In an apartment on the banks of the Spree River.
The five-story apartment had the first and second floors as residences for bodyguards and maids, while the third, fourth, and fifth floors were the private spaces of the master. The fourth and fifth floors had been converted into a large duplex with over twenty rooms.
Lady A, Allison Norris, arranged for the entourage that had followed Simon to Europe and gave a stern lecture to the four restless girls of the European maid team before heading upstairs.
In her bedroom on the third floor, she took off her black suit and changed into a slightly casual but not sloppy light gray pullover and white trousers. After a quick touch-up of her makeup in front of the full-length mirror, Lady A headed to the fifth floor carrying a folder.
Simon was on the phone in a living room on the fifth floor that overlooked the Spree River.
Noticing this, Allison did not approach. She turned toward the master bedroom to help B Girl, who had come along this time, organize the master's luggage.
B Girl, Becky Hope, had also changed into a beige pullover and black slim-fit trousers—different colors, but the exact same style.
The master liked a certain sense of neat order.
They had accompanied Simon on many trips, but this time there was no woman by the master's side, which presented a good opportunity.
Of course, although they instinctively harbored certain thoughts, after several years, the girls had all discovered a fact: the possibility of climbing into the master's bed was very low.
Unless they left.
Just like Housekeeper Alice Ferguson.
The smart girls generally understood why.
If a maid climbed into the master's bed, it was inevitable that she would develop thoughts she shouldn't have, making it difficult to stick to her duties.
The first housekeeper, Sophia Faith, became the head of Melisandre Company; the second housekeeper, Alice Ferguson, became the head of Amazon Online Store; Miss C, Claire Guine, now owned her own company worth $1 billion... With such precedents, both A and B knew that as long as they did their jobs well and showed enough ability, their futures wouldn't be bad.
However, such opportunities didn't seem to come often.
Therefore, avoiding other maids catching Simon's attention as much as possible became something they cared about deeply.
Even the seemingly harmonious A, B, C, and D actually had competition between them.
Of course, C no longer needed to compete with them, but girls like Zoe Parks, who rose through Alice's lineage, were also watching like hawks.
After tidying the bedroom, the two women left the room. Simon had finished his call and was still leaning on the sofa by the window in the living room, flipping through a thick script.
Allison came to Simon's side with the folder. She glanced at the script, only catching the title *True Romance*, before quietly looking away and saying, "Boss, we just received a few more invitations."
Simon didn't look up from the script, just giving a hum to signal A Girl to continue.
Allison said, "One is from the BMW family for a cocktail party the day after tomorrow at noon. Another is a party invitation from Bernd Eichinger, the chairman of Germany's Constantin Film, for the evening of the day after tomorrow."
Before coming to Europe, Simon's schedule had already been set.
He planned to stay in Germany for two days, head to Helsinki the day after tomorrow for a one-day stay, spend the weekend in Florence, and return to North America next Monday.
During these two days in Germany, starting from noon today, his time was fully booked with a series of luncheons, meetings, cocktail parties, and parties.
At Simon's current level, many social engagements were unavoidable.
If one always avoided various social activities, the consequences could be very serious. Like the former Howard Hughes, whose reclusive lifestyle caused by OCD and lack of contact with the outside world made him a puppet of the executives and assistants around him in his later years.
Constantin Film was the most powerful film company in Germany in recent years, and as for the BMW family, it went without saying.
The other party had clearly inquired about his itinerary. Since today and tomorrow were definitely full, they both scheduled for the day after tomorrow. If Simon were willing, he could completely push his other plans back by a day.
After considering for a moment, Simon said, "Forget the Constantin party. Contact Eichinger; if he's interested, we can have breakfast together tomorrow morning."
He originally had an appointment with Ira Deutschman tomorrow morning. Hearing this, Lady A said, "Then, what about Mr. Deutschman?"
Simon said, "Together, then."
Allison nodded and continued, "And the BMW side?"
