CH- 4 Top Secret

Noah was startled on hearing that Stuart had arrived, and hurriedly whispered,

"Stop right there, don't come in. I'll come out by myself!"

After hanging up, he hurriedly found an excuse to leave the house.

One of Eliana's friends called at this time and said admiringly,

"Wow! Eliana, I didn't expect you to know such a powerful person, who even dared to confront the Clifton family directly. It's really great!"

"Ah? I… actually, I don't know who it is!" Eliana was stunned.

"Oh, come on, don't pretend. I have been hearing all sorts of things this morning, about how this mysterious man has been making waves in our social circles! Apparently, he also mentioned your name while beating up James Clifton!

Oh, Eliana! Do you know what I think, maybe this man has loved you in secret all these years, but couldn't get the courage to say it to your face. Instead, he has always watched your back like a loyal bodyguard. Ah, it's just like the movies– I really envy you right now!"

“……”

Eliana was even more stunned now.

She didn't know the mysterious man at all, or any single thing about him; but her friend's words reminded her of something.

In the last three years, there had been some incidents like this… like that one time when she had been stalked by a drunk man at night… and another time, at a business dinner, some clients had made some flirty remarks and implied that they would seal the deal if she spent some time with them…

But they were all beaten back by a mysterious man, and they never dared to show up again.

That man had never shown his face in front of her.

"Is there really some mysterious man, who has been secretly protecting me all along?"

Eliana murmured to herself, her face flushed.

Which girl hasn't ever fantasized about having a manly hero by her side, who has always secretly loved and protected her?

And just then, the face of Noah flashed in front of her eyes.

She sighed,

"It's a pity that my husband is so hopeless..."

_______

Noah stepped out of the gates of the estate, and instantly spotted a sleek black Ford Lincoln parked across the road, with license plate number 8888.

As soon as he got into the car, a thin old man wrapped his arms around him and said excitedly,

"Young Master, my eyes have finally been blessed! You have grown up to be such a fine young man–"

"Let me go, are you crazy!?"

Noah shrugged him off as he fixed his clothes, but the old man didn't seem to care at all.

Instead, he smiled and took out a leather folder containing some papers. He pulled out a fountain pen from the pocket of his tuxedo jacket, and said politely;

"As soon as you sign these papers, the billions of dollars of Edencrest Estate will be yours."

"Huh! I just asked you to give that Clifton guy a small warning. How dare you make so much drama?"

There had been so much chaos that this had become the number one headline on the news today!

"Really? Master, is there too much fuss about it?"

The old man blinked innocently, with his wispy gray hair standing on his head as he continued…

"Originally, I wanted to make the whole Clifton family disappear from the face of the earth. I specially followed your warning so I didn't dare to handle the matter with a heavy hand. But you can rest assured, Young Master! I took special care to not expose my identity, as per your instructions."

Noah was speechless.

He really hadn't expected that their method of operation would still be so over-the-top and loud.

With a sigh, he decided to let it slip. In any case, James Clifton was not a good person; and in this particular instance, he could assume that he had eliminated a harmful element from the society.

The more dominating the method of punishment is, the stronger the message it sends, and the more afraid the Clifton family would be… and so, they won't dare to retaliate easily.

And at the same time, this would also serve as a wake-up call to any other people who had bad intentions towards his wife!

"Young master, please sign it now!"

The old man smiled politely.

Noah leaned forward, looked at him with a sharp glint in his eyes, and said,

"Tell me, what happened to the Edencrest Estate?"

"Uh, actually..."

The old man was embarrassed and his eyes flickered with hesitation.

So he was right!

Noah's face twisted into a sneer.

He was not so stupid as to believe that such a blessing had fallen into his lap out of nowhere. It wasn't possible that the family of Edencrest Manor had willingly chosen a man, who had been wandering on the streets for more than ten years, as their heir. Something must have happened!

"If you don't want to tell me, then I want nothing to do with you. So let's just go our own separate ways."

Noah pretended to get down from the car, and seeing this, the old man panicked. He quickly grabbed Noah's arm and spoke with an ashen expression;

"This is the top secret of Edencrest Estate. You must tell no one about it, not a single soul…"

By the time he finished, Noah had a frown on his face and his mouth was covered with his hand.

"I see. As expected, nothing in this life comes for free…"

Of course, Noah had some idea that things were not perfectly peachy back at the Edencrest Estate, otherwise they wouldn't be desperate to bring him back. But this… he had definitely not expected something like this!

"Young Master, you must promise me! Otherwise, the reputation of the whole Edencrest Estate will be ruined. It's in your hands now, only you can save it!"

"I will think about it… but I have one more condition. I can't reveal my identity just yet."

Noah leaned against the leather seat, and spoke nonchalantly.

"Young Master, you have grown up to be quite intelligent! You want to keep your identity secret so that you can hide from the world and avoid the gaze of the media, is that right?

No one would assume that the new heir of the heavenly palace of Edencrest is actually a downtrodden son-in-law of a minor family. I must say, Young Master, you are really thoughtful! I admire you!"

Noah didn't care about his opinion or approval at all. He simply didn't want his wife to get involved in the cutthroat world of power dynamics so soon… where even your own trusted ones betray you and stop at nothing, just to get to the top.

The old man handed him another agreement and said;

"Few people know that this vast entertainment company is actually owned by Blue Whale Holdings. And now, Young Master, you will be the hidden owner so you can run the show as you want."

"It seems that the board of directors at Blue Whale Holdings doesn't trust me quite a lot. Letting me take charge of this company is also a test of my abilities, isn't it?"

Noah flipped through the agreement and said with a wry smile.

"Um…"

The old man coughed twice; afraid that if he admitted the truth, Noah would be upset and refuse to sign the papers. Instead, his face was flushed as he fumbled in his pocket for a debit card and said in a pleading tone;

"Young Master, please don't embarrass me, I'm merely an old servant of yours. I am ready to offer you 800 million dollars on the spot. Just please…"

"I didn't say no."

Noah immediately put away the debit card and signed his name on the agreement. The two men agreed to go to the new company to handle the handover procedures after two days.

Once the matter was settled, Noah opened the sliding door, and was about to leave. But as soon as he raised his head, he saw Eliana, who had just happened to walk out of the Redford Villa.

The two sets of eyes met…

Shock and surprise flashed in each set of eyes, as both Noah and Eliana were completely stunned.

"How did you..."

Eliana blinked with suspicion.

How could he be in such a high-end luxury car, when he was an unemployed man who still relied on his wife's family for his basic needs?

________