People in America: My Uncle Don Quixote

Chapter 91 The Poisonous Cake Targeting Catherine (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Li Wei stepped forward, amidst the envious and jealous gazes of the crowd. He followed Elizabeth through the heavily carpeted corridor to an elevator.

As the elevator doors closed, drowning out the flashes and shutter sounds in the lobby, Elizabeth turned around and looked Levi up and down.

"Um... I'm sorry," she said, a rare hint of embarrassment in her voice. "I... I didn't mean to."

"Huh?" Li Wei was stunned. "What?"

"I didn't know you had applied for this scholarship before," she shook her head. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have put you in this time-wasting job. I would have spoken to the staff in charge of scholarships."

"Then wouldn't I be taking the Mellon Foundation's money for nothing?" Levi said with a smile. "That's probably not a good idea."

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Elizabeth said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s only a few tens of thousands of dollars. You can easily earn it back in the future. There’s no need to spend 20 hours doing volunteer work.”

Li Wei hates people who show off in front of him the most.

He can only pretend in front of others.

"I'm not the luckiest person, I only believe in my own hands," Li Wei said with a smile and a wave of his hand. "What's free is often the most expensive."

While $3 is a lot for him now, it's just a drop in the ocean when it comes to his future. He doesn't need to owe Elizabeth Mellon a favor just to slack off for 20 hours.

"Alright then," Elizabeth Mellon understood what Levi meant and nodded. "Would you like to grab a coffee before you go?"

However, Li Wei continued to politely decline her offer, and after chatting casually for a few minutes, he went downstairs to continue helping.

Elizabeth returned to her office alone, immediately followed by a blonde middle-aged female secretary carrying a schedule.

Unconsciously gazing at the Manhattan skyline outside the window, she felt inexplicably irritated and had a headache.

"Lola," she said, "what are the chances that Levi can pull off a miracle and sign with the Giants right out of high school?"

"Currently, there seems to be over 60% probability," said Laura's personal assistant. "Judging from the current media trends, Giants owner John Mara is strongly promoting him, and Levi's current performance in the game footage and 247Sports data..."

Based on the training camp rankings, he has a very high probability of success.

"This is a bit of a headache," Elizabeth muttered to herself. "How did I offend him for no reason?"

She was willing to kneel in the church and swear that she really remembered Li Wei that day, and that she planned to go to Mrs. Dolores's boutique to shop after the exhibition, but she was just too busy at that time.

If Li Wei had remained just a shop assistant, she wouldn't have cared so much. The problem is that he has now become the boyfriend of the only daughter of her father's important business partner, and is very likely to become a future NFL superstar, forcing her to try to repair their relationship.

"Hasn't he contacted you?" Laura asked. "That personal business card?"

"Absolutely not," Elizabeth shook her head, somewhat bewildered. "So what should I do now? Laura, any suggestions?"

She trusted Laura's judgment 80% of the time. As the senior assistant assigned to her by the family office, Laura had three master's degrees, a clean family background, and was extremely loyal. Her advice was accurate and effective in most cases.

"Because his life is peaceful and happy right now," Laura said. "As for money, he's recently been dating Anna, the only daughter of one of your father's business partners, a Russian energy oligarch, so he doesn't need your help?"

"If I were to offer advice," she said, holding her tablet and carefully examining Li Wei's profile, "I would suggest looking into him, starting with the people around him, and slowly repairing your relationship with him."

"I remember you told me," Elizabeth thought for a moment, "that he has an uncle, right?"

“Yes,” Laura said, “Don Quixote Cervantes, a graduate of the University of Chicago’s economics department, was an investment banking executive at JPMorgan Chase. He resigned to start his own business and raised funds, but went bankrupt due to divorce and insufficient funds. He has an ex-wife and a daughter.”

"You mean we should try to influence him through his uncle?" Elizabeth nodded, but then asked, "Won't that make him feel like we're invading his privacy?"

“This requires further investigation,” Laura said, “but I’m inclined not to, because I looked into Don Quixote a little the day before yesterday, and it seems they have a custody dispute with their ex-wife. Now is the perfect time for us to step in and help.”

"dispute?"

“Yes,” Laura pushed up her glasses. “Don Quixote loves his daughter very much, but because his ex-wife has custody, she has been demanding various expenses for his activities under the pretext of visitation rights. Many of these expenses are inflated. The family office lawyers have looked into this a bit and think that this is a good starting point.”

"You mean we should step in and get custody back?" Elizabeth asked, intrigued. "Can't Anna do that for Levi?"

“Mr. Sergei is very powerful in Russia, Central Asia, and Dubai, but this is New York,” Laura said. “Many things can’t be accomplished simply with money, and as things stand, Don Quixote’s ex-wife certainly won’t give up fighting for custody of their daughter, especially after she sees that Don Quixote and Livy are clearly trying to break away from their social class.”

"Is simply returning custody to Don Quixote not enough?" Elizabeth suddenly asked. "Are there any other options?"

"Yes," Laura said, never disappointing. "Recently, our family's trust company was conducting its year-end internal audit, and we discovered serious misconduct by a senior vice president named Robert Anderson. He embezzled approximately $400 million in company funds to cover his gambling debts in Atlantic City. The Department of Justice has already prepared the indictment, and he will most likely spend the rest of his life in federal prison."

What Laura didn't tell Elizabeth was that things had already been arranged inside the prison, and Robert most likely wouldn't live to see another Christmas in a federal prison.

However, Elizabeth has only just come of age and has not yet been involved in family affairs, so there are many things that she does not need to know.

"Robert Anderson, I vaguely remember him," Elizabeth frowned. "He seems to be fairly presentable."

