Since he was buying property, Simon naturally chose the best.
However, it was still the 1980s. Many years later, mansions routinely priced at over a hundred million dollars simply did not exist yet. Even Kensington Palace Gardens in London, which would later gather some of the most expensive properties in the world, was only priced in the tens of millions at this point. The five story villa Simon was holding on Kensington Palace Gardens, with more than thirty rooms, was listed at eighteen million pounds, already the most expensive among the sixteen properties.
With Janet offering her advice, Simon quickly flipped through all sixteen property dossiers.
Although luxury homes were not particularly expensive in this era overall, when combined, the sixteen properties amounted to 178 million dollars, averaging eleven million per property.
Among them, aside from the Kensington Palace Gardens mansion, which sat on only half an acre, many of the other properties were large enough to be measured in hectares. One estate in western Paris, priced at 120 million francs, covered twenty two hectares. Converted to dollars, that came to roughly seventeen million. By comparison, the Kensington Palace Gardens mansion at eighteen million pounds translated to about twenty five million dollars at the current exchange rate.
Of course, aside from London and Paris, top tier mansions in other major European cities were far cheaper.
After finishing the last file, Simon looked at Sophia Fache and asked, "Sixteen properties, plus the one in Cannes. Can you manage all of them?"
Sophia Fache was clearly stunned.
Over the past few months, she had carefully selected these sixteen properties, but when she came this time, she assumed Simon would choose two or three at most. From what he just said, though, he was clearly planning to buy all sixteen.
Spending 178 million dollars in one go on sixteen properties was an act bordering on madness in an era when even the world's richest people typically had net worths of only a few billion. Moreover, as a former luxury property agent, Sophia Fache knew very well that most wealthy buyers would invest heavily in renovations after purchasing, which was another enormous expense.
She froze for a moment. Seeing Simon still looking at her expectantly, she quickly gathered her thoughts and recalled his question.
Sixteen, no, seventeen properties. Could she manage them?
Many wealthy people did have the habit of buying multiple properties. If this were the usual case of acquiring a pile of small apartments or villas, she could have answered without hesitation.
But these seventeen properties were among the very finest estates in Europe. Just the Paris estate in the western suburbs, with its twenty two hectare grounds, main villa, private stables, orchard, and lake, required at least a dozen gardeners and servants for daily maintenance. To manage all seventeen estates, a dedicated team of several hundred people would likely be necessary. And this was far more than simple cleaning and upkeep.
After hesitating for a while, Sophia Fache finally nodded lightly, but still could not help confirming, "Simon, you really intend to buy all of these?"
"Once you're back in Europe, you can start on it," Simon said, patting Janet in his arms as he helped her to her feet. "Let's leave it at that for today. Janet, help Sophiaget her room settled. I'm going to take a shower."
Only after watching Simon leave did Sophia Fache turn to Janet, who had raised no objections at all to his decision, and ask, "Janet, are you really going to let Simon do this?"
Janet looped her arm through Sophia's and led her toward the guest rooms, saying, "I'm his girlfriend, not his mother. Honestly, once you spend more time with him and get used to Simon's crazy ideas, you won't find things like this strange anymore."
Sophia Fache said, "But sixteen properties. I really don't see the necessity."
"What matters most is that someone does whatever they want," Janet replied. "Who cares whether it's necessary or not."
As she spoke, Janet accompanied Sophia into a guest room. The housekeeper's luggage had already been moved in earlier that day. Sophia Fessi opened her suitcase and took out some clothes, then noticed Janet was still standing at the doorway. Curious, she asked, "Janet, is there something else?"
"No," Janet shook her head, then raised her hand and lightly knocked on the door panel, a bright smile on her face. "I just wanted to remind you that the bedroom door here can't be locked."
After saying that, Janet did not look at the housekeeper's expression again. She wished her good night and turned to leave.
There was no way Sophia Fache could sleep after that.
She was not a little girl. How could she fail to understand the implication in Janet's words? Forcing herself to act as if nothing were wrong, she tidied her clothes for a while, but in the end, she could not resist walking to the door, peeking outside, then closing it and carefully examining the handle.
Janet had not been joking.
It really could not be locked.
The image of her young employer surfaced in her mind. Ever since confirming this employment relationship, Sophia Fache had been paying close attention to everything related to Simon, and that only deepened her sense of how legendary this young man was.
At twenty, when most people his age were still lost about the future, he had already built from nothing achievements many people would never reach in several lifetimes.
As a mature woman in her prime, and perhaps because of that rather possessive prerequisite Simon had proposed at the beginning, she had not never entertained certain private fantasies. But they were only fantasies. Although she was confident in her looks, otherwise she would never have married a wealthy man in the first place, she never dared to hope that he would truly be interested in her.
Now.
Staring at the door in front of her, the housekeeper's thoughts tangled and spun endlessly.
What if he really came in tonight?
What if he did not come in tonight?
...
Master bedroom.
After showering, Simon came out of the bathroom, towel drying his hair. Janet had changed into a light pink silk nightdress and was lying on the bed flipping through a magazine. Seeing Simon, she turned her head and smiled sweetly at him, looking utterly harmless. Simon was not polite at all. He walked to the bedside and smacked her on the hip.
With a sharp slap, Janet's eyes immediately welled up. "Why did you hit me?"
Simon raised his hand again as if to strike. "You tell me."
Janet scooted her small body to the side and protested, "There are so many bedrooms in the villa. They're for hosting guests. Was I supposed to make Sophia stay in a hotel?"