When he had suddenly bumped into Marianne just now, he had thought that God was really helping him and that this was just a good way for him to put on an act without showing any signs.However, he never would have thought that Marianne would not appreciate it.She even managed to push him into a dead end with just a few words. Now, it was difficult for him to go back on his words. If he did not want to embarrass himself, he could only honestly cash in the donation of ten million Hong Kong dollars. Furthermore, he could only make an anonymous donation, according to Marianne. When Marianne saw his embarrassed expression, she then said indifferently, “It does not matter if you regret it and want to go back on your word, Dillion. You can just pretend that I did not say anything.”As soon as Dillion heard this, he blurted out without hesitation, “No! Absolutely not! How could I, Dillion Brown, go back on my words?! Isn’t it just ten million Hong Kong dollars? I will transfer the mone
Marianne’s first reaction when Charlie grabbed her hand was as if she had been electrocuted. She wanted to break free, but Charlie’s grip was strong, and Marianne simply could not pull her hand away at all.Moreover, she did not dare to blatantly pull her hand away. This was because she was afraid that Dillion would see through their act immediately. If that happened, she would only end up worse off than when she had been trying to gain an advantage. So, she could only suppress her anger and say to Charlie, “You’d better do as you say!”After saying that, she said to Charlie, “Let’s go!” Dillion’s face was pale as he blurted out and asked, “Marianne! Who is this guy?!”Marianne felt very irritated because Charlie was still holding on to her hand, so she said angrily, “Didn’t you hear what I said just now? He’s my fiancé!”“How can that be possible?!” Dillion spoke angrily as if someone had offended him greatly, “My father just had dinner with Uncle Long last week, and Uncle L
After saying that, she saw that Charlie seemed to be really afraid. So, she spoke up and said, “But you can just say so if you’re really scared. I’ll ask my father to arrange for you to run away and leave Hong Kong. They should not be able to do anything to you, then.”Dillion also overheard their conversation, and he yelled coldly, “Kid, you want to run away after f*cking messing around with me?! Let me tell you, I will never let you off today if you refuse to kneel and grovel three times before me while slapping yourself a hundred times!” Charlie looked up at Dillion and asked with a puzzled expression, “Are you joking with me?”“Joking with you?” Dillion thought that Charlie was afraid, and he said angrily, “Who the f*ck do you think you are? Would I, Dillion Brown, joke around with the likes of you?!” When Marianne saw Dillion’s fierce appearance, she could not help but realize that the situation seemed to be getting out of hand. She did not bother about the fact that Charlie
Marianne was on the verge of an emotional breakdown at this point. She could no longer care about Charlie holding her hand, and she only wanted to quickly resolve the trouble that she had caused. She had seen people using another man as a shield many times on television, but she had never done it herself. It just so happened that Charlie had been teasing her earlier, so she could not help but think of pranking him.However, she really did not expect that step by step, Charlie had been able to turn things into such an unmanageable and out-of-control situation that it was now.This also made her feel scared for the first time for joking. Her voice was even a little shaky as she pleaded, “Charlie, I’m begging you! You should leave Hong Kong first. You can come back later in the future at most, but it will definitely be very troublesome if you do not leave by today!” When Charlie saw that her eyes were flushed red and that she was about to burst into tears, he stopped in his trac
Charlie asked him, “Didn’t Rudy help out if the Order of the Star is so poor?” “He helps.” Porter said, “If Rudy had not helped out, the Order of the Star would have already started laying off staff. Rudy depended on the Order of the Star for a lot of help back then, so the Order of the Star also relied on this point and kept looking to him for help. When Rudy finally made it big in the business world, he also wanted to get rid of his ties with the Order of the Star. So, he helped the Order of the Star with their transformation. The Order of the Star has four main income channels now. One is to open pawn shops, one is to open nightclubs, one is to smuggle frozen meat, and the other is to run underground casinos. Apart from the casinos, the first three businesses were all started by Rudy.”Charlie hummed slightly and said, “Which is the Order of the Star’s biggest nightclub?Porter replied, “It’s called ClubWaves in Lan Kwai Fong.”“ClubWaves...” Charlie muttered softly and smiled
“What kind of justice do I want to administer?”When Charlie heard Marianne’s question, he smiled slightly and said, “I can’t tell you this for the time being. I’ll leave you with a little sense of mystery.” Marianne could not help but frown and ask him, “Have you ever thought about what you would do if Dillion were to target you, then? How can you defeat the Order of the Star on your own in Hong Kong?”Charlie raised his eyes and smiled as he said, “You really underestimate me. Do you think that I won’t be able to defeat them on my own? I wouldn’t even be worried if they came at me as a group!”Marianne thought that Charlie was boasting again, and she felt as if Charlie had drained her emotionally. Hence, she could only shake her head helplessly and say, “Okay, you win!”Having said that, she could only walk out of the parking lot together with Charlie. When the two of them exited the parking lot, they went to the most crowded shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui. In addition to t
Marianne said helplessly, “Please take care of yourself first. I heard that you broke up with your new boyfriend again?! You’ve only dated him for a few days this time!”The girl curled her lips and said, “I don’t even want to mention that scumbag! He only got together with me because he wanted me to help him with the design for his graduation project. He broke up with me right after I helped him finish his graduation project...”Marianne sighed and said, “Please be wiser when you choose a boyfriend next time.”The girl glance at Charlie again and said earnestly, “But Marianne, I really think that this man next to you is truly very compatible with you!”“Stop it!” Marianne hurriedly stretched out her hand to stop the other party and said, “You have already proven to us countless times that you cannot make good decisions at all. So, if you think that he is compatible with me, the odds are that he is not compatible with me at all!”Having said that, she could not help but roll her e
Charlie’s light-hearted words made Marianne feel nervous for no reason.She could not help but question Charlie, “What are you planning to do? Why do you have to do it in less crowded places?”Charlie looked at her and smiled as he said casually, “Don’t be nervous. What I want to do has nothing to do with you. You can just watch.” Having said that, he stepped on the accelerator and drove Marianne’s Tesla out.As soon as the car left the basement, three different cars quickly followed after the car.Dillion was sitting in one of the cars. He gritted his teeth as he looked at the Tesla being driven by Charlie, and he said coldly to the people around him, “Follow that scum! I have to kill him today!”The young man driving the car sneered and said, “Don’t worry, Dillion. We will definitely screw this kid up nicely today!” This man’s arms were all covered with tattoos, and he was also very muscular. At a glance, he was obviously not someone to be provoked.The corners of Dillion’s
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