Simon turned a page of the script and asked back, "In whose name was the invitation sent? Johanna Quandt, or her two children?"
Lady A paused, flipped through the folder in her hand, and then said, "Johanna Quandt."
Simon said, "Then arrange it. We'll leave after attending the cocktail party the day after tomorrow at noon."
Allison nodded in agreement, but her eyes held some curiosity.
Simon noticed Lady A's expression and smiled as he looked over Allison's long, graceful figure wrapped in the form-fitting pullover and trousers. "A, do you know who Johanna Quandt is?"
Allison shook her head.
B Girl, who had just served Simon coffee by the coffee table, lifted her head but didn't speak.
Simon didn't keep them in suspense and said, "Johanna Quandt is quite a legendary woman. Like you, she was originally a maid. Later, she served as the secretary to the second-generation BMW heir, Herbert Quandt, and in the following years, she rose again to become Herbert Quandt's third wife. After Herbert Quandt's sudden death, Johanna Quandt pushed aside his other children and secured most of the Quandt family's assets, including BMW shares, becoming the wealthiest and most powerful widow in the German business world."
Simon's narration was flat, yet even B Girl, who knew some anecdotes about the BMW family, couldn't help but feel a sense of yearning after hearing Johanna Quandt's life story.
That is a truly formidable woman.
A flash of admiration also crossed Allison's eyes, but she quickly suppressed the emotion and said, "Boss, there's still some time before noon. Do you want to rest for a bit?"
It was morning here in Europe, but it was the middle of the night in North America.
Simon took a sip of the coffee B Girl handed him, put down the cup, and checked his watch. It was not yet 9:30 AM Berlin time.
At noon, there was a cocktail party hosted by Daenerys Entertainment for various filmmakers. It started at twelve o'clock and was presided over by Ira Deutschman. Even if Simon went late or didn't go at all, it wouldn't matter much. He certainly didn't plan to be absent, but he did feel some fatigue from the long journey.
So he stood up and said, "I'll rest for two hours. Wake me up at 11:30."
Allison agreed and raised her hand in a guiding gesture.
The apartment was very large, and it wouldn't be easy for Simon to find the master bedroom himself.
Arriving at the master bedroom the two girls had tidied up not long ago, Allison pushed open the door, took Simon's coat as he removed it, and looking at the master's tall and upright frame, she thought of what Simon had just said and subconsciously followed him in.
She hung the coat on the rack and turned to find Simon sitting on the edge of the large bed, smiling at her.
Allison looked over with some hesitation and a bit of eagerness, but without the man's command, she didn't move her feet further.
Simon just looked at her for a moment, then slightly shook his head and said, "Alright, go on out."
A surge of disappointment immediately welled up.
Knowing that taking the initiative was useless, Allison had no choice but to exit the bedroom.
The fantasies that had just risen in her heart shattered along with it.
Her boss could never be some second-generation heir of BMW. At the same time, she realized once again that her mistress seemed even more terrifying than the boss.
The boss also had a female assistant by his side.
However, none of the girls ever thought that the female assistant could snatch away the mistress's position.
In that case, they obviously had even less of a chance.
---
After a brief two-hour rest, Simon began his non-stop busy schedule.
Because it was confirmed that Simon would attend this film festival, Berlin had been star-studded recently. Besides the large number of core creative teams bringing their works to the festival, many filmmakers from all continents without works had also flocked here, hoping for a chance to get in touch with Simon Westeros.
If one could hook into the Westeros network, entering Hollywood would be absolutely effortless.
Not only that, on the red carpet of the Berlin Film Festival opening ceremony later that evening, both media reporters and attending fans discovered one thing.
This year's Berlin Film Festival red carpet, compared to the past, could simply be described as a dazzling competition of beauty.
Because it was held in February, the coldest season in Europe, the Berlin Film Festival's red carpet in the past could only be described as desolate compared to the other two major film festivals. Let alone supermodels from the fashion world, even many actresses from the participating films wouldn't attend if they could help it.
