Chapter - 5724

Charlie stood in stunned silence, his father's actions leaving him speechless. It seemed as though he was on the verge of being thrown out of the house, yet he clung to his desire for opulent mansions and flashy cars.

With a sense of helplessness, Charlie reminded him, "Dad, if this plan fails, I won't be able to afford a luxurious house for you, let alone give you the Cullinan."

Jacob instinctively asked, "Why not?"

Charlie explained, "Don't forget, even if you leave this family, I'll still be here. If I rent a luxurious mansion for you and give you Cullinan, Mom might hold a grudge against me. I need to protect myself. If I provide you with a modest place, at least I can defend myself if Mom blames me. After all, I can't let you become homeless, can I? Otherwise, I'd be guilty of abandonment, wouldn't I?"

Jacob looked at Charlie, who seemed sincere, and let out a long sigh. He patted Charlie's shoulder and said with great pain, "I understand, I understand. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't want to offend Elaine either."

Charlie replied, "Dad, I'll do everything I can to help you this time, but remember, there's no turning back now. We have to go all-in and give it our best shot. If we fail, we'll face the consequences together!"

Jacob gritted his teeth and said, "Alright! I'll do as you say!"

...

On the other side, when Claire entered Elaine's room, she found her mother engaged in a heated argument with a traffic police officer, her eyes filled with anger. "I just don't understand, why can't they arrest all the cheaters? Why?!"

The traffic police officer helplessly replied, "Why, why... I can't answer that. It's not up to me..."

Just then, Claire called out, "Mom!"

Elaine caught sight of Claire and burst into tears. She embraced her daughter tightly and cried, "My daughter, you're finally here. Jacob, that scoundrel, betrayed me with his old flame behind my back. I don't want to live anymore!"

Claire quickly attempted to console her, saying, "Mom, don't think so drastically. From what I know about Dad, he wouldn't do something like that..."

"Wouldn't he?" Elaine wailed, "His old flame returned after leaving over thirty years ago, and he never mentioned a word to me. They even worked together at the Senior University without my knowledge. Can you call that work? It's just an excuse to have an affair! Who knows if they secretly lived together as a couple! It's been so long, I don't know how many times I've been made a fool of!"

Claire hurriedly tried to defend her father, "Mom, Dad isn't that kind of person. Don't drive yourself crazy over this..."

"Am I driving myself crazy? It's like spotting a single cockroach. Once you see one, there must be thousands more lurking somewhere!" Elaine exclaimed.

Then, a thought struck her, and she slapped her thigh in frustration, "Damn it! Weren't they both on the Senior University's cultural exchange trip to South Korea?!"

With newfound determination, she grabbed her phone and began searching for news about the cultural exchange trip to South Korea. Adding Matilda's name to the search, she discovered numerous news articles.

After all, it was a city-organized cultural exchange event, and it was customary to list the participants in the news releases. Elaine found evidence that Matilda had indeed taken part in the exchange, fueling her anger. She cried out, "This... This wasn't a cultural exchange, they went on a trip to betray me!"

She looked at Claire and lamented, "My daughter, I'm so furious! Jacob betrayed me with Matilda behind my back, and yet I used to mock Christopher for wearing the 'green hat.' Hannah was sent to the coal mine not long after, but Jacob, that scoundrel, has been having an affair with Matilda for God knows how long!"

Claire pursed her lips, searching for the right words, and hastily said, "Mom, Matilda should be a decent person. They wouldn't stoop so low..."

Elaine paused and asked, "Claire, have you met Matilda?!"

"Um... Mom... I... I haven't..." Claire suddenly realized her mistake and didn't know how to explain herself.

Elaine pressed on aggressively, "If you haven't met Matilda, how can you vouch for her character?"

Claire was momentarily speechless.

Elaine broke down, crying, "Claire, are you also helping him deceive me? Are you?!"

Claire was at a loss, unsure of how to salvage the situation. Just then, Charlie pushed open the door and entered. As soon as he stepped in, he spoke up, "Mom, Claire hasn't met Matilda, but I have."

"What?!" Elaine was surprised to see Charlie and immediately questioned him, "You... Have you met Matilda? Did Jacob take you to meet her?"

Charlie nodded and honestly replied, "Dad took me to meet her."

Elaine was furious, scolding, "Then why didn't you tell me?! I called you a good son-in-law and treated you like my own son, and Jacob made a fool of me. You didn't say a word! Charlie! You... You've disappointed me!"

Charlie remained calm and quickly explained, "Mom, it's not what you think. I did know about Matilda's return, and I did meet her with Dad. But Dad and Matilda genuinely have a platonic relationship. The reason Dad didn't tell you, and didn't let me tell you, was primarily for your sake."

"You bastard!" Elaine's profanity slipped out without thinking.

But as soon as the words left her mouth, she nervously closed it.

In the past, she would often speak to Charlie without filtering her thoughts. She would say whatever was on her mind, and she wouldn't feel satisfied unless she had said ten or eight sentences a day.

But now, the situation had changed.

Now she relied on Charlie for everything, from food and shelter to daily necessities. Without Charlie, nothing would function. So, after accidentally swearing at Charlie, she genuinely feared angering him.

Hence, she hastened to add, "Charlie, I'm not targeting you. I'm targeting Jacob, that scoundrel. He claims he did it for my sake, but how could that be?!"

Charlie sighed and began to explain. He said, "Mom, you don't know the whole story. Matilda has had an extraordinary career in the United States for the past thirty years. She and her late first husband co-founded one of the most prestigious law firms called Smith Law Firm. You can look it up online. It's definitely one of the top law firms globally, worth billions of dollars. Their annual profits from representing major companies in lawsuits amount to hundreds of millions of dollars."

Matilda was actually a very modest person. Her classmates in China had no idea about her accomplishments in the United States. It was as if she had vanished from the face of the earth after going abroad.

Thus, Jacob, Elaine, and their old classmates remained unaware of Matilda's achievements overseas.

It was only after Matilda returned to China that she revealed her accomplishments to Jacob.

As a result, everything Charlie said was true, without any exaggeration.

In the past, Elaine had always felt inferior to Matilda. So, upon hearing about Matilda's success, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of discomfort and said somewhat unnaturally, "What does her success have to do with me? Just because she's successful doesn't mean she can be with my husband."

Charlie shook his head and continued to explain, "Mom, you don't understand. Matilda's husband passed away, and she and her son inherited the family fortune and the law firm. Even if they split it with her son, they would still receive billions of dollars. And why did she come back to Aurous Hill? It wasn't for Dad; it was for her true love!"