It was early Sunday morning in the bathroom.
After a serious wash-up, Janet approached the sink solemnly, took a deep breath, and even held her hands in front of her in a brief prayer before picking up the pregnancy test from the sink.
"Ah..."
Accompanied by a small, disappointed scream, Janet rushed out of the bathroom, hugging Simon, who had just put on long pants and was still shirtless, and began to nibble on him fervently.
Simon wrapped his arms around her waist, feeling the little teeth nibbling persistently on his shoulder, and soothed, "Once we get through this busy period, I'll take some time off to rest with you."
Janet bit down a bit harder, continuing to gnaw on the firm muscles of his shoulder, murmuring indistinctly, "I don't believe you."
Simon was helpless.
Since their wedding last year, the couple had been trying consistently, but a year had almost passed and Janet's stomach remained quiet. They had several private check-ups and both were found to be without any issues.
Janet was born on March 13, 1960, and in two months she would turn 31, meaning she was about to miss the optimal childbearing age for women.
Pulling her closer into his embrace, Simon softly said, "Well, let's rest today then. That's a promise I can easily keep. Where do you want to go?"
Finally releasing her teeth, Janet's cheeks rubbed against his neck as she said, "I don't want to go anywhere."
"Then let's stay home," Simon suggested, lifting her in his arms and kissing her lips gently. "Shall we try again?"
Janet wrapped her arms around Simon's neck, quickly calculating the timing in her mind, and softly hummed in agreement.
The couple sat down for breakfast in the dining room by nine in the morning.
January is the coldest time of the year in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, but Los Angeles, with its perennial spring, still boasted temperatures above 10 degrees and a sunny day as usual.
Deciding to take the day off, Simon completely set aside all work-related matters, even ignoring the media coverage of the Golden Globes that would undoubtedly appear today.
After moving into the Dumont Cape mansion, Simon had not yet fully explored this cliffside shell villa, except for the initial exterior design, most of the interior details were handled by Janet, who spent the whole day taking Simon around different rooms of the villa.
In the private library, she talked about how she chose the thousands of books on the shelves.
In the living room upstairs, she talked about spotting a carpet at an auction.
In the kitchen on the first floor, she explained how she had the kitchenware custom-made.
In the underground wine cellar, she boasted about how she outsmarted Unilever to purchase Latour Winery at nearly half its initial price while keeping most of the premium vintage wines.
Listening to her, Simon suddenly remembered it seemed a long time ago when Janet rented an empty house for him and then slowly filled it with meticulously chosen items.
From that time, Janet somewhat capriciously assumed a role.
Simon increasingly felt that his wife, although usually lazy and left most things to others, had indeed put in a lot of effort over the years.
Just one thing, with Simon constantly buying properties globally, acquiring land in Tasmania, and incessantly investing overseas through Westeros Corporation, if Janet hadn't been diligently overseeing and meticulously managing every expense, Simon felt his financial situation would be a mess.
After all, many celebrities had gone bankrupt due to extravagant spending and poor asset management.
Although Simon always paid attention to his financial status, his energy was ultimately limited. It was thanks to Janet's efforts that his personal finances remained orderly.
Until the evening, having toured most parts of the villa and heard Janet talk about the recent land purchase in Tasmania and the ongoing construction of a doomsday shelter they had envisioned during their honeymoon there, Simon suddenly wanted to check it out everywhere.
He didn't want to end up like those ancient emperors.
Who fought all their lives, conquered vast territories, yet never had the chance to explore the picturesque landscapes, instead confined to a small palace.
Then they left, starting their trip.
Their first stop was Florida, where Janet mentioned a new land purchase on Miami Beach, planning to start building a manor from scratch. For the transition, Simon also had another property in Miami.
Thus, they flew around the continental U.S., then headed to Europe, and a week later rushed to Australia.
In the central-western jungles of Tasmania.
