Alas, Brody was too arrogant and had no sense of crisis. Charlie was different. He realized the importance of being prepared for anything, so he always had a wise method to counter the challenges. At this moment, in the dark room, Hank listened to the commotion in the walkie-talkie and barked, "Shut up! All of you! Go and repair the line right now! Everyone else should be alert and keep a close eye on the Cole family mansion! The rat may return to its nest! This time, we will catch it in the act!" Julien jumped in excitement and beamed, "Hank is right! Biden or his family must have come back to take the treasure tower! I told you that Biden was lying all this while. He said that the swapping was all his doing and had nothing to do with his family. From what I see, his family is in this together! It must be one of his family members who came back!" With that, he warned, "Hank, you must hold back! Wait until they get the treasure tower and catch them all in one fell swoop! Reme
Julien, Royce, and Hank were freaked out as the voice of a fourth man echoed across the dark room. As the faint light came in from the window, the three men could see the outline of a man standing in front of them, but they couldn't see his face. Judging from the figure and voice, they could tell that the man was relatively young, but they had no idea how or when the man had appeared in the room. There was a hint of playfulness and coldness in the man's voice, which made the three men extremely panicked. The man speaking was Charlie. The reason why the villa was without power was because Charlie had destroyed the two power lines across the river using his Reiki. Charlie knew that the villa was equipped with high-tech monitoring and self-defense equipment, so he decided to cut off the power. Ordinary houses did not have backup power. The villa had two power lines, one main and one backup, which was a high-end configuration in the residence. Once the two lines were cut, the hou
Royce hastily began, "Sir, my name is Royce Rothschild, the eldest grandson of Harrison Rothschild, the current patriarch of the family—" He then gestured at Julien and continued, "This is my father, Julien Rothschild, my grandfather's eldest son." Charlie glanced at the two men and drew a breath in surprise. He hadn't expected to encounter the inner circle of the core members of the Rothschild family. Normally, the eldest son and the eldest grandson of the family's current patriarch were the first and second heirs of the family. With the presence of these two people, Charlie would be fine taking the Four-Sided Treasure Tower out of the Cole family mansion and even out of the United States. Thus, Charlie composed himself and told Julien and Royce, "Listen to my instruction, and I will spare your lives. However, you only have one chance. If you disobey me even once, I'll kill you right away. Do you understand?" "Yes, yes!" The two hurriedly nodded and said in unison, "We u
"Take your chopper?" Charlie looked at Julien skeptically and queried, "Where can your chopper take me?" Julien answered hastily, "Its range is about 300 miles. You can go anywhere it can fly!" He then added, "I just told the pilot to get ready to take off. You can go anytime!" "Where were you heading when you told the pilot to prepare for takeoff?" asked Charlie. Julien quickly responded, "I was planning to have Royce go home and check on the situation, to see how the others are progressing and gather some information..." Charlie replied calmly, "You're sending your son home, not outside the blockade. How can you be sure that your chopper can enter and exit the blockade?" Julien affirmed, "I'm the first heir of the family. My chopper can definitely get in and out freely. No one can stop me." "We'll see about that," Charlie smirked. He then turned to Hank and ordered, "You will accompany Mr. Royce to take the chopper for a spin. Fly directly outside the blockade area
Hank's men responded promptly, "Alright, boss! We’ve got it!" Charlie knew that there were hundreds of people watching the Cole family mansion now. He could sneak in quietly, but it was impossible to go to the gate and take the Four-Sided Treasure Stone from the lion statue. Moreover, he did not know whether he could take the treasure tower out of that place. There was no doubt that no one would be able to stop him if he forced his way out of the restricted area with the tower, but he would risk exposing himself. Currently, the big trouble with the Qing Eliminating Society hadn't been solved yet. It would only give him more trouble if he exposed himself to the Rothschild family now. Hence, Charlie needed to think of a method that was as safe as possible. He would have fulfilled Raymond's wish as long as he could quietly bring the treasure tower back to Oskia. It was now about three hours before dawn. Charlie decided to see if the helicopter route was feasible. Ten minutes l
Julien was astonished by Charlie's remarks. Upon careful consideration, Julien felt that what Charlie said made sense. Whoever took the Four-Sided Treasure Tower would be the first heir, so the only idea he had in mind was to quickly retrieve the treasure tower so that he could retain his position as the first heir. But when he thought about this crisis from another perspective, what if no one could find the treasure tower? He was the first heir, to begin with. If he cut off others' chances of advancement, he would still be the first heir, wouldn't he? The only difference, of course, was that in this case, although he was still the first heir, the treasure tower would no longer belong to the Rothschild family. But he was left with no choice now. His life was in Charlie's hands, and he was thankful to be able to survive the ordeal. Thus, he asked tentatively, "Sir, can you please guarantee that the other Rothschilds will never find the treasure tower, let alone get it home?"
