It was early the next morning, and the penthouse, which had been partying for most of the night, was now a mess.
"What's wrong, something on your mind?" Mike, lying in the center of the waterbed, turned to Caroline beside him and asked lazily.
After a night of revelry, the other girls were sound asleep.
Only this former young lady, though her eyes were closed, was clearly not asleep, judging by her breathing.
She obviously had something on her mind.
"I want to go out for a walk and see if there are any entrepreneurial projects suitable for me," Caroline opened her eyes, meeting Mike's gaze, a hint of plea in her eyes.
During the past two months living in the King's Building, Caroline had enjoyed herself, but her personality dictated that she did not want to be a caged canary.
And two months had been enough time for the girl to think many things through.
So now, she felt it was time for her to be independent.
"It's a bit chaotic outside right now, remember to bring Needy with you when you go out," Mike did not stop the girl's request.
Moreover, he had never intended to restrict the girls' freedom.
They could do whatever they wanted.
Mike would at most provide a safety net.
"Thank you!" Caroline affectionately hugged Mike's neck and kissed him on the forehead.
Although the girl also enjoyed life in the King's Building, her sense of mission made her equally eager to go out and build a career.
Thereby vindicating the Channing Family.
For this, she had even made a plan: first, visit her father today, and then look for business opportunities.
After a farewell, Caroline, neatly dressed, walked down from the penthouse with light steps.
"In the current external environment, it's not easy to make a comeback. However, that young lady of Channing Family is quite courageous..." After Caroline left, Jessie, who had been woken by her movements, opened her eyes.
It was clear that this strong woman quite admired that young lady.
"What courage? I think it's foolishness, not knowing how to cling to a strong leg..." Regina, also awakened, offered a different opinion.
Regina, who had already decided to firmly cling to Mike's strong leg, said this while calling over her two other little sisters and snuggling up to the strong leg.
Her graceful posture gave Mike a king-like pleasure.
"Do you think everyone is as shameless and unmotivated as you?" This early morning excitement made Jessie very uncomfortable, so she spat and averted her gaze in disgust.
"So what if I'm unmotivated? We have the capital for it." Regina took pride in it rather than shame, raising her head arrogantly and sneering, "I wonder who was that excited last night, screaming so loudly."
As a strong woman, Jessie's personality seemed naturally incompatible with Regina's.
Therefore, last night, she, being outnumbered, was controlled by Regina and her little sisters, becoming Mike's primary target.
"Shameless!" Thinking of the awful scene last night, Jessie retorted unwillingly.
However, her words seemed to lack any real attack power.
"Just tell me, was it enjoyable or not?" Regina, gaining the upper hand, showed a triumphant expression on her face, then gave her two little sisters another look.
Given that Jessie's previous words had too broad a scope, she was once again surrounded by Regina and her little sisters.
It was as if last night's scene was replaying...
Then, Lena, who was also woken up, saw her "superior" being sent to Mike in a shameful posture by Regina and the others.
"No, don't... I was wrong, let me go. I still have to go to work in a bit..." Jessie, unable to move again, was flushed with embarrassment and finally chose to beg for mercy.
...
At the elementary school...
"I told you yesterday, the agency gave you two days off, so you and Lina can also get a good rest..." Mike said, flying the plane, while beckoning Lena to come over as well.
...
"Hmph, I thought you really weren't willing, but just now you were holding on tighter than anyone else..."
After more than an hour of morning exercise, the girls took turns detoxifying and beautifying themselves. Regina, whose body and mind were satisfied, once again spoke venomously to Jessie.
This was because the strong woman had clung to Mike like an octopus for half an hour, unwilling to let go.
And after the intense stimulation, Jessie, whose mind was gradually clearing, dared not meet Regina's gaze and could only turn to glare at Mike, who looked as if nothing had happened.
Clearly, in terms of thick skin, the strong woman had fallen completely behind.
Meanwhile, Caroline, having rarely left the King's Building, was now in the car driven by Needy, heading towards New York Prison.
Due to the economic depression, New York's streets were much quieter now, with ragged homeless people visible everywhere in the corners.
Their expressions were numb and aimless, as if life had lost its meaning.
This was the first time Caroline, traveling alone, truly witnessed the cruelty of life.
