The sales executive as well as a number of salespeople were completely dumbfounded.It was not that they had not seen people fighting for properties before. When the villas had first been opened for sale, there were indeed some customers who had started to fight for the properties right on the spot.The fighting would often develop into frustration and violent fights.They had never encountered someone like Hiroshi, who was willing to give the other party one million dollars as soon as he spoke up.They also did not expect Marianne to refuse his offer directlyFrom their point of view, this was one million dollars without any cost involved. Anyone would have to think about it if they could earn one million dollars for nothing, right?She had come to view a property and then spent ten minutes paying the booking fee to be able to earn a million dollars directly. This kind of thing was simply akin to having something fall into one’s lap directly. However, not to mention one millio
Marianne was still completely unmoved. She turned to look at Hiroshi and said seriously, “Sir, the reason why I didn’t get angry at you is because I think that you’re quite sincere and are a gentleman, but if you continue pestering me in this manner, I probably will not be able to communicate with you with this friendly attitude anymore.”Hiroshi instantly understood.The young woman in front of him must be a young lady who was not short of money whatsoever and did not take money to heart at all. It was estimated that her net worth and assets were not much worse compared to his own young lady.What was the point of offering a premium of ten million dollars when facing such a woman other than being able to make an offer? Even if it was thirty million or fifty million dollars, it was impossible for her to take him seriously, and he would only end up looking foolish if he continued holding on.He could only sigh in desperation and say apologetically, “I’m sorry, Miss. I was too reck
Hiroshi followed the salesgirl and took a car to Building 1 after paying one million dollars for the booking fee.Marianne had already preceded him and gone to the apartment unit on the top floor with Madam Marilyn.Madam Marilyn, who was still feeling ashamed of her own overconfidence just now, followed Marianne and could not help but speak up, saying, “Miss Marianne, fortunately, you have foresight. You didn’t heed my advice just now and paid the booking fee in advance. Otherwise, that person just now would have bought this apartment unit...”Marianne smiled slightly and said, “Madam Marilyn, don’t say that. I don’t have any foresight. I’m just relatively cautious. Perhaps there are ninety-nine out of a hundred times where my cautiousness ends up being useless, but in my opinion, it’s worth it if my cautiousness comes in handy even once.”Madam Marilyn nodded slightly. She actually felt extremely amazed even though she had a calm expression.Having been a housekeeper for so long
Madam Marilyn noticed that Marianne did not even look around the apartment after entering but simply stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window to look at the river view, so she could not help but remind her, “Miss Marianne, do you want to take a look at the layout of the house so I can help you if you’re not satisfied with anything or if there’s anything you would like to adjust.”“Oh, okay...” Marianne came back to her senses and looked around the whole apartment with Madam Marilyn. This apartment unit was not too big. It was more than two hundred square meters with four bedrooms, one of which had been renovated into a study room. In addition, there was also a reception hall on the side of the Yaak River. The developer had already added sports equipment to the apartment unit, which could be considered a relatively decent fitness area, and one could also see the view of the river from the sofa in the living room because of the floor-to-ceiling windows on the front wall. F
That night, after Marianne had settled the newly purchased household necessities, she returned to Scarlet Pinnacle Manor with Madam Marilyn. Both Logan and his wife were also very happy when they learned that Marianne had been hired. He asked the servants to organize an elaborate celebration feast at home as a celebration for Marianne.To Logan’s surprise, Vera, who never liked such festivities, also joined in happily. At the dinner table, Logan said to Marianne, “Marianne, if you have nothing to do when you come to Aurous Hill to work in the future, you can come and live at Scarlet Pinnacle Manor and ask Marilyn to arrange a big room for you!”Marianne hurriedly said, “Lord Carrick, Madam Marilyn accompanied me to buy a house in Aurous Hill in the afternoon, and the university will also provide me with an apartment in the future.”Logan said in surprise, “You already bought a house? It’s safer for you to live here, and it’d be more convenient for you to live here with Marilyn
Marianne bid farewell to Logan and his wife as well as Vera after dinner, and Madam Marilyn sent her back to Thompson First.Marianne suddenly felt settled down as she entered the first house she had bought in Aurous Hill.She opened the window of the viewing balcony, lay on the edge of the bed, and watched the night view and slowly moving ships on the Yaak River. She instantly felt very relaxed as the evening breeze from the river blew at her. The top floor had an excellent view, and this apartment unit was at the side of the top floor, so it basically would not be disturbed by noise from the neighbors. Therefore, Marianne felt that it was even more value for money. She even felt the urge to stay in Aurous Hill for a few more days because of this.However, after thinking about it, she felt that it would be better for her to leave Aurous Hill as soon as possible after signing the contract with Aurous University. She also thought about telling Charlie that she had been hired by A
