Ch. 796..800: The Secretly Rich Man Chapter 796-800

Chapter 796

Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 796 Violent waves had just crashed onto the side of the ship, and by the looks of it, many more were soon to come. The thunderous waves were so high that they easily scaled the entire ship. Every passing wave was now drenching the deck.

Everyone aboard began screaming as the ocean liner slowly began sinking into the maelstrom. However, no matter how much they screamed, the chaotic waves seemed to drown all their voices.

The night was dark, but the ocean was even darker…

By the time the sea finally calmed itself again, a giant object could be seen descending into the depths. While it was faint, the symbol on the pendant made a brief appearance before disappearing, just like the ocean liner had.

“Is Mr. Crawford awake?” asked Fynn as he hurriedly headed for Gerald’s room with a few documents in hand.

It was already the next day and Gerald was currently in a house on an island that Jessica had rented.

“Mr. Crawford’s up and he seems to be in a rather good mood today. He’s even asked for a ship to be arranged so that he’ll be able to go out to sea and have some fun!” said a maid respectfully.

Just as the maid’s reply ended, the door to Gerald’s room opened.

“Ah, good morning, Fynn! I plan to go out to sea today and enjoy myself! Of course, I’m also planning to meet up with Mila if we’re able to locate her! We’ll return to Northbay tomorrow. If you’re free, why not join me?”

Since Gerald had failed to meet Mila the day before, he had made up his mind that he would catch up with her and give her the proper explanation that she needed. He figured that though they were part of an exclusive expedition, they shouldn’t be too hard to find.

“You absolutely cannot go looking for her, Mr. Crawford!” replied Fynn, a worried expression on his face.

“And why is that?”

“Something happened to Ocean Liner No. 2 last night! The area’s currently been blockaded as the search for any traces of the ship continues!”

“Ocean Liner No. 2?” repeated Gerald, stunned.

“It was the ship Miss Smith was on… It seems that the ship was hit by what we can only assume to be a tsunami last night! Since it has yet to be located, the current assumption is that it sank into the ocean!” explained Fynn in a rather helpless tone.

“How… How could this be…? What became of its crew…?” asked Gerald, filled with grief and anxiety.

“As I’ve said, we’ve been looking for the ship for ages, but so far, we haven’t even found any signs of a sunken ship!”

“This simply won’t do! I’m heading over to look for her in person!” declared Gerald as he immediately headed for the exit.

Seeing that, Fynn could only shake his head as he took his cell phone out.

“Deploy the family’s exclusive marine support! I’ve already told all of you to be ready from dawn, haven’t I? Action is to be taken immediately!” ordered Fynn before ending the call and catching up with Gerald.

Fynn had been watching Gerald grow even from when Gerald was still a child. He knew his personality well.

Gerald was an extremely loyal person who treated every person he had been in a relationship with, with utmost importance. Fynn had seen this play out with both Xavia, his ex-girlfriend, and Mila, his current one.

Since Mila was now technically missing, the fact that Gerald hadn’t had a mental breakdown was already a good sign for Fynn.

He had feared that something would happen to Gerald should he behave recklessly upon hearing the news. To prevent that, the moment Fynn was notified about the incident, he immediately issued a search for the liner using the family’s manpower.

Moving back to the present, Gerald stayed aboard the ship throughout the entire day, making sure that no spot in the Northbay Sea remained unchecked. However, even when evening came, not a trace of the ship could be scavenged no matter how hard they searched.

Gerald could only sit on the port in a daze, filled with deep grief as he watched the faint outlines of the many ships still out at sea trying to locate Ocean Liner no. 2.

“…It’s all my fault… If only I hadn’t allowed you to return to Hong Kong back then… If you hadn’t come here, nothing would’ve happened! If I hadn’t broken my promise yesterday, I wouldn’t have missed the chance to meet you for the final time!” said Gerald aloud, every word filled with self-reproach.

By then, both Queta and Xara had arrived, and both of them silently stood by Gerald’s side. In Queta’s hands was Gerald’s meal which had remained untouched till now.

