“Jade, stop it already,” whispered Lily softly after hearing Jade scolding Darryl.

Yesterday at the annual gathering William showed off his suit, yet it was Darryl who stood up and helped Lily relieve the embarrassment.

“Lily, you’re too soft-hearted. If it was me, I would have divorced him already,” said Jade coldly. "After being married to him for so long, yet you both haven’t consummated your marriage. I don’t know how you can handle facing this piece of trash every day,”

“Jade,” called out Darryl as he stared deeply at her. He could not hold it in anymore and made a step forward.

It had to be said that Jade was gorgeous, she was wearing a short tight skirt, exposing her fair legs.

“My wife’s company needs five million, why would you assume that I couldn’t help?” said Darryl with a smile. “I remember you said that if I can fork out five million, you’ll call me daddy?”

“Yes, I did say that.” Jade slowly stood up. “Show me then, if you can’t, you’ll call me your mommy then?”

“Excuse me,” Darryl sat down casually on a chair. He held up his dirty sack upside down and poured out the contents onto the table.

It was at this moment, the whole house was as silent as the grave!

Wads of red-colored cash notes poured out like a waterfall, the sofa could not even contain them all and many scattered on the floor.

(TN: Original RAW mentioned he poured out the contents onto the table, but then mentioned sofa.)

“This…this is…”

Jade stared in amazement, she was so astonished that she could not say a single word.

“All this cash… Is it really five million?!” Samantha walked over too, her initial anger now somewhat simmered.

Lily’s best friends Jade and Phoebe felt their legs weakened. Five million bucks in cash notes in front of their eyes, that kind of visual impact was indescribable.

“Call me daddy then, I’m listening,” said Darryl as he stroked his hair.

Jade eventually recovered from the shock.

She looked at Darryl and sneered, “Darryl, don’t think I’m not aware that Lily only gives you two hundred bucks a day. This amount here, I’m sure it’s not clean, right?”

Her words made Lily’s body tremble, she walked over quickly and grabbed Darryl’s arm, and brought him to the bedroom.

After closing the door, Lily whispered to him, “Darryl, where did that money come from, is it from dirty sources?”

“It’s clean, don’t worry and use it, I borrowed it from a friend,” explained Darryl after taking a deep breath.

Darryl was now the President of Platinum Corporation, but he did not want to reveal his identity too early because Lily would only think he was lucky.

“Friend? Where do you even find a friend?” said Lily as she anxiously stomped her foot. “After being married for so long, why do I not know that you still have friends?”

Darryl felt a pain in his chest. Indeed, after being banished from his clan, all his friends avoided him like the plague.

Maybe it was because his pride was hurt, Darryl turned around and walked to the door wanting to leave. “A classmate from back then got rich after starting a business of his own so he lent me the money. Just use it first,” said Darryl.

A few steps out of the room, he could hear Lily softly say, “I’ll return you this money as soon as I can.”

Both her best friends Jade and Phoebe had left.

“She didn't even call me daddy, can’t afford to play this game it seems?” Darryl mumbled to himself as he sat on the sofa and played with his phone.

These few days, Donghai City did not seem to be at peace.

Everyone knew that the largest entertainment company in Donghai City changed its new boss, and countless advertising agencies were seeking a partnership with them.

However, this new boss was very odd, even partners that had worked together with the company previously were rejected.

All these companies did not wish to give up easily. Given that Platinum Corporation was not partnering with anyone at the moment, they could dominate this big piece of cake themselves if they were to successfully secure a partnership!

Those who came to seek partnership were Donghai City’s first-class families. It was not expected that the second class Lyndon clan also wished to seek a partnership.

It was rumored that William from the Lyndon clan was sent previously but got escorted out by Platinum Corporation, yet they did not give up and sent Lily, how shameless.

Just when everyone was waiting to laugh at Lily, a piece of surprising news was announced! Platinum Corporation agreed to partner with the Lyndon clan!

This news shocked the whole of Donghai City! Are they out of their minds? Partnering with a second class family?!

Lily was pleasantly surprised, she had yet to meet Platinum Corporation’s president, but the president’s secretary told her that she could come in to sign a contract the next day.

Oriental Pearl Hotel, Donghai City.

