“You agreed?!”When Merlin heard his son-in-law’s reply, his whole body felt both surprised, and he was vaguely leaping out of joy.Although he had said that Lord Acker was old-fashioned, he had actually also been convinced by Lord Acker long ago.He knew that this kind of old-fashioned thinking should be criticized to a certain extent, but he also agreed with Lord Acker’s logic, which was that the family’s last name should be passed on. Regardless of whether it was male or female, as long as there was an offspring with the last name, the lineage would continue to be passed on. However, once there was a break in the middle, this lineage would exit the stage of history completely within a few decades.Therefore, if his son-in-law agreed to let his daughter’s children take the last name, Lammy, the family name would be able to continue to be passed down the line. Merlin was very excited to hear that his son-in-law had agreed because of this.However, he did not expect that his
Merlin was a little dumbfounded when he heard this, and he could not help but ask, “A hundred million US dollars could have such an impact?!”Merlin’s son-in-law nodded heavily without hesitation, “That’s right! Dad, a hundred million US dollars has that much power in the hands of rich people!”With that said, he continued, “Of course, the most important point here is that the Acker family can guarantee us an annual net interest rate of eight percent. Uncle Christian said that if the market environment goes down and cannot reach the net interest rate of eight percent or if there was a loss, the Acker family will also make up for our trust’s eight percent net profit. For example, under normal circumstances, a hundred million US dollars will become a hundred and eight million US dollars in the first year, but if the market environment is no good this year and the hundred million US dollars is only ninety million US dollars in the end, the Acker family will take out eighteen million US
Merlin suddenly felt that this world was somewhat magical when he saw his son-in-law’s nervous and eager expression.He originally admired his son-in-law very much and always felt that this boy had an unyielding spirit, was not afraid of poverty, and would never lower his head or admit defeat. To put it bluntly, he felt that his son-in-law was very similar to himself, and he could even see a bit of himself in his son-in-law.It was precisely because of this that Merlin sincerely treated his son-in-law as his own son since he had no son of his own.But at this moment, his son-in-law’s behavior made him realize that as a detective who had seen countless people, his view of his son-in-law had been one-sided, wrong, and naïve. He used to think that his son-in-law was the kind of noble character who would not lust after wealth, but now, it seemed that he was already lustful from a somewhat high starting point, and this starting point was completely inaccessible both to him and his so
All of them would have to wait eighteen years, whether it was for a luxury mansion, a luxury car, or to live a luxurious high society life.If they took into account that there was still eight months to the baby’s expected due date, that would be equivalent to waiting for nineteen years.However, the ten million US dollars cheque that Kathleen had given to Merlin was different. This was not a conditional family trust, but it was a real cash cheque. As long as Merlin took this cheque to any bank in the United States, the cheque could be exchanged for ten million US dollars in cash directly. When Merlin heard them asking about the ten million US dollars, he could not help but say, “My original idea was to put the money into a trust, but the trust that I checked did not have an annualized return as high as eight percent. I calculated it at an annualized interest rate of 3.8%, and there would be almost twenty million US dollars in the trust after eighteen years. The interest can then
The next day, while Yahiko and Hiroshi were wearing masks as they jogged in Central Park, Rosalie and her parents bid farewell to Charlie with immense gratitude before they headed to the airport and took a flight back to Aurous Hill.Charlie stayed in New York for two more days. After spending some time with Nanako and the other Ito family members for two days, Nanako also said goodbye to Charlie reluctantly before her family set off and returned to Japan.After Nanako had left, Charlie gave Porter the order to take Clarissa, who had handed the contraband over to Elaine, back to New York.Clarissa’s real name was Clara Holt. In recent years, she had been working as Martha’s underling. Her main task was to pose as a businesswoman with the false identity of Clarissa Zinn and hand contraband goods that needed to be brought out of the country over to the mules chosen by Martha.Although this woman had never killed anyone with her own hands, she had aided the evildoers and harmed many i
At this time, Elaine looked at the female prison guard before slowly putting down the magazine in her hand as she said with some dissatisfaction, “Lucia, it’s not that I want to complain about you, but the magazines that you’ve been delivering to me these days are all too boring. The stories in the magazines are bad, vulgar, and not educational at all. Can’t you get me a few copies of ‘Soulmates’ instead?” “‘Soulmates’?” The female prison guard was a native Oskian-American, so she did not know what Soulmates was at all. So, she asked nervously, “Elaine, what is this ‘Soulmates’ you’re talking about?”Elaine said arrogantly, “Soulmates is a very deep and literary Oskian magazine. It has been my favorite literary publication for many years. If it weren’t for prejudice, the author of Soulmates would have already won the Nobel Prize for Literature! Imperialism is indeed taking over!”The female prison guard said embarrassedly, “Elaine, the Nobel Prize is not judged by Americans. It’s m
