Even though Jacob was useless, he was not a fool.In this family, both he and his wife, Elaine, were vain.However, Elaine’s vanity was at least ten thousand times stronger than his own vanity!In fact, Elaine was the type of person who really loved her own face, and her vanity was at an extreme level! How could she possibly have the face to say that he was the one who was filled with vanity?! Was this woman really that shameless?As he was feeling very angry and frustrated, Jacob could not help but feel that something was not quite right.Elaine had always dreamt of moving into the villa at Thompson First. She had even envisioned moving into the villa way before the renovation was completed. Not only that, Elaine had even dragged him over to the villa to check on the progress of the villa’s renovation a couple of times already. When they visited the villa, Elaine was even planning what kind of furniture they should be buying for the living room. They had been discussing the kin
As he spoke, Jacob glared at Elaine before he said, “We placed the two million dollars in your custody. When the time comes, I will sue you and ask you for half of that money in court! You will be legally responsible for it if you cannot take the money out at that time!”“You…” Elaine really did not expect Jacob to be so heartless and cruel!Was he really going to divorce her and ask her to split their properties and assets between them? What was she going to do if he was really going to sue her for the money? She was already old and she had no money at all. How was she going to continue living if Jacob really wanted to divorce her?Elaine could not help but feel a little anxious and nervous as she thought about this.She softened her voice immediately and she hurriedly said, “Oh, my dear husband, why are you so mad at me? The both of us have already endured so much difficulties and sufferings together for the past twenty years. Are you really going to turn your back on me now?”
Elaine was utterly shocked by Jacob’s raucous grunt!She knew that, at this moment, she couldn’t keep the secret anymore, so she mumbled in a sheepish and shaky voice, “Dear, I’m sorry, I lost all our money in the mahjong…”She didn’t dare to tell the truth about Hannah being the mastermind behind the scam, because she knew that if the Wilson family knew about her involvement in the scam despite being a victim, they would come to her first since they were looking for Hannah frantically. Of course, she was not doing this to protect Charlie, she simply didn’t want to invite trouble for herself. All those people were reported as missing persons after Albert sent them to the coal mine, she feared that she might be dragged into this mess if an investigation was executed regarding their missing status.Thus, she could only say that she lost the money on gambling but not the scamming part.Jacob was up in arms about her confession that she lost more than two million in mahjong that he s
Moreover, Claire’s parents were at the age when they got each other for support as they grew old. They would not be happy if they divorced now.More importantly, where would they stay after the divorce? Even though they had two houses now, she always felt that the villa was an unstable constant as it was a gift obtained from Charlie’s deception, the original owner might take it back someday.So, what would happen then? Did she really want her parents to leave the marriage with nothing? Besides, she had just started her business venture. Thanks to Charlie and his friends’ support, her business was slowly going on track, but her company hadn’t earned any significant money yet and she didn’t have the money to buy a house for any of her parents as their retirement home. If they divorced now, the family would break apart.So, she cleared her throat and pleaded in a sobbing tone, “Dad, Mom already apologized to you, let bygones be bygones, can you forgive her this time, please?” She qui
On the balcony, Claire hugged Elaine tightly and cried, “Mom, please forgive dad, he is in a black mood right now. Give him some time, he will okay after this. Please, come down, will you?”Elaine climbed on the window and cried loudly, “Girl, don’t stop me, tonight will be the night I die! From now on, during the holidays, don’t forget to burn some money for me, don’t be like Charlie who doesn’t do so to his dead parents! His parents were so broke down there they had to come to him in his dream to remind him about it…” Charlie’s face turned into an irritating shade of green when he heard it!Elaine oh Elaine, you bloody woman, you still remembered the one hundred million dollar cheque that I received from Jasmine and accidentally gave you, it was so close!Luckily you didn’t buy it and came back to pick a fight with me. If you managed to cash the one million dollar cheque, I bet you would be so pompous that you thought you were a goddess!This incident indicated that you didn’t
Claire almost fainted from all the preposterous scenes.Her mother wanted to commit suicide when her dad wanted a divorce, but in the middle of the commotion, she picked a fight with someone who they only heard his voice, cursing such ear-piercing expletives…Jacob was also a little flustered.He knew that Elaine could be very ferocious verbally, but he didn’t expect it to be so ruthless…If he insisted on divorcing her, would she spend the rest of her life crying and cursing in front of him? It would be a horrifying living hell!Jacob sighed dejectedly and thought, ‘Damn, it seems that the divorce plan doesn’t go as planned. Besides, I won’t dare to now…’After winning the raucous debate at the balcony, Elaine felt a bit relaxed. Leaning against the railing, she thought for a few minutes, then, she climbed down, sweeping the dust off her body, and walked back to the house.“Jacob Wilson, you can get a divorce, here’s my term. I get the house, you have to pay fifty thousand
