The top wealthy families of modern society were, in fact, no different as compared to the imperial nobles in feudal society.The internal operating mechanism within each family was exactly the same as that of the royal family in a feudal dynasty.Within this kind of special environment, what determined status was not age or seniority, but title and power.Before the crown prince was elected, the sons of the emperor were all basically of equal rights in principle. There was only a slight difference due to the difference between the young and the old.However, even the eldest son would only be the other princes’ elder brother, but he would still be from the same generation as the other princes. Therefore, it was impossible for the other princes to kneel and grovel before him when they saw him.However, as soon as someone became the crown prince and inherited the throne, all the princes would have to show him respect as his subject and obey all of his orders completely regardless of
...Just as Sophie was being enlightened by Charlie’s well-thought-out intentions, Quinn had just finished her last dress rehearsal.Quinn, who was on stage, had already sung all the songs that she would be singing in the concert tomorrow night three times repeatedly. However, the good thing was that she would not need to sing too hard because the main purpose of the rehearsal was to confirm all the procedures and details of the performance, especially so for the lighting, sound, choreography, as well as the live accompaniment of the band and backup dancers.After all the processes had been determined without any flaws or mistakes, Quinn was already extremely confident about the concert tomorrow.Dorothy walked up onto the stage and handed a bottle of water to Quinn as she exclaimed, “Quinn, the stage visual and auditory effects this time is really great! It has not only surpassed all of your previous concerts, but in my memory, I don’t even remember ever seeing any concerts with s
Quinn did not know that the main reason why Charlie was punishing Jaime was actually because Jaime wanted to investigate Claire’s BMW.In her opinion, the reason why Charlie was punishing Jaime was because her beloved Brother Charlie must still be attaching great importance to her deep down in his heart. Therefore, Charlie must be protecting her as though she was his private property, and that was the reason why Charlie was naturally very unwilling to meddle in this matter.Quinn was originally a very independent young woman, and she had always been very scornful and full of ridicule for the chauvinistic male saying that stated that women were a man’s private property.However, ever since Quinn had been reunited with Charlie, that view of hers had suddenly dissipated.Her biggest wish now was to be able to stay by Charlie’s side so that she could be kept, cared for, and dominated by him, as though she was his precious private property. Therefore, even though deep down, she felt
When Charlie heard this, he could not help but feel a little moved in the depths of his heart.He was not moved because of Elaine’s attitude. After all, Elaine had always been the kind of person who was easily swayed, and she would do anything for anyone who could give her money.What really touched Charlie was Claire’s sincerity. It would certainly be much more tiring and tedious to celebrate his birthday at home as compared to going out to a restaurant to eat some ready-made food. The fact that his wife had this thought and intention proved that she truly placed utmost importance on his birthday.Moreover, over the past few years when he was not welcomed at home because he was not successful and did not have any future prospects at all, Claire would still remember his birthday. She would always secretly buy him a cake and bring him out to an affordable restaurant so that the both of them could enjoy a quiet meal together.Thinking back on these matters, Charlie was filled with
When Charlie saw that his wife, Claire, had not returned to the room yet even after he had come out of the shower, he put on his pajamas before he went to the living room again.The family of three were chatting happily in the living room.Jacob and Elaine, who were a pair of old enemies who had been arguing about getting separated, were surprisingly not dissing each other as they usually did at this time. When Charlie came down, he asked curiously, “Claire, Dad, Mom, why aren’t you guys going back to your rooms to rest?”Claire hurriedly stood up and ran over to grab hold of Charlie’s arm as she smiled and said, “Dad and Mom said that they want to stay up together with you. Your 27th birthday is less than two hours away. Everyone is waiting to say happy birthday to you first!”Charlie smiled knowingly and said, “Thank you, Wife. Thank you, Dad and Mom.”Elaine immediately said in a flattering manner, “Oh! My good son-in-law, why are you still being so polite to me? You’re treat
Elaine asked curiously, “Oh! That Calligraphy and Painting Association of yours will be paying you a salary now?”Jacob had an arrogant look on his face as he said, “It is not just paying me a salary, but it’s even a pretty substantial amount!”As he spoke, Jacob said again, “Look, I am the executive vice-president. So, from this month onward, my monthly base salary will be twelve thousand dollars. It is the second-highest salary that is being paid in the entire Calligraphy and Painting Association after the president, Mr. Bay!”After that, Jacob then said, “This is only the base salary that will be given to us by Aurous Hill city. In fact, there are many private enterprises that want to take up the business of cultural development. So, they have donated a lot of funds and docked a lot of resources to the Calligraphy and Painting Association. The Calligraphy and Painting Association has recently undertaken quite a lot of calligraphy and painting activities. So, the days in the Calli
The whole family had originally been happily waiting for the arrival of midnight. However, Jacob truly would not have expected that he would lose all of his future income to Elaine just because he could not hold back his own mood and had started showing off. As he was feeling extremely bitter and resentful in his heart, he began to reflect on why he would always be at a disadvantage in front of Elaine.He realized that Elaine seemed to have this ability. Although she was seemingly simple-minded and would always be relying on her shamelessness and violent energy, in actual fact, Elaine would always be able to find the most accurate point in him and hold onto him tightly all at once.As he thought back on his married life of more than twenty years, Jacob felt a sense of desperation. This was because he had never won in front of Elaine before over the past two decades. He would always be targeted and dealt with by Elaine for most of his life, and there was no room for any resistance a
However, the one person that Charlie did not expect to wish him, was his grandfather, Jeremiah. Even an old man in his sixties was actually keeping track of the time to send him a text message to wish him a happy birthday at 12.00 am. This was something that Charlie truly did not expect.And his aunt, Carmen, who had suffered various sufferings in front of Charlie, also surprisingly sent him a text message wishing him a happy birthday. She even apologized for what she had done before, hoping that she would be able to get Charlie’s forgiveness.When Claire saw Charlie receiving various text messages continuously, she could not help but feel a little surprised. She did not look at the content of these text messages, but she simply guessed that the people who had sent these text messages should all be Charlie’s customers.When Elaine, who was sitting opposite them, saw Charlie receiving all kinds of text messages continuously, she could not help but smile as she said emotionally, “Si
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