Simon and Janet took their leave from the Hearst estate a little after nine.
Back at their own manor, the villa was brightly lit. The newly appointed housekeeper, Alice Ferguson, was still directing the maids in cleaning the place, while security personnel were scattered around reinstalling and upgrading the estate's protection systems.
Simon did not bother with any of that. In a single day he had gone from San Francisco to Los Angeles and then all the way to New York on the East Coast. Right now, all he wanted was a long hot bath and sleep.
Janet called Neil Bennett over to ask about the security system, while Simon told Alice Ferguson to take him to the master bedroom.
The new housekeeper led Simon to a room on the east side of the second floor and opened the door herself.
Simon swept his eyes over the bedroom's furnishings, nodded, and asked, "Where's the study?"
"Next door."
Alice Ferguson pointed at the door on the right, about to go over, when Simon stopped her. "Run a bath for me. Not too hot. Let me know when it's ready."
After giving that instruction, Simon headed for the adjoining study.
Alice was still holding a black hardbound folder in her hands, looking very much like a corporate professional. She stared after the male owner for a moment, then went into the master bathroom herself to prepare the bathwater.
The villa, of course, already had internet installed.
Simon entered the study and turned on the computer. He browsed the Ygritte portal while logging into his email, occasionally typing a few lines into a draft based on what he saw. It was something he had been doing often these past few months. Every week, he sent several suggestion emails to Ygritte's two executives, and he also discussed other company matters through email.
In just a few short months, email had already become an important tool for communication between Simon and many of the Westeros system's senior management.
To ensure security, Simon had specifically asked Ygritte's technical team to set up a dedicated server, and they had created a set of content rules: what could be discussed via email, what could not, and they also regularly deleted and purged old messages.
It was frustrating, really. At the moment, the World Wide Web platform's main content was still being provided by Ygritte.
Beyond that, there were the North American university campus networks gradually connecting to the Web. This was one of the outcomes Simon was especially satisfied with. By donating Web software directly to universities across North America, a technology with such strong practical value spread quickly throughout campuses. More and more universities were using HTML to rebuild their own campus websites.
Not only that, Ygritte and the Simon and Janet Westeros Foundation had also funded professional Web-related courses at schools like Stanford, Harvard, and MIT.
Outside university campuses, Ygritte continued promoting Web technology across society through physical books and online tutorials. By now, Ygritte had published three books introducing Web technology and related applications, and the Ygritte portal had created a dedicated subforum for users to learn and discuss Web development.
Thanks to that series of promotional efforts, the Web's adoption was spreading far faster than Simon had estimated.
Today was September 29. The month was not over yet, but according to data from America Online, September 1990's user count had increased 27 percent over August.
From the time Egret officially began pushing Web adoption in May until now, over five months, America Online's monthly user growth had been 38,000, 46,000, 61,000, 73,000, and 97,000.
Including the initial base of users, America Online's internet access subscribers had reached 386,000.
Outside America Online, two other internet service providers, which Egret had licensed Web technology to in the Great Lakes metro region and the southern states, had also accumulated more than 100,000 users in recent months.
Simon's original goal was that in the remaining months of 1990, they would strive to reach 500,000 internet users connected via Web technology.
Now, that goal had essentially been achieved three months early.
It was easy to imagine that as long as telecom infrastructure and internet content resources kept pace, Simon's plan to scale the internet to a ten-million-user level in North America within three years would not be difficult at all.
He had only just browsed a few pages when a knock sounded. Simon looked up to see Alice at the study door.
There were obvious water stains on her black suit, but her expression remained composed. "Boss, the water's ready."
Simon acknowledged her, saved the half-written email as a draft, shut down the computer, and stood to leave. As he walked, he took off his suit jacket and casually handed it to the housekeeper standing by the door.
Alice Ferguson held his jacket. Seeing the boss enter the adjoining bedroom, she hesitated, then followed him anyway. She lingered at the master bedroom doorway, and only when she saw Simon had entered the bathroom and closed the door did she finally let out a quiet breath.
Then she did not know what to do with the clothes in her hands. Hang them on the bedroom rack, or take them downstairs to be dry-cleaned?
She had been born into a fairly comfortable middle-class family and had always been the kind of gifted, favored girl from childhood. Even though she had accepted this job, she truly had no experience serving anyone.
Remembering that the other women had all received domestic training, Alice Ferguson suddenly felt puzzled. Why would Janet Westeros choose to hire her? After all, she had not pursued this job herself in the first place.
