When a man put the noose around Tody's neck, Tody subconsciously tried to dodge, but he instantly gave up the idea when he thought of Charlie's other option.Charlie looked at Tody who had the noose around his neck and quipped, "Do you want to kick the chair yourself, or let them help you?"Knowing that his life had come to an end, Tody hung his head low and cried, "M-Mr. Wade, please help me..."With a smirk, Charlie shook his head and sneered, "No. People like you are not worthy of me to kill you with my own hands."Then, he looked at the man who had come with Tody earlier and asked indifferently, "You are the Desperados' second-in-command, am I right?""Yes, Mr. Wade." The man nodded profusely and answered attentively, "I am Angelo Blount, the second-in-command of the Desperados—"He took a quick peek at Tody and hurriedly continued, "But! I’m not the same as Tody. He is a man who doesn't have morality and is brutal. I have advised him many times, but he never listened to me.
At dawn in New York City, Porter and his men took Aman, Antonio, and the mafia bosses from the gangs under the Zano family out of Oskiatown and headed for the port.The remaining second-in-commands were promoted to the leader positions.Angus was still in a bit of a trance. Despite witnessing Charlie exterminate the Zano family and their underlings with his own eyes, he had a sense of unreality. Charlie saw Angus's dazed expression and asked, "What do you feel now, Angus?"Angus came to his senses and scratched his head in embarrassment. "M-Mr. Wade, i-it's unbelievable...""Hah!" Charlie chuckled. "You'd better put yourself together fast because you have an important task. From now on, you must reorganize the Oskian Gang as soon as possible. The Zano family is the biggest mafia group in New York, but they are not the only ones. You will face a lot of challenges in the future. Since you have chosen this path, you must figure out how to proceed.""Yes, Mr. Wade." Angus nodded sol
Charlie nodded and professed earnestly, "When I was a kid, I heard the story of the Oskian gangs overseas. Back then, they dared to go all out, and because of that, they secured a considerable foundation in Canada, the United States, and even Europe. I've never expected that into the twenty-first century, the Oskian gangs all over the world are declining rapidly. A lot of them have already disappeared. Those that remain hide in the dark and live like a pack of rats. Do you know why?""B-Because—" Daves spluttered awkwardly, "O-Over the years, Europe and the States have become more and more aggressive in cracking down on gangs. The degree of unity among Oskians is indeed worse than that of Koreans and Vietnamese, so it's much harder now—""You're wrong!" Charlie snapped and interrupted him. "They're all excuses. From what I see, the reason why overseas Oskian gangs are rapidly declining is the loss of courage and grit!"He sighed and continued, "Many of the members of the Oskian gang
As Charlie and Janus left the roast goose restaurant, Janus looked back at the simple facade and sighed. "Well, I guess that my father's secret roast goose recipe will be lost."With a chuckle, Charlie asked, "Uncle Janus, do you question or oppose my decision today?"After a moment of silence, Janus looked at Charlie and confided in a serious tone, "Mr. Wade, Angus is my adopted son, not a pet. From the day I adopted him, I never thought about making plans for his life. It was not my intention for him to learn to make roast goose. He had a miserable childhood, didn't go to school nor had the desire to study. That's why I taught him how to make roast goose. At least he could have something to make a living."He cleared his throat and continued, "I respect his decision as to whether he chooses to run the restaurant, but the opportunity you offer him today is too great, I don't think he has enough experience to handle it.""I beg to differ," Charlie asserted. "You can look at the mat
The antique shop was closed when Charlie's car stopped in front of the shop. Janus was indifferent about it. After all, they were quite early, and few shops were open early in the morning.But Charlie, who was more observant, noticed something unusual.He saw the mottled rust on the iron folding door and handle of the shop as if no one had cleaned them for a while.He pulled over to the other side of the street as he had planned to get a cup of coffee there. When he went closer to the shop to have a look, he found that the shop hadn't been operated for a long time. There was even a cobweb hanging over the door.Looking inside through the window, he saw that the exhibits were dirty and had not been maintained for quite some time.Janus frowned in confusion. "It looks like this place has been closed for at least a few months.""You're right." Charlie nodded. "Didn't the Coles run many antique shops in Europe and the United States? Maybe they decided to close the business here."
