Chapter 297 | 50,000,000 Dollars

Chapter 297: 297 | 50,000,000 Dollars

When the massage ended, Selene sat quietly and he helped her where her clothes again.

Her hand caught the edge of his sleeve, and he looked down.

"Thank you."

Dexter smiled. "Anytime."

Dexter stood up and then left the room to the kitchen.

By the time Dexter entered the kitchen, lunch was overdue. Lyra appeared in the doorway almost at once. He looked at her. "Were you waiting there?"

She shook her head. ’Not... really.’

"So you’ve been waiting."

Dexter chuckled as he opened the cupboards and examined what remained. There were still enough ingredients for several meals, though the neatly stacked containers in the cold-storage compartment were beginning to look less abundant.

He took out rice, vegetables, a portion of beast meat, and the herbs he needed to balance the meal’s mana. Lyra watched him arrange everything.

"Go sit down."

’I can help.’

Dexter was stunned as he gazed into Lyra’s eyes.

No matter how hungry she was, she hadn’t once offered tk help and now, it was a but strange that she was offering to do so.

’What?’ Lyra looked innocently at him with a quizzical look on her face.

Dexter slightly shook his head. "It’s nothing."

Then he handed her a bowl of vegetables. "Wash those."

She accepted the task with seriousness. Dexter sliced the meat thinly and set a pan over the flame. A little oil shimmered across the surface, and the first ingredients struck the heat with a sharp hiss. A rich fragrance filled the kitchen.

Lyra’s attention immediately shifted from the vegetables. "Keep washing."

She pouted but looked back down like a startled cat, making Dexter shake his head. He prepared the meal in stages, controlling the heat with small adjustments of his flame.

The meat browned without becoming tough. The broth thickened gradually, carrying the sweetness of the vegetables and the deeper flavor of the herbs.

He kept the mana gentle enough for the women’s recovering bodies to absorb comfortably.

By the time he carried the dishes out, all three were waiting. Mira looked at the clock and then back at Lyra with a raised eyebrow.

Lyra proudly raised her hands which were a little green from the vegetable washing as she said in their minds. ’I was helping.’

Dexter nodded his head. "Yeah. She helped quite a bit."

That pleased her far more than it should have.

They began eating, and for a few moments the conversation stopped entirely.

Selene took another spoonful before she had fully swallowed the first. Mira noticed and smirked. Selene pretended not to notice that.

Lyra looked at Dexter with shining eyes.

’This is better than yesterday.’

"You said that yesterday."

’Yesterday was also true.’

Dexter laughed. As they ate, he found himself looking around the room. He wanted to get a new house before getting new furnitures to replace the old ones but from the look of things, getting a new house might be impossible.

So it’s just better to get the new furnitures. Dexter then set his cup down.

"There’s something I should tell you."

Mira frowned and immediately looked up. "If it’s another woman, at least give us time to finish eating."

Dexter stared at her. Lyra nearly choked and even Selene’s lips curled to a frown.

Dexter immediately glared at Mira. "Mira...It’s about the house."

Mira’s expression settled. "What about it?"

"I tried to find somewhere larger." The women became still. "Somewhere with more room," he continued.

Selene quitely looked towards Dexter. "What happened?"

Dexter paused, thinking of Harvest Homes, of the money that was basically scammed from him.

He chose his words carefully. "People are intimidated by the Ashfords. Once they know who I am, they become less interested in selling."

Selene’s brows drew together. "They’re afraid of offending them?"

"Yes."

"By selling you a house?"

Dexter’s smile held no humor. "Apparently, allowing us to live comfortably might be interpreted as taking sides."

Mira’s eyes turned cold. For a moment, he thought she would ask for names. Instead, she looked around the room. "A different place would be nice," she said. "But we don’t need one immediately."

Dexter studied her. "The three of you living in a room isn’t that ideal. I wanted to give each one of you your individual space.

Selene shook her head and replied. "It’s no bother."

Lyra spoke. ’It’s alright."

Mira replied.

"I can be patient."

Dexter raised an eyebrow, and she glared at him. "Occasionally."

Lyra nodded in agreement. ’I like it here.’

Dexter looked at her, and she gestured toward the kitchen, then the sitting room, then—with obvious importance—the place where the snacks were stored. He smiled.

Selene placed her spoon down. "The neighborhood is growing on us." Her voice was gentle.

Mira leaned back. "We can move when you find somewhere worth moving to. There’s no need to accept a bad arrangement because we’re impatient."

Dexter looked from one to the other, and a little of the pressure in his chest eased. "All right."

Lyra extended her bowl. ’Can we discuss the next house after another serving?’

He laughed and reached for the pot.

The account balance on Dexter’s phone remained almost offensive. Fifty million dollars. He stared at the number while standing alone in the kitchen after lunch, and beneath it sat the restriction notice.

He had already tried enough times to know that staring harder would not change the situation.

The rebate from giving Kreg money had transformed his balance, and the bank had responded by turning that balance into something decorative.

Dexter tapped the notice again. The same instruction appeared. He would need to resolve the restriction through the bank.

"Of course," he muttered.

He closed the application. Tomorrow.

He would visit the bank and deal with it properly. There was the training session at 2.

Dexter rubbed the back of his neck. Then another unfinished matter came to mind. Two kills.

That was all that remained before the rebate multiplier advanced to 1000 times. His expression changed.

If he had killed those two elders at the festival instead of merely defeating them, the requirement might already have been completed.

He remembered the force of their attacks, the way they had treated Lyra as though she belonged to them, and then the stronger old man stepping out of the void.

Dexter’s jaw tightened. After a moment, he put the phone away. There would be opportunities to fight. The world had been generous with enemies lately.

For now, the women in the next room needed a safer place to cultivate. That was something he could do today.