“Who else could it be?!” Jacob wiped his tears away and sobbed as he said, “Of course, it’s Matilda!”Charlie frowned and asked, “Aren’t the two of you confidants? When did you get together?”Jacob quickly explained, “We’re not together. I haven’t divorced your mother-in-law yet...”Charlie said helplessly, “You guys are not together, so how can you be lovelorn?”Jacob felt as if he had been humiliated, so he blushed and argued, “We have always loved each other deep down in our hearts! Do you remember the time when she and her son, Paul, came over to our house for dinner when she had just come back to Oskia?”“I remember.” Charlie said casually, “Wasn’t that just a reunion between old classmates? What’s so special about it?”Jacob said solemnly, “Of course, it was special! You don’t know this, but I confessed my love to her when we were in the kitchen that day! I not only confessed my love to her affectionately, but I even hugged her, and she hugged me back!”“Really?” Charlie a
After hearing Jacob’s words, Charlie could not help but ask in surprise, “How did Professor Hart get together with Aunt Matilda? When did this happen?” Jacob said indignantly, “Didn’t it happen during the cultural exchange to Korea this time? The two of them somehow ended up together for some reason!”Charlie asked him, “Are you sure they are together? Have they made an official announcement?”“Yes...” Jacob’s eyes were red and swollen, and he said in distress, “Matilda spoke to me about this matter before. She said that Professor Hart had always been interested in her, and it was not just for a day or two. In fact, he had always been interested in her since we ran into him that time.”After saying that, Jacob then added, “Professor Hart had always been stalking Matilda, and I don’t know what’s wrong with Matilda that she actually agreed to be together with him.”Charlie laughed and said, “Dad, I’m going to say something that you won’t like to hear. I actually think that the two
Jacob did not expect Charlie to say his inner thoughts directly, so he looked extremely embarrassed as he said, “Isn’t it because I want to solve the problem peacefully?”Charlie shook his head and said, “I know. When Aunt Matilda first returned to Oskia, Mom happened to disappear for a period of time. You might not have realized it, but I could see that you really enjoyed the feeling very much during that time. However, you failed to understand that the feeling was only temporary and you cannot regard something that’s temporary as eternal.”Charlie then said sincerely, “Dad, I can actually understand Professor Hart’s situation. To be honest, I think that it’s actually the best choice for Aunt Matilda to be together with him. First of all, both of them are single and widowed. They do not face the psychological burden of destroying the other party’s family or marriage, and they also do not need to worry that the other party will rekindle their relationship with their exes or worry tha
Charlie laughed and said, “Aren’t you simply putting someone down just because you can’t beat them? What’s the use of simply talking about it? If you’re really in the ring, you will lose your life if you carry on fighting for a few more rounds! Tell me, in what way are you better compared to Professor Hart? You can name any point you want! I won’t mention anything else, but Professor Hart dares to declare his love and openly pursue the woman that he loves. He is already way ahead of you in this aspect alone.”“I...” Jacob did not know how to refute Charlie’s words. Yolden was indeed much better than him in all aspects. When they went on the cultural exchange to Korea this time, what Yolden did on the subject really surprised everyone, and he had defeated all the participants on both sides directly with his level.Moreover, when Yolden had given a speech on stage, he could switch between the Oskian dialect, English, and Korean at will. His charismatic personality had even charmed a
“Arguing with the police?!”Charlie asked in surprise, “How did Mom end up arguing with the police?”Claire said in a panic, “I don’t know either. Mom said that she had to go to the toilet, so I helped her in before I came out. After that, I heard her talking to someone on the phone, and the tone of her voice seemed to be getting more and more agitated. She finally started arguing with the other party and even said that he does not deserve to be a police officer...”Charlie hurriedly said, “I’ll go and take a look.”After saying that, he looked at Jacob and said seriously, “Dad, you should digest what I’ve just said. If you still feel upset, I’ll come and talk to you again later.”Jacob was incomparably depressed as he muttered, “Forget it... Stop sprinkling salt on my wounds. No... You’re not even sprinkling salt, it’s sulfuric acid!”Charlie shook his head helplessly. “In that case, you can figure it out for yourself. I’ll go up and have a look first.”After that, Charlie and
“Otherwise, if it’s just one person making a phone call to say that another person is involved in a crime without any evidence and is asking us to arrest the other party, how many people would we have to arrest every day to solve such a problem? What’s more, if we really file a case and find out that the other party has been wrongly accused, we will not let the person who made the false police report off. We will also pursue the other party’s legal responsibility when the time comes.”As soon as Elaine heard that she might be held accountable, she panicked immediately. She had been in prison several times, and she had also been to prison in the United States. In all fairness, she was the Ferocious Ghost of Bedford Hills Correctional Institute, but she really did not want to end up in prison again. So, she could only sneer bitterly and say, “I think you’re just trying to cover up for that bitch, Hannah Queen! I will definitely report this matter to your higher authorities when I fi
Elaine’s description of Hannah surprised Charlie.He really did not expect that Hannah would seize the biggest trend of the internet to imitate others to start a live broadcast to sell goods. What’s more, Charlie did not expect that Hannah knew how to set up a persona on the internet. There were tens of thousands of people doing live broadcasts, but there were very few people who knew how to set up a good persona to make profits. Some people packaged themselves as a success guru and would teach others how to turn ten thousand dollars into ten billion dollars on the internet every day. They would also advertise and boast about how many star companies and entrepreneurs they had built up. In fact, he might not have even finished high school and only sold meat skewers every day, but the city management did not allow him to set up his stall, and his project fell through because he did not have a sanitation permit. When the short videos trend came up, his life suddenly turned around,
At this time, Hannah, who was on the live broadcast, picked up another cell phone and said, “Everyone, I’m going to make the shopping cart go online now, so everyone needs to hurry up and grab the towels! Three, two, one, go!”Elaine muttered, “This towel is not even branded but she is selling five pieces of towels for ninety-nine dollars. I think that’s the price for a good towel made of high-grade cotton. Only a fool would buy the towels she’s selling!”After that, she muttered again, “Let me see how many orders she can get for these towels.”With that said, she clicked on the shopping cart icon on Hannah’s live broadcast room and clicked in to see that the link that was ranked first was this towel—Buy three, get two free, ninety-nine dollars, free shipping. The real-time sales even showed that there were already more than one thousand and eight hundred orders. Elaine was shocked and blurted out, “Damn it, there are actually people who are buying it?! There are even more than on
Charlie chuckled. "Don't sell yourself short, Mr. Hart. There are plenty of business folk who got so used to their comfort zone that they became caught in the illusion that they can be successful in anything they do. It's a mindset that leads to them blindly developing new projects and new competition, and then they end up losing big."If memory serves, there have been real estate businesses that started mineral water brands, search engines that tried the car industry, e-commerce sites attempting social media, and vice-versa. All of them are multi-billion-dollar companies venturing into new frontiers, but all to unimpressive outcomes."Pausing, Charlie then continued, "You've mentioned rising above the competition amidst the development of the new energy industry. That would get anyone's attention, and it is why I believe that you definitely will make a strong impression with your strategizing and knowledge of the basic principles."Yolden found it hard to refuse, seeing that Charli
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