Charlie pursed his lips and crooned, "It's okay. I can ask Miss Fox about this. Her connections and intelligent network in New York are much better than ours."Comment by _ Lunaelle: use a simpler wordWith that, he took out his phone and called Kathleen.The phone rang seven to eight times before it was finally answered. "Brad," Kathleen spoke. "How are things in Atlanta? Everything good?"Charlie realized that it was not a good time to talk as Kathleen had made up an alias and some fake questions. She was probably with Claire right now.Sensing that, Charlie immediately quipped, "Miss Fox, it's not a good time, is it? I'll call you later.""I'm in New York now, working on a project. Give me five minutes. I'll call you back," Kathleen answered."Alright," Charlie replied and ended the call.Kathleen called exactly five minutes later. She began respectfully as soon as Charlie answered the call, "I'm sorry, Mr. Wade. I was discussing a project with Mrs. Wade just now. She might
Kathleen promised, "Don't worry, Mr. Wade. I won't tell Mrs. Wade about this."She quickly added, "I haven't heard about Biden's arrest. Don't worry. I'll have someone to gather information and inform you when I get it.""Alright." Charlie thanked her. "Thank you, Miss Fox."After ending the call, Charlie told Janus, "Miss Fox will investigate it, and it may take some time. Let's go back to the hotel in New York to have breakfast and rest.""No problem." Janus nodded and smiled. "It's just that the hotel is a distance away from here, and the news may arrive in less than half an hour if Miss Fox is efficient enough. Why don't we just grab a bite over there?" he pointed at the cafe across the street and suggested. "Just give me a cup of coffee and I'll stay awake all day."Charlie considered his option and nodded in agreement. The two of them went to the cafe across the street and ordered some food and coffee. Kathleen called Charlie before they finished their coffee.Kathleen's
"Send someone in?"Kathleen blurted at first and gasped in bewilderment, "M-Mr. Wade! Are you implying that you want me to send you in?""Yes." Charlie nodded. "Please help me get a fake ID and send me to Brooklyn Prison. I want to meet Biden."Kathleen thought for a while and cautioned, "It's not a problem to send you in, but I can't guarantee you can meet Biden. After all, his case is so special that it's worth the core member of the Rothschilds going to great lengths for him. No matter what he did, it must be a great deal, so he must be given special attention in prison. I don't think it's easy to see him.""Don't worry about it." Charlie chuckled. "I'll see what I can do when I'm in there.""Okay. When do you plan to go in?""As soon as possible, preferably before noon. Can you do it?"Kathleen affirmed in a crisp voice, "No problem. I'll arrange it right away."When Charlie ended the call, Janus asked, "Are you going to see Biden in prison?""Yes." Charlie nodded. "He had
Raymond may have worked abroad for years and was a veteran in antiques, but he was still lacking when it came to reading between the lines.Taking Mick's words at face value, he promptly shook his head, "No, you really shouldn't. I wasn't planning to come back here to work, so you mustn't mention me to Ms. Moore either."And unlike Mick, he really meant what he said, while Mick was saying the complete opposite of what he was thinking.Naturally, Mick didn't believe Raymond, even presuming that Raymond was a liar like himself.The more Raymond said he didn't want to return to Vintage Deluxe, the more he thought he was.Hence, he asked despite knowing the answer, "Well, what are you planning to do now that you've returned to Aurous Hill?""It's been years of traveling for me, so I was just getting a little tired," Raymond admitted. "I'm planning to set up a small business in Aurous Hill, most likely here in Antique Street. That's why I'm visiting—do be neighborly when I set up shop
Meanwhile, Raymond had no idea that he was being targeted as soon as he returned to Antique Street.He had reached the middle where rows of three-floored buildings stood, the largest on the street, and where Vintage Deluxe was. It was not closed yet as tradition on Antique Street was for stalls to open in the morning and close in the afternoon. In comparison, shops opened later and closed later.With the difference of two to three hours, they could afford to have customers who had lower purchasing power or were just window shopping to stroll through the outdoor stalls. Then, when they were gone, customers with actual purchasing power would come on their own time.As Raymond arrived outside Vintage Deluxe, Mick just finished his meeting with his employees, summing up, "So, does anyone have anything to do tonight?"They all shook their heads, answering as one, "No!!!"Mick nodded. "If there's nothing else, stay back for overtime. Ask for some spicy crayfish and beer for dinner."
However, Raymond had accomplished the assignment Curtis had given him years ago, so he had no intention of staying at Aurous Hill and remained unrepentant despite Jasmine's pressure. That was why he could ask to resign without hesitation, even urging her to let him go despite the pain.That was why Mick was now worried that Raymond would return to reclaim his position as manager."Keep an eye on him for me," he told Trippy. "Tell me if anything comes up right away—I will make it worth your while.""Alright!" Trippy agreed to it. "Don't worry—I'll call right away if anything comes up."Once Trippy hung up, Mick gathered the handful of Vintage Deluxe employees.They were all his close allies he had groomed after he took over Vintage Deluxe. Even if Mick hadn't been succeeding in his business, he was succeeding in building his own forces. Anyone who didn't obey his orders had since been removed, and the remaining ones were basically his co-conspirators, embezzling a considerable am
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,