Lord Acker could not help but burst into tears as he looked at Charlie, whose figure had become completely blurred in his vision. He sobbed as he asked emotionally, “Charlie, is it really you?”His three uncles and aunt were also in tears by now. They would never have dreamt that Charlie, whom they had searched all over for twenty years, would voluntarily appear before them. What was even more unimaginable was that the Charlie they had been looking for over the past two decades turned out to be the benefactor who saved the Ackers some time ago!Charlie had extremely complex emotions when he saw the Acker family members who were in tears. He naturally thought of the Ackers as his relatives, and blood was thicker than water. This was the reason why he had saved the Ackers from peril repeatedly. However, Charlie harbored unforgivable resentment toward the Ackers, just like he did toward the Wades. He resented the Wades because the Wades had forced his parents to leave Eastcliff for
Mr. Chardon initially thought that Charlie was showing him the middle finger to provoke him, but his pupils suddenly contracted when he saw the ring.Although he had never seen this ring with his own eyes before, the British Lord had described it in great detail. According to the British Lord, the ring was entirely bronze in color with a delicate luster and no decorative patterns on it. The ring was approximately 0.66 centimeters wide, and the size of the ring was suitable for an average adult male finger. All these details matched the ring on Charlie’s finger perfectly. In addition, Merlin had taken the initiative to mention Vera and the ring, so Mr. Chardon concluded that this ring was the treasure that the British Lord had been longing for. The British Lord once mentioned that there was a great mystery hidden within the ring, and unlocking this mystery would not only enhance one’s cultivation but would also grant the person immortality as well. However, the British Lord migh
As he spoke, he sneered, “But it’s pointless for you to tell me this. All I want is the ring in your hand! I can give you a quick and painless death if you hand over the ring!” Charlie ignored him, chuckled, and said, “I've lived under the care of others in Aurous Hill for twenty years. Even if life was tough and exhausting, I’ve never gone to the Wades or the Ackers. Do you know why?” Mr. Chardon frowned and asked, “Why?”Charlie calmly replied, “It’s naturally because I hate them! Even now, I can't bring myself to forgive them for their betrayal and abandonment of my parents back then.”Mr. Chardon questioned, “Why did you save them time and time again if you hate them?” Charlie said with a smile, “Saving them was just a coincidence. You should know that it was Quinn Golding’s concert at the time in New York. The Ackers went to that concert, and that was how you had the opportunity to attack them.” Mr. Chardon squinted his eyes as he looked at Charlie. Although he was not
Meanwhile, Ruby, who was secretly observing Willow Manor from the mountain opposite, saw a black figure rushing out of the villa, followed closely by Mr. Chardon, the leader of the four great earls. Unexpectedly, the leading black figure was sprinting in her direction, whereas Mr. Chardon was holding a wooden sword in one hand and the hem of his robe in the other as he pursued the black figure. She could even hear Mr. Chardon’s angry roar, “Young lad, hand over that ring now if you know any better! Besides, you should tell me where Vera Lavor is hiding as well! If I'm in a good mood, I might spare your life! Otherwise, I’ll make sure that you lose your head as soon as I catch up to you!”Charlie yelled without even turning around, “Lackey, stop spouting nonsense. You’re already so old but you still don’t know of your own ability and limitations? You dare to continue boasting here? If you want the ring, you will have to catch up to me first, lackey!” Ruby was instantly stunned. ‘Ri
The first thing Charlie did was to ask Isaac to help him retrieve the public surveillance footage from Willow Manor. Meanwhile, he sat in the helicopter, monitoring the situation at Willow Manor in real time.Flying from Champs Elys Resort to Willow Manor would only take two to three minutes. During this brief time, the security guards and caretakers could delay a portion of the threat. He would entrust the rest to Merlin along with the ‘life-saving mantra’ he had given Merlin.He believed that as long as Merlin uttered the life-saving mantra, it would undoubtedly buy some time, allowing him to arrive in time.Yet, Charlie was well aware that even if he arrived, he could not engage in a deadly confrontation with the adversary inside the villa. Acting within the villa would mean certain death for the Acker family members and Merlin. Therefore, he had to use the ring to divert the other party’s full attention, providing an opportunity for the Ackers and Merlin to evacuate.Albert’s t
