearly troubled. "We have to think—how are we going to alleviate this crisis? If it's really as you say and Mom has mostly guessed it right, this fight might just be the start. At best, that fight on the highway
The traffic police officer smiled in exasperation. "Is there no getting through to you? You could even afford to drive a nice car, and you'd most likely survive an accident. But what if you were left bedridden for a long time? Yell at each other in the same hospital room?"Elaine waved him off. "I don't care—all I know is that I will always get my revenge, and on the spot if possible. If there were superheroes, I would be Wonder Woman!""Urgh…" The traffic police officer was utterly speechless. "How about this? We will call your daughter and have her come over to bail you. She will mediate your fight!"With those words, he returned Elaine's phone to her, and it happened to ring just then.It was a call from Claire.Seeing that the contact name said [Daughter], the traffic police officer quickly said, "Go on, answer it!"Elaine took it and answered the call, and Claire asked urgently before she could say a word, "Mom? Where are you? Where's Dad? Are you both alright?"Elaine sulk