Claire originally did not know that Jacob had been drinking.However, after approaching Jacob, she could smell the strong scent of alcohol from his body. She could not help but feel very angry at her father at this time!She knew that her father normally enjoyed drinking. She has absolutely no opinion on his actions at all. However, the point was that her father told her that he would be going to several mahjong halls to look for her mother. Why did he come back drunk then?This…this simply proved that he did not go to look for her mother at all! He simply went out to…drink!When Jacob heard Claire asking if he had been drinking, Jacob hurriedly covered his mouth and took a few steps back as he was in a state of panic. After that, he hurriedly said, “Don’t talk nonsense! I was not drinking!”“You are the one who is talking nonsense right now!” Claire stomped her feet angrily, “I can smell the scent of alcohol on your body! You did not have the scent of alcohol on your body when yo
Claire could not calm down at all and she waved her hand before she said, “Forget it. I do not want to talk about this problem anymore. I am going back to my bedroom to calm myself down.”After she was done speaking, Claire turned around and walked up the stairs.Charlie could not help but sighed when he saw her walking up the stairs and disappearing at the top of the stairs.It seemed as though it would really be difficult to deal with Elaine.He could not kill her and he could not make her disappear or evaporate from this world without a trace at all. When she has already suffered enough, he would still have to bring her back home.However, it would also be very troublesome to bring her back. How could he possibly make her shut up without talking any nonsense at all?Through hypnosis?That would not be reliable at all!After all, the side effect of hypnosis was that once the person started to follow his psychological cues, that person would lose their own consciousness moment
Loreen could feel Charlie’s gentleness when he wiped the tears off her face. At the same time, she could not help but feel that her heart was in extreme pain as she listened to his firm and emotional love confession for Claire.At this time, Loreen said in a hoarse voice, “Charlie, if Claire really loves you, I will never do anything to bother or interfere in your relationship at all. However, you know very well that the only reason why Claire is together with you is simply because of the promise that she made to her grandfather. Do you really think that things will work out if you are the only person putting effort into this relationship? Why don’t you just let her go and think for yourself for once in your life?”After she was done speaking, Loreen sobbed as she asked, “In what ways am I inferior to Claire? Tell me so that I can improve myself and try to catch up with her. Please do not reject me just like that. Why won’t you give me a chance?”Charlie shook his head slightly befo
If Claire did not rely on this stubborn ‘stupidity’, she would have listened to everyone’s persuasion and gotten rid of him a long time ago.If that happened, what kind of destiny and fate would he be suffering now?Charlie did not even dare to think about it.His life was very difficult before he married Claire.This was because the orphanage did not accept any adults at all. Therefore, on his eighteenth birthday, Mrs. Lewis bought him a birthday cake with the little savings that she had. After that, they celebrated his birthday for him before she sent him out of the orphanage with tears in her eyes.At that moment, Charlie once again became a helpless and lonely person in this world.Mrs. Lewis wanted to help him and she wanted to introduce him to some work so that he could earn some living allowance for himself but Charlie did not have the face to accept Mrs. Lewis’s help.He found a construction site on his own and he started moving bricks, sand, and cement on his own at the
As he thought about his past, Charlie could not help but feel overwhelmed with emotions.There were only two people in the Wilson family who really treated him well.One of them was Lord Wilson, who had already passed away and the other person was his wife, Claire.Since Lord Wilson had already passed away, the only person left in the entire Wilson family who was really good to him was none other than Claire.When Charlie saw Claire standing on the balcony with a sad expression on her face, he walked over to her slowly before he said, “Claire, you don’t have to worry too much. Mom will definitely come home safely, okay?”Claire only realized that Charlie had entered the room when she heard him speaking. She turned around and glanced at him with an annoyed expression on her face as she said, “You don’t really care about her. So, of course you would think that nothing will happen to her. Even if something happened to her, you would not be really sad or worried at all.”Charlie knew
Jacob, who was upstairs on the third floor was living in sharp contrast to Charlie.He was so excited that he could not even fall asleep at all that night.He could not stop thinking about the past that he shared with Matilda and all of their good memories kept flashing back and forth in his mind. He was completely immersed in the memories that he shared with Matilda.The more he thought about Matilda, the more he looked forward to seeing her again.Early the next morning, Jacob who had not slept for the whole night was very energetic and he was in extremely good spirits. He was happily smiling from ear to ear at this time.He got up early to wash up and he shaved his beard clean without leaving even a single stubble behind. After that, he combed his gray hair before he sprayed some styling spray on his hair. After that, he looked inside his cabinet before he looked for the high-end luxurious suit that he had always felt very unwilling to wear.This suit was specially made in Hon
