Scott knew joining these people for dinner was going to be a humiliation ritual.

Rich people didn’t just invite a regular guy to a grand holiday dinner out of the goodness of their hearts; they did it to put him in his place. So, he prepared appropriately by designing the System glasses he had on. It was linked directly to the internet at quantum speeds, they could pull up any form of information at a moment’s notice. The only real issue? He couldn’t read and polish the massive data dumps fast enough to reply in real-time conversation.

The Chairman locked his eyes onto Scott and suddenly cleared his throat.

That’s when he cunningly asked the question about the quantitative easing strategies implemented by the European Central Bank.

『What the hell kind of question is that?』 ಠ_ಠ

Scott thought, staring blankly.

『Who even talks about macroeconomic monetary policy at a holiday dinner?』

Behind his lenses, the System immediately went to work. A massive, transparent blue wall of text began scrolling down at high speed, analyzing interest rate cuts, bond-buying programs, and liquidity ratios. It was a flawless, genius-level financial breakdown. The only problem was that it looked like a 40-page master’s thesis. By the time Scott even finished reading the first paragraph mentally, Victoria let out a condescending chuckle from across the table.

"Oh, please. There is absolutely no way a boy like HIM would know anything about that."

She smirked at him, swirling her wine.

"Perhaps something simpler? What is your take on the current corporate tax charges affecting private offshore banks in Zurich?"

Scott mentally rolled his eyes.

『Again? Seriously?』

The smug looks on their faces had him boiling.

『What is wrong with these people? Do they eat financial ledgers for breakfast? Oh, I’m bored, maybe I should read disclosures in corporate SEC filings to pass time. THAT DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE!』

The System flashed, instantly bringing up another giant block of text detailing Swiss banking secrecy laws, tax evasion crackdowns, and corporate shielding strategies. It was so long, dense, and complex that trying to put it into words on the spot would make him sound like a malfunctioning textbook. So, Scott just kept quiet both times, taking a slow sip of his water while letting them think they had utterly defeated him.

Which, well, they had...

While the family chuckled snobishly, Sonya decided to take her turn to swallow him alive. She bragged about the old 18th-century painting hanging on the wall, puffing out her flat chest as she claimed it was a $30 million masterpiece she personally curated, even dropping a fluent sentence in high-society French just to rub it in.

However, during her entire bragging speech, the System glasses had used that time to thoroughly analyze the canvas.

Ding!

A small red notification flashed in his vision.

[Object Analysis: 18th Century French Oil Painting (Forgery). Estimated Value: $10,000]

Fake? Scott thought to himself, a bit amused.

『Why the hell would a rich guy buy fake stuff?』

Still, he didn’t let the confusion bother him. This was his absolute best chance to try and one-up them and break the smug atmosphere in the room.

Which was exactly how they ended up here.

"Oh, yeah. I said, it’s a fake."

"Excuse me?!"

Sonya’s smug smile instantly vanished, replaced by an offended, deep-red flush. She slammed her palm violently against the dining table.

"How dare you! You insolent little—"

"What?"

Scott shrugged nonchalantly, totally unfazed.

"But it IS fake."

Victoria squeezed her face into a look of absolute disgust as she glared at him.

"That is not funny, you hooligan! Are you seriously trying to imply that my brother, Bernard Trevors, the chairman of Trevors Global Corporation, bought a fake painting?!"

Sonya nodded aggressively.

"He’s clearly trying to accuse the Chairman of living a fake life! Bella, you better warn this dog of yours before I have him thrown out!"

Scott completely ignored their shouting.

He calmly reached down, grabbed his teacup and saucer from the table, and took a relaxed sip.

He then tilted his head over at Sonya.

"Hm? But you’re the only one who’s been barking here since I sat down, so I’m really starting to wonder who this noisy dog might be."

"How dare you?!" Sonya shrieked.

Bella’s face turned incredibly worried.

She reached over, gently tugging Scott’s sleeve.

"Scott... please, you shouldn’t get on Aunt Sonya’s bad side like AT ALL or—"

"Bella, shut up and sit down!"

Geraldine spoke coldly.

"It’s because of your sheer foolishness that this silly young man is sitting here insulting our family. I knew we spoiled you too much!"

Bella’s eyes went wide.

"Ye-, Yes, mother."

She immediately went quiet and a sad pout formed on her lips as she looked down at her plate.

Callista lazily lifted her eyes from her handheld console and read the scene with disinterest.

"Well, this is awkward..."

She instantly focused back on her game.

