It Had Come After All

New York suburbs.

Racetrack Town.

MAX drove with the pedal to the floor, speeding all the way there under Caroline's directions.

"This is my family's horse ranch estate."

Caroline had MAX drive around the enormous estate once, gazing inside with a face full of nostalgia.

"Damn!"

MAX exclaimed, "I thought your manor villa in Manhattan was already huge, but compared to this place, it's practically tiny. You rich people buy somewhere this big just to keep horses?"

She could not see what was inside at all.

It was simply too big.

But she could truly feel that this was an incredibly, incredibly large estate.

Just driving around its perimeter took a long time.

"Land is cheap here."

Caroline said casually, "One day, I'll take you to see my family's island and yacht. Those are truly huge and luxurious."

"I can't believe it."

MAX complained, "Compared to you people, we really are country bumpkins. Even Adam is."

"Adam isn't."

Caroline explained, "Even though his wealth wasn't on the level of my family at its peak, he still ranked among the wealthy. He built it all from scratch; he just wasn't interested in this kind of extravagant lifestyle.

A lot of self-made wealthy people have frugal habits. That's perfectly normal.

How could you call them country bumpkins?

Compared to us second- and third-generation rich kids who rely on our parents, if people like Adam really wanted to be lavish, they'd be extravagantly wealthy beyond all reason.

All we could do was look up at them."

"Really?"

MAX was half-convinced.

Adam had been generous with her, but in everyday life, he had never displayed a level of extravagance beyond her imagination.

Caroline, on the other hand, had only said a few words—or rather, had not even needed to say anything. Just taking her