Knowing that Yahiko wanted to have some private time with Charlie, Emi and Nanako rose up without hesitation and left the ward.After the two had left, Yahiko looked at Charlie and said in a serious tone, “Mr. Wade, I would like to offer my sincere apologies for all the offences that I’ve committed against you. Thank you for your gracious kindness, for saving my daughter, as well as salvaging the Ito family. If it wasn’t for you, I’m afraid the Schulz family would’ve mistakenly thought that our family was the one who had killed their offspring, and that could have been the end of our family.”Charlie smiled faintly and said, “You’re welcome, Yahiko. I saved Nanako purely out of platonic relationships. As for the helping hand lent regarding your family’s issue, you don’t have to mention it either. After all, I’ve taken your money. There is a saying in Oskia, ‘If one gives you money, you will avert the disaster for him.’. Since I have received the money from you, I must do my part, wou
“I am aware of that.” Yahiko smiled, then continued indifferently, “So what? Even if you’re married, Nanako still fell for you, didn’t she? Both myself and Nanako are willing to forgive and forget about your past and present, but what matters the most to us is your future!”Having said this, Yahiko said solemnly, “Mr. Wade, since the incident, I have gained new insight in regards to human life. When one is alive, everything becomes meaningful. Being rich has its own purpose; Being poor has its own purpose. However, when one is dead, life is nothing regardless if one is rich or poor.”“Before this incident, I would never have allowed my daughter to marry a foreigner. Nevertheless, after the incident, all these things were no longer of vital importance to me. What matters most is to make my daughter happy and give her the best in life!”“Mr. Wade, you’re strong, capable, and charismatic. Nanako is cultivated, has a good family background, as well as inner and outer beauty. Also, she l
Charlie was startled by what Yahiko had just said.Firstly, he had never expected Yahiko to know so much about Oskian culture.Secondly, he had never thought that Yahiko would mention the cycle of fate.He might not know if the Japanese believed in luck and fortune. But now, he knew that the Japanese at least believed in fate.What Yahiko had mentioned might have seemed like a normal conversation. However, there were hidden meanings in between.Whatever he had said was not entirely nonsense. After all, no one could be certain about fate.He recalled Chandler Lennard, an elderly master of luck and fortune whom he had met at Mount Wintry in Eastcliff.Chandler had been dependent on the cycle of fate in order to meet him at Mount Wintry.Also, it was he who had solved Charlie’s fate-related problem to enable him to rise like a phoenix from the ashes.The elder must have had a better understanding and insight regarding the cycle of fate.Unfortunately, the elder was far away. The
Therefore, Charlie knew very well that if he were to challenge the Schulz family in the future, he had to gather sufficient power and not depend on himself alone.Furthermore, he hadn’t confirmed if the Wade family were related to his parents’ death.If the Wade family was related to his parents’ death, he might have to face the Schulz and Wade family all by himself in the future.As such, Charlie had made up his mind that after his return to Aurous, he would keep a low profile and develop the Apothecary Pharmaceutical.Since the beginning of the Apothecary Pharmaceutical, he had built up his own empire of business.Only then would he stand a chance to fight with the Schulz family and Wade family and even defeat them!Yahiko had no idea about Charlie’s true identity, neither would he know what was in Charlie’s mind. He only knew that Charlie looked unambitious, thus, he advised him.“Mr. Wade, you have Apothecary Pharmaceutical as your foundation as well as an abundance of cash
