Charlie sighed, saying, “It’s possible. His sudden departure gives me a feeling that it might be hard for me to see him again in the future. He's a smart person, and he knows that he can't hide forever. So, he couldn't have just switched off his phone tonight and acted as if nothing had happened, returning to the Wade Mansion tomorrow as if everything was normal unless he has already decided not to show up again after this departure.”Vera was surprised and asked, “At this point, what else does Mr. Thompson have to hide from you? Hasn’t he been fulfilling the tasks your father assigned him for so many years? Why would he leave so suddenly now? Does he know that you will ask him about these photos?”Charlie shook his head and said, “I don't know what he's thinking, but from what I know about him, he must be loyal to the Wades. He might have his own reasons for leaving without saying goodbye, or this could also be part of my father's arrangements.”Vera said, “Young Master, you are pr
Late at night, a cargo ship set sail from the Blue Bay, carrying Stephen to Tahiti in the South Pacific.Stephen stood at the stern of the ship and felt a wave of emotions as he watched the city grow further and further away in the night. He was once a trusted aide of Charlie's father, Curtis. Twenty years ago, Curtis had given him two tasks. The first was to protect Charlie's safety after his own incident, and the other was to obey all orders from Ashley. Over the years, although Stephen had remained and served as a butler for the Wades, everything he did was actually based on Ashley's instructions.For more than ten years, even Jeremiah did not know whether his grandson, Charlie, was alive or dead. This was because Curtis did not make any arrangements for Stephen to inform Jeremiah about Charlie's situation. Ashley was still the one controlling everything behind the scenes.It was only when Ashley felt that the time was right that she let Stephen confess Charlie's situation to Jer
After finishing his sentence, he quietly asked Charlie, “Charlie, why does Miss Lavor refer to you as ‘Young Master’?” Charlie thought for a moment, then smiled and said, “She likes ancient culture. Don’t be surprised if she refers to herself as the humble one later.”Jeremiah shook his head and said with a smile, “I'm old now, and I don't understand what these young people like.”He then lowered his voice again and said to Charlie, “But Miss Lavor really has the demeanor of a noble lady. It's just that she's a bit younger. Otherwise, she would be quite suitable for you.”“Yes, she's young indeed…” Charlie smiled in agreement as he secretly thought to himself, ‘If you knew that Vera is already over three hundred years old, you'd probably be shocked.’After that, he and Jeremiah went to the dining room together.Vera was unpacking the breakfast she had bought when Charlie handed the photo album to Jeremiah and asked him, “Grandpa, do you remember this photo album?”Jeremiah frow
Charlie sent the photo to Janus on WhatsApp and attached a voice message: ‘Uncle Janus, could you please help me check if you know this person next to my father?’Janus quickly replied with a voice message: ‘Young Master, I've seen this person in the photo before. His name is Biden Cole, but I'm not very familiar with him. I just know that he's an Oskian antique dealer who shares a close relationship with your father.’Upon hearing that Janus knew this person, Charlie immediately called him. As soon as the call connected, he asked eagerly, “Uncle Janus, could you please tell me about Biden Cole in detail?”Janus said, “Biden’s family has been engaged in the antique business overseas, mainly focusing on Europe and America. Besides the United States, they also have businesses in England and France. His family has some reputation in the antique industry in Europe and the United States.”With that said, he continued, “The photo you sent is of Biden’s store in New York. It's said that t
Charlie instructed Shawn over the phone to arrange a private plane to take Janus to Aurous Hill at nine tonight and requested a convoy from Janus' house to take him to the airport. Though Shawn wasn't happy about it, he didn't dare to argue and reluctantly agreed with a smile.Later, Charlie and Vera bid farewell to Charlie’s grandfather, Jeremiah. On the plane, Vera asked Charlie, “Young Master, would it be a little too rushed if you’re going to New York tonight? You will only be able to spend a little more than ten hours in Aurous Hill, then.”Charlie shook his head and said, “Besides meeting my grandparents and briefing them on recent events, I want to see if they can think of any useful information. In addition, I want to greet my parents-in-law before departing.”Vera nodded and said softly, “I almost forgot that your wife is in the United States as well.”“Yes.” Charlie nodded and said, “I asked Miss Fox to invite her to the United States to help. She is in New York now.”
