Ch. 831..835: The Secretly Rich Man Chapter 831-835
Chapter 831
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 831 “Are you saying that the clothes that Gerald wore cost just as much?” Rose asked in disbelief.
“Impossible! It is absolutely impossible! We already know about his father, Dylan Crawford’s status from back then. Like hell, their family’s that affluent! The most probable explanation is that Gerald won the lottery! He must’ve blown all that cash impulsively just now!” Rose said.
It seemed as though the million dollars Gerald spent really left a huge impact on them.
“Now that eldest aunt and the others are all gone, let’s go back to the shop and ask for a refund for this membership card. It’s way too expensive! So much money’s in there! Don’t you think it’s a waste to leave it all in there?”
“There is no need for that, Bea…”
“It’s a million bucks! How could you just brush it off like it’s nothing? Also, why…why do you have so much money?”
Bea seemed a little terrified.
Gerald laughed as he shot a glance at Bea who was behind the wheel. After that, he said, “I will tell you something, something that you can’t tell anyone else yet. This includes fifth aunt too!”
“What is it?” Bea asked.
“I am actually a rich heir and I am the kind of rich heir who has an unlimited amount of money to spend!” Gerald replied with an eager smile on his face.
“Hahaha!”
Unexpectedly, Bea suddenly laughed out loud, “Okay then, rich heir, if you’ve that much money, then please allow your humble cousin to help you to spend some of that cash!”
Bea obviously thought that Gerald was just pulling her leg.
“Cough. Cough. You can choose to believe me or not!” Gerald replied after clearing his throat.
“By the way, what gift are you planning to give to grandma for her birthday tomorrow?” Bea asked.
“I do not know what to give her either! I’ll think about it tomorrow!”
The atmosphere at the Yaleman family mansion was extremely lively.
It was Lady Yaleman’s eightieth birthday today.
Compared to the previous years, her eightieth birthday banquet was much grander and multitudes livelier.
Not only were all the members of the Yaleman family present, there were multiple distinguished guests who were also invited here to celebrate Lady Yaleman’s birthday.
“Each and every gift from the distinguished guests should be recorded down on paper clearly and re- checked. You absolutely mustn’t be careless about this! There should be a lot of distinguished guests present this year and the ranking arrangements should be treated with utmost seriousness!”
Lady Yaleman was wearing a red festive robe early in the morning as she instructed the butler.
Lady Yaleman took her seat after that.
Upon receiving a signal from their parents, the younger generation of the family started coming forward to offer their gifts to Lady Yaleman.
“Grandma, this is the jade bracelet that I bought for you. Take a look at it and see if you like it?”
A girl came up with a sweet smile on her face.
“I like it. I like it a lot! Ooh, a piece of nephrite jade! What a good child you are!”
Lady Yaleman smiled happily.
She held the girl’s hands throughout their brief exchange.
“Oh! Bea! The both of you just arrived, I presume?”
Bea had arrived with Gerald.
They happened to run into Yura and a few others.
“Bea, what kind of a gift did you buy for grandma this year? Don’t tell me that you’re giving her another embroidery that you made yourself again, just like you did last year! Hahaha!”
Yura and the others started cackling away.
Yura’s laughter was the clearest and the loudest. After he was satisfied with mocking Bea, he shot a cold, hostile glare at Gerald.
“I didn’t expect that you’d attend grandma’s birthday banquet too! Hahaha! To think that you came empty-handed!” Yura said as he laughed.
After that, he whispered into Gerald’s ear, “I am warning you. You should stop thinking about laying your hands on the Yaleman family’s assets! Don’t let me catch you trying to put any weird thoughts into that old woman’s head!”
Gerald quietly listened to Yura’s provocative words.
He did not even bother to look at him but instead, he flashed a kind smile at Bea. “Come, let’s go in now!” he said to her.
They proceeded to make their way towards grandma.
Yura was so angry that his fists were tightly-clenched out of anger.
“Country bumpkin! I will never let you off so easily!”
Yura thought indignantly to himself.
Due to the previous grievances, Yura had never liked Gerald. Despite how honest and decent that hillbilly seemed, that bastard kept stealing the limelight from Yura when they were in the bar last night.
Yura did not know what Gerald said to Brandon in the end that ended up with his head getting smashed in by Brandon in front of all his cousins.
