Chapter 4 Am I Seeing Things

• Once they had received their instructions, the staff left to carry out their task.
• Soon, the waiter returned to the private room and repeated the manager’s instructions. Of course, Wyatt was unwilling to listen and insisted on seeing the manager.
• And then the Quinn family members could only react in confusion when a group of security personnel arrived on the scene. Finally, they were all thrown out. During the process, both Wyatt and Yvonne put up a fight and kept demanding to see the manager.
• “Scr*w you!”
• The security guard was p*ssed and responded by slapping the unreasonable duo before throwing them out.
• “Ouch!”
• “It hurts!”
• Both Wyatt and Yvonne howled in agony.
• “How dare you treat me like this! I promise you this: you all are done for!” Wyatt shouted.
• “How dare you dirty my dress? You low-class people. Can you afford to pay for my dress?” Yvonne ranted.
• “Keep shouting and I will slap your mouth!” A security guard glared and roared at Yvonne. She promptly shut up.
• “Do you know what’s going on here?”
• “It’s so humiliating.”
• The festive party guests were now thrown out of the restaurant, and they milled around feeling embarrassed and looking demoralized. Christine, too, kept complaining as she had suffered a great loss of face. As for Jeremiah Quinn, the head of the Quinn family, his face had already turned an ugly color. In his whole life, he had never been so humiliated before. To think that he was thrown out like a dog during his meal.
• At this time, a crowd had gathered outside Oceanic Inn.
• To prepare for the VIP’s arrival, cordon tapes were put up to clear a path through the crowd. And a brand new red carpet was unrolled from the restaurant’s entrance to the main road.
• “Whoa!”
• “Look, isn’t that the president of Westero Corporation? One of the top ten young entrepreneurs of Jacaster? He’s a National People’s Congress representative. He was told to leave as well?”
• “And that old man. Isn’t he the head of the Quinn family? He was chased out as well?”
• “D*mn. That’s Mr. Marvin. He’s a senior leader of the national committee. He was told to leave too!”
• “What the… What’s going on today?”
• “Is a VVIP coming?”
• “Making such a fuss!”
• When they saw the top dogs of Yannopolis chased out of the restaurant, the onlookers worked themselves into a frenzy.
• With all the pomp that was going on, everyone couldn’t help but wonder about the identity of Oceanic Inn’s mystery guest.
• What kind of person could make Oceanic Inn go to such great lengths and offend so many members of high society!
• When the Quinn family saw that they were in such illustrious company, they felt a little better. At the same time, they were also curious about the identity of the VVIP guest.
• Mariette, too, lifted up her head to look, her heart filled with curiosity.
• Vroom…
• Finally, amidst all the commotion, roars of engine noise could be heard coming in from the end of the main road. Like the sound of howling demons, they tore through the horizon.
• Immediately after, streams of orange-yellow headlights flashed through the canopy of the night sky and sped toward the restaurant.
• The momentum of the car fleet was like that of a churning river.
• Soon, a black explosion-proof car that was being escorted by other vehicles arrived on the scene.
• “Whoa!”
• “Rolls-Royces!”
• “Six of them?”
• “Heavens!”
• “What a huge procession.”
• The crowd worked themselves into a frenzy again. Everyone was overwhelmed by the pageantry and after witnessing the procession, Wyatt felt inferior.
• Finally, the car’s door opened.
• Numerous stewards lined up on both sides of the red carpet and shouted in unison.
• “Welcome, Mr. Finley!”
• “Welcome, Mr. Finley!”
• Their shouts thundered and resounded through the air.
• While the stewards were shouting, the general manager himself came out to receive the mystery guest and the staff bowed uniformly in welcome.
• Under the dim lighting and the adoring gazes of the crowd, the slim figure of a young man walked up the red carpet and disappeared into Oceanic Inn, leaving numerous smoldering stares and frenzied shrieks in his wake.
• “Wow, so handsome!”
• “So young…”
• “He must be super rich.”
• “Wish I could marry him…”
• Scores of girls screamed and wished they could throw themselves at him.
• “Sh*t, stop pushing!”
• “You beasts!”
• Because the Quinn family members were standing in an unfavorable area, they were quickly pushed to the back of the crowd. When they made their way to the front, they could only see the back view of the young man.
• But even so, the two married women – Yvonne and Scarlet – stared seductively and longingly after the retreating back of the mysterious youth.
• “It’s a pity that we don’t know him.”
• “If I know a rich man like him, I will do anything to become his wife. Even if I have to keep pestering him. I want to sleep with him and have his baby. It’s fine even if I can only be his mistress.”
• Their hearts were filled with excitement and yearning. It didn’t matter to them that they were married. As long as the young man was willing, they could always abandon their husbands and follow him.
• As for Yvonne’s and Scarlet’s parents, they were feeling contemplative. They couldn’t help but think about how wonderful it would be if the rich young man was their son-in-law.
• “Mariette, look at him. He had the entire Oceanic Inn cleared out just because he wanted to have a meal. Not only did the general manager welcome him personally, but he also received the red carpet treatment. Would we be able to enjoy such treatment in our lifetime?” Mariette’s mother, Lily, was feeling envious. Making comparisons often brought about hurt feelings, but when she looked at the scene before her, Lily couldn’t help but compare that mysterious young man with her son-in-law. And she felt depressed when she thought about how ill-fated her life was.