Seeing that Jacob was hesitating, Elaine hurriedly shifted into a flattering mode and said, “Dear, we can still earn money! Claire’s company is starting to grow, so when her business starts to make money, she will give you all her money for safekeeping, and you will be the financial power of our family, okay?” Jacob started to feel a little relieved when he heard the idea. He figured that since he couldn’t be in the upper hand now, it would end up bad if he bumped his head against her, hence, the better option right now was to compromise and accept the proposed solution.Elaine, on the other hand, was thinking, ‘Jacob Wilson, you’ll never be able to escape my grip! I put you in charge of the family’s finances because we don’t have any money now, you are nothing but a puppet. When we have money in the future, I will snatch the power back!’She was extremely delighted as she thought of it, so she started, “Dear, you are the best! I’ll cook tomorrow and make your favorite braised praw
“Alright, I’ll take a shower.”***Meanwhile, as Charlie and Claire lay on the bed preparing to sleep, a heavy-lift helicopter flew by the Sudbury sky, soaring loudly. After spending two hours on the helicopter, Donald and Sean Webb finally arrived above the exclusive mansion in Sudbury. All the Webb family members were waiting on the big lawn of the mansion including Kian and his mother who were waiting by the side of the lawn. They already knew about the unfortunate incident in Aurous Hill and were eager to greet and comfort them.As the helicopter slowly descended, warm tears drenched Donald and Sean’s eyes as they saw their family waiting on the ground.The incidents that had happened in Aurous Hill were like purgatory which caused great suffering and misery to both of them.They were filled with relief and warmth now that they had finally returned home!As the helicopter landed and the door opened, the servants hurriedly rushed forward to help Donald, Sean, Johnny, and
Trippy rolled his eyes as he texted back: [Hell no. I need to start my business instead of wasting my time. You morons can come get a number yourself if you like. Haha!]Still, Trippy had just sent his text when a trio arrived in a hurry outside Treasure Measure.Seeing that the doors were closed, the leader asked Trippy, "Excuse me, can I ask if this is Treasure Measure? Owned by a man named Mr. Cole?"Trippy was at once surprised. "You mean Raymond Cole?"The leader quickly said, "We don't know his first name, only that his last name is Cole, and his handle name was Treasure Measure's Mr. Cole."Trippy chuckled. "That'd be him. Has to be, since he hand wrote that shop sign."Pausing, he then asked in curiosity, "So, you've come to see him being a sucker?"The leader was naturally curious as to what Trippy was talking about. However, he was also reluctant to reveal why he had come since there was a killer bargain at stake. In fact, every other collector who was coming was k
Raymond also added that the 20 million price tag wouldn't be cut or increased. To put it simply, the bronze sculpture was right there in Aurous Hill and waiting—it was a race.Hence, many reputable collectors contacted expert appraisers throughout the night, some even booking night flights straight to Aurous Hill.The best amongst them was a fanatic collector of bronze items in Eastcliff.Following a brief exchange with Raymond online, he immediately called an expert who was also a close friend. As soon as his call was answered, he asked the other man if he had time to travel to Aurous Hill so that no one else would beat them to it—and they would drive out in the night if at all possible.After all, the earliest flight was at six in the morning, and it'd be eight by the time they made it to Aurous Hill Airport and nine by the time they got to Antique Street in a cab.Therefore, the ideal way to get there was by driving over six hundred miles at top speed, and that meant reaching A
While Jacob was feeling delighted after pulling off his con, Raymond had posted details of the bronze sculpture online.The website he was using was the biggest platform for antique collectors and the antique trade where each user could set a favorite tag in the antique category and era. If a user who preferred canvas art pieces of the Tudor dynasty set that label as their favorite, they would immediately be notified with text or desktop notifications in regards to any item with the same label.As medieval bronze sculptures were rare in the first place, most who were interested had already set that label on their favorites and were immediately notified soon after Raymond posted pictures of the bronze sculpture online.The collectors were naturally eager to check it out as gilded sculptures of the medieval era were really rare, and most collectors would go a lifetime without picking one up for their collection.On top of that, the seller had even listed a major flaw and was only ask
"Nope," Jacob chuckled. "We were both working separately and just happened to get back in at the same time."Then, he immediately became smug and excited, "Guess what, dear? I made 200 thousand out of the deal! In net profits!""For real?!" Elaine gaped. "200 thousand in just one night?! That's amazing! How did you do that?"Claire was surprised to hear that too, and she came over to ask, "What deal was it, Dad?"Jacob grinned, "Oh, it's nothing to brag about. It's just that I managed to pick up a nice antique item thanks to my wisdom and then sold it for 200 thousand."Pausing, he then sighed in dismay, "However, the buyer wasn't too rich—I would have squeezed him for 400 thousand, but he couldn't afford more, so I had to settle for less."Elaine quickly exclaimed, "Shit, we're talking about a loss of 200 thousand! People would work a year and still never earn that much…"She trailed off for a moment before asking, "By the way, dear—are we still flying out first thing tomorrow?
