Chapter 13

Claire’s heart was still thumping excitedly when she exited Wilson Group’s office. Grandma would officially announce her new position tomorrow. Finally, she could hold her head up high! She turned to Charlie and said gleefully, “Charlie, thank you! If it’s not for your encouragement, I wouldn’t have dared to step up and take the challenge.” Charlie replied with a smile, “Dear, you deserve this.” He turned his head away, then turned back to her and said, “Oh yes, it’s such a great and happy event. Let’s celebrate, shall we?” Claire nodded. “How do you want to do it?” “Our third anniversary is around the corner, let’s celebrate it together! I’ll prepare everything, you just have to sit back and relax.” Claire gaped in surprise. “Are you going to surprise me?” “Yes!” Charlie nodded and laughed. “I’m giving you a surprise!” Claire felt a dash of warmth surging her heart. “Okay, I won’t ask you for any details then.” “You don’t have to, just wait!” Charlie had several plans lining up for the preparation of a special and exclusive wedding anniversary. Generally, compensation was the main objective. After all, he was very poor previously and he didn’t have the money to buy presents for his wife. In fact, he couldn’t even afford a formal wedding for her. Now that he was loaded, he wanted to compensate her earnestly. After splitting with his wife, Charlie went to a jewelry store called Emerald Court in the center of Aurous Hill alone. Emerald Court was the most popular jewelry store in town. They had gold, platinum, diamonds, jade, and all sorts of gemstones and accessories that one could dream of. You name it, they’ve got it. Charlie wanted to buy a gift for his wife before heading to the best hotel in town to book a venue for their belated wedding. When he walked into the stores, the sales personnel didn’t bother to entertain him when they saw him wearing four-striped—a.k.a. counterfeit—Adidas sneakers. Regardless, Charlie looked around by himself for a long while until he saw a jade necklace locked in the glass cabinet. The necklace was made of the most exclusive icy jadeite. It was very elegant and exquisite, a perfect match for Claire’s aura. He peeked at the price tag—thirteen million—which was a piece of cake for him. He ushered for one of the sales personnel and said, “Hi, please take this necklace out, I’d like to have a look.” The person glanced at him indifferently and muttered, “I don’t have the key, it’s with our manager.” Then, he spoke through the intercom and said, “Miss Wolfe, there’s a guy here who wants to see our most prized possession!” Very soon, a very enchanting woman with a very thick makeup sprinted to the storefront enthusiastically. Her name was Jane Wolfe and she was the sales manager at the store. “Which prestigious guest wants to see our prized collection?” The personnel pointed to Charlie and said, “This man over here.” “Huh?” Jane shifted her gaze at Charlie and expressed a disgusted look as if she had just eaten a fly. How could this deadbeat loser afford the most prized treasure of the shop? She turned to the male sales personnel and said, “Hey, Gill, you’re kidding me, right?” “No, it’s true, this gentleman wants to see the necklace.” Jane chided rudely, “Are you telling me that this loser can afford the necklace? Are you blind? If you’re blind, tell me so I can fire you right this instant and stop being annoyed!” Jane thought that she could very accurately read people after years of working experience. She could see at a glance about what kind of person the buyer was and predict their purchasing power. So, from her observation, she could tell that Charlie was nothing but a poor loser. He couldn’t even afford a 1,300 dollar necklace, let alone the thirteen million dollar necklace! He was just a waste of her time! The male sales personnel kept quiet after the scolding, but Charlie frowned and asked her, “You opened the door to do business, right? I want to see the necklace, what’s the problem?” Jane sneered in disdain. “Yes, we did open our door for business, but we don’t do business with the mentally retarded. You can’t afford it, just get out of our store!” The frown on Charlie’s forehead grew deeper. “How do you know I can’t afford it? Which pair of eyes did you use to judge me?” “Haha!” Jane mocked contemptuously, “This jade necklace is worth tens of millions of dollars. Tell me, how are you going to pay for it? I know exactly what you want to do. You want me to take it out so you can snap a picture of it and post it on Instagram to show off, am I right?” Jane crossed her arms in front of her chest and stood with her head held high, looking snobbish and pompous. There were a few shoppers in the store. When they heard the price of the jade necklace, they gaped in awe and pointed at Charlie as they whispered, “That guy is so shameless. Why does he want to look at it when he can’t afford it?” “You’re right. Didn’t he look into the mirror before he left his house? How can he deserve such a beautiful and precious gem with that low-quality outfit?” “Let me tell you, there are so many of them nowadays!” Charlie looked askance at Jane who looked back at him with the scornful smile on her face. He decided to teach the ignorant b*tch a lesson! He retrieved his phone and dialed Stephen’s number. “I want you to prepare thirteen million dollars in cash and come to Emerald Court in ten minutes.” “Okay, Young Master, right on it.” The corner of Jane’s lips twitched as she teased, “Wow, you’re so indulgent in your acting, I’m impressed! Thirteen million dollars in cash? Haha, don’t make me laugh. I haven’t seen so much cash in my life, I do hope you’d let me open my eyes today! Don’t you know that you’d need to make a prior appointment with the bank for any cash withdrawals above a million dollars? Hahaha, you’re so funny!” Charlie nodded inexpressively and said, “Since you haven’t seen it before, you’ll see it soon.” The shrill voices started to resonate across the store. “It’s okay to be poor, just don’t be so puffed up…” “Haha, this guy looks nothing like a rich guy at all! Thirteen million? I’ll call him Dad if he can get thirteen thousand dollars!” “Well, I’m curious to see what thirteen million in cash looks like!” Listening to the crowd who was taking her side, Jane smiled satisfyingly. She couldn’t wait to see how this poor loser would react when the cash wasn’t here. A few minutes later, several Rolls-Royce suddenly parked in front of Emerald Court’s entrance. Immediately after that, eight bodyguards in black suits came down from the two cars at the front. They were carrying a black leather suitcase, their muscles twitching, their expression solemn, a cold and murderous aura radiating from their body. It felt as if the temperature had suddenly dropped below zero. Everyone in Emerald Court was stunned in extreme shock upon the scene! Who was this guy? What’s with the charismatic appearance?