Chapter 4
“An explanation? Why should I give you an explanation?” Harvey said coldly. “First, Mandy is my wife. Please stay away from her. If you want to make a scene, go someplace else!
“Second, if my wife loves roses, I’ll buy them for her! She’s so gorgeous. How could such plain and cheap things suit her? I’ll send her the roses from Prague tonight itself!”
“What the f*ck! Are you mentally retarded or just plain stupid? One rose from Prague costs more than a thousand dollars. I heard that you were asking for a scooter from Senior Zimmer yesterday. You’re just a good-for-nothing. Even if you sell your kidney out, you couldn’t even afford to buy one of those. Why are you so daring, putting up a show here?”
Don appeared cold. He enjoyed a privileged status in York Enterprise. ‘How can a son-in-law like him talk to me like this?’
Besides, the thing which infuriated him the most was the incident in which Harvey smashed his flowers and dragged Mandy into the elevator. ‘What the hell did the b*stard want to do?’
Thinking about that, Don smiled coldly all of a sudden. He seemed to be so sure of himself. “Mandy, aren’t you in need of five million dollars for your company’s funds? I could help you with that.”
“What?” Mandy was stunned.
Don said calmly, “Mandy, I know that your company is in need of five million dollars. Fortunately, I have that kind of amount in my hand, and it could be used as the funds for investment. If you have a meal with me this afternoon, it’ll be yours.”
“Are you serious?” Mandy let go of Harvey’s hand unconsciously. Her company did need that amount of money.
“I always keep my promises.” Don appeared quite confident.
“Sure.” After considering it for a while, she gave her word at last. If she did not gain such funds, her company would most probably go into bankruptcy.
“Let’s go, Mandy. We could discuss the project and where we’re going to have our lunch later…” said Don politely.
“Dear! You can’t go with him!” Before Mandy could speak, Harvey stared at Don angrily. His facial expression worsened. “Don, I’m warning you. You better stay away from my wife!”
Don sneered. “How can a useless son-in-law decide about this? Why? Are you afraid that she might cheat on you?” Don smiled faintly at that moment.
“You’re just a good-for-nothing. Do you think that you can change your fate?”
“I…” Harvey’s facial expression changed, and he wanted to say more.
But at that moment, Mandy walked out of the elevator and said coldly, “Harvey, don’t be unreasonable.”
“Am I being unreasonable?” Harvey was stunned.
“Do you know how important this investment is to me?” Mandy looked at Harvey in disappointment. ‘If he were more capable, I wouldn’t have to be like this.’
She sighed and followed Don out of the lobby of the company. She then got into the BMW.
“Dear!” Seeing that Mandy had gotten into Don’s car, he rushed after her quickly. He then said, “Dear, don’t go with him! I have the money. I’ll give you five million dollars!”
“Harvey, why don’t you go and look for a job? Don’t be daydreaming here.” Mandy sighed.
“But…” Harvey was about to say something again.
Don had now walked towards him. He patted Harvey’s shoulder and said solemnly, “What’s wrong? Are you looking for a job given that you’re just a useless man? Do you need me to recommend one for you? Luckily, my company is in need of a cleaner.
“Do you want to give it a try? You’ll be paid around two hundred bucks every month. I’ll pay you 50 bucks more as your subsidy for Mandy’s sake. How about that?” Don said seriously, “York Enterprise is owned by the Yorks. It’s not easy to enter such a big company. Don’t miss out on a chance like this. You need to think about it carefully!”
Harvey pushed Don’s hand away and said coldly, “I don’t need that!”
“Oh, how ungrateful you are!” Don shook his head, and he could not be bothered about Harvey anymore. He opened the door of his BMW and got into the car immediately.
“Dear, don’t go with him. I’m able to help you with that five million dollars!” Harvey did not give up as he looked at Mandy, hoping that she would change her mind.
Unfortunately, Mandy ignored Harvey’s request.
“Harvey, don’t shout anymore. You better don’t daydream here given how poor you are…”
“What can you help Mandy with? Do you have five million dollars? Do you know the CEO of York Enterprise?
“You… You better think about where you should go begging for money after you’re kicked out of the Zimmers…” Don burst into laughter.
Don rolled down his car window and smiled in disdain.
Harvey shouted, “Don! Don’t be so smug about yourself just because you’re rich!”
“Excuse me, b*stard. It’s indeed such a good feeling, being rich. I can easily ask your wife to come with me just because I can…”
“If I want her to get into my car, she has no choice but to comply.”
“If I want her to divorce you, she’ll have to act accordingly.”