Chapter 832
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 832 Yura placed the blame entirely on Gerald.
The thing that pissed him off most was when he finally found a goddess that he was interested in, Gerald had to butt in and screw-up his chance to shine.
“Look, grandma! This is my birthday gift to you!”
The younger generation of the family was still presenting their gifts at the main table of the birthday banquet.
Lady Yaleman was grinning from ear-to-ear; she could not conceal the happiness that she was feeling right now.
“Oh! Isn’t that Bea? What took you so long? Have you already forgotten that it is your grandmother’s birthday today?”
In walked Bea and Gerald.
Rose wore a cunning smirk as she spoke.
“How can I possibly forget about grandma’s birthday? Eldest aunt, you are too much!” Bea retorted immediately.
“Hahaha! Let’s see what kind of birthday gift Bea prepared for grandma this year-round!”
Several girls simultaneously.
Bea’s mother was visibly irritated when she heard what those girls said about her daughter. She then directed a reassuring smile at Bea whilst glancing down at the gift she was holding.
She knew that her mother would be overjoyed if she received this gift.
“Bea, hurry up and show your grandmother the gift that you’ve gotten for her!” Catherine said.
“Okay! Grandma, this is the birthday gift that I have prepared for you this year! It’s a dragon jade bracelet!”
Bea said as she opened the box carefully.
“Dragon jade bracelet?”
Lady Yaleman was stunned for a moment.
She looked down at the gift and realized, it was just as she had said, a dragon jade bracelet!
In fact, Gerald had already bought a dragon jade bracelet for Giya before this and it cost about fifteen thousand dollars.
Of course, it wasn’t like Lady Yaleman couldn’t afford such a small gift.
But she knew very well that Bea’s family was not doing as well for the past few years. It was part of the reason why they could not afford to give her any decent gifts back then.
However, the fact that Bea was willing to give her a dragon jade bracelet that was worth more than fifteen thousand dollars naturally proved Bea’s filial piety towards her.
“Okay! It’s pretty good!” Lady Yaleman said with a smile.
The dragon jade bracelet had already completely won over Lady Yaleman’s heart, and her reaction was completely different from when she was presented with the nephrite jade bracelet from earlier on.
The expression on Gerald’s second aunt and cousin turned sour immediately.
“Bea, I heard that you’re working as an intern in the group’s project department for a couple of months now. Sigh, you’re all grown up in a blink of an eye. If you perform well, granny will teach you the way of the trade, and maybe then, you’ll be able to lead a bigger department on your own!” said Lady Yaleman.
“Thank you, grandma!”
Bea was very happy when she heard her grandmother’s words. Catherine was elated to hear those words as well.
“Grandma, how can you be so sure that this is an authentic dragon jade bracelet? After all, there are countless knock-offs in the market!” sneered Yura as he approached them.
The expression on Bea’s face changed slightly.
The same went for Catherine, who finally decided to stand up for her daughter, “Yura, what are you talking about? Let me tell you. This bracelet is something my mother gave me, and now it’s passed on to Bea. It’s impossible that it’s a knock-off!”
Catherine was telling the truth. She had really gone all in at this time.
“Grandma, I learned some basic identification techniques when I was studying abroad. Why don’t you let me take a look at it?” Yura said.
Yura’s words cast doubt in Lady Yaleman’s heart, which quickly became apparent on her face.
After all, she knew her daughter-in-law, Catherine very well. If this really was such a precious item, why would Catherine be willing to give it to her as a birthday gift?
Lady Yaleman handed the dragon jade bracelet over to Yura.
“Oh, man. There’s no doubt about it. It’s a fake!”
Yura shook his head with a mere glance at the bracelet.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about Yura! What do you know?” Catherine replied anxiously.
“Hahaha! Fifth aunt, why do you sound so anxious? Okay then. I’ll keep my mouth shut. If you say it is authentic, we’ll just treat it as such!”
He proceeded to hand the jade bracelet over to Catherine.
However, before poor Catherine could grab it, he released his grip deliberately.
Clink!
With a crisp sound, the jade bracelet shattered into a million pieces on the cold hard ground…
Chapter 833
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 833 “My jade bracelet!”
The jade bracelet had shattered into a million pieces.
Catherine’s eyes widened from the shock.