Julien hastily replied, "The Four-Sided Treasure Tower originally belonged to Oskia. It would be best if it could return to Oskia..." "But your father dreams of getting it back." Charlie asked, "Why don't you share the same thought?" Julien assumed Charlie was testing him, trying to see where he stood, so he immediately responded with an air of righteous indignation, "To be honest with you, my father is still full of imperialist thinking. He believes that anything he seizes is his, but it doesn't work that way now. We're living in a civilized society! The treasure tower was obtained dishonestly back then, so it's only right to return it to its rightful owner. I've been educated with modern legal principles, so I do have a sense of justice!" With a satisfactory nod, Charlie asked, "So, even though you are the first heir of the family and even though your father, the patriarch of the family, desperately hopes that the treasure tower can return to your family, you are still willing
A roar of the helicopter came from far away. Charlie's eyes lit up as he said, "Your son is back." Julien involuntarily muttered, "I hope they're not in trouble." A few minutes later, Hank and Royce walked into Charlie's room. As soon as they entered the room, Julien asked anxiously, "How was it? Did anyone stop you?" "Yes!" Royce blurted angrily. "The National Security Agency's radar blocked the airspace in the blockade area. As soon as our helicopter arrived near the edge of the blockade area, they radioed to warn us that all non-government helicopters were currently banned from taking off in the airspace for national security reasons. They also asked us to land in the designated area for inspection. I told them my identity, and after they verified it, they did not force us to land for inspection, but told us to stay away from the boundary of the blockade area." Hank, standing nearby, added, "This level of strict control hasn't been seen since 9/11." Hearing this, Charlie
"Exactly!"Charlie agreed, striking the metal while it was hot. "To be honest, the years Matilda spent in the States would be wasted if she was actually still interested!" "She's a Wall Street veteran who'd definitely have met so many successful men! Why would she be interested in a loser like Jacbo Wilson? It's not like she returned from the States after thirty years to help the poor, don't you agree?"Charlie then finished with a sigh. "The way I see it? You're the only one who'd be interested in him."Jacob heard that from behind the wall and was left absolutely fuming and humiliated.He was the only one who knew that Matilda had come back for him—even if she was worth millions now.However, he just didn't have the spine to divorce Elaine and get together with Matilda.He presumed that it was no rush and that he could just give Elaine the silent treatment—who knew, she might just give in and ask for a divorce herself, and then, he would have no issues getting together with M
"Her real lover?!" Elaine exclaimed in shock. "What are you talking about?"Charlie put on a serious face as she said, "Matilda came back to Oskia for her one true love, who is now her fiance. His name is Yolden Hart, a top economist who's now a lecturer at Aurous Hill University, who was invited all the way from the States. He's a professional manager and used to work in Wall Street, so he'd be qualified to be a CEO in any Fortune 500 company…""Professional manager?" Elaine pouted. "That still means he's a wage slave!"Charlie laughed. "Don't underestimate professional managers now. Just look at Apple Inc.'s CEO—the man earns around a hundred million USD per year, and that's over seven hundred million in Oskian dollars!"Elaine was left gaping, unable to imagine how a wage slave could earn so much.At the same time, Charlie continued, "To be fair, Professor Hart wouldn't earn that much, but 50 million per year is still no sweat for him. Do you get the amount of money we're talki
Elaine appeared taken aback, and she promptly demanded, "You've met Matilda too?!"It was only then that Claire realized she had let the cat out of the bag, and she suddenly didn't know what to say. "Oh… Uh… Mom… I, uh… didn't?"Nonetheless, Elaine was suddenly pressing her menacingly, "If you've never met her, how would you know she's a serious person?!"As Claire stayed silent, Elaine broke down in tears. "No… You're lying to me too! Aren't you?!"While Claire was left at a loss of how she should salvage this mess, Charlie suddenly entered and said, "Claire didn't—but I did.""What?!" Elaine was left staring at Charlie, stunned.Still, she soon demanded, "Y-You've met Matilda?! Did Jacob take you with him to see her?""Yes," Charlie admitted, nodding.Elaine snapped right then, and she bellowed, "Then why didn't you tell me?! To think that I've always done right by you, treating you like my own son, but you wouldn't tell me that Jacob is cheating on me! Y-You disappoint me!"
