In the southern outskirts of Rome, Sophia opted not to stay in a hospital. Several rooms in the west wing of the villa had been transformed into a fully equipped medical facility, complete with a top-tier medical team. Given her age and the fact that she was expecting twins, the doctors recommended a cesarean section. After discussing it with Simon, they agreed.
The cesarean allowed them to choose the date of the procedure once the babies were full term. Sophia let Simon pick the date, and he chose August 18th, a date he believed to be particularly auspicious, a belief carried over from his past life.
Arriving in Italy on August 12th, Simon spent the days leading up to the surgery at the estate with Sophia, not venturing out. However, Sophia wasn't alone. Her parents and her two children had flown in from New York at the start of the summer to keep her company. After Simon's arrival, Sophia's parents discreetly moved out to avoid any awkwardness, rarely making appearances. Daniel and Gemma, on the other hand, remained at the estate.
Though Daniel and Gemma had already accepted the relationship between Simon and their mother, Sophia's pregnancy made the atmosphere slightly strange. Nonetheless, everyone got along harmoniously.
Simon took time off from work during these days, spending time with Sophia in a peaceful, low-key way—eating together, chatting, going for walks, and occasionally discussing the future of their children. Deep down, Simon felt a certain emotional distance from fatherhood. He never denied this but had no intention of shirking his responsibilities as a father.
For Simon, while he might not be able to give his children boundless love, he could certainly give them more than enough money.
Now possessing enormous wealth, Simon had never considered donating the majority of it in the future—at least not in a traditional sense. But he also didn't intend to leave it all to one child. How much the twins in Sophia's womb would eventually inherit depended on them.
Sophia accepted this candidly.
She told Simon that she planned to divide her shares in Melisandre between Daniel and Gemma, while Simon's shares would go to the twins. To her, this arrangement was perfectly reasonable.
Since Sophia felt that way, Simon agreed.
In time, the entire Westeros system would belong to a generation of "little Westeroses."
What the future held, who could say?
Because of societal differences, many children of wealthy Western families tended to be somewhat rebellious, uninterested in inheriting their family's legacy.
Over the years, Simon had observed this phenomenon discreetly, corroborating it with his memories. He found it interesting that most wealthy heirs who rejected family expectations and pursued their own paths often came from newly rich families. In contrast, families with old money, passed down over generations, had a lower rate of rebellious children.
Newly wealthy families often embraced the values of personal enjoyment, believing that wealth and power weren't important. This was also a common sentiment among the Western middle class.
Much like how many Westerners embraced the idea of "learning should be fun."
To them, knowledge wasn't important.
Whether or not one went to college didn't matter.
Happiness was what counted.
As a result, the middle class in the West didn't place much importance on higher education. Even in the U.S., less than half of college students actually graduated.
In contrast, children of the elite were often burdened with rigorous academics from an early age. Even if they weren't particularly bright, their parents would find ways to get them into prestigious schools.
This created a "class entrenchment" trap.
The elites stayed elites, while the lower classes remained stuck at the bottom.
Simon, being the quintessential nouveau riche, had no intention of falling into this trap. The Westeros children would receive the best elite education, with their primary life goal being to take over the Westeros system. While there might be deviations along the way, the core philosophy would remain unchanged.
Before they knew it, it was already August 17th.
The day before the surgery, Sophia spent a few hours in the afternoon undergoing her final preoperative check-up.
Simon personally listened as Dr. Sarah Watley, who would be performing the surgery, explained the results and details of the procedure scheduled for the next morning. Simon also made sure to inspect all the equipment in the delivery room. By the time everything was done, it was already evening.
Leaving the medical area, Simon entered a living room on the first floor of the villa, where Sophia was sitting on the sofa, chatting with her daughter Gemma. In Gemma's arms was a cat named Luna.
Seeing Simon enter, the increasingly graceful Gemma stood up with Luna in her arms and said, "I'll go check on dinner."