• However, nobody noticed that Mariette had become stunned as she was observing the back view of the mysterious young man.
• “Mom, Dad. Don’t you think that young man looks like Finley?” Mariette whispered to her parents.
• Her parents laughed bitterly in response. “Mariette, stop dreaming. Although we truly wish that that person was our son-in-law, that’s impossible. Right? Let’s go.”
• “It’s a shame that our family is being dragged down because of that piece of trash.”
• Lily sighed. The crowd had already dispersed and so they left the place with the rest of the Quinn family.
• But Mariette was reluctant to leave. Her face creased in concentration as she thought about the mysterious young man.
• Could it be that I was wrong? But they look so similar.
• In the end, Mariette could only shake her head and sigh.
• Obviously, even she thought that she was overthinking things.
• A young man from a rich family and a live-in son-in-law are as different as heaven and earth. So how could the two be the same person?
• Mariette laughed self-deprecatingly and left.
• “Finley, I am glad that you are willing to see me.”
• In the Presidential Room of Oceanic Inn, Finley’s face was expressionless as he sat quietly. But the middle-aged man in front of him was overwhelmed with emotion. At that moment, he looked like he was about to cry.
• If anyone from the Cooper family were there, they would be shocked to see this weaker side of the usually unyielding and ruthless Hades Cooper.
• Finley’s expression remained emotionless. “Don’t overthink this. I am not sitting here because of you. If you have anything to say, then say it. After so many years, why did you people spend so much effort to look for the low-born son of a low-born woman?” As Finley asked his question, there was a hint of sarcasm on his lips.
• The middle-aged man felt a stab of pain in his heart. But he took a deep breath and tried to maintain his composure. “Finley, it’s been ten years already. Let bygones be bygones. The family does not care anymore about what happened in the past. Your grandfather is already an old man. Now, it’s time to go back. Return to your roots and pay your respects to your grandfather.”
• “Grandfather?” Finley laughed, his words cutting like ice. “I will say this again. I no longer had a grandfather the moment he drove my mother and me out of the family! As for returning to my roots, it’s possible. He and the rest of the people who humiliated my mother and me must apologize. Otherwise, I would rather die in the streets than return to the Cooper family!”
• Finley’s eyes were bloodshot and his body was trembling with rage.
• The Cooper family was prominent throughout the world but, in Finley’s memory, it was a cold and unfeeling place.
• When he saw Finley’s reaction, the middle-aged man felt a stab of pain in his heart.
• “Finley, let bygones be bygones.”
• “Let bygones be bygones? That’s easy for you to say. She is my mom, not yours. You can let bygones be bygones, but I can’t!” Finley growled like a beast who had his sore spot touched.
• Soon, the room turned silent.
• Nothing could be heard except for the ticking sound of the clock.
• After a while, the middle-aged man sighed. “Finley, I understand where you are coming from. I also understand the suffering you and your mother have gone through. But you know this too. It’s extremely difficult to force a prominent family, like the Cooper family, to apologize. The you right now lack the strength to do so. If you wish to seek justice for your mother, then work hard and prove yourself. When you are good enough, the whole world will bow before you.”
• Finley raised his head and fixed his gaze on the man opposite him. And then, he smiled sinisterly. “I will be. I will take back what the Cooper family owes me and my mother!”
• Finley thought that that would anger him but, to his surprise, the middle-aged man laughed with a twinkle of happiness in his eyes, and said, “I believe you.”
• Finley did not stay to chat and left promptly.
• As he was leaving, the middle-aged man suddenly called out after him. “Finley, your mother, is she doing well? I would like to see her.”
• With his back facing the man, Finley answered with, “Do you think you have the right?”
• Finley laughed coldly and left the place.
• In the room, only the middle-aged man remained. With his heart full of guilt and regret, he gazed into the distance.
• Suddenly, his body convulsed and, after a bout of coughing, he looked at the hand that he had used to cover his mouth. It was stained with blood.
• “Sir, your health…” An elderly retainer hurried forward and supported him worriedly.
• Hades waved his hand, smiled, and said, “It’s nothing. My son has not returned home so how could I fall? Oh, that’s right. Finley’s wife. She’s called Mariette? Prepare some gifts and deliver them to her. Let this unqualified father-in-law show some appreciation for his daughter-in-law. And I remember our family used to have a servant called Ernest Lemmon, right? I heard he’s doing well for himself in Yannopolis. Send him my greetings. Tell him I don’t care who dies in Yannopolis as long as it’s not my son.”
• As he was talking, he turned to face the retainer again. His eyes were bright and they swam with unfathomable implications.
• “Sir, how are you feeling?”
• Hades smiled. “I'm fine. If I remember correctly, you used to take care of Finley when he was still with us, right?”
• The retainer's eyes twitched a little.
• The middle-aged man continued to speak. “The Cooper family is huge but everyone is looking out for their own self-interests. There aren’t many people who would die for Finley. Although I am his father, there are many things I can’t do for him. So, I’d like to ask for your help. Please look out for Finley in private. Speaking as a father, this will give me peace of mind.”