"Evelyn's father's fate was unknown.
When I found that child on the East African savanna, she was only nine years old.
A ruined hut, a withered tree, and a pride of lions. She was standing there, dark as a wild creature."
Thomas spoke gravely.
Leo frowned.
"A nine-year-old child living alone on the savanna? That's impossible!"
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it either.
Evelyn told me my son had once saved Caesar—the pride's alpha.
So after my son went missing, they protected her.
By the time I found her, she behaved more like an animal than a human.
I thought once I brought her back to civilization, she'd recover quickly.
But I was naive.
That year with the lions shaped her worldview forever.
She's clever—she learned how to pretend in the civilized world."
While Leo and Thomas discussed Evelyn's past in hushed tones, Evelyn herself had stopped her long monologue in the corner.
Emily was beet-red, flustered and embarrassed.
Because Evelyn had just made her a very bold wager.
Late at night, Leo returned to his private, starlit room.
Steam hung in the air. Emily emerged, face glowing pink, draped in silk.
After her bath, her pale pink skin showed enticingly through the thin fabric.
Under the shy gaze of the young woman, Leo was ready to "climb the mountain" again.
Sweat soaked the sheets. Her white arms trembled where they draped over the bed's edge.
Leo hadn't even gone full force, but Emily was exhausted.
For the sake of enjoying beautiful things sustainably, Leo decided to stop for the night.
As he tried to get up, that trembling arm suddenly tightened around his wrist.
Hm?
Tonight she seemed especially determined.
"Ah!"
The knight fell.
Just then, Leo's sharp ears caught a sound from the bathroom.
He turned and saw Evelyn emerge:
a crown of flowers on her head, draped in a flowing Greco-Roman robe, one shoulder bare, bathed in moonlight like a descending goddess.
Under that pale moonlight, Emily was already asleep in Leo's arm.
Evelyn slipped into his other arm, tilting her head up to gaze at him with sparkling eyes.
Her lips curled into a mischievous smile.
"Do you like it, my Lion King?"
Morning.
Leo's body in this life was truly inhuman. After a night of passion, he wasn't tired at all—he felt vigorous and full of energy.
But for his wake-up call, the two women clearly had no interest in getting up.
Leo needed to get back to Richmond early.
JP Morgan had delivered a mountain of loan paperwork that required his signature.
Edward calculated that once all the Virginia projects were finished, Leo's net worth would double again.
Leo didn't notice that as he drove away from the Lynchburg Hotel, two vagrants watched his departing car with murderous eyes.
Near midday, the two women finally woke up.
"You lost, Emily. You still called me out in the end.
So now you're a lioness of the Lion King too."
After last night, Emily had shed her reservations.
At heart she was a cheerful, straightforward small-town girl.
"Evelyn, you're so learned—can you please stop with the lion metaphors?
But I am still going to college.
I want to keep up with Leo.
So watching over him is your job."
Evelyn nodded, but inwardly she was unimpressed.
Emily still hadn't understood what she'd meant yesterday:
Leo couldn't be "kept."
"Enough of that.
As a Lynchburg local, what fun is there to do around here?" Evelyn asked.
"Plenty! But Leo's latest project is the commercial street under the hotel. Want to go check it out?"
The Lynchburg Commercial Street was developed on four plots Leo had acquired from Locke.
All the storefronts were modeled after the bright, clean style of the Valentino family's old general store.
Leo had carefully chosen the mix of shops.
The centerpiece, of course, was the flagship Valentino Retail Store, managed by Walker Walton.
Walker truly was a retail genius.
His mastery of volume-selling strategies was unmatched.
Compared to his older brother Sam Walton, still struggling in Arkansas, Walker had transformed the Valentino Retail Stores into a statewide chain.
But Evelyn and Emily weren't very interested in general stores.
Across from the retail shop were three lavish, unique buildings:
Chanel, Gucci, and Prada.
When they'd first invited those brands to open, all three had declined.
But after Lieutenant Governor Harry, Senator Thomas, and even President Truman had started visiting the Lynchburg Hotel regularly, the elite of DC, Virginia, and the entire South had begun flocking there.
The brands reached out themselves to open boutiques.
Inside the Chanel store, Emily felt a bit stifled watching Evelyn try on clothes.
She stepped outside for some fresh air.
Her sudden appearance caught the eyes of the two vagrants who had lost track of their target earlier.
"You lost her before. This time the shot's mine."
Eddie muttered.
But before he could move, Herbert had already raised his M1911.
Meanwhile, in the upstairs office of the Valentino Retail Store, Walker Walton was smoking a cigar by the window.
He spotted the two ragged men and their target.
He blanched in horror when he realized they were aiming at Emily.
He immediately grabbed the Colt from his desk and fired.
At that very moment, inside Chanel, Evelyn was calling out:
"Emily! Does this look good on me?"
Emily turned to answer just as BANG! BANG! gunshots rang out.
"Emily!"
"Herbert!"
Two shouts from different directions.
Evelyn lunged forward and caught Emily as she collapsed, trying to stanch the blood pouring from her abdomen.
Eddie was holding up the wounded Herbert, but when he saw Evelyn, his eyes went blood-red.
That bitch!
He yanked the gun from Herbert's hand and let Herbert fall heavily to the ground.
But before he could raise the weapon, Walker—veteran of the war—put a bullet through Eddie's head.
Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere.
Panic erupted in the street.
Walker rushed to Emily's side.
He knew battlefield first aid and was especially good with gunshot wounds.
By the time the ambulance arrived, Emily's consciousness had returned.
Whether it was Herbert's lousy aim or Evelyn's shout that made Emily turn, either way, the girl had survived the assassination attempt.
As Emily was being taken away, Jonathan arrived.
Walker turned to him grimly.
"Come with me to look at the two corpses. Maybe there's a clue."
"Two? I only see one."
Walker spun around.
Only Eddie's half-blown skull lay on the ground.
The first man he'd shot in the chest was gone.
Bang!
Emily had survived.