Charlie knew that Emmett had extraordinary influence in Eastcliff. With him involved, Vera's proposal was bound to succeed. Furthermore, the feasibility of Vera's method was very high. As long as the authorities endorsed it and showed enough concern for the Ackers, their safety in Oskia wouldn't be a problem anymore. Even if Fleur was extremely bold and courageous, she wouldn't dare to openly oppose a country unless she was really tired of living, having lived for four hundred years. However, according to what Charlie understood now, the longer a person lived, the more they treasured their life and feared death. Fleur, having lived for four hundred years, must be extremely afraid of death. Otherwise, she wouldn't have fled from the mountains in such a miserable state.When Vera saw that Charlie had no objections to the proposal, she called Emmett immediately and informed him of the situation. Emmett didn't hesitate and readily agreed as he started to communicate with his connectio
Charlie sighed and said, “I didn't find any concrete clues, and I was persuaded to turn back when I was halfway there.”Keith asked in surprise, “Persuaded? Who persuaded you to turn back?”Charlie replied, “Grandpa, it's a long story. Let's go inside and talk slowly.”Keith readily agreed. “Okay, let's go in and talk.”Charlie and the Acker family members entered the villa and settled in the dining room. Since there were no outsiders present, Charlie truthfully recounted his recent trip to Mount Tason and disclosed Stephen's situation.Upon hearing that Charlie was persuaded back by a fake abbess from Quiant Monastery, everyone was greatly shocked. They couldn't believe that someone had anticipated Charlie's actions and waited for him while he was on the way up Mount Tason. What was even more surprising was that Stephen, who had silently guarded Charlie for nearly twenty years, actually served another master.After Charlie was done speaking, his uncle, Christian, asked incredulo
In the afternoon, Keith, accompanied by his eldest son, Christian, and his second son, Kaeden, secretly went to Eastcliff with Emmett.Instead of immediately returning to his home at Thompson First, Charlie went to the adjacent villa, then called Caden, who was in charge of teaching martial arts there, and asked him to inform Isaac and Albert to meet him.Charlie was initially even a little worried that Isaac might suddenly disappear for no reason. After all, as the spokesperson of the Wades in Aurous Hill and as Stephen's direct subordinate, it was likely for someone to have deliberately arranged for Isaac to work in this position. Fortunately, Isaac was still at Champs Elys Resort.The moment Charlie saw Isaac, he felt slightly relieved. Frankly, knowing that Stephen was serving another master made him feel somewhat disappointed. On one hand, Stephen had been his father’s most loyal subordinate, and although Charlie couldn't demand Stephen’s unwavering loyalty to the Wades, his
As it turned out, the bean counters of the Moore Group had been suggesting that Jasmine axe Deluxe Vintage and other antique-related businesses.After all, Aurous Hill was hardly the heart of the nation's antique business—not even a hub, and Vintage Deluxe wouldn't grow on such soil.Moreover, their revenue wasn't optimistic.While the business wasn't exactly falling off after Mick took charge, the lack of experience amongst the management team meant they were struggling to break even.And for the bean counters, keeping Vintage Deluxe meant no profits—even net losses in the immediate future. Right now, they might still be able to package it nicely and sell it off, and selling a fixed asset coupled with brand value would more or less turn a profit. But once Vintage Deluxe started incurring losses and the brand value diminished in turn, it would be reduced to zero completely.In other words, the value of Vintage Deluxe was on a springboard—sell it anytime now, and the value would be
The Mr. Crane from the other end of the call was Mick Crane—the current manager of Vintage Deluxe, and a man whom all of Antique Street fawned over.Mick was the assistant manager to Raymond back then, and his skill in the antique trade was at best moderate. However, thanks to his friendly personality, he had managed to secure himself many decent connections down Antique Street.As such, once Jasmine had fired Raymond, Mick had taken over his position as caretaker manager. She was also aware that Mick didn't have the skills to do well as a manager, and her plan had always been to keep him as a caretaker before she found someone better.As her ties with Charlie had strengthened and he had started helping her, her position in her family had skyrocketed. However, that also meant she couldn't watch over most of Vintage Deluxe's operations.Now that she was the head of the Moore family and the leader of a dynasty worth billions, a small business like Vintage Deluxe was even less signifi
Moreover, Raymond's old identity had various occupations connected to antiques. So, his plan now was to head over to Antique Street, find a place to rest his legs, and then get a shop of moderate scale and cheap rent to start a business in Aurous Hill.He headed to the precinct at Antique Street to register his face and other details into the database, reinforcing his legal certification. The precinct then issued him a visa so that he would have clearance to stay at a hotel for a while.Most of Antique Street's stalls were closing shop by the time he left the precinct, but he picked up his backpack and went for a stroll.It was not that different from before, though he thought he would never come back at the time…Still, he hadn't been there for long when a vendor recognized him and exclaimed in surprise, "Hey! Aren't you Mr. Cole? From Vintage Deluxe? When did you come back?"As things hadn't changed down the street for the businesses or the environment, Vintage Deluxe was stil
