Commissioner George of the New York Police Department spoke animatedly and with great enthusiasm, completely unaware that he was revealing police secrets to a "criminal." Just as Gwen Stacy was about to uncover the NYPD's entire hand, her mother finally returned from the kitchen carrying a pot of food.
"The leftovers had gotten a bit cold, so I took some time reheating them. Come, try some—I added a few extra potatoes," Gwen's mother said as she set the pot down. She had been busy in the kitchen for quite a while, which explained why she hadn't come back sooner to stop her husband from spilling classified information.
"Herman, you should eat more. This curry chicken is my wife's signature dish," Officer George said, finally ceasing his unintentional confession.
How to put it—he'd already said most of what mattered anyway. Gwen Stacy listened contentedly, her mind already working out several ways to handle the New York police.
"My mom's specialty! I can't even make it this well, even following her recipe," Gwen said cheerfully, standing up to serve Herman another bowl.
"It's really excellent," Herman said sincerely.
He'd eaten at plenty of Indian restaurants, and compared to those, Gwen's mother's curry chicken was easily among the best.
"Hahaha, thank you for the compliment! I don't have much to do these days, so I like experimenting with recipes. If you like it, I'll write the recipe down for you later," Gwen's mother said with a warm smile, generously offering to share it.
"Really? That would be wonderful!" Herman replied with a smile.
Of course, he didn't actually need the recipe. Not because he wasn't interested, but because as a [Genius Chef], he'd already reconstructed the curry chicken's ingredients and method in his mind after just a couple of bites.
Still, even if he didn't need it, he couldn't say that aloud. Anyone with basic social sense would know better.
"We're all family here—no need to be so polite," Gwen's mother said with genuine warmth. "Besides, a recipe can't compare to the gift you brought us, can it?"
Her words made Officer George raise an eyebrow.
"A gift?" he asked, clearly hearing about it for the first time.
"Of course! He spent the whole afternoon carefully picking them out for you," Gwen said as she leaned closer to Herman, speaking up on his behalf.
"It's been a long time since I've received a gift from anyone," George admitted, sounding pleasantly surprised. Given his position, he usually had to be cautious about such things—but a future son-in-law's gift was perfectly acceptable.
"Speaking of which, he also brought a bottle of wine. I should have taken it out earlier," Gwen's mother said, getting up to retrieve the gifts Herman had given her.
"Is this skincare from Japan's POLA?" she asked, noticing the logo on the gift bag for the first time.
Founded in 1946, POLA is one of Japan's four leading cosmetics brands and among the world's top ten luxury skincare labels. Gwen's mother wasn't particularly familiar with luxury brands, so she only recognized it now—thanks to a wealthy friend who happened to use the same products.
"My goodness, child, why did you buy something so expensive? I've heard a full set of this brand costs tens of thousands of dollars!"
Instead of excitement, her expression showed shock. She even seemed afraid to open the box.
"Huh!?" Gwen Stacy was stunned too.
Naturally beautiful and unfamiliar with cosmetics, she had no idea about brands—but when she heard her mother say "tens of thousands of dollars," she froze. She distinctly remembered Herman promising he'd be "reasonable."
This was his idea of reasonable? Tens of thousands of dollars' worth of... skincare?
"Didn't I tell you not to buy expensive stuff?" Gwen hissed quietly, leaning toward Herman.
"Yeah... but to me, these really aren't expensive," Herman replied with a blink.
Gwen was speechless. Was this how billionaires spent money? Her imagination clearly wasn't equipped to handle it.
If something costing tens of thousands of dollars wasn't considered expensive, then what was?
"This wine... doesn't look cheap either," Gwen's mother said as she opened the wine packaging and pulled out a wooden box.
When she saw the name engraved on it, she nearly dropped it. No wonder her reaction was so strong—
Romanée-Conti.
Even those who don't drink wine have heard the name. It's a bottle steeped in legend.
When people talk about Burgundy's Romanée-Conti vineyard, even the owners of top Bordeaux estates speak of it with reverence.
Count Alexandre Lur Saluces, the old aristocrat who managed Château d'Yquem—one of Bordeaux's premier estates—for over thirty years, once said that in his household, Romanée-Conti could only be spoken of softly and with respect.
Even across Europe and America, the name Romanée-Conti carries an almost mythical prestige.
A regular bottle of Romanée-Conti is already far beyond what most people can afford, and when Gwen's mother saw the "1978" printed on the bottle Herman had brought, she couldn't even begin to imagine how much this wine—nearly as old as she was—might be worth.
"Can we still return these things? Child, money should be spent where it's needed. This is such a waste. You should take it back right away."
