Although Claire knew that it was most probably Dad’s idea, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed.Charlie quickly asked, “Dear, where are you going later?”Claire answered, “I’m going to meet mom’s friends and also the beauty salons that they often visited for their facial and spa.”Jacob hurried and said, “Oh, Claire, I won’t go anywhere today. I’ve invited my friend over for dinner tonight. She wants to cook for us tonight, so I need to get the ingredients ready and clean up our house.”Claire asked skeptically, “Dad, didn’t you already have lunch with your friend just now? Why do you want to see her again tonight?”Jacob cleared his throat and explained, “Lunch is lunch, and we ate at a restaurant. They came all the way from the States, it’s our courtesy to invite them over to our place and have a home-cooked meal together. This is a decent way to entertain your friends!”Claire exclaimed in dismay, “Dad, even if you want to entertain your friend, can you please observe the s
Meanwhile, in Aurous Hill Detention Center.Elaine could only watch the inmates finish their lunch, and Jennifer finished both lunch sets, she felt as if someone stabbed her in the heart, the sight was so painful for her to bear. She had not taken a bite of food for more than 24 hours, was beaten violently, and was forced to sleep all night in the freezing and humid toilet. She was dizzy with hunger and on the verge of collapsing.Yet, she didn’t dare to express any dissatisfaction because it would trigger Jennifer to beat her again.Because of her small appetite, Lady Wilson was full with just half of the rice portion in the lunch box.She paced leisurely to Elaine with the leftover lunch box in her hand, waved it in front of her, and asked with a grin, “Hey, you haven’t eaten anything for a night and a day, are you hungry? It must be tough, right? Would you like to have two bites?”Elaine glanced at the old lady like she was a light of hope and asked cautiously, “Really? Mom,
Lady Wilson shouted, “Wendy, come here, let’s get this shrew to the toilet and wash away the food on her head with cold water! She may take advantage of us not looking and eat it behind us! I don’t want that to happen!”Elaine cried in horror, “No! It’s almost winter now! You’re going to kill me if you wash my head with cold water!”Jennifer, who had been watching the scene, growled coldly, “Stop the d*mn bullsh*t! If I hear another word from you, I’ll shower you with cold water after the old lady washes your head with it!”Elaine wailed in extreme fright as Lady Wilson and Wendy dragged her into the toilet.Immediately afterward, Wendy pulled her head under the faucet and turned it without hesitation!The icy cold tap water splashed on Elaine’s head, making her brain freeze instantly followed by the excruciating pain from the cold that made her shiver all over.She looked at the grinning Lady Wilson, begging, “Mom, please, give me a towel, I beg you! I’ll freeze to death!”Lady
“What?!”Claire shrieked in shock, “Beautiful, elegant, good temperament, perfect personality. More importantly, she is a widow, a rich widow… That makes her the rarest bachelorette in the middle-aged aunties category, doesn’t it?!”Charlie nodded and said in a serious tone, “Yup, she is a bachelorette alright, but she doesn’t look like an aunty at all, more like an older sister.”Surprised, Claire asked, “Really? Like how old?”Charlie answered, “Maybe thirty-seven or eight years old, and at most forty.”“Seriously?!”Claire gaped in utter astonishment and disbelief. She rarely saw a woman who was 50 years old but looked 10 years younger.Wasn’t it a little too outrageous even for a movie star?Charlie nodded firmly. “I’m not kidding at all, she does look very young and beautiful. You know Catherine Zeta-Jones, right? Aunt Hall looks younger and more beautiful than her.”Astonished again, Claire said, “Shut up! Are you for real?”Charlie smiled. “Well, she’ll come to our hou
At this time, 24 hours had passed since Elaine had disappeared.Therefore, Claire was very worried and nervous, started going in and out of the beauty salons that Elaine frequented.She came to one of the beauty salons and asked the owner while showing her Elaine’s photo, “Hi, have you seen this woman before?”The owner looked at the photo curiously and asked, “Oh, isn’t this Mrs. Wilson?”Claire was equally astonished. “Do you know my mother?”The owner smiled and said, “Oh, so you are her daughter. Well, she used to be my regular here, but I haven’t seen her lately. She used to come here with her friends quite often. Why? Is she missing?”Claire nodded and asked, “Do you know any of her friends? Can you give me their number please?”The owner gaped as if something struck her mind and blurted, “Hey, one of her friends is doing facial right now. Why don’t I call her out and ask?”Claire quickly said, “That will be great! Thank you!”The owner smiled. “You’re welcome, it’s my p
Mrs. Wayne’s face twisted in a disdainful grimace that the already tight mask crumbled and fell off her face due to the distorted facial muscles.She looked at the poor mask on the floor, feeling upset. She got even more upset when she thought of yesterday’s incident.Although she and Elaine were not the best of friends, they shared a pleasant friendship where they often played mahjong and went for facials and spa treatments together.They had plenty of acquaintances like this who treated each other courteously, but Elaine’s ridiculous reaction yesterday had made her so angry that she couldn’t sleep at night.Claire couldn’t help but be bewildered and puzzled upon hearing Mrs. Wayne’s complaint. Why did her mother talk to her friend like this? She had been keeping a low profile recently because she didn’t have any money, but what’s with her sudden change of attitude? Did she stumble upon an unexpected wealth?She even said things like buying a beauty salon for herself! It proved
In other words, Elaine was penniless.Then, why had she insulted Mrs. Wayne on the phone like a snobbish wealthy shrew not long after?Did she suddenly become rich in such a short period of time?Where did the money come from?Even if she was indeed rich, why did she have to disappear then? Was it really because she despised her and her father after she became rich?It was not absolutely impossible though, based on her understanding of her mother’s characteristics, but how about Thompson First villa, the dream home that she had been drooling for a long time?Logically speaking, if she did get a fortune by accident, she would hide the money and continue to stay at the luxurious villa, which was in line with her character. She wouldn’t have disappeared with the money and abandoned the villa just like that, not to mention that she didn’t even get to spend a night at the villa yet.The more Claire digested and analyzed the situation, the more confused she was. She felt that her di
Charlie drove around town aimlessly. When he got a call from Jacob saying that Matilda was going to their house soon, he drove home.Claire received her father’s call too with the same message, and she headed home despite her reluctance.Loreen insisted to stay out of dinner at home tonight when she learned that there were visitors coming. Claire wanted her company to avoid awkward silence, but she felt awkward enough already so she rejected her offer by saying she had to work overtime and had dinner by herself.Claire was in no place to force Loreen though, she warned Jacob beforehand instead, “Dad, when your friend comes over, please don’t try to talk about me, I’m not in the mood to chit chat today.”Jacob knew that he could not push her too much since she was willing to come home and have dinner with Matilda for his sake, so he said to Charlie, “My dear son-in-law, at dinner later, I need you to lighten the mood, okay?”“Alright.” Charlie nodded hesitantly.At this moment, th
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