The Amazing Son in Law: Chapters 56-60

Chapter 56

Many guests presented Douglas with gifts. Charlie Wade, carrying a painting, approached Douglas and said, “Congratulations, buddy. This is a small gift from us to celebrate your opening.”

Claire Wilson smiled and added, “Douglas, congratulations on your grand opening. May your business prosper for years to come!”

Douglas leaned toward Charlie Wade, whispering with a mischievous smirk, “Hey, you and our class belle seem quite close, contrary to reports!”

Claire blushed. Charlie responded, “Stop it. If we’re expecting, you’ll be the first to know, and I expect a present from you!”

“Of course!” Douglas laughed. “I’ll give the little one a big present!”

An average-looking woman with heavy makeup approached and asked, “Douglas, who are they?”

“This is my college friend, Charlie Wade, and Claire Wilson, our class belle and Charlie’s wife.” He then introduced the woman beside him, “This is my fiancée, Lily Lewis.”

Lily began to speak, then stopped, correcting herself. She smiled and said, “Douglas talks about you both all the time. You’re a perfect match!”

Charlie ignored her comment and handed the painting to Lily. “This is a small token of our affection.”

Lily grinned. “Oh, you really didn’t have to!” Despite her words, she quickly accepted the large gift box.

Charlie replied, “Support your business; we’ll amuse ourselves.”

“Okay,” Douglas apologized. “I’m sorry, Charlie, I have to greet the other friends.”

As soon as Charlie and Claire left, Lily quickly opened the gift box, revealing a scroll. She frowned in disappointment. “What is this? What did your friend give us?”

Douglas answered, “Can’t you see? It’s a painting!”

Lily clicked her tongue. “Some old, rotten paint. I bet it’s only worth a couple of hundred bucks.”

Douglas said sternly, “You can’t put a price on everything! Their sincerity and goodwill are what matter.”

“Enough with the holy speech! I warn you, don’t associate with these kinds of friends! They have the nerve to give us such a cheap painting!”

Douglas’s face darkened. “Lily, are you really that much of a snob?”

Lily retorted indignantly, “Douglas, how could you say that? Don’t you forget my father invested most of the money in this restaurant!”

Douglas blinked, speechless and self-conscious.

Clinton approached, seemingly recovered from the car-burning incident, his arrogant expression returning. He handed over a thick envelope. “Doug, I don’t know what to give you, so here’s some ‘financial help.’”

Lily thanked him profusely, estimating the envelope contained eight to ten thousand dollars. She smiled shyly and said, “Thank you so much!”

Clinton gestured carelessly. “I see Charlie Wade gave you something. What is it?”

Lily scoffed contemptuously. “A painting. Probably from a junkyard sale—a couple hundred dollars’ worth of rubbish!”

Clinton smirked. “Once a loser, always a loser!”

Chapter 57

Charlie, Claire, and Loreen sat together. Clinton joined them, sitting near Loreen.

He asked Loreen with a wide smile, “Loreen, I heard you’ve come to Aurouss Hill to help Emgrand Group. Is that true?”

Loreen replied, “Yes, I just started.”

Clinton smiled wider. “What a coincidence! My father is the deputy general manager of a department at Emgrand! I’ll ask him to look after you at work.”

Many exclaimed in shock, “Wow, Clinton, your dad is the deputy general manager of Emgrand Group?”

“Yup!” Clinton nodded happily. “He was promoted last year.”

Someone flattered, “A deputy general manager’s annual income must be millions, right? That’s impressive!”

Clinton chuckled. “That’s just the salary. My father has considerable authority and many side benefits. You’ve heard of Emgrand Group’s glamorous hotel project, right? When it’s finished, my father could earn ten to twenty million.”

A man asked, “Clinton, I want to join Emgrand Group, but I never hear back after submitting my resume. Could you speak to your father?”

Clinton nodded smoothly. “Sure! Send me your resume. I’ll talk to my father.”

Charlie frowned. He didn’t know Clinton’s father held such a high position. He decided to message Doris later to fire Clinton’s father.

He asked tentatively, “Clinton, since your father is so powerful, why doesn’t he get you in?”

Clinton sneered disdainfully. “If I join Emgrand, I can’t hide my relationship with my father. People will watch me constantly.”

He shifted into a complacent posture. “So, I never considered joining. I own a company that supplies building materials, so I can deal with the group through my father and supply them!”

“Damn!” Someone exclaimed, “You must be making a lot of money!”

Clinton grunted. “Nothing worth mentioning—maybe a few million a year.”

He turned to Charlie, speaking pompously, “Charlie Wade, what do you do now? Don’t tell me you’ve been doing housework since you ‘married’ Claire.”

Everyone laughed.

Charlie shrugged emphatically. “Yes, besides laundry and cooking, I take my wife to and from work and give her massages daily. It’s fun and fulfilling.”

Clinton was furious. How dare this man be so smug?

He lost his temper, gritting his teeth. “Charlie Wade, I didn’t know you were such a happy moocher!”

“So?” Charlie answered smugly. “I didn’t steal or rob. I mooch with housework; why can’t I be happy?”

The laughter died down, replaced by stunned silence. They had never seen such audacity! And they envied him!

Lily, Douglas’s fiancée, then spoke, thanking everyone for attending and for their gifts. She announced they would reveal the value of each gift.

Chapter 58

Douglas hadn’t planned this, but Lily was insistent.

The attendees weren’t surprised; the gift values would show how well their classmates were doing.

Lily began the announcements:

“Thank you, Jack Brown, for your one thousand dollars!” “Thank you, Bella Walsh, for the pair of gold ingots!” “Thank you, Ola Rivers, for the gorgeous vase!” “Thank you, Clinton Tucker, for your ten thousand dollars!”

