Chapter 477


    Recently, the atmosphere in the Hopkins family was a little awkward mainly because Christina had a


    grim expression and didn''tprise to anyone.


    But after Christina came back from outside tonight, she looked more worried and absent-minded at


    dinner in the Main Residence.


    It was as if she was worried about another thing and had no time to take into ount the resentment


    towards the Hopkins family.


    Nobody spoke at the dinner table. Patrick came back to have dinner with the family tonight. He


    suddenly said, "I will bring the twins back to Eastern Garden..."


    Senior Mr. Hopkins, who was sitting in the master seat frowned and looked at Patrick discontentedly.


    The others at the same table all looked at Patrick at the same time, waiting for his following words.


    But before Patrick could finish speaking, Christina stood up hurriedly. She didn''t seem to have heard


    what Patrick said and appeared to be in a hurry, "Take your time. I''ll go back to my bedroom first."


    After saying that, Christina strode away from the table, ignoring the dining etiquette.


    Judy looked at Christina''s back with displeasure. But As the hostess of the Hopkins family, she knew


    more about etiquette and did not scold her. Everyone was staring at their life in the rich family all the


    time. What happened in their family would be known to others even if nobody said it.


    Sure enough, Senior Mr. Hopkins showed a serious expression when he saw Christina leave the table


    in such a hurry.


    Patrick didn''t continue.


    The atmosphere at the table suddenly became a little depressing. The old butler was disappointed with


    Christina because she did not care about Patrick''s feelings at all. Christina was indeed ipatible


    with the Hopkins family.


    Christina ignored their rules. The only thing she thinking about was to figure out what was going on with


    the French documents that Derek had given her.


    She was good at English and Arabic but didn''t know French at all.


    "Where''s Eric?"


    With the document bag in her hand, Christina rushed back to Eastern Garden while making a phone


    call.


    Larry answered the phone, "He''s asleep... What''s the matter with him?"


    "I gave Peter the document bag that Derek asked me to take away when we are in the hospitalst


    time, but Peter said it wasn''t thepany document... Did Derek take the wrong document or


    something?"


    Christina said with unconscious tension.


    "If it''s not an official document, it should be for you." Larry''s voice was a little cold.


    Although he didn''t know what the document was, at least it was impossible for Derek to take the wrong


    document. Derek must have done it on purpose.


    "Ask Eric to answer the phone. I want to ask him what documents he gave me. He knows that I hate


    French the most, and he still got me the French contracts..."


    The more Christina thought about it, the more strange she felt.


    "Derek was in a bad condition today and he needs a good sleep. He told me not to disturb him


    tonight... You can ask him tomorrow morning."


    Hearing that Derek had been in poor health recently and was already asleep, Christina thought it was


    not appropriate to disturb him.


    Christina forced herself to say patiently, "I see. I''lle tomorrow morning."


    She had to immediately understand the contents of these French contracts. She rushed back to the


    bedroom and turned on herputer to find some online trantions. But these French documents


    were really troublesome because they involved privacy and can''t be read by outsiders. She irritably


    searched every keyword online and tried to understand the general meaning.


    "Should I ask Patrick for help?" Such an idea shed through Christina''s mind.


    Patrick was good at French, and if Derek needed to find doctors, Patrick would definitely be able to


    help.


    But that day at the hospital, Derek obviously interrupted her, indicating that he didn''t want Patrick to


    interfere.


    Derek was especially stubborn since he was a child.


    Thinking of this, Christina decided not to tell Patrick. After all, this was Derek''s decision. She continued


    to bury herself in the pile of documents and focused on tranting the French she hated most all night.


    On the other side, Patrick went straight back to the study after dinner and was busy in the study all


    night.


    In fact, at dinner, he wanted to say that he would let Christina take care of the twins so that she didn''t


    have to go to work outside and could reduce the conflict with the Hopkins family.


    "Derek..." Patrick sat back in his chair holding his pen. His deep eyes filled with mixed emotions.


    He had a hidden sense of guilt towards Derek but he could not say it to Derek, nor could he say it to


    anyone.


    That year, he and Derek were good friends. There were so many people trying to please Patrick, but he


    took the initiative to make friends with this autistic and talented illegitimate child of the Fisher family.


    Derek was really smart. Apart from his outstanding appearance, his logical way of thinking often


    surprised Patrick.


    Because of the strict education in the Hopkins family and the memories of his mother, Judy, betraying


    his father, Patrick had a deep dislike of women since he was a child.


    Even though he was 22 years old that year, he had no experience in the rtionship between men and


    women.


    In his subconscious mind, business marriage was the best way to choose a partner.


    The marriage did not require any emotional foundation but only required women to be loyal and give


    birth to an heir, even if they got divorced after that.


    But that day, when he came back from abroad, he heard that Derek was near a college in C City. He


    was about to look for Derek, but he met Christina instead.


    Christina was seventeen years old that year. She suddenly jumped down from a big tree and appeared


    in front of Patrick, throwing herself at him.


    Christina appeared in Patrick''s life before he could make any psychological preparation.


    At that moment, Patrick admitted that he was really scared.