This was the most renowned hotel in Donghai City, the average spending here per person starts from a thousand bucks! Grandmother Lyndon was exceptionally happy today. She had booked the entire hotel to celebrate Lily’s success and had instructed everyone in the Lyndon clan to attend! Not only that, but she had also invited many guests. Being able to sign a contract with Platinum Corporation was extremely great news which you would want everybody to know!

In the hotel, Lily became the crowd's center of attention as she sat at the first table.

Darryl followed beside Lily, their seats were not yet warmed when they heard a reprimand from behind them.

“Get up, is this somewhere you belong? Give your seat to Miss Yvonne immediately!”

This sentence came from William, but now there was a young and beautiful woman standing beside him.

Upon seeing this woman, Samantha stood up without hesitation and said, “Quickly give your seat, you piece of trash!”

Samantha knew that this woman should not be messed with, for she was Grandmother Lyndon’s guest, Yvonne Yung, the young mistress of the Young clan.

The Youngs had been in the antique business for generations, it was rumored that all of their collections in total could be sold for at least two billion bucks!

Yvonne was invited by Grandmother Lyndon. She had noticed Lily from first sight, noting that she had on a pair of extremely beautiful high heels. Was that not The Worship of Crystal?

Everyone knew that Yvonne loved The Worship of Crystal but she did not own one. It was not that she could not afford it, but The Worship of Crystal was globally limited to only 99 pairs! This pair of heels was not something one could get just because they have the money, they need to have the right connections to have access to the heels.

“Move aside, are you blind? Can’t you see Miss Yvonne here?” William shouted angrily as Darryl did not react to him.

Darryl seemed like he did not hear a word as he continued to munch on some nuts.

“Are you deaf? Can’t you hear what William said?” Samantha said in fury.

It would not be worth the loss if Yvonne was offended because of Darryl. Although he had lent five million bucks to them, Darryl was still a piece of trash in Samantha’s heart. It was just pure luck that he was acquainted with a rich classmate.

"How about…you give your seat for now…" Lily said as she looked at Darryl.

"Okay," Darryl replied happily at Lily’s request. He got up and walked toward the table behind.

William chuckled and pulled the seat backward and said, “Miss Young, please be seated. That guy is just our clan’s live-in son-in-law, living for free with us yet acting like he matters. He is just an idiot, don’t be bothered by him.”

“Alright,” Yvonne softly answered. She sat down and gazed at The Worship of Crystal.

It was beautiful. Perhaps any woman who wore it would have their elegance elevated a few levels.

“Miss Lily, I’d like to ask…” Yvonne could not help herself. “I’d like to ask, where did you purchase this pair of heels?”

Lily smiled with her heart overjoyed. Everyone knew that Yvonne was a renowned beauty in Donghai City, but now her eyes were full of envy for her. Of course, Lily would be overjoyed.

“A friend gifted it to me,” Lily replied softly.

“Do... Do you mind troubling your friend to help me purchase a pair too? Don’t worry, I’m willing to pay double the price for your friend’s help!” Yvonne said.

Yvonne’s voice was not loud, but people seated nearby could not help but turn around to have a look.

The Worship of Crystal was priced at 30 million bucks! You could tell that the Young clan was very wealthy from her offering to pay double the price.

Both Yvonne and Lily were amazing beauties, and having them sitting next to each other was real eye candy. Yvonne was wearing a short skirt, showing off her pair of fair and slender long legs which attracted many men. They both have their unique qualities, winning the stares of many.

“My daughter, what else could you be thinking? Quickly call this friend of yours,” Samantha urged as she thought how great of a chance this would be in making a connection with the Young clan’s young mistress.

Lily bit her lips and nodded her head. She took out her cellphone and called Ashton Adagio.

It only took three seconds for Ashton to answer the call.

Lily pushed the loudspeaker button.

Samantha, who stood beside, started smiling upon seeing Lily’s cellphone screen. “My dear daughter, so Ashton was the one that got you The Worship of Crystal. He’s a good man, be sure to appreciate him, my dear.”

Samantha purposely said it loudly, not forgetting to glance at Darryl. Compared to Ashton, Darryl was worthless. Ashton mentioned before that if Lily were to marry him, he would be willing to pay a dowry of 20 million bucks!