When Claire heard that her father wanted her to accompany him to meet up with his first love, Claire refused directly without any hesitation at all. “I am not going!”Jacob spread out his hands before he said, “Then, don’t stop Charlie from going with me. No matter what it is, one of you has to come with me today.”“You…” Claire was furious and she asked, “Is it more important for you to have a meal with your old classmate or is it more important for us to find mom? Dad, can’t you differentiate which is more important to you right now?”Jacob blurted out, “Of course, I can differentiate it very clearly! Of course, it is much more important for me to have a meal with my old classmate!”“You…”Although Claire usually had a very good temper, she was about to blow up and explode in anger at this time.Jacob replied indifferently, “Claire, you have to understand one thing. This world does not revolve around your mother alone. There are four people in this family. Your mother and I hav
Elaine knew clearly that this was a threat. As long as she started eating, and as long as she reached out her hand to touch the lunch box, she would probably have to suffer a beating.Therefore, Elaine cried as she continued pleading, “Sister Jennifer, you have already beaten and scolded me as much as you wanted to yesterday. Can you please be merciful and let me off today?”Jennifer raised her brows before she said, “Even if I let you off, who can bring my dead mother back to life then? Do you know how miserable my mother was when she drank a bottle of pesticide and laid in the hospital bed as she tried desperately to catch her breath as she suffocated to death?”Elaine burst into tears as she said, “Sister Jennifer…I know that you are a filial daughter but I have not harmed your mother in any way…”Jennifer replied angrily, “You are still trying to talk nonsense with me? Let me tell you something. My mother was killed because of her unfilial daughter-in-law! That is the reason wh
Charlie chuckled. "Don't sell yourself short, Mr. Hart. There are plenty of business folk who got so used to their comfort zone that they became caught in the illusion that they can be successful in anything they do. It's a mindset that leads to them blindly developing new projects and new competition, and then they end up losing big."If memory serves, there have been real estate businesses that started mineral water brands, search engines that tried the car industry, e-commerce sites attempting social media, and vice-versa. All of them are multi-billion-dollar companies venturing into new frontiers, but all to unimpressive outcomes."Pausing, Charlie then continued, "You've mentioned rising above the competition amidst the development of the new energy industry. That would get anyone's attention, and it is why I believe that you definitely will make a strong impression with your strategizing and knowledge of the basic principles."Yolden found it hard to refuse, seeing that Charli
Having lost it all, Jacob really looked like he wouldn't be getting back up.But fortunately, he had a pillar in the form of Elaine.In fact, Elaine would serve to be a container, whipping Jacob into shape if he got too full of himself.But on the other hand, now that Jacob was utterly despondent, she would be forcing him to smile and function in general.Elaine's attitude to the entire issue was clear as well. Even though Jacob had just lost his job, she would make him go shopping with her in Dubai even if he fell into a coma. Even if he was dead, she'd just cremate him and bring his ashes along.Hence, with Elaine's firm grip around Jacob's leash, he went on strolls, going shopping and taking selfies with Elaine everyday, eventually easing the toll on his mood and spirit.-Back at Aurous Hill, Charlie was preparing for Yolden Hart and Matilda Hall's wedding as it approached.Yolden was a schoolmate of his mother, Ashley Layna Acker, as well as Charlie's elder.And while Cha
"See you." As soon as Charlie hung up on Matilda, Don Albert's call came right after.He sounded nervous as Charlie answered the phone, saying, "Master Wade, I think I might have gone too far…""Wait, what's this about?" Charlie asked."Your father-in-law, of course…" Don Albert sighed. "You asked me to leave him hanging for a while, so I did. I even refused when he asked to book a room in Heaven Springs.""Well, that's not a problem, is it?" Charlie shrugged. "He and Zachary ganged up for some real mischief. As you are Zachary's boss, it's right that you refused him because you didn't appreciate what he did.""That's just it. I thought that approach was just right as well," Don Albert quickly said. "I wasn't playing nice when Mr. Bay of the Calligraphy and Painting Association called me either. That's when he said he'd try to save Jacob's position as vice-president, but I told him it's none of my business."I then hung up on him without much thought, only for Zachary to tell m
