In the early morning, Maria Rozin opened her eyes, feeling the warmth of her man's body behind her. She immediately recalled the events of the previous night. After the constant buildup and preparation over the past period, Maria, knowing that this day would come eventually, didn't have overly complex emotions.
A woman submits to a man; the weak submit to the strong.
That was probably how it went.
The faint light coming through the curtains showed that it was still early, probably around six o'clock. She was a very disciplined woman and always got up at this time.
However, at this moment, she hesitated to move.
She was worried that she might wake him up, and he'd start bullying her again.
Last night... she had already gone along with some things she never imagined before, and it was only after begging him that he reluctantly let her go.
She gently withdrew her exposed arm and carefully shrank back into the blanket, slowly and cautiously moving her hand to her lower abdomen.
It wasn't the best timing recently, but there was still a chance. She didn't know if it would happen as he wished and if she'd get pregnant with another little one. Thinking about it made her a bit annoyed—he had actually told the children that they were going to have a brother or sister, without specifying that it was the child they were going to take care of from Ulyana's womb.
What would happen if it didn't work out?
Suddenly, she blushed a little, wondering if she was just making excuses for herself.
After all, he had said that he hoped she would also get pregnant and take care of Ulyana's child together. But she was already... well, she had never thought about having more children since the youngest, Anton, was born. Four children were already enough.
While lost in these thoughts, Maria suddenly froze.
The arm around her waist had begun to move, clearly, someone was awake.
"Good morning."
She heard the man's voice from behind her, with his warm breath against her neck. Whether it was from a good night's rest or not, Maria felt that warmth quickly spread through her whole body.
She hadn't been able to escape.
Both of them woke up around six o'clock and didn't leave the bedroom until after seven.
Maria had originally planned to send Simon away. Today was different from yesterday; it would be too embarrassing if he sat at the breakfast table with their family again.
Unfortunately, she didn't succeed.
The man had too thick a skin and insisted on staying. She could only take over the job from the housekeeper, Angri Davis, and keep herself busy to avoid joining them at the table. When the three boys, who seemed to have noticed her awkwardness, hurriedly ate their breakfast, she sent them off to school. They had skipped classes yesterday and had to make up for it today.
Watching the female driver, Catherine, take the kids away from the estate, Maria returned to the dining room.
She noticed the milk cup beside him was empty and refilled it. Just as she was about to serve herself, the housekeeper reappeared, offering to take over the task. Maria then sat down beside him.
Simon was very satisfied with both Maria and Ulyana.
Both women had excellent appearances and physiques, and because one was pampered while the other was disciplined, their bodies were in better condition than women of their age. Maria, in particular, though she was already 43, had skin so youthful that Simon couldn't get enough of it.
When Maria sat down, Simon didn't wait for the shy woman to speak and asked, "By the way, what was your maiden name?"
Before the lady could tell her about Simon's arrangements, Maria immediately guessed the question. She carefully glanced up at him and said, "Beziruk."
"Beziruk, is that also a Slavic surname?"
Maria nodded, "It's a very common surname in Ukraine."
"I still prefer names like Melitskova," Simon smiled and said. "In that case, why don't you and the children change back to your original surname?"
Maria didn't resist much and nodded, "Sure."
Though she said that, she couldn't help but think of the man who had already become her ex-husband, especially since their relationship had started back in university.
But in the end, it was all in the past.
Simon continued, "I told the kids yesterday that we're holding a party at home this weekend, inviting some of their classmates over. In the next few days, you can prepare, and I'll have Angri stay here to help you. If needed, you can also call Ulyana. I'll also arrange for some special guests, like the mayor of Boston or the presidents of Harvard or MIT, depending on their schedules."
Maria, still not very familiar with American social rules, realized that this was Simon's way of helping their family gain status in the Boston social circles.
And that was exactly the case.
Yesterday, Simon had taken the two women to a cocktail party, essentially revealing their identities to the upper echelons of Boston. The weekend party, inviting political and business elites, was a way to support the three boys.
Of course, there were bound to be side effects.
