It's the hottest time of the year on the East Coast. Though Greenwich is considered one of the most livable summer retreats around New York, by nine in the morning, the outdoor sunlight already carries a hint of fierceness.
Inside an office on the first floor of a northern suburban estate villa.
Thanks to the air conditioning, the clawing summer sunlight coming through the glass windows is reduced to a gentle and warm brightness.
Miss A really likes this feeling.
Sitting at the desk, accompanied by the sunlight on one side, with a cup of coffee at hand, she taps away at the emails in her inbox, occasionally taking and making a few calls. The printer in the corner hums occasionally, spitting out some documents.
Simon had left the estate at seven-thirty in the morning.
He had an early breakfast appointment with Terry Semel from Time Warner. Due to Simon's influence, many wealthy and famous people had chosen to buy property in Greenwich in recent years, Semel included, leading to a slight decline in interest in East Hampton on Long Island.
After breakfast, he was meeting with Joseph Shrap of Shrap Consulting to discuss various political strategies for the Westeros system.
At noon, he was scheduled to visit Sophia Fessy at her city home, with plans extending until the next morning.
All original plans had been canceled.
Because of this, Alison didn't need to follow Simon today but was still not idle.
The ever-expanding Westeros system constantly has matters that require Simon's attention. Although he tries not to get involved directly, he keeps abreast of things, thus requiring Alison and her assistant office team to sort everything out.
After printing out the North American box office data for the past week and organizing the reviews for several new releases, Alison returned to her desk and opened an email from EA.
EA was officially launching a new PC real-time strategy game called "Warcraft: Humans vs. Orcs" today.
While EA's management might not feel it, Miss A, being close to Simon, understood that her boss had a special interest in this project and had been following it closely.
This real-time strategy game had been planned even before the Silicon & Synapse studio was acquired. The original development cycle was intended to be half a year, with a release in May to catch the summer sales peak for video games. However, after the acquisition, even though the development team received more funding, technology, and talent support from EA, the game was delayed, finally completing by late June.
Simon personally intervened in setting the release date.
Today is July 15.
Two weeks after Daenerys Entertainment went public.
The purpose is clear: to release the game two weeks after Daenerys Entertainment's IPO. If successful, it would certainly boost Daenerys Entertainment's stock price. Even if it failed, a game with a production cost of less than $2 million would not affect the overall situation.
While focused on her work, Arya knocked on the door, reminding Alison that the three ladies from last night had woken up.
Miss A gave a few casual instructions and continued working until Arya came back to inform her that the three women had finished breakfast. Alison then got up and went to a relatively private sitting room in another part of the villa.
This small sitting room, located in the north side of the villa's west wing, is just over thirty square meters. It has a set of sofas and a coffee table, a bookshelf against the left wall by the entrance, and floor-to-ceiling glass doors leading to the backyard, with views of the pool, lawn, and distant green trees. The simple and cozy atmosphere is perfect for a short, leisurely break.
Last night's experience must have been pleasant, as Kriss Gough, Eva Herzigova, and Daniela Pestova were all very relaxed, like three lazy cats.
However, the three women were clearly divided into two groups. Kriss Gough was lazily curled up on a single sofa reading a fashion magazine, while Eva and Daniela, both from the Czech Republic, were huddled together, whispering in their native language.
Moreover, all three were wearing new clothes.
Simon believes beautiful women should wear beautiful clothes.
As top-tier models, each of them showcased their most charming and radiant side in various expensive luxury brands carefully paired together.
Seeing Miss A enter the room, aware of her unique position with Simon compared to the maids, the three women greeted her proactively despite her cold expression.
Eva Herzigova even stood up, wanting to help Alison with the tray she was carrying.
However, seeing the tray containing not only three clearly marked gift boxes and three glasses of water but also a dish with three pills, Eva hesitated slightly as Alison placed the tray on the coffee table.
"This is directly instructed by the boss."
Seemingly offhand, Miss A distributed the three glasses of water and a pill to each woman.
No need to elaborate; the women guessed what the pills were for.
Though their expressions varied, under Alison's gaze and hearing it was a direct order from Simon, they obediently took the pills, making the previously relaxed atmosphere inevitably awkward.
Alison seemed oblivious, watching them take the pills, then coldly cleaned up the glasses and placed the three exquisitely wrapped gift boxes on the coffee table, saying, "These are gifts from the boss for the three ladies. Additionally, there are cars available at the villa to take you whenever you wish to leave."
Beautiful women never lack pride.
In the past, when faced with Alison's cold treatment, most women would leave, their initially good impression of Simon fading significantly.
This was precisely what Alison intended.
Even that seemingly casual comment was part of her plan.
Simon had indeed instructed this matter, but he surely didn't expect Alison to be deliberately so blunt. With her skills, making the atmosphere smooth and casual would have been easy.
However, maintaining those women's goodwill or fantasies about Simon was not in her interest.
Having carved out a small piece of territory in his heart, she didn't want any other woman to share it, even a tiny bit.
But Alison's little schemes stopped there.
She knew that crossing a certain line would get her kicked out, and that would be the real punishment for her.
Yet, this time, her little plan wasn't going smoothly.