Don burst into laughter.
After Don went away in his car, Harvey stood at the entrance of the company dispiritedly.
“A mere project manager from York Enterprise could make my wife get into his car. Even he could ask my wife to divorce me.”
“York Enterprise is nothing but just a company under the Yorks. D*mn it!”
As he was talking, he fished out his old phone and dialed the contact number from the previous day.
“It’s me. I can help the Yorks, but I have two conditions!”
“First, York Enterprise belongs to me from today onward!”
“Second, help me to order the best roses from Prague and send it to Zimmer Advertising Company using a way which is generally favored by women the most!”
Chapter 5
“Sir, I’ll report to the chief immediately. You…”
“Don’t try to bargain with me. Otherwise, I’ll ruin the entire York Enterprise!”
Before the person at the other end of the phone could speak, Harvey hung up the phone immediately.
...
In the Gold Coast Villa area, every villa was specifically designed by an internationally famous designer. From the type of ceramic tiles up until the type of trees, they were all chosen with great care. It was indeed not a place where one could afford to buy even though they were rich.
At that moment, Harvey was sitting casually on the sofa at the balcony. Across him was the current chief of the Yorks—Yonathan York. He was Harvey’s uncle, and he was the one who asked his driver to pick Harvey up and gave him a ride to the villa just now.
Looking at the carefree Harvey, Yonathan smiled and said, “Harv, we haven’t met each other for so many years now. You seem so much more handsome and energetic…”
“Uncle, we don’t have to beat around the bush. Just go straight to the point. Tell me, how do you want me to help the Yorks? How do you want me to be in control of the entire situation?” Harvey asked calmly, and he did not even look at Yonathan.
Yonathan sneered. “Harv, you’re certainly a straightforward person. Then, I’ll be frank with you…” At that moment, Yonathan appeared quite helpless. He was an influential and powerful person in Niumhi. He could provide a great impact on the entire city just by doing a mere action. But now he had no choice but to be humble and submissive before Harvey, given that he had a request to make.
“Our family followed the trend and invested the money in the stock market of the oil futures. Consequently, we suffered a great loss. Now our family’s funding is…”
“Cut to the chase! How much do you need?”
“Not much, just around a billion dollars…”
‘F*ck!’ Harvey’s eyes twitched slightly. 'A billion dollars? Why don’t you go and rob a bank?'
“Regarding that, Chief York, I still have some other business to deal with. I’ll leave first…” Harvey stood up immediately and was about to leave.
“Harv!” Yonathan became quite anxious at that moment. He said immediately, “We do indeed need this much money. If we don’t have it, our funding will be cut, and our large enterprise will be ruined. Besides, I can fulfill your requests!”
Harvey looked deep into Yonathan’s eyes and said rather helplessly, “I saw your sincerity. But the problem is where do I get such a great amount of money?”
“Harv, do you really want to see our family be ruined entirely? You have around a trillion dollars in your offshore account. You can help save the Yorks just by giving us a tiny bit of that!” Yonathan became so nervous that his eyes became bloodshot. “Don’t forget where you came from!”
At first, Harvey was smiling. When he heard that, his facial expression worsened. “Uncle, from what I remembered, the entire York family believed that I couldn’t be the heir of the Yorks at that time.
“There are around a few hundreds of us in the Yorks. You interrogated and condemned me vehemently. I was once a great contributor to the family, but I was kicked out like a bad egg. Now you’re asking me to remember where I came from. Don’t you think it’s rather ridiculous?
“Why don’t you think about how much I earned for the family during all those years, working extremely hard? You enjoyed the money and profits I earned and refused to approve of me at the end.”
“I’ve become a son-in-law for the other family for the past few years. I led a terribly miserable life. You don’t even come to visit or lend me a helping hand.
“If you’re not in a great crisis, would you still remember about the previous heir now?” Harvey said every word distinctly.
Yonathan’s eyes twitched slightly. He said immediately, “Harv, we were wrong. Let us apologize to you. We’ll ask for your forgiveness sincerely… But we need you to help us to resolve this crisis first. I can make the decision here. From now onward, you’re the CEO of York Enterprise!”
Although York Enterprise was not the biggest company under the Yorks, it was one with the most potential. It focused on angel investments. Besides, it owned the shares of a lot of companies in the entire Niumhi, including numerous new products and plans which were about to be listed.
All this while, that enterprise was under the charge of Yonathan’s daughter—Belle York. She was Harvey’s cousin. Surprisingly, Yonathan was willing to hand over the enterprise to him.