On the other end of the phone, Ashton was sitting by the sidewalk. Not long ago, he had received a phone call, informing him that the Darby clan had revoked all his fundings!

Ashton had a meltdown upon hearing the news. Without the Darby clan’s support, he would be next to nothing! He was subsequently informed that he had offended someone he should not have.

Until now, Ashton still could not figure out who he had offended!

“Ashton, I want to ask you if you can get me another pair of Worship of Crystal?” Lily asked over the phone.

Although Ashton had a meltdown, he forced a smile seeing that it was Lily who called. “Lily, you’re referring to the replica, right?”

“Replica?”

Lily and Yvonne exchanged looks with each other. They could not mistake an imitation for the real thing.

“Yeah, didn’t I give you a pair of replicas that cost 300,000?” Ashton continued, “But wasn’t that pair thrown by your worthless husband? That pair is still at my house right now, if you want it, I can get it for you.”

Upon hearing those words, Lily’s beautiful face was full of confusion!

The Worship of Crystal that she was currently wearing, was it not gifted by Ashton? Other than him, who else would give her a 30-million gift?!

Lily ended the call and recalled the day Darryl sent her to work, he had mentioned that he was going to buy her The Worship of Crystal…

On that thought, Lily could not help to look at Darryl.

Darryl held a pair of chopsticks in his hand, while the others had not even started eating, he was about to finish his second bowl of rice. Everybody at the table with him looked at him with spite and sat as far away from him as they could.

Lily sighed. What was she thinking, how could Darryl be the one who gifted her the heels? It was absolutely impossible.

After half a minute, Darryl finally placed his chopsticks down. He wiped his mouth while looking at Yvonne.

Yvonne was an interesting woman. Darryl noticed she wore a white bracelet on her wrist. It was obvious to everyone that this bracelet was not cheap, but how many would know that this bracelet was an antique?

The Darby clan had a vast collection of antiques. Darryl was around six to seven years old when he could already differentiate antiques.

When the world’s number one appraiser, Master Stellan Smith visited the clan as a guest, he had even learned how to appraise from him for two months.

The bracelet that Yvonne had on seemed delicate and exquisite, and should be a Tang Dynasty era handicraft. It would fetch up to 20 million worth in value in today’s market.

“Everyone quiet down.”

At that moment, Grandmother Lyndon walked onto the stage, looking extremely cheerful.

“Quick, Lilybud, tell us how you negotiated with Platinum Corporation,” Grandmother Lyndon asked impatiently as she sat down.

Lily stood up awkwardly, and after some deep thought finally spoke. “I… When I reached Platinum Corporation, I didn’t say a thing, nor did I even meet the president, and I was notified that I can sign the contract.”

“Wow!”

Lily’s words triggered a furor among the crowd!

“So Lily didn’t even do anything and got the contract?”

“Yeah, and here I thought she would be capable to do so, turns out it was just good luck.”

Hearing those discussions, William stood up and stepped forward. “Granny, I got escorted out of Platinum Corporation, but today Lily got in. They must have felt that we are sincere, thus deciding to partner with us! Even if it wasn’t Lily who went there today, anyone else would’ve been successful too!”

It was obvious that William wanted a part of the credit.

Grandmother Lyndon had always favored William, so it was no surprise when she nodded and agreed, “Lilybud, the credit for this assignment isn’t yours alone, William played a part in this as well.”

William was happy upon hearing what Grandmother Lyndon said, and gave a 90-degree bow to her. “Granny, as a son of the Lyndon clan, I’m willing to sacrifice! I’ve heard rumors that there’s a new celebrity under Platinum Corporation who goes by the name of Giselle Lindt. She’s a beautiful woman, and I assume that Platinum Corporation would want to style her. If this task was granted to our clan, we would surely earn a lot of money! Tomorrow I’m willing to represent the Lyndons to negotiate this deal!”

“Great!”

Grandmother Lyndon nodded her head in praise. “Granny did not love you for naught.”

Lily and Samantha exchanged looks and felt uncomfortable. This gathering was meant to celebrate Lily’s success, but the limelight had been snatched by William instead. Now that the Lyndons have established a partnership with Platinum Corporation, William’s negotiation tomorrow would no doubt be a success. By then, the credit would be all his.

Even though Lily felt unhappy with the outcome, she remained silent, after all, Wiliam was Granny’s favorite.

