All Chapters of The Arts of Looking Foolish: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

"The cash flow is completely gone. Newvale City has pulled every line of credit."Jocelyn Scott slammed the satellite phone onto the table. It hit the rug with a dull thud, and then the entire living room fell silent.The Reynolds family was one of the capital's most powerful old-money dynasties, with every member of the family considered a heavyweight in the business world.The eldest daughter-in-law, Jocelyn, was a legendary dealmaker on Walton Street. The second daughter-in-law, Cecilia Woods, was an untouchable legend in the venture capital world.Their father-in-law, Zane Reynolds, had been at the helm of Reynolds Group for 40 years.Me? I was Yvonne Smith, the wife of Maverick Reynolds, the eighth son of the Reynolds family. To them, I was nothing more than a brainless gold digger who knew how to spend money and nothing else.Right now, I was curled up lazily on a custom-made Hermès orange sofa, scrolling through my tablet. On the screen was a list of rare handbags the bout

Julian slowly lifted his head and looked at Jocelyn with a trace of pity in his eyes. "Ms. Scott. The title of 'Queen of Walton Street' certainly carries a lot of weight."He gave a soft, mocking round of applause. Then, he added, "Too bad that in the face of absolute capital, individual ability means nothing."His long fingers tapped the manila envelope. "I have an agreement right here. All Mr. Reynolds has to do is sign it and hand over Reynolds Group's chairman's seal. I will immediately inject 30 billion dollars into the company and help Reynolds Group survive this crisis."Cecilia let out an icy laugh. "Thirty billion, and you think you can swallow the entire Reynolds Group? Julian, you certainly have quite an appetite."Julian did not get angry. He kept that calm, almost gentle smile that somehow made him even more frightening. "Ms. Woods, you misunderstand. Reynolds Group's market value is evaporating by the hour. Give it another three days and it'll be nothing but a pile of

"Go get her," Zane repeated, his voice carrying a grim finality.Adrian wiped away his tears as he headed toward the staircase.I watched the scene unfold, a strange feeling spreading through my chest.For the past three years, everyone in this family had looked down on me. They thought I was an embarrassment to the Reynolds family, a family packed with business geniuses. Yet when their lives were on the line, the first thing they thought of was using their last card to get me out safely.I took a deep breath and turned back toward my room.I walked over to the huge marble bar and switched on the custom-made coffee machine. The sound of the grinder seemed painfully loud in the quiet room. I took my time making a cup of freshly ground coffee. Soon, its rich aroma filled the air.I picked up the delicate ceramic cup and headed downstairs in my high heels, one step at a time.Adrian was halfway up the stairs when he saw me coming down. He froze.I walked past him and headed straig

"Now look at the edge of the terrain in this satellite image." I pointed to an incredibly tiny, jagged edge on the image. "That is a classic Photoshop feathering artifact. Whoever edited this forgot to clean up the leftover pixels."And there's something else."I tossed the file onto the coffee table with a soft thud. "The Blackridge Two mining site at these coordinates was hit by a once-in-a-century landslide last month. The terrain has completely changed."This image was pasted together using satellite data from three years ago, wasn't it? What happened? Are scammers getting lazy these days?"The living room fell silent again. The only sound was the soft hum of the central air conditioner.Jocelyn suddenly lunged toward the coffee table and grabbed the document. She pulled a high-powered magnifying glass from her bag and stared at the exact edge I had pointed out.Cecilia leaned in beside her.Their breathing grew faster.A muscle in Julian's face twitched, but he still manag

"How can you possibly own them?"Jocelyn and Cecilia looked at me too, their eyes filled with the same disbelief.Of course, they were shocked. In their eyes, I was just a brainless gold digger who spent every day going on shopping sprees. All I cared about was buying rare Hermès pieces and swiping Maverick's black card.I stood up and walked toward Julian. My heels clicked sharply against the floor with every step. "How can I?" I threw his question right back at him."Because when I was buying handbags, I happened to buy out the entire supply chain for Hermès's rare exotic skins."I watched his pupils widen in utter shock.My voice remained perfectly calm. "You all thought I was just shopping?"I turned toward Zane. "Dad, what I was buying was controlling ownership of the mines and supply chains behind the world's top luxury brands. Those three gold mines? They are nothing more than the three least important assets in my portfolio."I looked at Julian, who had gone completel