Early in the morning, Simon managed to escape from Janet's arms as she whined and tried to keep him in bed. While getting dressed, he felt a small foot kicking at him from the bed, accompanied by the soft laughter of another woman. Janet, still lazily sprawled, teased, "Last night, Irene... you devoured her. You'll have to feed little Noah yourself later." She followed up with another kick.
This time, Simon caught her foot and, following the trail, gave her a playful but thorough tickling. After tucking both women back into bed, Simon finally made his escape.
Today was Friday, October 24.
Yesterday, after arriving in New York and spending the afternoon working, Janet had brought Irene Lauder and little Noah over. During last night's cocktail party, while Simon entertained guests, the two women had stayed out of sight, doting on the adorable little one.
It was clear that, compared to Grace or the two women in Boston, Janet favored Irene Lauder more.
The reason was simple.
Both women came from similar backgrounds—they were both from wealthy families, had privileged upbringings, and were relatively young (at least Janet certainly thought so). This gave them more common ground.
Birds of a feather flock together, and there was no forcing it.
After getting dressed and washing up, Simon peeked into the next room to check on the little one, who was sleeping soundly. Two maids were dutifully standing guard. After listening to their brief report, Simon headed to the gym.
Janet and Irene didn't stay in bed for too long. By the time Simon sat down for breakfast at seven, the two women soon joined him, followed by a maid carrying the little one. This small detail highlighted another similarity between the two women: they preferred to let others handle the work. Even though they clearly adored little Noah, holding him themselves was just too tiring.
Once seated, Irene took the baby from the maid. Janet, unusually, didn't sit next to Simon but instead hovered near Irene, chatting softly as Irene began breastfeeding. After a moment, Janet shot Simon a glance, then poked the baby's cheek, teasing, "So greedy!"
Irene laughed.
Simon, thick-skinned, pretended not to hear and continued eating his breakfast.
After a few laughs, Irene turned to Simon. "Janet mentioned that the new Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which has been getting a lot of media attention, was also your idea?"
Simon nodded. "Yes, what do you think?"
The brand-new Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone had been released simultaneously in both physical and digital formats on October 17, a week after the launch of the iPad-10. Thanks to the deliberate push from the Westeros system and the novelty of being the first novel to debut in both formats, it quickly garnered massive attention. It became one of the rare books to hit the top of The New York Times bestseller list in its first week, with 160,000 copies sold.
And this was despite The New York Times deliberately ignoring the 110,000 digital copies sold on Tbook, the e-book platform under Tingcolbyer.
In fact, not just The New York Times, but most traditional media outlets seemed to have agreed to ignore the digital sales figures. Simon could easily imagine that if the book hadn't been a hit, these outlets would have done their best to suppress any mention of it.
The reason was obvious and didn't need much explanation.
The publishing teams at Daenerys Entertainment and Tingcolbyer weren't upset about this; on the contrary, they were delighted. The heated debate between traditional print media and digital platforms had become a hot topic.
At the dining table.
Irene tilted her head slightly, thinking. "It's quite interesting. I'm just curious, where do you get all these ideas?"
Simon smiled and drew a circle around his head. "They just keep coming. I can't stop them."
Irene rolled her eyes at him.
Janet also shot him a glance, then turned to Irene. "Just wait and see. All the little ones in the Westeros family are going to be very smart."
Irene nodded hopefully, looking down at her son, then continued whispering with Janet.
Simon could only catch snippets of their conversation—words like "naughty," "don't be so flirtatious," and so on. He didn't press further.
As long as they weren't plotting to murder their husband, it was fine.
Speaking of which, during her pregnancy, especially near the end, Irene had been emotionally unstable. Simon had even thought they might separate after the baby was born. However, once little Noah arrived, Irene's emotions stabilized, and she began to embrace motherhood more and more.
Simon could only say that a woman's heart was as deep as the ocean.
Or perhaps it was a case of "familiarity breeds contempt, while distance makes the heart grow fonder." Being neither too close nor too distant, maintaining a certain ambiguity, might be the key to a lasting relationship.