Bea was also taken aback by what Yura had just done.
This jade bracelet was the most precious treasure in their family.
Her grandmother had given this jade bracelet to her mother before it was passed down to Bea.
The reason why Catherine was willing to let go of the bracelet as a gift for Lady Yaleman was quite simple.
Her husband was currently lying in bed in a vegetative state and there was no more hope for her.
She hoped that her daughter would be able to prove herself and gain recognition from the Yaleman family, someday in the future.
As long as Lady Yaleman was pleased and satisfied, then Bea would be able to move forward.
Otherwise, if Rose was allowed to gain full control of the company in the future, then all hope would truly be lost for Bea and her family.
But now, this final bastion of hope had been smashed into the cold hard ground!
Yura had obviously done this on purpose!
“Give me back my jade bracelet! I want you to compensate me for my jade bracelet!”
Catherine’s eyes were red and blinded by rage as she rushed forward and grabbed Yura forcefully by the collar.
Everyone at the birthday banquet stopped what they were doing and stared at the source of the commotion.
“Stop it! Do you still know how to behave yourself?!”
Lady Yaleman yelled angrily at them both. She was a woman who cared about her public appearance after all.
“Mom! Yura did it on purpose! He deliberately broke my dragon jade bracelet!” Catherine complained in a distressed tone.
“Oh! It’s just a lousy bracelet anyway! Chances are, it might even be a fake! So what if it was an authentic dragon jade bracelet?”
“Aren’t you a bit too old to be quarreling with your own junior? Have you no shame?”
Second aunt chimed in.
“It’s mom’s birthday today here you are, trying to start a fight. How unruly can you be!? Can’t you behave yourself!?”
“Okay, that’s enough! ‘Tis nothing but a jade bracelet! There’s nothing we can do now, since it has already been broken. I’m too old to be wearing such a thing anyway! What Rose said is not exactly wrong. Do you really need to take your anger out on Yura like this?” Lady Yaleman said casually.
Catherine’s vision blurred up from the tears that were welling up in her eyes.
Gerald noticed how biased his grandmother was, even when Yura was clearly in the wrong here. He had purchased a similar dragon jade bracelet before as well, so he knew that Catherine’s bracelet was indeed not a mere knock-off.
The reason why Yura did what he did was out of fear that Bea would gain his grandmother’s love and affection.
It wasn’t long before everyone shifted their attention towards Gerald.
“Gerald, I see that you’ve got nothing with you. Did you really come empty-handed to the banquet?”
Rose asked with a cold expression on her face.
That’s right. In the entire Yaleman family, Rose hated her fifth brother-in-law’s family the most, followed by her fourth brother-in-law’s.
However, a new person has popped up at the top of her “most-hated” list, and that person was none other than Gerald.
This was in light of everything that happened yesterday.
“Hmph! Sister-in-law, maybe you were right! I guess he’s too broke to even afford a gift for Lady Yaleman at this point! Haha!” Second aunt also said.
It was then that Lady Yaleman noticed Gerald’s hands were indeed empty.
So, she felt a little upset in her heart.
“Forget it! I don’t need his gift anyway!” Lady Yaleman replied indifferently.
Gerald remained silent and he did not say anything at all.
“Mom, I think that you have to reprimand Bea and correct her ways. She keeps drifting off during work. My guess is that she’s simply here to squander away all the inheritance money! We should not allow this to go on any longer!” Rose continued saying.
Catherine shot back at Rose hastily, “Just what do you mean by that? When has Bea not worked hard for our group?”
“All of you should just stop arguing right now! I do not know which one of you is telling the truth but only those who are worthy shall receive any sort of reward! Bea, I will keep my eye on you from now on. If you fail to meet my expectations, don’t blame grandma for being heartless when the day comes!” warned Lady Yaleman.
“Hahaha. Grandma, you do not need to worry about me. If my eldest aunt said she is telling the truth, then so be it! I don’t feel so well, so I’ll be heading back first. Do enjoy the banquet though!”
Bea replied with red, misty eyes.
Bea stood up and left immediately after saying that.
“Bea! Bea!”
Catherine chased after her daughter.
Gerald frowned. It seemed as though this was not the first time that Rose and her son, Yura had targeted Bea and her mother.