“Haha, make sure you guys are eating well, today’s feast will be my treat!” William laughed heartily.

“Waiter, come, bring the wine!” William exclaimed.

A moment later, two waiters in qipao dresses brought the menu over.

“Greetings sir, this is our wine list, what would you like us to serve you?”

William waved his hand, he was full of energy and excitement during such a joyous occasion. “There’s no need for the list! Bring a bottle of your most expensive wine to every table! Remember, only the most expensive!”

After a brief moment, a line of waiters brought the wine over. William lifted his wine glass with a huge smile. “Today we will drink until we drop, cheers to all of you!”

William’s standing in the clan was at its highest at the moment, almost everybody would want to be on his good side, and they toasted with their respective glasses.

They were served rounds and rounds of food and wine. William noticed that it was getting late and drunkenly waved his hand to call out to the waiter.

“Bring me the bill. I’ll be paying by card!”

William was seated beside Yvonne. He took out his bank card in a way that he thought to be unrestrained, purposefully making it louder than needed. He eyed Yvonne as he spoke. Was there anyone that did not want to impress a beauty?

The crowd was in awe upon seeing William’s bank card.

It was an Amethyst Bank platinum card!

Those that own an Amethyst Bank card, would be required to have a net worth of at least one million. To own a gold card, they would need to have five million in their account; for a platinum cardholder, he would be required to have no less than 10 million bucks!

William’s total net worth was roughly 30 million. As a business person, however, net worth did not equate to their bank balance, for most of their wealth would be used as investment, and hardly held onto as cash.

William had saved up this 10 million in cash for many years. He had only received the platinum card yesterday, naturally, he would like to show it off a bit.

Sure enough, even Yvonne Young herself could not help but to take an extra look upon the card’s appearance.

The Young clan’s antiques were worth over two billion in total, but that was Yvonne’s father’s money after all. Although Yvonne was said to be rich and beautiful, her bank balance was not even enough to reach 10 million bucks. If she wanted to buy The Worship of Crystal, she would still have to ask her father to sell two antiques for cash.

William’s face was full of amazement as he saw Yvonne taking a couple of looks at him, his heart was full of excitement.

William looked at the waiter and said, “Today I’ll be paying for every table, except for this one!”

After finishing his words, William pointed at Darryl’s table. Those sitting at that table had a low standing in the Lyndon clan and he was not afraid to offend them.

“Darryl, do you know why I’m not footing the bill for you?” William said as he stood up and looked at Darryl. “It’s because you didn’t offer Miss Yvonne your seat! You’re too accustomed to your bullsh*t! How dare you sit at the front looking so worthless? You made Miss Yvonne unhappy, and I have to punish you on her behalf.”

Finishing his words, he looked back at Yvonne. “Miss Yvonne, don’t you worry, I’ll teach him a lesson on your behalf! Every table should cost at least 10,000 bucks, Darryl would surely not be able to afford it.”

Yvonne did not say a word and merely smiled lightly.

The waiter took William’s card away, and William continued speaking to Yvonne. “Miss Yvonne, don’t worry, you like The Worship of Crystal, right? I have lots of friends, I’ll have them make inquiries and purchase the heels for you!”

Indeed William has many friends, but they were all a pack of rogues. The thought of them being able to get their hands on a pair of The Worship of Crystal was a foolish dream.

“Thank you,” said Yvonne as she gave a polite smile and gently nodded her head.

At that moment, two waiters hastily walked up to William and bowed.

“We’re sorry sir, it would seem that your card has insufficient funds.”

William flew into a rage. “You’ve gotta be f*cking kidding me? I have 11 million in my card and you’re telling me that I have insufficient funds?”

“We’re sorry sir, the total bill is 38.26 million.”

Haha! Darryl nearly laughed out loud upon hearing the price of the bill. This William was a real fool! None of them knew anything about the wine that was ordered, except for Darryl. It was a Romanée-Conti, which retail price was set at over one million bucks, and more than 30 bottles were distributed around the dining hall!

“Are you f*cking kidding me?” William panicked. He stood up and said to the waiter, “Over 300 of us Lyndons ate an amount of over 30 million bucks? The average cost per person is 100,000 bucks then? Alright, get your manager to see me.”