“Fine, it’s a deal.” Harvey considered it for a moment. At first, he was reluctant to bother about the Yorks. But he still remembered what happened that morning clearly. If he did not retrieve the enterprise, he would be easily bullied and condemned by literally anybody.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get it done nicely. You just need to go to the enterprise and sign the document tomorrow. Besides, I’ll arrange for the roses from Prague too…” Yonathan heaved a sigh of relief. If Harvey did not agree to help them, the Yorks would certainly suffer terribly even though they did not go into bankruptcy.
Harvey could not care less about him. If he was unable to deal with a small matter like that, he could not even survive in the business field.
“By the way, lend me this suit.” Harvey was about to leave. But he saw a new suit on the sofa, and his eyes brightened.
He was about to attend a gathering with his classmates from college that night, and he was still anxious that he did not have some nice clothes to wear. It was too late for him to go and buy one now, so he decided to borrow it from Yonathan.
“It’s nothing. If you like it, just take it with you. It’s a gift from Armani, and the price tag is still intact.” Yonathan nodded casually. Although that suit was expensive, it meant nothing if compared to a billion dollars. How could a chief of the Yorks care about that?
Harvey did not think much about it. So he went to change into that suit in the changing room immediately. He then glanced at his own shoes and turned to look at Yonathan’s shoe cabinet in disdain.
Yonathan seemed to have smelly feet. ‘I don’t want to wear his shoes at all. I’ll just go in my slippers.’
He heard that every classmate would attend the gathering that night. It seemed like the beauty of the college that year—Wendy Sorrell would be there too. Harvey was slightly eager.
…
After Harvey left the villa neighborhood, he whistled and rode on his old electric bike to go to the Platinum Hotel. The gathering would be held there, and he was afraid that he would be late if he was too slow.
Suddenly, a loud car horn was heard. A Porsche stopped right beside Harvey, and the window of the car was rolled down slowly.
He saw his mother-in-law taking off her sunglasses and looked at him coldly. He soon became awkward.
Although Lilian Yates was Harvey’s mother-in-law, she appeared just like a thirty-year-old woman since she took good care of her appearance and health. She appeared elegant, and one could easily discern the slight resemblance between her and Mandy since both of them were extremely beautiful.
However, she was looking at Harvey at that moment. She then said coldly, “Where did you get that suit?”
For the three years that Harvey was taken in, the person whom he was afraid of the most was Lilian. Hearing that, he said with a soft voice immediately, “Mom, I borrowed it from a friend…”
“Oh? Do you even have friends?” Lilian smiled coldly. She then said, “Somebody told me what happened today at the company. Since you’re incompetent in doing anything successfully, just go home and pack up your things tonight. Sign the divorce agreement tomorrow. Don’t worry, I’ll pay you the alimony.”
A cold shiver ran down his spine. “But… mom… I love Mandy truly. I can’t live without her…”
Hearing that, Lilian laughed coldly and said, “Don’t address me as your mom. I don’t deserve that. If I do indeed become your mom, I’m afraid that even my ancestors would become quite frustrated about it…
“Besides, you claimed that you love my daughter. How? How could you love her since you’re such a useless person? What else could you do except the house chores? Are you even aware that you’ve ruined the prime years of my daughter’s life for the past three years?”
“Just now, Don called me up. He said that he’s willing to pay a million dollars as the wedding gift as long as I give him my blessing and let him marry Mandy. Do you know how much that is? I’m afraid that you're not even certain about that.”
Chapter 6
“Don?”
Harvey was stunned for a moment. He then smiled, ‘This guy is just a dog raised by the York Enterprise. It was only a matter of time before he got kicked out.’
“Mother, I won’t get a divorce. Even if we are getting a divorce, this is none of your business. I hope you don’t interfere in our affair.” Harvey laughed and said this sentence before riding on his beloved electric bike and left.
“Harvey, you’re nothing!” Lilian shuddered with anger. She had almost driven over Harvey with her car. However, she could only suppress her anger and quickly left after seeing a crowd surrounding them.
…
Mandy walked to the front desk of the company during after-hours.
She then saw two girls laughing while saying something and many employees were watching.
“Miss Zimmer’s husband is a loser. He said that he would give her roses from Prague. How dare he say that? Didn’t he look at himself in the mirror? Not to mention that he rode an electric bike, even his slippers were broken. A guy like him should go and beg for food instead…”
“Yes, I don’t know why Miss Zimmer would find such a loser!”
“If he’s not a loser, he would not be a live-in son-in-law!”
“If it were me, I would have divorced him long ago…”
“There are so many people who are wooing Miss Zimmer out there…”
Mandy was speechless.
