"Harry, lazy bum, where the hell are you? Get over here and clean the dog shit now!"
Hearing the shouting from the living room, Harry Barnes, who was originally cleaning the bathroom, trembled, responding quickly, "Alright..."
With that, he hastily put down his cleaning tools and rushed to the living room. Without a word of complaint, he bent over to clean the shit on the floor.
"Valerie, your husband sure is obedient. It must be because you have your ways of making your man behave," said the two beautiful women sitting on the sofa.
They were Harry's wife and her best friend.
Her best friend, Lizzie Newton, admired Harry's obedience.
At this, Valerie Ortega sitting next to her frowned slightly, her beautiful face instantly darkened, and scoffed, "My man? You're talking about Harry? A no-good loser like him? Just a penniless hillbilly who leeched into our family. It's been three years, and he hasn't earned a single penny, all he does is household chores. Marrying a dog would be better than marrying him. Can you believe I was blind to have agreed to marry him?"
Lizzie couldn't help but glance at Harry retreating. He did look a little less masculine. She joined in the disdain, "Yeah, that's also true. Think of him as a dog. He's just a country bumpkin, only good for a daily meal."
Mentioning her useless husband, Valerie became even angrier. She gritted her teeth, "Hmph, even a dog could be used as a watchdog. But he’s really good-for-nothing other than making me angry! Tomorrow is our Ortega family’s annual meeting. I have to bring him along. It's embarrassing. Some women marry into powerful families and I got stuck with him. If I were the wife of a wealthy family now, a shortage of company funds wouldn’t even be a big problem…"
Lizzie paused a little, "Vale, is there some trouble with your company?"
Valerie shot Harry another nasty glance, followed by a heavy sigh, “Last month, because of a clothing business negotiation, the company lost several million. We are currently facing some problems with our cash flow. We urgently need five million for replenishment. We have to find an investor who can support our company within a week, otherwise…”
She didn’t continue. The consequences were too painful to even imagine.
"Five million, Vale? Who could fork out that much money within a week?" Lizzie gasped.
A frowning Valerie pondered, “I need to figure out a solution…”
However, she happened to look up and saw Harry, who was carrying the foot-soaking basin, eavesdropping from afar.
Valerie was instantly irate. She harshly threw the towel she had been using to wipe her feet at Harry's face, coldly saying, "Why are you standing here? Have the clothes been wash yet?"
Without a moment's delay, Harry picked up the towel and anxiously said, "Oh, oh, I'm going now, I'm going now..."
This wasn't his first time getting hit. Any sign of resistance would lead to even harsher treatment from Valerie and her mother.
Last time, because of a retort he made, he was made to kneel outside in the cold winter for an entire night.
"Also, go ahead and wash my dirty clothes. They're in the suitcase, you can find them yourself. Just remember not to rummage through it."
Lizzie also chimed in from the side.
Harry's back stiffened at her words, but he remained silent. Hurriedly, he collected the dirty clothes, walked over to the washing machine, and stuffed them inside. Just as he was about to start the wash, his phone in his pocket vibrated.
He pulled out his phone to see a text message. Spotting the once-familiar number, Harry furrowed his brows and hesitated for a moment before opening the message. He only glanced at it, but was immediately frozen on the spot.
On his phone screen, a line of text was displayed.
"Master Harry, the Barnes family urgently needs funds now. Please, help the Barnes family!"
Staring at the message on his phone screen, Harry was silent for a long time. Then, he chuckled mockingly, "Master Harry, Barnes family's Master Harry, how familiar and strange this title is. If not for you driving me out of the family three years ago, how could I have fallen to this point? To survive, I had to marry into the Ortega family… And you still have the nerve to come to me. Whether the Barnes family lives or dies has nothing to do with me. Besides, I couldn't even scrape together twenty dollars if I tried. Of what use is it to you to turn to me?"
Before he could finish speaking, his phone vibrated again. Another text message.
"Master Harry, without your support, the Barnes family is finished. The oil stocks you bought three years ago have now multiplied manifold. Only you can save the Barnes family. I beg you, please help…"
His eyes hadn't swept over the entire contents of the text yet, but the moment his gaze landed on the words "oil stocks", he almost jumped up.
In the three years since his marriage into the Ortega family, he never mentioned any details about his past to anyone. But now, these two text messages brought back vivid memories of those days.
Three years ago, he was the second son of the Barnes family, the foremost clan in North Dakota. However, for the sake of buying eight percent of Southeast Petroleum Company's shares with eight million dollars of the family funds, he was regarded as a madman by the Barnes family. In the end, by the unanimous agreement of the family, Harry was banished from the Barnes family. Even his parents were erased from the family tree and ousted from the family. His former brothers and friends regarded him as a jinx, almost steering clear of him as though he was accursed. Out of desperation, he had no choice but to join the Ortega family by marriage, becoming a husband in name to Valerie.
Oil shares?
Could it be...
Just then, he dug frantically into his wallet to pull out a bank card, an Amex's black card!
"After three years, this card has stayed unused..."
Picking up his phone, he shakily dialed a number. After the ringtone, a sweet female voice came over from the other end.
"Hello, Mr. Barnes, this is your dedicated service staff. Is there anything I can assist you with?"
Harry swallowed down his excitement, took a deep breath, and gravely said, "Check the balance on my card."
"Alright, please hold on."
The woman said slowly. After a few seconds, she spoke, "I'm sorry, Mr. Barnes. Due to the large sum of balance in your account, we are unable to inquire online. Please bring your card to the bank's VIP counter. With your ID, you can inquire there."
Hearing this, Harry felt a blankness in his mind as he slowly hung up the call. After a long silence, he suddenly yelled out, "Damn!"
This shout startled the two women in the living room. Valerie recovered first, biting down on her teeth, she snapped, "Harry, are you seeking death? Yelling like a ghost!"
Before she even finished speaking, she saw Harry run up in front of her, excitedly saying, "Does the company need five million?"