Spencer feared that Charlie would intervene again. If Spencer lost his position as the head of the family, that was equivalent to losing everything.Jordan too was filled with anxiety. He hoped to regain his position as the head of the family and stage an absolute comeback.Unfortunately, it would be inappropriate for him to speak up in Charlie’s silence.Therefore, Jordan waited patiently for Charlie to express his intention. A man of advanced age like him would not be able to regain his power with only his granddaughter's support.While the two were dwelling in their thoughts, Charlie suddenly spoke to them. “Hey, you two. One’s the current head of the family, and the other the previous head of the family. Homer did so much cruelty under your supervision. Both of you are responsible for overlooking his crimes. Do you have anything you want to say now?” Spencer was startled and jumped in shock. He hurriedly answered, “Mr. Wade, I've been the head of the family for barely half
“T-that’s...” Spencer was lost for words. If people asked, he could confidently answer how he had earned his position. He could proudly say that he earned it by legal means, and that there was a legitimate reason for his actions.This was the same for ancient times. Every major event happened for a legitimate reason. Even a heinous aggressor would fabricate a series of high-sounding lies to validate their actions. Of course, Spencer would do just that.But if the world learnt that he was after his father’s life, his reasons would no longer be legitimate. If the scandal was exposed, there was no way for him to stay in power. He had no choice but to admit to his faults and resign.Spencer made a last-ditch effort to convince Charlie. “Mr. Wade, if my father and I are no longer suitable to be the leader… Why don’t my son Xavion take over?”Even if Spencer had to give up his power as a last resort, at the very least, he wanted to pass it to his son.However, Charlie refused immediat
Jordan was left with no choice and could only agree with Charlie. He said respectfully, “Mr. Wade. Right now, I also think that Kathleen is the most suitable person to be the next head of the family.”Charlie nodded. At last, he turned to Kathleen and prompted her, “Miss Fox, what do you think?”Kathleen was a little nervous. She had never entertained any thoughts of becoming the head of the family. Plus, there had never been a female head in the Fox family’s long history.Her intention was very simple. She only wanted to strive for benefits for her parents and siblings before Jordan’s death. She was worried that her family would be driven away right after Jordan’s death.She wanted a place in the Fox family through her own efforts, but she never thought about becoming the family’s leader.Therefore, she felt a little lost, not knowing what to do.Charlie, on the other hand, knew Kathleen was different from Jasmine and Princess Helena.Jasmine had no parents and was very close w
Charlie’s statement startled Kathleen.She had been at sea all this time, and thus lost contact with her parents. On her return to American soil and the Fox family, she didn’t have the opportunity to see her parents and siblings.She concluded that Spencer had kicked out her family from the Fox family after he snatched power away from Jordan.Whenever a new head in a big family rose to power, he would first suppress those who might be a threat to him. He would also remove those he disliked from the family, keeping only the loyal ones around. Once his position had stabilized, the loyal hands would be removed as a way of controlling potential threats.The siblings who had been kicked out would become distant relatives.If Kathleen refused to become the next head, her family would not be able to return to the Fox family. They could only leave the family and reestablish themselves again with limited assets.Thinking of that, she gritted her teeth and finally decided to bite the bulle
Jordan became a little emotional and said gravely, “I only have one or two years left. I’ve accepted my fate after going through so many ordeals. Money is no longer the most important thing anymore.”Charlie was pleased and nodded at Jordan’s words. “I know it wasn’t easy for you to be where you are today. Now, you’re already so old. You’ve earned so much money, but in the end, it’s meaningless to you. To top it off, your son wanted to kill you because of the money. I can’t help but feel sorry for you.”Jordan sighed, melancholy written all over his face. “You’re right, Mr. Wade. Money is indeed meaningless for someone my age.”Charlie smiled and said, “It is, but I can give you a chance to use that money.”Jordan was startled for a moment. He quickly asked, “Mr. Wade… What do you mean?”Charlie replied indifferently, “Haven’t you always wanted to buy the Rejuvenating Pill? If I remember correctly, you made a bid of two hundred and ten billion US dollars in the auction in Aurous H
Jordan was overjoyed to see Kathleen’s unwavering decision. Even so, he still remained cautious.Kathleen agreed to buy the Rejuvenating Pill, but she did not mention if she had bought it for him.Having gone through several ups and downs in recent times, Jordan had grown to be concerned and highly alert over such matters, even if they seemed insignificant.Just as he thought of this, Kathleen gazed at him and said solemnly, “Grandpa, I’ll transfer the payment to Mr. Wade soon. You can have the Rejuvenating Pill.”Jordan was relieved to hear her statement. He was so excited, he burst into tears.He wanted a Rejuvenating Pill so badly, but he came to the conclusion that he was fated not to have one. Yet, Charlie and Kathleen gave him such a huge surprise and granted his dream!So excited he was, he choked up as he thanked Charlie over and over again. “Mr. Wade… Thank you… Thank you! I will remember your kindness forever!”Charlie waved his hand and said solemnly, “Lord Fox, I hav
