Ryan planned to accompany Short-haired Gwen to her Universe after clearing out the Skrull pests, to either persuade her father-in-law or beat him into submission and bring him to his Universe too.
This way, Short-haired Gwen would have no lingering ties to the other Universe and could live peacefully in his Universe.
As for why Silk was at his house, that was even simpler.
Silk intended to stay in this Universe permanently, but she had no relatives or place to go here, so naturally, she was brought to Ryan's home.
However, because Silk was staying at Ryan's, the two Gwens decided even more firmly that one of them must always be by Ryan's side to prevent things from getting out of hand between him and Silk.
This way, one Gwen could accompany Ryan while the other lived her own life.
Poor Chief Stacy, though; I wonder if he'll notice that the daughter coming home isn't the same one every once in a while...
Back to the main topic.
As Short-haired Gwen and Silk Cindy went to open the door, Strange walked in, still wearing the same black suit from last night.
But compared to how neat and tidy his suit was at the start of last night, it was now wrinkled and messy, as if Strange had just survived a disaster...
Though he had expected Strange's arrival, Ryan still put on his Oscar-worthy acting and feigned confusion: "And this gentleman is?"
Strange first looked at the rest of the large Parker Family at the dining table before saying to Ryan in a low voice, "My name is Stephen Strange, a surgeon in New York. I'm here to see you, Mr. Ryan Parker..."
Ryan said with realization, "Oh, so it's Dr. Stephen Strange. I've heard of you, the best surgeon in all of New York. I once thought about hiring you as the head of the medical department at Parker Industries, but unfortunately, you turned me down..."
This wasn't something Ryan made up; when he was overhauling Parker Industries, he had indeed sent Strange a recruitment email, and Strange had indeed rejected it.
Strange was taken aback, then remembered the incident and shook his head. "There was such a thing, but I'm not suited for your biopharmaceutical company. My expertise is saving patients with a scalpel, not researching your miraculous Regeneration Serum..."
Ryan chuckled and said calmly, "Heh, perhaps Dr. Stephen Strange doesn't know enough about my Parker Industries. We don't just develop bio-pharmaceuticals; we're actually conducting innovative research in various industries and welcome talent from all fields—naturally including someone at the top of the surgical field like you..."
Hearing this, Strange looked deeply at Ryan. "You're right. I indeed didn't know enough about Parker Industries before, and even less about you. But last night, I spent all my savings to find out. So, I'd like to talk to you in private, if I may?"
Spent all his savings to find out about him?
Ryan twitched his lips, seemingly understanding why Strange looked more disheveled than when he left the Sky Restaurant last night.
So he took his life savings to buy information on my true identity...
He had actually forgotten; although his identity wasn't a huge secret and any high-level official could easily find it...
...for the lower and middle classes, his identity was actually quite hard to track down since he hadn't made any public appearances.
No wonder he thought Strange would come looking for him last night, but he didn't show up until this morning.
Sigh, I have to say, Strange really is a spendthrift...
Although he didn't know where Strange had traded his assets for his true identity...
...that money would have been better off given directly to him...
Ryan finished the breakfast on his plate in a few bites, wiped his mouth, and brought a fresh plate of breakfast from the kitchen before tilting his head toward Strange.
"Come on, let's talk in my study."
With that, as Ryan passed Strange, he placed the plate in his hands and walked toward the study.
Strange looked down at the plate of steaming food in his hands, dazed for a few seconds before following.
*Click—*
Closing the door, Ryan sat down at the desk, pointed to the chair opposite him, and smiled. "Sit, don't be a stranger. Make yourself at home; let's talk while you eat."
Ryan's gesture of offering breakfast and his current amiable attitude finally eased the heavy, tense heart Strange had been carrying since last night.
His stomach, which hadn't seen food all night, let out a rumble at that moment.
Looking at the delicious-looking food on the plate, Strange finally couldn't help himself and began to eat ravenously with the knife and fork.
This was the first time Ryan had seen someone eat May's cooking with even more gusto than himself.
You have to know, everyone else in the Parker Family avoided May's 'delicacies'—which looked and smelled great—because they had no flavor...
In less than a minute, Strange had devoured all the food on the plate.
After eating, he finally regained some spirit and energy after running around all night.
"Thank you very much for the breakfast, it was delicious!" Strange thanked Ryan, who was quietly waiting for him to finish, then said apologetically:
"Secondly, I want to apologize to you. Last night, I took it upon myself to inquire about you and learned of your other identity—your identity as the Superhero 'Spider Monarch'..."
Hearing this, Ryan naturally didn't blame Strange for investigating his identity but asked curiously:
"No need for apologies. I'm more curious—is there actually someone on the market brave enough to sell information about my identity? Where did you get this information?"
Although his identity was known to almost everyone at the top, they were too busy suppressing it; why would they proactively sell it?
The most likely candidate to sell it would be Kingpin, but Kingpin isn't short on cash and wouldn't risk offending him by selling his identity.
Strange was stunned. He clearly hadn't expected Ryan not to hold him accountable but instead ask such an insignificant question. However, he still answered honestly:
"I actually don't know that person's true identity either. Last night, I reached out to all my former contacts, but when they heard I was looking into 'Spider Monarch's' real identity, they either didn't know or just hung up on me. Even New York's underworld figures turned pale at the mention of your name and just beat me up before throwing me out into the rainy night..."
"Until... just as I was about to collapse in despair, an umbrella appeared over my head. A mysterious person in a black hooded cloak told me your true identity. I couldn't see the face under the hood, but before she left, a gust of wind blew the hood back. From the back, she was bald!"