The two waiters looked at each other helplessly, they had no choice but to call their manager over.

The manager was a 30-year-old young man, who wore a neat suit

“Do you intend to continue operating your hotel?” William stepped forward and shouted at the manager while pointing at him. “An average cost of 100,000 per person? Believe it or not, I’m going to report you to the Consumers Association.”

The manager was not the slightest bit worried and merely stood there. “Excuse me, sir. The wine you ordered was a limited edition Romanée-Conti. Only 800 bottles are manufactured per year internationally and its market price is 1.63 million per bottle. Sir, we even gave you a discount for ordering over 30 bottles.”

William immediately flew into a rage and grabbed onto the manager’s collar. “It’s a limited edition wine and you guys have over 30 bottles here?! Who the f*ck wants to order this bottle of wine anyway?”

The manager put on a fake smile. Being a manager for about five to six years, he has seen many famous and important people around Donghai City. However, it was his first time seeing an incapable person acting like he was rich.

The manager steadied his emotions. “Kind sir, let me be clear about three things. Firstly, you said that you wanted the best wine, and we have the security camera footage as proof. Secondly, the wine we provide is certified authentic, I’m not sure why my boss has so many bottles of limited edition wines either. Lastly, please be respectful.”

Thud!

At the end of his sentence, ten or so burly men barged in from the door. They wore black short-sleeved shirts, showing off their huge tattoos.

They were the Oriental Pearl Hotel’s security guards. As Donghai City’s most luxurious hotel, no one dared to cause trouble on the premises. Everyone knew that the Oriental Pearl’s boss came from a rough background. Nobody would dare to be ignorant and cause trouble here.

Leading them was a man wearing a Chinese tunic suit, holding a cane in his hand. This man was none other than the boss of Oriental Pearl, Wayne Woodall.

Wayne was dressed in an old-fashioned manner, some might even mistake him for a 70-year-old man. In truth, he was just 30 years old.

Naturally, when Wayne brought in these burly men, the Lyndons panicked and went up to apologize.

William’s face sweated bullets. That was Wayne Woodall! The boss of Oriental Pearl Hotel, one of the earliest to dabble in rough business in Donghai City!

Upon seeing his boss, the manager spoke again with confidence. “You Lyndons are truly a second class clan. You said it yourself that you wanted the best wine, and now you’re refusing to pay?”

“No, no!” Exclaimed William as he was taken aback. “We’ll pay, we’ll pay…” He looked at Grandmother Lyndon as he said that.

Where could he find over 30 million bucks! If the bill was not paid, William would probably be leaving the place on a stretcher!

“Mister Woodall.” Grandmother Lyndon could not sit still any longer, and under some people’s assistance, went up to Wayne and bowed.

Age-wise, Grandmother Lyndon was way older than Wayne, but in terms of status, she could not afford to offend a man like him.

“The Lyndon clan made a mistake.” Grandmother Lyndon apologized with a bow. “My grandson is young and reckless, and I apologize on his behalf. We will pay the bill immediately.”

Upon seeing Granny bowing, the children of the Lyndon clan felt a sense of unease. What could they have done? No one asked William to do what he did, wanting to drink the most expensive wine!

Some of the younger members of the Lyndon clan looked up that bottle of wine online, and indeed it was over a million a bottle.

William apologized profusely as well after seeing his Granny doing so. The entire Lyndon clan hurriedly tried to put in some good words

Only Darryl stood up to walk out, not because of the situation, but rather he was old friends with Wayne!

When Wayne was just starting his business, he had visited the Darby clan to negotiate a deal. During that time, he had no money nor power, and none of the Darbys wanted to receive him.

At that time, Darryl was merely 14 years old, but he felt that Wayne carried himself extraordinarily well. He decided to invest 300,000 bucks in him, which made Wayne teared up in gratitude.

In truth, it was more of a sponsor rather than an investment, for Darryl did not ask for any shares. This happened so many years ago that he had almost forgotten about it. He could not believe that he would meet Wayne again on this very day, having started a successful business and becoming the boss of Oriental Pearl Hotel.

He definitely did not make a mistake by investing in him at that time.

Darryl hunched forward and tried to sneak out of the place, not wanting to be recognized by him.

“Hey there friend, hang on,” exclaimed Wayne as he walked toward Darryl.

