When everyone heard that Lily’s father was a cultural relic appraiser, they immediately cast a contemptuous and sympathetic gaze at Charlie.All of them shared the same thought—Charlie was so unlucky!His show-off moment was interrupted by the presence of an expert! It was like a slap right across his own face!It would be so humiliating if Lawson Lewis, Lily’s father, came downstairs!Claire blushed timidly. She leaned closer to Charlie and whispered, “So many people are watching you. You’d better not be stubborn, it would be so embarrassing otherwise!”On their way here, Charlie did tell her about the painting he bought but he said that it didn’t cost him a lot of money. Right now, however, he changed his attitude and claimed that it was very expensive. His sudden change of reaction made Claire a little doubtful and skeptical, figuring that Charlie might have lied for the sake of his reputation.On the contrary, Charlie was indifferent. He blurted, “If you don’t believe me, let
“Yes,” Lily answered. “They’ve been buddies since college!”As she was saying this, in her mind, she was thinking, ‘Charlie, you and Douglas are good buddies but you have the nerve to give him a worthless piece of sh*t, let my dad expose and humiliate you in front of everyone!’However, beyond everyone’s expectation, Lawson said with a grateful sigh, “Indeed, it seems that he is a good friend! Why would one give such a precious gift otherwise?”Everyone was dumbfounded upon the statement!What did he mean by ‘precious’? Was he saying that the yellowish drawing was expensive?Exasperated, Clinton cursed inside his head, ‘F*ck you! I can go to Antique Street, buy a fake painting, pee on it to make it look old and yellowish, and it will still look more authentic than that piece of sh*t!’Lawson cleared his throat and said in an earnest tone, “This is the authentic work of Rachel Ruysch, a painter from the Dutch Golden Age. Although she is not as famous nowadays, she was one of the m
At this moment, Clinton felt like he wanted to die right there and then!D*mn it!What was going on!He couldn’t catch a break, could he?How did he get repeatedly humiliated by Charlie the loser?Never did he expect that the painting would turn out to be authentic and worth two hundred thousand dollars!He had already given his word, what should he do now? Did he really have to eat the table?That was absolutely impossible!He could buy a new car after his car perished in the fire, but how could he eat a table?He would really die if he did!The crowd teased him, “Hey, Clinton, you said it yourself that you will eat the table if you lose. Do you want to break your promise again this time?”“That’s right! Everyone is still waiting for your freak show!”Someone slapped on the table hard. “Hey, please start your act now!”Clinton’s face turned into an ugly shade of red and green. He blurted sheepishly, “We’re all friends, do you guys really have to kick me when I’m already d
More importantly, he had to find a way to clean up his reputation among his former collegemates. Otherwise, how could he show off in front of his friends in the future after being humiliated by Charlie twice?Just when he was pondering about how to restore his dignity, there was a sudden commotion at the main entrance of the restaurant.The noise attracted everyone’s attention and they looked towards the door.A group of youngsters with malicious looks barged into the restaurant. They had tattoos all over their limbs and body, holding baseball bats, galvanized water pipes, and the like in their hands. They didn’t look like they were here for a meal at all.Everyone was extremely shocked upon the horrid sight, especially Douglas and Lily, their eyes full of fear.A man with the visible scar on his face was obviously the head of the group. He stepped forward, scanned the hall, then pointed at Douglas with an evil grin. “Boss, why didn’t you come and say hi before the opening ceremon
Clinton was extremely dumbfounded by the abrupt reaction from Mr. Lee and was very annoyed, but as his friends were still watching him, he gritted his teeth and searched for another contact.This time, he called the director of the district police branch.He remembered that this person also had a close relationship with his father.When his call was answered, he immediately started, “Hi, Mr. Kent, it’s me, Clinton, Clinton Tucker. I have some problems in the redevelopment zone…”He illustrated the matter all over again.The man at the other end of the line cleared his throat awkwardly and said, “Clinton, he is Bill’s guy, and Bill is Don Albert’s guy, I think you’d better not get involved in this matter.”Clinton asked in confusion, “Don’t you want to do something about it?”“You should know Don Albert’s status in this city, it’s not within my control.”Clinton was a little flustered by the response that he said, sounding panicked, “Can’t you do me a favor and talk to him for a
As Scarface turned his head and stumbled upon Charlie, he was puzzled at first, and then suddenly, his expression had a drastic change! He was extremely shocked and quickly knelt on the floor!Before anyone could regain their composure, Scarface threw away the knife, started slapping himself, and cried, “Mr. Wade, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were here, I’m terribly sorry!”Charlie was taken aback by the sudden shift in reaction. “Do you know me?”Scarface nodded profusely and said, “Yes, Mr. Wade, Bill is my boss, I saw you the other day at Heaven Springs…”Charlie was suddenly enlightened. Interesting.It was Bill, Don Albert’s man, who had tormented Gerald and Harold at the Heaven Springs the other day. This man was Bill’s guy.No wonder he was so afraid of him.Even Don Albert’s legs went jelly when he saw Charlie, let alone the guy of his guy…Everyone was shocked by the scene! Lily had her mouth agape as well!They couldn’t understand why a fierce gangster, who just
Claire was very curious about the series of strange events that had happened today.First was the car racing incident. Why was Charlie’s BMW 520 twice as fast as Clinton’s 540?Second, the ancient painting that was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars!Third, how and why did Charlie know the people of the underworld? Not to mention how polite and respectful they were towards him.On their way home, Charlie provided some explanation about the whole string of events.Firstly, the BMW 520 was a test drive car that was modified by the showroom in order to make buyers mistakenly believe that the model was very powerful.Claire didn’t know much about cars, so she believed him.Secondly, he explained about the painting when they were at the restaurant. He had bought it at a low price from an acquaintance out of courtesy and he gave it to Douglas as a gift as a token of affection.However, the matter about Scarface was a bit tricky. He had to find a solid and believable explanation t
Claire frowned in confusion. Was this where Charlie had booked their anniversary dinner tonight?She couldn’t help but ask suspiciously, “You’re not bluffing, are you?”Charlie chuckled gleefully. “Of course, not!”Then, he continued, “I made a reservation a few days ago. Let’s go in and check if you don’t believe me.”Claire shook her head. Charlie had never once deceived her after being married for three years, especially not on such an important day as today. So she said, “Nah, I believe you.”She tilted her head curiously and asked, “Did you reserve the seat in the Sky Garden? There’s some VIP guy who booked the whole place for today, right?”Charlie quickly explained, “The seat I reserved is next to the Sky Garden, it happens to have a view of the inside of the garden. We can peep to see who on earth booked the place later! What do you think?”Claire giggled. “I’m not such a busybody like you are!”Then, they walked into Shangri-La Hotel.As when they were waiting for the
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