An irritated Victoria side-eyed Chairman Trevors.

"Bernard, are you seriously going to just sit there and let this dog keep talking?"

The Chairman didn’t answer his sister immediately.

Instead, his freezing, murderous glare fixed on Scott.

"You said the painting is a fake. Why is that?"

"Glad you asked."

Scott didn’t panic.

He set his saucer down as he smiled at the billionaire.

"Donnez-moi un moment, Monsieur le Président."

(Give me a moment, Mr. Chairman.)

A cold sweat suddenly rushed down Sonya’s neck.

『This bastard can speak French?!』

Scott stood up, holding his teacup, and casually walked over to the heavily framed painting on the wall. He took a brief look at the canvas, sipped his tea, and then pointed his pinky finger at a tiny detail in the background where a group of painted soldiers stood.

"Take a close look at the firearms the soldiers are holding. This painting is supposed to be from the early 18th century. However, the specific design of those rifles, particularly the percussion cap mechanism, rifling pattern, and overall proportions... corresponds to models such as the Minié rifled musket that were not engineered until the mid-19th century and were not adopted by the French military until around 1847–1857. An original painter from that time would have no idea about something like that. So, the painting is for sure a fake."

The entire dining table was stunned.

Geraldine’s eyes snapped wide.

She turned her head sharply toward her cousin.

"Sonya! You sold my husband a fake painting?!"

Sonya instantly panicked.

Her face turned pale as she began to sweat.

"I-, I didn’t! Geraldine, I swear! I’m very sure of what I selected! That... that error wasn’t there before! He must have done something to it!"

She spun around, glaring like a madwoman at Scott.

"You did this!"

Scott took a step back as he raised his hands.

"Hey, don’t look at me, dude. I just got here."

"This is unacceptable!"

Victoria snapped, joining in.

"We are going to involve our legal team, Sonya. I don’t care if you are family, ruining the Trevors’ collection with forgeries is an unforgivable crime!"

By this time, Sonya’s lips were trembling, and she was already crying silently from the sheer panic of being legally ruined by her own family.

Seeing the chaos, Scott let out a soft chuckle.

"Relax, everyone. Jeez. Mrs Sonya actually DID buy the original painting."

The entire dining table paused, fully confused.

"HUH...?"

Scott took another casual sip of his tea.

"This canvas right here is just a really good copy done by an art forger. Think about it. If you had an incredibly valuable painting, it’s only sensible to have a high-end copy made for public display. That way, the real thing stays perfectly safe from accidental damage or theft."

He gently pointed his teacup toward the head of the table.

"So... I’m guessing the Chairman has the original copy safely hidden away in a private vault."

He smiled smugly at the man.

"Isn’t that true?"

Everyone slowly turned their heads to look at Chairman Trevors.

The room was dead silent for three seconds before the stern-faced billionaire suddenly laughed. He raised his hands and began to slowly clap.

"Bravo, boy. Bravo."

Scott smiled and returned to his tea.

A few of the extended family members quickly changed their tunes and started to applaud.

"My goodness, the boy is a genius..."

"To notice a historical detail that small? Even William wasn’t this sharp..."

Scott casually walked back to his seat and sat down next to Bella. The moment he did, Bella happily wrapped her arms tightly around his and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Scott! I didn’t know you were this skilled!"

Scott closed his eyes, calmly sipping his tea.

"Heh. I’m full of surprises."

But the exact moment his eyes closed, Bella’s hand secretly stretched under the table, slipped past his thigh, and firmly grabbed his dong.

Jerk!

Scott’s eyes snapped open and he violently jerked up in his seat, nearly spilling his tea.

Bella just snuggled even closer to his arm like an innocent puppy as if she wasn’t strangling away all the blood in his manhood with her tight grip... it was quite arousing. She looked up at him with a seductive, mischievous grin and licked her lower lip.

"Wow... it seems your height and talent aren’t the only things that’s big, darling~ ♥️"

Across the table, both Geraldine and the tear-stained Sonya stared directly at Scott.

They were thoroughly irritated.

══════

The next morning.

Scott had already finished preparing for the day. He stood by the large window of his luxurious guest room, looking down at the estate gardeners working on the lawn while holding his phone to his ear.

The line rang twice before a smooth, mature voice picked up.

"Hello, my sweet little sugarplum~ ♥️"

Scott’s eyes immediately went half-lidded.

He sighed heavily.

"Adira... can you seriously not start that right now?"

Adira Crowe let out a soft laugh on the other end.

