Chapter 68
At the mention of Richard Stone, Suzy’s steps faltered.
Thomas noticed immediately. "What’s wrong?"
Suzy shook her head, but her eyes were already fixed in the direction the voice had come from.
About ten meters away, two young women were gathered around Richard.
The one speaking had short hair and wore a tight T-shirt and denim shorts that showed off her curvy figure. Her exposed skin was pale, and she looked at Richard through half-lidded, flirtatious eyes.
Richard stood there with a teasing smile, pulling one bag after another from the trunk of his car.
Each bag was stuffed full.
There were six of them in total.
"Dinner?" Richard said lazily. "Sure. But I still have to carry all this stuff upstairs first."
The short-haired woman smiled sweetly at him. "That’s no problem. I’ll help you carry it."
The other woman—who had a softer, more innocent appearance—hesitated briefly before stepping closer.
"Richard, I’ll help too."
Six bags.
Perfect.
Two for each person.
Suzy watched as Richard handed the heaviest bags to the two women while keeping the lightest two for himself.
Her mouth twitched.
So he was treating them like free labor.
The two women clearly weren’t pleased, their expressions twisted with irritation as they struggled with the heavy bags, but neither dared to complain. They simply followed Richard toward the building entrance.
Suzy couldn’t quite understand what was happening. If they were that unwilling, why cling to him like that? Did they owe him money or something?
Only after the three of them disappeared into the building did Suzy start walking again.
"Do you know him?" Thomas asked.
Suzy shook her head. "Not really. I’ve just seen him before. He lives in our building."
By the time they reached the elevator lobby, Richard and the others were already gone.
Suzy pressed the elevator button and looked up at Thomas.
"Want to come up and sit with us for a while?"
Thomas shook his head. "No."
He silently watched as Suzy stepped into the elevator and the doors closed.
Back at the apartment, Leonard was in the middle of an intense gaming match.
The battle had clearly reached a critical point. Without even looking up, he asked, "Why did you take so long?"
"I talked to Thomas for a bit," Suzy replied.
She pulled a bag of snacks from her space, sat down beside him, and began eating.
"Uncle, let’s go out for dinner later."
Leonard frowned. "Why go out? It’s so hot."
"I already told Thomas we’d eat together," Suzy explained. "He’s been living on instant noodles at home every day. I thought we should treat him to something better."
Opportunities like that wouldn’t last much longer.
Soon enough, the entire city would lose power and water. By then, even if they wanted to eat out, there wouldn’t be any restaurants open.
Leonard looked stunned. "He’s been eating instant noodles every day?"
"Yep."
"Well then," Leonard said decisively, "we definitely need to fix that. Go get ready. Once you’re done, we’ll head out."
Suzy went to her room and took a quick shower.
When she came out, Leonard had already finished his game and was on the phone with Thomas.
Noticing Suzy, he pulled the phone slightly away and asked, "All set? If you’re ready, we’ll leave."
After a quick round of preparation, the two of them headed out.
Suzy didn’t expect to run into familiar faces again when the elevator arrived.
Standing inside were two young women. They were the same women she had just seen in the underground garage with Richard.
The two of them had been chatting animatedly, but the moment the elevator doors opened, their conversation stopped abruptly.
Suzy and Leonard stepped into the elevator one after the other.
Using the reflective surface of the elevator walls, Suzy quietly studied the two women inside.
Neither of them looked particularly happy. Both had their heads lowered, fingers flying across their phones as they typed furiously.
"What are you looking at?" Leonard nudged her lightly.
Suzy immediately looked away. "Nothing."
When the elevator reached the first floor, Suzy and Leonard exited first.
After walking a short distance, Leonard spoke again.
"Do you know those two women?"
"No," Suzy replied.
Leonard frowned. "Then why were you staring at them?"
"I saw them earlier in the underground garage when I came back," Suzy explained.
Leonard was silent for a moment before saying flatly, "Good that you don’t know them. They’re just gold diggers."
Suzy grabbed his arm. "Uncle, how do you know that?"
"I overheard them."
Leonard had crossed paths with them once before.
That time, he had been walking behind them. The women hadn’t noticed him and had spoken freely without any restraint.
From their conversation, he learned that they had their sights set on some unlucky rich guy in the complex. They believed that as long as they could charm him, they could get him to buy them cars, designer bags—anything they wanted.
So the unlucky target they were talking about was probably Richard Stone, Suzy guessed.
But judging from the way Richard treated them earlier, he didn’t seem foolish enough to fall for that so easily.
"Thomas is here," Leonard said.
Suzy looked up and spotted Thomas standing not far away. Her eyes lit up instantly.
Pushing those thoughts aside, she tugged Leonard along toward him.
The three of them went to a grilled fish restaurant near the residential complex.
The air conditioning inside was set to the lowest temperature. The moment Suzy stepped in, she felt as if she had come back to life.
The restaurant was surprisingly crowded.
At this hour, everyone preferred to go out and eat at night to escape the brutal daytime heat.
A waiter led them to a table by the window.
Suzy picked up the menu and began ordering while Leonard and Thomas started chatting.
After she finished ordering, Suzy suddenly heard the waiter’s voice behind her.
"Would this table be alright?"
"Yes, this one’s fine," a woman replied.
The voice sounded familiar.
Suzy turned her head slightly—and sure enough, it was the same two women from the elevator.
What a coincidence.
She only glanced at them briefly before turning back.
But their tables were close together, and their conversation carried clearly without Suzy even trying to listen.
"Hannah, did you message Richard? What did he say?"
"I did, but he hasn’t replied yet."
"Huh... didn’t he just agree to come out for dinner earlier?"
"Who knows what’s going on with him. He’s been acting like a completely different person lately."
"Honestly, I think what you said to him last time hurt him too much. Just try a little harder—lower your pride and take the initiative. He’ll definitely come around. Richard chased after you for years. There’s no way he’d just stop liking you overnight."
Suzy’s eyes widened slightly.
So Richard had been a long-time simp. That was... unexpected.
"Ugh. I already apologized to him about that last time, but he’s still holding a grudge. So annoying," Hannah complained. "If it weren’t for the fact that he inherited that fortune, I wouldn’t even bother with him."
"Well then, Hannah, if you dislike him that much, why don’t you just let me have him?" the other woman joked. "I actually think he’s pretty good."
"Let you have him?" Hannah scoffed. "What are you dreaming about? Richard likes me. Don’t kid yourself."
"Alright, alright... Then keep trying. Richard’s rich now. Once you win him over, you can buy whatever you want."
"...Fine, you’ve got a point." Hannah sighed. "I’ll call him again."