Charlie was driving Jacob to Thompson First when the latter received the text from Matilda.Seeing that they were reaching the front gates, Jacob promptly snapped at Charlie, "Charlie, stop the car now!"Charlie did so and asked in curiosity, "What's wrong?""Matilda just texted me," Jacob replied, showing the chat log between him and Matilda.Charlie was just glancing at it nonchalantly when he saw that Matilda's contact name was 'AAA July Florist'."Wait, why is that Aunt Matilda's contact name?" He exclaimed in surprise."I changed it."Jacob explained gingerly while reading through the text Matilda sent. "Her profile picture is an iris, so I changed her contact name to a florist since I'm mostly worried Elaine would peek into my phone.""Anyway, she's asking if I'm attending her wedding with Yolden. They would send us an invitation if I accept, extended to our whole family… what do you think I should say?"Charlie asked in return. "You're planning to skip it, aren't you? T
Decorative lights and illuminants lit up the extravagant Wilson family mansion.Tonight was the 70th birthday banquet of Lady Wilson, the head of the Wilson family.Her grandchildren and their spouses gathered around her to hand her their luxurious gifts.“Grandma, I heard that you love the Chinese tea. I looked high and low for this century-old Pu’er tea worth half a million dollars to present it to you.”“Grandma, you are a devoted Buddhist. This Buddha statue is carved from the authentic Hetian jade, it is worth seven hundred thousand dollars…”Looking at the nicely wrapped gifts in front of her, Lady Wilson laughed heartily. The entire ambiance was harmonious and happy.Suddenly, Charlie Wade, Lady Wilson’s eldest grandson-in-law, spoke, “Grandma, could you lend me a million dollars, please? Mrs. Lewis from the welfare home is diagnosed with uremia and I need the money for her treatment…”The entire Wilson family gaped in extreme shock. Everyone stared at Charlie with bewi
Ten billion dollars?!Charlie was shocked. His eyes wide open, his mouth wide agape.He knew that his grandfather was very wealthy, but back then, he was too young to understand the concept of money. He only knew that the Wade family was one of the wealthiest families in Eastcliff and even the country, but he wasn’t sure what his net worth was.Right now, he finally knew.If ten billion dollars were just pocket money, it meant that the entire Wade family had a net worth of more than one trillion dollars!Frankly speaking, at this moment, he was slightly touched and swayed. However, when he thought about his deceased parents and how his grandfather was part of the reasons why they had died, he knew he could never easily forgive him.Sensing his frustration, Stephen quickly said, “Young Master, you are one of the Wade family members, so the money is yours. Besides, technically speaking, it belongs to your father.”“The Master said that if you’re willing to go home, he will let you
The next morning, after preparing breakfast, Charlie rode his scooter to Emgrand Group’s office.He parked his scooter on the side of Emgrand’s parking lot. As soon as he locked his scooter, a black Bentley slowly parked in a spot across from him.He looked up inadvertently and saw a young couple getting out of the car.The man was wearing a branded suit, looking very handsome and smart. Meanwhile, the lady was dressed up in a flamboyant style. Although somewhat gaudy, she was considered a beauty.As it turned out, the lady was Wendy Wilson, Claire’s cousin, and the man was her fiancé, Gerald White.Charlie didn’t know why they were here, but he knew that the best way to avoid trouble was to stay away from them.However, the more eager he wanted to hide from them, the higher chances they would see him.Wendy caught sight of him from the corner of her eyes. She yelped loudly, “Hey, Charlie!”Wendy called out his name in a friendly manner, but Charlie felt goosebumps all over his
This was also the first time Charlie had ever met Doris.He had to admit that Doris was a very stunning and alluring young lady!She was about twenty-seven or eight years of age with a slender yet plump body figure, captivating appearance, and a very mature and honorable manner.Sitting down in front of Doris’s desk, Charlie started, “I will not come into the office often, so I would like you to continue looking over the company on my behalf. In addition, please do not disclose my identity to the public.”Doris was aware that Mr. Wade, who was sitting in front of her now, came from the extraordinary Wade family. For a prominent family like theirs, Emgrand Group was nothing but a mediocre business, so it was normal for him not to manage it himself. Hence, she quickly said, “Sure. Mr. Wade, just tell me if you need anything, I’ll be at your service.”At this moment, a secretary knocked on the door and said, “Miss Young, a man called Gerald White and his fiancé are here to see you.”
