Madam Faust snorted. "I'm old and useless now, so no one cares about me anymore. Forget outsiders, even my children have abandoned me. In all my life, I've never worn a gold bracelet."Taken aback, Lana cursed inwardly. Was her mother aiming for her bracelets? What should she do now? She hurriedly hid her wrists under the table. She knew her mother too well. "Did you hear that, Lana? You have two bracelets, so why don’t you be a good daughter and give one to Mother?" Ruby suggested."I can’t do that! These bracelets are a gift from Mr. Hughes. I can't simply give them away" Lana bit her lip and shook her head profusely.Madam Faust spat, "Simply give them away? I'm your mother! And you won’t even give me a measly bracelet?"Elio was dumbfounded. The old hag was openly demanding the bracelet now. Their entire family was nuts!Lana's body shook with rage. After so many years, she finally had a pair of gold bracelets to herself, yet they were asking her to give one away before she
The new house was located in a high-end district. It was a luxurious bungalow with a built-in elevator. Everyone was envious, asking how much it cost and where they had gotten the furniture.Hudson's expression finally brightened up a little. With the aura of a rich young heir, he stood in the middle of the hall and introduced, "The house is almost two thousand square feet, and it costs more than 370 thousand dollars.""Wow, it's so expensive!" someone exclaimed."Incredible, such a huge mansion for a pair of young newlyweds? The Reagles must really be loaded!”Upon hearing the praise, Yitty began to show off again. It was her nature to hog the spotlight. “Of course! The location is great, too. The house makes a home, after all. We will live our best lives here from now on. It's just a shame about the price. I reckon some people can't afford it."She shot Elio a disdainful look, her implication self-evident. It seemed that she had not learned her lesson.Naturally, Elio was not g
Howard blinked. Elio was great except for the fact he liked to brag too much. Since when did he have a villa?Lana's heart skipped a beat. She had a bad feeling about this. Everything was going well, and no one had noticed that the luxury car was borrowed. She had a lot of fun showing off. However, bragging about having a mansion was too ridiculous. What if they wanted to verify it?As expected, Ruby sensed something amiss in her sister's family's expressions. She sneered and said, "That's nice! We’d love to see your villa. One month from now, Yitty and Hudson will be back from their honeymoon. When the time comes, let's go to Cloudsea together and see Elio’s villa with our own eyes. How about that?"Everyone agreed with this suggestion. Even Madam Faust nodded and said, "It's decided. Let's all join them for a visit. In all my years, I've never lived in such a huge mansion before. I have to experience it at least once."The Joneses were burning with anxiety. Oh no, Elio had gotten
Lana was deeply committed to abandoning her useless son-in-law as soon as possible. Despite the heavy gold bracelet on her wrist and despite the high she still felt from basking in Elio’s glory earlier, she did not change her mind. In her eyes, her daughter was young, beautiful, and capable. Evelyn should find a real tycoon and live the rest of her life in luxury.Listening to her mother criticize Elio again, Evelyn felt disheartened. It felt like they were walking down two different paths. Elio had never been down-to-earth. Now, he was becoming vainer by the day. He was far from her ideal partner. Sooner or later, they would have to part ways.His mother-in-law's attitude did not matter to Elio. He only cared about Evelyn. Elio glanced sideways, sensing something was wrong.Evelyn's expression was cold, like an iceberg that no one dared to approach.Sigh! Elio secretly sighed to himself. No matter how hard he tried, everything he did was wrong in her eyes. Perhaps they really were
There was a large amount of cash and foreign currency inside, as well as many gold bars, land deeds, and important documents. Drake was not worried about showing Elio the contents of his safe. He knew all too well that Elio would have no interest in his wealth. Instead, he grabbed a fruit basket from the safe and then closed it, letting the liquor cabinet fall into place. He then brought the basket to Elio, looking like an old man who just got back from the market.After he placed the basket on the coffee table. Elio took a closer look and saw the grapefruit-sized object inside it. It had an ugly grayish-black wrinkled exterior, and it smelled nauseating. A scorching heat emanated from it as if it had just emerged from an oven.Elio's eyes widened. "It’s a Scarletflame Fruit! It's a precious fruit that grows inside volcanos, and it takes at least a thousand years to grow to this size. Despite its looks, it’s a truly rare find!”Drake was surprised that Elio could recognize it. He
Elio and Drake finished the bottle of expensive wine in no time. Drake wanted to open another bottle, but Elio stopped him. After all, he could not let his guard down too much. As a former mercenary king, he could not afford to get hungover. He had to stay relatively sober.Drake did not insist. He just smiled and said, "Then relax here. I'll head out for a while."Elio nodded. "Go ahead."Drake left the office and Elio leaned back on the sofa, slightly flushed. It had been too long since he last had a drink. This tipsy feeling was so satisfying.After a while, the door creaked open.Four young and beautiful women quietly crept into the room like cats. They were the girls who had brought Elio and his in-laws the gifts from before. Their faces and figures were all perfect.Sensing something amiss, Elio turned around and saw their smiling faces. He could not help but ask, confused, "What are you guys here?"The girls kicked off their high heels and approached him barefoot. They su