The first few gifts were mainly around one thousand dollars. Clinton’s ten thousand dollar gift sent shockwaves through the restaurant.

Many looked at Clinton with awe, praising his generosity. He wore a smug expression.

Lily continued, “Thank you, Charlie Wade and Claire Wilson, for the old painting!”

Threatening laughter echoed. An old painting? Worth a hundred dollars? Douglas had hosted an extravagant reception (a few hundred dollars per person); how dare they bring an old painting?

Clinton sneered. “Charlie Wade, you can afford a BMW 520, why are you giving such a shabby thing?”

Charlie smiled faintly. “You don’t know its origin, why say it’s tattered?”

Clinton: “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. You bought cheap things to pass off as expensive ones!” He asked, “How much did that painting cost? One hundred? Eighty bucks?”

Charlie’s pale smile remained. “The painting is worth more than all the gifts today!”

Clinton laughed wickedly. If everyone gave a thousand dollars, that would be twenty-something thousand. “You mean to say the painting is worth more than thirty thousand?”

“More than that.”

Thunderous laughter filled the restaurant. They thought Charlie was delusional and arrogant! An ancient painting worth tens of thousands? Was he trying to fool them?

Chapter 59

Hearing Lily’s father was an art appraiser, everyone looked contemptuously at Charlie. They all shared the same thought—Charlie was so unlucky! His boast was about to be ruined by a professional!

Claire blushed timidly. She whispered to Charlie, “Many people are watching you. You’d better not persist; it’ll be embarrassing!”

Claire was skeptical of Charlie’s sudden claim that the painting was extremely expensive.

Charlie was indifferent. “If you don’t believe me, let the professional do his job.” He added, “Oh yes, everyone, remember what Clinton said? He’s betting with me again—he’s going to eat the table.”

Clinton gritted his teeth, remembering his burning car. He growled, “Charlie Wade, you snobbish guy! If that painting is really worth that much, I’ll eat this table right now!”

Charlie nodded calmly. “Alright, if it is, I’ll eat it.”

The painting was by Rachel Ruysch, a Dutch Golden Age painter, from a reputable antique store. He was certain it was authentic.

Claire wanted to stop Charlie, but he’d already agreed to the bet. Loreen felt strange. Why did Charlie seem so confident? She remembered recent events and knew he was enigmatic.

Clinton saw his chance for revenge. “Okay, everyone be witness! Let’s bring Lily’s father down to appraise the painting!”

Lily called her father. A minute later, Lawson Lewis slowly walked down the stairs.

Chapter 60

Everyone cast a contemptuous look at Charlie. They all thought—Charlie was so unlucky!

Claire whispered, “Many people are watching you.”

Charlie: “If you don’t believe me, let the professional do his job.”

Lawson came onto the stage, and Lily handed him the gift box. “Dad, please appraise this painting. Someone said it’s worth tens of thousands of dollars!”

She looked disdainfully at Charlie. How could a moocher afford such an expensive painting? It must be fake!

Under everyone’s curious gazes, Lawson took the box, opened the scroll, and carefully examined the painting.

Several people said, “Duh, it doesn’t look that expensive!” “Yeah! I bet it’s only worth fifty bucks.”

Lawson studied the painting for a few minutes before asking, “Did you say this painting is a gift from Douglas’s friend?”

Lily: “Yes, they’ve been friends since college!” (She thought, Charlie Wade, you dare give him such a worthless piece of shit!)

However, Lawson said with a grateful sigh, “Indeed, it seems he is a good friend! Why would one give such a precious gift otherwise?”

Everyone was shocked! Irritable, Clinton cursed inside his head.

Lawson cleared his throat and said earnestly, “This is the authentic work of Rachel Ruysch, a Dutch Golden Age painter. Though not as popular now, she was one of the most outstanding painters ever, and the first female member of the Confrerie Pictura.” He looked back at the painting and said, “I estimate the market value for this painting is about two hundred thousand dollars.”

“What? Two hundred thousand dollars?” Lily was surprised. The painting she thought was worth less than a hundred dollars was so valuable!

Douglas was surprised too. He looked at Charlie and stuttered, “Hey, Charlie, why did you give me something so expensive? I can’t accept this; it’s too valuable…”

Charlie smiled. “Doug, it’s just my token of affection; let’s not put a price on everything.”

Douglas was touched and happy. He never thought his college friend would be so generous!

Clinton’s face was pale. What was happening? That bad painting was worth two hundred thousand? Damn it!

The rest of the people were just as surprised. No one dared look down on Charlie anymore! He was someone who could buy a two hundred thousand dollar painting as a gift!

Everyone envied Douglas for receiving such an expensive gift! Lily was also surprised. She instantly changed her opinion of Charlie Wade!

She couldn’t help but look at Charlie with wonder. She was impressed by his generosity!

Claire frowned in confusion and asked, “Charlie, how much did you actually spend on that painting?”

Charlie grinned and said softly, “Honestly, it didn’t cost me much. It was an associate who sold me the painting. He got it at a discounted price from a collector, so the price he gave me was low too.”

Claire pursed her lips in disbelief. “Is that so? He was willing to sell a two hundred thousand dollar painting for only a few thousand? It seems like a free lunch to me.”

“Not everyone takes money so seriously. I’m one of them. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have given the painting to Douglas, would I?”

Claire nodded lightly.

Charlie stood up and looked at the flustered Clinton with a calm smile. “So, Mr. Clinton, how would you like the table prepared? Do you want to gnaw on it directly, or should I slice it into pieces for you?”