That was the only way for Jordan to acquire the remaining pills. He would receive three quarter pills on three separate occasions in order for him to realize his dream of living for another decade or two.Jordan had lived for more than ninety years. He was a wise man, and immediately understood Charlie’s reason. It was evident that Charlie wanted to keep him in check. Even so, how could he complain about it?He sighed in his heart, mournful. ‘If Charlie still needs me, I can live. If not, what else can I do but die?’Upon coming to this realization, Jordan did not hesitate to say, “Mr. Wade, let’s go with your plan. I have no objections.”Charlie nodded and turned to Kathleen. “Miss Fox, do you have any problems with this arrangement?”Kathleen hurriedly replied, “I-I… I’m fine… I’m fine with your arrangement, Mr. Wade!”Kathleen finally understood Charlie’s reason for doing things in such a manner. He was helping her.She was very grateful for him and thought, ‘Mr. Wade is so k
To Charlie, family unity was the key to prosperity. Uniting the family would reduce internal friction and the family could focus their energy on meaningful work. Even a family of poor peasants would eventually prosper with strong unity.But if there was division and friction within the family, they would instead spend most of their energy in fighting each other.As a result, the family would not have enough energy to do meaningful work and advance. Instead, they would regress.If the members continued to go against one another, even a family with trillions would exhaust all their resources someday.Thus, Charlie deliberately reminded Kathleen to constantly keep her family in check. She must make sure that everyone could keep up with her pace and be on the same page. If she discovered any problems, she must not be soft-hearted and must remove the source of the problem at once.Kathleen understood Charlie’s intentions. She promptly nodded and said, “Mr. Wade, don’t worry. I’ll pay a
Pausing, Charlie then said, "I'll call Steve to drop by later too. I'm sure folks in Aurous Hill won't know him, but your potential troublemaker might.""I-Is that really fine?" Yolden blurted."What's not fine about it?" Charlie chuckled. "He has been treated like a tool ever since he came to Aurous Hill, and now that he has a chance to strut about, he wouldn't ask for more."Yolden appeared slightly relieved at that, and Charlie asked, "By the way, where's Paul, Matilda, and Autumn?""Getting their makeup done," Yolden replied. "Paul's my best man while Autumn's the maid of honor.""Good," Charlie nodded with a grin. "Don't worry—the wedding's going to be a success."As they spoke, Matilda stepped out of the dressing room in a stark-white wedding dress, flanked by Autumn and Paul.Seeing Charlie, Autumn nodded politely, "Good morning, Mr. Wade."As Charlie nodded in turn, Paul started, "G-Good morning… Mr. Wade…"Seeing that he was nervous and tentative, Charlie knew that he
As Yolden and Matilda were remarrying after living abroad for years, the wedding ceremony was much simpler, skipping Oskian customs and having a simple wedding reception for their guests at the hotel hall.There weren't that many guests either—aside from their children and close friends, only a handful of Yolden's colleagues at Aurous Hill University were invited.As the celebrant, Charlie didn't have much to do and was mainly the emcee.He brought along his jacket as he headed out to Shangri-La, not wearing it immediately so that Claire wouldn't guess that he was attending Matilda's wedding.Arriving at the Hanging Gardens before the guests were supposed to arrive, he found Yolden working with the staff to finalize the preparations.Seeing Charlie, Yolden approached him and said, "Thanks for coming this early, Charlie."Noticing that he was a little tired, Charlie asked in concern, "Had a bad night?"Yolden nodded, sighing, "Paul's uncle caused a huge mess. Both Matilda and I a
Tarlon nodded. "How do you suggest we find them?"Fleur scowled. "There's no rush. There are things which I'm still confused about, so just keep a close eye on the Ackers and the Wades for the time being. Report to me right away if anything important comes up—don't afford our enemies any opportunities to exploit.""Yes, milady!" -The next day, more news outlets were covering the joint project between the Ackers and the Wades as word continued to spread.However, neither family revealed too many details, be it the name of the company, who was the CEO, or the scale of their business.While the public was dying with curiosity, nothing else was known.Still, Aurous Hill's officials were especially interested, with the town hall visiting the Ackers the next day and showing utmost sincerity by leasing a whopping 2-million-square-meter land along the southern highway. Still, the condition was for the Ackers to come true on their promise to propel the city's economy to 15 billion US d
