Ch. 2266..2270: The Secretly Rich Man Chapter 2266-2270

Chapter 2266

Gerald Crawford: The Secretly or invisible Rich Man Chapter 2266 The truth was, Gerald hadn’t even looked at the Devotion Mirror from the second he got it. He had simply been too busy to unravel its mysteries. What more, the mirror wasn’t exactly as important as Lucian would’ve liked to believe, though Gerald knew better than to tell him that. After all, an enraged Lucian would only spell more trouble for him.

“Oh please, your talent’s exceptional, mister! After all, you’re the first person who’s been able to retrieve the mirror from the cave! Since you’ve even obtained recognition from my ancestors, I have reason to believe that it’s only a matter of time before you uncover its mysteries,” declared Lucian as he shook his head, making it clear that he trusted the Devotion Mirror’s choice.

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely share what lies within the mirror ifI manage to crack the code,” replied Gerald with a hearty laugh.

“If you manage to do so, you’ll truly be a great benefactor to my family!” declared Lucian, his eyes glimmering with hope.

According to his family’s ancestral records, anyone who managed to grasp the meaning of the mirror would gain supreme skills and cultivation that would then grant them easier access in becoming a top cultivator. With that said, if Gerald succeeded in decoding the mirror, then the Grubbs would easily become the largest and strongest family in the entirety of Yanam! Actually, since all the cultivators in their family would be able to max out their cultivation by then, forget Yanam, they’d become the strongest cultivating family in the cultivation realm!

Regardless, Gerald then replied, “It’s already an honor to be given the chance to inspect this mirror…”

Throughout their conversation, Gerald had kept tabs on Lucian’s expressions. Aside from excitement, however, Gerald couldn’t discern any other vague expressions, which meant that Lucian hadn’t kidnapped Lindsay. Though that was the case, that didn’t mean that the other Grubbs hadn’t done the deed.

Whatever the case was, upon hearing that, Lucian couldn’t help but exclaim, “You truly are my family’s lucky star, mister!”

“You flatter me. Speaking of which, have any weird incidents happened within your family recently?” asked Gerald.

“Hmm? Everything’s been normal as far as I’m concerned… Honestly, have you returned to deal with my family’s affairs, mister? Does it concern the cave or the mirror…?” replied Lucian after thinking for a bit.

“Let’s just say that I’ve returned to look for something, though it doesn’t concern your family. Don’t overthink my earlier question,” replied Gerald with a wave of his hand, not wanting to accidentally mention that he was here to investigate Lindsay’s disappearance.

“I see… You scared me for a moment there… However, there is one other thing I’d like to talk to you about…” muttered Lucian after heaving a relieved sigh. It was something that he had realized right after Gerald left back then.

Chapter 2267

Gerald Crawford: The Secretly or invisible Rich Man Chapter 2267 “Go on,” replied Gerald as he momentarily looked at the heavy rain outside.

“Well… I’m sure you know of my adopted son, Frey, right? You see, it’s been ages since I’ve last seen him… He seems to have just vanished into thin air! It doesn’t help that as far as I know, he didn’t have any disputes with my other family members. With that said, I was wondering if you had bumped into him…” muttered Lucian with a slight frown.

In his search for Frey, not only had Lucian searched every nook and cranny of his manor, but he had even gone to all the places Frey usually went to. Hell, aside from meeting up with Frey’s friends, he had also used all his connections to locate his son to no avail even after two entire months.

“Frey?” asked Gerald in a calm tone, though honestly, he couldn’t help but feel sad for Lucian. After all, he had killed Frey back in that cave, and Gerald was pretty sure that not even Frey’s ashes remained. Still, to think that Lucian the mighty master of the Grubb family would end up adopting such an evil son… How truly pitiful.

“Yes… While I had initially doubted that he had met with an accident or was kidnapped, after so long, I just want news about him already… Any news… ” muttered Lucian, his eyes now slightly red and teary.

Unable to bear telling Lucian the truth, Gerald simply replied, “…I’ll keep an eye out for him. If I hear anything about Frey, I’ll definitely notify you.”