Queta herself was understandably saddened since Gerald hadn’t eaten anything the entire day. Just as Queta was about to persuade Gerald to at least have a little food, a shout came from behind them.

“What do you think you’re doing here? Get lost!”

It wasn’t long after before a black-suited bodyguard ran toward Gerald and said, “Mr. Crawford, there’s a girl who wishes to meet you no matter what. She claims that she’s Miss Smith’s classmate…”

 

Chapter 797

Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 797 “Bring her over!” said Gerald as he stood up.

Getting the approval he needed, the bodyguard then left to get her. A brief moment later, the girl was escorted over by a few other bodyguards.

The girl herself appeared to be shy, though it was a reasonable reaction. After all, who wouldn’t be terrified standing in a port filled with hundreds of luxury cars? As if that wasn’t enough, at least a thousand black-suited bodyguards were standing all over the place!

No ordinary person would ever approach the scene without proper reason.

“A-are you… Mr. Crawford? Mila’s boyfriend…?” asked the girl meekly.

“I am,” replied Gerald with a nod.

“I-I go by the name of Narissa Martin… I’m a good friend of Mila’s… I heard that you were investigating the liner’s disappearance… While I do have some information about it, I’m not really sure if it’ll help with the search…”

“Go on then. It may lead to the next clue!” replied Gerald immediately.

“Well… The night before, Mila, Molly, and Wanda received a package each… All three packages contained identical pendants… Though the pendants themselves felt somewhat unnerving to look at, the three girls and I simply assumed that it was a souvenir distributed to all the members of the investigation team… Regardless, it was rather surprising at the time that they’d get pendants—of all things—as souvenirs.”

“While the last I saw Mila was after sharing a meal with her and her other two friends, I somehow managed to gain more insight into the pendants after I was done hosting a show yesterday. By coincidence, one of the guests who had partaken in the show was a student of Professor Shevall, the head of the investigation team. After the show ended, we had a slight chat. However, when I asked about the odd pendants, the student claimed that the investigation team never distributed such a thing! I was quite baffled by that. After all, the packages the three girls received had no delivery addresses on them. Who could have sent them then? Feeling weirded out, I then described the pendant to the student.”

“Upon hearing my description, he showed me a group chat which a few of the participants of the investigation were in. After reading through it, it seemed that many of them were discussing receiving the same pendant! I truly feel that something’s off about the pendants… What reason did the anonymous sender have to send them?” explained Narissa.

“If I may, what does the pendant look like, miss? Do you have a picture of it?” asked Fynn as he began walking toward the group.

“As a matter of fact, I do!” replied Narissa as she nodded before fishing her cell phone out.

Once she found the picture, she handed her phone over to Fynn. Gerald took a look at it as well, and though Gerald didn’t recognize it, Fynn himself was already trembling all over.

“It’s… It’s this d*mned thing again!” said Fynn, his fear apparent in his voice.

“What exactly is it, Fynn?” asked Gerald in astonishment.

“It… Well, let’s just say that it’s… Nothing short of terrifying. Since it appeared once twenty years ago, Mrs. Xara should still remember it…” replied Fynn with a nod before looking at Xara.

Hearing that, she walked over to have a look before saying, “…Indeed I do. Peter’s shown it to me before… Receiving it at the time felt especially weird… I honestly thought that my plan to elope with Peter had been exposed, and that the pendant was a warning of sorts. In the end, however, we didn’t think too much about it… To my shock, it was the very next day when Peter went missing!”

“Yes… The second young master’s disappearance truly caused an immense uproar within the Crawford family… Since we assumed that the Fendersons had been the ones who had kidnapped the second master, the master was extremely furious. It was then when the Crawford family began resenting the Fendersons again… While that was the master’s reaction at the time, in truth, he’s been investigating that incident for well over a decade now. After all, given the circumstances at the time, the master knew for a fact that the Fendersons wouldn’t have had the means to secretly kill the second master. But who else would’ve targeted the second young master if not the Fendersons?”

