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Glancing at the time, it was already three in the afternoon.

A group of people took turns carrying Bran Cook down from the high-rise building in their twenties, each one as tired as the next.

“Amos Davenport, I’m going to beat you to the ground one of these days!”

Graham Cook, hands on his hips, cursed as he looked up at the thirty-some-story building in front of him.

He wanted to walk now, but his legs were too weak to stand.

“Master Cook, let’s take a break, I’ll be so exhausted I’ll get diarrhea if I walk any more!”

A Cook family’s person was panting heavily, swallowing his spit.

They were so thirsty their throats were smoking, and there was no place to buy water on the way. It had been a struggle to carry Bran Cook down from the upper floors, and now they were lying on the ground, too weak to move.

“Solomon, go buy a bottle of water to drink, I…”

Graham Cook started to say but couldn’t finish his sentence.

They were all drenched in sweat; now each one of them was gasping for air and couldn’t move.

“Master Cook, I can’t even feel my legs anymore. Who knew Bran Cook would be so heavy? It’s only because I’m in good shape that I didn’t die in that building.”

The person called Solomon lay flat on the road, his eyes fixed on the small supermarket across the street, drooling with desire.

But he really couldn’t move now…

Nearly thirty floors of high-rise, carrying a person down, it was killing him!

“Maybe we should just order takeout…”

Graham Cook said weakly.

“Let me see.”

Solomon summoned all his strength to pull out his phone and when he saw a five-yuan delivery fee on the screen, he quickly tucked the phone back away.

“What’s the matter! If we don’t buy something, we’ll die of thirst!”

Graham Cook’s throat smoked; he couldn’t hold on much longer.

“Delivery fee is five yuan. Master Cook, will you cover this expense for me?”

Solomon asked weakly.

“Five yuan?”

Graham Cook hesitated as he looked across the street at the supermarket less than twenty meters away, “Just that far and it’s five yuan? Never mind, let’s rest a while…”

Though he had embezzled plenty of money, he was notoriously stingy.

Especially with money he considered a rip-off, he was even more reluctant to spend.

“Graham Cook?”

Just then, a car that had passed them suddenly reversed back toward them.

“Who is it?”

Graham Cook heard someone call his name, looked up, and saw a Bentley parked in front of him.

As the rear window slowly rolled down, he saw a middle-aged man sitting inside.

“Stacy Cook?”

Graham Cook rubbed his eyes, realizing he hadn’t mistaken the person.

The man sitting in the Bentley was Stacy Cook, who had left the Cook family fifteen years ago and then vanished without a trace!

He was also the son that Old Master Cook had valued the most!

These fifteen years, no one knew where Stacy Cook had gone or even if he was alive!

If Stacy Cook hadn’t changed much in appearance, Graham Cook would not have believed that this lost Cook family member had returned to Gonzalez City!

“This is…”

Stacy Cook took off his sunglasses and glanced at Bran Cook, who was unconscious.

“Old man’s son, Bran Cook!”

Graham Cook hurriedly introduced him.

Seeing the impressive Bentley, he knew Stacy Cook must’ve done well for himself over the years.

“So it’s little Bran; I almost didn’t recognize him.”

Stacy Cook nodded and said to the three men, “Get in the car.”

“Alright!”

Graham Cook, using all the strength he had, as if he was sucking milk, shakily stood up. With clenched teeth and a face turning crimson, he and Solomon finally managed to hoist Bran Cook into the Bentley.

“Is there any water?”

Graham Cook asked weakly.

“Yes!”

Stacy Cook threw over six bottles of mineral water, which Graham Cook and Solomon frantically grabbed and guzzled down in no time.

“Has the Cook family gone bankrupt?”

Seeing the two in such a sorry state, as if they hadn’t had water in ages, Stacy Cook asked with a furrowed brow.

When he left, the Cook family still had assets worth tens of millions. Could it be that after fifteen years they were thoroughly ruined?

Were the three of them begging on the streets?

“Master Cook, let me explain this to you slowly…”

Graham Cook, with his protruding belly, recounted everything that had happened since Bran Cook returned from the capital.

After listening to all this, Stacy Cook glanced at the towering buildings slowly disappearing behind them and said with a locked brow, “Someone actually dared to bully the Cook family? But Bran has become quite successful, which is very good! A dragon is about to emerge from the Cook family!”

“Master Cook, do you need my help?”

Just then, the bald driver, who was driving, asked.

“Not for now. If we kill them directly, it would be too lenient for them. Better to make them wish they were dead,” Stacy Cook said as he lit a cigar and leaned back in his seat, slowly puffing away.

“Master Cook, where have you been all these years? The family has been missing you.”

Graham Cook asked curiously.

“Went to North Africa. I was lucky to make it back alive,” Stacy Cook took a deep drag of his cigar and sighed, “I missed home and came back to celebrate the New Year. But don’t you worry, after this year, the Cook family in Gonzalez City will be renowned throughout Five-river Province.”

With that, he flicked his cigar fiercely, and it flew out the window, striking squarely into a billboard.

…

As per the agreement, Julius Reed was supposed to go to the airport today with Quella Radcliffe and her family to pick up Knox Ridge’s younger sister, Bryson Ridge.

But the observant Knox Ridge had long noticed that their divorce was a sham. She had planned to confront Julius Reed and force a true divorce between them.

While Julius Reed was collecting debts, he certainly hadn’t been kind to her. Now, her maternal family looked down on Knox Ridge, even cursing her at the mention of her name.

However, to pick up Bryson Ridge, Knox Ridge thought she could still make use of Julius Reed.

After all, her younger sister had been doing very well abroad, and showing up in a Passat would be somewhat embarrassing.

So, Knox Ridge thought of Julius Reed’s Rolls-Royce, only to find out that Julius Reed had some last-minute affairs and would be late.

This really infuriated Knox Ridge.

“I’ll tell you, that bastard is deliberately opposing me!”

She stood with her hands on her hips, fuming at Quella Radcliffe inside the Passat.

Although she had taken Bran Cook’s money and agreed to help him facilitate the marriage with Quella Radcliffe, she didn’t mind using Julius Reed to her advantage for the moment.

It was just to save face; after that, she could tell him to get lost.

“Mom, ease up on the curses!”

Quella Radcliffe said, clearly displeased. Julius Reed had been patient enough with them, but his own parents seemed utterly ungrateful.

“Your fourth aunt loves to show off! Her son has made a fortune abroad, and she will definitely want to flaunt it when they return. I had planned to pick them up in the Rolls-Royce to avoid her mockery. Now look what’s happened. I don’t even want to go anymore!”

Knox Ridge felt very uncomfortable inside. Her family’s ancestral genes loved comparison and showing off—even worse off than others would be terribly hard to bear.

Bryson Ridge’s ability to show off was even greater than Knox Ridge’s, without a doubt.

“We live our own lives; we don’t spend a cent of their money. What’s there to be afraid of?”

Burl Radcliffe muttered under his breath as he drove.

“Shut up! You useless thing. If you had some achievement, would I be in this position?”

Knox Ridge lashed out with a torrent of abuse, scaring Burl Radcliffe into silence.

“Mom, hold back your words a bit. At least I am now the chairman of the Radcliffe Group, we are not inferior to anyone!”

Quella Radcliffe muttered softly.

“Pah! You chased away your grandfather, and the Radcliffe family is cursing us! Don’t talk about your company—it’s on the verge of bankruptcy. If it goes down, people will laugh their teeth off!”

Turning her head away, Knox Ridge decided she would say no more.