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Henry did not spend long considering whether to renew the lease on Old Gary's apartment building.
In the end, he decided to move out.
The situation was quite different from when he had worked as Audrey Hepburn's assistant.
Audrey had needed a professional assistant and a driver, which meant Henry had clearly defined working hours.
The problem was that Audrey Hepburn lived in Switzerland, and most of her work involved traveling around the world on behalf of UNICEF.
As a result, Henry had spent most of each year without a fixed residence.
Keeping the apartment in Los Angeles had simply given him a place to return to.
This time, however, becoming Katherine Hepburn's personal assistant was practically the same thing as being a live-in caregiver.
Moreover, the job was permanently based on the East Coast.
Whether it was still necessary to maintain a residence on the West Coast was therefore debatable.
There was another consideration.
Old Gary's apartment building was actually an excellent property by Los Angeles standards.
The rent was reasonable.
The neighborhood was safe.
The only real challenge was earning Old Gary's approval.
The flamboyant old landlord was notoriously selective about his tenants.
If Henry wasn't living there, then continuing to occupy the apartment—even while paying rent on time every month—would still be depriving someone else of a valuable opportunity.
There was no need to hog resources he wasn't using.
Better not to occupy a toilet without intending to use it.
Then there was the question of everything he had left behind in Los Angeles.
Would his belongings once again attract unwanted attention?
How long did people remember lessons like the Sony incident?
Would someone decide the bomb had already been defused and therefore start testing his patience again?
He had escaped unharmed the first time.
Would he be equally lucky the second or third time?
Wouldn't the police or the FBI eventually find a way to identify the bomb maker and throw him into prison?
And if someone decided to break into his apartment while he was away for months at a time, what then?
Would the security measures he left behind self-destruct?
And if they did, was he prepared to endanger Old Gary and the other innocent tenants?
Those were all factors Henry had to consider.
Even if this new position in New York eventually fell through, there was no guarantee he would return to Los Angeles.
America consisted of more than two cities.
He could simply start over somewhere else.
There was also a reason he couldn't easily explain to anyone.
Old Gary's apartment contained too many memories.
Every corner seemed haunted by the lingering image of a certain girl.
In the end, it was only a rented apartment.
Not a property he owned.
What was the big deal about moving elsewhere?
Why insist on staying near that old landlord?
Old Gary's estate already had clear heirs.
Even if Henry wanted to covet it, he had no chance.
Thus, once his new position on the East Coast was confirmed, Henry said goodbye to the apartment he had rented for nearly ten years and formally terminated the lease.
Naturally, he cleaned everything thoroughly before leaving.
The apartment was returned in good condition.
Some furniture had been replaced.
Other pieces had simply worn out through years of use.
Henry compensated Old Gary for those items as stipulated in the original rental agreement.
---
As for the new job, discussions with Katherine Hepburn's family proceeded far more smoothly than Henry had anticipated.
The dramatic scenario in which relatives accused him of ulterior motives and suspected him of plotting to seize Katherine's fortune never materialized.
Perhaps his experience as Audrey Hepburn's final assistant reassured them.
After Audrey's passing, Henry had declined the bequests left to him in her will.
The only things he accepted were a signed photograph and permission to recommend one of his books to a publisher.
He had not taken a single dollar of valuable property.
Furthermore, Henry Brown's nearly four years as CEO of Stark Pictures were public knowledge.
His salary had been in the millions.
Even after taxes, combined with Sony's enormous settlement payment, his net worth still comfortably exceeded eight figures.
What exactly would someone like that gain from scheming against an aging actress whose glory days were decades behind her?
An old body that had long since lost its youthful beauty?
Besides, Katherine's family genuinely needed someone to help care for her.
As a result, Henry's employment and move-in process proceeded without difficulty.
---
The only minor incident occurred when Katie, the "tabby cat," met everyone for the first time.
Including Maria Thomson, most people were startled.
Whether Katherine Hepburn was genuinely fearless or simply old enough that fear no longer mattered, nobody could say.
The old lady immediately reached out and started petting Katie's head.
She even gave the tiger a warm hug.
Katie barely dared move.
Because behind her stood a certain Kryptonian biped staring intently.
The look on Henry's face suggested that if Katie did anything inappropriate, he was fully prepared to kick her all the way to the Moon.
In any case, the "pet tabby cat" officially moved into the Turtle Bay residence.
The place was far larger than Old Gary's apartment building.
Maria Thomson retained both her position and salary.
With Henry sharing the workload, she suddenly found herself with much more free time to spend with her own family.
The reason she remained employed was simple.
Certain caregiving duties were inappropriate for a young man to handle.
A female caregiver was still necessary.
The same had been true with Audrey Hepburn.
Back then, Audrey had Robert Wolders as her life partner and had also employed female household staff.
During the final stage of her illness, Jean Grey had joined them as well.
Henry's responsibilities had mostly involved routine physical tasks.
He had never been solely responsible for Audrey's care.
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BB, the core service robot, was reinstalled in Katherine's mansion.
With the little robot handling cleaning duties and helping care for Katie, both Henry and Maria found their workloads reduced even further.
To prevent Katie from biting random things, Henry naturally deployed tiger deterrent systems as well.
After obtaining Katherine's permission, he also installed a massive steel cat climbing structure in the living room specifically for Katie's use.
Audio systems, computer terminals, and various electronic equipment were all placed inside Henry's personal room and arranged to his satisfaction.
Although he had given up the apartment in Los Angeles, relocating Sheep Valley Laboratory, the underwater laboratory off the California coast, and the associated server infrastructure was another matter entirely.
Those facilities remained in operation.
There were no plans to move them.
Partly because Henry had no idea where suitable replacements could be established on the East Coast.
And partly because they still served perfectly well as West Coast bases.
There was simply no need to relocate them.
After all, when traveling at full flight speed and using super-speed, crossing the continent took him only moments.
The exact location hardly mattered.
---
Overall, Henry's new life in New York began remarkably smoothly.
Almost nothing went wrong.
The key word was almost.
Because Katie's arrival did provoke some complaints from other residents in the building.
Yes, pets were permitted.
But a tiger...
That stretched the average person's tolerance somewhat.
Fortunately, people wealthy enough to live in such a building generally weren't extremists who expected everyone else to obey their personal preferences.
No one demanded that Katie be removed.
Their concerns were more practical.
They simply wanted clear boundaries and assurances that the tiger would not interfere with their daily lives.
Rather than remaining silent and allowing assumptions of consent to gradually erode their rights.
Henry found that entirely reasonable.
If they were drawing clear lines, it meant they couldn't cross those lines either.
After all, he wasn't thrilled by the possibility of people treating Katie like a giant house cat and showing up every day to pet her.
The delivery boy from that Los Angeles butcher shop had already demonstrated how foolish such behavior could be.
Katie could protect the people living under the same roof.
There was no obligation for her to be friendly toward every stranger.
As Henry's mentality slowly changed, he had also stopped interfering whenever Katie chose to hunt on her own in Alaska.
By actively preying on other animals, the apex predator was gradually reclaiming the ferocity that belonged to a true beast.
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