Chapter 47: The Actor

On this day, Cliff Conland was walking home with his newly acquired woman, the opera singer Paris from the Brilins Opera House, when suddenly several people emerged from around the corner and blocked their path.

"Ah!" Paris was startled by these suddenly appearing individuals and let out a instinctive scream.

Cliff stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Paris, and with a furrowed brow, he looked at the newcomers and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"

"Mr. Conland, right? Don't worry, I mean no harm," the person who had appeared was of average height, their face somewhat gaunt beneath the hat they wore. Their eyes, lit by the surrounding lights, seemed oddly sinister. "I have a business proposal I'd like to discuss with you. Can you spare some time?"

Cliff gave the person a once-over and noticed that their hands were consistently hidden within their clothing. There seemed to be something bulging between their chest and abdomen, presumably a concealed item—most likely a gun.

"What kind of business?" Cliff composed himself, momentarily calming his mind, and asked calmly.

"Could we discuss this somewhere inside? Speaking here is not convenient," the newcomer looked at Cliff, their tone cold and detached.

Cliff hesitated, turned to look at Paris, saw her nod, and then gestured to the person in a welcoming manner.

With the stranger in tow, they entered the building. Rather than immediately taking a seat in the living room, as Cliff had invited, this mysterious individual stood in the room, looking around as if observing something. After a while, they approached Cliff and said, "Are there any outsiders present? Don't get me wrong, I just don't want to cause you any trouble."

"I feel like you've already caused me trouble," Cliff stood in front of the couch, his expression calm. "Just say what you want to say, there's no one else here."

"Let me introduce myself first. I'm Rem, Rem Byrde. Mr. Conland, you've probably heard of my name," finally, the person's hand emerged from their clothing, but it was empty, and the bulge on their chest remained.

"Apologies!" Cliff shook his head and took a seat on the couch, as the name indeed did not ring a bell.

"Well, you must have heard of Cole, right? Vincent Cole," Rem wasn't surprised and continued.

"Vincent Cole?" Cliff furrowed his brows. As someone who had long been mingling in the underworld, he naturally knew about the two outliers in the New York gang scene: "Long Legs" Jack Damon and "Mad Dog" Vincent Cole. He nodded and replied, "Of course, I've heard of Mr. Cole, but I don't have any connection with him."

"You'll have a connection soon. Mr. Cole wants Mr. Conland's help with something, and after it's done, there'll be a reward of ten thousand dollars!" Rem smiled and said.

Although ten thousand dollars was enticing, Cliff still needed to make sure he had a life to spend it, so he cautiously asked, "What is it?"

Rem didn't reply directly; instead, they first glanced at Paris and then spoke, "It's evident that Mr. Conland enjoys watching plays!"

Cliff casually replied, "Yes, so what?"

"That makes it easy then. Mr. Cole wants you to perform in a play. If you do well, the ten thousand dollars will be yours."

"Perform in a play? But I don't know how to act. Why not find someone else?" Cliff asked, puzzled.

Rem stared at Cliff for a while before answering softly, "The answer is simple. Because you look exactly like him. Only you can perform this role."

Upon hearing this, Cliff understood, but just to be cautious, he felt that dealing with Cole wouldn't lead to anything good. He tentatively asked, "Um, can I refuse?"

"Of course you can, but I'm sure Mr. Conland is aware of Mr. Cole's temperament. Refusing him will come at a cost. If Mr. Conland doesn't mind, then I can..."

Before Rem could finish, Cliff quickly interjected, "I agree, I agree!" He had heard that Cole was called "Mad Dog" precisely because he never acted reasonably. If you didn't follow his orders, you'd never see the man again.

Rem nodded in satisfaction, "That's the right decision. After all, earning ten thousand dollars by performing a few scenes of a play is not an opportunity that comes easily. Alright, Mr. Conland, go get yourself ready, and we'll leave!"

"What? We're going to act now?" Cliff asked nervously.

Rem shook his head, "How is that possible? As an actor, you need to memorize your lines, undergo training before you can step on stage. Right now, we're taking you to a place to hone your acting skills."

With little choice, Cliff hastily packed a few clothes and followed Rem to a remote courtyard. Upon entering, a man wearing a mask greeted him, "Welcome, Jack. Let me introduce myself—I am Moriarty."

While Cliff was undergoing training, Nicole excitedly told Tony Monet, "Dear, Dorothea has already found out. Madeline's relationship with Vincent is indeed quite bad. The reason why Astor IV married Madeline and fled to Europe and Egypt was to escape public opinion, and the most vocal opposition came from Vincent!"

"Furthermore, Vincent inherited a whopping seventy-two million dollars, while Madeline only got five million, and she can only access fifty thousand per year."

In this manner, Vincent even secretly tried to seduce Madeline. Due to the will's stipulation, Madeline had to remain a widow to receive her annual fifty thousand. If she remarried, she'd lose it. So, Madeline now harbors a deep resentment towards Vincent. If we involve her, the chances of success are quite high!"

However, Nicole then sounded frustrated, "But that greedy Dorothea actually demanded five thousand dollars from me just to organize an afternoon tea for you to meet Madeline! And I thought revealing the Remy Coffee situation would offset some of the cost, but she somehow knows even more than we do!"

"It's normal, after all, she mingles with influential people. Naturally, her information network is stronger than ours!" Tony reassured, but then continued, "I can provide her with the five thousand dollars, but she must ensure all the preliminary work is done properly."

"Don't worry, if she dares to mess this up, I won't spare her!" Nicole said resentfully.