A short while later, the beautiful female manager walked back into the Diamond Room. At this time a timid young man was following behind her and his head was lowered as though he did not dare to look up at all.Jacob and everyone else in the Calligraphy and Painting Association were all very confused at this time. They could not help but wonder why Albert would prepare this kid as a performance for them.In fact, there was nothing special about this young man at all!As soon as the young man walked into the Diamond Room, he immediately bowed in front of Albert without saying anything at all. After a short while, he said in a fearful and respectful manner, “Uncle Albert, I am here to report to you now. Please inspect my scar.”This person was none other than Marcus Lloyd.That day, after carving the words ‘pathetic jerk’ on Marcus’s forehead at Champs Elys Spa Resort, Albert had directly instructed him to come to The Heaven Springs every week so that he could check and inspect his
After Marcus was ridiculed by the crowd, Albert gestured to him to go away.Usually, after the humiliating meeting at The Heaven Springs, Marcus would cover his forehead and go home quickly.But this time, he walked back to the parking lot with a murderous look on his face and got into the car that Cain and Johnny were in.Cain had been waiting for him for a long time. When Marcus got into the car, he quickly asked, “Son, how was it?”Marcus gritted his teeth and said, “There are thirty-something waiters and guards inside but most of them are women. The ones who are really combative are the twelve security guards.”Cain turned to the man sitting next to him and asked in a concerned tone, “Mr. Johnny, are you confident that you can handle so many men? Will you be on the losing side if they start an attack?”Johnny smiled coldly and said, “Huh, even if all thirty-something people are security guards, they are like dummies to us!”Cain immediately complimented, “Wow, Mr. Johnny, yo
However, Don Albert’s arrangement for tonight’s dinner was so extremely lavish that Jacob was dumbfounded. One serving of the best double-headed abalone for each of them cost 8,880 dollars per person, in addition to the black truffles, caviar, and other delicacies that could easily reach thousands of dollars for each serving.He estimated that this dinner was worth at least two to three million!Jacob had never eaten such an expensive meal in his entire life. He shivered in delight and said to Albert, “Mr. Rhodes, thank you so much for your hospitality! I really appreciate it!”Albert smiled lightly, retrieved a business card from his pocket, and said as he handed it to Jacob, “Mr. Wilson, this is my name card, please keep it! Next time, if you’d like to come to The Heaven Springs again, just give me a call and I’ll reserve the Diamond Suite for you right away.”Jacob grinned as he held the business card like a child receiving a lollipop.The people from the association witnesse
Everyone in the suite was startled by the abrupt noise.They looked at the door and saw a brawny man walking into the suite with a cold face.Behind him, four arrogant-looking men followed and entered the suite too.These five men were Donald Webb’s personal bodyguards.Cain and Marcus followed these men with wicked grins on their faces.Albert frowned in dismay as he saw the Lloyds and chided, “Huh, you’re very bold huh, bring someone to challenge me at my own restaurant?!”Marcus snorted disdainfully. “Albert Rhodes, you can keep up with your cockiness, but you’re going to die soon anyway! I’ll never forget the humiliation and scorn I got from you and I’m here to kill you today!”Everyone’s jaw dropped as soon as Marcus finished talking!Was he serious?Was he really bold enough to kill Don Albert?!Albert laughed at his sinister remark instead and said, “You? Want to kill me? Do you really think that my title is nothing but a hoax? Do you know how many men I have in the ci
Jacob was shaking in fright. He urged Morgan as he saw him standing frozen and hesitant, “Morgan, go! If they really attack you, I don’t know how and what to say to your family!”Johnny shouted coldly, “If you don’t want to go, just stay.”Morgan gritted his teeth in agony. After a short hesitant, he turned around and ran out of the suite.Jacob was completely in despair right now, but he was fortunate that Albert was here with him, so he prayed that Albert could handle the tricky situation.Little did he know that Albert was powerless at this moment.If his men were around, they would have barged into the room when these people made such a loud commotion in the Diamond Suite. Since no one had come over, it proved that they had been seriously and fatally injured as stated by these people.Cain glared at Albert in resentment and growled, “Albert Rhodes, today is your day to die!”Then, he turned and said respectfully to Johnny, “Mr. Johnny, please!”Johnny nodded, took a step fo
When Cain and the gang barged into the Diamond Suite, Charlie was on his way to The Heaven Springs, driving Jacob’s BMW.He had not planned to go out so early, but there was an annoyance in the house—Elaine.She couldn’t stop nagging him. First, she nagged about how wasteful Jacob was to have spent twenty grand on dinner instead of cosmetics for her and some mahjong rounds with her friends.Then, she diverted her nagging attention to Charlie, disliking him for not earning a living outside and staying at home mooching off them.She became more and more energetic as she went on her nagging spree, insisting on introducing Charlie to a job as a security guard in the parking lot with a monthly salary of three thousand dollars a month and insisting that he give her all his salary when he received it.Charlie knew that Elaine’s pocket was as clean as a whistle after the scam and that she couldn’t afford any lavish expenses like she used to, so she could only spend most of her time at hom