Ruby saw Mr. Chardon entering the villa that was in a deserted place. She initially thought that Mr. Chardon would be able to annihilate the Ackers easily tonight and make a significant achievement in the Qing Eliminating Society. She believed that she would only need to observe from the shadows and report everything accurately to the British Lord later. However, she never expected that just when Mr. Chardon entered the villa, a helicopter swiftly approached from the other end of the mountain, directly flying over the villa in the center of Willow Manor. Before she could comprehend who would arrive by helicopter at this moment, a black figure had jumped directly from the roaring helicopter. The helicopter was still in a fast descent, and with the considerable height of dozens of meters above the ground, she did not expect that the person would be able to land steadily on the ground.The helicopter ascended with all its strength the moment the man landed. The black shadow did not
In other words, the real-time positions of the two of them were updated twice per second on the monitoring terminal where the British Lord was located. Moreover, their positioning system utilized the most professional high-precision maps available today with an accuracy level measured in centimeters and the actual error did not exceed ten centimeters.When the British Lord saw Mr. Chardon’s red dot entering the gate of the villa, it was clear to him that Mr. Chardon had already entered. At that moment, the British Lord also believed that in just a few minutes, the Ackers would become Mr. Chardon’s victims.However, just as the British Lord was waiting for Mr. Chardon to report news of his victory, the two blinking coordinates suddenly went completely dark! This sudden turn of events surprised the British Lord, and there was a sudden thud in his heart.The extinguishing of these coordinates signaled that the information transmission between him and the other party had been interrupte
At this moment, Charlie dashed through the mountains, leading Mr. Chardon in a swift pursuit toward the mountain. Both of them moved at an incredible speed, effortlessly navigating through the hilly terrain with dense trees as if they were walking on flat ground, and it seemed as if they were flying. Mr. Chardon had exerted all his strength to stay close to Charlie. While running, he had to keep his eyes wide open, concentrating intensely to avoid the surrounding trees and rocky terrain. After covering a distance of one or two kilometers, he looked extremely disheveled.However, even with his full effort, Charlie maintained a stable and safe distance, which caused Mr. Chardon to feel extremely frustrated. He could only continue chasing Charlie as he was unable to seize an opportunity to launch an attack. Regardless of whether he was to use the wooden sword provided by the British Lord or the Thunderstrike wood that he had purchased from Zachary to launch an attack, he needed to fo
Holding up a thumb at Charlie, Julien exclaimed in approval, "You're right, my friend! That's far more exciting than having him jailed!"Just hearing that he would be sent to a kennel, Jimmy knew nothing would come of it—even if he didn't know the details, it was so obvious that Julien was thrilled by the very idea!Turning nervously toward Charlie, he was sobbing as he asked, "Mr. Wade…? What's this about a kennel…?"Julien chuckled coolly even before Charlie said a word. "A kennel is where you keep dogs, of course. Though there are literal dogs and metaphorical dogs, and you are the latter."Oh, don't worry. It's a really nice place where you get your own cage, and you'll be fed every day. You don't even have to work, so just sit tight and keep eating until the day you die."Jimmy's soul left his body in that instant.He was going to be locked in a cage?! That was way worse than being locked up and sent to jail! Where was the humanity around here?!Even as the thought struck h
Matilda was actually caught off guard by Jimmy's pleas, and even Paul found it hard to watch.Turning to Charlie, he said, "Please, Mr. Wade—my uncle can be a little despicable, but he is my father's brother. Please, let him have a chance to turn over a new leaf, seeing that he's earnestly repenting."While Paul spoke with Charlie, Jimmy was still confused and wondered why Paul would plead his case with Charlie instead of Julien. If there was anyone Paul should ask, it was Yolden since he was Julien's friend. So, why would he ask some young man instead of Yolden?That was when Charlie asked in curiosity, "You want to let him off? After he tried to take away your parents' legacy?"Paul smiled awkwardly. "I mean, I know the guy. He made sure to travel all this way to make a scene because he had nothing legal that could help him claim Smith Group Corporate Law from us. Otherwise, he'd have already filed the lawsuit in the States. Sure, it's a dirty move, but that's basically a des
