A sudden shout from outside the crowd made everyone involuntarily look over. Neither Moses nor Gustavo expected someone to intervene at this moment. Just as everyone was clueless, Charlie pushed the people around aside and walked to the front of Gustavo and Moses. The men were utterly stunned and didn't realize that a tall and skinny man had just pushed them aside. Before they could come to their senses, Charlie had already walked past them. Staring skeptically at Charlie's foreign face, Moses pointed at Charlie angrily and asked, "Who the hell are you? Do you want to die?" With that, he gestured to two men around him and shouted, "Take him out and kick his ass!" Upon hearing this, the two men immediately approached Charlie while rubbing their hands. They were judging Charlie while approaching him. Charlie was tall and thin and looked like someone who never exercised. Meanwhile, both of them were muscular and large. They assumed that beating Charlie up was a piece of cak
Moses froze momentarily, then looked at Charlie and yelled, "Oh, my God! Charlie! It's you!" Moses's reaction stunned everyone. They thought that Charlie was out of his mind for getting mixed up in Moses's business, and he had even outrageously addressed himself as Moses's father's close friend. They assumed that Moses would be very pissed about it. To their bewilderment, Moses acknowledged the connection. At this moment, Moses excitedly stepped forward, held Charlie's right hand, and beamed. "It's so nice to see you again! Why are you here?" Everyone was utterly startled, including Gustavo. On the other hand, Charlie snarked in a calm tone, "You don't own the prison, do you? Why can't I be here? You've made mistakes, and so have I!" "Yes, yes." Moses nodded respectfully. "You're right." Charlie rolled his eyes, pointed at Gustavo, and commanded, "Do me a favor and don't kill him for now." "Alright!" Moses agreed without hesitation. "I won't kill him! You have my word
Gustavo pleaded, "Sir, please help me. I'll reward you 100 million dollars if I can get out of here alive!" "Tsk," Charlie smirked contemptuously. "You can live now thanks to me. We don't know if you can survive until the next dinner, alright? Are you still thinking about gaining control over your family? Don't forget that you're sentenced to life. You're locked in here forever." "I-I..." Gustavo faltered. "What should I do now..." "Stay by my side," Charlie said lightly. "I'll protect you. Tell the guards you'll move into my cell today. I'll protect you 24/7." Gustavo couldn't understand why Charlie would help him despite his current despairing situation. Many thoughts flashed across his mind, and one thing stood out. 'Damn!' he thought. 'Is he gay? He must be... Why else would he help me and protect me? He even wants me to move into his cell…’ 'B-But what does he like about me? I'm old...' Not getting any response from Gustavo, Charlie bellowed coldly, "Listen, I won't he
Moses's men were still bewildered and shocked by this sudden revelation. Moses had devised the assassination of Gustavo for so many days, but just as he was about to succeed, Charlie popped up out of nowhere and stopped the plan. He even claimed to be Moses's friend. What was even more outrageous was that Moses immediately withdrew the plan after a word from Charlie. Nevertheless, they knew their loyalty was recognized since Moses had chosen them as part of the team to implement the plan. Hence, despite their perplexity and curiosity, they obeyed Moses's order to halt the assassination. On the other hand, Charlie knew that this matter was not over yet. The conflict today had caused Gustavo's men to be beaten to the pulp. Even if the Rothschild family were indifferent, the warden would intervene and investigate it. Furthermore, Moses owed Gustavo's son an explanation since he hadn't killed Gustavo. Therefore, he needed to cool things down between the two parties and preve
"No." Gustavo answered in an earnest tone, "He's weird. He rarely contacts the inmates and only comes to inspect the jail a few times a year. We don't see him much. Even if I want to see him, I’ll have to make an appointment in advance. If he agrees to see me, he'll meet me in the private reception room.""What?" Charlie responded, perplexed. "Do you always meet in the reception room? Have you been to his office?" "No." Charlie asked again, "Can you meet him at his office?" "No." Gustavo shook his head. "The management is very strict. I don't know what their internal office looks like." Charlie queried curiously, "But I heard that you have a lot of freedom here. You can even sneak out to spend the night outside. Have you never been to their office?" Gustavo explained, "Yeah, I can leave the prison sometimes, but we made a deal about it. Every time I want to go out, I have to pretend that I'm sick. The doctor will give a note that I need to spend the night at the infirmary. A
Gustavo knew his status in the prison was unrivaled, not even by Moses, as long as no one knew his son wanted to kill him. Therefore, he still enjoyed the unique status and privilege in Brooklyn Prison. After the arrangement of the two girls, he called Bruce Weinstein, the prison warden. As soon as the call was answered, he subtly said, "Bruce, I wonder if you're free tonight. A batch of new stuff is coming in tonight. Perhaps you can help me inspect them?" Bruce crowed in excitement when he heard this. "Oh, I'm free tonight. Mr. Sanchez, do you mean what you say?" Although Bruce was a member of the Rothschild family, he was nothing more than a servant. Being a servant of the family and only serving as a prison warden showed that he couldn't enjoy the luxurious life of the privileged. In order to secure his privileges in the prison, Gustavo made many arrangements to please Bruce, which was considered an eye-opener for him. Hence, Bruce was over the moon when Gustavo told hi