Meanwhile, Charlie was downstairs in Claire's office, waiting to pick her up and head home.That was when Matilda called him, asking as soon as he answered, "Charlie, do you know how Jacob is doing? He never answered any of my texts—is he going to be alright?""I wouldn't know," Charlie replied. "Both he and Elaine are in Dubai on a trip… What's wrong?""He resigned," Matilda sighed. "I only saw the public statement that the Calligraphy and Painting Association posted this afternoon. It says that he tendered the resignation himself, but it doesn't really feel that way. I wonder if he's at odds with other members of the association…"Charlie was actually surprised to hear that Jacob had resigned.He had told Zachary to expose the truth of the bronze sculpture fraud case to teach Jacob a lesson so that Jacob would understand the meaning of true pain.However, he anticipated that Mr. Bay would at least keep Jacob around with an unimportant job even if Jacob did lose some money and e
Falling apart in both mind and spirit, Jacob was crying as he disembarked and took a cab to the hotel.Elaine, who had been lying around for 24 hours, was stunned speechless as she watched him enter, crying like a child.In contrast, Elaine looked like a mother to Jacob just then as he threw himself into her arms and bawled, "Darling… That prick Mr. Bay screwed me over… I have nothing left now…"Taken aback for a moment that Jacob would bawl in her arms like that, Elaine soon came to her senses and patted his back as she comforted him, "Oh, stop crying already. Who cares about some Calligraphy and Painting groupies? We certainly don't! Just hear me out and don't ever go there again!"Jacob kept sobbing, "But I care… I want to go…"Annoyed, Elaine's hand that had been patting Jacob a moment ago slid down to his hip and pinched him viciously before he noticed."Ow!" Jacob yelped in pain, and he demanded indignantly, "What was that for?!""Shut up!" Elaine snapped, glowering. "I wa
Jacob couldn't even be bothered by the looks others were giving him, and he called Mr. Bay immediately.Mr. Bay had already gone home and was seated on the couch with his wife, watching his phone and waiting for Jacob to call and demand an explanation.Mr. Bay knew that he had to answer for this and that if he avoided Jacob, it may well be a confession that he had screwed Jacob over.So, to avoid unnecessary trouble, he decided to come clean with Jacob.Naturally, by coming clean, he meant passing the buck as his wife had suggested.Hence, as he answered Jacob's call, he immediately sighed in embarrassment, "Hey, Jacob. I'm so sorry about that…"However, Jacob was so furious he immediately started bellowing, "Mr. Bay! Are you fucking with me here?! You said that the resignation letter was more of a formality, but you just made it public instead! So, all those things you said about helping me were just a trap, was it?! You're despicable! And to think I've been so good to you, even
The repeated flights had left Jacob tormented.Even before he actually had the time to enjoy Dubai, he had already gotten sick of the place and didn't want to ever return.And on the flight, he couldn't stop his thoughts from going astray.Now that he was not getting back the money he had lost, his only hope was Mr. Bay.Fortunately, Mr. Bay was serious about his promise that he would at least save him a job as department head. That was why, despite his thoughts running astray, he never considered the thought that he would be kicked out of the Calligraphy and Painting Association.As soon as his flight landed, he didn't wait to turn off his phone's flight mode, waiting for the internet connection to return so that he could ask Mr. Bay about the meeting.Once he did, he received a ton of messages from public accounts to acquaintances—many had already found out that he had resigned from the post of administrative vice-president and wanted to ask how he was doing.And Matilda was
The Calligraphy and Painting Association was certainly efficient—soon after the meeting was dismissed, the news that the administrative vice-president had resigned was posted on their official page and social media.The notice was simple and never mentioned what Jacob had done, only that the administrative vice-president had asked to resign for personal reasons. The request had since been voted upon, and all members had agreed to it.And that was how a simple and short message kicked Jacob out of the Calligraphy and Painting Association entirely.In the city, other associations closely connected with the Calligraphy and Painting Association were the various cultural societies and circles of antique enthusiasts and the Senior University. In fact, most fans of the public page of the Calligraphy and Painting Association were from the Senior City, and every lecturer, student, and even guest lecturer were subscribed.As a matter of fact, that was entirely Jacob's doing. After his lect
There weren't that many members in the Calligraphy and Painting Association—just a handful over twenty.Hence, at Mr. Bay's request, everyone showed up at the conference at 1 pm.He chose the afternoon as there were a handful who were away on outreach, including Walker, who was subbing for Jacob's lectures.Once the entire Calligraphy and Painting Association save for Jacob was informed of the mandatory meeting, every member was there on the hour, seated primly and in attention in the huge conference room.Mr. Bay didn't waste his breath on the preamble either—as soon as he saw that everyone had arrived, he announced, "Everyone, I've gathered you here today because our administrative vice-president, Jacob Wilson, has been alleged to be involved in a certain malicious scheme."Last night, Mr. Wilson submitted his resignation to me, and after a discussion with my vice-presidents, we've all decided to hold a vote. It will be open to every member in the association as we will be decid