Chapter 299: Steven’s Clever Counterattack

At that moment, the private room door opened again.

A server walked in carrying two bottles of wine and brought them to Steven. "Mr. York, these two bottles are compliments from our boss. He's not at the restaurant right now, but he wishes you a Happy New Year."

Kai looked over. The two bottles in the bag were much more expensive than what they had ordered—at least tens of thousands of dollars per bottle.

Why would the restaurant give him such expensive wine?

Kai looked at Steven.

Wayne had already asked him, "Steven, why is the restaurant giving you wine?"

Nora felt a bit nervous, worried his identity would be exposed.

Steven squeezed Nora's hand and said calmly, "The restaurant owner has business dealings with our company."

"I see." Wayne didn't think much of it.

The group walked out of the restaurant.

Kai was just visiting South City and didn't have a car, so Nora asked Steven, "Did you drive here?"

"Yes." He said softly near her ear, "I drove the BMW."

Nora smiled. He was pretty good at playing along.

"Let me go tell my parents." Nora walked over.

Raina was about to call a cab.

Nora stopped her. "Raina, no need to call a car. My husband and I drove two cars here, enough for all of us."

Nora gave her Audi keys to Tanner. "Tanner, you drive my car and take Mom and Dad home."

As for Kai's family, the two of them would drive them.

Kai hadn't expected Steven to have both a BMW and an Audi. Seemed like Steven was doing pretty well.

On the way back, Steven drove with Nora in the passenger seat, while Kai's family sat in the back.

As soon as Nora got in, Steven fastened her seatbelt and covered her slender, fair legs with a thin blanket, blocking Kai's inappropriate gaze.

Kai was a bit unhappy and deliberately asked Steven, "Steven, do you know which properties in South City are good? I've saved up quite a bit of money and want to invest in some real estate in South City."

"You mean the best kind?" Steven asked him.

Kai said proudly, "Of course! If I'm buying property in South City, I definitely want the best."

"The best properties are by the sea or with mountain views, about tens of thousands per square foot. They're luxury homes, mostly starting at 200 square feet."

Kai's face immediately turned green.

Tens of thousands per square foot, starting at 200 square feet—that meant prices were all over a hundred million.

Although Kai had made good money these years, he only had assets worth tens of millions of dollars. He definitely couldn't afford a hundred-million-dollar house.

He awkwardly touched his nose and said, "Well, I don't need to buy something that expensive. I'll just get something for tens of thousands of dollars per square foot, as long as the location is good."

"Properties in good locations are over a hundred thousand dollars per square foot."

Nora listened to their conversation and almost laughed out loud. Kai wanted to show off his wealth in front of Steven, but got slapped in the face by South City's housing prices.

Steven caught her laughing from the corner of his eye and glanced at her.

Nora quickly stopped smiling to avoid being noticed by Kai's family.

During dinner earlier, she had felt very uncomfortable. Kai's family acted so superior—rather than a family gathering, it was more like Kai's personal bragging session.

"You need purchase qualifications to buy property in South City. Do you have them?" Steven was still talking to Kai.

Kai was stunned. "You need qualifications?"

"Yes." Steven glanced at Kai coolly through the rearview mirror. "You want to buy property in South City without looking into anything?"

Kai felt offended by that comment and frowned. "Well, I made some money and thought about investing in South City real estate. What about you? Have you bought property?"

That last question was his real point, because young people basically couldn't afford South City properties.

"I have." Steven smiled slightly.

Kai's family all widened their eyes.

Kai immediately asked, "You bought property? In South City?"

"Yes." Steven remained calm.

"How much per square foot did you pay?"

Steven smiled faintly. "It's about 150,000 dollars per square foot now."

"How big?"

"140 square feet."

A property worth about 20 million dollars!

Kai gasped. Richer than his family!

He was speechless. His smile suddenly became awkward. He laughed awkwardly twice. "Well, you're pretty impressive, buying property so young. Are you from South City?"

"Yes, I'm local." Steven nodded.

Kai suddenly saw him in a new light.

A local with property, two cars, and only in his twenties—his family background must be excellent!

Raina sat in the back, listening to her father's conversation with Steven, her eyes fixed on Steven the whole time.

This kind of man surpassed 99% of men in the country—a quality male.

Nora's family was dirt poor, and Olivia was even divorced. Who would have thought that with such a family background, she could still find such a good man?

Raina felt a bit jealous.

When they got out of the car, Nora went to her Audi to get the gifts.

She hadn't taken out the gifts earlier with relatives around.

"Steven, right? I'm Nora's cousin. Let's add each other on Facebook?" Raina smiled and pulled out her phone to say to Steven.

