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Maria made it clear through her decisive actions that she was the true owner of Stark Industries, removing any concerns Tony might have had.
While cleaning out Obadiah's belongings, they discovered evidence of his collaboration with terrorists. This added another charge to his criminal record, making his time in prison even more difficult.
Afterward, Maria assigned Pepper Potts to manage the company. Despite the continuously dropping stock prices, Stark Industries returned to its normal operations.
At Mike's House.
Maria excitedly recounted the shareholder meeting, her eyes shining with joy.
"Hah! That bald guy thought he could vote? What a joke! Doesn't he realize what I've been doing all this time? East Wind!"
Even though it had been over a month since that event, Maria still couldn't hide her pride when talking about it.
"Bang!"
Mike, tired of hearing the same thing again, threw a card down and said with a sigh, "You've said that eight hundred times already."
Peggy Carter nodded in agreement, but seeing Maria's eager look, she sighed and, with a hint of curiosity, asked, "When did you collect all that dirt and evidence? You had such foresight!"
"When?" Maria laughed. "Probably after Howard passed away. West Wind!"
Happy, who was there just to make up the numbers, looked at Maria with shock.
She started collecting evidence back then?
Was this all part of the plan to prevent something like this from happening one day?
That was terrifying!
He nervously reached for his cards, but just as he was about to grab one, Mike raised an eyebrow and said, "Kong!"
Happy, frustrated, mumbled, "Can't you just let me pick a card?"
Peggy Carter, torn between her cards, looked closely at Mike and Maria's expressions, carefully placing her card down. After seeing no one wanted it, she sighed in relief.
At this point in the game, every card had to be played cautiously.
"Hey!"
Maria's eyes lit up as she excitedly said, "I'll take it!"
She picked up the card Peggy had discarded and casually tossed one of her own: "North Wind!"
Happy was about to draw a card…
"Stop!"
Mike grabbed the last card from Maria and grinned. "It's done! Big Four Winds! Pay up, pay up!"
Happy glared at Maria in frustration.
This old lady was something else. She had passed three cards to him, directly setting him up for a Big Four Winds.
Maria, with a blank expression, noticed Happy's resentful look and raised an eyebrow. "What are you staring at? I did it on purpose. Is that a problem?"
Peggy Carter snapped, "You're foolish and rich, but don't drag me into it!"
"You were just praising my foresight!" Maria shot back, "What's with you? Talking all over the place."
"That was before you set Mike up with a bomb!" Peggy retorted angrily. "You're so bad at this!"
"What? I'm bad?" Maria shot back. "You're the bad one! You've pointed seven bombs, and I'm not allowed to point one?"
"One? You've pointed one, two... five bombs!"
"That's still fewer than you!"
"Not for long, you'll catch up soon!"
Happy, silently watching the two of them argue while reshuffling the cards, felt like he had been dragged into a terrifying vortex. He turned his gaze to Mike, his eyes lingering on the plastic box at Mike's feet, filled with cash, his envy clear.
So much money...
Mike glanced at Happy and encouraged him with a faint smile. "Go on, win a few rounds, and you'll be able to find a beautiful girl tonight."
Happy blushed slightly, but unconsciously straightened his posture.
Mike looked at the three of them and shook his head.
Great, now he had to lose a few rounds on purpose, or else the game would be over too soon. Winning too much would make him feel guilty. A few tens of thousands would do.
Two hours later, Happy had won a little, and he felt as though he was about to fly with happiness.
This Mahjong stuff wasn't learned in vain.
Meanwhile, Peggy Carter calculated her losses, but didn't seem too bothered by it.
Maria, on the other hand, felt little if the losses didn't exceed a million.
For her, as long as she didn't lose over a million, it didn't faze her.
Mike put away the money, calculated today's gains, and happily said, "No one is leaving today. I'm treating."
"Well, obviously, you won, so you have to treat!" Peggy Carter replied, annoyed.
Recently, she'd noticed that the spells she had learned weren't working anymore.
"I'll need to go back to Chinatown to learn some more," she thought to herself, standing up and stretching, walking toward the sofa.
As the oldest person here, just three hours of playing cards had already made her feel worn out.
"Hey?"
Maria suddenly seemed to have discovered something new, looking curiously at a piano under the living room window. "Mike, when did you buy the piano?"
"Not long ago," Mike explained with a smile. "Gwen is learning the piano and needs more practice."
The girl had been spending significantly more time on combat training than piano practice lately, and Mike sensed a growing crisis. He finally remembered to buy the piano.
Placing a piano right in front of her, no matter what, Gwen would play it every day, right?
So far, the effect was still a work in progress.
Maria waved at Peggy Carter, saying, "I remember you can play, right? Come, give it a try."
Peggy Carter nodded and, as she gazed at the piano, a nostalgic look appeared in her eyes. She sat at the piano, placed her hands on the keys, and after a brief pause, a smooth melody began flowing from her fingertips.
Maria closed her eyes, clearly enjoying the music, while Peggy Carter played with a wistful expression on her face, as if she had returned to her younger years and was seeing him again.
Just then, the sound from the television suddenly blared out. Both of them tilted their heads and looked over, their eyes now filled with cold intent.
Happy, sitting on the sofa, shivered and forced a smile, saying, "Uh, did we interrupt something?"
Before he could finish, the news on the TV immediately caught the attention of all three.
It was a report about the Middle East.
In the news, a red-and-gold Iron Man descended from the sky. Not only did he take down terrorists, but he also destroyed all of their weapons.
"This person has been appearing a lot recently," Peggy Carter muttered. "What's his purpose? Who is he?"
"Who knows?" Maria murmured, though there was a hint of confusion in her gaze.
For some reason, looking at that Iron Man, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
"Anyway, whatever he's doing, it's a good thing, right?" Peggy Carter remarked with a sigh. She then added, "But his gear is so advanced. As far as I know, no country can create something like that. Whoever developed it must be a genius."
A genius?
The two of them suddenly paused, exchanging a glance.
Maria chuckled. "How could that be? There are plenty of geniuses out there."
"True," Peggy agreed.
Just then, Gwen came through the door, and upon seeing them, she cheered and ran toward them.
In an instant, all their earlier thoughts were pushed aside as they crowded around Gwen, bombarding her with questions.
(End of Chapter)