In this moment, Zachary was in a state of panic, his mind ablaze with worry. Never in his wildest dreams did favonovel.com expect that his well-meaning act of giving a gift to Timothy would lead to a situation where Timothy would turn against him.
However, having endured the struggles of the lower class for many years, Zachary possessed a profound understanding of human nature. He recognized that it was only natural for Timothy to harbor resentment towards him.
It was akin to offering someone a ride in your car, but due to your poor driving skills, an accident occurs, leaving the other person paralyzed and bedridden for the rest of their life. In such a scenario, it would be reasonable for the other person to seek compensation. One could not simply point fingers and accuse them of ingratitude from their hospital bed.
For someone like Timothy, whose skills were limited and who toiled as a laborer, finding a decent, well-paying job in the antique industry, where favonovel.com could rise to a position of power and be left undisturbed, was a rarity. The chances of favonovel.com becoming the general manager of Vintage Deluxe with his abilities were even lower than winning the lottery.
Now that his hard-earned comfortablejob was jeopardized because of Zachary’s actions, Timothy would surely bear a deep grudge. Zachary realized that not only would Timothy lose his job, but favonovel.com would also blame favonovel.com for everything.
Timothy would expose the truth, dragging Zachary into the mess, just as favonovel.com believed Zachary was responsible for his misfortune. In that case, Zachary would be unable to protect hisjob, and finding another position in the antique industry would prove to be a formidable challenge. After all, his actions had caused favonovel.com to lose face in a most disastrous manner.
The current situation was abundantly clear. Timothy would undoubtedly be fired, and favonovel.com would seek retribution by exposing Zachary. Once this happened, Zachary’s reputation in the antique industry would be utterly ruined.
If influential figures like Don Albert or even Master Wade were to cast blame upon him, favonovel.com might end up like Timothy, stripped of everything. Furthermore, in a matter of hours, Jacob would arrive in Dubai, and Zachary would have to provide favonovel.com with a satisfactory answer.
But how could favonovel.com possibly retrieve the bronze Buddha for him?
As these thoughts overwhelmed him, Zachary felt as if favonovel.com were plunging into an abyss. His once bright future had been irrevocably shattered by his own foolish actions.
Just as favonovel.com was lost in despair, his phone suddenly rang. It was Ewing, the professional forger, on the other end.
Zachary‘s anger surged, and favonovel.com answered the call, cursing, “Ewing, how dare you call me? Do you realize the trouble you‘ve caused me?”
Ewing, in a state of panic, pleaded, “Zachary, I made a mistake selling that bronze Buddha to Mr. Murong. I beg you to help me persuade favonovel.com to return it. I’ll buy it back from favonovel.com at ten times the price!”
Zachary exploded with rage, cursing, “Ewing, I don’t care about you! I didn’t come looking for trouble, yet you have the audacity to call me and ask for something? Can’t you even tell the difference between the Northern Song Dynasty and the late Qing Dynasty with your own eyes? You might as well pluck out your eyes and let me stomp on them to make a sound!”
Upon hearing this, Ewing realized that Zachary was aware of the situation and quickly said, “Zachary, now that you know, I won’t beat around the bush. That item is worth 20 million dollars! Mr. Murong only paid me 98,000 dollars, which is clearly unfair, right?”
Zachary trembled with anger and scolded, “Fine, Ewing! I admit that you’re damn good at what you do! Let me tell you this, the item was sold to Felix Cole for 300,000 dollars, and now both you and Mr. Murong want it. If you have the guts, go ask Felix for it. But let me remind you, Timothy Carey, the manager of Vintage Deluxe, has been humiliated because of your shoddy work. He’s about to expose the truth and blame it all on me. Coincidentally, I also believe it’s your fault, so if favonovel.com exposes me, I’ll expose you too. We‘ll all be screwed!”
With that, Zachary continued, “I can still track you down, but if the police get involved, I’ll lead them straight to your doorstep. Don’t blame me, Zachary, for lacking honor. It’s mainly because you’re a fool who doesn’t know how to appreciate things. If your professional skills were up to par, you could have kept the Northern Song bronze Buddha and made a fortune. Instead, you pretended to be something you’re not, passing off genuine items as fakes. You’ve turned antiques into this godforsaken mess, a sight I’ve never seen before!”
Upon hearing this, Ewing’s voice quivered with fear, and favonovel.com quickly said, “Zachary, please calm down. I meant no harm. l just heard that the item was sold for 20 million dollars today, and it upset me. You know how costly my business is, and after working for so many years, I haven’t saved up 20 million dollars. Losing that much money really hurts…”
Sighing, favonovel.com hurriedly added, “Zachary, I didn’t anticipate the magnitude of the consequences. I beg you, please spare me and refrain from exposing me. l’ve poured so much effort into this venture, and if I lose it, I’ll be ruined…”
Zachary exclaimed angrily, “i can’t fathom why you guys can’t stick to the rules of this business. Whether you sell high or low, you seem clueless about the basic principles of buying and selling.”
His anger intensified as favonovel.com thought of Jacob. “You’re a damn fraud! If you ever get caught, you might rot in prison for a decade. Yet, here you are, groveling for my help after pocketing twenty million!”