As Julien finished, he realized something was wrong and turned toward Charlie before he knew it.Charlie held his gaze in turn, his expression quizzical and amused.Julien cleared his throat right then. "See, there are people who can order me around, but they have my utmost respect. However, a third-rate lawyer like you? Who do you think you are?"That was when Julien's butler called, and he reported respectfully as soon as the call was answered, "Sir, I've spoken with Nate Ellis, the owner of Ares LLC. He has since agreed to fire Jimmy Smith right away as well as disbar him nationwide."Julien asked, "Good. Anything else?""Well, Mr. Ellis also delivered some documents that can be used as evidence against Jimmy Smith, which he claims is enough for a lifetime sentence. If you deem it necessary, we can have it sent to the FBI.""Yes, let's go with that!" Julien replied, his tone satisfied. "And ask the director to handle it personally—I want this prick to never set foot stateside
Jimmy was sweating profusely in fear, but he argued back before he knew it, "That's impossible! Everything you say is bullshit! Gaiman simply thought he had a fair chance of winning and didn't want to pay Ares that much, and I have no idea who he partnered with, and I'm certainly not involved. Don't you try to slander me!"Nate chuckled. "Come on, Jimmy. We're all adults here, so there are things we shouldn't have to be so direct about. Mills Gaiman and your old classmate met in private many times, not to mention the private conferences you three had in secret, discussing your overall strategy and decisive points. Just so you know, Gaiman recorded every conversation, and I have the tapes with me."Jimmy's heart was left pounding as he blurted, "B-Bullshit! That's impossible!""Grow up, Jimmy," Mr.Goodman chuckled. "Every partner in every law firm always strives to rise higher, so I'm going to need as much leverage as I can. Otherwise, I'm not about to let them advance any further, e
Although the ringtone and vibration frequency were the ones Jimmy always used, this call somehow felt more urgent, leaving him exceedingly uneasy.When it abruptly stopped and left a missed call on his log, Nate Ellis soon sent a text: [Answer your damn phone this instant!]Just seeing the text left Jimmy feeling like his throat had gone dry, and as he gulped, it felt like his throat was being ripped, leaving him hurting.Still, he couldn't care less as his boss called again.Having seen the text, Jimmy didn't hesitate this time and promptly answered, watching Julien's smug face as he started tentatively, "Y-Yes, boss...?"Nate immediately yelled at him hysterically, "What the hell did you do?! Why did the Rothschilds call to complain about you?! And the complaint was from their heir apparent, at that! I worked hard for them and always toed the line for years, and I still haven't gotten a chance to meet the man, so how the fuck did you upset him?!"Jimmy's heart sank to rock bott
Fuming, Jimmy snapped at Julien, "If you insist on playing it like that, I will call my boss, and you can talk to him yourself!"Julien chuckled. "That's unnecessary. I've never met him. He would never recognize my voice."Jimmy laughed and nodded despite himself. "Impressive—you can really come up with anything! You don't have his number because he's beneath you, you refuse to call him because he's beneath you, and when I say I'll call him for you, you say he won't recognize your voice. Well, how do you suppose we should sort this out? At least prove you're a Rothschild, or anyone could claim that they are—"Julien held up a hand to stop him. "Then, how about this? I'll ask my butler to talk to your boss."Jimmy laughed even more loudly as if it were the best joke ever. "Hahaha!!! Butler, you say?! You really know how to talk! Alright, I'll wait and see what your 'butler' can do… I mean, what you can do. We'll see whether my boss calls me!"Julien ignored him and whipped out his
Naturally, Jimmy couldn't care less about Julien's suggestion, even looking at him pointedly from head to toe while smirking in contempt, "What, do you think I'd just do what any nutjob tells me to do just because they're claiming to be the Rothschilds' heir apparent?"Julien nodded, still smiling. "Good point, but don't worry—it's the same whether you call him or he calls you."Jimmy laughed. "I was offering you a way out, but you want to keep pressing your luck? Since you don't care to back off, let's see how you're going to finish this fight."Then, he shrugged while pointing at Yolden. "Well, it's the perfect chance to measure Matilda's husband, I guess."Based on what he saw of Yolden, there was no way he would buy Julien's claims, and thus labeled him an impostor in his mind.An ordinary lecturer in Aurous Hill, being friends with the Rothschilds' heir apparent? Not to mention that there had been plenty of fraudulent cases outside the States where the Rothschild name was use
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