“I appreciate it. Still, I have a feeling that he’s probably been killed by an accident somewhere… Even if that’s the case, I still have to find his corpse in order to give him a proper burial…” said Lucian before

sighing heavily. It was clear that he no longer had any hope that his son was alive, and that he was only saying all this to get it out of his system.

“I agree. As Weston customs go, all dead individuals need to be buried,” replied Gerald.

Nodding in response, Lucian then wiped his tears away before looking at Gerald and saying, “… Either way, do stay here till the rain goes away… It’s dangerous to drive in such horrid weather… Speaking of which, you said you were here to look for something, right? Tell me what it is. I get my men to obtain it for you.”

“I can get it easily, so don’t worry about it. Whatever the case is, let’s talk about it once the rain stops in a few days,” replied Gerald as he looked outside.

“A few days indeed… Well, it doesn’t seem like the rain will be letting up anytime soon, why not stay here in the meantime? I’ll get my butler to clean up a few of our guest rooms later. Also, you’ve probably driven for quite a while to get here, correct? You must be starving! I’ll get my chefs to prepare something for us right this instant! We can just eat in the reception room,” said Lucian with a subtle smile. Gerald’s arrival had honestly been the best thing that had happened to him in the past few days.

“I’ll be troubling you then, Mr. Grubb,” replied Gerald as he placed his hands together before Lucian.

“Oh please, you’re no trouble at all! Truth be told, I’m glad you’re staying here! ” replied Lucian with a wave of his hand. As it turned out, Lucian’s temperament had undergone quite the change ever since Frey disappeared.

…

“Well, looks like we’ll be staying here for the next few days, Aiden,” said Gerald as he turned to face the dazed boy.

Quickly snapping out of it, Aiden simply replied with a nod.

It wasn’t long after before servants began appearing with several dishes in hand. To celebrate Gerald’s arrival, Lucian even got his special wine out, and the trio found themselves enjoying their meal in the reception room as rain continued pouring outside.

Once they were done with their meals, Gerald and Aiden headed to their guest rooms that had thoroughly been tidied up. The second Aiden closed the door behind him, he immediately inched closer to Gerald before whispering, “Do you think Lucian’s aware of Lindsay’s disappearance…?”

Narrowing his eyes, Gerald then thought for a moment before replying, “…I don’t think so, no…”

Chapter 2268

Gerald Crawford: The Secretly or invisible Rich Man Chapter 2268 “I see… Still, let’s start investigating tonight. After all, even if Lucian’s not aware of it, his other family members are still highly suspicious. The longer we don’t make a move, the higher the chances of Miss Lawrence being in danger… ! ” declared Aiden who didn’t even bother whispering anymore. Though the heavy rain masked his voice well, it didn’t change the fact that his tone suggested that he wanted to flip through the entire manor to see if Lindsay was present.

Frowning slightly, Gerald then replied, “Calm yourself.”

“Like hell I can! If Miss Lawrence ends up bumping into someone like Frey again, she’ll definitely be ruined!” grumbled Aiden with a sigh.

“And that’s exactly why you should remain calm. How are you going to save her with an unclear mind?” replied Gerald who knew how Aiden felt.

After all, he had been much more anxious than Aiden back when Mila first got captured. As Gerald would come to learn, until he calmed himself, he wouldn’t ever be able to resolve his problems. Thankfully, he managed to slowly calm himself over time.

Whatever the case was, knowing that Gerald’s words made sense, Aiden then lowered his head with a sigh before saying in a resigned tone, “Fine, I’ll try to remain calm…”

“Atta boy. Now… let’s think this through. If it really was a Grubb who kidnapped Lindsay, who would be our prime suspect?” asked Gerald slightly loudly due to the crashing rain as he sat at the side of the bed.

“Frey’s men,” replied Aiden almost instantaneously. He had already considered that possibility while they were still in the car earlier.

“While they do sound like the most plausible suspects, why would they want to capture her in the first place?” said Gerald with a nod.

“That… I… can’t say for sure…” muttered Aiden as he shook his head. It was clear that he hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“First off, Frey’s men only went after her in the first place because of Frey’s orders. Now that he’s dead and the members of the Grubb family have no idea where he’s gone to, why would his subordinates suddenly want to kidnap her?” replied Gerald.