It was simply too cold.
However, this time, the entire red carpet seemed to radiate a certain summons from spring.
"Wow, Michelle Pfeiffer, her red dress is truly beautiful. Just like in *Scarface* back then. Michelle, I love you!"
"Claudia Schiffer is here too."
"This one is, uh, Gong, Gong-something? Asian names are so strange, but she's really beautiful."
"And Nadja, oh my god, her legs are so long."
"Tsk, the Spanish girl looks really hot."
At the opening ceremony, on both sides of the red carpet, a pair of good buddies were incessantly critiquing the actresses on the red carpet when they suddenly heard a burst of excited screams, most of which were from women.
"Simon! Simon!"
"Ahhh, he's so handsome!"
"Simon, I love you!"
"Ah—"
Everyone looked toward the sound. At the red carpet entrance, a tall and handsome young man in a black suit strolled onto the red carpet. Alone, he seemed to command a vast space.
It was Simon Westeros.
Whether it was media reporters or fans with cameras, they all frantically pressed their shutters. The dense flashes almost enveloped the young man's figure.
Except for several burly attendants in sunglasses following along the edge of the red carpet, a whole area around Simon was cleared out. Some stars lingering on the red carpet not far ahead found that all eyes were drawn away from them. Realizing the identity of the young man behind them, they could only helplessly hurry off the red carpet. At the entrance, feeling the fervor of the crowd, many stars who wanted to step onto the red carpet also consciously stopped in their tracks; going up now meant they wouldn't get a shred of attention.
In the frenzied atmosphere, whether they were media reporters, ordinary fans, or guests on-site, everyone couldn't help but feel more or less envy and jealousy toward the young man on the red carpet.
He rose rapidly at the age of 18.
In seven years, he created Daenerys Entertainment, invested in Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco, built America Online and Ygritte, and established the Westeros business empire... Many people might only achieve one of Westeros's accomplishments in their entire lives, yet this young man was moving forward at the speed of light.
On last year's Forbes Billionaires list, Simon Westeros stood above the rest with a personal fortune of $65 billion, even surpassing the combined wealth of all other billionaires in the top ten of the American rich list. Yet, this numbing figure was still continuously increasing.
Recently, not just in North America but in many mainstream media outlets worldwide, news was being reported that the market values of both Cisco and America Online had broken through $20 billion.
Just Westeros Company's holdings in Cisco and America Online were enough to make Simon Westeros the richest man in the world.
However, these two companies were still only a part of the vast Westeros System.
At this grand cinematic event, the Berlin Film Festival, more people would not forget his achievements in the film and entertainment industry.
In the year that just passed, Daenerys Entertainment alone accounted for nearly 40% of the box office share in the North American film market. This was a feat that no major studio in more than half a century of Hollywood history had been able to achieve.
If the market values of companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, and America Online in the Westeros System were visible to the naked eye, the current Daenerys Entertainment was like a hidden dragon.
The outside world had heard rumors of Daenerys Entertainment's IPO plans more than once.
Last year, *Forbes* magazine valued Daenerys Entertainment at $25 billion. Now, with Daenerys Entertainment's continuous expansion in Hollywood, in less than a year, the most conservative valuations of this company by various media outlets exceeded $30 billion.
$30 billion—just this one asset alone would still be enough to create a world's richest man.
Countless pieces of information flashed through people's minds as they stared unblinkingly at the red carpet.
This young man, who would turn 25 in two weeks, had already become an object of global admiration at an age when many were still lost in life. If one could achieve this level of success—even just a tenth of what Westeros had achieved—it would be a life without regrets.
A reporter from North America suddenly remembered an interview article written by a reporter from the *Los Angeles Times* many years ago, just as Simon Westeros was first becoming famous.
The reporter could no longer remember the specific content of that article.
But he clearly remembered one viewpoint from the article: A miracle descended on earth.