After breakfast, Irene went to prepare for her weekend trip to Miami, while Simon and Janet discussed the previous night's cocktail party and the economic situation in Asia, which had just wrapped up for the week.
The immediate focus was still on Hong Kong.
News had come in this morning that on the last trading day of the week, the Hang Seng Index had fallen another 3.1%, dropping from 11,756 points to 11,392 points. It was now close to the 10,000-point mark that everyone had tacitly agreed upon.
According to the plan, in the three trading days leading up to next Wednesday afternoon, when the Westeros system and Quantum Fund would announce their positive news, the goal was to push the Hang Seng Index slightly below 10,000 points to lure in one last wave of short sellers. Then, on Thursday and Friday, the final two trading days, they would orchestrate a major reversal.
There was no doubt about the outcome.
This was essentially a collaboration between the top capital forces of China and the United States. China wanted financial stability in Hong Kong, while Wall Street sought profits. Both sides got what they wanted, and with their combined strength, there was no real competition.
After the couple finished strategizing about Asia, Simon left Greenwich at nine o'clock and headed to Manhattan to start his workday.
Janet and Irene, meanwhile, took little Noah and flew to Miami.
Simon wouldn't be joining them.
His weekend was divided between Grace in New York and the two women in Boston, as well as their children.
With the arrival of the little ones, Simon had reduced the frequency of his visits to the women and children, ensuring only once a month at least. After all, he truly didn't have that much time.
On another note, today also marked the end of a North American movie box office week. On his helicopter ride to Manhattan, Simon received the box office report for the week of October 17 to October 23. The focus of the North American film market remained on The Blair Witch Project.
This was already the fourth week of release for this ultra-low-budget, phenomenon-level horror film.
In its third week, The Blair Witch Project had earned $33.62 million, a 32% drop from the previous week. In its fourth week, the drop had narrowed to 21%, bringing in another $26.55 million.
After breaking a series of weekly box office records during the typically slow September and October period, The Blair Witch Project had now accumulated a total of $169.25 million in just four weeks. This placed it fourth in the 1997 North American box office rankings, behind Independence Day ($306 million), Twister ($278 million), and Face/Off ($203 million).
Moreover, given The Blair Witch Project's momentum, surpassing Face/Off was almost certain.
As for the rest of the year, although many blockbusters were lined up, Simon believed that only The Flash 2, with its DC Extended Universe aura, and James Cameron's Titanic posed a real threat to The Blair Witch Project's box office ranking. Even Disney's Terminator 2 or his own A Bug's Life and Contact couldn't guarantee surpassing it.
This meant that The Blair Witch Project might very well end up in the top five of the 1997 North American box office rankings.
That said, whether it ended up fifth or tenth didn't really matter for The Blair Witch Project. With its groundbreaking genre and astronomical return on investment, the film had already sent Hollywood into a frenzy.
Not only had Simon's planned director, Justin Lin, been poached, but it seemed like every notable filmmaker in Hollywood was now planning their own found-footage project.
$300,000 budget, $200 million box office—it was just too profitable!
Simon had no choice but to join in.
After all, this genre was destined to be milked dry, and Daenerys Entertainment had already established its brand with The Blair Witch Project. With Simon's foresight, they could carve out a significant slice of the pie before the genre was exhausted.
No harm in taking a piece.
---
Arriving in Manhattan, Simon first went to the Westeros Corporation headquarters to discuss the recent developments in Asia with James.
Hong Kong was settled, so the focus was now on South Korea.
Next, he headed to AOL, which had relocated its headquarters to New York, to review the company's quarterly financial summary and discuss AOL's upcoming collaboration with the soon-to-be-spun-off "China Telecom" in China.
The partnership, set to be announced next week, would involve Soros and the recent influx of Hong Kong investors providing the bulk of the funding. In addition to a $1 billion investment, AOL would also supply China Telecom with broadband-related technology, which would also count as equity.