Jacob certainly left Charlie speechless—the man might get kicked out of the house, but he was more worried about his car.Sighing in exasperation, he told Jacob, "Look, if it fails, I won't be able to get you a nice place, let alone leave the Cullinan with you."Jacob blurted out, "But why—""Don't forget—I'm still living in this house even if you're gone!" Charlie explained, his expression dead serious. "If I let you have a nice place and the Cullinan, God knows how terrible a grudge your wife would hold against me. I need to have a sense of self-preservation too!""If I got you a rundown apartment, I could at least defend myself even if she gets upset about that. I mean, I can't let you sleep in the streets, can I? Claire and I would be guilty of abandoning our elders."Seeing the serious look on Charlie's face, Jacob breathed a long sigh as he clapped him on the shoulder, groaning mournfully, "Oh, I get it. I wouldn't want to upset Elaine if I were in your shoes too…"Charlie
Charlie sighed. "I told you it'd blow up, Dad, but you had to doubt me.""I wasn't doubting you," Jacob promptly defended himself. "I thought I might catch a lucky break—"Charlie cut him short, "Fair enough. Then, how are you going to handle this? I can try to stop Mom from going to that wedding and prevent her from getting in the hall even if she went, but what's going to happen to the both of you? Do you want a divorce or do you want to stay with her?"The light in Jacob's faded as he shrugged and sighed. "If I could divorce her, I would've—and I would be living happily with Matilda now. What company would I have if I did it now? Do you think Elaine would let me stay in Thompson First, with that attitude of hers?""In the end, I'd be chased out without a place to stay, and I can't suffer the humiliation of moving back with my mom and brother, can I? Hell, they might not even take me back!""So, that's a no?" Charlie pressed.Jacob smiled wryly. "At my age, even if I could, I w
Hearing that Elaine was threatening suicide, Claire exclaimed urgently, "Take me to her now!"The traffic police officer quickly nodded. "Come on!"As the traffic police officer quickly led Claire to Elaine, Charlie arrived just then and gave chase after leaving the luggage by the entrance.Stopping them, he asked, "Excuse me, officer—where's the gentleman who came with Madam Parker? May I see him?""And who are you?" The traffic police officer asked."I'm his son-in-law," Charlier replied. "I was thinking that while my wife talks to her mom, I can talk to my father-in-law, make peace, and take them both home.""Oh, that'd be great!"The traffic police officer exclaimed and quickly beckoned at a colleague, "Come over. Take this gentleman to Jacob Wilson!""Okay!" The other traffic police officer was also quite enthusiastic.Charlie entered the room where Jacob was first, immediately seeing a disfigured Jacob taking deep puffs of his cigarette.Another traffic police officer w
Charlie frowned in thought for a while, before saying, "Well, there is a plan, but I can't vouch for the chances. I also need you to cooperate with me and not let anything slip, or everything will go to waste. Can you do that?""I can!" Claire nodded, determined, before quickly asking, "So? What's the plan?""Well, it's not specific," Charlie replied. "We just have to improvise as we go along. Let's just head in for now!"-They left the airport and took a cab to the traffic police's headquarters. Just as she entered, they saw their Cullinan parked outside.Charlie sent Claire in first while he carried her luggage before following.Meanwhile, Elaine was wailing in her room, "I've been married to him for years! Suffering so much pain and humiliation, only for him to hook up with an old flame behind my back! Is it wrong if I struck out?"The traffic police officer was on the verge of a breakdown, but he still said patiently, "Ma'am, I've told you many times—what he did was wrong
Claire wasn't all that experienced in love and hence didn't know how a person caught in a love triangle would think or why they would experience such terrible mood swings.Still, Charlie's explanation gave her a general idea, and she sighed, "Actually, Dad looked really bad when Matilda came back. He was so obsessed with her that he didn't care if Mom was alive—even bringing her home for dinner. I'd be seething if I was Mom."Charlie sighed in exasperation. "Well, let's not loiter about. Let's go to the traffic police station.""Yeah!" Claire nodded, before holding his arm, "If they're there, that means they're safe, and they won't be fighting with those officers around. So, let's not head over so quickly."Charlie raised a brow. "What are you getting at?"Claire sighed, clearly troubled. "We have to think—how are we going to alleviate this crisis? If it's really as you say and Mom has mostly guessed it right, this fight might just be the start. At best, that fight on the highway
The traffic police officer smiled in exasperation. "Is there no getting through to you? You could even afford to drive a nice car, and you'd most likely survive an accident. But what if you were left bedridden for a long time? Yell at each other in the same hospital room?"Elaine waved him off. "I don't care—all I know is that I will always get my revenge, and on the spot if possible. If there were superheroes, I would be Wonder Woman!""Urgh…" The traffic police officer was utterly speechless. "How about this? We will call your daughter and have her come over to bail you. She will mediate your fight!"With those words, he returned Elaine's phone to her, and it happened to ring just then.It was a call from Claire.Seeing that the contact name said [Daughter], the traffic police officer quickly said, "Go on, answer it!"Elaine took it and answered the call, and Claire asked urgently before she could say a word, "Mom? Where are you? Where's Dad? Are you both alright?"Elaine sulk