Gustavo subconsciously covered his face and hurriedly confirmed, "Don't worry, Mr. Wade. I won't do it again, I promise!" Charlie nodded in satisfaction. All of a sudden, several guards appeared at the door leading to the guards' office in the dining room, and one of them shouted through the gate, "Gustavo Sanchez, come out. You have visitors!" Gustavo hurriedly hinted to Charlie, "Mr. Wade, they're calling for us. Let's go." With a nod, Charlie said to Moses, "Listen carefully. Tell your boys not to tell anyone about what happened here, or I'll kill you.""Don't worry," Moses replied attentively. "You have my word." Charlie nodded again and commanded, "Also, tell Gustavo's boys that it's a misunderstanding. Calm them down."He then turned to Gustavo and ordered, "Tell your boys to never tell anyone about this or ask anyone out there to help you. You don't know how many people your son has bribed." Trembling with fear, Gustavo quavered, "I don't think I can't trust my men
The reception room at Brooklyn Prison was not in the office area or the prison area but in a transitional area between the two. Because of its location, the reception room was not far from the prison area. Once they exited the iron gate, they walked a distance along a corridor and arrived at the reception rooms. Nonetheless, the reception rooms at Brooklyn Prison were divided into different categories. First was the regular reception room, which was used by all inmates. There were dozens of tables in the room, and the inmates would meet their families and lawyers there. It was the reception room with the least privacy as several guards would be watching, and many prisoners would meet their visitors at the same time. Physical contact and exchange of objects were strictly prohibited. Those with slightly special identities could get a relatively small private reception room which guaranteed a certain level of privacy. There were no other prisoners and visitors in the room, and onl
Mr. Cardensky's forgery syndicate had made the bronze sculpture—all Zachary had done was talk Jacob into buying it, and Jacob himself had made some money after Raymond bought it.That meant the entire plot had nothing to do with Zachary as he was just a mediator at best.In other words, if the bronze sculpture was worth nothing, he didn't lose anything… although he wouldn't make a cent even if it was worth a hundred million.However, he also knew all too well what Jacob Wilson was like.In fact, in this world, he was only second to Charlie when it came to knowing what type of man Jacob Wilson really was—not even Claire or Elaine would win against them.He was a dead man.That was Zachary's immediate thought on the matter, should Jacob ever find out.After all, Jacob was precisely one of those people who didn't play by any rules—no buyer's regret? No seller's remorse? None of that applied to him.Not even the Gods could make Jacob offer a refund if he scalped them. And vice vers
As Mick Crane had established a corrupted hierarchy in Vintage Deluxe, he had to make sure his position was never threatened by Raymond Cole.That was why he wanted Raymond gone, and it was obvious from that how important self-gain was to him.However, though he plotted to protect this job with a salary of several hundred grand per annum and incentives worth just as much, he didn't think that doing so meant he had missed out on 20 million.And to add insult to injury, that 20 million had ended up in Raymond's pocket.Mick wasn't just thunderstruck—he wished he was dead.Hanging up on Trippy right then, he called Zachary directly since Zachary had told him earlier that text notifications from his number would be silenced.Zachary was just about to fall asleep when his phone began buzzing.Already annoyed when he picked up his phone, he immediately snapped at Mick when he saw who the caller was. "I told you! Text me if you have any updates, and I'll check it when I wake up! Why ar
As Ian Cash's trio turned and left Treasure Measure, Trippy was still standing there, staring blankly as they headed off to the distance, utterly dispirited.Seeing that, Raymond returned his phone and said coolly, "We had agreed on some ground rules, but not only did you break them, you even tried to sabotage me.""Since you refuse to be honorable, you can't blame me for being cold—starting now, we shall have nothing to do with each other. We'll be strangers even if we bump into each other."Trippy was already choking, and he snatched his phone back before dashing out of Treasure Measure, calling Mick Crane as soon as he left.Mick had just arrived at Vintage Deluxe and hadn't even sat down when Trippy called, and he asked as soon as he answered, "How did it go? What did you find out?"However, Trippy was so exasperated he burst into tears right then, "M-Mr. Crane… My dear Mr. Crane…"Mick was left reeling from shock, and he promptly snapped, "Can't you fucking talk? Why are you
