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.

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

to his ears. “Sure

a little too loudly. “Didn’t you want to interrogate them or

and looked

trying

didn’t know,”

especially since they had tried to flee

at them. “Relax, guys. All I want to know is the whereabouts of the guy

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

his head, Casper decided to hand them over to Victoria. He was sure that under her “care,” they

looked at him. “Why do you want to find the

anything. As 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 that

of your store by selling you imitations. I’m going to apprehend

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 of

to, Casper. I want in. If you find that man, I want access

apprentice, and a senior one at that—like a commodity. However, it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up. The fleeting moment of hesitation was gone as

meaning to tell you, Ms. Stalling,” Casper gave her a heads up that the various associations were preparing to strike against Victoria’s Chamber at the

batting an eyelash. 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

out, that’s

said with good cheer, pressing a kiss