Elaine’s icy cold voice made Chloe and Jacelyn’s faces turned pale out of fear.Their lives had been comparable to hell over the past few days.The two of them were doomed to a terrible end considering what they had done to Elaine before, coupled with Elaine’s vengeful character.In the beginning, Elaine would beat and torture them, but now, she had gradually changed to humiliating and treating them as her slaves instead. Denying them food, finding all kinds of coolie jobs for them, and then watching them struggle like captives who had been imprisoned without being able to catch their breath was Elaine’s favorite thing to do. For example, when the weather was hot, Elaine liked to be barefoot in the cell, so the two of them would have to take turns wiping the floor at least five times a day. If the soles of her feet got dirty after walking in the cell for a day, the two of them would not be able to sleep that night. While the others were sleeping, they would have to kneel on the
As she was thinking about this happily, the Oskian female prison guard from earlier rushed to her dining table and said happily, “Elaine, Elaine! There’s good news, Elaine!”When Elaine saw her excited expression, her heart skipped a beat, and she could not help but blurt out, “What’s the good news? Why are you so excited?”The female prison guard hurriedly explained, “Elaine, your lawyer is here!”“My lawyer?!” Elaine’s expression instantly froze and she exclaimed, “Is it Jakel White? What is he doing here?!” The female prison guard said excitedly, “He’s here to meet with you. He said that he has some good news that he wants to convey to you in person.”Elaine was stunned and frowned as she said, “Could it be... Could it be that he has cleared me of suspicion?!” The female prison guard said without hesitation, “That should be it. Otherwise, how could it be good news?! Congratulations, Elaine! You will soon be cleared of all suspicion and regain your freedom!”Elaine’s express
The other antique traders who were keeping tabs on the situation were left confused by Trippy's message.[Maybe even those out-of-towners know that Raymond is a sucker? So they traveled overnight just to see what happens?][I know Raymond is in trouble, but is it really worth traveling hundreds of miles just to watch?][Maybe they know he's a sucker, so they came to sell him more counterfeits?][Shit, that must be it! Suckers are rare these days, after all!][Damn straight! Just knowing that there's one in Aurous Hill, you'd be eager to come over.]Even Mick Crane who had just woken up and saw the message immediately sent a voice message: "Those conmen are just like flies flocking around shit as soon as they smell it.""Oh, but what they don't know is that Raymond has no more money! I heard he only had a few hundred thousand for the startup, and the bronze sculpture must have cost most of it. I'm afraid those people won't even get their gas money and toll costs back after travel
Trippy rolled his eyes as he texted back: [Hell no. I need to start my business instead of wasting my time. You morons can come get a number yourself if you like. Haha!]Still, Trippy had just sent his text when a trio arrived in a hurry outside Treasure Measure.Seeing that the doors were closed, the leader asked Trippy, "Excuse me, can I ask if this is Treasure Measure? Owned by a man named Mr. Cole?"Trippy was at once surprised. "You mean Raymond Cole?"The leader quickly said, "We don't know his first name, only that his last name is Cole, and his handle name was Treasure Measure's Mr. Cole."Trippy chuckled. "That'd be him. Has to be, since he hand wrote that shop sign."Pausing, he then asked in curiosity, "So, you've come to see him being a sucker?"The leader was naturally curious as to what Trippy was talking about. However, he was also reluctant to reveal why he had come since there was a killer bargain at stake. In fact, every other collector who was coming was k
Raymond also added that the 20 million price tag wouldn't be cut or increased. To put it simply, the bronze sculpture was right there in Aurous Hill and waiting—it was a race.Hence, many reputable collectors contacted expert appraisers throughout the night, some even booking night flights straight to Aurous Hill.The best amongst them was a fanatic collector of bronze items in Eastcliff.Following a brief exchange with Raymond online, he immediately called an expert who was also a close friend. As soon as his call was answered, he asked the other man if he had time to travel to Aurous Hill so that no one else would beat them to it—and they would drive out in the night if at all possible.After all, the earliest flight was at six in the morning, and it'd be eight by the time they made it to Aurous Hill Airport and nine by the time they got to Antique Street in a cab.Therefore, the ideal way to get there was by driving over six hundred miles at top speed, and that meant reaching A
While Jacob was feeling delighted after pulling off his con, Raymond had posted details of the bronze sculpture online.The website he was using was the biggest platform for antique collectors and the antique trade where each user could set a favorite tag in the antique category and era. If a user who preferred canvas art pieces of the Tudor dynasty set that label as their favorite, they would immediately be notified with text or desktop notifications in regards to any item with the same label.As medieval bronze sculptures were rare in the first place, most who were interested had already set that label on their favorites and were immediately notified soon after Raymond posted pictures of the bronze sculpture online.The collectors were naturally eager to check it out as gilded sculptures of the medieval era were really rare, and most collectors would go a lifetime without picking one up for their collection.On top of that, the seller had even listed a major flaw and was only ask
"Nope," Jacob chuckled. "We were both working separately and just happened to get back in at the same time."Then, he immediately became smug and excited, "Guess what, dear? I made 200 thousand out of the deal! In net profits!""For real?!" Elaine gaped. "200 thousand in just one night?! That's amazing! How did you do that?"Claire was surprised to hear that too, and she came over to ask, "What deal was it, Dad?"Jacob grinned, "Oh, it's nothing to brag about. It's just that I managed to pick up a nice antique item thanks to my wisdom and then sold it for 200 thousand."Pausing, he then sighed in dismay, "However, the buyer wasn't too rich—I would have squeezed him for 400 thousand, but he couldn't afford more, so I had to settle for less."Elaine quickly exclaimed, "Shit, we're talking about a loss of 200 thousand! People would work a year and still never earn that much…"She trailed off for a moment before asking, "By the way, dear—are we still flying out first thing tomorrow?
