Flowers, Swords and France

"Run! Run!"

"Go! Go!"

Amid the deafening cheers and shouts, a group of racehorses rushed across the track like arrows from a bow. f, These racehorses have all been carefully cared for by their owners, their manes are shiny and gleaming in the sun, and the short riders riding on their backs are also tightly attached to the horses' backs, driving these indescribable creatures. They have only one goal, which is to be the first to run through the key point and become the winner. At this time, everything else seems to have lost its meaning to them.

Not only these riders, but almost everyone on the racecourse was captured by their passion, watching and cheering in ecstasy. Especially among the spectators who have already placed bets, the primitive desire for victory and the passion for gambling are intertwined, making them even more immersed in it. They all roared at the racehorses they bet on, cheered for them, and shouted at the top of their lungs to speed up and rush to the final finish line.

However, like most things in the world, no matter how hard these riders and horses try, in the end, only one pair of winners will be decided, and the efforts and sweat of other people and horses will vanish and become a past that is not worth mentioning. Knowing this cruel reality, each rider mustered up his greatest perseverance and drove his horse forward.

Doesn't this scene coincide with Laura's thoughts?

There is only a glorious end in front of you, and there are bumps and thorns along the way. If you want to be the final winner, you can only eliminate all distractions. Close the window of your heart, take out the greatest courage and determination, and rush forward with the spirit of crushing everything.

At this time, the arrogant Miss de-Bovan was still making an impassioned speech to Miss Treville in the Bois de Boulogne, making the most important gamble of her life.

God watched all this, but He always said nothing.

All other lights have disappeared, and all eyes can only be gathered in one place. Go, go! Victory...Victory is just ahead!

Fate, what a cruel thing you are!

At this moment, Mr. Maurice de Bovan, who was standing in the box and watching the horse race nervously, suddenly shuddered. A strange but gloomy chill suddenly surged into his heart. He felt uncomfortable all over. This chill seemed to penetrate into his bones. It was like some kind of tangible medium that penetrated his skin. For a moment, he even felt a little difficult to breathe.

What happened?

He felt puzzled, and then he looked around.

It was very normal, and there was nothing strange.

Am I just overthinking?

He smiled bitterly in his heart. Then he turned his sight back to the racecourse.

As if sensing his sight, in this square formation of racehorses, a horse with golden fur slowly came out. First, it stuck its head out, then expanded its leading position little by little, and finally led by half a body. Then, when passing the bend, relying on the rider's superb riding skills and the horse's excellent quality, it stood out from the group of galloping horses, rushing forward without slowing down, and further expanding its advantage.

In the sight of everyone, the horse passed in front of everyone like a fleeting lightning in the sky, leaving only a blurred golden afterimage.

The young man clenched his fist gently, knowing that he had won. The joy after the victory washed away the ominous chill just now, and made him feel excited again.

And as if to echo his joy, the people in the audience also cheered, and the cheers for it were almost overwhelming - this is understandable, his horse was originally the most favored horse before the game, so although the odds were not high, the most people bet on it.

Look, this is my thing, always the best.

As he watched, the golden horse rushed across the finish line with an incomparable momentum and won the final victory.

Is this some kind of omen from heaven? Who knows.

With a sense of satisfaction, Maurice turned his head and looked at Albert next to him.

"See, Albert, I said that no other horse can compare to my Golden Rose. Look how easily it won! I can go to the club tonight and laugh at those people. How short-sighted they are!" His tone was both complacent and relaxed, revealing his satisfaction with his own status. "Of course, what makes me even happier is that I also helped you and Mr. Treville win a sum of money."

"Oh, that's right, our bet was not in vain." Albert replied with a smile, "I have to thank you on behalf of Charles."

"No need to thank you, haha!" Maurice also laughed, obviously in a very good mood.

Then he patted Albert on the shoulder, "Come on, let's have a toast, I just brought a lot of good wine, all of which were just delivered by our winery in Bordeaux."

"That's great!"

Then, ignoring the noisy race, Maurice and Albert walked back to the box. Then Maurice really took out a bottle of wine from the side and started pouring wine for everyone.

As soon as he had filled it, Albert took up the glass without hesitation and drank it down in one gulp. "Well, it's good, much better than what we just drank!"