Jacob shrugged. "If Hannah's debt is cleared, then she's fine now, no?""Yeah," Elaine replied. "I heard from an old friend not two days ago, saying that the document of her non-arrest… non-prosecution or whatever was sent in. Once it's approved, she's free to go home.""Most likely non-prosecution," Charlie replied."Right, I think that's it!" Elaine nodded repeatedly and sighed unhappily. "She's really been let off easy. She should be arrested and jailed for at least ten years."Jacob couldn't help sighing. "Come on, dear—Mom and Chris were out of line, but things are terrible for them now as it is. There's no reason to hope for the worst for them since Harold and Chris are still too hurt to work. It's thanks to Wendy's income that they have a living, otherwise, they wouldn't be able to survive."Then, worried that Elaine would get upset that he might be siding with his brother and mother too much, he quickly added, "I'm not taking their side or trying to get their case reinvest
Charlie actually had to change his opinion of Elaine after seeing her ready to kill Jacob earlier but getting all clingy now.Despite her many flaws, Elaine was the one half of their marriage who was earnestly in love.As for Jacob, he didn't seem to have any genuine feelings for Elaine at all.The mere mention of his past with Elaine always left him grumbling and complaining, but now, it was clear that Elaine was his best choice. With his attitude and the way he did things, he and Matilda would have split up by now even if they had gone to the States together.In the end, Jacob simply had too many of the flaws common amongst men his age, but while others would have no more than five out of twenty of those flaws, he had eighteen.As such, from another perspective entirely, the only woman who could tolerate Jacob now was Elaine and only Elaine. Coincidentally, her straightforward personality and tendency to get violent was the perfect counter against all of Jacob's flaws, reducing
Elaine nodded, emotional as well. "Well, Claire's finally home after being in the States for so long. Let's stop being clowns already—let's go home!"Jacob nodded, utterly relieved and teary-eyed. "Yes! Let's go home!"Meanwhile, Claire was left dumbfounded even as she watched while Charlie was left wiping the sweat off his brow—they had really just snatched victory from the jaws of defeat there!And it looked like they had truly succeeded in clearing any suspicion Elaine had of Matilda, and she most likely would do her best to avoid running into Matilda as well.That way, all the nonsense he had said wouldn't be exposed.Still, as Claire came to her senses, she told Charlie, "Darling, that was amazing! You somehow managed to talk your way out of that!"Charlie chuckled in embarrassment. "I had no choice but to sacrifice my pride for the peace in the family."Claire hugged his arm and giggled happily, "There's no victory without sacrifice. You're the best, dear!"-Meanwhile,
Though Jacob had nothing going for him, he had always had a huge ego, and he had never once admitted that he would lose to anyone in the presence of his wife and daughter.That was why both Elaine and Claire were shocked when he suddenly openly admitted that he was a piece of shit in front of them. They had never heard such a thing from him in the decades they had lived with him!In fact, Jacob himself was reluctant to insult himself like that.However, Charlie told him repeatedly that he absolutely must say it before he came here—because Charlie was dead sure that this line was the key to getting over this impasse, and it truly did put this crisis to rest.Even as Jacob finished, his heart was bleeding as he felt like he had just put his pride on the floor and trampled all over it until it was crushed to oblivion. Even though it was to clear any suspicion Elaine held toward him, to call himself a piece of shit—to say it himself that his beloved woman would think him beneath her,
Before Elaine knew it, she was reading the website she had just read again, and she did indeed find Yolden's name on it.With that, everything Charlie had said snapped together into a perfect chain of logic.Seeing the troubled look on her face, Charlie quickly added, "I'm not going to lie—Dad told me right away when he was told Matilda was getting married. We even discussed if we should tell you, and now you know why." "Matilda is doing so well for herself and got such an amazing husband, and they've picked Shangri-La's Sky Garden—something an average Joe could never hope to reach. And since she invited our whole family and not just us, Dad had to really think about it.""Eventually, he told me to hide it from you or it'd leave you devastated, so none of us said anything. We just didn't think you'd find that invitation and then end up having a big fight about it."Sighing, Charlie then continued, "But if you really want to go, we can go together for their wedding to put your min
Bitterness swelled in Elaine's heart as she really didn't think that Matilda was doing so well for herself.The fact that Matilda was worth millions alone made her far superior.At the same time, she was also rejoicing that she had never actually met Matilda. If Matilda asked how she was doing directly, how would she respond?In the end, Matilda was no Hannah Queen.Elaine would actually feel accomplished if she compared herself to Hannah.On the other hand, Matilda eclipsed Elaine in every way—she was more beautiful, kind, smart, and knowledgeable. Even her figure left Elaine dead in the water!It was as pointless as comparing a hen to a peacock!Whenever she thought of her, she could comfort herself that she had stolen her man even if she couldn't measure up in any way.But now, Jacob was completely insignificant to Matilda while Elaine still treated Jacob like a trophy.Even as a sense of inferiority seized her, Charlie sighed. "Come on, you should understand where Jacob is