But looking at the situation today, he was already doomed.However, how could he escape when Rudy was not even his opponent?So, if he wanted to live, he could only agree to Charlie’s conditions.Therefore, he could not help but choke up and say, “Mr. Wade, I’m willing...”Charlie waved his hand. “Don’t say this to me. I have nothing to do with you at all. Although you’ve humiliated me over and over again today, I did not even touch a single finger of yours, let alone ask you for a single penny. Today’s matter is a personal affair between you and Solomon. You were the one who called him to come over, and you are the one who is going to sell your company to him by your own will. So, the two of you should find a place to settle this matter. I do not want to get involved.”Shawn was stunned when he heard this, and he could not help but secretly sigh as he thought to himself, ‘Damn! This Charlie Wade is really shameless. He has managed to shirk all responsibility for this matter with
This was because Charlie had not received a complete higher education, so he understood the feeling of wanting to study but not having the opportunity to do so.This was why he hoped to help Serene to continue studying until she herself was unwilling to continue studying.Serene felt incomparably grateful toward Charlie. So, she said gratefully, “Don’t worry, Mr. Wade. I will work hard to finish my studies, and I will not let you down.”Charlie said seriously, “You don’t need to care about my feelings as long as you don’t let yourself down.”“I understand!” Serene nodded heavily. Charlie spoke up and asked her, “Since you plan to go back to school, you don’t have to stay in Hong Kong, right?”“Yes...” Serene said, “I’ve already received my acceptance letter, so I just need to complete the registration process within the stipulated time and renew my visa before I go.”“Okay.” Charlie nodded and asked her again, “What is the major that you are studying at the University of Tokyo?
Solomon hurriedly bowed and said, “I’ll leave first then, Mr. Wade!”After saying that, he pulled Tyson up and threw him at his subordinates who were at the back as he instructed, “Keep an eye on him and don’t let him talk nonsense when he goes out later.”“As you command, Mr. Star!” The subordinates replied respectfully, and two of them then stood on Tyson’s left and right to support him as they brought him out of Shawn’s office. At this time, Charlie then said to Serene and the other girl, “You girls should go back too. Remember not to tell anyone about what you saw or heard here today.”Serene nodded repeatedly, and the other girl next to her also nodded repeatedly. Charlie had rescued Serene twice, so naturally, she would not tell anyone about Charlie’s affairs. The other girl who was with Serene was also intimidated by Charlie and therefore, she too would not dare to offend Charlie. After the two girls had left, Shawn could not help but sigh emotionally as he thought to h
Charlie’s words caused Shawn to have a stunned expression.It was the first time he had heard such remarks. If someone else had said these words, he would have scoffed as he would have thought that the other party was just being hypocritical. In Hong Kong, where the entertainment industry was very developed, which rich man would not want to get involved in the entertainment industry and have some scandals with celebrities of the opposite sex? There were even a few who would marry celebrities. However, Charlie felt that it was a disgrace to be related to the entertainment industry, and this was obviously not in line with reality. Still, Shawn thought about it carefully, and he immediately discovered a very surprising fact. In Hong Kong, those who really liked to get involved with celebrities were often the rich heirs.On the contrary, those self-made rich men who had started from nothing never paid any attention to the entertainment industry at all. These cases often hap
As he spoke, he could hear the faint whirring of the airplane engine over the phone on Kathleen’s end of the line. So, he asked, “Miss Fox, are you on the plane now?” “Yes.” Kathleen hurriedly said, “I was just about to report to you that I’m also rushing over to Hong Kong with Jarvis in order to ensure that Mr. Campbell’s repatriation is foolproof. Our plane is expected to arrive in Hong Kong at 2:30 pm. Although we will be landing half an hour later, since Mr. Campbell will have to go through the handover procedure at customs, we should be leaving the customs one step ahead of Mr. Campbell.”Charlie could not help but sigh as he said, “Miss Fox, you’ve already helped me a lot in this matter. There’s no need for you to go through so much trouble.”Kathleen said without hesitation, “Mr. Wade, you’re being too serious. You have been so kind to me, and this is the only thing that I can do for you. How could it be any trouble at all?”In truth, Kathleen also knew that since Charlie w
When Shawn heard Charlie agreeing to his request, he was inwardly excited beyond measure. The richest people he had ever met in his life were the Laine family from Hong Kong.However, the Laine family was nothing compared to the Fox family.Therefore, Shawn felt that it would be a huge breakthrough for himself if he could have the opportunity to get acquainted with the Fox family. So, he said happily to Charlie with great enthusiasm, “Mr. Wade, we will go to the restaurant for lunch later. I’ll ask my wife to go over and make all the preparations in advance first. Marianne will also be coming over to join us for lunch. After we’re done eating lunch, I will get my wife to come with me to bring you to the airport to meet Miss Fox!”Charlie nodded and said, “That sounds like a reasonable arrangement. We will do as you’ve said, then.”Shawn smiled and asked again, “By the way, Mr. Wade, where is Miss Fox going to stay when she comes to Hong Kong this time? I remember that the Fox f
Anyway, his battle with Shawn would begin the moment Janus came out of the airport customs in the afternoon. So, there was nothing wrong with having Shawn’s wife around to witness it.However, Charlie did not want Marianne to tag along.After all, after getting along with Charlie over the past two days, he had gotten to know Marianne better. He did not want her to have to personally witness his conflict with her own father. What’s more, Charlie had been concealing something when he came to Hong Kong and approached Shawn this time. So, he too did not want to tear off his disguise in front of Marianne. According to his plan, he would no longer have any further contact with Shawn and the Long family after dealing with all the problems properly at the airport. His intersection with Marianne would also come to an end after this meal.Marianne did not know what Charlie was thinking. She had originally hoped that she would be able to go together with them, and it did not matter who the
2:00 pm.Janus’s flight landed at Hong Kong Airport on time.At this time, Janus was sitting in the window seat, and he had mixed feelings.He had been away from Hong Kong for too long, and the scenery outside the window no longer felt familiar to him. The only thing that he was familiar with was the traditional characters of the Hong Kong dialect that could be seen everywhere. These traditional characters of the Hong Kong dialect reminded him that he had finally returned to his hometown after twenty years. However, what he regretted was that he probably would not have the opportunity to get reacquainted with Hong Kong which he had left behind for twenty years now. His life would probably begin entering a countdown the moment he landed in Hong Kong.At this time, a male flight attendant came over to him and reminded him, “Mr. Campbell, according to the regulations, you should not get off the plane immediately. You’ll have to wait for all the other passengers to get off the plan
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