The two announcements released by Emgrand Group completely shook the entire Aurous Hill like a high magnitude earthquake.When the Wilson family learned about the ownership change in Emgrand Group, they figured out why the collaboration with the White family had been terminated. It seemed that Emgrand’s new owner didn’t think much of the White family.Back to the point, who was Mr. Wade? He simply bought Emgrand Group that was worth hundreds of billions of dollars without batting an eye—he was a little too powerful, wasn’t he? Even the richest man in Aurous Hill wouldn’t be so generous!All of a sudden, a lot of wealthy families were about to eagerly make a move. They wished to establish a connection with the mysterious Mr. Wade while on the other hand wished to marry their daughter to him.Moreover, the announcement about Emgrand Group’s investment of two billion dollars for the hotel construction project also shook the construction and interior decorating industries in Aurous H
Claire’s announcement sent a shock wave across the room, making everyone gape in extreme surprise!Everyone thought that Claire must be out of her mind! It was the worst time to stand under the limelight now! Other than failing miserably, there’s nothing else she could achieve!Emgrand Group was the largest company in Aurous Hill and the Wilson family was nothing more than an insignificant ant to them! Whoever took the challenge would only end up failing!Harold couldn’t help but mock sarcastically, “Claire, do you really think you can get a deal from Emgrand Group?”Wendy continued in the same mocking tone after her brother, “Claire, who do you think you are, what do you think Emgrand Group is? You being so reckless and irrational will only humiliate us, the Wilson family!”Someone else added, “Wendy is right! If she is kicked out by Emgrand Group, our family will be a laughing stock in Aurous Hill!”Blood rushed to Claire’s face and she felt her face burning in embarrassment.
Looking at her parents ridiculing Charlie, Claire sighed and said, “Dad, Mom, don’t blame Charlie for this. It was my idea, I just don’t want our family to be looked down on anymore. Haven’t we suffered enough all these years?”Claire’s mother blurted, “But still, you can’t take on such a task. It’s not just you—even if your grandma goes in person, they wouldn’t entertain her!”Charlie managed a bitter smile as he watched the bickering. He bet that his snobbish in-laws would never believe that he was the real owner of Emgrand Group.At this exact moment, there was a knock on the door.“I’m coming…”Elaine heaved a distressing sigh as she walked to the door and opened it.Charlie shifted his gaze to the door and saw a young man donning an Armani suit standing at the door. The man looked very charming and alluring with a Patek Philippe watch on his wrist, which seemed to be worth at least four million dollars.Elaine shrieked excitedly, “Hey, Wendell! Why are you here?”The man w
Charlie was driving Jacob to Thompson First when the latter received the text from Matilda.Seeing that they were reaching the front gates, Jacob promptly snapped at Charlie, "Charlie, stop the car now!"Charlie did so and asked in curiosity, "What's wrong?""Matilda just texted me," Jacob replied, showing the chat log between him and Matilda.Charlie was just glancing at it nonchalantly when he saw that Matilda's contact name was 'AAA July Florist'."Wait, why is that Aunt Matilda's contact name?" He exclaimed in surprise."I changed it."Jacob explained gingerly while reading through the text Matilda sent. "Her profile picture is an iris, so I changed her contact name to a florist since I'm mostly worried Elaine would peek into my phone.""Anyway, she's asking if I'm attending her wedding with Yolden. They would send us an invitation if I accept, extended to our whole family… what do you think I should say?"Charlie asked in return. "You're planning to skip it, aren't you? T
Then, Matilda suggested, "How about this—I'll ask him before deciding." "I'll pass on inviting the rest of my former classmates too. They're too vain and love comparing, so I'd rather not have anything to do with that. Also, there are our Korean friends who have it together, and they were telling us to invite them if we were going to get married. We have to keep our promise, right?""Yeah—then, it's basically decided. Aside from Charlie, we shall invite our colleagues and Korean friends while we wait for an answer from Jacob."Yolden nodded and said, "Now, I'll talk about the honeymoon—cut me short if you have a different opinion."Matilda nodded, resting her chin on her hands and smiling. "Shoot. I'm all ears."Feeling a little embarrassed by Matilda's glowing stare, Yolden took a sip of his ice water before continuing, "My idea is to head to the States for our honeymoon after the wedding…"He trailed off, staring at Matilda and waiting for a response.However, she was merely
"Oh, Jacob…?"Matilda chuckled awkwardly. "Just today, he offered to buy me dinner, but I said I didn't have the time, and I also told him about our wedding… So, we should invite him since he's aware of it.""Jacob offered to buy you dinner?" Yolden exclaimed in surprise. "Did he say why?""Nope," Matilda shrugged, smiling. "Probably just dinner between old classmates."However, she was actually smart enough to guess Jacob's intention even though Jacob was inviting her somewhere near campus. That was why she had also mentioned she was marrying Yolden while turning down Jacob, all so that he would give up on her.After she had managed to get over their past fling completely, she didn't want to give Jacob false hopes before she walked down the aisle.In the same regard, she didn't want to worry Yolden, and therefore, had deliberately discouraged Jacob.Be that as it may, Yolden was smart too.He knew about Matilda and Jacob's past and that her son, Paul's full name was Paul Jam