Worried about Bea’s condition, Gerald too tagged along behind Catherine.
“See, mom? If Bea can act like this in front of you, it’s not that hard to imagine how she usually acts in front of me at our workplace!”
Chapter 834
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 834 Rose said.
“Hmph! She can leave if she wants to! Out of sight, out of mind!” Lady Yaleman responded coldly.
She then turned around to take a look at the scene of the banquet.
“What’s going on? There were so many distinguished guests at my birthday banquet last year around this time. Where have they all gone this year?”
Lady Yaleman suddenly realized that something was wrong.
Yuma replied, “Yeah, it does feel rather odd. Why are there so few guests here today? I mean, didn’t I personally invite them here to the banquet?”
On Lady Yaleman’s face was a sour expression.
She signaled for her butler, Sheldon to step forward.
She asked him about the low turnout rate for the guests they had specially invited to the event.
Sheldon replied, “Lady Yaleman, I’m sorry but I too have no idea why this is happening. Many of the distinguished guests and partners that we invited suddenly called to say that something has happened and they cannot make it here anymore. They simply asked me to congratulate you on their behalf! As of now, there have been more than thirty chairmen of various companies that rang us up to inform us about their non-attendance!”
“What?”
Lady Yaleman exploded angrily, “Hmph! I understand now. They must have planned this together! Looks like our family’s really on the decline now! If it were a few decades ago, this place would’ve been packed to the brim whenever the Yaleman family hosted an event. But now, people aren’t even bothering to attend the event, even after we have personally sent them an invitation!”
Yuma and the rest remained silent.
“Yuma, have you already gotten the project that I asked you to bid for? Or did we come back empty- handed?” Lady Yaleman asked.
“Our capital turnover is a major problem right now. Mom, I am already working on it as fast as I possibly can. I’ll come up with a solution for the supply chain issue before tomorrow ends. After that, I’ll try to get our hands on a lucrative project!” replied Yuma.
“Dear God, our home no longer has the feel of a proper home, and the same’s happening to our bloody business!? Are we really going to fall behind the Long and Quarrington families just like this?” Lady Yaleman said dejectedly.
Suddenly.
The butler suddenly rushed into the mansion from the main entrance.
“Ma’am! Ma’am!”
“What is going on, Sheldon?” Lady Yaleman asked.
“You…you should hurry up and come out to take a look. There’s a convoy outside with gifts for you!”
Sheldon said and he looked very nervous.
“Huh?”
Lady Yaleman was surprised.
Sheldon would never react in such an exaggerated way if they were ordinary gifts from ordinary guests.
So, who could it possibly be?
Lady Yaleman was momentarily taken aback.
So, she got up from her seat and followed Sheldon out of the house.
Yuma, Rose, and the rest also followed behind them out of curiosity.
When they finally got out of the mansion, they saw more than a dozen Rolls-Royce Phantoms outside the door. These vehicles cost at least three million dollars a pop.
A team of bodyguards dressed in black were standing in line.
Each of them held a gift box in their hands.
“Mr. Crawford from the Crawford family sends these gifts to you, Lady Yaleman! The Crawford family wishes you a very happy birthday!”
The leader of the bodyguards finally spoke up.
Lady Yaleman and the others were all dumbfounded and at a loss for words.
A presentation of gifts could not get any fancier than this!
Seconds later, the first bodyguard opened the gift box in his hands.
“A thousand-year-old ginseng!”
“What? Thousand-year-old ginseng?”
Everyone was surprised.
“An ancient white marble pot!”
“What?”
Lady Yaleman was visibly moved by the gifts she saw.
Yuma and Rose on the other hand could only swallow nervously.
“An authentic Henri Matisse’s painting!”
The third gift box was the next to be opened.
“An authentic Henri Matisse’s painting?!”
Everyone clustered around the butlers.
“Mr. Crawford from the Crawford family? Who is he? How could he possibly be so generous and extravagant?”
Chapter 835
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 835 There were still a lot more unopened gift boxes.
This made everyone in the Yaleman family, including Lady Yaleman herself, feel very bedazzled.
It would not have been an exaggeration to describe each and every one of these gifts as a rare treasure.
Every single gift had its own story to tell and all had incredibly rich histories. They were all simply invaluable!
Lady Yaleman was filled with excitement.