Elaine, who suddenly had a flash of inspiration, realized almost immediately that the feasibility of this idea that she had come up with was very high. Hannah was a very popular internet celebrity now, and she always had tens of thousands of people online in her live broadcast room. Sometimes, the number of viewers in her live broadcast room could even reach twenty to thirty thousand. If Elaine could expose such a popular anchor, she would definitely be able to attract a lot of attention from viewers. Moreover, even if Elaine could not gain any fans, income, or benefits, she was still extremely willing to expose Hannah. Not to mention if she would not get any benefits, but if someone told Elaine to pay a hundred thousand dollars in exchange for Hannah’s ruin and poverty, Elaine would definitely clench her teeth and fork out the one hundred thousand dollars. It was because of this that she felt that her idea was simply equivalent to killing two birds with one stone and was absol
Elaine was scared out of her wits, and her first thought was to run away.However, she thought of how she was still limping on one leg and could not outrun the three of them no matter what it was.If she shouted and called her son-in-law for help now, she might startle Hannah, who was broadcasting live upstairs. If Hannah found out that she was sneaking around her villa, Hannah might be able to guess her intentions. Wouldn’t she lose the opportunity to expose her if Hannah started to be wary of her?Elaine’s mind was racing, and her eyes were also twitching non-stop.When Jennifer saw Elaine’s shifty eyes and how she did not say a word even after a long time, she stepped forward immediately, grabbed Elaine by the collar, then slapped her as she said angrily, “I feel so annoyed when I see you. Get out of this place!”Elaine felt both angry and afraid after getting slapped, but she then saw that the three of them were all wearing identical T-shirts with the logo of the same cleani
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
As Yolden and Matilda were remarrying after living abroad for years, the wedding ceremony was much simpler, skipping Oskian customs and having a simple wedding reception for their guests at the hotel hall.There weren't that many guests either—aside from their children and close friends, only a handful of Yolden's colleagues at Aurous Hill University were invited.As the celebrant, Charlie didn't have much to do and was mainly the emcee.He brought along his jacket as he headed out to Shangri-La, not wearing it immediately so that Claire wouldn't guess that he was attending Matilda's wedding.Arriving at the Hanging Gardens before the guests were supposed to arrive, he found Yolden working with the staff to finalize the preparations.Seeing Charlie, Yolden approached him and said, "Thanks for coming this early, Charlie."Noticing that he was a little tired, Charlie asked in concern, "Had a bad night?"Yolden nodded, sighing, "Paul's uncle caused a huge mess. Both Matilda and I a
Tarlon nodded. "How do you suggest we find them?"Fleur scowled. "There's no rush. There are things which I'm still confused about, so just keep a close eye on the Ackers and the Wades for the time being. Report to me right away if anything important comes up—don't afford our enemies any opportunities to exploit.""Yes, milady!" -The next day, more news outlets were covering the joint project between the Ackers and the Wades as word continued to spread.However, neither family revealed too many details, be it the name of the company, who was the CEO, or the scale of their business.While the public was dying with curiosity, nothing else was known.Still, Aurous Hill's officials were especially interested, with the town hall visiting the Ackers the next day and showing utmost sincerity by leasing a whopping 2-million-square-meter land along the southern highway. Still, the condition was for the Ackers to come true on their promise to propel the city's economy to 15 billion US d
Fleur had repeatedly mentioned the conspiracy theory of Ashley using a body double over the last twenty years.Tarlon had investigated from many different angles, but everything from the gender, age, dental records, to body figure pointed to the fact that the deceased was Ashley Acker.And yet, Fleur had never bought it, insisting that Curtis was prepared for them just because Curtis' son had gone missing soon after.There was no way Curtis would save his son but not his wife, and the disfigured corpse only added fuel to Fleur's suspicion.Thus, over the last twenty years, Fleur had kept a close eye on the Ackers, arranging for two 'scholars' to be embedded amongst their ranks as sleeper agents. She went that far all to determine if Ashley was dead or had faked her death.However, the scholars had since been killed in action, and they had no spies within the Ackers left.As for Tarlon, he still doubted Fleur's theory even now, but he remained respectful as he spoke, "Milady, I mu
Meanwhile, on the edge of the South Pole, Tarlon Griffin rushed outside of Fleur Griffin's room, knocking the door gingerly as he announced, "I have news, my lady!"Fleur didn't respond, but the thick wooden door between them slowly opened as if pushed by an invisible force.Tarlon entered to find Fleur seated on the floor with her legs crossed at the ankles. Her eyes remained closed as she molded her Reiki, asking, "What is it?"Tarlon quickly answered, "News from Oskia. The Ackers are partnering with the Wades on a joint venture into electric-powered vehicles."Fleur slowly opened her eyes, asking quietly, "And you're telling me because?"Tarlon quickly explained, "It just came out of the blue, so I thought I should report it to you right away."Fleur sighed. "After I tried and failed to wipe out the Ackers so many times, they wouldn't dare set foot stateside. If anything, they must have decided to seek asylum in Oskia by offering a substantial investment, and it's a base whe