“In the end, after investigating for so long, there was a point where the master was even close to declaring that the Fendersons weren’t the actual culprits in that case. However, he knew that he couldn’t just say that without any solid proof. It was then when he remembered about the pendant with the strange symbol on it that Peter had received before his disappearance. While he wanted to look for Mrs. Xara in person to question her about it, he couldn’t just do something like that, given that he already had such a massive misunderstanding with the Fenderson family. That was why he told you to look for her instead!” explained Fynn as he frowned.

“To think that the pendant that had created such a huge mess would reappear again after twenty years!”

“Who exactly is responsible for all this…? They’ve already taken Peter and now they’ve taken Mila as well! What on earth do they even want?” said Xara, her eyes beginning to water.

“…I suggest that we just wait for the master’s final decision. In the meantime, don’t you think it’s about time we returned to Northbay, Mr. Crawford?” added Fynn.

“You can leave first. Inform me if there’s any news regarding the case. I’m staying here!” said Gerald. After all, if he left with them now, he knew that he’d never be able to forgive himself.

Hearing that, both Fynn and Xara then left.

Gerald himself remained there, joining the search party every day in hopes to find traces of the sunken ship.

 

Chapter 798

Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 798 While Gerald worked tirelessly day in and day out, his efforts proved to be fruitless, even as the tenth day passed by. He had exhausted every tactic he could think of, yet not even a hint of the ocean liner’s whereabouts could be found.

“Where exactly are you, Mila… I… I refuse to believe that you’ve left me just like that!” said Gerald as he pulled his hair in desperation.

By this point, he was constantly having flashbacks of the moments he had spent with Mila. He now knew more than ever that Mila had made great efforts just to be with him.

On the eleventh morning, Gerald sat on the beach in a daze, unsure of what else he could even do to look for the ship.

As he continued racking his brains, his phone began to ring. It was a call from Jessica.

“Good morning, brother!”

Hearing her voice, Gerald couldn’t help but smile faintly as he replied, “Good morning, sister. Have you returned to Northbay safely? How are things going?”

Two days ago, Jessica had returned to Hong Kong to accompany Gerald after learning of Mila’s disappearance. During that time, Jessica had taken the opportunity to tell Gerald about the things which had happened to Mila when she was in Hong Kong.

However, since something was happening within the family, Jessica had to return to Northbay in a hurry.

“I’m fine, though let’s not talk about me for the moment. I’m sure that you’re aware that our family is hosting a family assembly tomorrow… Since you haven’t returned in twenty-two years, dad’s asking for you to attend the assembly this time around. Aside from that, he also wants to talk to you about something!” replied Jessica.

Hearing that, Gerald tossed a stone toward the ocean before nodding.

“…Very well. I’ll be returning tomorrow then!”

The very next day, Gerald arrived on a large island in Northbay belonging to the Crawfords. On it, was a building so magnificent and massive that it looked almost like a castle.

It was the day of the Crawford family’s family assembly, and the day where Crawfords from all walks of life would return to the island to attend the meeting.

Being a large family with several branches, at least a few thousand people were expected to attend the meeting. Not that that was a problem since the island could easily house tens of thousands of guests.

As Fynn led Gerald around, Gerald couldn’t help but feel slightly anxious. After all, this was Gerald’s first time returning ‘home’. What more, this new place was much grander and larger, even when compared to his sister’s island!

Since this was the first time the Crawford family’s young master had returned, Fynn wanted to report Gerald’s arrival to his parents immediately. However, they seemed to be busy exchanging pleasantries with the other family members.

It wasn’t surprising for Gerald to see his father that busy since he was, after all, the master. What more, there were already a lot of people there at that time.

Because of that, Gerald replied, “There’s no real rush to report about my arrival. I’ll just wait till my parents are done greeting the guests. You go on ahead and deal with what you have to, Fynn. I’ll just go look for my sister in the meantime!”

Hearing that, Fynn nodded before running off to deal with other things.

After giving his sister a call, she told him to wait for her there, stating that she would rush over as soon as she could.

Now momentarily bored, Gerald simply sat at the side and looked out at the sea as he slowly entered a daze again.

“Say Bethany, didn’t you say you were looking for a person to help pick up tennis balls? There’s a silly looking man over there who’s been sitting idly for a while! Why don’t we ask him to do it?” said a girl who looked to be around eighteen of age.

