Noah had already lost count of how long he had been sitting there stroking Maggy’s head while she lay sleeping on his lap until a nurse came into the room and pointed at the clock.

Noah was already used to it, and being very careful not to wake Maggy, he got up from the bed and kissed her on the forehead.

“I love you,” he said with a gentle expression as he looked at the fragile little girl before leaving the room with slow, silent steps so as to not wake her up.

After leaving the hospital, Noah took out his cell phone and used the Woober app to go to Carlos’ house, since when he looked at his watch it was already 7:00 pm.

The way from the hospital to Carlos’ house was very smooth mainly because after so many years of developing an efficient traffic system, it was very difficult for cars to jam up the streets. So even though the road was a little long, because the Woober car didn’t have to stop many times and it could always maintain a constant speed without slowing down, Noah got to Carlos’ place in just 30 minutes.

The Woober driver was surprised when he saw the size of the mansion at which they had arrived. Noah was already used to Carlos’ house even though it was a big mansion of modern design with several bedrooms and living rooms as well as having a huge and majestic lawn. After coming here so many times, Noah had naturally gotten used to the place.

Of course, it’s not because he got used to it that he didn’t think the place was beautiful, it’s just that he was no longer shocked every time he came. But that didn’t stop him from observing the beautifully well-kept garden.

Having come so often to his friend’s house, when the security guards at the place saw Noah, no question was asked of him. They just opened the gate and let Noah in, which surprised some people who were being questioned by them at the time, leaving them wondering who was that handsome young man who entered directly.

The path from the gate he just passed to the house was over 100 meters, but Noah was in no hurry. He always liked to make this journey, since being alone in such a beautiful and relaxing environment helped him to be more creative and think of solutions that he had never reached for problems that plagued him for a long time.

After a few minutes of walking, Noah arrived at the mansion’s entrance. Before he could enter, he saw a luxury car coming towards him that was a luxurious Mercedes AMG of the newest model. The car’s engine rumbled as if it wanted everyone to know it had arrived.

Noah only observed the beauty of the car a little, since he was very fond of cars, even from a young age, but soon he lost interest. As he turned to enter the mansion, the car stopped beside him and the driver got out of the car to talk with him.

“Are you the valet? Don’t even think about scratching this little beauty,” the driver of the car said as he looked at Noah before pointing to the car.

Noah did not understand for a moment until he realized that the car owner was talking to him. He calmly looked at the man and answered, “I’m not a valet.”

Hearing what Noah said, the car owner looked him up and down as he assessed him. ‘He may be pretty, but those cheap clothes don’t fool me. Maybe he’s just a waiter who was late?’ The man thought before answering in a commanding voice. “Then find a valet and tell him to park the car.”

Noah did not like the tone of the order the man was using and replied in a cold voice, “No,” before turning around and entering the mansion he knew very well.

As if it were his own house, Noah walked without concern to the party area and looked for Carlos. When he came in, Carlos was talking to some old men – probably his father’s business partners. So as not to disturb Carlos, Noah went to the food table to get something to eat since he had eaten nothing since the time he was at the hospital.

Looking at the table full of chic and sophisticated foods, Noah felt uncomfortable, not because he didn’t think that the food was too fancy for him, but because he simply preferred simpler food since it came in greater quantities and he could kill his own hunger with it, unlike these sophisticated foods that were too small for that.

Finding something that he liked, Noah took a small plate and started adding things for himself to eat.

Because of the hunger he was experiencing, Noah placed more food than the dish was designed to support, so a small mountain formed on top of it. He clearly didn’t care about this and found an empty counter where he could set his plate and stood propped up against it while eating and watching people.

Most of the people in the room were very beautiful. The rare ugly people were usually men who were accompanied by very beautiful women. It was funny for Noah to see all these people keeping a serious look on their faces, always adjusting their clothes to try to look as serious and beautiful as possible.

There was even a fat man who was getting all red in the face, probably because he had put a shaper belt under his suit to try to hide his big belly but had failed miserably when the rest of his body exposed how fat he was. Noah started to have fun watching this man almost choke from shortness of breath. In a short moment the man had to sit down and get up three times in a row to greet people who came to talk to him, but each time the man got up, Noah saw his face getting redder.

The man, who had only been slightly red, was now as red as a tomato. The other people pretended they didn’t see it out of respect for the man, or because they were struggling with the similar issues, but Noah didn’t care and just smiled and laughed at the funny situation.

Suddenly Noah heard a sweet voice beside him. “Alone in a corner, eating a plate with a lot of food, and laughing with a look as if you were watching a stand-up comedy show. If a picture of you alone were taken, it would be difficult to say that we are in the same environment.”

When he turned around, a beautiful woman of apparently 18 or 19 years with blond hair that just barely reached her shoulders and wearing a yellow dress was looking at him with an interested expression.

“You must learn how to enjoy the shows that life prepares you for.” Noah said, still with a slight smile on his face as he stopped looking at her and looked back at the fat man. “Look at this: in 3… 2… 1… now!”

When Noah said “now”, the man he was watching couldn’t take the belt anymore, and in despair, tore off his suit jacket and with shaking hands he pulled the shaping belt away from his belly as he stretched out on the chair as if he were recovering from a marathon.

When Noah saw the man breathing with pleasure and other people looking away so as not to embarrass the man but trying their best not to laugh at his situation, Noah was no longer so discreet and gave a low laugh at the situation he was seeing.

While he took another snack from the plate on the counter he was propped up against, the woman next to him looked at him with even more interest now since she also had to take a few deep breaths not to laugh at the man’s situation. It was like an unwritten rule for this kind of environment to respect whoever was trying to keep up appearances, but apparently the man in front of her didn’t care at all about that rule and just stared and laughed openly at the man’s situation.

“You probably aren’t part of this sort of circle, are you?” She asked.

Noah was looking for another show to watch and without turning back to her, replied, “No, I don’t have the money to participate in such circles, not that I need to participate in something like this.”

Seeing that Noah was not paying much attention to her, the woman felt a little uncomfortable, but her curiosity kept her talking to him. “But you are not afraid of these people either; you know that among them there are some who even have Rank C Blessings, but you still don’t care. Why?”

Noah, finding this question interesting, finally turned to look into this woman’s eyes again. As he stared at her, he said calmly, “Why would I be afraid of something that I will eventually achieve myself?”

Sunday’s Extra Chapters Challenge!

[1.300 Stones = 2 Extra Chapter]

[1.500 Stones = 4 Extra Chapters]

[+500 Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]