The next morning, Seraphina and I woke up late, thoroughly exhausted from the high-energy housewarming banquet the night before.
When we walked down to the dining room, I noticed that every single member of the household staff looked visibly worn out from catering the massive event.
"Listen, everyone," I announced to the assembled staff. "Take the rest of the day off. Go rest. Don’t worry—neither your standard salaries nor your performance bonuses will be deducted."
The staff bowed deeply with tired, appreciative smiles before heading to their quarters.
Turning to Seraphina, I asked, "I’m heading over to Cosmos Group today. Do you want to come along?"
She smirked playfully, leaning against my arm. "Of course! How could I miss watching the great Julian Vance get rejected?"
"We’ll see about that," I chuckled, tapping her nose lightly.
We dressed in high-end casual wear and took our Aurelius Z3, with my private driver taking us straight to the Cosmos Group corporate headquarters.
Walking hand-in-hand through the executive floor, I brought Seraphina straight into Clara’s private corner office. Clara was sitting at her grand desk, deeply absorbed in a mountain of company files.
"Welcome, Julian, Seraphina," Clara said, looking up from her papers with a warm smile.
While Seraphina sat gracefully in one of the leather lounge chairs across from the desk, I walked right up behind Clara’s executive chair. Leaning down close to her shoulder, my face rested inches from hers, allowing her to feel the warmth of my breath against her neck.
Turning my head slightly toward her, I murmured, "Aren’t you looking particularly cute today, Miss CEO?"
A deep blush immediately flushed Clara’s cheeks. She looked up at me nervously, clearing her throat. "W-What are you saying, Julian? Aren’t you worried about making Seraphina angry?"
"She doesn’t mind at all," I replied smoothly, glancing over my shoulder at Seraphina. "Right, love?"
Seraphina took a slow sip from her glass of sparkling water, smiling back calmly. "Not at all. Why would I mind?"
Before Clara could process the strange dynamic, Seraphina’s phone chimed with an incoming call. It was the administrator from her father’s hospital.
Mr. Lin had undergone successful surgery a week prior and was currently recovering stably. The head doctor suggested that having Seraphina spend time by his side today would greatly accelerate his physical recovery.
Ending the call, Seraphina stood up. "Julian, I need to head to the hospital."
I immediately walked over to her, my eyebrows furrowing slightly. "Is there a problem with your father?"
"No, no," she reassured me gently. "He’s recovering well, but the doctor suggested I spend the afternoon with him."
"Alright, let’s go," I said, reaching for my coat.
Seraphina looked at me with a amused, confused expression. "Where are you going?"
"What do you mean?" I asked. "I’m coming with you to the hospital."
"No, darling, you aren’t," she chuckled softly, pressing her hand against my chest. "You stay right here with Clara and keep her company."
"Are you sure about that?" I asked, tilting my head.
She stepped up on her tiptoes, pressing a sweet kiss to my lips. "Of course. I’ll take the driver and the Aurelius Z3. If the doctor approves my father’s discharge today, I might even bring him back to settle into Grandview Villa." She smiled softly, adding, "If I need anything, I’ll call you. And I have your card, so I’ll handle all his medical expenses."
"Take care, love," I said, kissing her cheek as she headed out the door.
Once the door clicked shut, I dragged an executive armchair directly alongside Clara’s desk, turning her swivel chair so she was facing me directly.
"What are your plans for lunch?" I asked.
"I don’t have any yet," she replied, blinking. "Why?"
"Perfect. We’re eating together today."
Clara sighed softly, pointing to the massive stack of paperwork on her desk. "I’d love to, but I have dozens of financial accounts and balance sheets to audit first. You’ll have to be patient, Mr. Chairman."
"Hand them over," I instructed smoothly.
She looked skeptical, but passed over a stack of fifteen major financial ledgers. Powered by my World-Class Business Mind, auditing corporate balance sheets was second nature. In under an hour, I caught several minor accounting errors, streamlined the projections, and finalized the auditing process.
Pulling up the company’s secure corporate portal on my tablet, I authorized a direct personal transfer of 70 billion Stardollars into Cosmos Group’s primary capital reserve fund.
The moment the transfer cleared, my System interface chimed with a deafening chime.
