"Sir, Miss Potts is here. I suggest you tell her immediately..."
"Mute!"
The AI butler that had begun to advise him was immediately silenced. Pepper pushed open the door and walked in. Perhaps only she could enter this underground laboratory without Tony's permission.
Ever since Tony had been betrayed by his most trusted partner and completely broken with Obadiah Stane, all their years of friendship had vanished like smoke. It had become difficult for him to truly trust anyone again. He had once regarded the man as a respectable elder. In some ways, that bald CEO who had wanted him dead had filled the role of a father in Howard's place.
But as time passed, Obadiah, the man behind the scenes, had grown unwilling to remain in Tony's shadow. The life's work he had struggled for, all the final glory, had gone to the Stark father and son. Greed and jealousy tormented the bald CEO's heart, and he wanted to reclaim what had belonged to him all those years.
Thinking of Obadiah, who had died in the industrial park explosion, Tony's eyes dimmed. Aside from Pepper and Rhodey, he found it difficult to truly trust anyone else. Given his personality, he would never have many friends he genuinely believed in—after all, being friends with arrogant, conceited Stark was no easy task.
If you had neither a devilish figure and angelic face capable of stirring a man's hormones nor a powerful, brilliant mind, then at the very least, you needed a good temper. You had to be able to tolerate Tony's cutting tongue and his constant narcissistic pride.
"Tony, I have eight thousand and eleven things I need to discuss with you!" Pepper stormed in.
Appointed by her employer as Stark Industries' new CEO, the secretary was both pleasantly surprised and