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The afternoon tea at Katherine Hepburn's home had been prepared by Maria Thomson and Virginia Potts.
The latter was none other than Tony Stark's personal assistant, Pepper Potts—the sharp-tongued redhead.
Fortunately, Pepper reserved most of her sarcasm for her boss.
She wasn't one of those annoying girls who seized every opportunity to mock other people's weaknesses, regardless of the situation or whether they had the relationship to justify such remarks.
As long as nobody targeted Pepper first, she was perfectly polite.
And her competence spoke for itself.
Otherwise, someone as picky as Tony Stark would never have kept her around.
Happy Hogan was there as well.
He no longer resembled the razor-sharp bodyguard of several years ago who looked at everyone as though they were plotting to assassinate his employer.
Now Happy had broadened considerably around the waist and acquired a touch of middle-aged softness.
Yet somehow he remained likable.
His words and actions always felt perfectly timed.
Rather than a royal bodyguard carrying a sword beside the throne, he seemed more like a court jester accompanying King Tony Stark.
The difference was that this particular jester would gladly take a knife—or a bullet—for his king if necessary.
Tony had only brought these two with him: one civil, one martial.
Compared to his previous entourage, it was remarkably modest.
Whether the rest of his people were waiting elsewhere or whether Tony genuinely believed he no longer needed so many bodyguards and assistants was anyone's guess.
---
The cookies Katherine had baked herself were excellent.
Ever since she was young, she had disliked dining out.
Mostly for privacy reasons.
She preferred minimizing appearances in public whenever possible.
Since she avoided restaurants, and because her era lacked the abundance of takeout and delivery services available today, she had naturally become a capable cook.
After all, very few people intentionally prepare terrible food just to force themselves to eat it.
Forcing other people to eat it, perhaps.
The women's rights advocates and strong women of Katherine's generation had not sought equality by abandoning traditional responsibilities.
They simply dared to do the same work as men and demanded equal treatment in return.
---
No one was separated by status during tea.
Maria, Pepper, and Happy weren't relegated elsewhere while only Katherine, Henry, and Tony occupied the main room.
Everyone sat together.
The six of them gathered in the comfortable living room, enjoying Katherine's homemade cookies and fragrant coffee while chatting about recent events.
Most of the talking came from Katherine and Henry.
Katherine casually produced scandal after scandal from Hollywood's Golden Age.
Since most of the people involved had long since passed away, there was nobody left to complain about her stories.
Everyone listened with great interest.
Naturally, Henry avoided discussing the funeral he had attended in Alaska.
There was an elderly lady present.
Whether or not she minded such topics, there was simply no reason to bring them up.
Instead, he talked about his experiences during the Alaskan winter.
With Henry's literary background, even when he wasn't deliberately speaking poetically, his descriptions painted vivid pictures that captivated listeners.
Maria, Pepper, and Happy became the perfect audience.
The latter two were especially skilled at responding at exactly the right moments, making any storyteller feel as though they had found kindred spirits.
Tony Stark, on the other hand, spent most of the time bragging.
Calling it bragging might have been slightly unfair.
Even if Tony genuinely could accomplish everything he claimed, it still felt like watching a peacock showing off its tail feathers.
As a result, whenever Tony started boasting, he received the most heckling.
Nobody cared that he was by far the wealthiest person in the room.
Probably richer than everyone else present combined.
Happy tried his best to defend his boss.
Unfortunately, he was fighting a losing battle.
Katherine Hepburn led the charge from the front.
Pepper delivered follow-up strikes from within.
Henry occasionally sniped from the sidelines.
If words could become bullets, Tony Stark's body would have resembled Swiss cheese by now.
Of course, Tony wasn't the sort of person who quietly accepted attacks.
Other than Katherine's comments—which he could only endure with a pained smile—he happily fired back at both Pepper and Henry whenever they mocked him.
Everyone present possessed thick enough skin that a few sarcastic remarks weren't going to break anyone.
---
As the conversation continued, Katherine suddenly turned toward Henry.
"Child, weren't you still working?
"How did you end up with enough free time to spend months vacationing in Alaska?"
Tony immediately answered in a sour tone:
"Oh, he's got plenty of free time.
"Enough to last the rest of his life."
Henry responded honestly.
"I resigned.
"I'm currently unemployed."
"Resigned?"
Katherine looked shocked.
"How did you resign?
"Tony, what did you do this time?"
The old lady instantly redirected her fire.
Tony found himself caught in the crossfire.
With a wounded expression, he protested:
"Why is this my fault?
"I didn't force him to quit.
"He chose to leave on his own.
"He gets himself into trouble and refuses to ask anyone for help.
"Then he handles everything himself and turns it into a complete mess.
"How is that my responsibility?
"If anyone deserves a lecture, it's him."
Realizing Katherine's attention was now shifting toward him, Henry raised both hands in surrender.
"It wasn't anything major.
"Just some old grudges that somehow resurfaced.
"Apparently a bunch of people had accidents, and some government-type organization decided to pin it all on me.
"I maintained my innocence, but nobody wanted to believe me.
"So I resigned and went to Alaska for an extended vacation.
"Surely if something happens in the continental United States now, they can't blame me again.
"I'm not a professional scapegoat."
Tony said nothing.
He simply stared at Henry Brown.
---
"So what are you going to do now?" Katherine asked.
Henry replied in the tone of someone who had completely given up on life.
"Well, I don't have any formal education.
"I suppose I'll just live off my savings.
"Maybe I should start scouting out a nice bridge to live under.
"Build myself a cardboard house and begin a glorious career collecting scrap metal."
To anyone unaware of the situation, his words sounded genuinely pitiful.
The sort of thing that inspired sympathy.
But to Tony Stark?
Sympathy my ass.
Had Tony been trying to drive him away?
People weren't even pretending anymore.
Numerous companies had already approached Tony directly to ask for evaluations of Henry.
Was he worth hiring?
Particularly Justin Hammer of Hammer Industries.
The man acted as though Henry Brown already belonged to him.
In Hammer's imagination, Henry would become a senior researcher at Hammer Industries and develop products capable of surpassing Stark Industries.
Apparently forgetting that most of Hammer's products were already little more than knockoffs of Stark technology.
Sure, he danced around the key patents.
But if not for his military backers, Stark Industries would have buried him under lawsuits every single day of the year.
And now the man wanted to poach Henry openly?
Where exactly had Justin Hammer found the courage for that?
The only other person present who knew part of the truth was Pepper.
But since the target wasn't her boss, she refrained from commenting.
To preserve her image as a lady, she simply endured it in silence.
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