It was already February, and Simon and Janet appeared at a construction site in the jungle.
This was the construction site for the doomsday shelter, very secluded, as there were no roads in the forest. Construction equipment and many workers had been brought in by helicopter, and they had signed confidentiality agreements in advance.
Except for a few
key project leaders, most workers didn't know who the real employer behind the building was.
Many even speculated that it might be a secret military base being built by the Australian military.
Due to the complexity of the construction, the shelter would need at least another year to complete.
The couple discreetly spent half a day on the site, even descending to the deepest part of the ground for a tour before leaving together by helicopter.
"Our land extends about 30 miles south to a copper mine that's about to close. Aunt is currently negotiating with them to buy it. Once we acquire the mine, our land will extend much further south," Janet continued as the helicopter landed on the outskirts of Melbourne at the Johnston family estate.
As they disembarked, Janet kept talking about the expansion of their land in Tasmania: "However, because our land purchases over the past two years have become public, although I don't understand what you really want to do with it, many people have followed suit in buying land in Tasmania, which is quite troublesome indeed, as the land prices there have noticeably increased."
Simon wasn't too concerned, laughing, "Once they realize that the land in Tasmania is actually not very useful, they'll probably gradually pull out."
Janet thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
Simon had amassed the largest private fortune in the world in just a few years, and now, whatever he did, it caused a flurry of imitations.
But everyone calms down eventually.
Besides, apart from Simon, there probably aren't many people in the world who have enough spare money to just buy a piece of land and leave it undeveloped.
As evening approached.
The couple entered the mansion, where dinner preparations had begun.
Simon and Janet's sudden return to Australia delighted her parents, who hoped they would visit more often.
Raymond Johnston had not yet returned from work, and Janet went to help her mother prepare dinner, while Simon turned into another living room of the mansion.
Just as he entered, he unexpectedly found Veronica Johnston casually flipping through a newspaper on the sofa, with the TV also on.
Even after so much time, Veronica's expression involuntarily tensed up upon seeing Simon, but she quickly relaxed her tone and looked over, softly saying, "I just came back from Perth, and I heard you and Janet were in Australia."
Simon nodded, walked over, and sat down on an armchair next to Veronica, picking up the remote control from the coffee table and aimlessly flipping through TV channels.
Veronica greeted Simon and her eyes returned to the newspaper in front of her, her relaxed posture subtly straightening up, her breathing becoming lighter.
Seemingly worried something might happen.
Ready to flee at any moment.
After a long silence, Simon still hadn't said a word, and Veronica had to initiate a topic, quietly asking, "So, how long do you and Janet plan to stay?"
"Going back tomorrow."
"Oh."
Another silence ensued.
She wanted to get up and leave but knew he probably didn't want her to, so she continued sitting there.
Trying to find another topic to prolong the conversation, her thoughts wandered, but she realized that no matter what she said, he might only respond with a few cold words.
Suddenly feeling aggrieved.
An overwhelming sense of grievance.
Grievance so intense that tears started to fall, dropping quietly onto the newspaper as she lowered her head.
After holding back for a moment, she sobbed.
Then the voice came again, still cold: "Stop crying."
But this time she didn't stop.
I'll cry if I want, it's none of your business.
Ignoring everything, she covered her face and let herself sob louder.
Simon watched the crying woman beside him and glanced toward the door, feeling a bit uneasy.
After hesitating for a moment, Simon stood up and went over to lock the living room door.
Returning to his seat, he finally relaxed a bit.
Patiently accompanying the crying woman.
Veronica's crying didn't ease, probably sensing the movements around her, and feeling the presence of the person beside her on the armchair, she continued to cry but raised her legs, kicking towards Simon.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Simon endured for a moment, then reached out to stop her.
Veronica shook off the high heel that Simon had grabbed, barefooted, and continued kicking.
This time, Simon didn't bother to stop her, letting her kick freely.
