Upon returning to London, Barron immediately returned to his home in Kensington. Although he'd known from their daily phone calls that Bonnie and her unborn child were both fine, seeing her was the only moment of complete reassurance.
"I also watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics..."
At that hour in London, the evening weather was still pleasant.
Barron held Bonnie's hand, and as they sat on a bench on the rooftop, he heard his wife say,
"It was truly breathtaking. I regret not being able to see it in person..."
"This opening ceremony was certainly good, but seeing it live wasn't as spectacular as the panoramic views on the broadcast,"
Barron consoled her.
"I'll go with you to the opening ceremony at the London Olympics in four years, honey."
Bonnie was now over nine months pregnant, her belly bulging considerably, and as a result, she often struggled to sleep well at night.
When Barron woke the next morning, he saw the woman sleeping soundly beside him, and he tried to get up as gently as possible.
Leaving the bedroom, Barron could just see the distant sky through the floor-to-ceiling window, the darkness still mostly dim outside.
His mind wandered for a moment. Unknowingly, six years had already passed since he'd arrived. Not only did he have a vast fortune, but he also had a family, many women, and many children—soon, his wife Bonnie would give birth to their second child...
"Your Highness..."
Alia's voice snapped Barron out of his momentary trance.
"You're up too, Alia."
Dressed in a long white dress, Alia handed Barron a glass of water—it was his custom to drink warm water after waking up.
As he drank, he heard Alia's soft voice ask,
"Are you still going for a run? I'll go notify the bodyguards now."
"Yes."
...
"Our short position in the European stock market has yielded considerable returns..."
After learning of Barron's return to London, Daisy had already compiled the latest investment data for their DS Group and personally handed it to him upon his arrival at the DS Financial Center.
On the DS Group's side, short selling of European stocks was primarily conducted by Caesars Fund and DS proprietary funds, primarily funded by the Cavendish Trust. Initially, over €10 billion was invested in this short selling campaign.
The impact of the subprime mortgage crisis has now spread beyond bank stocks to the entire stock market.
The impact has been particularly severe for companies in sectors with high financing needs, such as real estate, telecommunications, and shipping.
With the subprime mortgage crisis causing a liquidity crunch in the financial sector, these industries, which rely on bank credit, have immediately become starved for funds. If this situation continues, many companies could face capital constraints.
For example, O2 Telecom, despite significant debt, has been relatively unaffected by the subprime mortgage crisis thanks to the backing of the DS Group. Its share price has fallen by over 25% from its peak last year.
Other telecom companies have seen their share prices plummet by over 40%...
and there's no sign of an end to this decline.
Furthermore, funds including the Mars Fund have also achieved satisfactory returns from shorting crude oil and gold futures.
As the saying goes, wealth doesn't disappear, it only transfers.
And DS Group is definitely not the only company profiting from this crisis.
"By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet. I heard you're going to be a father again..."
Daisy said before leaving Barron's office after they finished discussing stock market and futures investments.
"Yes, I can't say when exactly, but it's coming soon."
Barron looked at Daisy and said,
"While I hope you'll continue to spend the majority of your time on work, as a friend, I also hope you can..." "Hmm? Love? Marriage? Or having kids?"
Daisy raised an eyebrow, looking at Barron with a half-smile.
"With whom? You?"
"Uh... you know, Daisy, we..."
"Okay, I was just kidding, Barron. You weren't your usual playboy self just now."
Without waiting for Barron to say anything, Daisy turned and left.
Barron couldn't help but shake his head at her slender figure.
Barron's predecessor had known Daisy during their school days, and Daisy was arguably Barron's earliest subordinate...
To say there hadn't been any ambiguity between the two over those years was a stretch; there had even been a near miss.
But with Daisy, Barron simply couldn't be as free-wheeling as he was with other women.
It was simple: beautiful, even stunning women weren't a rare commodity for him.
But a woman like Daisy, capable, trustworthy, and deeply involved in his core business, was far more precious.
Barron didn't want the change in their relationship to affect their business partnership.
But he also knew that sometimes, certain changes were uncontrollable, just as Daisy had never had a lover.
And the barely audible "coward" she'd just said as she turned to leave had been picked up by Barron's exceptionally keen hearing...
A crisp
snap
echoed through the room.
Following it, a woman's voice:
"Barron, I've made an appointment with Bonnie to meet her in half an hour. If you're late, I'm afraid I'll have to tell her it was you..." Another snap sounded, and
Barron
said calmly:
"Countess, perhaps this isn't a very good reason. And you haven't been proactive, which is probably why we're not moving so quickly."
In the corner of the room, the door of a closet was quietly opened a crack.
From the darkness, the increasingly intense sounds outside could be clearly heard.
And then there was the barely suppressed sound of heavy breathing.
"Perhaps you should take a shower before coming home with me."
Finally calming down, Barron wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and said to the Countess, who was a little limp.
"Forget it, I'll go see her tomorrow, you bastard. You said it would only take a while..."
"Well, I think you should have some idea of how long 'a while' means to me."
Hearing Barron's "innocent" words, Countess Bute glared at him and said in a low voice,
"You should leave, Barron, if you don't want someone to suffocate in the closet..."