After passing Wall Street and Fifth Avenue, two hours later, the car stopped at New York Prison, located between Queens and the Bronx.
After more than a month, Caroline saw her father there again.
The last time she came was when Mr. Channing was just sentenced to life imprisonment, and Mike had brought her then.
"Caroline, my dear daughter, are you well? Mr. Mike didn't trouble you, did he?" Separated by a glass barrier, Mr. Channing's concern for his daughter remained undiminished.
More than a month had passed, and compared to his haggard appearance last time, Mr. Channing now looked rosy and spirited.
"I'm very well, Mike takes good care of me too." Caroline smiled and asked with concern, "How are you doing here? No one is bullying you, are they?"
"Haha, thanks to your boyfriend's care, I have food and drink here, and apart from lacking freedom, I feel more comfortable than outside..." Mr. Channing replied freely.
This was indeed his true thought; compared to the huge mess outside, the prison was indeed much quieter.
"Mike is not my boyfriend..." Mike had so many girls around him, and each of them was excellent, which made Caroline feel insecure.
Moreover, Mike had never confessed to her, and their relationship, strictly speaking, wasn't even that of boyfriend and girlfriend.
It was more like friends with benefits...
Of course, these things were not suitable for explaining to her father.
Lack of security was also one of the reasons Caroline wanted to start her own business.
"Excellent people always have many choices, that's nothing." As a former entrepreneur who was even richer than Mike, Mr. Channing was also an experienced person.
He understood the nature of wealthy people.
Looking at his increasingly radiant daughter, he encouraged her, "However, no matter what, as a daughter of the Channing Family, I believe you will ultimately find happiness."
Mr. Channing, who would be unable to leave prison for the rest of his life, used his life experience to encourage his little cabbage.
Otherwise, what else could he do?
Given the current situation, having his daughter cling to Mike's strong leg was already the best option Mr. Channing Family could think of.
"Let's not talk about this." Talking about her private feelings with her father made Caroline feel very awkward, so she changed the subject and said, "I came here this time to tell you that in order to restore the Channing Family's reputation, I want to start my own business."
"Reputation? What reputation does the Channing Family still have?" Mr. Channing was surprised by his daughter's ambition: "Also, the situation outside must be very bad right now, how could Mr. Mike agree to you starting a business?"
"Ever since our family declared bankruptcy, there have indeed been many more homeless people outside who lost their families due to being implicated and going bankrupt..." Speaking of the current situation outside, Caroline felt a little guilty.
In her understanding, the Channing Family had to bear a large part of the responsibility for the current terrible situation.
"You don't need to feel guilty, those homeless people have little to do with us. My current predicament is also taking the blame for someone else..." Seeing that his daughter was upset, Mr. Channing advised, "If you really want to blame someone, you should blame the banks and those who profited."
There were many reasons for the economic depression, and the role Mr. Channing played in it was actually not that important.
He was originally just one of the beneficiaries, but because his ambition was too great and his speculation failed, he was pushed out to take the blame.
It could be said: it was fate.
Mr. Channing admitted that he had made mistakes, but the mistakes he made were not as big as rumored.
After briefly explaining the stakes to his daughter, Mr. Channing returned to the original topic: "By the way, let's talk about your idea of starting a business. Not to mention whether you have the ability to make the Channing Family rise again, just those beneficiaries and wealthy people I've wronged will not stand by and watch the Channing surname reappear..."
The obstacles to the Channing Family's comeback had never been the homeless people who were ruined outside, but rather the wealthy people who were wronged but managed to withstand it.
These people occupied more resources and were fully capable of suppressing the Channing Family, whose reputation was already in tatters.
"This... I just plan to open a small shop to earn a little money, it shouldn't be affected, right!" Caroline, having understood the situation, no longer thought about making the Channing Family rise again.
That was already far beyond the girl's capabilities.
She just wanted to do a small business now, enough to be financially independent.
"If it's just a small shop, it shouldn't be affected. Go ahead and do it boldly—" Mr. Channing thought for a moment, a smile appearing on his face.
He knew his daughter well; she couldn't endure hardship and wasn't very capable.
But none of that mattered, as long as Mike was behind her, with the weight of King Investment Group, it would be easy to protect a small shop from interference.
Even if that small shop bore the Channing Family name, the situation would be the same.