When Charlie entered The Heaven Springs, he found all the waitresses and security guards lying on the floor.Charlie approached them to investigate and realized that they lost consciousness. There were large bruises on their necks as if someone had struck them vigorously with their hands.‘Hmm, it looks like they are skillful and powerful!’ Charlie frowned, the truth slowly sinking in. Then, he moved his legs and went upstairs!At this moment, Albert was on the verge of dying, his eyes slowly turned white.On the other side of the suite, Cain and Marcus exchanged glances.Marcus took a dagger from his belt and said coldly as he looked at Jacob who was trembling in the corner, “Since Johnny has Albert under control, I’ll deal with this b*stard Jacob!”“Dad, grab him, I want to carve ‘pathetic jerk’s father-in-law’ on his forehead!”Cain nodded with a vile smile, “Yes! Do it! Carve with all your strength, carve until you hit his skull!”Jacob was so frightened, he felt as if hi
Charlie’s expression was as cold as frost!Never would he have imagined that Cain and Marcus would dare to bring someone to kill Albert and Jacob!He was so furious right now that he was ready to make a killing!Cain and Marcus, on the other hand, were over the moon when they saw him!For all this while, Marcus was in the living hell, suffering all kinds of insults and humiliation! It was all because of Charlie!Finally, he got his revenge tonight!Cain was equally spiteful towards Charlie due to his attack today. Initially, he regretted that he could not kill him today, but he showed up right in front of them! What a surprise!Cain quickly turned to Johnny and yelped, “Mr. Johnny! This motherf*cker is Charlie Wade! Kill him now!”Marcus shouted cheerfully too, “Yes, Mr. Johnny, kill the f*cker now!”Charlie frowned and said in the calm before the storm, “Let Albert and my father-in-law go right now and I may consider sparing your life.”Cain was infuriated. “D*mn it, what
Pausing, Charlie then said, "I'll call Steve to drop by later too. I'm sure folks in Aurous Hill won't know him, but your potential troublemaker might.""I-Is that really fine?" Yolden blurted."What's not fine about it?" Charlie chuckled. "He has been treated like a tool ever since he came to Aurous Hill, and now that he has a chance to strut about, he wouldn't ask for more."Yolden appeared slightly relieved at that, and Charlie asked, "By the way, where's Paul, Matilda, and Autumn?""Getting their makeup done," Yolden replied. "Paul's my best man while Autumn's the maid of honor.""Good," Charlie nodded with a grin. "Don't worry—the wedding's going to be a success."As they spoke, Matilda stepped out of the dressing room in a stark-white wedding dress, flanked by Autumn and Paul.Seeing Charlie, Autumn nodded politely, "Good morning, Mr. Wade."As Charlie nodded in turn, Paul started, "G-Good morning… Mr. Wade…"Seeing that he was nervous and tentative, Charlie knew that he
As Yolden and Matilda were remarrying after living abroad for years, the wedding ceremony was much simpler, skipping Oskian customs and having a simple wedding reception for their guests at the hotel hall.There weren't that many guests either—aside from their children and close friends, only a handful of Yolden's colleagues at Aurous Hill University were invited.As the celebrant, Charlie didn't have much to do and was mainly the emcee.He brought along his jacket as he headed out to Shangri-La, not wearing it immediately so that Claire wouldn't guess that he was attending Matilda's wedding.Arriving at the Hanging Gardens before the guests were supposed to arrive, he found Yolden working with the staff to finalize the preparations.Seeing Charlie, Yolden approached him and said, "Thanks for coming this early, Charlie."Noticing that he was a little tired, Charlie asked in concern, "Had a bad night?"Yolden nodded, sighing, "Paul's uncle caused a huge mess. Both Matilda and I a
Tarlon nodded. "How do you suggest we find them?"Fleur scowled. "There's no rush. There are things which I'm still confused about, so just keep a close eye on the Ackers and the Wades for the time being. Report to me right away if anything important comes up—don't afford our enemies any opportunities to exploit.""Yes, milady!" -The next day, more news outlets were covering the joint project between the Ackers and the Wades as word continued to spread.However, neither family revealed too many details, be it the name of the company, who was the CEO, or the scale of their business.While the public was dying with curiosity, nothing else was known.Still, Aurous Hill's officials were especially interested, with the town hall visiting the Ackers the next day and showing utmost sincerity by leasing a whopping 2-million-square-meter land along the southern highway. Still, the condition was for the Ackers to come true on their promise to propel the city's economy to 15 billion US d
