LOGINAs he finished, Hamed told the women under his breath to find a table, before he threw an arm around Charlie's shoulder and exclaimed excitedly, "Come, brother! Let's talk outside!"Once they got to the beach outside the restaurant, Hamed made sure there was no one around before giving Charlie a bear hug, exclaiming excitedly, "We're really bound together by fate, brother! Fancy running into you here!"Charlie chuckled. "So, when did you marry twice? Never heard anything about that."Hamed scratched his head in embarrassment, "Oh, the old missus bailed during the war, saying I was too dangerous to be with. I never cared to marry since, but started to settle down as the war ended, thanks to you."Then I got married twice—wanted to invite you, but it's not easy bringing someone over to that godforsaken place of mine. And with things getting nervous reasonably, I feel even less keen to bring you over."Charlie nodded. 'Well, it's a complete victory now that your faction claimed full
Hamed didn't notice Charlie just then.He had one woman in each arm, a cigar between his lips, and looked clearly relaxed, even having a whale of a time.On the other hand, Claire, Elaine, and Jacob were all perplexed, unsure how Charlie had become acquainted with the Syrian, who clearly looked rich.Impatient as ever, Elaine asked bluntly, "Sonny, when did you meet him? I mean, how smug could he be, taking both wives out on a trip?"Charlie smiled. "Like you said, it's their culture and it's legal."Pausing, he then explained, "Oh, he's also a client. Didn't Albert ask me to look into some gas mines near the northwest border? He has money invested into the mines."Jacob and Elaine both nodded—it made sense for a middle-eastern tycoon to invest in a gas mine near the border, as it was near their own borders too.On the other hand, Claire kept his head down, staying silent as she knew that Charlie was lying again.In fact, whenever Charlie used the excuse of traveling on the job
Still, every guest here must be rich, and a few hundred grand was really acceptable.After settling in their villas and taking a break, Charlie mentioned dinner, sending a brochure of the restaurants.Elaine was the first to reply, "Let's try the local seafood first! I heard their local dishes are great!""Sure," Charlie replied, and quickly called Hani to reserve a table at the restaurant serving local cuisine.After booking a reservation, all four of them put on Hawaiian shirts and khaki shorts, stepped out into the sea breeze, and headed out to the restaurant.The scenery along the way was simply gorgeous—Jacob and Elaine never stopped taking pictures.In contrast, Claire looked bored, clapping her hands front and behind as she strolled along, clearly not interested in any of it.Concerned, Charlie asked, "Why do you look so bored, dear? You don't like the place?"Claire forced a smile and shook her head. "I guess the journey wore me out and I can't quite recover yet. And I
Mrs. Larcelle was on the verge of tears. "It's like we can't shake them off. They just keep showing up wherever we go…""Urgh, you don't get it," Mr. Larcelle growled under his breath. "They are rich—if not richer than us, so they'd pick the expensive stuff in the Maldives. But even if they were quite something, we'd be doing our own thing and staying out of each other's way. Just bear with it."However, Mrs. Larcelle remained upset and groaned, "Urgh, this is really killing my mood… It's so annoying…"Mr. Larcelle promptly hissed, "Oh, just pipe down already! The less trouble, the better—get it? It's my fault for starting it at the airport, so let's just leave it at that, alright?"Mrs. Larcelle was still sulking.It was supposed to be a dream journey, but Elaine had been trouncing her since the lounge, even after they disembarked.And it was a really tough pill to swallow.Fortunately, Elaine no longer considered them a threat and didn't even bother to mess with them.So as t
Jacob and Elaine didn't take photos or talk loudly to keep up appearances and looked like they always flew first-class.That in turn pleased Charlie. Fortunately, the conflict ended before they boarded their flight, and now there was peace and quiet.The flight lasted a handful of hours until they landed in Male, the capital of the Maldives.Male was a small island, so the airport was small—but there were private jets and other luxury aircraft as far as one's eyes could see.As a globally renowned vacation spot, the economy was modest and the average GDP was nothing to brag about, but the rich and privileged were always drawn here.Naturally, they loved this place because everything was great here—the scenery, the sea, the climate, and most importantly, it was an island country.It was basically thousands of islands of varying sizes far away from the mainland. Some were populous, inhabited with so many locals that they looked like slums.Others were all private properties, cover
As Claire recalled all the things that happened to her mother, she had come to understand a truth—she and her parents were very ordinary people, and very ordinary people wouldn't have miracles rolling in one after the other, let alone wealth that seemed to fall right on their lap.That was why as Claire started thinking back to all the things they had been through for the past few years, she was sure that everything unbelievable or lucky was Charlie's work behind the scenes.Her own father used to be directed by his family, but somehow became the vice president of the Calligraphy and Painting Association—that must be Charlie too.Most embarrassingly, her father managed to lose that job because of the scandal he caused, but Charlie stepped up again and restored him to a leadership position.As such, even if her father was less self-centered and less of a troublemaker compared to her mother, he caused Charlie plenty of trouble anyway.At that moment, Claire's heart swelled with mela
Nanako asked again, “Charlie-kun, what are you going to do, then?”Charlie smiled as he said, “I am planning to beat them at their own game.”“Beat them at their own game?” Nanako asked in surprise, “Charlie-kun, how are you going to do that?”Charlie smiled as he said, “Reuben and his father think tha
Elaine was dumbfounded, and she looked at Carmen before she blurted out in disbelief, “What did you just say? This cheque is worth one hundred million dollars?!”When Carmen saw the shocked expression on Elaine’s face, she said sarcastically, “Just look at the expression on your face. You look like s
The sudden impact of the collision knocked the car’s entire engine compartment directly through the front seat!The driver and Jasmine’s other assistant, who was sitting in the co-driver seat, died in an instant!Jasmine was seated in the middle row in the car, and her seat belt was buckled. So, at th
After returning to the bedroom that he shared with Claire, Charlie answered Quinn’s video call before he said, “Hello, Nana.”“Brother Charlie!” In the video call, Quinn, who was wearing a nightgown at home, waved excitedly at Charlie.Quinn had no makeup on in the video, and her long black hair was c