The girl was part of a group with other similarly aged girls and also some older ones. All of them sported tennis-wear, and a few of them were still playing in pairs as the girl asked her question.

Since it was usually only the family elders who would step up during such occasions, juniors like them would take the opportunity to have fun and eat to their hearts’ content.

“Sure, why not? Call him over!” replied Bethany as she swung her racket over her shoulder before pointing at Gerald who hadn’t broken from his daze.

 

Chapter 799

Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 799 “Hey, you!” called out Bethany in a commanding voice.

Breaking from his daze, Gerald then looked at the girl who had shouted at him before asking, “What do you want?”

The girl who was pointing at him looked to be in her late teens, and while she looked rather bizarre, she was also somewhat beautiful.

“Are you all alone?” asked another girl as she placed a hand on her waist. It was the girl who had told Bethany about Gerald earlier.

“I suppose you could say that!” replied Gerald as he nodded.

“That’s rather pitiful to hear! How about this, Bethany wants to invite you over to pick tennis balls for us! At least you won’t be alone if you do that for us!” added the girl.

Gerald remembered his sister telling him that since the Crawford family was so immensely huge with so many complicated branches, it was normal for those within the family to not know who was who among the younger generation.

“If something’s weighing your mind, it’ll only get worse if you continue dwelling on it alone! By picking our tennis balls, you’ll be able to forget all your worries!” shouted another girl.

While Gerald’s first response was to smile bitterly, he couldn’t deny that what they had said made some sense. After all, as long as he could distract himself enough, he wouldn’t need to dwell on the incident.

“Fine, I’ll do it!” replied Gerald.

“Haha! He’s actually going to do it! Here he comes!” said the girls smugly.

“Great to hear. Now let’s continue our game, sisters! We can go all out now that someone is willing to pick our tennis balls for us!” said Bethany rather excitedly.

However, before they could even resume playing, a woman walked up to them. Seeing the woman, all the girls immediately turned to look at her.

The beautiful and graceful woman looked to be around twenty-six years old, and she seemed to have a rather good disposition.

While the girls playing tennis earlier were all beautiful, none of them were even close in terms of beauty when compared with the new woman. In fact, the woman’s beauty rivaled even that of many celebrities.

Anyone who saw her felt somewhat obligated to lower their heads in respect.

“You’re here, Lyra!” greeted Bethany and a few others upon seeing her.

“I am indeed. Still, what time is it now I wonder… Why are all of you still playing here? The assembly is going to commence soon! Why don’t you bring Niki and the others along with you?” said Lyra in a gentle tone.

“Alright!” replied Bethany. She then hit one final tennis ball to the side before leaving with the rest.

Almost by reflex, Gerald began walking over to pick the tennis ball up. In his daze, he failed to realize that the ball had landed in an area surrounded by prickly grass. By the time he finally noticed, he was staggering so much to leave the area then he ended up falling.

His clothes, arms, and even his face was filled with tiny scratch marks from the grass.

“Look there! That guy from earlier fell down!” said Nikki as she pointed at Gerald.

“Just leave him be. After all, he was slow to react when we called him over to pick the tennis balls for us! He deserves it! Now let’s go!” said Bethany as she smiled at Lyra before heading on.

Gerald himself sat on the grass, holding the tennis ball in his hand as he smiled bitterly. When he touched his face, it stung slightly.

He simply couldn’t catch a break. Gerald truly was down on his luck ever since Mila’s disappearance.

As people walked by, many of them mocked Gerald for being in such a pathetic state. Gerald, however, didn’t mind it. As long as he could feel slightly better after being mocked, so be it.

“Your cheeks are all scratched up… It’s best if you wipe the grass off quickly,” said a feminine voice as a tissue was handed over to him.

Looking to his side, Gerald saw Lyra squatting right next to him as she prompted him to take the tissue.

“…Thank you!” replied Gerald as he immediately lowered his gaze in embarrassment after their eyes met. After all, she looked truly beautiful.

