The fire at the aviation company was still raging. Dozens of fire engines from several fire stations surrounded the hangar, spraying water and extinguishing agents. Fortunately, the massive fire in the hangar did not spread to the underground fuel tanks buried outside the hangar. After an hour, the towering flames were finally brought under control. While the firefighters were desperately trying to extinguish the fire, a fully armed search and rescue team was waiting outside the scene. The search and rescue team members wore protective clothing from head to toe. As well as being waterproof, fireproof, and resistant to high temperatures, the clothing was also equipped with an independent oxygen supply system. This equipment even allowed them to move freely in the fire. Although the firefighters had similar equipment, when compared, the gear of these rescue team members was far more advanced than that of the firefighters. In fact, the search and rescue team was dispatched by
The moment Helena saw Charlie, she beamed brightly, her happiness and joy beyond words. She looked up at Charlie's handsome face and greeted him shyly, "Hello, Mr. Wade! Nice to see you again." With a light smile, Charlie said sincerely, "Helena, I really appreciate you coming all the way from Northern Europe to Canada for my sake. I'm sorry for the trouble it has caused you." Helena waved her hands and said, "It's not a problem at all. As long as you say the word, the entire Nordic royal family will obey without question. This little matter is nothing at all." She then looked at Raymond beside Charlie and asked, "This must be Mr. Cole you told me about, right?" "Yes." Charlie nodded. "Let me introduce you, this is Biden Cole." Then, he said to Raymond, "This is Queen Helena I told you about." "Nice to meet you, Your Majesty," Raymond greeted her politely. "I watched your coronation ceremony on television and was deeply impressed." Helena hastily replied, "Oh, you're too
When Julien heard Helena's arrangement, he knew that she wanted to spend some time alone with Charlie. If he had any common sense, he would do as she asked. Moreover, given the current situation, Julien knew that Royce would not have a chance of winning Helena's heart, and his family could completely rule out the idea of marrying into the Nordic royal family. Julien's strength lay in his awareness of the situation. Since something was already beyond repair, he certainly wouldn't waste any energy on it or set himself up for trouble. So, he very politely said to Helena, "That sounds like a good idea. Thank you for the arrangements, Your Majesty." Helena gestured to her personal housekeeper and informed her, "Take these two gentlemen to their rooms." "Yes, Your Majesty," said the young woman. After that, she turned to Raymond and Julien. "Sirs, please follow me." The two men followed Helena's housekeeper and left. Helena then said to Charlie, "Mr. Wade, this way, please."
Charlie chuckled. "I have no use for his favor, and besides, I don't want him to know of my existence." He then added, "Furthermore, this pill isn't free. It comes at a price." Helena curled her lips into a cheeky smile and said with a delicate voice, "I see. You want me to help you sell this pill to him." "Yes." Charlie nodded and instructed, "I want you to help me sell the pill. When you see him, take out the pill, cut off a tenth for him to take, and when he knows it works, you can sell the rest to him. As for the price, you can charge him at least one to two billion dollars. It would be even better if you could sell it for a higher price." "Alright, I understand," said Helena who immediately understood what he meant. "Please give me your bank account number. After I negotiate the price with him, I'll have him transfer the money to you. It will not be less than 20 billion." "Nah, don't bother." Charlie waved his hand and said nonchalantly, "You talk to him and keep the mon
Charlie asked, "Isn't this the same as what you said earlier?" Helena stuck out her tongue cheekily. "At least the order has changed. There's still a difference." Speaking of which, Helena said, "What you asked me to do is a piece of cake for me. It isn’t right to accept your money again..." Charlie affirmed earnestly, "Listen, this is the last price. Go to Harrison, and we will split the money 50-50 when it's done. If that's fine, we'll proceed. If you don't want to take the deal, I'll find someone else to help me." Helena felt both joy and concern as she looked at Charlie, with his overwhelming display of masculinity. The joy was obvious—not because of money, but because Charlie was always thinking of her and cared about her. As for the concern, it wasn't about being unable to repay the favor, as that was already impossible. Her real worry was that none of her fantasies about men could ever compare to even a fraction of Charlie himself. Having fallen into this love trap,
Meanwhile, Harrison was on the verge of collapse. Although his men had already cleaned up the scene and he had hidden Hank and the others away, even planning to send them overseas at the right moment, he was still extremely anxious. He had expended so much effort and endured so much pressure from the public, yet he had not been able to locate the Four-Sided Treasure Tower. That was still not the worst part. He had even implicated the Qing Eliminating Society. What was even worse was that he had inexplicably killed a core member of the Qing Eliminating Society. The misery would be worth it if he could hide the truth from the Qing Eliminating Society and recover the Four-Sided Treasure Tower. But if, by any chance, the tower could not be retrieved and the Qing Eliminating Society came after him for revenge, he'd really be wishing for death. The torment over the past few days had caused his blood pressure to rise continuously. After examining him, his personal doctor strongl
"No problem," Emmett reassured with a smile. "Don't worry about it. Everything has already been arranged. The flight will land in Eastcliff in two hours, and military journalists will be there to capture some footage. At 10 p.m., some edited footage will be handed over for the evening news broadcast. You can keep an eye on it." "Wonderful!" Charlie beamed. "I'll wait for the news to be released." - Just as Emmett's plane took off from Aurous Hill, the Boeing 777 plane that Fleur was on finally landed at New York Kennedy Airport. On the plane, Fleur was feeling a little cramped and agitated. Despite her determination to come to the United States for the Four-Sided Treasure Tower, she couldn't help but feel a subtle sense of unease when she thought about how she'd recently broken decades of low-profile living and had been going out frequently. Fleur had almost never left the base since the beginning of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union in the last ce
The disappearance of the coordinate points did not necessarily mean that the corresponding member of the Qing Eliminating Society had died, but it did mean that he had lost contact. The Qing Eliminating Society had very strict disciplinary requirements for members like Zekeiah who were on long-term missions outside the base, and the punishment for losing contact was very severe. If the disconnection was intentional and malicious, once caught, the person could be executed on the spot. Even if they managed to hide, it wouldn't help as the poison in their body had a set activation period. If they didn't receive the antidote within the deadline, they would surely die. If the disconnection was due to negligence, such as forgetting to charge the special phone or equipment malfunction, the organization would not let it slide easily either. Depending on the situation, they would send an envoy to punish the individual. In the lightest case, that person would have to take a special poison
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