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
So, they would be able to get rich overnight if all of them worked together!At this time, the man who had rushed in front leaped and aimed a flying kick directly at Charlie’s face!According to his assumption, he would definitely be able to kick Charlie to the ground with this kick. As long as his remaining buddies could rush up in time and kick without allowing Charlie to fight back, that would be enough to beat Charlie until he was half-dead. However, Charlie did not retreat or dodge. Instead, he suddenly stretched out his hand and grabbed the man’s flying leg with both hands!Immediately afterward, the man felt that his entire body was instantly stagnant in the air, and the inertia of his rushing over and leaping up seemed to have disappeared without a trace, which was simply defying common sense!Just as he was deadlocked in mid-air and clueless about what to do, Charlie looked at him, sneered, and said, “Where the h*ll did you come from? F*ck you!” After that, Charlie swu
Dillion was scared speechless by Charlie for a while, and he did not dare to speak.He knew that once both the Brown family and the Order of the Star could not suppress Charlie, he would not have any other trump cards to use.Therefore, he did not dare to continue testing Charlie’s bottom line.Nevertheless, Charlie absolutely would not let him off so easily. So, he raised his hand, slapped Dillion again, and asked, “Speak! Are you dumb?!”Dillion’s mouth was so swollen at this point, almost as if there were twenty quail eggs stuffed into his mouth. So, he could only endure the pain and whimpered, “I... I was wrong. Please let me go, Sir. Please let me go...”Charlie slapped him again and said coldly, “I asked you whether you were the person who said those words just now! I’ll tear your mouth apart if you say one more word of nonsense!” Dillion cried and howled miserably as he said, “It was me... It was me...”Charlie nodded, slapped him again, and said coldly, “You’re really a
Marianne was shocked and frustrated as she spoke up earnestly and worriedly, “Charlie, I beg you to listen to me. His family will definitely not let you off after you’ve beat him up so badly! How are you going to settle things, then?! Even my father will not be able to protect you...”“Your father?” Charlie smiled and said, “It would already be very impressive if he could protect himself.” Having said that, Charlie’s topic did not continue lingering on Shawn, and he said to Marianne, “What’s more, it’s not a question of whether this kid’s family will let me off or not, but it’s whether I am going to let them off or not. If he cannot continue enduring a hundred slaps, his father or godfather will have to endure it on his behalf, then. His father can only blame himself for failing to educate his son properly, and his godfather can only blame himself because he was an accessory to his crimes.”Marianne was shocked and speechless by Charlie’s words. After a while, she could not help bu
Charlie’s words caused Wester to instantly suffer an emotional breakdown.As soon as his legs went weak, he fell to the ground with a thud as he cried and begged, “Sir... I’m just a subordinate of the Order of the Star. Please have mercy on me and let me go on the account that I’ve already lost an arm...”Charlie frowned and said, “I really don’t understand gang members like you. You are usually the most ruthless people, but you guys are also the most cowardly when there’s trouble. Can’t you be a little tougher?”Wester cried and said, “Sir, I will not be able to continue working in the underground world anymore in the future if you break my leg as well...”Charlie asked him, “Are you thinking of taking care of your injuries so that you can continue being one of the Double Pride in the Order of the Star?”Wester hurriedly shook his head and said, “No... I didn’t mean that.”Charlie sneered and said, “You will still make enough if you make an honest living with an arm and a leg. O
Marianne continued questioning, “So, you lured them here deliberately so that you could deal with them?”“That’s right.” Charlie said indifferently, “You should look at a person’s boss before dealing with them, but you also have to choose a suitable place to take action. I could not choose a location where they could flee directly or cause a commotion in the downtown area as soon as I made a move on them.”Marianne looked at the light-hearted expression on Charlie’s face, and when she thought of what he had just done, she could not help but say, “You’re a devil!”“Devil?” Charlie frowned and said, “I, the devil, have never thought of violating you, but that guy in the car trunk is not only thinking of violating you himself, but he also wanted his gang of strong and muscular men to violate you as well. So, who do you think is right, and who is at fault?”Marianne blushed before her face turned pale. After a long while, she said angrily, “Even if that’s the case, you cannot use viole