Before Charlie had arrived, Jacob was still furious that Matilda would soon marry Yolden.After Charlie came, however, he was instead worried that Matilda would send him a wedding invitation.Meanwhile, Matilda and Yolden were discussing their list of guests.They had different social circles, but most of their friends were Stateside, and they only had some distant relatives in this country.Still, they had colleagues in Aurous Hill. Matilda had classmates too, but she was out of touch with them aside from Jacob, whom she often met.Still, as they discussed who should be invited, Matilda first suggested, "Let's go through everyone. First, our Stateside friends… I don't think we should tell them at all since it's a long journey, and inviting them would seem tactless. What do you think?"Yolden nodded, smiling, "I was just thinking the same thing. We're close with our Stateside friends and always keep in touch, but inviting them to our wedding might be a stretch. We'd just hit a wa
With that being said, once Matilda was thrown in the mix, Elaine would suddenly become an African honey badger, with every bit of black air force energy that was implied.As such, if Jacob had managed to be brave and take that one step back then, Charlie would have tried to help, stopping Elaine from harassing Jacob or Matilda.However, the reality was that Jacob had to bungle the chance when Matilda offered it to him.That was why the best option was for Jacob to understand that he couldn't get together with Matilda now so that he would feel much better.And since he had always been a coward, Charlie's slight intimidation cleared his head considerably.He then sighed, "Well, that's just life—you don't always get what you want, and you should never try to claim what you couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to choose Matilda over thirty years ago, so not being together now only makes sense.""Now, I can only pray that Elaine never finds out… or at least that things don't get out of h
Then, Jacob quickly pressed, "Dear boy, maybe you could stay a few days instead of taking more jobs. At least you could be there to stop my wife if she snaps.""Sure," Charlie chuckled, cheerfully agreeing to it. "Don't worry—Claire's returning in a couple of days too, and you'll be fine with us around. You're cheating in your mind, anyway…"Pausing, he then added a reminder, "But if she's really furious, just bear with her beatings and clawings. Live and let live, as they say."That left Jacob sulking, however. "What the hell! If I knew this would happen, I should have just taken her to court and divorced her openly! That way, I'd definitely make things work with Matilda. Yolden wouldn't even stand a chance!"Charlie had to keep a straight face. "Now, you're not quite right there—don't you know what would happen to your wife if you took this to court?"Jacob snorted coolly. "Elaine would just snap at me, hit me, and make sure I don't get a cent in the divorce. That's no big deal—
"Fuck!" When Jacob heard what Charlie said, he was horrified. He nervously asked, "Matilda isn't going to come to our house to deliver the invitation, is she? If Elaine finds out that I've been hiding Matilda's return from her all this time, I'll be so dead!" Charlie, having long seen through Jacob, knew he would never escape the shadow and claws of Elaine. He shook his head and said, "Whether they'll invite you, I have no way of knowing. If you're worried, you can tell Matilda that you don't want to be invited to her wedding and that you don't want to go." Jacob sighed. "That's just a temporary solution. Even if she doesn't know now, she'll probably find out sooner or later. A lot of our mutual friends already know about Matilda's return. You went to the gathering too. But those friends are not really in contact with Elaine, so she hasn't found out yet." Charlie smiled and said, "Matilda's return to the country was at a pretty sensitive time. If I'm not mistaken, she came b
Jacob then realized that Charlie was also driving a Rolls-Royce, and it was a more expensive Phantom. Surprised, he asked, "Charlie, where did you get this car?" Marilyn had prepared the car for Charlie when he left Scarlet Pinnacle Manor. He had driven it to Thompson First, so he had decided to use it today. Charlie replied, "A client lent it to me. You sounded urgent, so I drove it over." Then, he added, "You're something else. You're crying like a baby yet you're still in the mood to ask about the car. What's going on? Your friend said you'd cried twice already?" "That bloody Simon!" Hearing this, Jacob became furious and cursed, "He still doesn't have the slightest clue! He's such a damned fool! The more I try to avoid him, the more he keeps blabbering on and on. Argh, he's so stupid!" Charlie asked, "What exactly is bothering you?" Jacob's face instantly turned dejected, and with a long sigh, he choked up and said, "Charlie— Matilda— She's getting married—" "Gettin
Things were a little different and unique in the United States, though. Westerners tended to approach marriage with greater caution. Many couples stayed together for years, had several children, and yet remained as boyfriend and girlfriend. Being together, having children, and raising them jointly didn't necessarily mean they would get married. In fact, it was not uncommon for some to walk down the aisle only after having multiple kids. Because of this environment, elderly couples in the West often limited their relationships to dating, and at most, cohabitation. Very few progressed to the stage of marriage. However, Yolden, like a young man in the throes of passionate love, had invited her on a trip, secretly prepared a proposal ceremony by the seaside, and gotten down on one knee with a ring to propose. These actions deeply moved Matilda and, at the same time, gave her an unprecedented sense of security. Now, Yolden had moved their wedding up a big step and set the date just on