Becoming the Richest Man Alive

“There’s something off about this one. It lacks… flair.”

“You really do know your antiques, Casper,” Victoria said approvingly, and pointed at the porcelain vase with variegated glaze. “What do you think of that one?” If both the vase and the temple jar turn out to be fake, I’d lose two showpieces for the Antique Fair.

“No. That one is the real deal.” He said, to her relief. “Those two men were good with mind games. They used an authentic piece of antique to go along with a fake one to muddy the water. When pretense receives credence, a lie becomes the truth. It would be the ultimate scam if I hadn’t intervened.”

“To think I almost let them get away with it…” Embarrassed, Tony turned to Casper. “Please forgive my arrogance earlier. Showing off my knowledge about antiques to you is like teaching a fish how to swim.”

“There’s nothing to forgive, Mr. Lane. You are no doubt a master of your craft. With your seniority and experience, I can hardly hold a candle to you.”

Grateful for the out and awed by Casper’s capability, Tony grew fonder of the young man by the minute, especially after he found out that Elena was the latter’s secretary rather than his girlfriend. What a promising yet humble individual. It’s rare to find such qualities in youths nowadays.

He handed Casper his business card before making his departure.

After Tony left, Victoria smiled at Casper. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Her smile turned flirtatious. “I have to admit that I quite like seeing you like this.”

“Then how do you feel about me naked?” He deadpanned, eyeing her suggestively.

“You wish!” she said in mock anger, but there was something inviting in her eyes.

Sprouting a goofy smile, Casper found his gaze dropping lower as if pulled by a magnet, until it rested on her rather impressive rack.

the night and we can do some… not-staring,”

his ears. “Sure

a little too loudly. “Didn’t you

and looked down at them coldly,

guts trying to

know,” argued one

bought his story, especially since they had tried to flee after

to know is the whereabouts of the guy

know who or where the person is? We thought the vase was real, but it turned out to be a forgery; we’re

hand them over to Victoria. He was sure that under her

“Why do you want to find

shrewd as Victoria was, she had already guessed the motive behind his determination—he wanted to use antique forgery to profiteer. Finding the forger for the vase would be the equivalent of finding the fabled goose

you imitations. I’m going to apprehend him

it was true that her store had a reputation for selling only genuine antiques, the unspoken rule in the line of business was that a piece of antique would be considered real, as long as no one outrightly said otherwise. Hence, she was equally tempted by the prospect

Casper. I want in. If

if he should feel bad about discussing going halfsies on Buck—his fellow apprentice, and a senior one at that—like a commodity. However, it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up.

heads up that the various associations were preparing to strike

To his surprise, she was more interested in how he was doing. “You seem to be making a name for yourself,” she said. “When we first met, you were just a student, and now you’ve become some big-shot association head. I heard

out,

Antique Fair,” she said with good cheer, pressing a kiss on Casper’s forehead as goodbye. “I’ll