Yahiko sighed after Charlie rejected his suggestion.He really hoped Charlie could be involved in the shipping industry.That was because, at the moment, Oskia would be the most profitable customer in the Asia shipping industry.Oskia had occupied more than half of the world’s top ten most bustling ports. Only a business empire with a massive amount of import and export trading could support a huge shipping industry.This was beyond the reach of Japan.As such, despite the Ito family having the intention to do the business, it would be a fruitless attempt due to lack of demand from the local market.He faced Charlie and said, “Mr. Wade, the Ito family business will be passed on to Nanako in the future. Should you change your mind, you may contact her at any time. I believe you both will form a great partnership.”Charlie nodded his head gently, then answered thoughtfully, “If I change my mind, I’ll surely contact Ms. Nanako.”Yahiko smiled and said, “Nanako is a good girl. I dare
Very soon, Emi had arranged a team to go with Charlie, who was in his own car.Nanako sat in Charlie’s car without hesitation.Charlie drove his car to the Ito family’s mansion in Tokyo under the escort of the team.Tokyo was one of the world’s cities with the highest housing and land market price as each acre of land was very costly. Nonetheless, the Ito family had a private manor located in a quiet environment.The design of the manor was in a Japanese vintage style—quaint but elegant.Charlie could see that the wooden materials used in each room were distinctive.Apparently, the filthy-rich ones had too much wealth and had nowhere to spend. Thus, they would spend as extravagantly as they could during their house construction and renovation. They would spend lavishly on all the exported high-end stuff over the local and lower-end stuff. In other words, they would only spend on luxurious goods.All of the servants in the Ito Family’s mansion were dressed neatly and stood resp
Without a moment of hesitation, Charlie answered, “Say it. I promise I’ll give it my all.”Nanako hesitated for a while, then she looked at him expectantly and said in a serious tone, “I hope you can depart a while later….”“Later?” Charlie was slightly stunned, then he asked subconsciously, “How long do you mean by a while? To be frank with you, I plan to return to my home country tonight. My airplane is on standby in Osaka.”Nanako felt the heat around her eyelids, then her eyelids drooped slightly, and she said in a faint voice, “That… will depend on Charlie-kun’s time arrangement. It doesn’t matter even if you manage to delay it for a few more hours…..”Nanako then added hurriedly, “Please don’t misunderstand. The main reason is because my father and Tanaka were seriously injured. Then, my aunt is fully occupied. Not only does she have to settle our family’s affairs, but she also has to take care of them…..”“Moreover, I am confused myself and don’t know how I should begin. Th
Charlie looked around. He did not have any particular preference for any of those scrumptious cuisines. He then smiled and said, “Just get me a bowl of ramen, thank you.”Nanako immediately spoke to the chef who was an expert in the making of ramen, “Kuwa-san, please get two bowls of ramen ready. Please prepare double portions of noodles for Charlie-kun’s!”The chef answered respectfully, “Understood, Miss. Please be seated, and we will serve you in a while.”At the same moment.While Charlie and Nanako were enjoying their breakfast at the Ito family’s mansion, a man in his fifties had just woken up in his presidential suite at St Regis Hotel, Tokyo.He held a cup of coffee and a cigarette as he gazed at Tokyo’s street view at dawn outside of his window.When the cigarette burned out, he poked the cigarette butt into the ashtray and lit another one. He asked his faithful servant who stood beside him, “How are the young master and miss now?”Yasin Zuniga checked the time, then an
Jimmy was taken aback since he didn't recognize Julien at all, mainly because the Rothschilds had always kept out of the public eye.In fact, it was basically impossible to gather genuine information about the Rothschilds online, as it was a mix of press releases and gossip. Most online biographies would only be about the older generations or certain frivolous figures. Any information about key members like Steve would never be searchable online.Matilda was confused as well, not quite understanding who Julien was since he wasn't on the list of guests invited.Seeing that she was confused, Julien turned and smiled at Yolden, "So, Professor, shouldn't you introduce me to the bride?"Yolden finally remembered that and quickly nodded, "Sorry, it slipped my mind."Turning toward Matilda, he smiled, "Darling, this is Julien Rothschild… A friend of mine from the states…"Julien's full name left everyone within earshot gaping as the Rothschild name was way too famous across the globe.
