Chapter 25

After thinking it over for a long time the night before, Suzy had finally decided to buy her uncle a watch for his birthday.

She knew Leonard didn’t lack watches—he probably owned more than he ever wore—but it wasn’t about practicality. It was about sentiment. After all, he did really like them.

And now, she was outrageously rich.

When she arrived at the mall, she headed straight for a high-end luxury watch boutique.

After browsing carefully, she selected a quartz watch priced at six hundred thousand. Elegant, understated, refined—something that suited her uncle’s calm, scholarly temperament.

Once it was packaged, she slipped the box carefully into her bag and prepared to leave.

Next on her agenda was purchasing meat supplies. She had already contacted the owner of a large frozen meat processing plant in advance.

But just as she approached the mall exit, a pair of figures caught her attention.

Not far away, a man had his arm draped intimately around a woman as they laughed and walked into a clothing store together.

The man looked younger than the woman—dyed blond hair, a careless, flirtatious air about him.

At first glance, they appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary couple.

But what made Suzy’s breath hitch was the woman’s face.

She looked exactly like her aunt.

Monica.

For a moment, Suzy thought she must be mistaken.

She blinked. Looked again. Focused.

But there was no mistake––the woman wrapped in that man’s arms was Monica.

Suzy’s expression changed abruptly.

No way.

Was Monica... cheating on her uncle?

Her heart pounded as she quickened her steps, discreetly pulling out her phone and switching to video mode.

The lens zoomed in on the two figures ahead. The closer she looked, the more certain she became.

It was her.

But in front of this man, Monica wore an entirely different face—soft, coy, almost girlish. There was none of the arrogance she displayed before Suzy and Leonard.

A wave of anger surged through Suzy’s chest. She stopped recording and quickly sent Leonard a message.

[Suzy: Uncle, I saw Aunt Monica at the mall.]

[Leonard Kale: Mm? You ran into her? She did say she was going shopping today.]

Suzy stared at the screen for a moment before typing again.

[Suzy: She’s with a man.]

[Leonard Kale: What does he look like?]

Suzy felt this wasn’t something she should conceal. She sent him one of the photos she had just taken.

A voice message came back from Leonard, faintly amused.

"You misunderstood. That’s Monica’s younger brother."

Suzy froze.

Misunderstood? Was it really her brother?

Something about the scene still felt wrong.

After replying with a few perfunctory messages to reassure him, she didn’t leave. Instead, she continued tailing Monica through the mall.

They didn’t resemble each other at all. And their behavior—it was far too intimate.

The way he held her. The way she leaned into him. The way they whispered into each other’s ears.

It crossed the line of ordinary sibling closeness.

The more Suzy watched, the more uneasy she felt.

They wandered through luxury boutiques, purchasing bag after bag of high-end items.

Each time, Monica was the one to pay.

Suzy followed them for nearly an hour before trailing them into the underground parking garage.

She watched as they loaded their purchases into the trunk of a car and climbed inside.

During that time, they held arms and leaned close, murmuring to each other—but nothing overt.

For a brief second, doubt crept in. Had she really been overthinking it? Was this truly just a misunderstanding?

She was about to turn away when, inside the car, the two figures shifted closer.

And then... They began kissing.

Openly.

Brazenly.

As if no one else existed in the world.

Suzy’s pupils contracted sharply.

Without hesitation, she raised her phone and captured the unmistakable scene.

The pair inside the vehicle was completely unaware they were being watched, locked together in a kiss that lingered far too long to be innocent.

She switched to video mode and recorded until they finally pulled apart. Only then did she lower her phone.

When the car eventually drove away, disappearing into the dim concrete shadows of the parking garage, Suzy stood there for a long moment.

Then she turned and walked out.

Damn it.

Monica really had cheated on her uncle.

What kind of siblings kiss like that in a car?

No. She had to tell her uncle.

The more Suzy thought about it, the more indignant she felt on Leonard’s behalf. Rage bubbled in her chest. She wanted nothing more than to expose Monica’s true face immediately.

Her fingers trembled as she selected the video she had just recorded and hit send. Her phone vibrated almost instantly.

Suzy snatched it up—only to freeze.

It wasn’t Leonard.

It was Adam Bennet.

[Adam Bennet: You saw that?]

Her blood ran cold. She had sent it to the wrong person.

In her panic, she had accidentally forwarded the video to Adam instead of her uncle. Two full minutes had already passed. It was too late to retract it.

She hesitated, unsure how to respond.

Another message came through.

[Adam Bennet: Don’t let your uncle know yet.]

[Suzy: Why?]

[Adam Bennet: He won’t be able to handle it. And it’s his birthday. Not the best time.]

Suzy stared at the screen in silence.

He won’t be able to handle it...

Just how deep was her uncle in this relationship? How could he fall this hard?

As if worried she might act impulsively, Adam sent another message.

[Adam Bennet: Don’t provoke him.]

[Suzy: I won’t.]

She sighed heavily after replying.

But how could she just let Leonard remain in the dark? Wasn’t that even crueler?

Monica didn’t deserve to be her aunt.

Suzy clenched her jaw, anger simmering.

Her uncle was such a decent man—and Monica treated him like a toy, manipulating him at will.

Though, if she were honest, Leonard had enabled it.

The thought frustrated her even more.

After a moment’s hesitation, she typed again.

[Suzy: Then what should we do? We can’t just say nothing.]

A reply came quickly.

[Adam Bennet: I’m about to go into a meeting. We’ll talk later.]

Suzy couldn’t help but sigh.

Great. Now she felt even more stifled.

She slipped her phone back into her bag, forcing herself to push the matter aside.

If she couldn’t vent her anger, she would drown it in productivity.

***

She drove to the large frozen meat processing plant she had arranged to visit earlier.

The owner personally greeted her and walked her through the facility, proudly showcasing the various meats in storage.

Pork, beef, lamb—common staples. Plus a wide range of processed products.

Suzy pulled out her prepared order list and handed it to him.

"Mister, I’d like to purchase these. Do you have enough in stock?"

The owner scanned the list—and his eyes widened. "You want to buy so much?"

Then they lit up. The thought of the money he would get was overwhelming.

Beef: ribs, ground beef, tripe, tenderloin, steaks, sliced fatty beef rolls—fifty tons total.

Pork: belly, ribs, shoulder cuts, trotters, tenderloin, plus processed bacon, sausages, ham—another fifty tons.

Chicken: wings, mid-wings, drumsticks, feet, breast meat—fifty tons.

Lamb: five tons.

Seafood: king crab, salmon, prawns, jellyfish, sea cucumber, abalone, scallops, oysters—twenty tons combined.

Specialty meats like rabbit, foie gras, venison—five tons.

"I don’t think I have all of this in-house," the owner admitted, still grinning, "but I can source the rest from other facilities."

C City had no shortage of meat suppliers, and he had connections everywhere.

"That would be perfect. Thank you," Suzy replied.

The owner didn’t even bother asking why she needed such a massive quantity. A rare bulk order like this cleared out a large portion of his slow-moving inventory in one go.

He had been worried about excess stock only days ago.

Now he was practically glowing.

Because Suzy was so straightforward and generous, he offered her the most competitive price—and even threw in additional bonuses.

After paying the deposit, signing the contract, and confirming delivery times, the meat supply was settled.

Tens of thousands were spent in the blink of an eye.

And this was only one category of her preparations.