Finally, exhausted from crying and kicking, Veronica curled up on the sofa, hugging her legs with her face buried in her arms, her hair disheveled, one shoe on, one foot bare, looking quite disheveled.
It was unknown how much time had passed.
The corridor outside was dimly lit, and faint voices were heard. Simon realized the situation seemed even more complicated and couldn't help saying, "Clean yourself up, it's time for dinner."
Veronica remained indifferent.
Completely disregarding everything in despair.
Simon didn't dare stay in the room any longer, turned
off the TV, and left the living room.
Just as he closed the door, Janet approached from the other end of the hallway. "Dinner's ready. Is Aunt here too?"
Simon wrapped his arm around Janet, who was heading toward the living room door, and said, "No, I've been watching TV alone. Your aunt must be in another room."
"Oh," Janet didn't suspect anything and said, "Then you go ahead to the dining room, I'll call Aunt."
"I'll come with you."
Simon said, and together with Janet, they searched the other rooms in the hallway without success, even went upstairs.
After checking Veronica's bedroom and still not finding anyone, Simon finally said, "Your aunt probably left earlier."
Janet frowned and said, "But the servants didn't see Aunt leave."
"Then she might be outside the mansion, let's go down."
Janet, wrapped in Simon's embrace, didn't resist, and they went downstairs together.
Passing the living room they had just left, Janet glanced at the door, her gaze flickered, but she ultimately didn't go to check and followed Simon to the dining room.
And there they saw Veronica already sitting in the dining room.
Still with an icy demeanor, she nodded slightly to Simon and Janet, then lowered her head and fiddled with the cutlery in front of her.
Raymond Johnston had also returned by then, and the family was used to Veronica's frosty demeanor, often referred to by Janet as 'the Iceberg', so they didn't think much of it.
After dinner, Veronica was the first to leave the dining room.
Janet's mother, Tracy Johnston, watching her sister-in-law leave, then said to Raymond, "Veronica seems to have been crying?"
Raymond Johnston, who had been discussing two acquisition deals Westeros Corporation was pushing forward with Simon during dinner, looked in the direction his sister had left and frowned, "What's wrong now?"
"I'm not sure, didn't she just come back from Perth today? Could something have happened there?"
The old man's brow furrowed deeper: "Something work-related, how could that make her cry?"
"Was she bullied?"
The old man shook his head: "Impossible, who would dare to bully her? She's more likely to bully others."
Listening to her parents' conversation, Janet suddenly said, "I'll talk to Aunt later."
Raymond Johnston nodded, then added, "Why don't you stay a few more days to talk with your aunt?"
Janet snuggled against Simon's arm, pressing against him, and said, "We've been away from the USA for two weeks already, there's a pile of things waiting for us, we can't delay any longer."
Raymond Johnston didn't insist but couldn't help but glance over his daughter and son-in-law, asking, "How are things going with you two about having kids?"
Janet's face fell immediately upon hearing this topic, and she let go of Simon's arm, remaining silent.
Simon also showed a wry smile, gently shaking his head: "Still no news."
Tracy Johnston, concerned, said, "How about this, why don't you check again at our medical center tomorrow?"
Janet told her mother, "Simon and I have already discussed it. In a few months, if I'm still not pregnant, we'll try in vitro fertilization."
Tracy Johnston said, "In vitro fertilization, isn't that said to be unsafe?"
Since the world's first IVF baby in 1978, more than a decade had passed, and that child had grown up healthy. However, even Simon, a modern man, had his reservations about it, let alone many ordinary people with traditional views.
But at this point, they had no choice but to try.
It was better than continuing without a child.
Simon wasn't in a hurry, but Janet couldn't keep waiting.
During their travels in Europe, the couple had already contacted Robert Edwards, the 'father of IVF', and decided to wait a few more months. Once Westeros Corporation wrapped up its current series of projects, if Janet still wasn't pregnant, they would proceed with the IVF plan.
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