Among the Westeros system's internet trio, AOL currently had the lowest market capitalization, having fallen below $200 billion. Simon believed this partnership could push AOL's market cap back above $200 billion.
The afternoon was spent on two main tasks.
First, handling some miscellaneous matters at Daenerys Entertainment. Second, dealing with Victoria's Secret. Although there wouldn't be a Victoria's Secret Fashion Show this year, due to overwhelming demand, the brand would host a large-scale Victoria's Secret party in November. Framed as a charity event, it would invite numerous celebrities and, of course, the highly anticipated Victoria's Secret Angels.
To accommodate Simon's schedule, the Victoria's Secret meeting started at 4 PM and lasted an hour, mainly finalizing the party's scale, location, agenda, and partners.
As this was primarily a large-scale brand marketing event, the core brand was naturally Victoria's Secret, with its parent company, L Brands, also involved. The list of partners was impressive: Fashion TV for television media, Vanity Fair for print media, the Igritte portal for online platforms, and Elite Model Management as the co-organizer.
The party was expected to host around 500 people, with the venue being the familiar Lexington Avenue Armory.
Since it was a charity event, the agenda included an auction segment. However, this was just a side attraction. The main funds would come from Victoria's Secret's guaranteed $5 million donation and the party's invitations. Aside from a few guests invited by the organizers for promotional purposes, anyone else wanting to attend would have to pay $10,000 per ticket. Moreover, not just anyone could buy a ticket—applications had to be submitted and approved by the party's team.
All proceeds would go to a charity fund established by Victoria's Secret, primarily aimed at improving healthcare and education for disadvantaged women in third-world countries.
After the meeting, Simon didn't stay late. He had no other plans for the evening and instead returned to the 68th Street apartment on Fifth Avenue with Grace Crain, who had also attended the meeting.
Grace's little John had been brought over earlier in the day.
However, as soon as they entered, ignoring the housekeeper Angie Davis and Carmen Kass, who came to greet them, Grace immediately clung to Simon, wrapping her arms around him and whispering in his ear, "I spent the day here preparing dinner for you. But do you want to eat first, or eat me first?"
Simon wrapped his arms around the woman, feeling her slender waist, which had quickly regained its shape after childbirth. He smiled and said, "I think I'll eat first."
Grace gently bit Simon's ear and tightened her arms around his waist. "Wrong answer. You can only eat me first."
"Then I'll change my answer. I'll eat you first."
"Mm."
"Can I eat dinner now?"
Grace's warm face nuzzled against Simon's jaw. "No, you already said you'd eat me first."
Angie and Carmen, seeing the situation, discreetly disappeared. After teasing Grace for a bit, Simon didn't disappoint her. He picked her up and carried her upstairs.
Dinner took a while.
By the end, Simon wasn't very hungry. As for the little one, wherever he was, he certainly wasn't going hungry.
Grace only ate a little. Although the meal was nutritious, it wasn't filling. However, she had no intention of leaving Simon's side. The two stayed entangled until late at night. Concerned that Grace might faint from hunger—after all, skipping meals wasn't good for her health—Simon called the housekeeper to bring some food to the bedroom around midnight.
After sharing a tray of food with Simon in bed, Grace curled up against him like a little girl.
Simon held her, patting her gently as he scolded, "I came here to see my son, and I haven't even laid eyes on him yet. When he grows up, he'll think I'm a terrible father. What am I supposed to tell him? That his mom was too greedy, so it's not my fault. Hey, isn't that right, little Grace? You're such an irresponsible mom!"
Grace clung to Simon's strong arm, nestling into a more comfortable position. She rested her chin on his shoulder and listened to him ramble for a while. Finally, she opened her mouth slightly and whispered something in Simon's ear.
"..."
Was this her way of making it up to him?
Simon quickly gave her a light tap and laughed. "I'm very traditional when it comes to favoring sons over daughters. It's not easy to win me over—one word isn't enough!"
______
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