Chapter Eleven: The Wrongful Case

  With a screeching sound, the brand new black Audi 90 sedan stopped in front of a small villa. Ryan sat in the passenger seat, gritting his teeth and muttering to himself. In his eyes, Nicole's driving skills were really terrible, and he doubted whether this newly bought car could survive the running-in period intact.

  "Nico, did you bribe the examiner when you took your driving test?"

  "Shut up, Ryan." Nicole ground her pearly whites. "If you keep running your mouth, after we're done visiting, you can walk back to LA from Santa Monica yourself!"

  Ryan stuck out his tongue, swallowed back the mocking words he was about to say, unfastened his seatbelt and got out of the car first, walking towards that small but elegant villa.

  It was the last day of August, and he and Nicole had come to the seaside town of Santa Monica specifically to visit Principal Katie in her retirement. After all, when they were at the orphanage, the old principal was the only one who truly cared for him and helped him out, and she had also been a great help with that lawsuit later on.

  "Aunt Katie, nice to see you."

  Although they occasionally communicated, it had been two years since they last met, and the old principal looked like he had aged a lot, with more than half of his hair turned gray.

  "Ryan, you've grown taller and bigger." Principal Katie was a bit sentimental. After having fruit juice and coffee with the nanny, she looked at Nicole and said, "I didn't expect that two years would pass in the blink of an eye. Is the little guy easy to take care of? With his temper, he should have given you a lot of headaches."

  "Katie, we've gotten along great and adopting Ryan was the best decision I ever made in my life." Nicole smiled as she ruffled Ryan's hair. "Ryan is my only family here in America."

  "So I'm at ease now."

  The old principal asked a few questions about Ryan's recent situation, and after chatting with Nicole for a while, his energy was visibly depleted. Ryan and Nicole had to bid farewell, but before leaving, she pulled Nicole aside and said, "Ryan is the smartest and most talented child I've ever seen. Take good care of him and let him grow up healthily. If you encounter any difficulties that can't be solved, call me directly. Although I'm old, I still have many relatives and friends."

  After strolling along the beach in Santa Monica, they found a seafood restaurant for lunch. Nicole then drove Ryan to downtown Los Angeles, where he had an appointment that afternoon at Wilson's law firm.

  Wilson was a moderately well-known lawyer in the greater Los Angeles area, his law firm was only marginally mid-sized, but business was decent, renting a separate two-story office building near City Hall.

  In a small, enclosed conference room, two white men were waiting for him. One was Wilson, Ryan's lawyer, a somewhat balding middle-aged man, and the other was a tall, robust-looking brown-haired man who looked much younger, the stock and investment broker that Mr. Wilson had introduced to him last year.

  "Nice to meet you, Mr. Scott. We've spoken on the phone a number of times and I never thought you'd be so tall." In Ryan's estimation, this guy had to be at least six feet three inches tall.

  "Ryan, I didn't expect it either, you're actually under ten years old." Mr. Scott's expression was somewhat exaggerated.

  The next thing to talk about is related to investment. As a lawyer with good professional ethics, Mr. Wilson left the conference room voluntarily and Nicole sent him into the office building. After that, she went to the gym and would come back to pick him up before the law firm closed.

  "Mr. Scott, I heard from Uncle Wilson that you will be returning to New York soon?"

  "It's like this, I plan to return to Merrill Securities in a few days and may quit my current job."

  "Quit the job? Why?" Ryan scratched his head, thinking this was a joke. He had finally managed to hire a reliable investment broker, and now he wanted to leave.

  Mr. Scott smiled helplessly, but his smile was full of warmth and sweetness, "My wife is pregnant, in December I will become a father, we are preparing to return to Montgomery, Pennsylvania, waiting for the birth of our child."

  "It's like that." Ryan muttered and then said, "Congratulations, Mr. Scott."

  Things are really troublesome, I finally managed to persuade Nicole, can't just give up like this? Ryan's eyes rolled around, "Mr. Scott, actually what you said is not contradictory to what I want to do, you just need to help me operate a sum of money and buy some stocks."

  "In that case..."

  In Ryan's words of persuasion... no, after a few words of persuasion, and the things he did wouldn't take up too much time, Scott finally nodded in agreement.

  "Wait, Ryan!"

  Scott suddenly interrupted the boy who was speaking with flying spittle, since entering this room, the boy had shown a precocity and wisdom that astonished him, until now he realized that he was indeed still an innocent child.