Afraid she might drop the wine, Gwen's mother quickly set the bottle and its box down on the table. She figured Herman had gone to such great lengths just to make a good impression, and while that thought warmed her heart, she still didn't feel comfortable accepting such extravagant gifts.
To her, the thought alone was enough—it showed how much Herman cared for Gwen. There was no need for a young man to max out his credit card over them.
"Um, it's my heartfelt gesture. Please accept it. A few gifts won't make a dent in my finances."
Herman certainly wasn't planning to return anything. He couldn't very well admit that this amount was less than what he might spend on a single meal. His tone remained tactful and polite as always.
He didn't want to flaunt his wealth in front of Gwen's mother, worried it might come off as boastful. Just as she was about to respond, Commissioner George—who knew quite a bit about Herman—stepped in to speak on his behalf.
"Come on now, how could you ask someone to return a gift? Haven't you heard of him? He's quite the figure here in New York," George said with a chuckle as he began unwrapping his own present.
Hearing her father speak up, Gwen Stacy quickly joined in.
"Exactly! Herman's company does tons of charity work every year!"
The young woman didn't realize that corporate donations could also serve as tax deductions.
It wasn't just Herman's Umbrella Corporation—almost every major company poured large sums into charity projects each year. And after offsetting part of their taxes, how much of that money truly went to charity was often anyone's guess.
Of course, Herman's contributions were genuine. They still qualified for tax deductions, but unlike others, he had no interest in playing tricks—what he gave was what he gave, simple as that.
"Gwen mentioned you run a company. So, it's not exactly small?" Gwen's mother asked, realizing that a business capable of annual charitable efforts couldn't possibly be as modest as she'd first imagined.
"Um, I suppose it's not small?" Herman replied, keeping his humble tone.
He knew that between Gwen and her father, someone was bound to step in to fill in the details for him.
Sure enough, George chuckled softly. "Not just 'not small'—you're being far too modest. The man your daughter's dating is a regular on the Forbes Top 3 list. His company is now the world's second-largest by market value."
What George didn't know was that Herman also held a significant amount of Stark Industries stock—the current number one global enterprise. After all, clean energy's impact on stock prices and market value far surpassed anything else. Whoever controlled energy controlled the world's wealth.
"What!?"
Gwen's mother was completely stunned.
She looked at Herman in disbelief, unable to process that her daughter's fiancé was, in fact, a genuine billionaire.
For a moment, she didn't know whether to feel proud of her daughter's good fortune or worried about whether Gwen could handle such a man.
...
Fortunately, Gwen's mother still didn't know about Herman's other identity.
Now that she had learned of Herman's public status, she had clearly become much more reserved. It had to be said—class consciousness ran deep in American society.
Even as the wife of the police commissioner, Gwen's mother couldn't help feeling uneasy before a true tycoon, even if that tycoon happened to be her own daughter's fiancé. She no longer spoke as freely as before, and her expressions grew slightly tense.
"Mother, you don't have to be so... cautious. Like you said before, we're family. Family doesn't need to worry about status, right?"
Herman preferred how things had been before, so he tried to put Gwen's mother at ease. Gwen and George quickly joined in to support him.
"Yeah, exactly! Herman's not like those greedy billionaires."
"I can confirm that," George added. "The police haven't found a single criminal record on him, and he's always been down-to-earth with his employees."
Seeing the two people closest to her both speaking up—and with Gwen leaning affectionately against Herman as she did—Gwen's mother gradually began to process the shock of his identity as the meal went on.
"This... really is hard to believe. I'm sorry, dear, it just feels surreal. There's a billionaire sitting at my dinner table."
Though she finally accepted the truth, Gwen's mother rubbed her temples, feeling that today had been nothing short of insane.
"Billionaires have two eyes, one nose, and one mouth—no different from anyone else. Look, I even have to peel my potatoes before eating them," Herman joked, picking up a boiled potato. His easy humor lightened the mood around the table once again.
Just as everyone began to relax...
[After losing its cornerstone and undergoing a major reorganization, Hammer Group has been taken over by Cooper Hammer, a member of the Hammer family, who has assembled a new executive team.]
[In order to compete with Stark Industries, the inventor of new energy technology, Cooper Hammer has poured massive resources into hiring top experts and establishing a Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories in Boston.]
[After a period of preparation, Hammer Group will unveil a major experimental breakthrough tonight at midnight in this state-of-the-art facility—a particle accelerator.]
[Let's hear from Dr. Barry Allen and learn how this new particle accelerator might bring revolutionary changes to our lives.]
A news segment on television suddenly caught Herman's attention.