Seeing that Jimmy was getting a little nervous, Charlie smiled and assured him, "Please, you have nothing to worry about. No one's going to do anything to you, but if you feel threatened in any way, you can call the cops. The Oskian emergency hotline is 110, by the way."Jimmy was slightly relieved as he could see that Charlie really wasn't trying to make things awkward for him, and he straightened his collar as he said, "Actually, I didn't mean to cause trouble—I'm pleased that Matilda has found true love once more, and if we can be friends, I can set aside my claim and stay for the rest of this wedding, offering the newlyweds our best wishes as a representative of my family."Still, his expression showed contempt as he turned toward Yolden. "Also, I'm really curious and looking forward to seeing what connections Professor Hart might have that you say could be better than Bill.""You'll see soon enough," Charlie smiled and nodded.Jimmy remained skeptical and scoffed, "I really do
If Charlie really did get Jimmy to stay, who knew what other rubbish Jimmy would spout.As for Jimmy, he was actually surprised Charlie was asking him to stay, and his instincts told him that Charlie definitely didn't mean well.Not only that, he was on foreign soil—wouldn't he be defenseless if Charlie called in his friends to beat him up?Hence, he shook his head without hesitation as he said, "I'm sorry, but my sister-in-law is quite keen for me to leave, so I have no reason to stay and add to her problems. And it is her big day. I can afford to let her save face instead of spilling the beans on her all at once.""Oh, but you were complaining about the lack of important people just now!" Charlie quickly interjected. "It just so happens that we have a big-shot on his way here, and he's a good friend of the groom. When I told him about you over the phone, he said to keep you here no matter what it took, since he would like to talk to you face to face."Jimmy frowned. "What, are y
And with those words, Jimmy turned to leave.Despite threatening Matilda, there was no such agreement, and he knew that Matilda was well aware of that.Regardless, the only strategy he had in mind when he came to Oskia was harassment. As such, he simply came up with a lie to make Matilda look bad in public. All it took from there was just for one person to relay what he had said—even if it were all lies, Matilda's character would still be called into question.He made himself very clear so that Matilda would understand that if she didn't give in, his family would keep hounding her to take their two pounds of flesh. Even if she wouldn't surrender the stateside estates and human resources of Smith Group Corporate Law, they would still claim a sizable chunk.But if that failed too, they would just have to destroy Matilda's reputation along with Smith Group Corporate Law.Either way, they were not letting her off easy!And reading that much from Jimmy's behavior, Matilda snapped co
Jimmy didn't expect Matilda to break down the share ownership of Smith Group Corporate Law to such detail, and he hollered as he was starting to feel embarrassed, "Now, you're just being irresponsible, Matilda. My father gave my brother a million to start the law firm in the first place, and they had agreed that the family would have a stake, albeit only at 49%, to not deny your decision-making as a startup. Or are you denying it?"Matilda immediately became furious and snapped, "Bullshit! That was just a loan of one million, and the agreed term was three years. However, your brother returned it in one! I even asked him to return the money with every single one of his siblings watching, since you might all get skeptical, yet suddenly, you're calling it an investment?""You said he's returned it? Well, what proof do you have?" Jimmy quickly shot back. "Our entire family can testify that the money hasn't come back to us!""So, this is how you're going to play it?" Matilda smirked. "Th
In the first place, Jimmy had come to Oskia to claim a stake in Smith Group Corporate Law, ideally strong-arming Paul and Matilda into splitting the firm in two, with Jimmy taking everything in the States while Paul kept what was left.The way Jimmy saw it, Paul and Matilda were going to be permanently residing in Oskia anyway. There was no way they could manage things over in another country properly, so it was basically returning the firm to the rightful owner.Naturally, Jimmy also knew that despite bearing the Smith family name, the success of Smith Group Corporate Law was all the work of Jimmy's brother and Matilda. Jimmy's father had helped to a certain extent, but that extent of financial support wouldn't amount to an investment at all. No judge in the world would support his claim to the law firm's shares.Therefore, when he learned that Matilda was remarrying, he thought he could seize the moment to cause a scene. Nothing could be better if she and Paul decided to sacrifice
Jimmy deliberately raised his voice as he said coolly, "Oh, but I didn't want to intervene. It's you and your mother who left the States in a split second, taking with you the law firm which bears the Smith family name. Don't you think such behavior is inappropriate?"Seeing the surprised reactions of the guests, Paul promptly retorted, "The law firm uses the Smith family name, but it is my parents' legacy! They worked blood and sweat to build it from the ground up, and as their only son, I have a veto when it comes to decisions. Or did we need your permission to move to Oskia?""Where's your conscience, Paul?" Jimmy pursed his lips. "Even if you don't know how Smith Group Corporate Law was founded, is that the case for you? It would have been a joke if it weren't for my father's connections!"Hell, it's no exaggeration that it was my father who fought to expand the law firm across America, and just using the family name means you're borrowing the family's influence. The family hono
The blonde man's voice drew everyone's attention in an instant.Despite his foreign appearance, he spoke Oskian fluently and walked with a haughty gait, almost as though he was above the rest.Paul's expression turned grim the instant he saw him, and he hurried over with Charlie.Still, before Paul could speak, Charlie stopped him, frowning at the man as he said, "Don't you think it's inappropriate to come slinging personal attacks at someone else's wedding?"The man clearly didn't know Charlie, and he wasn't worried, seeing that he was young.Snorting in disdain, he asked, "You must be from the groom's family, yes? Please tell him that he doesn't deserve my sister-in-law.""It's up to the happy couple to decide that," Charlie retorted quietly. "Deserving someone is no issue as long as they both love each other."The man pursed his lips and looked pointedly around him. "Just look at how simple this wedding is. Forget picking an unassuming city like Aurous Hill—is there a single
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