Linda was frightened by Charlie’s remark. She wailed and said, “Master Wade, please forgive me, I’m sorry! I can give you all my money! I earned quite a lot when I was in Macau and I have a total of twenty million in my hands. I can give you all that money, please spare my children!”She took out her phone, opened the mobile banking app, and showed Charlie the balance of her account.Indeed, there were more than twenty-one million in her personal account.Charlie said flatly, “Donate the money to the official donation account of Hope Foundation!”He retrieved his phone, searched for the official account, showed it to Linda, and said coldly, “Transfer it now.”“Master Wade, will you let me go after I donate the money?”“Oh? Do you want a bargain now?”Linda was taken aback. She grabbed his phone, keyed in the account number that Charlie showed her, and donated all the money to the charity.She passed the phone back to Charlie and cried, “Master Wade, I’ve donated all the money a
While Linda cried bitterly, Charlie ordered Albert’s men to bring Hannah to him.Hannah was shaking with fright. She looked at Charlie and pleaded, “Charlie, I’m your aunt. You’re part of our family. For…for the sake of the Wilson family, could you forgive me, please?”Charlie chuckled as if he heard a funny joke. “Stop with your nonsense. Tell me, how much money do you have now?”Hannah’s heart skipped a beat. She blurted out frantically, “I don’t have any money… Really, I don’t have any money!”“I’ll give you a chance to come clean. I advise you to take it or you’ll end up like Linda.”Hannah trembled in fear. She was being cautious in the midst of terror and said, “I… I have five million, that’s all our family has…”Charlie nodded knowingly. “Okay, open your mobile banking app now and show me the balance.“I… I don’t have the app!”“Is that so?” Charlie said in a cold tone, “If I find out that a mobile banking app is installed on your phone, I’ll break your leg.”“O… okay,
“Huh?!” Hannah shrieked in a panic, “But I just donated fifteen million as you said…”“So what?” Charlie said coldly. “You’re the mastermind behind today’s scam, do you think it’s fair for me to punish Linda alone?”“Yeah!” Linda growled indignantly, “She’s the real culprit!”Charlie looked at Hannah and smirked, “See, even your accomplice says that you’re the culprit. You have to go to the coal mine with your pal here and contribute to Hope Foundation.”Then, he pointed to the woman named Gianna and commanded, “And you too, the three of you, get ready to work at the coal mine and redeem yourself.”Gianna cried out loud. She shook her head and hands, knocked her head on the floor to beg, and wailed, “No, please don’t! I’m innocent! Linda dragged me here to join them for mahjong, that’s all! I don’t know about their plan, I don’t know anything!”Charlie said coldly, “Do you think I’d believe you? Shut up when I ask nicely and I’ll spare your family. If I hear a single yelp from yo
Elaine completely forgot about her money when she was immersed by the scene of the people wailing and crying.When the thought struck her mind, she turned to Charlie and yelled, “Hurry, ask them to return the money to me! They won more than two million dollars from me!”Charlie asked them to donate their money to Hope Foundation for two reasons, one was to punish them and the other was to teach his mother-in-law a lesson.You were always so greedy and dissatisfied with your current situation, weren’t you?You were addicted to gambling, weren’t you?You thought that you could make a fortune and be rich by playing mahjong, didn’t you?Well, I let you lose all your money so that this experience would stick in your mind!Charlie looked at the women on the floor and asked, already knowing what their answer would be, “Hey, about the money you won from my mother-in-law—quickly discuss how you’re going to repay her!”They exchanged befuddled glances and cried, “We’ve donated all our mo
Elaine was on the verge of collapsing.She couldn’t collect the two million dollars and she broke the five million dollar jade bangle. It was a terrible loss!She turned her glare at Gianna and shouted hysterically, “You! You didn’t donate your money! Give me back my money! Give me all my money back or I’ll kill you! I’ll f*cking kill you!”Gianna knelt on the floor in fright, crying and pleading, “I don’t have any money, I’m very poor. I only have around sixty thousand in my savings account. I’ll transfer it all to you if you want it…”Elaine slapped her furiously and growled, “I don’t believe you! Show me your balance! Hurry!”“I really don’t have any money, I have an income of two thousand something a month. I wouldn’t have joined Linda to con people if I were rich…”Then, she took out her phone, opened the mobile banking app, and showed Elaine her balance. It really only had sixty-three thousand dollars in it.Elaine nearly fainted.What could she do with sixty-three thousa
Charlie shook his head slightly and said, “Forget it, Albert. Sometimes, there are things that you must learn to accept, be it good or bad.”Albert glared at Elaine indignantly while she crouched at the side, trembling in horror.She didn’t dare to mention a word about the money anymore and kept the grief and bitterness in her heart.At this moment, several cars stopped abruptly in the villa’s courtyard. Isaac got out of the car and personally escorted five adults who were tied up into the house.Fear and terror were written all over the five people’s faces. As soon as they saw Linda after entering the door, a young man blurted, “Mom, what’s going on?!”Linda looked at the crowd and wailed in despair when she saw her husband, children, and children-in-law being taken into the house.“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault… I’m so sorry for dragging all of you into this…”A man in his fifties hurriedly asked, “Dear, what’s going on?!”Charlie said coldly, “Are you aware that
Blood drained from the woman’s face. She blurted, her voice shaky, “I… I’ve never been involved in the operations, I just do the accounting…”“Accounting?” Charlie said flatly, “That makes you an accomplice too! You’d better go with them to redeem yourself. All of you are really a bunch of scum!”Isaac said, “Master Wade, I know this woman. Her father is Lucas Frank and he runs an underground casino nearby. Do you want me to destroy them?”“Investigate their operations and background and see what they’ve done. If their sins are unforgivable, just kill them.”The woman collapsed on the floor, frightened and befuddled.Soon, three Toyota Coaster mini buses drove into Thompson First and parked in front of the villa. Albert’s men broke Hudson’s leg along with the rest of his gang’s before sending them into the bus.Charlie said to Elaine, “Mom, let’s go.”There was a dash of embarrassment on Elaine’s face. She pulled Charlie aside and whispered, “They filmed me, the shameful kind. Q
Elaine knew that if she was busted, she could be charged for gambling. Worse still, if her husband and daughter knew that she had gambled with such a large amount of money, they would be infuriated.She would be condemned for what she had done.Although the money was gone now, at least she did not end up worse than those people who were sent to the coal mine for the next one to two decades. Yet, she couldn’t help feeling depressed with the money and bangle lost.She could still explain herself about the broken bangle. She had taken the broken pieces with her anyway, she could tell her family that the bangle broke.What explanation should she come up with regarding the money?Jacob did not have his own bank account. All the household money was in her own hands, including the money her husband earned from reselling the antiques.Now, she had lost all the money to gambling. If Jacob were to find out about it, he would be extremely angry at her!Elaine was sighing in depression an
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
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