At the ripe old age of 80, she had obviously been around for quite a while, but never in her life had she ever witnessed such a grand scene before!
“Lady Yaleman, this is the list of gifts presented today. Please take a look at it!”
The young man leading the troupe of butlers handed a list over to Lady Yaleman in a respectful manner.
“No, no need for that! I don’t need to look at it anymore! Please thank Mr. Crawford for all these gifts. However, you must tell him that these gifts are really too expensive! By the way, I don’t think that I’ve ever met this Mr. Crawford that you’re talking about before. Can you tell me who your master is?” Lady Yaleman asked with a smile.
The cold atmosphere that enveloped the scene melted away in an instant.
“Lady Yaleman, if there is nothing else, then we’ll be leaving now! Now if you’ll excuse us.”
It was obvious that these people were told to keep their mouths sealed.
“Why don’t you stay back for a drink?” Lady Yaleman asked.
“I appreciate your generous offer, but I really can’t! I’m sorry.”
As soon as the young man bid them farewell, the rest of his colleagues climbed aboard the cars and left immediately.
“God, can it be anymore lavish than that!?”
The bodyguards and entourage were all so calm and disciplined! Just who are the Crawfords and what sort of family were they?”
The members of the Yaleman family were all taken aback.
“Mom? Mr. Crawford from the Crawford family? I don’t think we’ve ever met him before. Why are they giving us such expensive gifts? A rough estimate places these gifts at close to a hundred and fifty million dollars!”
Yuma was so excited that his hands were trembling uncontrollably.
“Yeah, they sure as hell look like they cost that much! Mr. Crawford from the Crawford family, a real generous fella ain’t he!? But isn’t it odd that we’ve never met them before? I’ve been around for so long and yet I have never heard of such a family before. Maybe they’re one of the juniors’ classmates?”
Lady Yaleman said in disbelief.
Astonished, all of the juniors exchanged glances with one another.
Even the best of classmates would never be willing to present birthday gifts worth more than one hundred and fifty million dollars! What Lady Yaleman said sounded simply a little too far-fetched.
“Mom, you don’t need to worry that much about this. If they’re willing to provide such extravagant gifts, they’re yours no matter what! If you sell any one of these items, you’ll undoubtedly be able to resolve the financial crisis our family’s facing right now!”
Rose said with a sparkle in her eyes.
“Shut up! Stop blabbering such nonsense! These are gifts the Crawford family has generously decided to present to me. Who gave you the courage to even make such an outrageous suggestion? No one is allowed to touch them before I ascertain the true identity of this Mr. Crawford. If anyone dares to lay their hands on any one of these gifts, I will kick him or her out of the family, no questions asked!” Lady Yaleman replied.
At the same time, Lady Yaleman was staring intensely at the convoy that was driving into the horizon.
“Mom, what are you looking at?”
Yuma came forward and asked when he realized that he would not be able to get his hands on any of his mother’s birthday gifts, for now at least.
“I am looking at those people who got out of the cars just now. Yuma, did you see how well-trained and disciplined those men were? They’re not the subordinates of your run-of-the-mill rich family, that’s for sure! Maybe they’re working for one of the top families around here!”
“In other words, we have to figure out the identity of this Mr. Crawford as soon as possible so that we can get in touch with him and ask him to help us to get through this ordeal!”
Lady Yaleman said in foresight.
“Understood, mom!”
“Hmm. There is actually another possibility!”
The second aunt suddenly chimed in.
“Hmm? What could it be?”
“Perhaps Mr. Crawford fancies and is interested in one of the young ladies in the Yaleman family? Maybe he’s giving us all these gifts now as a lead-up to his marriage proposal in the future?”
The second aunt said with a cunning smile.
Among all of them, Ysabel, the second aunt’s daughter was the most beautiful girl with the most outstanding temperament.
She was simply trying to tell everyone else that the wealthy Mr. Crawford might very likely be interested in her own daughter.
“Hahaha! You are really thinking too much!”
Rose became unhappy as soon as she heard this.
After all, her son, Yura was supposed to be the future heir of the family.
Why, if she isn’t spewing all this bullcrap just to try and get in good graces with Lady Yaleman!
They might work together as a team when the situation called for it, in the end, it was personal interests that reigned above all. Thus, it was inevitable for their goals to diverge.