[System Event Triggered: Host executed a 70,000,000,000 Stardollar corporate capital injection into Cosmos Group!]
[5x Corporate Cashback Perk Activated!]
[Personal Account Rebate Credited: +350,000,000,000 Stardollars!]
[Host total asset : ~410,000,000,000 Stardollars!]
I looked at the staggering figure in my personal bank account. With over 350 billion Stardollars in pure liquid cash—excluding Grandview Villa No. 1, my luxury car fleet, and my 100% equity stake in Cosmos Group—I had officially become one of the wealthiest titans in Metro City. While a few established dynasty families held total net assets around 500 to 600 billion, none of them possessed even a fraction of that wealth in pure liquid cash.
Closing the screen, I looked at Clara. "I just injected 70 billion Stardollars into Cosmos Group’s primary account. You now have unlimited backing to sign any contract or acquire any development project you want. Now, Miss CEO... shall we go for lunch?"
Clara stared at her monitor in shock, seeing the 70 billion Stardollar balance update in real time. "Y-Yes... let’s go," she stammered, grabbing her handbag.
Down in the executive parking garage, I realized Seraphina had taken my car. "We’ll have to take your car," I smiled.
"That’s fine," Clara replied, unlocking her sleek sports coupe.
I slid into the front passenger seat. As she got into the driver’s seat, she looked over at me. "Fasten your seatbelt, Julian."
I gave her a completely helpless look. "I don’t know how this mechanism works."
"You are such a dummy sometimes," she teased, shaking her head with a soft chuckle.
She leaned across the center console, her body pressing close as her hands reached for the seatbelt strap. As her soft, flushed cheek passed right in front of my face, I leaned in slightly, brushing my lips against her cheek in an ’accidental’ kiss.
Clara froze instantly. Her face flushed a deep crimson as her breath hitched. Fastening the seatbelt with trembling hands, she quickly pulled back and started the engine, refusing to look at me directly.
[System Notification: Target Clara Carter’s feelings have deepened significantly!]
[Affection Increased: +10 | Loyalty Increased: +10!]
[Current Status: Affection 60/100 | Loyalty 60/100]
A victorious smile played on my lips as I watched her try to regain her corporate composure.
Ten minutes later, we pulled into the VIP valet parking at the Carter Hotel. An executive Attendant escorted us into a private, high-end dining suite.
Sitting across from each other, we ordered the chef’s top private specialties along with a bottle of vintage wine. Once the waiter served the appetizers and exited the room, I leaned back, looking at Clara intently.
"Clara... why did you turn down Young Master Young last night?" I asked casually.
She paused, setting her wine glass down. "I don’t understand what you mean."
"During the party last night, he asked you for a dance, but you politely declined. Why?"
"Because I didn’t want to dance with him," she answered simply, tilting her head. "Is there a problem with that?"
"Not at all," I replied. "It’s just that you didn’t dance with anyone the entire night... even though I heard you love dancing so much that you took private masterclasses."
Clara looked into her glass, a faint, nostalgic smile playing on her lips. "I did take masterclasses, but my instructor was a woman, and she was my dance partner. Truthfully... I’ve never liked being touched by men."
"If that was the case, you should have danced with Seraphina," I teased softly.
"That’s not..." Clara started, but stopped herself as the waiter returned to serve our main entrees and pour the wine.
Once the waiter left us alone again, I cut a piece of my steak, looking at her expectantly. "What were you about to say?"
Clara picked up her fork, giving me a pointed look. "Speaking while eating isn’t very proper table manners, Mr. Vance... but since you asked, I’ll tell you."
She paused, her bright, captivating eyes locking onto mine with unmistakable vulnerability. "I didn’t dance last night because the person I actually wanted to dance with never asked me. I was hoping he would... but he didn’t."
My hand froze mid-air.
The person she wanted to dance with? My mind quickly scanned through every prominent man at the banquet, wondering if the System’s affection metrics were somehow off.
Before I could ask, Clara looked down at her plate, her cheeks turning a delicate shade of pink as she murmured softly, "At least... I’m happy that person is finally taking an interest in my life now."
My eyes widened slightly as the realization hit me like a bolt of lightning.
Hold on... is she ...?!