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
At a little after eight o’clock in the morning, Charlie drove the old man out of the villa.There was still more than two hours before the plane landed but Jacob could not wait any longer.After leaving the villa at Thompson First, Jacob hurriedly asked Charlie, “My dear son-in-law, do you know where I can buy a bouquet of flowers? I want to buy a bouquet of roses to give to Matilda.”Charlie replied, “Dad, your classmate will be bringing her son along with her today. Do you really think that it will be appropriate for you to give her roses in front of her son?”Jacob thought to himself for a few moment before he nodded and said, “You are right. I should just give her an ordinary bouquet of flowers then.”Charlie replied, “I know of a flower shop nearby. We can go there and buy a bouquet of flowers first.”As soon as they arrived at the flower shop, Charlie spent five hundred dollars to ask the florist to help him to prepare a bouquet of flowers that symbolizes friendship. After
Matilda’s appearance was even more impeccable. She was really very beautiful and she looked very elegant and classy. She had the smart and intelligent look that could only be seen in previous generations of intellectuals.There was a very famous television celebrity in this age group and she was an actress named Catherine Zeta-Jones. She could easily be considered as one of the most charming and beautiful woman amongst all the other women in her age group. However, Matilda was even more beautiful compared to Catherine Zeta-Jones!Catherine Zeta-Jones was in her early fifties and she was still extremely charming and beautiful. Matilda was three years younger than her but she looked like she was six or seven years younger than her!How could this possibly be an aunt who was nearly fifty years old?She was simply an older sister who looked like she was in her thirties or early forties!Charlie was stunned. He really did not expect Jacob’s first love to be such an impeccable and super
Pausing, Mr. Bay continued, "If they're not that upset with the idea, I'll bang my gavel and make the call so that you can at least stay as a vice president."If they keep refusing, I just have to promote Mr. Zonda to become a vice president while you take over his position of head-of-department as insurance. What do you think?"Jacob certainly wouldn't protest the idea of insurance, especially when he thought he would be forced to leave the Calligraphy and Painting Association altogether earlier. He quickly exclaimed gratefully, "Thank you so much, Mr. Bay!"Mr. Bay chuckled, clearly relieved as well. "Come on, Jacob—you don't have to be so formal. I'm like a brother to you! Don't you think that's what I should be doing?"Jacob laughed earnestly for once. "Well, brother, I'm honestly relieved…" He trailed off but soon pressed on, "But I have to ask, won't the other members have things to say even if you manage to persuade the other vice presidents? What if they remain unhappy?
There were times when making a person despair to some extent could be a people-strategy.For example, when your distant acquaintance asked for a ten grand loan but you could only lend him one, you couldn't tell him directly that. It would make them think you were being insincere.The better option would be to tell them how you were worse off than they were and had a debt yourself, or that some other friend had borrowed money for three years and never repaid it.And when that mere acquaintance was in despair, you could tell them that if it was really important, you could lend them one thousand with a credit card loan.That way, while the mere acquaintance wouldn't exactly be awash with gratitude, they at least wouldn't complain about your lack of sincerity.That was exactly what Mr. Bay was doing.He had no intention of offending Jacob, but he also couldn't directly tell him to give up on claiming the position as president of the Calligraphy and Painting Association. Otherwise, Ja
Jacob felt absolutely horrible just then, and he certainly did not expect Don Albert to give him the cold shoulder.If he had known, he would have just stayed content with the 200 thousand he had made and enjoyed his trip to Dubai! If he had, the Calligraphy and Painting Association wouldn't have found out about the bronze sculpture plot, and Don Albert would still be on friendly terms with him.Absolutely regretting everything, Jacob got in the backseat of the cab, tears of grief almost welling up and out of his eyes.Then, noticing that the cabbie was quietly watching him from the rearview mirror, he turned his face aside, whipped out his phone, and called Mr. Bay.As soon as Mr. Bay answered, he asked, "How did things go over there? Have you sorted out Zachary Evans yet?"He was waiting for Jacob to ask Don Albert for help so that the latter would pressure Zachary into posting a statement retracting his previous claims.However, Jacob knew full well that there was no hope for
