A three-bedroom apartment, and on the outskirts of the city at that.
A three-hour trip to the city center. Just the thought of it made Hazel Sinclair despair.
"I don’t like it." Even as Hazel Sinclair said it, her voice lacked conviction.
’An apartment that costs five thousand a month, and I’m turning it down? How long have I even been in this book? Has my resolve already been corrupted this quickly?’
"I’ll find another one, then." Leon Sterling didn’t ask why she disliked it, simply lowering his head to continue the search.
Hazel Sinclair fidgeted with her fingers, pained at the thought of spending so much on rent.
’Maybe I should just take him and leave Veridia. We can start a business anywhere, right? Do we really have to do it in Veridia?’
The thought had barely formed when the System interrupted it.
[Host, the male protagonist cannot leave Veridia. Please dismiss this notion.]
[He is destined to be a new magnate in The Veridian Circle. If he leaves Veridia, wouldn’t his entire character profile collapse?]
Hazel Sinclair let out a dry laugh. Suddenly, she felt a pang of pity for Leon Sterling.
He had to cover the exorbitant rent each month, cater to her every need, and buy her expensive things just so she could maintain her public persona.
And through it all, he didn’t have a single complaint. In fact, he seemed happy to give her everything he had.
It made Hazel Sinclair feel terribly guilty.
"How about this one?" Leon Sterling asked, handing her his phone again.
Hazel Sinclair glanced at it, and her vision went dark.
’Ten thousand for rent? How many boxed lunches would he have to sell to save up that much?’
The grand opening promotion was over, so they had raised the price of their boxed lunches.
But even so, their daily earnings weren’t that high.
"I don’t like the places you’re finding. I’ll look myself," Hazel Sinclair announced, grabbing her phone, downloading an app, and starting her own search.
She scrolled and scrolled, searched and searched.
She found that the only places with prices she could stomach were large studio apartments; everything else was completely out of the question.
Seeing her internal struggle, the System asked in confusion, [Don’t you have several hundred thousand in your account? Renting a decent place won’t be that big of a deal.]
But Hazel Sinclair, ever the penny-pincher, immediately shot back, "I can’t bear to spend it!"
"I’m used to being poor. I just can’t bring myself to fork over that much money for rent." Hazel Sinclair hated this part of her personality; she was just too stingy.
"Ugh..." Hazel Sinclair closed the real estate app and sighed, leaning back against the sofa.
’Money. I have to make money...’
She remembered what Chief Engineer Lawson had said the other day and quickly found his contact to send him a message.
[Hazel Sinclair: Hello, Chief Engineer Lawson. This is Sinclair, from the boxed lunch stall. Does your offer from the other day still stand?]
The chief engineer replied quickly.
[Chief Engineer Lawson: It does. As long as you can get it back, one hundred and fifty thousand is yours for your trouble.]
[Hazel Sinclair: Okay, okay! You’ll hear from me.]
As soon as they finished their chat, Hazel Sinclair immediately pulled up Silas Hawthorne’s contact info.
’She had a powerful connection right here. It would be a waste not to use it.’
[Hazel Sinclair: Chairman Hawthorne, I need your help with a small matter.]
[Hazel Sinclair: [ingratiating_smile.jpg]]
"Do you like this one?" Beside her, Leon Sterling was still diligently searching for apartments. He was looking at one that was spacious and got good sunlight.
The next time Hazel danced, she wouldn’t be limited by a lack of space.
"This price... Isn’t it a bit too expensive?" Hazel Sinclair glanced at the listing. Fifteen thousand a month for a two-bedroom in a good location.
"It’s fine," Leon Sterling replied, then asked again, "What do you think? Do you like it?"
"Let’s keep looking," Hazel Sinclair said with a wave of her hand. "We don’t have that kind of money. What if the landlord wants a security deposit and three months’ rent upfront?"
"That’s forty-five thousand. Can you pull that much out all at once?"
Seeing her worry about the cost, Leon Sterling said nonchalantly, "Money isn’t important. All that matters is that you like it."
Hazel Sinclair looked at him and opened her mouth to say something, but ultimately held her tongue.
’Better to say less if it doesn’t fit my character profile.’
’If money isn’t important, then I’ll just have to up the pressure.’
"I want a three-bedroom apartment near a shopping mall. It needs to have good sunlight, a beautiful layout, and be spacious," Hazel Sinclair immediately rattled off her list of demands.
"And the interior has to have that cream-colored decor style."
Hazel Sinclair leaned back on the sofa, crossed her legs, and dangled a slipper from her swinging foot.
"Leon Sterling, can you even find a place like that?" Hazel Sinclair asked with a sly grin.
"After all, you can only get that style if you renovate a place yourself."
After hearing her out, Leon Sterling said nonchalantly, "Don’t worry. In the future, I’ll buy you a place and have it decorated exactly how you like."
"But for now, I’ll have to ask you to be patient."
Hazel Sinclair: "..."
’More empty promises. Can you even deliver on them? And you’re still making them.’
’Even if you could, the deed to the house would never end up in my hands anyway.’
"Let’s be a little more practical. We don’t want to rent a place and then have no money left for food."
As Hazel Sinclair spoke, her gaze fell on him, and she added a vicious barb, "You’re so useless."
Just as she said it, the phone in her hand vibrated. Hazel Sinclair quickly checked it.
Silas Hawthorne had replied.
[Silas Hawthorne: What small matter?]
[Silas Hawthorne: If you want my help, fine. Give me some information on Evelyn Kendrick.]
[Silas Hawthorne: No info, no help.]
After reading the three messages, Hazel Sinclair felt conflicted.
’I can’t just sell out my best friend and benefactor.’
[Hazel Sinclair: I ask for one small favor, and you demand info on my best friend? If you won’t help, then forget it. I’ll find someone else.]
[Silas Hawthorne: I’ll add two hundred thousand. Yes or no?]
That message hit Hazel Sinclair right where she was weakest.
’I’m sorry, Evelyn, but he’s just offering too much.’
[Hazel Sinclair: Deal.]
With the deal struck, Silas Hawthorne began to ask the question he had always wanted to know.
[Silas Hawthorne: Why did she suddenly run off to study abroad without a word?]
"System, quick, tell me! Why did Evelyn Kendrick go abroad?" Hazel Sinclair didn’t have the nerve to ask Evelyn directly, so she could only turn to the System for help.
[Because Silas Hawthorne said some nasty things that Evelyn Kendrick overheard.]
[Evelyn Kendrick left the country in a fit of anger.]
Hearing this, Hazel Sinclair’s eyes lit up.
’Who knew this ex-couple had so much drama between them?’
"What did Silas Hawthorne say?"
[He said Evelyn Kendrick wasn’t his girlfriend, just a tool for him to gain relationship experience.]
Hearing this, Hazel Sinclair raised an eyebrow. ’That guy has a nasty mouth.’
’Sentence: life imprisonment.’
Hazel Sinclair quickly typed out a message.
[Hazel Sinclair: Oh, Chairman Hawthorne, it’s because you have a nasty mouth. You said something you shouldn’t have, and Evelyn Kendrick heard you.]
[Hazel Sinclair: Think hard about what you said in the private room that night.]
Sitting in his office, Silas Hawthorne froze when he saw the two messages.
The pen spinning between his fingers clattered onto the desk, and his handsome brows furrowed slightly.
He thought for a long time, but still couldn’t remember a thing.