When Charlie saw Marianne’s despondent expression, he suddenly felt some sympathy for this eldest young lady of the top wealthy family in Hong Kong.Although Shawn was rich, Marianne still did not have a complete childhood.Her father’s betrayal and mother’s early death had destroyed her childhood completely. Charlie and Marianne’s experiences were also somewhat similar in this regard. Although Charlie’s parents had had a good relationship, Charlie’s childhood had fallen apart completely after his parents had passed away. Since then, Charlie had lived in the orphanage for ten years. Although Mrs. Lewis had taken care of him, it had still been a painful decade for Charlie.This was because he had had to re-accept the reality of his parents’ death every day for the first five years, and he had had to fight the sadness of missing his parents every day for the next five years.What truly healed Charlie for the next twenty years and kept him calm without going astray were the earn
Marianne blinked and then used her slender and fair hand to gesture in the direction of the beginning and end of the food street as she said with a smug smile, “This entire street is mine!” “Wow!” Charlie could not help but sigh in admiration as he said, “This boss is so generous!” Marianne smiled and said, “You have to pay some form of price if you want to keep some people and things.”After saying that, several street vendors on the side of the road saw Marianne and greeted her respectfully. “Hello, Miss Marianne!” “Miss Marianne, you’re here!” “What would you like to eat tonight, Miss Marianne?”Marianne greeted them one by one, and she could even refer to everyone by name. After she was done with the pleasantries, she said to Charlie, “Hong Kong’s economy has been growing rapidly over the past few years, and this kind of place would have been long bought and ready to be redeveloped. At that time, the owner of the street increased the rent several times overnight after
Having lost it all, Jacob really looked like he wouldn't be getting back up.But fortunately, he had a pillar in the form of Elaine.In fact, Elaine would serve to be a container, whipping Jacob into shape if he got too full of himself.But on the other hand, now that Jacob was utterly despondent, she would be forcing him to smile and function in general.Elaine's attitude to the entire issue was clear as well. Even though Jacob had just lost his job, she would make him go shopping with her in Dubai even if he fell into a coma. Even if he was dead, she'd just cremate him and bring his ashes along.Hence, with Elaine's firm grip around Jacob's leash, he went on strolls, going shopping and taking selfies with Elaine everyday, eventually easing the toll on his mood and spirit.-Back at Aurous Hill, Charlie was preparing for Yolden Hart and Matilda Hall's wedding as it approached.Yolden was a schoolmate of his mother, Ashley Layna Acker, as well as Charlie's elder.And while Cha
"See you." As soon as Charlie hung up on Matilda, Don Albert's call came right after.He sounded nervous as Charlie answered the phone, saying, "Master Wade, I think I might have gone too far…""Wait, what's this about?" Charlie asked."Your father-in-law, of course…" Don Albert sighed. "You asked me to leave him hanging for a while, so I did. I even refused when he asked to book a room in Heaven Springs.""Well, that's not a problem, is it?" Charlie shrugged. "He and Zachary ganged up for some real mischief. As you are Zachary's boss, it's right that you refused him because you didn't appreciate what he did.""That's just it. I thought that approach was just right as well," Don Albert quickly said. "I wasn't playing nice when Mr. Bay of the Calligraphy and Painting Association called me either. That's when he said he'd try to save Jacob's position as vice-president, but I told him it's none of my business."I then hung up on him without much thought, only for Zachary to tell m
Meanwhile, Charlie was downstairs in Claire's office, waiting to pick her up and head home.That was when Matilda called him, asking as soon as he answered, "Charlie, do you know how Jacob is doing? He never answered any of my texts—is he going to be alright?""I wouldn't know," Charlie replied. "Both he and Elaine are in Dubai on a trip… What's wrong?""He resigned," Matilda sighed. "I only saw the public statement that the Calligraphy and Painting Association posted this afternoon. It says that he tendered the resignation himself, but it doesn't really feel that way. I wonder if he's at odds with other members of the association…"Charlie was actually surprised to hear that Jacob had resigned.He had told Zachary to expose the truth of the bronze sculpture fraud case to teach Jacob a lesson so that Jacob would understand the meaning of true pain.However, he anticipated that Mr. Bay would at least keep Jacob around with an unimportant job even if Jacob did lose some money and e
Falling apart in both mind and spirit, Jacob was crying as he disembarked and took a cab to the hotel.Elaine, who had been lying around for 24 hours, was stunned speechless as she watched him enter, crying like a child.In contrast, Elaine looked like a mother to Jacob just then as he threw himself into her arms and bawled, "Darling… That prick Mr. Bay screwed me over… I have nothing left now…"Taken aback for a moment that Jacob would bawl in her arms like that, Elaine soon came to her senses and patted his back as she comforted him, "Oh, stop crying already. Who cares about some Calligraphy and Painting groupies? We certainly don't! Just hear me out and don't ever go there again!"Jacob kept sobbing, "But I care… I want to go…"Annoyed, Elaine's hand that had been patting Jacob a moment ago slid down to his hip and pinched him viciously before he noticed."Ow!" Jacob yelped in pain, and he demanded indignantly, "What was that for?!""Shut up!" Elaine snapped, glowering. "I wa
