Tony Receives a Gift

Life returned to the rhythm of the fourth academic year at California Institute of Technology.

Choosing graduation thesis topics, preparing proposals, reviewing literature, designing experiments... these pressures gradually began to surface. Even outstanding students like Peter and Gwen had no choice but to devote more time and energy to them.

Time quietly flowed onward beneath the lights of the campus library, amid the hum of laboratory equipment, and through the windows of the four-person house that remained lit late into the night.

In the blink of an eye, more than a week had passed since Pepper took the bracelet.

That evening, Lin Hai and Gwen had just finished discussing their respective theses when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Taking it out, he saw a text message from Pepper.

[Doctor Lin, the payment for the bracelet has been transferred to the account as agreed. Please check it at your convenience. Also, the bracelet's effects really are as powerful as you said. Thank you very much.]

A smile appeared on Lin Hai's face after reading it. He did not immediately check the account. Given Pepper's status and way of doing things, the payment was bound to be no small sum.

More importantly, the line in the text saying, "the bracelet's effects really are as powerful as you said," meant that Pepper had personally verified its effects. That meant she should have given the other bracelet to Tony Stark.

Just as Lin Hai received the text, in a mansion on Long Island, New York—

Tony Stark had just finished a remote video conference with the old guard of the board, one he had been forced to attend. Clearly irritated and exhausted, he yanked off his tie and casually tossed it onto the leather sofa beside him. Then he threw himself onto the