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
Marianne then followed Charlie’s action to open the door and get down. After looking to her left and right, she then asked Charlie, “Where are we going?”Charlie looked at the path leading to the mountain and spoke up, saying, “Let’s go from here. We will go down and take a look.”Marianne was puzzled. Logically speaking, she would never agree to it if any man wanted to take her to such a deserted place.Still, she decided to trust Charlie after thinking about it.So, she followed Charlie down. When Dillion saw Charlie and Marianne going into the mountain forest, he roared in anger, “Get the f*ck out of the car! I’m going to kill this punk today!”A dozen or so people quickly got out of the three cars to follow and chase after Charlie and Marianne’s footsteps.The location of Hong Kong was already very far south. In addition, it was summer, and the mountain forest was very dense. One could only see the sunlight shining through the dense branches and leaves when walking through
Charlie’s casual remark made Marianne feel extremely nervous.In her opinion, how could Charlie be the opponent of this dozen or more people? These people were obviously people from the Order of the Star at first glance, and they could kill without even blinking an eye. Charlie would probably lose his life if they were to really make a move on him.When these strong and muscular men saw that Charlie was still putting on airs at this time, all of them had hideous expressions on their faces. Meanwhile, Dillion had a look of contempt as he said, “Great! You really have f*cking balls! You’re already on the verge of death, but you’re still putting on airs in front of a woman!”Charlie laughed and said, “We do not know who is on the verge of death yet. These men whom you’ve brought here with you are no better than animals, and they pose no threat to me at all.”The leader of the strong and muscular men who were on the other side roared, “D*mn it! We are from the Order of the Star! How
Elaine may have led a life as if she was above the rules, but beneath that tough exterior lay crippling insecurities and a horrific inferiority complex.She was always afraid of being belittled—but more than that, of being ostracized and betrayed.Over the years, the greatest source of her complexes could all be traced back to Matilda.After all, Matilda had been a star back in their school days. Because Elaine was a close friend of hers, many boys would get chummy with Elaine, but only because they were interested in Matilda.Being from a poor farmer's family, Elaine had been scorned plenty and therefore felt exceedingly inferior around Matilda.It was from that sense of inferiority that Elaine had inadvertently developed a one-sided rivalry against Matilda, and she believed her greatest triumph over Matilda in this life was the moment she had stolen Jacob from her.However, while Elaine presumed that she could hold that victory over Matilda's head, Lady Wilson had soured that v
Moreover, given Elaine's ridiculous temper, Jacob knew she would definitely go overboard and destroy him.He wouldn't even have a place to live at that point, and it would really be game over if she held a grudge and stormed the Calligraphy and Painting Association!Under such circumstances, he couldn't ask for a divorce—hell, he might even refuse a divorce if Elaine asked for one!However, that was when Elaine laughed coldly. "Oh, my… You're really not going to divorce me?""Come on—how long were we married?" Jacob quickly reasoned. "Getting divorced at our age? People would laugh at us."Elaine scoffed. "Now I'm curious… Matilda's quite old too, and she's a divorcee marrying again. Won't people laugh at her?""Technically, she's a widow—"Jacob blurted out, but soon turned pale, tensing up again not a second after he had just calmed down, asking gingerly, "W-Why would you suddenly mention her?'Elaine stopped pretending right then and snapped, "It's actually impressive that y
Horrified, Jacob promptly grasped the steering wheel and brought the Cullinan back under control while not hesitating to snap, "Are you crazy?! We're on the highway—that could have killed the both of us!"However, Elaine ignored him and seized the moment to open the armrest box, pulling out the large white envelope.As she opened it, she muttered, "So, it really was a wedding invitation… You really are a terrible friend, Jacob Wilson, hiding a wedding invitation like this! What's the point? Just look at that nervous face of yours—would I suspect you of having an affair with the bride-to-be?"She flipped open the card and was experienced enough to check the names first while disregarding the usual preamble. She wouldn't care about the venue or the time either, focusing solely on the professor who had somehow made Jacob very nervous.That was how Elaine found the names in less than a second: Yolden Hart and Matilda Hall.Matilda?!The name could well be knives stabbing Elaine in th