Elio hugged the pillow, his chest tight with regret. He had even lost the right to sleep next to his wife at night! Such woe!However, he had to make his position clear. He put down the pillow and basket, then he went to the bedroom door and said gently, "It's not what you think. Mr. Hughes invited a few women to pour us wine. Please don't misunderstand."The bedroom door opened. Evelyn stood at the door in her nightdress, her expression cold. "You're the one who misunderstood. No matter what you did with those women, it has nothing to do with me. We're only married in name, and it’s a matter of time before we get a divorce. You may think I'm angry, but in fact, I'm not. Why should I worry about someone who has nothing to do with me? Just get to sleep already!"Before Elio could say anything, she slammed the door shut in his face.After all that, Elio was also furious. What did he do wrong? He did not even touch those women! He only ever cared about Evelyn, so how could she say tha
A simple and unadorned letter was placed on Elio’s desk. It read, "Master Rinz, meet me at Leisure Tower for a chat tomorrow at midnight. I shall wait for you here." It was signed Third Master Chance.The writing was firm and elegant. The short letter was enough to reveal its writer’s confident, domineering aura.A mysterious man had personally delivered it to the company’s front desk before leaving. Elio's expression was cold. It seemed that his dispute with Tiger had finally reached Third Master Chance. He could not afford to underestimate Cloudsea’s underground mastermind.Even so, he was not going to back down. Let them bring it on!A Bentley Continental sports car stopped at Evamor Tower and picked Eli up. The driver was none other than Yarely, owner of the Orchid Harmony Club.Today, Yarely was wearing an asymmetrical dress that wrapped around her curvaceous body and revealed her fair long legs. No man could ever get tired of looking at her."Sorry to trouble you today, b
"What?" Charlie's anger boiled over, his face turning bright red as he yelled, "This is too much! I want to see your chairman! He needs to apologize, or he'll regret it when I trash this place!"Laird gave a cold snort, grabbed the ready walkie-talkie, and called out, "Security, get in here, quick! We've got someone trying to wreck the place."In a flash, four security guards in black suits rushed into the room, grabbed Charlie, and marched him right out the door.The poor Jones family heir thought he could throw his weight around, but instead, he got a beating from the guards and ended up tossed outside, his suit torn and his face a mess of bruises.He tried to get up, wanting to shout insults, but the angry stares from the guards scared him silent. He scrambled into his Audi and sped away.Afterward, General Manager Howe filled in the chairman on what had happened. Elio could not help but feel a rush of glee. 'Charlie, you think you can take me on? Look where that got you!' Elio
That night, the news about the Aerin Group taking on the shanty town makeover project was all over the Cloudsea TV show. It shook up the whole business world in the city. Bosses from real estate and construction companies were all on the phone, trying to get the scoop.The Aerin Group was pretty new and not well-known in Cloudsea. Now, all of a sudden, it was the talk of the town. The big project that everyone wanted had somehow ended up with them, and it was really weird.The project to fix up the old town was massive, and lots of companies wanted to work on it. If they got even a piece of the job, they would be rolling in dough. So, they all rushed to make connections, hoping to meet with the big boss of Evamor Group to talk business.What surprised all the big shots was that nobody knew a thing about the boss of Evamor. It was like a big secret. Clearly, that person liked staying out of the spotlight, pulling strings from behind the curtain.Who would have guessed that this amaz
York nodded non-stop, apologizing. "Got it. Please forgive me. I'm really sorry."With the bill canceled, Elio felt they had done enough. "Let's call it even. Time to go."They walked out, heads high, leaving the staff and the hostesses in awe. York sat on the couch, face grim, and gulped down the fake Louis XIII. It was liquor from some other brand, cleverly resealed to look like the fancy stuff. It tasted pretty good, and hardly anyone could tell it was not the real deal. However, somehow, that kid figured it out. Who was he, anyway?York was fuming. Ever since his shop opened, he had sold bottle after bottle of this top-notch liquor to all sorts of important people, and no one had ever called him out. Now, some nobody had caught him."That little troublemaker, causing a scene in my shop," he grumbled. "Just you wait. I'll take care of you."As the boss was getting worked up and ready to get even, one of the girls spoke up, "That Mr. Rinz seems pretty impressive. I heard he even