Jacob laughed. "Put that issue behind us? Sure, but we're not becoming friends. Hell, I can't even hold a grudge now that you're shit out of luck."Then, his tone changed sharply and suddenly became icy, "But you see, Aurous Hill is not a place you can stay just because you want to. No… After this, you're not going to be able to make a living in the antique trade.""If I were you, I'd be running a thousand miles away, far away from Aurous Hill where no one would know my face to start over. That way, you just might be able to make a living."Raymond simply kept smiling, "You need not be concerned about how I'm going to survive here, Mr. Wilson. I'd be very grateful if you'd cease any form of harassment once you leave my premises."Jacob pursed his lips, staring at Raymond in disappointment. "I'm plenty magnanimous, so I won't stoop to such pettiness. Just do whatever you like!"Clicking his tongue, he huffed, "Tut, tut… And here I'd thought you're tough, but you're just yet another
Raymond chuckled at the title, humble as ever, "The Duke of Wastage? Now, that's quite the royal title, and I don't think I deserve such an honor…"Trailing off, he then made an especially curious look, "By the way, how'd you know they were calling me that?"Seeing that he was still so ignorant, Jacob scoffed. "You bought a Renaissance-era bronze sculpture earlier, didn't you?"Raymond nodded. "I did. But technically, it's medieval and not Renaissance, along with a Renaissance-era base."Jacob clutched his stomach as he laughed, "Oh, please! Medieval? Hahaha… You're killing me, Mr. Cole!"Raymond kept a serious look on his face. "It's really medieval. Why don't you take a look?""No way," Jacob snorted, pursing his lips. "Anyway, word has already spread that someone was selling a counterfeit bronze sculpture to defraud Antique Street for some serious dough. He went first to Vintage Deluxe, but their manager, Mr. Crane, saw through it and didn't buy it… and then he came to you, an
That was why most of the collectors only knew that such an item existed but they did not know in whose possession it was.After registering a new account and paying the ten thousand registration fee, Raymond got in.It was very safe as it was anonymous, and he posted a photo of the bronze sculpture and an announcement with an asking price of twenty million.In his opinion, it wasn't that expensive—if it was still gilded, it would be worth around a hundred million. Without it, it was plenty reasonable to cut the price down to just thirty million.And Raymond was cutting another ten million off that, so twenty million was plenty reasonable.Moreover, medieval bronze sculptures were exceedingly rare, and less than one specimen showed up annually at times. Collectors who desired it would therefore be willing to break the bank for it, and that was why Raymond was sure that someone would put in an order once he posted it.As he wrote the summary of the item, someone knocked on his door
Jacob frowned in disdain. "Why would I be worried? He's no longer the manager of Vintage Deluxe, and he just lost a shit ton of money for messing up his appraisal. I am also the vice president of the Calligraphy and Painting Association, so why would I be worried about some loser who will soon be kicked out of Antique Street?"Straightening his collar, he snorted coldly, "I am now going to see Raymond Cole and humiliate him face-to-face! He thinks he's impressive, doesn't he? Let's see how he will keep up that facade!"Zachary chuckled, "Yes, exactly! People like him need to be given a slap in the face! As hard as you can! Don't worry—I'll be right behind you. If he gets physical, I'll rush in to help. If he doesn't dare to start a fight, you just insult him as much as possible!""Good plan!" Jacob nodded since he was concerned that Raymond might get physical when pushed too far.And with his body, there was no way he could beat anyone…Spreading his arms, he exclaimed, "Come! I'l