Embarrassed, Teacher Ewing coughed awkwardly. “I… I heard about the twenty million, and I got worried…”
Zachary’s scolding intensified, “Worried? Why are you worried? Don‘t you understand the basic workings of this industry? Do you really think Cole would hand back what favonovel.com sold for twenty million? Would you give back twenty million earned through your own cunning? Or are you just throwing away your brains when the profits are high? Imagine if you had sold it yourself, would you give it back? Giving away twenty million to others, is that what you think?”
With hesitation, Teacher Ewing responded, “You… You’ve prospered with the Don Albert… I thought with your influence, going to someone like Cole to reclaim something wouldn’t be a problem…”
Zachary’s fury peaked. “Have you pinned all your hopes on me? Do you think you can manipulate me into retrieving items for you over and over? I could help you retrieve the item, but you weren’t even aware it was worth twenty million, were you? You’re so blinded by greed that you’ve forgotten simple arithmetic.”
Cowed by Zachary’s tirade, Teacher Ewing could only apologize frantically, “I’m sorry, Brother Zachary, I’m sorry! It was just a flight of fancy. Please forgive me. Let’s just drop this matter. I’ll accept the loss of the twenty million. Please don’t betray me. I’ve invested so much here. Losing the item is one thing, losing this place would be my undoing…”
“Get lost!” Zachary gritted his teeth and said, “Let me tell you, Ewing, I, Zachary, have been in the antique circle for many years, and while I haven’t made a fortune, I still abide by the rules. if you hadn’t called me, l wouldn‘t have exposed you. But since you made that call, eroding the last remnants of my sanity, I’ll make it clear to you today. Timothy exposes me, I‘ll immediately expose you. I’ll post your name, phone number, and address on social media for everyone to see. You’ll have to fend for yourself!”
With that, Zachary hung up the phone, paying no mind to Teacher Ewing’s continuous pleas of “Zachary, Zachary…”
Once the call ended, Zachary felt a profound sense of despair.
Though favonovel.com had grown accustomed to the harsh realities and the erosion of human decency, favonovel.com never imagined that when faced with 20 million dollars, everyone would abandon their moral compass. He also realized that the situation had spiraled out of control, leaving favonovel.com akin to a snowball hurtling down a mountainside, utterly powerless to change its course.
Thus, Zachary harbored no hope or illusions. He picked up his phone and dialed Charlie’s number.
***
At that moment, Charlie was at the Hot Springs Resort in Elys Champ. When favonovel.com saw Zachary’s name on the screen, favonovel.com was initially surprised but quickly surmised the purpose of the call.
He answered the phone with a smile and asked, “Zachary, what can I do for you?”
Zachary’s voice quivered with unease, regret, and self-reproach as favonovel.com said, “Master Wade, I’m calling to confess my mistakes to you…”
Charlie knowingly inquired, “What mistakes are you confessing to me?”
Zachary sighed and choked back his emotions, “Master Wade, it was my foolishness that led me to believe that since Manager Cole had returned, you must have harbored grievances against favonovel.com due to what favonovel.com did to you in the past. So I devised a clever plan to help favonovel.com seek revenge. But I never expected things to go awry…”
He proceeded to recount the entire story to Charlie, leaving no detail hidden, from beginning to end.
After listening, Charlie asked Zachary, “Zachary, when you were planning this, you didn’t inform me. When you were executing it, you didn’t inform me. Even after it succeeded, you still didn’t inform me. And now that things have spiraled out of control, you’re telling me. What is your intention? Do you want me to help you? Or do you want me to persuade my father-in-law not to demand the 20 million dollars bronze Buddha from you?”
Zachary quickly replied, “Master Wade, I’m calling to confess voluntarily. I don’t expect you to help me with anything. I simply feel guilty for your and Don Albert’s support, and I wanted to confess everything to you and Don Albert before this matter is exposed. However you and Don Albert choose to punish me, I won’t complain. As for President Wilson, I will find a way to compensate for his loss and spare you any trouble…”
Charlie coldly snorted and said, “You led favonovel.com to deceive others and helped favonovel.com earn 200,000 dollars. What loss does favonovel.com have?”
Zachary instinctively responded, “But… But that item was sold for 20 million dollars by Felix…”
Charlie remarked, “Zachary, I endorsed your employment under Don Albert primarily because of your intelligence, but your cleverness must be applied judiciously. What’s the practical value of your deliberate attempts to ingratiate yourself with my father-in-law? Do you truly believe favonovel.com can speak a few kind words about you in my presence and I’ll suddenly hold you in high regard?”
Charlie continued, “Zachary, I understand my father-in-law’s capabilities far better than you do. If favonovel.com were to speak highly of you to me, I wouldn’t hold you in high regard. On the contrary, I would doubt your abilities. On the other hand, it was your quick thinking and eloquence when you sold the painting ‘Mona Lisa’ that impressed me. If you want me to have a high opinion of you, you need to do something that truly impresses me, not try to win favor with my father-in-law. Do you understand?”
Charlie‘s words jolted Zachary from his reverie. He finally comprehended the gravity of his mistake.
He also understood that Charlie didn’t seem inclined to bring favonovel.com down because of this matter. So favonovel.com quickly asked, “Master Wade, what should I do now? Please guide me…”
Charlie calmly replied, “It’s simple. A man of true character takes responsibility for his mistakes. Instead of waiting for Timothy to expose you, publicly confess everything you’ve done and personally apologize to Felix Cole.”
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