Merlin would never betray Charlie because Charlie was the one who saved his life. In addition, Merlin felt that it was not the right time for Charlie to be reunited with the Ackers. Therefore, he could only play along and come up with a fake plan as long as it did not allow the Ackers to ultimately discover clues about Charlie. His mission would be completed, then.Christian suddenly said again, “By the way, Merlin, have you ever thought about investigating the benefactor who saved your life?”Merlin was startled and said, “The whereabouts of the benefactor who saved me is unpredictable, and he has never showed his true identity to me. I don’t have any clues even if I want to find him.”Christian shook his head and said, “It’s not that there are no clues. It’s right in Aurous Hill!”Merlin deliberately asked him, “What do you mean, Christian?”Christian said seriously, “I told you about the auction for the Rejuvenating Pill that I attended in Aurous Hill. I have always wanted to f
Christian accompanied Lady Acker to the old mansion Charlie’s parents used to stay in twenty minutes later. The Ackers’ convoy quickly left Willow Manor and headed for the city of Aurous Hill. At the same time, Charlie was also driving from the city in the direction of Willow Manor. He planned to go to Champs Elys Resort, and the straight-line distance between Willow Manor and Champs Elys Resort was very close, only separated by two mountains. Therefore, most of the journey from the city to Willow Manor and from the city to Champs Elys Resort overlapped. When Charlie was on the highway out of the city, he saw an oncoming convoy coming from the opposite direction.Before he set off, Merlin had sent him a text message to inform him that his grandmother would be visiting the old mansion his parents used to stay in today. Therefore, even though the two parties passed each other at extremely fast speeds, Charlie could still tell that this was the Ackers’ convoy.However, Charlie was
Meanwhile, in the old town district of Aurous Hill. The Ackers’ originally eye-catching convoy had dispersed before entering the old town district, making it less eye-catching. However, all vehicles were still closely guarding the vehicle that Charlie’s grandmother and uncle were riding in from all directions. Helen and Sophie had already had breakfast in the old mansion that Charlie’s parents used to live in.Sophie was already dressed up smartly, and she picked up her handbag and said to Helen, “Mom, I’m going to Aurous University of Finance and Economics.”Helen nodded and said, “Drive safely on the road. Will you be coming back for lunch?”Sophie said, “I won’t be coming back at noon. Autumn and I will have lunch together at the cafeteria at Aurous University of Finance and Economics.”As one of the people in charge of Ito-Schulz Ocean Shipping Group, Sophie had been going to Aurous University of Finance and Economics with Autumn every day recently to look for Yolden for ma
“Huh?” Helen exclaimed as she looked at the old lady in surprise. “You’re Lady Acker?! Please come in! Mr. Christian, please come in too!”With that said, she quickly opened the door.Helen did not understand why Lady Acker would come to see her at first but soon realized that the purpose of the old lady’s visit should not have anything to do with her.Based on Charlie’s instruction, she immediately concluded that the old lady’s purpose in coming here must be to find out clues about Charlie. Lady Acker and Christian thanked Helen and followed her in. Sophie walked out of the inner door at this moment and could not help but feel a little confused when she saw an old lady and a middle-aged man walking into the courtyard. Helen quickly introduced, “Lady Acker and Mr. Christian, this is my daughter, Sophie. Sophie, this is Lady Acker and Mr. Christian from the Acker family in the United States.”Sophie subconsciously blurted out, “Lady Acker… Isn’t that Mr. Wade…”Sophie initially
When Helen saw that Lady Acker seemed to be in low spirits, she comforted her somewhat apologetically, “Lady Acker, I just moved in here not long ago. I don’t know if Charlie has been here for so many years before I moved in, so you don’t have to be so pessimistic and worry too much.”Lady Acker nodded slightly and sighed as she said, “I have no doubts that Charlie is still alive, but I can find too few clues related to Charlie now. If any one of these clues are broken, it would mean that there will be one less clue…”Helen smiled and said, “Lady Acker, perhaps it’s just not the right time for you to be reunited with him now. When the time is right, I believe he will come to meet you even if he is far away.”Lady Acker smiled wryly and said, “I believe what you’ve said. I’m just afraid that I will not be able to wait for that day when I’m already at this age.”Helen could not help but feel a little distressed when she saw the old lady was so melancholy. Aurous Hill was definitely
Everyone stood up from their futons and bowed to Caden to express their gratitude before they walked out while relaxing their muscles.Nanako was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, she asked Aurora excitedly, “Aurora, have you mastered the secret of endoscopic ability?”Aurora scratched her head and said, “It seems like it, but it doesn’t seem like it either… It feels like the bottom of a particularly deep pond. When I try to dive down, I can’t go any further every time when I feel that I’m almost at the bottom. It’s really annoying…”After saying that, she asked Nanako, “Nanako, you look so excited. Have you already mastered it?!”Nanako nodded heavily and exclaimed in a low voice, “I seem to have mastered the secret of endoscopic ability. It’s just like the diving that you mentioned. I always could not dive further down in the beginning, and I felt that the closer I was to the bottom of the pond, the greater the repulsive force of the water. There seems to be forces pushing me tow
Caden praised and affirmed Nanako’s talent, but Nanako was extremely humble. After bowing deeply, she said calmly, “Thank you for your compliment, Master Howton. I’m just like an elementary school student who has just started compared to you, so I dare not say that I’m a martial arts genius. I should work harder since I’ve just discovered my endoscopic ability.”Caden complimented her and said, “In addition to talent, a good martial arts methodology is the second element of martial arts practice, and not being arrogant or impetuous is the third element of martial arts practice. Miss Ito, your future will certainly be unlimited since you have all three of these elements!”Nanako bowed again and said, “Thank you for your affirmation, Master Howton. I’ll certainly do my best!”Caden nodded and said with a smile, “The lunch break is short, so you should go and eat quickly. We will continue our lessons in the afternoon.”Nanako smiled, then shook her head and said, “I won’t be taking a
Charlie asked her: ‘Why do you want to thank me?’Nanako said: ‘You’ve helped me so much and even arranged for me to learn martial arts here. Isn’t it right for me to treat you to a meal now that I’ve finally entered the path of martial arts? Just think of it as a thank-you meal. Charlie-kun, I wonder if you’ll do me the honor?’Charlie thought for a moment and replied readily: ‘No problem. Just tell me the time, and I’ll be there on time.’Nanako replied: ‘Master Howton’s classes end at half past six in the evening every day. Let’s meet up a little later. What about 8:00 PM?’Charlie replied: ‘No problem. You should practice hard, then. I’ll see you at night.’Nanako was elated and hurriedly replied: ‘See you tonight!’Charlie knew that Nanako was eager to practice, so he did not plan to go in and bother Nanako. He replied directly: ‘In that case, you should go and practice well first. We will talk more when we meet later at night.’Nanako replied: ‘Okay!’ She then turned on th
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
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