Monet gave Nicole a blank look, and said to himself, you stupid woman, don't want to think about it, if this Rick is really a member of the Astor family, will he dress so shabby?

You must know that at this time, the Astor family ranked fourth among the richest families in the United States, and the first three were the Morgan family, the Rockefeller family and the Ford family.

The New York Public Library, the St. Regis Hotel, the Astor Hotel, the London Times, etc., are all people's properties, and as early as 1830, Astor I bought more than 1,000 Manhattan properties, which is Manhattan! (Of course, many of them were later sold by the children and grandchildren of the losers, such as the Empire State Building and Times Square, which turned out to be his family...... ）

Later, the Astor family split into two branches, one emigrated to the United Kingdom, represented by the Viscountess of Astor, also known as Nancy Langhorn, who was the first female parliamentarian in British history.

The other stayed in the United States, represented by Astor IV, who was not only a successful property builder, investor, inventor, and writer (author of the science fiction novel "Journey to the Stars"), but also a true gentleman, who was also on the Titanic at the time, and after lifeboat 4 was equipped, Astor IV sent his wife and her maid and nurse to the lifeboat. He then asked the crew if he could get on board to accompany his frail wife. However, he was told that he could not let the men on the boat until all the women and children had boarded the boat. The last time Astor was seen was standing on the starboard side, smoking with the American novelist Jack Fortry. Half an hour later, the ship was completely submerged. Madeleine, her maid, and nurse are all rescued, while Astor and the man-servant are killed. His actions were enough to put many so-called "gentlemen" to shame.

It is said that he left a legacy of $150 million after his death, which was $150 million in 1912, which is at least equivalent to $3.2 billion now, so if Rick is really a member of the Astor family, how can he be so shabby, and if I remember correctly, the Astor American branch currently has only one male heir, Vincent.

Unexpectedly, Rick nodded unexpectedly and replied: "That's right, I am a member of the Astor family, and Astor IV is my father!" ”

Looking at Monet's surprised expression, Rick explained with some embarrassment: "Actually, I am an illegitimate child, when my mother and my father were in love with Astor IV, I didn't know that he was married, so when she knew it, she left the United States without saying goodbye, but she didn't expect to be pregnant, so she gave birth to me, but she didn't tell me who my father was until she was dying, so I wore a photo and a jewel ring left by my mother and boarded the Titanic with the intention of going to the United States to find my father."

Unexpectedly, I met my father on the boat, and after seeing the photo and the ring, he also recognized me, and he planned to reveal my identity when he arrived in New York, but he didn't expect to have a shipwreck, and my father and his old man died! ”

Although Monet did not know whether what Rick said was true or false, the romantic history of Astor IV was true, and in 1891, Astor IV married a woman named Eva and had a son and a daughter. To everyone's surprise, in 1909, he divorced Eva, which caused an uproar in the whole society at the time.

Then, in September 1911, at the age of 47, he married Madeleine Firth, an 18-year-old woman who was just a year younger than his son Vincent. To avoid the rumors, the newlyweds traveled to Egypt in Europe and North Africa for a six-month honeymoon period.

During her travels, Madeleine discovers that she is pregnant. In April 1912, she was five months pregnant, and Madeleine decided that she would have to return to the United States to give birth anyway. So, they bought a first-class ticket for the "Titanic" and boarded the ship from the French port of Cherbourg, but unfortunately died.

Astor IV left behind a $150 million legacy. According to the will, $72 million of this was left to his eldest son, Vincent, who also left the family estate and private yacht to Vincent. To his newlywed wife, Madeleine, he left a trust fund of $5 million. As long as she is no longer married, she will receive $500,000 a year, as well as access to his two mansions, as well as one of his luxury cars and five of his favorite horses. In addition, he left a $10 million trust fund for his daughter Alice.

Just when Monet's mind was full of cranky thoughts, Nicole interjected: "Since your father has already recognized you, then why don't you recognize your relatives?" ”

Rick shrugged disapprovingly and replied, "Why should I go?" I came to New York this time to find my father, although the father and son just recognized and then my father died, but after all, I have already recognized each other, so my goal has been achieved, and I don't know the Vincent brother and Alice sister, and it is easy for people to mistakenly think that I am greedy for property, so why take the initiative to come to the door and find myself boring?

And to be honest, I don't think the life of those big families is very good, like the princess Vanderbilt, her family is rich enough, right? Her husband, Duke Marburo IX, is prominent enough, right? But look at what kind of life they lived, neither of them was happy since the first day of marriage, so how good it is to not be in such a big family and be free! (You can search the life of Constance Vanderbilt, which is very embarrassing.) ）

"Well, Rick, your realm is really impressive!" Monet gave a thumbs up and praised, because if he was Rick's identity, he would definitely not be so open-minded, no matter how he had to fight, even if he couldn't become the head of the Astor family, at least he could mix millions of dollars to achieve financial freedom!

PS: 4 months after the shipwreck, Madeleine gave birth to a baby boy. Four years later, at the age of 23, Madeleine remarried her childhood friend, Dick, a banker, and lost the right to use the Astor family's mansion and $500,000 a year. After marriage, Madeleine gave birth to two more sons. In 1933, at the age of 40, Madeleine divorced Dick, and four months later, she married a 26-year-old Italian boxer. Five years later, the two divorced. Two years later, 47-year-old Madeleine died of a heart attack in Palm Beach.

PS2: Thank you to the book friends "The Final Alchemist" and "Yu Zhou" for their support, and thank you to the book friends "20180601131331956" for their continued support!