"If it wasn't the best wine, I wouldn't bring it over for everyone to drink!" Morris shrugged as if it was a matter of course, "Since it tastes good, you can drink more today. Anyway, I brought a lot here. ”

"Hey, I just said you are a good friend, Maurice." Albert sighed and looked at Maurice with great admiration, "Without your generous spirit, how boring would all of our lives be? !”

"Haha, you're going too far!" Morris shook his head. Although he said this, there was not much humility in his expression, "I just like to help my friends."

At a young age he was already well-known in high society, and everyone said that he was a well-bred, hospitable and fashionable man. He certainly lived up to this title. Since his boyhood, he had won the love and admiration of everyone with his spendthrift style. Anyway, everyone knew that his father had more money than he could spend.

As a fashionable figure, Albert, who was often short of money in those days, naturally took advantage of him. And he was indeed generous, never leaving anyone disappointed every time. Because of this, Morris has always been surrounded by a large number of dandy boys as followers. With their relentless praise. It seems that Morris is really bold and smart - even Morris himself thinks so.

Because they had similar interests, the two started chatting enthusiastically. Anyway, there were so many things for them to enjoy in Paris.

"You rarely show up these days, Albert." After drinking for a while. Morris, whose face was a little red, asked with a smile. "What happened? After you became successful, you forgot about everyone?"

"How did you say this! How could I forget everyone? Bah. I miss those days every day, okay?" Albert pretended to be angry and shouted exaggeratedly, "It's the days now that are so uncomfortable. I have to travel around all day long and do some boring things. If it weren’t for the money, I wouldn’t do it!”

"I didn't expect you to suddenly want to make money so much..." Maurice asked curiously, "Didn't our Albert always regard money as dirt?"

"Of course I have to look down on money when I have no money, otherwise it would be so pitiful." Albert shrugged.

"Hahahaha!" Maurice couldn't help laughing again at Albert's joke, "Albert, you have always been so funny. It's so fun to chat with you."

After laughing for a while, Morris calmed down again, "But if you are worried about money, I have a good business recently that I want to introduce to you."

"What business?" Albert looked at Maurice curiously.

"This business is huge!" Maurice straightened his waist and looked at Albert seriously, "It's a big business of ten million, and you will definitely make a profit if you keep it."

"Huh?" Albert became even more confused. "Is there any business in this world that is guaranteed to make money without losing money?"

"Of course." Morris nodded, "For example - getting married?"

Albert's smile faltered. "You...you mean your sister?"

"Yes," Morris nodded, "You know, my sister Laura, our family is currently looking for a husband for her, and I feel that you are a good candidate."

Then, he winked and said, "Of course, our family will never be shabby when marrying a daughter. My father plans to prepare a dowry of 10 million for her..."

"Ten million...?" Albert clicked his tongue, obviously stunned by this huge number.

"Yes, there are so many. How about it, Albert? It's a big business, isn't it?" Morris replied, "and it's a sure profit. Look, my sister is quite iconic, isn't she? And there are With such a large dowry, if I hadn’t seen that you were so in line with my temper, I wouldn’t have told you..."

Albert looked at Maurice blankly and remained silent. After a moment, he finally laughed.

"Hahahaha, Maurice, are you kidding?"

"Am I not joking?"

"Don't you know what I am like? I don't think I'm very good myself, but you actually want to treat me as your brother-in-law?" Albert was still smiling dumbly, "Besides, your sister doesn't like it. I."

"Friend, we have been together for so long, don't I know you yet? You are not bad, you just like to play... Who doesn't like to play now? You just need to respect Laura and let her have her own space. Morris replied seriously, "As for Laura, it doesn't matter. My and dad's opinions are the final decision. How can she object? With your current status, as long as I talk to dad, dad will definitely consider it." Yes, won’t you be able to make this big deal by then?”

"Why, you seem to want to marry off your sister?" Albert was a little curious.

"How could it be?" Morris quickly shook his head and denied, "It's just that Laura is getting older now, so we have to think about it for her..."

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

Of course Morris was lying, he really wanted to marry Laura.

Because this sister really made him feel very bad.

In the midst of the adulation and flattery that surrounded him, Morris could always see a very disharmonious cloud - that was his sister.

That's right. He hates his sister. Because, in the years of getting along with the brother and sister, no matter how slow and indifferent he is, he can find that his sister looks down on him - although she never says it. In daily life, Laura's smart mind and serious nature also make her father more and more angry with him, and he often criticizes him with his sister's performance.