The Lyndons were full of rage. Was Darryl mad? A simple apology and payment were all that was needed to settle this matter, but he decided to escape instead?

“Lily, what’s going on in your husband’s mind? Escaping?!” A few ladies of the Lyndon clan said.

“Yeah, everyone advised you to divorce him quickly, and yet you didn’t listen!”

“Now he’s trying to escape, Mister Wayne would surely be mad, and us Lyndons would have to suffer the consequences!” The ladies shouted while pointing at Lily.

Meanwhile, Lily could only bite her lip. Any sense of pride left in her was lost upon Darryl’s attempt at escaping, she would rather stick her head into a hole on the ground at that point.

“Mister Wayne!” William called out and quickly walked toward him, pointing at Darryl. “Mister Wayne, please don’t be mad, this guy is our clan’s live-in son-in-law, he’s always been a useless piece of trash. Him wanting to escape is none of our clan’s business! We’ll pay the bill right now…”

“F*ck off!” Wayne roared as he pointed at William.

Wayne’s booming voice frightened William and sent shivers down his spine. He dared not utter a sound and stood there in a daze.

Wayne was in disbelief! He could not believe that in his lifetime would he meet this young man again!

Seven years ago, he lacked the funds to start his business. No one was willing to help him, after all, he was a ruffian back then. Only the Darby clan’s second young master, a boy only 14 years of age, had sponsored him a sum of money! Darryl gave him 300,000 without asking for anything in return! Darryl had Wayne’s eternal gratitude, and he would never forget what he had done for him!

If not for this sum of money, Wayne would have been living on the streets a long time ago!

In recent years after his entrepreneurship success, Wayne had people inquire about this young man. He only learned that this man had been banished by the Darbys, his whereabouts unknown.

Today Wayne merely saw Darryl’s back, but it was enough for him to recognize who he was!

“Second young master, is it you…”

There was a slight tremble in Wayne’s voice, it was hard to imagine that a man who had seen much of life would exercise caution like a kid.

Damn it! There was no way to hide!

Darryl gritted his teeth and turned around to face Wayne.

Thump!

In an instant, Wayne was completely stupefied and knelt on the ground!

“I’ve finally found you, I’ve been looking for you for three whole years! I’m eternally grateful for your benevolence!” Wayne exclaimed with excitement, tears streaming down his face.

Every person in Oriental Pearl Hotel dropped their jaws immediately.

Astonishing!

Utterly astonishing!

A boss whose net worth was in the billions was kneeling on the ground, vehemently excited like a child!

Darryl simply stood there calmly without any signs of emotion! He showed no sign of happiness nor sadness!

What is the meaning of this?!

“Mister Wayne, what’s going on? Did you fall?” Darryl quickly bent over and picked him up, all the while winking repeatedly at him.

What kind of man was Wayne? Upon seeing Darryl’s action, he immediately understood that Darryl did not want to reveal his true identity.

“I wasn’t standing properly…” Wayne smoothly replied and heaved a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry, I must’ve mistaken you for someone else…”

“Phew…”

Upon hearing those words, members of the Lyndon clan let out a sigh of relief as well.

Turned out Wayne simply was not standing properly…

That was right, how would a piece of trash be acquainted with Mister Wayne.

“Listen to me,” said Grandmother Lyndon eventually, while gazing around the dining hall.

“This meal cost over 38 million bucks, William won’t be paying this sum alone,” she said.

William’s face lit up with joy upon hearing Granny’s words, truly she treated him best!

“This meal will cost an average of 100,000 bucks per person, all of you shall use your own money for it,” she continued.

The crowd nodded one after another. Even though the Lyndons were considered a second class clan, 100,000 bucks was still not a big deal to them.

However, two people among the crowd that had a sour look on their faces!

Naturally, they were Lily and Samantha. Their company met with some challenges recently and they had just resolved the five-million issue, as such their savings had been emptied a few days ago.

“Lily, you don’t look so good. Don’t tell me you don’t even have enough money to split the bill?” laughed William. He knew of course that Lily was broke, and he purposefully said it loudly to embarrass her.

“I…”

All eyes were on her, and Lily could feel her face blushing red. After a while only did she answered, “I… I didn’t bring my bank card.”