"Yes, he has a refined appearance and a witty manner. He spends at least $3 a year on skincare and fitness. He previously managed high-net-worth clients for a period of time and is very good at winning women's hearts."

"My Plan B is that we can make a deal with him, deferred prosecution for six months, and during that time we can leave some of his assets unfrozen, and even provide him with a settlement allowance specifically for a decent life," so that he can contact Don Quixote's ex-wife.

"Applying for a settlement allowance might be a bit troublesome, right?" Elizabeth thought for a moment. "Keep the budget below $20, otherwise the family office will get involved. I don't plan to bring Levi into the family's sights for the time being; he's a potential connection I discovered myself."

"Understood," Laura quickly jotted down her notes. "Don Quixote's ex-wife is a greedy and short-sighted person. After meeting Robert, because of Robert's minor obsessions with cleanliness," she had to abandon her previous burden. We'll tell Robert to have his ex-wife relinquish custody and voluntarily sign a waiver of any form of alimony. A few months later, after they settle down in California, Robert will be taken away by the FBI for his previous crimes, and his assets will be seized."

Robert knew he was going to die, Laura thought to herself, and now he might use that as leverage to try and save her life.

She added a note to her tablet: Communicate with the prison authorities in advance.

Its importance ranked after taking care of Elizabeth's cat.

“Okay,” Elizabeth waved her hand. “Make sure the arrangements are secure. I don’t want his ex-wife to be able to harass them again in a few months. Tell Robert to be careful when she signs the agreement and not give her any chance to exploit loopholes.”

Laura smiled and nodded.

"Also," Elizabeth said, as if remembering something, "after everything is arranged, please reserve a table for me at Nobu. I want to treat Levi to a meal and explain everything to him thoroughly."

Nobu is New York's hottest upscale restaurant, famous for its high-end Japanese cuisine. Many celebrities and socialites consider it an honor to book a table at Nobu.

"Okay," Laura said, "What about the timing?"

"Let's keep it for a month for now," Elizabeth thought for a moment, "and we'll see if we need to extend it."

"Understood," Laura nodded. "I'll take care of it today."

Three days later, after finishing his tutoring session with Travis, Li Wei returned home.

To his surprise, Lily was there too.

"Brother Li Wei!" As soon as she saw Li Wei walk in, she immediately dropped the Barbie doll she was holding, ran over, and hugged Li Wei's waist. "Hehe, did you miss me?"

"Of course I missed you," Li Wei said, picking her up. "But aren't you coming next weekend?"

When this was mentioned, Lily's lips pursed, and she kept complaining to Levi about the new man Catherine had recently met, who had even sent her over today specifically to go on a date with him.

After he finished speaking, Li Wei finally understood that Catherine had recently met a wealthy bachelor who worked in a family trust office on Wall Street.

"He's all slicked-back and greasy-looking," Lily said, gesturing to her newly learned phrase, "I don't like him."

"I really don't know what happened to Catherine—" Don Quixote also came out of the house, glanced at Lily, and immediately changed his tune, "I really don't know what kind of luck Catherine had, do financiers just like her type?"

Li Wei smiled. Catherine herself had a relatively respectable job, and the inheritance she received from Don Quixote was also considerable, giving her a lot of spare money to treat herself to anti-aging treatments. Even though she was nearly 40, she still looked well-proportioned and had the charm of a mature wife.

It's not surprising that it attracts the favor of some people.

"Isn't this a good thing for you?" Levi said, hugging Lily. "You two will be spending more time together now."

"Yes," Don Quixote scratched his head, "and it's time to move."

They are currently living in a 3-bedroom apartment provided by Susan, which has been converted into a 2-bedroom unit. Livy and Don Quixote each occupy one bedroom, making it inconvenient for Lily to stay over on weekends.

It may be okay now, but Lily is, after all, a girl in her early teens, and she should have her own room by now.

"Have you thought it through?" Levi asked, playing with Lily while holding some toys. "Where do you want to move to?"

"I've been working on the Christmas decorations project in Dyker Heights lately, haven't I?" Don Quixote said. "I also took a look at the houses over there."

"What do you mean?" Li Wei asked curiously, "Are we finally going to live in a villa this time?"

Dyke Heights is located south of Bell Ridge, but due to its terrain, its community positioning is higher than that of Bell Ridge. It is a community between middle-class and upper-class, mainly consisting of townhouses with garages.

"More or less," Don Quixote pondered for a moment. "Susan told me that if we moved out of Bell Ridge, she could give me an extra $3000 a month for rent, so it would be barely enough to make ends meet."

"Wow," Levi exclaimed in surprise, "she's so nice to you?"

“Of course,” Don Quixote said. “Do you know how much that building in South Brooklyn is worth now? After the surrounding garbage was cleaned up and the plumbing was repaired, it’s worth more than $270 million.”

"That means I made her $150 million in just a few months," he said, pointing to his nose with obvious pride. "Of course I should get some compensation."

"You still have my own $1000 a month subsidy from the child welfare agency, right?" Levi said after thinking for a moment. "I also have some scholarships. If you think that house is really nice, you can just rent it."

"Speaking of your allowance," Don Quixote said, looking at Livy, "how long until you come of age? I remember that you can't receive it after you turn 18."

"Three more months," Li Wei said, "February 12th."

"Then I can still receive it for 3 more months," Don Quixote slapped his thigh. "It's rare to be able to snatch some money from the New York government, but unfortunately, I've only received it for half a year."

"Indeed," Li Wei also felt a little regretful, "but there's nothing we can do about it."

Don Quixote and Levi initially thought that Lily being sent here today was just a coincidence.

But to their surprise, Lily had been sent over three or four times in less than a week.

Two weeks later, less than a week before Christmas, Lily was sent over again, but this time Catherine herself came along.