Good Deeds and Rumors

"Let me lay down the rules. This has to be consensual."

"I’ll give you the money I promised, but don’t come looking for me afterward."

"I also don’t want to hear that you’ve been using my name to spread rumors that you had a relationship with me."

"Do you understand?"

Seeing the woman so happy that she was crying, Harvey got straight to the point without wasting words.

"I understand, I understand. Thank you for giving me this opportunity."

The woman nodded repeatedly upon hearing that.

Seeing her like this, Harvey took her back to his estate.

They spent the night in passionate embrace, going at it until morning.

It was past three in the afternoon when the woman finally woke up.

She felt some pain, but when she saw the stacks of dollars on the table, totaling five hundred thousand, the pain eased considerably.

She got out of bed and walked over to the table, only to find a note beside the money telling her to take the cash and leave, and not to disturb him again in the future.

Clearly, even though she did not fully meet Mr. Harvey Anberlaka’s standards for choosing women, since Mr. Harvey had agreed, he would still give her a great deal of money.

After reading the note, however, the woman first put on her clothes, covering up the traces of the night’s passion.

Looking at all the money on the table, she picked up a pen nearby and wrote a note expressing her gratitude. Then she took one hundred thousand, enduring the weakness in her legs and the pain as she left the estate.

Since Mr. Harvey Anberlaka had kept his promise, she naturally could not break hers. They had agreed that one hundred thousand was enough, so one hundred thousand was enough.

Harvey stood in the room, watching the woman leave through the window.

Harvey saw that the note thanked him for his help and called him a good person, essentially giving him a good guy card.

The five hundred thousand had actually been Harvey’s test.

If the woman had taken only one hundred thousand and left, it meant she had truly come only for life-saving money.

If she had intended to take it all, Harvey would have made sure to torment her for a month. Even if he merely left her there, she would have had to stay nearby for him.

But now that he had confirmed that she truly only wanted life-saving money, Harvey did not dwell on it.

Harvey casually released Void Energy and vaporized the good guy card.

He made a call and had a housekeeping company send someone over to clean up, while he went straight to playing games.

If he had not found anyone yesterday, he would have gone out cruising for fun today.

But since he had found someone yesterday, he would rest for a while and see how he felt later.

To put it bluntly, picking up women was merely an occasional pastime for Harvey whenever he got bored staying at home.

More than four months passed without him noticing.

During those four months, Harvey occasionally went out, but for some reason, more and more beautiful women came to him asking for help.

Among the women who practically threw themselves at him, Harvey found that some truly needed life-saving money and were fairly pretty.

He would then do a good deed by spending the night with them before lending them a hand.

If he could tell at a glance that they were faking it, Harvey could not be bothered with them.

But one day, while Harvey was out looking for something to eat,

he drove past a park and saw the young woman who had begged him months ago, so he stopped the car.

This young woman was no longer deliberately dressed in the sexy, mature style from before. Instead, her makeup made her look younger and more natural.

Yet even though her makeup had changed, that aura of vitality would not change so easily, so Harvey recognized her immediately.

If this woman had approached him with this appearance back then, he would have agreed right away.

The young brown-haired woman was pushing a middle-aged woman in a wheelchair out of the park, walking slowly.

When the young brown-haired woman noticed Harvey, she did not avoid his gaze. A faint smile appeared on her face.

Harvey gave a slight nod, started the car, and drove away with a press of the accelerator.

Since it had been their agreement, that night of passion could simply remain a memory between them.

"Daughter, do you know that incredibly handsome man?"

The older woman being pushed by the brown-haired beauty saw her daughter suddenly smile. Looking at Harvey’s departing car, she asked with some concern.

"Mr. Harvey Anberlaka. He’s a famous young, handsome, wealthy tycoon in New York, and a gentleman who keeps his promises."

"He’s quite well known among the women of New York."

"Of course I know him, but he doesn’t know me."

Seeing her mother ask, the woman replied with a smile.

"So it was him. I was wondering why he was so handsome and could afford such a nice sports car."

"It’s true that he’s handsome and rich, but whether he’s really a gentleman is another matter."

"Don’t let those exaggerated rumors fool you."

"Even if you got to know that kind of man, he wouldn’t be someone you could handle."

"You’re still young. Work honestly for now, and wait a few more years before thinking about marriage."

Upon hearing this, the woman’s mother earnestly advised her daughter.

"Mom, I know."

The young woman obediently replied to her mother’s advice.

Although Harvey had driven away, he had not gone very far, so he heard the young woman’s praise of him.

No wonder he had felt that more young, beautiful women had recently been coming to him for help. It might have been because of this woman.

She had only spoken well of him and had not mentioned their relationship, so it did not count as breaking the agreement.

But that was fine too. One good deed done on a whim had made it easier for him to find beautiful women who suited his tastes.

After learning the reason, Harvey’s mood improved considerably. He suddenly felt like eating, so he turned the car around and headed to Chinatown to find something to eat.

Life on Blue Star was undoubtedly pleasant. Since S.H.I.E.L.D. knew his identity, they did not dare appear before him.

That let Harvey play around even more freely. He did not need to worry about money or constantly mind his behavior. He only had to think about where to find entertainment every day.

However, to people in the mercenary world, the mercenary codenamed Grim Reaper had practically disappeared for two years.

As a result, rumors began to spread. Some believed Grim Reaper had finally failed, but more people thought he had earned enough money and retired.

After all, Grim Reaper had made more than a billion in just a few years as a mercenary.

As long as he was not excessively reckless with his spending, he could live extravagantly for the rest of his life.

If he managed that money properly, he could achieve complete financial freedom.

But Grim Reaper’s retirement was undoubtedly good news for the mercenary world, because without him, they could take on far more jobs.

And in Blue Star’s underworld, among those who specialized in working from the shadows, the happiest person of all

was undoubtedly the big shot codenamed Zero, who specialized in laundering money for others.

He charged other mercenaries expensive fees for laundering money because he had the funds to hire people to protect himself.

When he first helped Grim Reaper launder money, he did not know who he was and charged the usual exorbitant fees.

But Grim Reaper’s terrifying strength made him afraid to charge too much. Every time Grim Reaper asked him to launder money, not only did he fail to make any profit, he had to pay out a great deal himself.

Grim Reaper’s retirement was undoubtedly the best possible news for him.

Now, he was the only one who knew that the man codenamed Grim Reaper was currently wandering around New York looking for ways to entertain himself.

But knowing was one thing. Even if he had a hundred times the courage, he would not dare expose Grim Reaper’s identity.

However, if he ever ran into trouble, then thanks to the goodwill he had built up, even if Grim Reaper had retired and no longer logged into his dark web account, leaving no one able to find him,

he could still find Grim Reaper’s true identity, Harvey, pay a steep price, and have Harvey help him deal with certain problems.

With that trump card in hand, at least for the next sixty years, before he died of old age, he probably would not need to fear running into troubles or enemies beyond his ability to handle.

Chapter four delivered.