York asked with a friendly smile, "I don't think I've met this young man before. Can someone introduce him?"Yvonne replied with a grin, "This is Mr. Rinz, a dear friend of ours. He's the one who wanted to meet you."York did not know Elio's story, and he looked like an average guy. However, he had ordered three bottles of the fancy Louis XIII cognac and seemed to be friends with some pretty important people, including a famous TV beauty. York could not help but be impressed."Really? I'm super honored and happy to meet you, Mr. Rinz. Hope you'll come to hang out with us more," York said with a big smile. He's the kind of guy who knew just what to say and was ready to shake hands, showing lots of respect. However, Elio did not reach out his hand at all, which made York's smile disappear, and he felt really annoyed inside.Elio just frowned and said, "I think once is enough for this place." Yvonne and the others exchanged puzzled looks. They had no clue why Elio was upset and wh
"You think you can hit me and get away with it? I could ruin your family in an instant. Now, get out of here, do you hear me?" Tanner yelled at her."You..." Fear flickered in May's eyes. She was too scared to argue, worried about what he might do to her.Jenny let out a sigh, went over to help her friend up, and whispered, "Let's just go. We can't stand up to him. We've just got to deal with this bad luck."May knew the truth. She and Jenny might come from money, but they were nothing compared to Tanner's powerful family. What could she do? If she pushed him too far, she was afraid he might make her disappear for good.May had no choice but to follow her best friend, looking all messy and upset. She did not think she would end up like that, feeling so angry. She was mad at Tanner for messing with her feelings and even madder at Elio, thinking he had a big part in her troubles.The room was super quiet; no one wanted to talk. Tanner was in a bad mood—he got tricked by someone not
As Evelyn's figure vanished from view, May frowned deeply and sneered, "She's so hopeless. She can't even handle her husband. Being a woman like that is just embarrassing.""Come on, don't be so hard on her," Jenny said. "Evelyn's got guts. She was ready to divorce Elio to stand up for what's right. Friends like her are rare.""Hmph, what good does that do? She still didn't get the stuff back. I really thought she could handle that jerk, but it was a waste," May said, not hiding her scorn."May, just a heads-up," Jenny lowered her voice, "the divorce might be good for Evelyn, but it puts you at risk. I've noticed Tanner looking her way a lot. Be careful."May felt a chill, sensing trouble, but she pushed back, "No way. Tanner told me he only loves me. You're just worrying too much."Jenny could tell what her best friend was thinking but kept it to herself. "Okay, let's just say I didn't mention anything. Let's head back."In the private room, Tanner was eager to hear the news. Wh
Jenny and May were shocked, staring at each other and not knowing what to do.The couple was at a breaking point. May felt a rush of panic. Did that mean she would never get back the fancy watch and the big Benz? She quickly pulled on Evelyn's arm, trying to tell her friend not to say things she could not take back. However, it was too late."That's for the best," Evelyn snapped. "From now on, we're nothing to each other.""Let's just hope we're both happy from here on out," Elio said, trying to sound indifferent. However, inside, it felt like a thousand needles were poking his heart.Evelyn did not look back. She turned and walked away fast, a cold air swirling around her.Jenny and May ran after her, calling out, "Evelyn, wait up!""Don't leave, wait for us!"Evelyn felt a heavy sadness. They had been married for three years, together every day. To say she felt nothing would be a lie. Even though she never really respected Elio, going their separate ways was still hard to take
The Seven Fairies Team was a tough bunch, and except for Helen, each one had fought their way to success in the cutthroat world of business. They were not about to let anyone push them around.With a loud "smack," Jenny's cheek stung from a fierce slap. She let out a sharp cry and glared at Yvonne. "Ouch! How dare you hit me?""You insult us, and you think a slap is too much?" Yvonne spat back, her teeth clenched in anger.May was not lucky, either. She, too, got slapped, leaving a bright red mark on her face. Lydia, who did it, shouted at her, "Who are you calling names, huh?"Jenny and May were no pushovers, but now, with their cheeks burning from the slaps and surrounded by a group of fierce-looking girls, they were boiling with rage inside. Yet, they did not dare to strike back, appearing utterly defeated and powerless.It was not the super-tough opponents they needed to worry about. It was the teammates who messed everything up!Evelyn had been sure she could get back those
The women finally got it—the beautiful woman was Elio's wife. Yarely and the others stood up for a better look.A bunch of girls with eyes as wide as saucers were watching everything unfold, each one silently agreeing that Evelyn was the picture of perfection. It was no surprise that Master Rinz could keep his cool, even with all those stunning girls around him.Evelyn scanned the room, and it hit her—they were all gorgeous girls, and Elio was the only boy. It was just like the old saying: he was the lone rooster in the henhouse.When Yvonne tried to be friendly, Evelyn was not having any of it. She huffed, "Forget it. I just need to talk to Elio about something private. I'll be out of your hair in no time."That made Evelyn seem super stuck-up and hard to talk to. Yarely and the others felt put off, so they just sat back down on the couch.They were all tough cookies, top dogs in their own right. If she was going to act all high and mighty, why would they want to hang out with he