But when the invitation came, she decided very quickly to accept.
As for the reason, she had never been a woman willing to settle for mediocrity. She did not want to end up like her mother, spending her whole life as an accessory to her father and the household. She wanted to do something. She wanted to accomplish something. She wanted the world to remember her.
Right now, if she could earn Westeros's regard, it would be the best shortcut to fulfilling the ambitions in her heart. To achieve that, even paying certain prices, including with her own body, would be worth it. After all, Simon Westeros was definitely the kind of man women found hard to refuse. Plenty of her friends, both women and men, treated him as a fantasy.
Still.
She pinched the suit jacket in her hands again.
She had no ambition whatsoever to become some bed-warming maid.
After standing there for a moment, the housekeeper finally remembered her role. She had a whole team under her. There was no need to handle everything personally.
Realizing that, Alice carried the jacket downstairs.
Downstairs, Janet happened to be walking into the main hall. Seeing Alice, she asked, "Why are you holding Simon's clothes?"
Alice Ferguson stopped and replied, "The boss is bathing. He just changed out of these."
Janet looked her over again, nodded, and said, "I'm going to bathe too. Prepare clean clothes for me and Simon."
With that, Janet headed for the stairs.
Back in the master bedroom on the second floor, she stripped off her clothes in a few quick motions, pushed open the bathroom door, and dove into the large tub, splashing water everywhere as she laughed and kicked, until Simon pulled her into his arms and held her down.
With Janet quiet at last, her eyes half-lidded like a little cat as she rested against his chest, Simon knew that the moment he let go, she would probably sink right into the water. He tightened the arm around her waist, enjoying the feel of skin against skin, and said, "How did you end up finding a housekeeper like that?"
"You don't like pretty vases, so I found someone smarter," Janet said, lifting her chin against Simon's chest. Her beautiful eyes looked up at him. "Satisfied?"
Simon nodded. "Her ambition's too high. She needs a bit of sanding down."
Janet rubbed her cheek against his chest, her tone turning slightly suggestive. "Mm. Sand her however you want. If she can't be sanded down, then kick her out."
Simon smiled and did not continue the topic.
They held each other quietly for a moment. Then Janet suddenly said, "Did you hear? A while ago Ronald Perelman tried to join the River Club, the one the Rockefellers founded. Not only was he rejected, he got laughed at too. They said he was just a speculator."
Ronald Perelman was a Wall Street raider as famous as Carl Icahn. In the eighties, he used leveraged buyouts and swallowed the cosmetics giant Revlon, a company valued at over a billion dollars, with only a hundred million in capital. If Simon had not appeared, Perelman would have bought Marvel last year.
On this year's Forbes 400 list, Ronald Perelman ranked fourth with a net worth of 2.87 billion dollars, behind only Simon, Kruger, and Buffett.
Simon knew exactly why Janet brought it up. It was still about what happened tonight at the Hearsts'.
America had no aristocracy, but in many ways, old families with a century of accumulation had more arrogance than European nobles. After all, most of those families still held enormous wealth and vast networks of power.
"You know me," Simon said, stroking the smooth skin in his arms. "I don't need anyone's approval, and I'm not chasing my way into any circle. If they think putting on airs in front of me is some symbol of status, then let them keep putting on airs."
"It's just that I feel uncomfortable," Janet said, curling her arm and resting her chin on it as she looked up. "Why do they get to look down on you? What if we just snatch those shares?"
"And then wait for Daenerys Entertainment to get torn apart every time it releases a film by dozens of mainstream newspapers, plus even more weeklies and magazines?"
"Ugh…"
Janet gnawed at her wrist in frustration, not satisfied, then leaned forward and started grinding her teeth lightly against Simon's shoulder.
Simon soothed her by rubbing her waist and said with a smile, "If we can't be friendly, then peaceful coexistence is fine. Besides, the Hearsts probably think their print empire can keep flourishing for another hundred years, so they can stay proud forever. But the future? Who can really say?"
Traditional print media had controlled Western public opinion for more than a century. Janet was not Simon, so she could not imagine what it would look like when print finally declined. But she did not doubt her man's judgment for a second. She nodded in agreement, dropped the topic, and half-closed her eyes against his chest again.
Downstairs, Alice, still holding Simon's jacket, soon found the four women, A, B, C, and D, curled up together on a sofa in a small sitting room watching television. Compared to the newly hired maids assigned elsewhere in the city, A, B, C, and D all lived in the main villa.
