aboard the yacht, The Bianca.
Carl was losing his mind with excitement. It hadn't been long, and he already had a fresh lipstick mark on his cheek.
Grinning so hard his face hurt, Carl whipped out his phone, fired up the camera, and checked his reflection. He nodded with satisfaction. "Nice!"
Not far away.
Leaning against the railing with a beer in hand, Ian watched the scene and chuckled. "I don't think I've ever seen Carl this happy. Like, ever."
Mickey stood next to him, took a swig of his beer, and replied casually, "Considering the shithole Gallagher house you guys grew up in, isn't that to be expected?"
Ian laughed. "Like your place was any palace."
Mickey took another gulp, suddenly thinking of Terry. "Since Terry got whacked, my place actually started getting better."
That was a fact.
Ian didn't fully understand the complexity of Mickey's feelings toward Terry, so he hesitated and didn't comment on that part. Instead, he said with a touch of emotion, "True. Maybe if Frank finally kicked the bucket, my house would start getting better too."
Mickey turned his head to look at Ian. "I'll get you a piece. Go smoke Frank yourself."
Ian didn't have the stomach for that, so he just gave a helpless smile.
"Pussy," Mickey sneered.
Off to the side, Mandy—who was currently Ian's only real friend—was petting the dog, silently watching Mickey and Ian.
Mandy had been watching them for a while. She already knew Ian was gay, so something felt off. Her suspicion radar was pinging.
Normally, with Mickey's personality, he wouldn't be caught dead hanging out with Ian like this...
Mandy thought back to the last few months. Mickey was constantly out, coming home late...
As she connected the dots, Mandy felt a mix of shock and amusement.
Mickey is gay, too? And he's the... bottom?
That was almost too funny to be true.
Mandy decided right then and there that she was going to mess with Mickey about this later. She was going to milk this joke for a long time.
---
Karen, who was dressed incredibly provocatively today, was in the same boat as Mandy in a way—she didn't have any friends here either.
And in a setting like this, having no friends made you look lonely as hell.
Even though plenty of guys came over to hit on her every few minutes.
Karen smiled with a hint of melancholy. Because of her sex addiction, she actually wanted to grab one of these guys and hook up, but remembering that she still needed to rely on Lip to make money, she had to suppress her instincts. She ignored the men, wandering around alone, forcing herself to focus on fantasizing about a wealthy future.
---
Svetlana climbed out of the Jacuzzi, doing pretty much the same thing.
The difference was, while Karen was fantasizing, Svetlana was calculating. She was running the numbers, planning exactly how long it would take her to hustle her way into owning a yacht just like this one.
---
Vivian was keeping Ethel company.
God knows how those two got on the same wavelength, but not only were they chatting, they were actually having a blast.
---
Peg was old and on her last legs. She didn't waste energy wishing for luxury cars or yachts. She just sat there, happily enjoying the open bar, feeling fantastic.
---
Time ticked by.
Around eleven o'clock.
A group of beauties flocked to the edge of the Jacuzzi, giggling and chatting. First, they greeted Bianca enthusiastically, and then they turned their attention to Dexter, practically purring at him.
"Mr. Dexter , it's almost noon. You're going to cook for us, right? We're starving."
"Look, my stomach is totally flat."
"My tits are practically shrinking from hunger."
"..."
Jesus, talk about coming on strong.
And you, the one in the bikini rubbing your stomach—is that really appropriate?
And you, stop showing off your rack!
Bianca watched this, shocked and overwhelmed.
Immediately, a sense of crisis she hadn't really felt before skyrocketed.
"Dexter , why don't we go make something to eat?" Bianca decided to drag Dexter to the kitchen, figuring it was safer territory.
Dexter chuckled.
He couldn't help it; Bianca's intentions were written all over her face.
"Haha, if you help me, I'll go," Dexter replied with a grin.
Hearing this, Bianca let out a silent sigh of relief. "Okay."
The group of girls cheered happily.
Dexter and Bianca left the hot tub and headed for the galley.
Once inside the kitchen.
Did Dexter actually need Bianca's help?
No, and he couldn't use it anyway.
After all, there wasn't much food stocked in the kitchen. To make lunch for this many people, he needed to access his "Inventory"—open a few loot boxes and pull out ingredients from his secret stash. That was something Bianca couldn't see.
He had brought Bianca along for a different purpose, so he casually locked the kitchen door behind them.
Moments later.
Bianca's eyes went wide, her face a mix of shyness and panic. "There are so many people outside..."
"Nobody can see in," Dexter grinned wickedly.
"That's still no..." Bianca shook her head frantically.
Fifteen minutes later.
"It's getting smoky in here, go play outside. I can handle the rest," Dexter said with a smile.
"????" Bianca, face flushed red, realized she'd been played. "Dexter ! You only called me in here to 'help' to trick me, didn't you?"
"Heh," Dexter laughed, playing dumb.
"Hmph!" Seeing his reaction, Bianca laughed in frustration. "Hope you work yourself to death. I'm leaving."
---
The Gallagher House.
The battle was over.
Fiona, who hadn't slept much anyway, had been talking to Steve and drifted off without realizing it.
Steve had been on a plane for hours, traveled all the way here, and just burned a lot of energy. Seeing Fiona asleep, he closed his eyes, planning to catch a nap too.
However.
Steve couldn't fall asleep immediately.
He was torn about something.
Should he tell her that he was technically married to Estefania, or should he keep it buried?
Steve lay there with his eyes closed, agonizing over it for a while before finally drifting off into a silent sleep.
Right before he went under, he made a decision: say nothing for now. He'd wait and see how things developed with Fiona first.
After all.
It might not last.
Maybe in a week, Fiona would be cheating on him and sleeping with some other guy.
Fiona had done it before. It wouldn't exactly be a shock if she did it again.
---
Downstairs.
In the living room.
Debbie had temporarily stopped worrying about Fiona and Steve to focus entirely on taking care of Frank, fussing over him constantly.
But...
Thanks to the meds kicking in, Frank's pain had faded. He felt high and just wanted to sleep. He was getting annoyed.
"Debbie, you're too loud. Go play by yourself. Daddy needs to sleep."
Debbie was young, not stupid. She immediately sensed Frank's impatience. She bit her lip, looking hurt, feeling like she had been used and then tossed aside the moment she wasn't needed.
But Debbie wasn't smart enough to realize that, actually... this was the Gallagher family tradition. And she did the exact same thing to people herself.
Heh.
Gallaghers.
Debbie bit her lip, staring blankly at Frank, who looked like he was already passed out on the couch. After watching him for a long moment, she sighed, marched upstairs, ran into Carl's room, and went back to breaking his shit.