“My word, even your arm is bleeding!” said Lyra as she took another tissue out and began gently wiping the blood off his arm.

“Aren’t you the careless one… Which family do you belong to? You seem to be all alone here. Don’t you have any siblings…?”

 

Chapter 800

Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 800 Lyra asked that question as she gently helped Gerald wipe the prickly grass off his face.

“I… I’m, um… Not sure which family I belong to!” replied Gerald.

Hearing that, Lyra simply laughed before saying, “I’ll call some doctors over later and tell them to treat your wounds… Wouldn’t want you to get an infection now, would we?”

“No, it’s fine…”

For some unknown reason, Lyra simply felt the urge to pamper and take good care of Gerald from the moment she had met him. It was truly an odd feeling.

“The assembly will begin soon, young lady… It’s best that you head there immediately,” said a person who seemed to be Lyra’s maid as she walked over.

“Very well,” said Lyra as she nodded to Gerald before leaving with her maid.

“Young lady? So she’s someone who’s been married into the Crawford family!” muttered Gerald to himself as he finished wiping his face clean.

In his mind, he was thinking what a blessing it must be for the person who had married such a gentle and attractive wife.

At that moment, Gerald’s phone began ringing.

“Brother? Where are you? I can’t find you anywhere!”

“Sorry, sorry! I was picking up tennis balls for others just now!” replied Gerald with a bitter laugh.

“D*mn it, why are you still helping others do things like this? Anyway, the assembly is going to begin soon and dad’s even asked me whether you’ve arrived. We’re in the main hall now! You should’ve just told the servants to lead you here immediately when you arrived!” said his sister as she shook her head.

“Got it! I’m heading there now!” said Gerald as he got up.

His parents and sister were the main cast of the day and he was aware of how busy they were. Because of that, he didn’t want to create unnecessary trouble for them if he could help it.

As he walked toward the venue, he saw that Niki and the other girls weren’t too far off. Soon enough, he caught up with them and simply followed behind.

“Hey, Bethany. That silly guy is following us!” said Niki as she turned to look around.

“Has he lost his way? Maybe it’s the first time he’s attending a family assembly!” replied Bethany as she stopped walking and turned around.

“Could you perhaps be lost?” asked Bethany.

In response, Gerald simply nodded.

“See? I was right! You can come along with us if you want, but you’ll only get to ride in the last car with my servants! How about it?” suggested Bethany.

Bethany was a distinguished young lady who was used to meeting handsome and extremely capable, rich heirs, both in the country and also abroad.

Since she could tell that Gerald was the sort of honest and well-behaved man who didn’t have much experience in life, she didn’t really care for his wellbeing.

“No problem!” replied Gerald as he nodded, not really minding it himself.

He then got into a car which was rather stuffy since there were quite a few servants inside.

Once they arrived, Gerald made his way into the Crawford family’s main hall, which was a spacious outdoor hall.

In such an assembly, the participants sat in groups though where they had to sit wasn’t predetermined. Only the main members of the family had designated seats atop a high platform in the middle of the hall.

As Bethany and the others found seats in a corner, Gerald himself casually took a seat close to them before fishing his phone out of his pocket.

Meanwhile, a middle-aged couple began walking toward the main dining table reserved for the master. A loud round of applause could be heard as the couple made their way to the table.

Naturally, the couple was none other than Gerald’s parents! Behind them, two women followed, with one of them being Jessica.

When the other woman saw Lyra, she immediately held on to her hands before saying, “Lyra! Come sit beside me!”

“Alright, mom!” replied Lyra with a nod

“You’ve truly been receiving the short end of the stick throughout your time being in the Crawford family… Not only did you have to learn everything on your own, you even had to handle all his financial

issues! If we could, we would’ve definitely let you meet each other much earlier… But I’m sure you’re aware that we couldn’t reveal his identity before this! Still, to think that he isn’t even here yet!” said the woman in an apologetic tone.

“Please don’t say that, mom… It’s already been a blessing for me to have been able to grow up in the Crawford family from a young age.”

Hearing that, the woman smiled before nodding. She then turned to look at Jessica before saying, “Go find where your brother is, Jessica!”