They had followed the couple around all day too, then worked through the evening, and had only just sat down to rest. When they saw Alice, none of them stood, and they did not even greet her.
The housekeeper frowned, raised the jacket in her hands, and said, "The boss is bathing. Which of you is going to prepare clean clothes for him?"
At her words, the four exchanged looks.
That afternoon, when they heard they were being placed under this newcomer, they had all been unhappy. Allison, the A girl, said, "Are you sure the boss didn't tell you to do it?"
Alice locked eyes with her, sharp and unwavering. "I'm very sure."
They held each other's gaze for a few seconds. In the end, Allison looked away, but still refused to stand.
As the standoff continued, Claire Grey, the C girl, got up from the sofa and said, "I'll do it."
Claire walked over and took Simon's clothes. Without acknowledging Alice, she turned and walked out.
The housekeeper paused, then followed.
The two went upstairs together. Claire entered the walk-in closet and ignored the housekeeper watching her. She took Simon's wallet out of the suit jacket, hung the jacket on a rack, then expertly picked out a few intimate garments for both the man and the woman. Holding the clothes along with the wallet, she carried everything into the master bedroom.
She placed the wallet on the bedside table, then brought the clothing to the bathroom door. She was about to knock when she suddenly seemed to remember the housekeeper. Turning her head, she looked at Alice standing nearby. "Are you taking these in, or should I?"
Alice could not see any flaw in Claire's expression. She hesitated, remembered Janet's instruction earlier, and stepped forward to take the clothes.
Claire handed them over, still perfectly calm, then turned and left the master bedroom.
Once Claire was gone, Alice took a slow breath, raised her hand, and knocked.
After receiving a response, she pushed the door open and went in.
A faint mist filled the bathroom, carrying the clean scent of body wash.
But the moment she noticed the man and woman in the tub, wrapped around each other, both looking at her with the same puzzled expression, she knew she had been tricked. She stood there, at a loss, clutching the clothes like an idiot.
Janet blinked a few times. Seeing the housekeeper's face turn crimson, she immediately understood what had happened and laughed so hard she went limp in Simon's arms.
Simon understood too. A smile rose on his face, and he was about to send the housekeeper out when Janet pushed herself upright instead. "Who tricked you into coming in? Call her in. I want to see."
The housekeeper, mortified, started to turn, then thought of something and lifted her hand slightly.
Simon said, "Just put them on the bed outside."
Alice nodded, finally turned around, and walked out of the bathroom stiffly, like a machine.
A moment later, Claire appeared at the bathroom door, looking uneasy. Beside her stood the housekeeper, her face cold as ice.
Claire had only meant to tease the newcomer. But once Janet called her over, she realized she might have made a very big mistake.
A, B, C, and D were not particularly afraid of Simon. Their boss was always mild and calm, and they had never even seen him lose his temper.
But they were all a little afraid of the mistress.
A, B, C, and D were Australians. They knew the Johnston family's power back home. And when Janet had selected them from hundreds of candidates, getting this job had not been easy. Unlike Simon, Janet would scold and punish them without mercy, and she could fire them outright.
Claire, who had stayed by Janet's side for a while now, had personally seen the mistress dismiss six employees from Cersei Capital in one go. A Wall Street trading team was cut entirely in the blink of an eye, simply because they had made the same not-too-serious trading mistake twice in a row.
When the two women appeared again, Janet, still nestled against Simon, flicked her fingers. "Come here."
The housekeeper did not move. Claire reflexively stepped forward.
When she got close and saw Janet press her hand downward, Claire did not hesitate for even a second. She knelt at the edge of the tub.
Janet reached out and tipped Claire's delicate chin up with a finger. "You're clever. Even my newly hired woman with a PhD got fooled by you."
Claire stiffened when Janet's wet fingertip touched her chin. She did not dare argue and lowered her head. "S, sorry, ma'am."
"I'm praising you," Janet said, smiling brightly as she withdrew her hand. "But from now on, you're not allowed to trick her anymore. If you trick her into becoming an idiot, you'll be responsible."
After so long by the couple's side, Claire had more or less figured out Janet's temperament. She knew the mistress was not being sarcastic. She relaxed a little and nodded. "I understand, ma'am."
Janet idly stirred the foam in the tub and said, "Since you've been praised, you deserve a reward. What do you want?"
Claire hesitated, then said, "Alice said we'll be under her from now on. I don't think that's necessary."
Janet glanced at the housekeeper standing at the bathroom door and nodded in agreement. "True. She's too stupid. You don't need to listen to her from now on. Now, go on. Out."