Jacob laughed. "Put that issue behind us? Sure, but we're not becoming friends. Hell, I can't even hold a grudge now that you're shit out of luck."Then, his tone changed sharply and suddenly became icy, "But you see, Aurous Hill is not a place you can stay just because you want to. No… After this, you're not going to be able to make a living in the antique trade.""If I were you, I'd be running a thousand miles away, far away from Aurous Hill where no one would know my face to start over. That way, you just might be able to make a living."Raymond simply kept smiling, "You need not be concerned about how I'm going to survive here, Mr. Wilson. I'd be very grateful if you'd cease any form of harassment once you leave my premises."Jacob pursed his lips, staring at Raymond in disappointment. "I'm plenty magnanimous, so I won't stoop to such pettiness. Just do whatever you like!"Clicking his tongue, he huffed, "Tut, tut… And here I'd thought you're tough, but you're just yet another
Raymond chuckled at the title, humble as ever, "The Duke of Wastage? Now, that's quite the royal title, and I don't think I deserve such an honor…"Trailing off, he then made an especially curious look, "By the way, how'd you know they were calling me that?"Seeing that he was still so ignorant, Jacob scoffed. "You bought a Renaissance-era bronze sculpture earlier, didn't you?"Raymond nodded. "I did. But technically, it's medieval and not Renaissance, along with a Renaissance-era base."Jacob clutched his stomach as he laughed, "Oh, please! Medieval? Hahaha… You're killing me, Mr. Cole!"Raymond kept a serious look on his face. "It's really medieval. Why don't you take a look?""No way," Jacob snorted, pursing his lips. "Anyway, word has already spread that someone was selling a counterfeit bronze sculpture to defraud Antique Street for some serious dough. He went first to Vintage Deluxe, but their manager, Mr. Crane, saw through it and didn't buy it… and then he came to you, an
That was why most of the collectors only knew that such an item existed but they did not know in whose possession it was.After registering a new account and paying the ten thousand registration fee, Raymond got in.It was very safe as it was anonymous, and he posted a photo of the bronze sculpture and an announcement with an asking price of twenty million.In his opinion, it wasn't that expensive—if it was still gilded, it would be worth around a hundred million. Without it, it was plenty reasonable to cut the price down to just thirty million.And Raymond was cutting another ten million off that, so twenty million was plenty reasonable.Moreover, medieval bronze sculptures were exceedingly rare, and less than one specimen showed up annually at times. Collectors who desired it would therefore be willing to break the bank for it, and that was why Raymond was sure that someone would put in an order once he posted it.As he wrote the summary of the item, someone knocked on his door
Jacob frowned in disdain. "Why would I be worried? He's no longer the manager of Vintage Deluxe, and he just lost a shit ton of money for messing up his appraisal. I am also the vice president of the Calligraphy and Painting Association, so why would I be worried about some loser who will soon be kicked out of Antique Street?"Straightening his collar, he snorted coldly, "I am now going to see Raymond Cole and humiliate him face-to-face! He thinks he's impressive, doesn't he? Let's see how he will keep up that facade!"Zachary chuckled, "Yes, exactly! People like him need to be given a slap in the face! As hard as you can! Don't worry—I'll be right behind you. If he gets physical, I'll rush in to help. If he doesn't dare to start a fight, you just insult him as much as possible!""Good plan!" Jacob nodded since he was concerned that Raymond might get physical when pushed too far.And with his body, there was no way he could beat anyone…Spreading his arms, he exclaimed, "Come! I'l
Mick inspected every video to see who was getting the most views, and he then paid out of his own pocket to use paid advertising to get the video viral.It cost five thousand and it hurt, but reaching the trending page was definitely worth it.Mick was quite shrewd too, making sure that the paid advertising was focused locally. After all, he knew all too well that five thousand didn't buy many clicks, and clicks from elsewhere might be too sporadic to gain any worthwhile attention.As he worked in Antique Street, he naturally had to come up with a plan to promote himself in this place, ideally presenting himself as a master appraiser.That way, his fame would slowly extend throughout the province and perhaps Eastern Oskia, and eventually the country.As such, focusing on Aurous Hill was the best idea.Moreover, he also had another idea—if Jasmine Moore happened to see this video, she would see him in a new light.When that happened, he could look forward to getting really rich!