Simon sat down beside Sophia. After Gemma left, he gently placed his hand on Sophia's belly and asked, "What were you two talking about?"
Sophia held Simon's hand, smiling. "Gemma was wondering, with a C-section, how we should determine which of the twins is the elder—brother or sister."
Simon chuckled. "Simple. Whoever comes out first is the older sibling."
"I told her the same, but she thinks it shouldn't be that way."
"And how does she think it should be?"
Sophia's tone was soft. "We hadn't quite figured that out yet when you walked in." After a few moments of idle conversation, Sophia placed Simon's hand on her cheek, looking into his eyes. "You seem tense lately."
Simon didn't hide it. "Yeah, I'm worried about being a bad father."
Sophia rubbed her cheek against Simon's palm before lowering it, clasping his hand with both of hers. "You don't need to be. Just being a Westeros is a blessing for these two little ones."
Simon turned his hand to gently hold hers. "I've been meaning to ask you something. Are you really not planning on raising the twins yourself?"
Sophia shook her head without much hesitation. "Last year, I had an impulsive moment when I really wanted to give you a child. Later, I regretted it a bit—being unable to work for so long. Now that it's almost over, I've fulfilled my wish. You know, I'm not really cut out for raising kids. It's best to leave that to Janet and the others." She laughed lightly. "I'm not exactly a great mother."
Simon understood her reasoning. Sophia wanted the twins to truly grow up as "Westeroses," a privilege she believed came from being raised in that environment. Without saying much more, he simply smiled and said, "In that case, make sure to eat well tonight. You won't be able to eat anything tomorrow morning."
The surgery was scheduled for 9 a.m. the next day.
Everything had been meticulously prepared in advance.
Simon had even arranged for a few maids with matching blood types to be on standby, though they were not needed.
At 10 a.m., the two babies entered the world, crying with strong, healthy lungs. The first out, Snow Westeros, born just minutes ahead of her sibling, became the older sister. Her younger brother, Greenwich Westeros, had been strong in the womb—he weighed over a pound more than Snow—but in the end, he became the little brother.
Everything went smoothly and peacefully.
In the days that followed, Simon stayed in Rome to help Sophia recover. The babies wouldn't be sent to Los Angeles right away; they would wait until after the one-month mark. Janet and Jennifer visited Sophia and the newborns via video call on the day they were born. The day after the birth, Veronica even flew in from Australia to spend a few days at the Roman estate.
Simon hadn't been secretive about the twins' birth.
In just a few days, everyone who needed to know had heard the news.
Old Mr. Melbourne was quite displeased, calling Simon to give him a scolding. However, Simon could tell it was mostly a routine complaint. Ever since Simon's other identity had been revealed, according to Janet, the old man had been kinder to Simon than to his biological children, frequently hinting that Simon should change his "odd" surname, Westeros, to "Johnston."
As for the twins' nationality, they were registered in Switzerland.
This was a family decision.
Of course, acquiring American citizenship later on would be a simple matter for the Westeros family, but for now, Swiss nationality was chosen with long-term considerations in mind.
Although Simon remained in Rome, he gradually started allocating more time to work. After taking a one-month break, Sophia did the same. The upcoming fashion week in September required her personal attention.
Inspired by the idea of expanding into South Korea during his flight to Rome, Simon had been gathering information about the country.
When it came to South Korea, Simon's first priority was to hinder its growth.
His goal was to obstruct South Korea's electronics and entertainment industries, as these would become major areas of competition for the Westeros system.
If that failed, he would consider infiltration.
At this stage, like Japan, South Korea's economy remained largely closed off to foreign investment. Simon knew that this situation would change drastically after 1997, and he doubted that even his "butterfly effect" could prevent the Asian financial crisis from happening.
Even if it didn't happen as before, Simon would use the power of the Westeros system to ensure it did.
Still, even infiltration was no substitute for direct control.
Take the semiconductor industry, for example.
No matter what, Simon didn't want to let Samsung continue to grow unchecked. Even if he had the opportunity to become a major shareholder in Samsung someday, he would still prefer to foster a company that was directly under the control of the Westeros system.