    The most ridiculous thing was that Christina didn''t even look at him seriously at that time. She got up in


    a panic but scolded him first.


    It was just a small matter, but he could not help but recall her angry look, her voice, and her soft body


    the tenderness when she was in his arms.


    He applied to be a teaching assistant at her university and sent people to visit her milk tea shop


    secretly, doing what he found extremely ridiculous for the rest of his life.


    Christina still didn''t know him.


    In the end, he realized that Derek came to C City that day to meet Christina. They had known each


    other since they were kids and were close friends.


    Christina had such an outstanding man in her life long ago, so Patrick was always ignored.


    Did he count as stealing his good friend''s girlfriend?


    Patrick threw the pen on the table with a cold expression. The guilty made him feel an uncontroble


    panic every time he met Derek.


    Without his intervention, Derek and Christina might have... Many people say that they match each


    other very well.


    "... She''s mine now." Patrick muttered to himself in a low voice.


    He had thought of giving up on her when he got angry because of being ignored. He couldn''t tell if he


    couldn''t afford to lose or why he was so persistent. The only thing he cared about was the result.


    Theputer screen suddenly shed and a new email was in.


    Patrick nced at the screen and saw the message that he had marked as important. Then he sat


    upright and read it.


    The email was about Christina''s Ancient Coin that he had sent someone to investigate.


    At first, he didn''t care much. He took a picture and asked people to find out where the texture of the


    Ancient Coin came from but nobody knew.


    The more unknown it was, the more Patrick began to pay attention to it.


    "It was the Strozzi family''s badge."


    He frowned at the exnation in the email. It took him a long time to find out the real origin of the


    Ancient Coin.


    The Strozzi family had a history of hundreds of years but there was no information on the exact time of


    their rise. The main business dealings of the Strozzi family were concentrated in Italy.


    There was no information about the members of the Strozzi family. They rarelymunicated with the


    outside world, and the transactions were handled indirectly by Italianpany employees.


    Patrick showed a serious expression, and he was very dissatisfied with the small amount of


    information.


    He directly called the person in charge of the investigation, "How could you only find this after


    searching for so long..."


    "Mr. Hopkins, we have tried our best. Even local businessmen in Italy don''t know much about the


    Strozzi family..."


    "But there''s another piece of news about the leader of the Strozzi family. We''re not sure if it''s true, so


    we don''t dare to write it in the email."


    Patrick listened without saying a word. The man understood Patrick''s temper and reported carefully.


    "It is said that there is a custom in the Strozzi family. They will choose a leader. The leader would have


    absolute decision-making power, many wives, and many children. Therefore, internal strife in the family


    is also very serious."


    After a pause, he added, "We suspect that the Ancient Coin obtained by Junior Mrs. Hopkins should


    Patrick asked, "What ind?"


    The man hesitated, "Mr. Hopkins, this matter... we don''t know the details yet. The information we have


    found is limited. We heard it from a local old fisherman and didn''t know whether it was true or not."


    "The leader of the Strozzi family seems to live on an ind in the Antic. The family tradition is that


    the leader and his wife and children are not allowed to leave the ind for the rest of their lives... The


    shrill scream could be heard on every full moon day on the ind. Even the moon looks like fishy red.


    Most of their leaders have physical defects or are short-lived."


    "... There was a legend that a long time ago, the head of the Strozzi family had innate foresight and


    couldmunicate with others with telepathy. His ability and wealth expanded rapidly and he became


    greedy and arrogant. He killed countless people for selfish desires and was cursed in the end. Even if


    the descendants were also gifted, their bodies were tortured and they didn''t end well..."


    These are all "rumours," because there is really no real record in the book.


    Moreover, those who were asked about the Strozzi family seemed to be in awe and did not dare to say


    anything. It was possible that the family had been too low-key and secretive for hundreds of years and


    had been deified. In any case, it was not easy to investigate thoroughly.


    "Mr. Hopkins, please send someone to bring Junior Mrs. Hopkins''s Ancient Coin to us for further


    investigation. It should be helpful."


    Since the Strozzi family had been so secretive for so many years, how could a badge representing the


    leader of their family appear outside? At the beginning of their investigation, many famous collectors


    thought it was just a fake, but after repeatedparison, they confirmed that the Ancient Coin taken in


    the photo was genuine.


    Patrick listened to this and remained silent.


    He was not interested in the rumour of the Strozzi family, but he was thinking why Christina could get


    such a rare ancient coin.


    "You have to investigate this matter further and I will send someone to send the Ancient Coins to


    Italy..." As Patrick spoke, he walked towards the rows of bookshelves on the right side of the study.


    He opened the dark brown suitcase at the top of the fifth row of bookshelves and felt shocked.


    It was empty.


    The Ancient Coin was gone.


    Patrick looked suspicious. He had put the Ancient Coin in this suitcase at that time. Because he didn''t


    Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org.


    take it seriously at first, he didn''t set the password. Besides, ordinary people couldn''te to the


    Hopkins family''s study.


    Did Christina take it?


    "... Ask Junior Mrs. Hopkins toe to the study." Patrick pressed the inte on the table with a


    serious expression.