"What for?" Steven got out of the car and closed the door unhurriedly, his every movement exuding an indescribable elegance.

Raina was completely mesmerized.

Some people just naturally have charisma that's impossible to resist.

"I just graduated with my master's and want to find work in South City. I thought if I had questions, I could ask you." Raina was quite pretty, the sweet type.

But Steven saw right through her intentions and said firmly, "Just add my wife. If you have questions, you can ask her and she'll pass them on to me."

Her intentions had been seen through.

Raina felt embarrassed for a moment.

Steven treated her like air and walked past her to help Nora with the gifts.

"What did Raina say to you just now?" Nora asked Steven. She had already seen Raina talking to Steven with her phone out.

Steven glanced at her. "She wanted me to add her on Facebook. Said she'll be working in South City soon and wanted to ask me questions."

Nora frowned. "You didn't add her, did you?"

"No." He smiled. "I told her to add you and pass things through you to me."

Nora felt helpless. What was she thinking?

She looked at Steven's handsome face. "You're just too attractive to women."

Though she understood—whether it was Steven's looks, temperament, or family background, he was top-tier. Ordinary girls don't usually meet men like this, and once they do, they all want to seize the opportunity, even if he's already married.

But that's how the world is. Men with good conditions, even if they don't go looking, women who meet them will try to attach themselves.

"I'll carry the things." Steven picked up the gifts.

The group returned to the Adams family home.

The narrow living room was packed with people, making it feel very cramped.

Kai's family had lost their earlier swagger. After learning Steven was wealthier than them, they stopped bragging and instead looked for opportunities to butter him up.

Nora was in the kitchen helping wash fruit.

After getting home, Jasmine had specifically gone to her room to change clothes and put on makeup.

When she came back out, Jasmine wore a tight, revealing dress, trying to show off her figure in front of Steven.

Steven's face was expressionless as he got up to go to the kitchen to find Nora.

Jasmine deliberately followed and pretended to fall against him. "Help me, Steven..."

Steven frowned and blocked her, not letting her get close, his eyes showing disgust. "That's enough."

"I almost fell." Jasmine's voice was sickeningly sweet, as if it could drip water.

Steven narrowed his eyes.

Nora came out of the kitchen, looking coldly at Jasmine. "If you keep acting like a flirt, I'll tell Tanner about this."

She had heard Jasmine's words while cutting fruit.

She really found Jasmine disgusting. Every time Steven came, she tried to seduce him.

To marry a good man, she would blatantly flirt without any moral bottom line.

"Nora, what are you talking about? I just tripped, and Steven happened to catch me. Why are you making things up?" Jasmine shot back.

That was her character—turning things around. As long as she wasn't caught red-handed, she wouldn't admit it.

Nora had put up with her for a long time.

She really wanted to tell Tanner what she was doing, but was afraid Tanner wouldn't want a divorce.

After speaking, Jasmine left.

Nora was full of frustration and said helplessly, "I don't know what kind of person she is."

"Angry?" Steven glanced at her.

Nora said, "I just feel like you're too attractive to women. Every time I come out, I have to chase other women away from you."

"Then just keep a close eye on me and don't let other women near me." Steven stepped forward and held her small hand with a smile.

Nora felt a bit better. "It's too hard. Almost every woman who's seen you likes you. Why are you so attractive to women?"

"This isn't my problem, it's theirs." Steven had one hand in his pocket, looking composed.

"You are handsome, but too many people like you." Nora shook her head and went back to cutting fruit.

After cutting the fruit, Nora took out the gifts and gift cards.

"Dad, Mom, these two gift cards are for you, and this one is for Grandma." Nora took out three gift cards. Once this was done, they could go home.

Wayne's eyes lit up. "For us?"

"Yes." Nora responded.

Wayne directly took the gift cards with a big smile. "Thank you, Steven."

Nora pressed her lips together, feeling a bit disappointed, but could only ignore it. Wayne had been this undignified his whole life anyway.

Fortunately, Steven didn't care. If it were someone else's family, they would definitely talk behind his back about how unseemly he was.

He had already been greedy to the point of... making people uncomfortable.

Nora gave the other two gift cards to Tanner. "Tanner, these two gift cards are for the kids. Keep them for them."

Jasmine snatched them away. "I'll keep them for the kids."

Seeing the two gift cards were only 200 dollars, Jasmine's expression showed disdain. She deliberately said to Lily, "Lily, look, Nora is so stingy. She gave her parents 10,000 dollars each, gave Grandma 10,000 dollars too, but only gave you 200 dollars. She doesn't love you..."