Because of this, he really wants to get rid of this unpleasant sister as soon as possible - perhaps, it is because of discovering her brother's thoughts that Laura is more and more eager to realize her plan.

At first, he wanted to recommend him to Charles. In exchange for him leaving Charlotte. Unfortunately, he was strongly rejected by that person.

Then, recently he fell in love with Albert. Although Albert usually lives a frivolous life and is naturally not a good target in the eyes of most people, he just suits Maurice's appetite. Moreover. No matter what, Albert is from a noble family. Recently, he has a great momentum of rising to prominence. He was barely qualified to be the son-in-law of the Bovan family.

To be fair, this idea was indeed very wonderful. The only thing that was not taken into consideration was the thoughts of Albert and Lola themselves.

However. That was enough.

Albert did not want to get married at all, and he did not want to marry someone as arrogant and self-centered as Lola. In his eyes, who loved a dissolute life, marrying a woman like Charlotte was already miserable. Wouldn't marrying a woman like Lola be like sentencing himself?

Although the dowry of 10 million was very, very attractive, it was indeed not particularly attractive in the eyes of Albert, who had become rich now.

While Albert was still thinking about how to politely reject Maurice, Maurice continued.

"So, my friend, you see how good I am to you? Oh, no..." Because he drank too much, his face was already flushed, "Then we should be a family..."

"But..."

"Okay, don't talk about this, just leave everything to me..." Maurice waved his hand, "Come, have another drink!"

After pouring another glass of wine for Albert, he seemed to remember something inadvertently.

"It's strange today, I actually met Mr. Treville here! I never meet him normally." As he spoke, he showed a strange smile on his face again, "But what I didn't expect was that he also had this hobby... Oh, no, it's no wonder... After all, he's a young man... Who doesn't... Who doesn't like to have some fun..."

To be honest, he was really shocked when he met Charles who came to the racecourse with his female companion today. He never thought that Charles, who seemed to be strict, low-key and indifferent, actually had this hobby secretly.

To be honest, he didn't have a very good impression of Mr. Treville, because in recent years, when his father criticized him, he often became a positive example in his father's mouth. It was for this reason that, although he didn't have to cause trouble for Charles, he always felt a little uncomfortable with Charles.

"This matter... Didn't we just agree not to mention this matter again?" Albert looked at Maurice again, "Maurice, I have thought about what you just said... As expected, I still..."

"Brother-in-law, what do you think would happen if Charlotte knew about this?" Maurice interrupted Albert's refusal and asked another question without thinking. "Based on my understanding of her, she will definitely be very angry... What do you think?"

Well, she will be very angry. Albert echoed in his heart.

"Hey, Maurice, have you drunk too much?" Albert frowned and couldn't help but speak more seriously, "They are all going to get married! Why disturb their lives?"

"Getting married, yes, they are getting married, it's a pity... but what if they get married? France is a free country..." Maurice replied drunkenly, "Let's talk about you and me. Haven't we touched many ladies? Well, it's a pity that she got married... But, even so... even so, I still... still want..."

This person really doesn't listen to advice. Albert's heart gradually cooled down.

Albert remembered Charles's instructions before he left, which was something he had to complete.

A feeling of alcohol, mixed with anger, surged into Albert's heart.

He stood up and walked to Maurice.

"Albert? What's wrong?" Maurice looked at Albert strangely.

Albert didn't answer, but stretched out his hand.

Then, this strong hand grabbed Maurice's collar and roughly dragged him to him. The force was so great that the entire blue bow tie was almost torn off.

He stared coldly at the young man, who he had just called a good friend with a smile.

Perhaps because of the coldness in his eyes, Maurice did not dare to move.

"Friend, I have told you twice, and now I tell you for the third time. If you dare to do this, you know the consequences!"

Maurice did not answer, but looked at Albert with a pale face. Because he knew that Albert was an expert in dueling, he did not dare to act rashly, fearing that he would anger this young man who had lost his mind.

Then, before Maurice's bodyguards standing in the distance rushed up, Albert threw Maurice onto the sofa.

"Go to hell, bastard! Who wants to be your brother-in-law? Get lost!" He said viciously.

Then, under the influence of alcohol, he pushed away the bodyguard who was approaching and stumbled out of the box. (To be continued...)

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