Jacob's brain blanked out, leaving only a dull hum as soon as Walker mentioned 'Professor Hall'.Already feeling nervous in the first place, he quickly said, "Okay, okay—I got it. Anyway, I'm hanging up if there's nothing else!"With that, he promptly pressed the button to hang up.Nonetheless, Elaine was soon asking in curiosity, "Who's Professor Hall?"If Jacob had any semblance of composure, he would have said 'a colleague at Senior University' as if it was perfectly natural, and the matter would have been forgotten.But the reality was that he didn't—in fact, he was the champion when it came to dropping the ball as a casual question from Elaine left him sweating all over his brow.Even as he slid nervous glances at her face, he stammered uncontrollably, "N-Nobody…"Elaine promptly noticed his strange reaction and frowned. "I'm talking about Professor Hall. What do you mean, nobody? Who are they? And what's this about an invitation? Inviting you for what?"Seeing that he was
Jacob had really had too much to drink and couldn't remember the later parts of what had happened last night—even how he had gotten home was a blur.Naturally, he also forgot that Walker had brought Matilda's wedding invitation, and therefore didn't hesitate to answer the in-car answer button.Over the phone, Walker was positively fawning as he asked, "Mr. Wilson? It's Walker. Why didn't you come in today? Had too much to drink last night?""Uh-huh," Jacob grunted, lethargic. "I did—my head still hurts now… Anyway, what's up? Trouble at the association?""No, of course not," Walker quickly said. "I was just worried you're still hungover, so I called to ask. If you need a driver or anything, you just need to ask!"Then, before Jacob could answer, he continued, "By the way, my wife is somewhat knowledgable in Oskian medicine, and she has recipes for brews that cure hangovers and nourish the liver. I'm sure you'll need the latter since you're always drinking at social events, so I as
Fortunately, Elaine and Jacob's bickering never escalated.Even though Elaine was winning, Jacob found it tolerable.After Jacob finished his lunch and cleaned up, he never looked up as he said, "Charlie sent a text, saying Claire's flight would touch down earlier at three. We will leave at two."Elaine grumbled. "Why leave so early? She's coming back from abroad, and there'd be checkpoints she has to clear—she'd be lucky if she could leave by half past three. I'm sleeping a few winks now, and we'll leave at half past two."As she left the dining room, she didn't even look back as she said, "Clean up for me too."Jacob had a million complaints but said nothing as he kept his head down, throwing Elaine's lunchbox in the trash can as well.With Elaine gone, he sat on the couch as her hangover slowly cleared while his mood soured with the lack of alcohol.In the end, the pleasure of being fawned over at the Diamond Room was but temporary—the pain of his beloved leaving with someone
Vera kept her plan to investigate the identity of the abbess deep in her mind and told Charlie nothing.Instead, she smiled as she said, "It seems that it's both yours and Ms. Ito's good fortune that she has attained enlightenment. You've never had anyone who could attain enlightenment and master Reiki at the same time, so Ms. Ito will definitely be a great help to you in the future."Charlie chuckled and said calmly, "I'm not hoping for her to help. I'm simply happy for her with her enlightenment and excited to have another comrade in my solo ventures into the dark forests."Vera nodded in understanding, and she murmured emotionally, "I've lived for so long, and it's only when I opened my heart to you that I felt that sensation you described."There was a flicker of wistfulness in her eyes.She really did not expect to attain enlightenment before meeting Charlie.Years ago, she thought that she would eventually avenge her father.Now, she no longer hoped to murder Fleur Griffi
Vera was inwardly disappointed to hear that Claire was returning.That meant there were fewer chances of Charlie visiting the Scarlet Pinnacle Manor, as were her chances of seeing him again.Still, she didn't let it show, instead asking casually, "How are things at Champs Elys? Are the warriors improving at a rate to your satisfaction?""Well, most of everyone's improvement is within expectations…" Charlie explained, just as he remembered a certain someone. "By the way, there's something I haven't told you yet. Are you perhaps acquainted with the name Ito Nanako?""Yes," Vera smiled. "The Japanese lady who was with you. What about her?""She attained enlightenment days ago.""Enlightenment?" Vera did a double take and soon pressed, "Enlightenment in what sense? Essential Qi or Reiki?"After all, the former was the path to enlightenment in martial arts, while the latter meant enlightenment in cultivation.But despite the distinction between both domains, enlightenment was a comm
While Charlie had long since gotten used to Elaine and Jacob's bizarre marriage, being near the heart of the storm still took a toll on his senses—to the point that he felt physically sick.Leaving right away was therefore his best solution.Once he left, however, he realized he didn't have anywhere to go. Champs Elys was quite far, and it would take a lot of time.As he started to feel bored stiff, he remembered Vera for some reason and called her.Once Vera answered, she quickly asked in curiosity, "To what do I owe the pleasure? Lunch, perhaps?"Charlie chuckled. "Since you've put it that way… I haven't eaten either, so lunch it is!"Vera giggled. "Come over to my place, then. It's cold outside, and I was just lighting up a hot pot. I'll have Madam Marilyn prepare an additional portion.""Okay!" Charlie agreed to it without hesitation. "I can return her car too. Just wait, I'll be right there!"Once he hung up, he got on the Rolls Roycs he had borrowed from Scarlet Pinnacl