Jacob couldn't even be bothered by the looks others were giving him, and he called Mr. Bay immediately.Mr. Bay had already gone home and was seated on the couch with his wife, watching his phone and waiting for Jacob to call and demand an explanation.Mr. Bay knew that he had to answer for this and that if he avoided Jacob, it may well be a confession that he had screwed Jacob over.So, to avoid unnecessary trouble, he decided to come clean with Jacob.Naturally, by coming clean, he meant passing the buck as his wife had suggested.Hence, as he answered Jacob's call, he immediately sighed in embarrassment, "Hey, Jacob. I'm so sorry about that…"However, Jacob was so furious he immediately started bellowing, "Mr. Bay! Are you fucking with me here?! You said that the resignation letter was more of a formality, but you just made it public instead! So, all those things you said about helping me were just a trap, was it?! You're despicable! And to think I've been so good to you, even
The repeated flights had left Jacob tormented.Even before he actually had the time to enjoy Dubai, he had already gotten sick of the place and didn't want to ever return.And on the flight, he couldn't stop his thoughts from going astray.Now that he was not getting back the money he had lost, his only hope was Mr. Bay.Fortunately, Mr. Bay was serious about his promise that he would at least save him a job as department head. That was why, despite his thoughts running astray, he never considered the thought that he would be kicked out of the Calligraphy and Painting Association.As soon as his flight landed, he didn't wait to turn off his phone's flight mode, waiting for the internet connection to return so that he could ask Mr. Bay about the meeting.Once he did, he received a ton of messages from public accounts to acquaintances—many had already found out that he had resigned from the post of administrative vice-president and wanted to ask how he was doing.And Matilda was
The Calligraphy and Painting Association was certainly efficient—soon after the meeting was dismissed, the news that the administrative vice-president had resigned was posted on their official page and social media.The notice was simple and never mentioned what Jacob had done, only that the administrative vice-president had asked to resign for personal reasons. The request had since been voted upon, and all members had agreed to it.And that was how a simple and short message kicked Jacob out of the Calligraphy and Painting Association entirely.In the city, other associations closely connected with the Calligraphy and Painting Association were the various cultural societies and circles of antique enthusiasts and the Senior University. In fact, most fans of the public page of the Calligraphy and Painting Association were from the Senior City, and every lecturer, student, and even guest lecturer were subscribed.As a matter of fact, that was entirely Jacob's doing. After his lect
There weren't that many members in the Calligraphy and Painting Association—just a handful over twenty.Hence, at Mr. Bay's request, everyone showed up at the conference at 1 pm.He chose the afternoon as there were a handful who were away on outreach, including Walker, who was subbing for Jacob's lectures.Once the entire Calligraphy and Painting Association save for Jacob was informed of the mandatory meeting, every member was there on the hour, seated primly and in attention in the huge conference room.Mr. Bay didn't waste his breath on the preamble either—as soon as he saw that everyone had arrived, he announced, "Everyone, I've gathered you here today because our administrative vice-president, Jacob Wilson, has been alleged to be involved in a certain malicious scheme."Last night, Mr. Wilson submitted his resignation to me, and after a discussion with my vice-presidents, we've all decided to hold a vote. It will be open to every member in the association as we will be decid
Having sent his resignation letter, Jacob had no idea that it would be the catalyst for his dismissal.He didn't sleep well at the rundown motel either and had dark circles under his eyes as he rushed to the airport early the next morning.Clearing the checkpoint and boarding his flight, everything went smoothly until his flight to Dubai lifted off at 10 am.-Meanwhile, the other vice-presidents of the Calligraphy and Painting Association had arrived at Mr. Bay's office.They all had the same goal—pressure Mr. Bay and get Jacob kicked out of the association no matter what it took.Naturally, they knew that Mr. Bay most definitely would have to help Jacob since Jacob was close with Don Albert. If Mr. Bay insisted on protecting Jacob, they shouldn't insist, or Jacob would hear about it, and the man would bear a grudge.Even so, as the vice-presidents entered Mr. Bay's office and closed the door behind them, one of them couldn't help asking, "So, Mr. Bay—how do you intend to deal