"Oh? Are you offended that I called you ’little’ or what? You know, my son would be about your age if he were still alive, so I think it’s a perfectly fair nickname. All my married female friends at my Bridge club would gobble you up, so I can’t really say you’re that little hm."

"Whatever..."

Scott muttered, adjusting his collar.

"Look, I just called to let you know that I’m nowhere near Meteor City at the moment. So if you get hunted down by Black Mechanica again, I can’t exactly run over and help you like last time."

Adira hummed softly through the receiver.

"Ooo, I’d love to say I’m flattered that such a young, strong, capable man is worried about my safety... but I’m sure it’s actually because of all the classified info I have on Black Mechanica that you’re worried, isn’t it?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Scott replied honestly.

It was quite difficult to lie to a resourceful woman like Lady Adira Crowe of all people.

"I’m currently taking a quick break at a country club for the holidays."

"Oh, fancy~"

Adira purred foxily.

"Can I join you? You know, we’ve never really spent any real quality time together, Scott..."

"Nah."

Scott instantly ended the call and tossed his phone onto the unmade bed.

On the other end, in a high-rise executive office, Nina was practically boiling with anger. She marched up to Adira’s desk and crossed her arms tightly.

"Lady Crowe! I absolutely hate the disrespectful way that boy talks to you! You’re the most powerful woman in North America, and you’re soon going to be the wife of a mayor once Dr. Hudson wins the upcoming elections! But that boy treats you like total crap! You’re easily old enough to be his mother!"

Adira gently placed her phone down on her desk.

She looked up at Nina with relaxed eyelids that made her look both charming and sleepy.

"Oh, Nina... you really are such a worrywart."

She traced her gloved finger down the her framed picture of Scott and Brigid.

"It’s not an issue at all."

Her black-painted lips became a smile, and she bit her lower lip sensually.

"Hmm... ♥️"

—-

Back in Scott’s guest room.

The door suddenly flew open without warning.

"Scott!"

Bella barged right in, beaming with excitement.

"I hope you’re ready for all the amazing fun we’re going to have today!"

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose, turning around.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?"

Stepping closer, Bella rolled her eyes playfully.

"Oh, please. I’ve already seen and grabbed that fat sack of yams you’re carrying between your legs, so what is there left to hide?" (ｰ̀⤙ｰ́ )

Scott let out a tired sigh of defeat.

"Alright, fine. What’s first?"

Bella stopped to gave him a thorough up-and-down look, before smirking.

"First, you really need to change into something a bit more... country club."

A few minutes later.

The two of them were walking out of the mansion, dressed in incredibly classy, country club casuals.

Scott wore a premium black cashmere vest over a sharp gray polo shirt, paired with clean white shorts, white-on-white crew socks, and pristine designer sneakers.

Next to him, Bella looked breathtakingly sexy.

She wore a matching cropped polo that tightly hugged her enormous chest, paired with an incredibly short, pleated white tennis miniskirt that put her long, flawlessly tanned legs and curvaceous hips on full display.

As they walked toward a waiting golf cart, Bella began to explain their destination.

"We’re heading to the Pinnacle Country Club. It’s a private extension of the Trevors Global empire, and it operates as the most exclusive, invitation-only country club in North America."

A disinterested Scott glanced at the massive, rolling green hills in the distance.

"Wow. So amazing."

"Mhm!"

Bella smiled brightly, wrapping her arm around his.

"And right now, the club is hosting a doubles tennis tournament called the Trevors Cup. The winners get a free, lifetime one-year premium membership!"

Scott raised a skeptical brow at her.

"Was that supposed to be big news? Because I really don’t care about a free membership here. Maybe some other time when I’m a masochist who loves hanging out with your family, how ’bout that?"

Bella’s smile faltered slightly, and she pouted.

She turned to face him as they walked and looked up at him with her heavy blue eyes.

"And what if... what if becoming a member means you can finally save me from an arranged marriage?"

Scott lifted a brow, genuinely caught off guard.

"Eh?"

Before he could speak, Bella edged even closer, sliding her body right against his until her two massive, heavy melons were pressed tightly against his chest. She wrapped her hands behind his neck and stared deep into his eyes with absolute adoration.

"No woman is prettier than me... so doesn’t that mean I deserve the best man?"

She stared at him with all her soul.

But Scott just looked away even with the way her hard nipples pressed against him like bullets.

『This bitch is crazy...』

He couldn’t breathe with how tightly she hugged him.

Literal pink heart shapes appeared in Bella’s eyes.

"I only want you to be my husband~"