“You…” Mandy bit her red lips and her face was ruddy as if she had gotten a fever when she heard these comments. She was so embarrassed.
“Miss Zimmer…” The two girls at the front desk looked terrified when they noticed Mandy.
“Miss Zimmer, we are just talking nonsense. Please don’t get angry…”
“Shut up!” Mandy yelled as her body slightly trembled.
Her eyes were red and she was about to cry. Why would she have such a useless husband?
Others’ husbands were either business elites or from wealthy families. However, her husband was a good-for-nothing live-in son-in-law. Not only could he not protect her, he always made her a disgrace in front of other people.
At this moment, the phone at the front desk rang. The terrified girl answered the phone and said softly, “Miss Zimmer, the security said that a logistics company has sent you a truckload of goods. Should we let them in?”
“For me?” Mandy was taken aback for a moment. She did not buy anything, but she nodded anyway.
Soon, she saw a handsome and elite-like man wearing a suit walking in.
He said respectfully, “Are you, Miss Zimmer? This is the global express delivery service undertaken by our company. This is delivered from Prague. Please sign for it.”
“Prague?!” Mandy finished signing with a surprised look. As the handsome guy waved his hand, a few porters cautiously carried an exquisite high-end wooden box and placed it in the lobby.
The top of the box was studded with shiny crystals that were dazzling under the light.
All the employees’ eyes were wide open.
“Wow! Is this from Prague?”
“And this box is so exquisite, what’s in it?”
“Miss Zimmer, can you please open it and let us have a look?”
There were mostly female employees in advertising companies. At this moment, all the employees were anticipating it with starry eyes.
Although Mandy was puzzled, she motioned the guy to open the wooden box after seeing everyone being so excited.
Nonetheless, in the next second, everyone was dumbfounded and went silent for several minutes.
“These…these are the roses from Prague…”
“Are you sure? Didn’t the news mention that there was a decrease in Prague’s rose production this year? How many is this?”
The handsome guy saw the girls were so thrilled. He then smiled and pointed at the bouquet of roses. He said, “Miss Zimmer, please allow me to introduce you…”
“These are the roses from Prague. You should all know that these are the best batch of roses this year.”
“But, this is not the most valuable item, look here…”
The handsome guy pointed at the center of the large bouquet of roses, where there was a small rose which was of the size of a brooch.
However, if you looked closely, you would find that it was not a rose, instead, it was beset with diamonds and gems of various colors.
“The Heart of Prague!” Mandy was shocked. She felt as if she was dreaming.
The Heart of Prague was designed and carved by several of the most famous art masters in Prague history. This was the only one in the world. It was very unique. Moreover, it was the symbol of Prague. Although it was very valuable, it was never for sale. She never thought that someone would send it to her today.
“Wow! Who sent this to you?”
“Miss Zimmer, this must be given by your admirer!”
“It’s such a largesse, could it be sent by Mr. Xander?”
“Didn’t Miss Zimmer’s good-for-nothing husband also say that he wanted to give her the roses from Prague?”
“Pfft, you are cracking me up. How could he afford those roses? Even if he sells himself, he still couldn’t afford to buy them!”
Mandy was completely stunned. Who would give her those roses and the Heart of Prague?
Mandy did not think about Harvey at all, because she knew about his financial situation the best. She usually gave him pocket money. He could not even afford to buy ordinary roses, let alone the roses from Prague. He probably would not be able to buy them.
Could it be…Was it sent by Don?
Mandy’s heart was filled with strange emotions when she thought of this—a little moved yet a little shy.
…
In Niumhi, at Platinum Hotel.
This hotel was also considered a well-known venue for entertainment purposes in Niumhi and the costs were not low. It was believed that the people who came here were famous and had a lot of influence. Hence, there were many luxury cars parked at the gate in front of the hotel.
This time, Harvey’s college reunion party was organized at this place.
Harvey hummed a little tune and parked his electric bike in the parking space at the gate. Although he was rich now, he was a nostalgic person. This electric bike had been with him through ups and downs for three years. He could not abandon it.
Suddenly, there was a deafening horn from behind before he parked his electric bike well.
“Are you stupid?! Are you a delivery man or a valet? Don’t you know the rules? How dare you occupy a parking space with that broken electric bike? Are you out of your mind?!”
An Audi A4 stopped behind Harvey. A man stuck his head out, pointed at him, and yelled.
Harvey subconsciously turned his head. Both of them were stunned for a moment.
“Class monitor?” Harvey reacted. This person was his classmate from college who had been the class monitor for several years.