Fleur had repeatedly mentioned the conspiracy theory of Ashley using a body double over the last twenty years.Tarlon had investigated from many different angles, but everything from the gender, age, dental records, to body figure pointed to the fact that the deceased was Ashley Acker.And yet, Fleur had never bought it, insisting that Curtis was prepared for them just because Curtis' son had gone missing soon after.There was no way Curtis would save his son but not his wife, and the disfigured corpse only added fuel to Fleur's suspicion.Thus, over the last twenty years, Fleur had kept a close eye on the Ackers, arranging for two 'scholars' to be embedded amongst their ranks as sleeper agents. She went that far all to determine if Ashley was dead or had faked her death.However, the scholars had since been killed in action, and they had no spies within the Ackers left.As for Tarlon, he still doubted Fleur's theory even now, but he remained respectful as he spoke, "Milady, I mu
Meanwhile, on the edge of the South Pole, Tarlon Griffin rushed outside of Fleur Griffin's room, knocking the door gingerly as he announced, "I have news, my lady!"Fleur didn't respond, but the thick wooden door between them slowly opened as if pushed by an invisible force.Tarlon entered to find Fleur seated on the floor with her legs crossed at the ankles. Her eyes remained closed as she molded her Reiki, asking, "What is it?"Tarlon quickly answered, "News from Oskia. The Ackers are partnering with the Wades on a joint venture into electric-powered vehicles."Fleur slowly opened her eyes, asking quietly, "And you're telling me because?"Tarlon quickly explained, "It just came out of the blue, so I thought I should report it to you right away."Fleur sighed. "After I tried and failed to wipe out the Ackers so many times, they wouldn't dare set foot stateside. If anything, they must have decided to seek asylum in Oskia by offering a substantial investment, and it's a base whe
Silent for a while, Matilda then asked Yolden, "Do you think I can do it?""Yes!" Yolden nodded without hesitation. "You definitely won't have any problems!"Matilda sighed, shaking her head. "We traveled far abroad to study while we were young, but we didn't return to Oskia to help the country's development. It's been thirty years since, and now that we have returned to the country at the same time, I definitely wouldn't turn down such an opportunity to help."Pausing, she then said, "That said, major corporations make it a point to not hire family members. Forget spouses—employees aren't allowed to date, and one of the two will be asked to resign if necessary."Don't you think it's inappropriate since we are legally married, having gotten our certificate and all? And if we set these precedents, we would have trouble asking other employees to follow that policy. You are going to be a CEO, so you need a very clear answer on this issue."Yolden shrugged. "In the first place, that p
Yolden nodded slightly. "He does.""My gosh…" Matilda murmured. "That's too much… Ashley's son? A member of the Acker family and the Wades?!"Pausing, she then asked in confusion, "Wait, if Charlie has so much power and influence, why would he permanently reside in Aurous Hill… No, why would he be content as Jacob Wilson's son-in-law? Does Jacob know who he really is?""Definitely not," Yolden shook his head. "There were some compelling circumstances, and his identity is a sensitive one. That's why I'm asking you to tell no one except Paul—and even then, you should only tell him if he can keep the secret."Matilda was sharp enough to pick up on the reasoning, too. "Charlie's hiding because of his parents' accident, isn't he?""Yes," Yolden sighed. "He has his plans, but I didn't pry since I can only do that much, let alone help him on that.""Got it," Matilda nodded repeatedly. "Don't worry. My lips are sealed… And you just said you're resigning? Are you going to help with this e
"That would be Ashley Layna Acker," Matilda replied without hesitation. "She was our age, as well as a major investor in Silicon Valley, while we were only starting to get our first clients. It's no exaggeration to say that she's the shining example in many case studies when it comes to business."Pausing, she then continued, "And she used to be your classmate, right? I remember you mentioning that in our conversations before.""Yes," Yolden sighed emotionally. "She was a classmate and the star of our generation."Matilda nodded but soon shook her head, "Wait, weren't we talking about Charlie's car company? What does that have to do with Ashley Acker?" "Here's where I let you in on a secret," Yolden said. "But first, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone except Paul."Matilda nodded without hesitation. "Don't worry—if it's a secret, I won't tell Paul either."Yolden scratched his head. "Actually, Paul should know. We are going to marry soon, and he's my stepson, lega
In fact, the legal department of major enterprises covered many responsibilities, the chief of which concerned intellectual property, which was why veterans were needed to lead.Additionally, Charlie trusted Matilda's accomplishments in the legal field, especially since she had worked in the United States for years.With Curtis Autos' intended expansion worldwide, that meant the legal department should also know the laws of countries abroad, ready to file or respond to lawsuits at any time. After all, competitors may use the law to impede their growth, along with the government applying unfair policies to impede their development and impact on local businesses.Moreover, Charlie considered Paul young and therefore lacking in experience, not to mention that it was not likely he would abandon his family's law firm. As such, the ideal solution was to poach Matilda for now.As for Matilda, she was still in the dark and had no idea what she was in for, asking Charlie in confusion, "Lega