“I mean… when Frey was about to deflower her that night, plenty of his men were with him… I’m sure at least some of them yearned for her… To me, that alone is reason enough for them to kidnap her!” said Aiden as he recalled the events of that night.

“While that’s certainly a possibility, it’s a low one. Besides, that’s mostly just speculation,” replied Gerald with a nod.

“Then… Where do you think Lindsay has disappeared to?” asked the puzzled Aiden.

“For one, I don’t think the Grubbs have anything to do with her going missing. However, I do have a feeling that they have other issues that they didn’t report to your superior… ” replied Gerald as he narrowed his eyes.

“Other problems…? Come to think of it, back when my superior contacted me, he told me that the Grubbs had only told him that Lindsay had gone missing on her way back to Yanam and nothing else…” muttered Aiden, now starting to feel enlightened.

“Lindsay isn’t a fool, Aiden. After that incident, I believe that she’d have reported any subsequent journeys she made to her family. What more, there’s a high chance she had made sufficient preparations before even arriving at the Grubb family’s manor. With all that in mind, there’s no way a similar incident could’ve taken place,” replied Gerald with a faint smile, seeing that Aiden was finally starting to see his point.

“That’s right! Lindsay should’ve told her family before coming over!” exclaimed Aiden who now had a new outlook on the case.

“Bingo. While we don’t know whether she’s being locked up in the manor or she’s just having general troubles reporting back, I can say for sure that the Grubbs are definitely hiding something from us,” replied Gerald as he opened the window before lighting a cigarette.

 

Chapter 2269

Gerald Crawford: The Secretly or invisible Rich Man Chapter 2269 From the looks of it, the heavy rain wasn’t stopping any time soon.

“Should we ask the members of the Grubb family then?” asked Aiden as he fished his phone out, fully prepared to contact his superior.

“Let’s do a thorough investigation here first. Still, if she isn’t in the manor, then this incident is definitely much more complicated than what we initially imagined… The Grubbs may have either been afraid of the other party which would explain why they’ve remained quiet about it, or there’s just some other reason we’re not seeing yet, ” replied Gerald as he placed his hands against the windowsill while staring outside.

“The Grubbs truly are an interesting bunch… Lindsay’s gone missing yet they still refuse to reveal it! Are they only going to be satisfied once something bad happens?” growled Aiden as he slammed his fist against a table, wondering what Lindsay was experiencing right now. If she ended up getting defiled by someone like Frey, Aiden wasn’t against murdering the culprit…!

“I can’t say for sure,” replied Gerald as he shook his head, making it clear that even he had no idea what the Grubbs were thinking and why they would commit the deed.

“Then… what should we do now…?” asked Aiden as he walked up to Gerald.

“Let’s get some test first. I’ll try getting some information out of Lucian tomorrow. Hopefully that’ll clear our suspicions of the family,” replied Gerald as he tossed his cigarette out into the rain.

Knowing that that was probably the best course of action, Aiden simply nodded in response.

Fast forward to the next day, the rain didn’t seem to be letting up at all. In fact, had Gerald not checked the time and realized that it was already eight, he would’ve surely assumed that it was still in the middle of the night with how dark it was outside. Regardless, after getting himself cleaned up, Gerald immediately headed off to look for Lucian.

Once they met up, Lucian invited Gerald for breakfast. Soon enough, the two were sitting opposite each other as servants served them their meals.

Biting into a loaf of bread, Lucian then turned to look at Gerald before asking, “So, had a good rest?”

“The rain was a bit too loud for my taste, but I mostly slept well,” replied Gerald with a smile, making sure to carefully observe any changes in Lucian’s expression the entire time.

“It’ll unfortunately be raining cats and dogs in the next few days. Still, that means you’ll get to stay longer here. Truth be told, it’s been the longest time since I’ve had a chance to have breakfast with a youth ever since Frey went missing…” muttered Lucian with a sigh.

Though he was aware of Frey’s bad habits, Frey was still Lucian’s ad opted child. In a way, this was his fault since he had spoiled Frey too much as a child. Hell, he had even promised to make him the heir of the family! However, that didn’t mean that he didn’t want Frey around. Honestly, Lucian would’ve surely fallen into much deeper depression by now had it not been for the fact that he still needed to take care of his large family.