After all, Simon Westeros' lovers were still just his lovers.
Simon also wanted to see how the three boys would handle the situation; it was a sort of test.
Maria agreed, but after a brief hesitation, she asked, "Will you be coming over?"
Simon shook his head, "Maybe next time."
He had been away from the West Coast for a week and would spend the weekend at the house in Dume Cape with the women and children.
Upon hearing this, Maria wasn't sure if she was disappointed or relieved.
After breakfast with the women, Simon visited Ulyana at another estate nearby, made some arrangements, and then flew back to the West Coast.
When he returned to Los Angeles, the first piece of news Simon received was that Jennifer was also successfully pregnant, and the Westeros family would soon welcome another little life.
This would be the seventh.
However, Simon hadn't kept Ulyana's situation a secret from the two Jennifers. At the same time, he made a firm decision: any child who wasn't one of the two Jennifers would no longer enter the Dume Cape estate. So, this would be the sixth child at Dume Cape.
Simon, as a father, was the first to hear the news after the two mothers, followed by the Lebold family.
The happiest were, of course, James and Carol Lebold.
The Lebold couple had long hoped that Jennifer would have another child after Seattle and had subtly urged Simon a few times. Now, their wish had been granted. It was clear that they saw that, given the vast scale of the Westeros system, no one heir would be able to handle it all alone. So, as long as it was 'Westeros,' there would be a significant inheritance.
Upon hearing the news, the Lebold couple made a special trip from New York to Los Angeles to stay for a few days.
By September 1996, everyone was filled with joy about the new life that was on the way.
October soon arrived.
First, Daenerys Entertainment's fiscal year cycle ended, and in mid-October, the 1996 financial report for the period from October 1995 to September 1996 would be released.
Since late August, when the Forbes 1996 list of America's 400 wealthiest people was published, the U.S. stock market had been surging. The U.S. Justice Department's second antitrust investigation into Egret had not suppressed the stock price of this new tech giant. On the contrary, it had boosted Egret's stock to new highs.
To attract more small and medium investors, Egret was discussing a stock split plan and planned to perform a 1-for-5 stock split in October.
If this were earlier in the year, Simon would have been against such a move in order to suppress the new tech bubble. But now, seeing that the bubble was unstoppable, he decided to let it surge. After all, the Westeros system was already prepared.
In the same month of October, with just a month left before the U.S. presidential election, the race entered the 'October surprise' phase, with both presidential and congressional candidates unveiling their final strategies and surprises.
It was a time of political turmoil and excitement.
Of course, as far as the presidential election was concerned, there was little suspense left. With only one final step before the election, even the recent tech bubble burst wouldn't have a significant impact on Clinton's approval ratings. Moreover, October would not only see the release of Daenerys Entertainment's financial report but also quarterly reports from many new tech companies.
Egret, Cisco, AOL, and other companies in the Westeros system were expected to deliver excellent financial reports. Additionally, with Egret's stock split, the Nasdaq was bound to surge again.
Based on surveys from Silicon Valley, some market turns were expected to come by the end of this year or early next year. At that point, many small and medium-sized internet companies that had gone public in the last couple of years would start to run out of their initial funding, and their real financial situation would begin to show.
When that time came, if any trigger appeared, the Nasdaq would undoubtedly crash.
Los Angeles.
It was already October 8th.
Tuesday.
Simon had just arrived at the Malibu Film City office when the lady brought him two files from China that had just arrived.
The files were about the site selection for the Jinshu Film City.
From China, Simon had received news from Chen Qing last month while he was in Melbourne. They had agreed that the project would be a competition between the cities of Hangzhou and Suzhou, both of which were taking the competition very seriously. Today, they had officially provided the supportive policies and preferential conditions
. Now, they were seeking feedback from Daenerys Entertainment on these conditions.
As the project leader of the Jinshu Film City, Simon needed to make decisions on this matter.
The market was indeed ready. After analyzing the information, he had already decided which city to choose.
"Let's go ahead with Suzhou."
At that moment, Simon made his decision.
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