Fleur had repeatedly mentioned the conspiracy theory of Ashley using a body double over the last twenty years.Tarlon had investigated from many different angles, but everything from the gender, age, dental records, to body figure pointed to the fact that the deceased was Ashley Acker.And yet, Fleur had never bought it, insisting that Curtis was prepared for them just because Curtis' son had gone missing soon after.There was no way Curtis would save his son but not his wife, and the disfigured corpse only added fuel to Fleur's suspicion.Thus, over the last twenty years, Fleur had kept a close eye on the Ackers, arranging for two 'scholars' to be embedded amongst their ranks as sleeper agents. She went that far all to determine if Ashley was dead or had faked her death.However, the scholars had since been killed in action, and they had no spies within the Ackers left.As for Tarlon, he still doubted Fleur's theory even now, but he remained respectful as he spoke, "Milady, I mu
Meanwhile, on the edge of the South Pole, Tarlon Griffin rushed outside of Fleur Griffin's room, knocking the door gingerly as he announced, "I have news, my lady!"Fleur didn't respond, but the thick wooden door between them slowly opened as if pushed by an invisible force.Tarlon entered to find Fleur seated on the floor with her legs crossed at the ankles. Her eyes remained closed as she molded her Reiki, asking, "What is it?"Tarlon quickly answered, "News from Oskia. The Ackers are partnering with the Wades on a joint venture into electric-powered vehicles."Fleur slowly opened her eyes, asking quietly, "And you're telling me because?"Tarlon quickly explained, "It just came out of the blue, so I thought I should report it to you right away."Fleur sighed. "After I tried and failed to wipe out the Ackers so many times, they wouldn't dare set foot stateside. If anything, they must have decided to seek asylum in Oskia by offering a substantial investment, and it's a base whe
Silent for a while, Matilda then asked Yolden, "Do you think I can do it?""Yes!" Yolden nodded without hesitation. "You definitely won't have any problems!"Matilda sighed, shaking her head. "We traveled far abroad to study while we were young, but we didn't return to Oskia to help the country's development. It's been thirty years since, and now that we have returned to the country at the same time, I definitely wouldn't turn down such an opportunity to help."Pausing, she then said, "That said, major corporations make it a point to not hire family members. Forget spouses—employees aren't allowed to date, and one of the two will be asked to resign if necessary."Don't you think it's inappropriate since we are legally married, having gotten our certificate and all? And if we set these precedents, we would have trouble asking other employees to follow that policy. You are going to be a CEO, so you need a very clear answer on this issue."Yolden shrugged. "In the first place, that p
Yolden nodded slightly. "He does.""My gosh…" Matilda murmured. "That's too much… Ashley's son? A member of the Acker family and the Wades?!"Pausing, she then asked in confusion, "Wait, if Charlie has so much power and influence, why would he permanently reside in Aurous Hill… No, why would he be content as Jacob Wilson's son-in-law? Does Jacob know who he really is?""Definitely not," Yolden shook his head. "There were some compelling circumstances, and his identity is a sensitive one. That's why I'm asking you to tell no one except Paul—and even then, you should only tell him if he can keep the secret."Matilda was sharp enough to pick up on the reasoning, too. "Charlie's hiding because of his parents' accident, isn't he?""Yes," Yolden sighed. "He has his plans, but I didn't pry since I can only do that much, let alone help him on that.""Got it," Matilda nodded repeatedly. "Don't worry. My lips are sealed… And you just said you're resigning? Are you going to help with this e
"That would be Ashley Layna Acker," Matilda replied without hesitation. "She was our age, as well as a major investor in Silicon Valley, while we were only starting to get our first clients. It's no exaggeration to say that she's the shining example in many case studies when it comes to business."Pausing, she then continued, "And she used to be your classmate, right? I remember you mentioning that in our conversations before.""Yes," Yolden sighed emotionally. "She was a classmate and the star of our generation."Matilda nodded but soon shook her head, "Wait, weren't we talking about Charlie's car company? What does that have to do with Ashley Acker?" "Here's where I let you in on a secret," Yolden said. "But first, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone except Paul."Matilda nodded without hesitation. "Don't worry—if it's a secret, I won't tell Paul either."Yolden scratched his head. "Actually, Paul should know. We are going to marry soon, and he's my stepson, lega
In fact, the legal department of major enterprises covered many responsibilities, the chief of which concerned intellectual property, which was why veterans were needed to lead.Additionally, Charlie trusted Matilda's accomplishments in the legal field, especially since she had worked in the United States for years.With Curtis Autos' intended expansion worldwide, that meant the legal department should also know the laws of countries abroad, ready to file or respond to lawsuits at any time. After all, competitors may use the law to impede their growth, along with the government applying unfair policies to impede their development and impact on local businesses.Moreover, Charlie considered Paul young and therefore lacking in experience, not to mention that it was not likely he would abandon his family's law firm. As such, the ideal solution was to poach Matilda for now.As for Matilda, she was still in the dark and had no idea what she was in for, asking Charlie in confusion, "Lega