Seeing that the transaction was complete and that the bargain deal had been taken, the other collectors all excused themselves and left.As for Ian, once he had bagged the bronze sculpture, he nodded at Raymond. "I apologize for leaving early, Mr. Cole, but I must return to Eastcliff. However, you can contact me again should you pick up another treasure. I'm quite a spendthrift, and I pay up right away if the item is good and the price is right."Raymond smiled. "Very well. I shall contact you first the next time I get something good."Ian nodded and was ready to leave with his two friends when Trippy chased after them."Please, Mr. Cash!" He cried urgently, his anxiety overcoming him. "You shouldn't buy that! It's a forgery!"Ian frowned at him. "Are you trying to sabotage Mr. Cole? Aren't you supposed to be his friend?""Hell, no!" Trippy promptly replied. "I'm no friend of his—I'm just here to watch, but I didn't think he dared to trick you for 20 million! I can't bear to see
No one except Raymond expected that the terms would be agreed upon so quickly.He was utterly confident in his judgment and even more so in his value appraisal.He was convinced that once they had a good look, any one of these collectors who could afford twenty million wouldn't miss this bargain.After all, an opportunity to secure an item worth millions more than the price they paid was very rare.In fact, when the other nine collectors heard that the first collector was buying it, it was only to be expected even if it left them all gloomy. They had all held the bronze sculpture in their hands—they knew it was definitely worth that much.However, no one in the room was more shocked than Trippy.He looked utterly flabbergasted, his eyes wide and bulging as he stared at the bronze sculpture while asking himself the same question repeatedly.Was that crap really worth twenty million? How?!While Trippy was still stunned, Raymond had already sent his payment details to the first
Unable to nitpick on the air stewardess' response, Elaine pouted, "Well, try to ask management to improve on your first-class cabins anyway. Maybe even make a premium-class or something since it's not like we can't afford it."The air stewardess quickly said, "We will definitely relay your message to the management."Nodding in satisfaction, Elaine waved her off. "Alright. You can go back to work now."Clearly relieved, the air stewardess bowed her head respectfully. "Always happy to be of service."After the air stewardess left, Jacob asked Elaine in curiosity, "Was the private jet that good?"Elaine rolled her eyes. "Didn't you see the stuff I posted in the chat group?""Not really," Jacob blurted. Elaine was ready to snap at him for not caring, but considering that they had made up now and she shouldn't fuss too much over the little things, she snorted, "Just remember to like and comment on all my posts in the chat group, otherwise, I will make you regret it!""No problem!"
While the ten collectors were taking turns studying the bronze sculpture, Jacob and Elaine were boarding their flight.As they were flying first-class, they had priority over the other passengers and boarded from the separate plug door at the first-class section.The capacity of the Boeing 777 was huge, and the wide-body aircraft could be connected to a special double corridor bridge where first class and business class passengers boarded separately from the economy class passengers.As the terminals to economy class and business class were connected, Elaine and Jacob were able to get through the first-class terminal unimpeded, but the passengers in economy class had a queue of over two hundred passengers. Even as she walked, Elaine was looking over her shoulder and exclaiming at Jacob, "Must be nice being rich! We used to have to queue like the rest of them, waiting for over thirty minutes just to board our flight." "In first class, we may be in the same plane, but we don't hav
Meanwhile, once Raymond had briefed everyone about the rules, he opened the door and invited everyone into Treasure Measure.It was not that wide but appeared spacious since the interior was mostly empty—it was not really crowded even with thirty-ish people.Then, locking the door from the inside, Raymond told them, "I can tell from everyone's faces that we are all veterans here, so I'm sure you understand the rules while appraising: no photos or videos, thank you very much."Indeed, there were many rules that governed the hobby, the most important being respecting the seller's requests and privacy.As the collectors listened, they knew that Raymond was selling but did not want the public to know too much about him.They all nodded, and those who had their phones out slid them back into their pockets.With that, Raymond took out the bronze sculpture that he had brought, leaving Trippy a little surprised.He had never seen the bronze sculpture with his own eyes before, only from
"Alright!" Trippy was at once fawning, tagging along behind Raymond like a little child.Around thirty people were waiting in front of Treasure Measure by now. The collectors came in twos or threes, and all ten numbers had since been taken.Before Raymond arrived, he had a brief look at the collectors' faces through the security cameras before walking over, and he was really relieved to see no familiar faces.Having traded Oskian antiques for years abroad, it was only natural that he was acquainted with some of the elite collectors in the country.He also knew that they were especially demanding with the quality of their collection and wanted almost flawless items. As such, the bronze sculpture which had been completely lost wouldn't interest them.Still, he was also a little concerned that amongst the elite collectors he knew, there might be some who were losing money and losing purchasing power in turn. If they happened to take an interest in the bronze sculpture on top of that,