After she finished speaking, Eva Herzigova looked at her, eyes flickering, and suddenly said, "We are still a bit tired, Alison. Can we continue to rest here?"
Alison hesitated but eventually nodded. "Sure."
With that, she picked up the tray, ready to leave.
Eva Herzigova asked again, "By the way, Alison, will Simon be back at noon?"
Alison shook her head. "The boss won't be back today. He will leave directly for Los Angeles tomorrow morning."
Eva Herzigova was a bit disappointed but quickly realized something. She asked, "In that case, can we stay here all day... well, until tomorrow morning? We won't disturb Simon, right?"
Alison was unwilling but had to nod again.
Internally, she raised her guard against this least attractive of the three beauties to the highest level.
Getting a definite answer, Eva Herzigova immediately showed some cheer. "Great, we can rest for a whole day. I've been exhausted with all the busy work from Grace."
Feeling more relaxed, she laid down on the sofa, hugging a pillow and closing her eyes as if ready to nap.
Maybe their levels of cunning differed, but the room was full of vixens.
Kriss Gough and Daniela Pestova, sensing Eva's cornering of Alison, relaxed their initial thoughts of leaving and looked on with amused expressions.
Not feeling any guilt for her exposure, Alison left a polite reminder that they could call her if needed, then left the room with the tray.
After all, what could staying here accomplish?
The boss wasn't coming back today anyway.
As Miss A departed, Kriss Gough, initially having slight disdain for Eva Herzigova, couldn't help but glance over. Unfortunately, neither Eva nor Daniela responded to her faintly friendly gaze.
Eva Herzigova was somewhat relieved. She had been worried that Alison might outright kick them out for her earlier provocation.
Seated on the edge of the sofa, Daniela Pestova felt a small foot pushing against her, clearly aiming to take over the whole couch. She wasn't annoyed, moving over slightly, and leaned closer to Eva, speaking in Czech. "Eva, aren't you worried she'll make trouble for us with Simon later?"
Eva Herzigova tossed aside the pillow, pulling Daniela closer. "She won't."
Daniela, following her lead, moved closer, still asking, "How can you be so sure?"
Eva suddenly pushed Daniela to the carpet, finally taking over the entire sofa. Seeing Daniela's glare, she said, "Simple. Since she didn't kick us out, it means she doesn't have the authority to mess with us."
Daniela thought about it and found it reasonable, grudgingly forgiving Eva's bullying. She then remembered the items Miss A had left behind and crawled to the coffee table, ignoring Kriss Gough's look, gathering the three gift boxes and choosing a long one to open.
Soon, a body pressed against her back, arms around her waist, and a head on her shoulder, watching her unbox.
Inside was a Cartier rose gold necklace with diamonds, featuring a teardrop-shaped ruby at the bottom.
As Daniela opened the box, Eva's eyes lit up, and she reached for it. "So pretty. This one's mine."
Daniela was a bit displeased but didn't contest it, letting Eva take it and put it on her neck. After looking her over and finding it very fitting, Daniela couldn't help but ask in Czech, "Hey, how much do you think this necklace is worth?"
She had heard of Simon Westeros's generosity, even seeing reports of him giving apartments to other models.
However, the three women didn't dare to expect
the same treatment as the well-established ones. They were already very satisfied with the outfits they got to choose this morning, each ensemble worth at least ten thousand dollars.
They didn't expect additional gifts.
Lacking a mirror, Eva was disappointed. Hearing Daniela's question, she thought and said, "I'm not sure, but a Cartier diamond and ruby necklace should be at least $100,000."
Daniela, at 24, was the oldest and most experienced of the three. Though she hadn't been very successful, she had enough knowledge to agree with Eva's estimate.
She felt a rush of excitement.
If this necklace was worth $100,000, the other two boxes should be of similar value.
She even considered selling her share quietly to rent a nice apartment in Manhattan, buying one being still out of reach.
Modeling might seem glamorous and lucrative, but over 90% of models can't achieve financial independence and often need to work other jobs to make ends meet.
Many modeling agents secretly help their models find "side gigs" to earn extra income.
Daniela had been recruited by Grace from a failing agency. The $100,000 gift was equivalent to her income over the past two years when her career had started to improve. She was one of the best models at her old agency.
Without this opportunity, Daniela had considered marrying a reasonably well-off American and starting a family. At 14, she was already considered old in the modeling world, making further progress difficult.
The two women discussed in low voices in Czech, ignoring Kriss Gough. She didn't try to join their conversation, understanding their deliberate coldness due to Grace's favoritism towards her and Simon's apparent preference for her last night.
Kriss recognized the Cartier necklace as one she had seen at the "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" premiere, priced at $129,999.
She had dreamed of buying it when she could afford it.
She didn't expect to see it so soon.
Seeing the other two curiously eyeing her long gift box, Kriss didn't want her share to be opened by them and took the final long box, likely containing another necklace.
Daniela opened the second box to reveal a Patek Philippe women's watch, worth around the same as the Cartier necklace.
After a quick discussion, Daniela didn't put the watch on but carefully reboxed it. Both women then turned to Kriss Gough.
Kriss, still preferring the Cartier necklace Eva wore, felt a small sense of superiority as the other two watched her box. She gripped it tightly, showing no intention of satisfying their curiosity.
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