Then there were film and gaming.
While Korean films wouldn't pose much of a threat to Hollywood, the rise
of the Korean VFX industry would eventually become a formidable competitor to Hollywood, securing numerous contracts thanks to its price advantages. This was a development Simon wanted to avoid.
The same was true for gaming.
As Daenerys Entertainment's film business reached its peak, Simon had already set his sights on gaming as the company's primary source of growth in the coming years, aiming for global expansion. In this area, Korea's once-dominant gaming industry would become a direct competitor to Daenerys Entertainment.
Especially in the Chinese market.
Simon was determined to dominate the Chinese market, though Korea had a cultural edge there due to its relative proximity.
There was also music.
In this field, Simon didn't plan to stifle competition.
In fact, he intended to encourage it.
He would love to see the Hallyu wave sweep across Asia, bringing with it the rise of "soft, effeminate" male idols.
It was a powerful "distraction."
Just imagine a mass of pretty men wearing eyeliner, spreading their soft image far and wide, stripping an entire nation of its masculine spirit.
Soft and pliable.
It would maximize the weakening of the aggressive instincts inherent in males.
What could be better?
However, despite Simon's plans for South Korea, there wasn't much he could do in the short term.
The Westeros system was already spread too thin.
Even though Simon had far more energy than the average person, he was still just one man with only 24 hours in a day. He couldn't handle everything.
In fact, this had been an issue for a few years now.
Take the Westeros system's involvement in hardware, for instance.
Simon had been focusing on this area for quite some time.
But at this point, the Westeros system was primarily involved through equity investments.
The reason was simple: Simon didn't have the time to manage everything. Moreover, industries like semiconductors and LCD screens had much higher barriers to entry than Hollywood or the internet. They weren't like the untapped blue ocean of the internet, but rather fierce red oceans that had been competitive since the 1980s.
High technological barriers, capital-intensive, and intense competition.
All these factors limited Simon's involvement.
It wasn't that Simon lacked the money or foresight to get involved, but these industries were such that throwing in $800 million or even a billion dollars could easily lead to a series of failed investments.
In contrast, Simon was far more comfortable with Hollywood and the internet.
Hollywood was his foundation, with much of his knowledge revolving around it, allowing him to easily navigate its intricacies.
The internet, on the other hand, had no competition.
It was an entirely new industry.
Simon could not only foresee the future but also recruit many talented managers to help him conquer it.
Nevertheless, some things simply had to be done.
During his time in Rome, Simon made a major decision: starting early next year, he would begin cashing out his technology stocks on a large scale, accumulating as much capital as possible over the next few years amid the coming turbulence.
With enough cash in hand, even in the worst-case scenario, Simon could swoop in and acquire significant stakes in companies like Samsung during a downturn, becoming a major shareholder behind the scenes.
In his original timeline, many people had likely wondered why Chinese phone manufacturers struggled to break into the U.S. market, while Samsung thrived, taking the market by storm.
The main reason was that more than half of Samsung's shares were owned by Americans.
To be precise, the entire South Korean economy was controlled by the United States.
After decades of political and economic turmoil, Japan, too, had fallen into the same trap.
This also explained one thing.
Why, despite being developed countries, and even surpassing many European nations in economic indicators, most Japanese and Koreans still faced immense pressure in their daily lives, far from enjoying the high-welfare, comfortable lives of European citizens.
It wasn't the system that was to blame.
The key issue was that because the economies of Japan and South Korea were fundamentally controlled by the West, much of the economic growth and benefits from their development were quietly siphoned off by foreign capital. This led to a situation where, despite their impressive economic indicators, their citizens didn't reap the rewards of a developed economy.
For this reason, many referred to Japan and South Korea as U.S. colonies, which wasn't far from the truth. One of the defining characteristics of a colony is having its economy systematically drained by its colonial master, building prosperity for others while leaving little for itself.
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