Ramond replied, "I'm not planning on getting my name out there—I was just thinking I could start slow from one shop, but now, I'm suddenly so popular everyone's consulting me for appraisals, so I guess that's the short end of this."Either way, I'm planning to let things cool off by opening the shop late and closing early. That way, I'd receive fewer customers, and the hype will die down in a month."Once it does, I'll lead a slow life, which is perfect in Aurous Hill since it's how things are here. I'm not aiming to get rich or expand my business, and it's a comfortable life, so I plan to retire here."Charlie nodded. "The Rothschilds are relatively manageable, but I'm not sure if the Qing Eliminating Society is still looking for you and the Four-Sided Treasure Tower. You'll be completely free once they are wiped out.""And I'm sure with your abilities, Mr. Wade, that day will soon arrive." Raymond smiled and soon remembered. "By the way, you probably haven't had dinner yet, right
Charlie was never one who covered up misdeeds, and what Jacob had done reflected his corrupted character and clear refusal to feel remorse.As such, Charlie naturally refused to offer any help, completely giving up and allowing Jacob to keep going off on his own tangent, tearing himself apart in the process.Still, Raymond did put a good word in for Jacob. "Actually, one can understand Mr. Wilson's motives from a certain point of view. I was the one who set him up so that he broke that vase, and had him beaten up so that we didn't arouse suspicion. He has every reason to bear a grudge."Charlie sighed, nodding. "There's no issue with holding a grudge or getting revenge—in fact, I have no problem with him trying to salvage some pride. However, what he did was unseemly, and he doesn't know when to stop."He didn't lose anything before Zachary exposed everything. Even if he had missed a killer deal, he bought it off someone's hand in the first place and made two hundred grand in clean
With those words, Jacob didn't wait any further as he turned and left Antique Street, intent on seeking legal counsel.Raymond watched him leave before returning to Treasure Measure.He wasn't going to leave, but he had said so because he didn't want to waste much time with Jacob.Still, to avoid any trouble, he turned the sign outside to 'closed' before locking the door from the inside.That was when a man suddenly arrived, asking through the glass door, "Can I still take a look inside, sir?"Raymond was ready to refuse without even turning around when he realized that it was Charlie.He turned around and saw him standing outside just as expected.Smiling, he hurried over to open the door for him. "It's been a while, Mr. Wade!"Charlie was aware that Raymond was sticking to his identity of 'Raymond Cole' who had not been in touch since Raymond had been fired from Vintage Deluxe.Charlie chuckled in turn. "It has indeed. And you're a business owner yourself now, too.""It's j
Jacob zipped toward Raymond, his attitude immediately subservient, "I'm sure you've seen what Zachary Evans posted on his Twitter page, and to be honest, it's so terrible that my position in the Calligraphy and Painting Association has been affected too. I mean, you've made a lot of money, right?"Hell, even if you donated ten million, you'd still have another ten million and 970 thousand in net profits. So, all I'd like to ask is for you to post something to disclaim Zachary's post.Jacob's words left Raymond in thought.For Jacob, just being suspected of fraud would definitely be terrible. In fact, his position in the Calligraphy and Painting Association would definitely be threatened—if not dismissed altogether—if he wasn't cleared of suspicion.Since Jacob was Charlie Wade's father-in-law, Raymond had reason not to drive Jacob over the brink.But that also begged another question—it must be under Charlie's intention for Zachary to post his confession, and that meant Charlie in
Raymond couldn't help chuckling just as Jacob finished—he had honestly never heard of anyone who demanded a refund after donating to charity, but he was certainly seeing one now.Still, the receptionist was clearly experienced and slowly explained, "Sir, it's a legal clause of the country that all donations for philanthropy purposes can not be refunded under most circumstances—""It truly was a mistake," Jacob quickly said, cutting the receptionist off. "I was going to donate thirty thousand but pressed an extra zero by mistake. Please discuss this with your management—you just have to refund 27 thousand, see?""Sorry, sir," the receptionist apologized. "But it's a strict rule that we ourselves do not get to access the funds that have been donated into our accounts. Every donation will be screened extensively, and if you consider that there was a major oversight on your part, you may seek legal counsel to appeal for a refund. If the courts back your appeal, our organization will the
Nonetheless, Jacob darted into Treasure Measure and plucked off his mask, asking nervously, "Excuse me, Mr. Cole? It's me… Jacob Wilson…"Raymond looked up, pausing for a moment before acting as if he was actually curious, "Mr. Wilson! What brings you here? Don't tell me—you want that bronze sculpture back too?""No, no, no…" Jacob quickly shook his head. "I would never… I returned all the way from Dubai to apologize!""Apologize?" Raymond smiled faintly, and he did not play dumb this time as he asked bluntly, "Did you come back because of Zachary Evan's post?"Knowing he couldn't deny it any longer, Jacob nodded, "Yeah…"Raymond nodded and said calmly, "That's unnecessary. I was the one who benefited in the end."Jacob wasn't quite keeping up—thinking that Raymond was just trying to be nice by telling him he didn't have to apologize, he quickly pulled out his phone.Tapping on it and bringing up his transaction records, he handed it to Raymond reverently, "Mr. Cole, I understan