“I see… Could you detail me on the incident…?” asked Gerald who had been waiting for Lucian to bring it up.

“I don’ t know much myself, though it seems that he vanished not too long after you guys left back then…” replied Lucian who looked particularly saddened every time he had to talk about Frey.

“How unfortunate…” said Gerald, expertly pretending that he didn’t know anything.

“Indeed… After about a week of attempting to contact him to no avail, I finally lodged a police report to investigate his disappearance. However, as I’ve said, he seems to have vanished into thin air…” replied Lucian with a heavy sigh.

Chapter 2270

Gerald Crawford: The Secretly or invisible Rich Man Chapter 2270 “Were there no clues left behind at all…?” asked Gerald who was now pretty sure that Lucian had nothing to do with Lindsay’s disappearance. After all, Lucian hadn’t revealed any odd expressions throughout their conversation.

“If there were any, we would’ve found them ages ago. What a tragedy… Not only do I not know whether my son’s dead or alive, but even if he’s passed on, I can’t find his corpse! This is truly as depressing as things can get…” muttered Lucian as he shook his head.

“Have you considered questioning Frey’s subordinates? After all, they were closest to him so they may have an idea of what befell him,” replied Gerald as he scratched his chin.

“I’ve asked them on multiple occasions, but every time I did, their responses remained the same. Essentially, all of them said that after Frey left one afternoon, he ceased to contact any of them. That was probably the day he went missing,” said Lucian who had already considered everything that Gerald had suggested, making it evident that he had gone all out to locate his son.

“I see…” replied Gerald with a sigh.

“Well, I don’t have much hope that he’s alive by this point, so I’m only hoping that I can at least bury him. Still, being buried abroad is quite frowned upon by us Westoners…” said Lucian as he shook his head.

“It’s simply karma…” muttered Gerald to himself.

“Come again?” asked Lucian who genuinely hadn’t caught what Gerald had said.

“Hmm? Oh, I said it’s such a pity. After all, he’s the heir of your family, no?” fibbed Gerald.

“He is. Though he’s my adopted son, his character and behavior are much more outstanding compared to my biological children… He’s been helping me manage my family business a lot in recent years, you know? And as far as I know, he’s never made a mistake. I was about to tell him that he was going to be the heir of the Grubbs too, but alas, he ended up vanishing off the face of the earth!” muttered Lucian in a helpless tone.

“Truly a pity…” repeated Gerald.

“Well… Let’s not talk about him anymore… Speaking of which, there’s going to be a local auction in a few days. I could bring you there if you’d like,” replied Lucian who didn’t want to sound overly sad before his guest.

After all, though his son was most probably dead, the fact that Gerald had returned meant that not everything was all doom and gloom.

As his butler had previously said, it truly was the right choice for him to hand the Devotion Mirror to Gerald. After all, not only did he trust that Gerald wouldn’t run off with his family’s treasure, but he also believed that the youth would eventually share his findings with him once Gerald cracked the mirror’s code.

By that point, everyone in his family would undoubtedly be able to improve their cultivation, and Lucian genuinely hoped that that would help give birth to more outstanding youths like Frey who would try their best to be part of the family.

Either way, upon hearing that, Gerald simply shook his head before saying, “I’m not that interested in auctions.”

“Well, this isn’t an ordinary auction by any means. It’s actually the largest auction of the cultivation realm that’s held once every five years! With that said, lots of rare treasures will be there, and if you’re lucky, you may be able to get your hands on some!” explained Lucian.

“… Oh? The largest you say…” replied Gerald as he raised a slight eyebrow.

“That’s right. Just so you know, Mr. Lawrence is coming along as well. Come to think of it, it’s been almost twenty years since I last met him… With that said, meeting Lindsay back then was truly an eye opener. To think that two decades had passed in the blink of an eye…” muttered Lucian with a sigh.

With the mention of the Lawrence family, Gerald took a deep breath before saying, “…If it’s alright with you, could you answer a question of mine honestly?”