  "What's wrong?" Ryan was in the middle of showing off some pitiful knowledge he had picked up from the internet in his past life, and didn't understand why Scott interrupted him.

  "Ryan, is Cisco a network equipment supplier?" After Ryan's affirmative answer, Scott suddenly burst out laughing, "Cisco hasn't gone public!"

  Ryan's mouth twitched involuntarily, his face covered in black lines. At this moment, he really wanted to run to the beach in Malibu, dig a hole and bury himself. God! He had actually made such a big mistake. If those powerful people who had crossed over saw him, they would definitely make fun of him for eternity.

  "Also Microsoft's stock, now almost all investors are optimistic about Microsoft's upward trend, wanting to absorb a large amount of Microsoft stock from the market is very difficult, and then there's Apple..."

  Scott made a simple analysis of the financial and investment markets. The more he spoke, the more cold sweat appeared on Ryan's forehead, and his heart couldn't stop feeling a wave of relief.

  It's good that I have some self-awareness, knowing that the knowledge of financial crises and currency wars I've read about online may not be reliable. I never thought that relying on this would allow me to make a big killing, if he really was like those time-traveling cowards, recklessly cutting corners and speculating in yen, I estimate that there would be one more person jumping off the Jinmen Bridge.

  "Alright! I'm just not cut out for business and finance. Ryan could only sigh, creating such a big misunderstanding, it's really embarrassing, fortunately he's still a kid, his face has been trained over the years, otherwise he would be too ashamed to show his face, luckily Nicole is not here, otherwise she would definitely use her guardian privileges to control his wallet tightly."

  "Isn't there another way?" Ryan asked persistently.

  "I'll be keeping an eye on the market and will absorb as much of Microsoft's stock as possible. And Cisco, I've heard it's likely to go public next year, if you're sure you want to buy into its stock, I'll do my best." Despite Mr. Scott not making any guarantees, his words still showed a certain level of confidence.

  "Let's leave it at that, we can discuss further over the phone."

  Ryan sighed, it's all he could do, anyway, buying as much as possible was better than letting the cash devalue in his hands. Besides, reliable and capable stock and investment managers were hard to find these days, not to mention those small companies, even on Wall Street, there were swindlers everywhere.

  If it weren't for Dean Katie and Attorney Wilson's introduction, Ryan would never have trusted him in the first place, and even so, necessary supervisory measures wouldn't be reduced.

  "Ryan, if you have the chance, come visit Pennsylvania, I have a big farm there, you can ride horses." Mr. Scott warmly extended the invitation as they said their goodbyes.

  "If I go to the East Coast, I'll definitely visit." Ryan replied with a radiant smile.

  To put it bluntly, this afternoon's meeting had a certain impact on Ryan, making him lose face and also made him more clear-headed about himself, understanding what kind of path he is suited for. At the same time, he thoroughly threw away some things from his past life in the online world that were just fantasies.

  What Plaza Accord, what Yen Crisis, what Operation Sheepskin, what cutting flesh from the Red Giant, what Southeast Asian financial storm, what subprime crisis, all go to hell! I'd better just steadily work on my own movies.

  Back home, Ryan sat in front of his desk, only able to force a bitter smile. His greedy heart had just begun to swell when it was ruthlessly pierced by a sharp needle.

  In fact, he has been a human being for two lifetimes, how could he not be clear that his greatest talent is still in the artistic field, and now it's several times stronger than before. It's just that people will always be blinded by greed and unrealistic fantasies. In a sense, Mr. Scott Swift is the stick that fell from above.

  But why did he suddenly feel that this name was somewhat familiar? Ryan scratched his head, threw the thought to one side, and waved his pen, scratching it onto the manuscript paper.

  The sweltering summer was coming to an end, and Ryan Jenkins, who had transferred from London, stepped into an American campus for the first time. Nicole had chosen a private school for him, named St. John's Elementary School. Don't be surprised, this wasn't a parochial school. Although he had been reborn once, Ryan was at most an agnostic. If he were to go to a strict Catholic school, it would be better off killing him.

  "Ryan, behave yourself in school and get along with your classmates. Don't always do inexplicable things. If the principal asks me to come to school, I'll definitely send you to a boarding school, I swear!"

  After ushering Ryan into the campus, Ms. Nicole Kidman issued a stern warning, even though she knew it would have little effect.

  "Come on, Nicole, am I the kind of kid who doesn't know what's going on?" As soon as Nicole finished speaking, Ryan reflexively started to retort. "Don't worry, as long as those little brats and weird teachers don't come to provoke me, I won't bother with them."