When Daniel got home, Susan was still at the lab.
"Welcome home, sir."
The entire villa had now been taken over by the AI. The moment Daniel stepped into the living room, he heard its voice.
Carol only stayed for a little while before leaving.
Although Daniel's house was huge and had plenty of empty rooms, Carol refused to stay there. She left Leo at Daniel's place and went home by herself. She simply couldn't get used to the smell of dog food and the traces of a pet being everywhere, but Daniel didn't mind much.
It was better this way, because with Carol gone, she wouldn't be a third wheel and interfere with his alone time with Susan. Now that Carol was back safe and sound, and more than half a month had passed, Daniel had already started finding her a little annoying.
After moving his new suit into his walk-in wardrobe and admiring it for a while, Daniel got ready to head out. Today, he was going to pick Susan up from work, because he really needed to maintain his relationship with Susan. Otherwise...
Before long, he and Carol would be heading to Hala to stir up trouble, then spend some time wandering around the cosmos. If everything went quickly, they'd be gone for three to five months. If not, it could easily take a year or two.
And if he came back only to discover she had moved on, earth might actually explode.
So, for the sake of Earth's safety and all of humanity, Daniel decided he'd just have to sacrifice himself by making absolutely sure he won Susan's heart before he left.
He'd heard there were quite a few people in Susan's lab who had a crush on her. This time, he intended to crush every single one of those rivals.
Daniel was full of confidence. He was outstanding in every way. If he added a little romance to the mix, wouldn't Susan fall for him even more?
He took a shower, styled his hair, and even sprayed on some cologne. Dressed in a vibranium suit, Daniel stood in front of the mirror admiring himself for quite a while.
"So handsome! How can someone as handsome as me even exist?"
"I'm obviously handsome enough to live off my looks, but I insist on relying on my abilities instead!"
"I'm just too outstanding!"
After spending several more minutes appreciating his own good looks, he casually picked a watch from his watch case and prepared to leave.
He didn't actually know what brand it was. He didn't own many watches anyway, just a few dozen, and half of them had been bought by Tony.
As Tony always said, "Every successful man deserves a watch worthy of his status. You're nothing but a nouveau riche who doesn't know the first thing about style!"
Tony absolutely despised Daniel's taste, because despite being filthy rich, Daniel lived more frugally than the average middle-class person.
After becoming wealthy, what had Daniel actually done? Aside from buying a villa and spending money on Susan, he'd dumped the rest of his money in his savings account and in his basement, where it had basically sat untouched ever since.
Eventually Tony couldn't take it anymore. He dragged Daniel to auto shows, bought him cars, liquor, watches... buy, buy, buy...
Later, when Daniel got tired of all the shopping, he simply told Tony to buy him an extra one whenever he was buying things for himself, then deduct the cost from Daniel's dividends.
That was why Daniel now had a garage full of luxury cars, all kinds of expensive watches, and an entire wine cellar.
It was all thanks to Tony, and Tony was more than happy to help Daniel shop. Mostly because every time Daniel looked completely clueless after receiving another expensive item, Tony got to make fun of him.
It was incredibly satisfying, and besides, it was no trouble at all.
Daniel picked out a Ferrari F50 that Tony had recently sent over and drove out. The red F50 was Ferrari's latest model that year, with only 349 units produced worldwide, and Tony had spent ages explaining everything about it.
It was Ferrari's flagship model released to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary, and it had a 520-horsepower engine.
Daniel understood none of it, all he knew was that he never drove faster than 100 miles per hour. He was an experienced driver, after all, steady and safe.
Halfway there, Daniel stopped to buy a bouquet of roses, placed it on the passenger seat, and drove to Susan's lab. After waiting for more than ten minutes, Susan finally came out carrying a folder.
Daniel got out of the car with the roses and stepped in front of her.
"What are you doing here?"
Susan looked genuinely surprised. Why had Daniel suddenly come to pick her up today?
She'd been working at this lab for more than three years, and on average, Daniel came to pick her up less than once a year.
"Because I missed you, sweetheart."
Daniel spoke gently, flashing a warm smile. He was convinced Susan must be deeply moved right now. Surely, she was about to reward him with a kiss, so he just leaned in. Instead, Susan shoved him away.
"Are you... Daniel?"
She frowned, because something felt wrong. She leaned closer and sniffed.
"Who are you?"
In Susan's memory, Daniel had never worn cologne. He naturally carried the warm scent of sun, but the man standing before her smelled of perfume.
Having spent so much time with Daniel, Susan also knew there were aliens capable of taking on other people's appearances, but instead of panicking, she became a little excited.
Her ordinary life was finally getting interesting, someone actually dared impersonate Daniel, just thinking about it was amusing.
"Who exactly are you?"
Her gaze sharpened as one hand quietly rested on her phone. She pressed the concealed emergency button beneath it, and with a single press, a distress signal was sent directly to Daniel.
Then she took several cautious steps backward.
At that exact moment, Daniel's phone rang.
"Hang on, let me answer this."
He glanced at the screen. Seeing that Susan was calling, he blinked in confusion.
"Why did you press the emergency button?"
Susan stared at the phone in his hand before asking uncertainly, "Are you... really Daniel?"
"Who would be stupid enough to impersonate me?" Daniel asked.
"But you've been acting really strangely today..."
After spending quite a while explaining himself, Daniel finally convinced Susan that he really was who he claimed to be, and the misunderstanding was finally cleared up.
Unfortunately, all the romance he'd carefully prepared had been completely ruined.
Watching Daniel concentrate so seriously on driving, Susan finally accepted that he was genuine, because no one except Daniel could drive this terribly.
"So why did you dress yourself up like this today?"
"I just wanted to surprise you."
Daniel sighed dejectedly.
He'd gone through all that effort to make himself look nice, only for his own girlfriend to suspect he was an impostor.
"Am I usually that sloppy?"
After thinking about it for a moment, she came to a conclusion.
Yeah, maybe he was.
After such an embarrassing misunderstanding, Daniel completely lost interest in trying to be romantic.
All that stuff felt meaningless anyway. It would be much more effective to simply win Susan over in bed. As soon as they got home and stepped through the front door, Daniel pounced on her.
"I... want to take a shower first."
Susan's voice had already grown hazy.
"You can shower later."
...
It wasn't until the following morning that Susan finally managed to wash up, her entire body sore and weak.
She shot Daniel a resentful look. Every time he came back, nothing good ever happened, now she definitely wouldn't be making it to the lab today.
So, calling her supervisor, Susan said she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be able to come in. Her supervisor told her to get plenty of rest and even encouraged her to take a few more days off if necessary.
Susan's supervisor treated her exceptionally well. What she didn't know was that Daniel had quietly donated money to the lab and asked them to look after her, but everything had been kept secret.
If Susan ever found out, she'd definitely lose her temper.
After finishing her shower, Daniel was already eager to start again.
"I really can't..."
Wrapped in a bath towel, Susan's voice carried a hint of temptation, but her body simply couldn't take any more.
"Wait here."
Daniel jumped out of bed.
"I'll make you something that'll help."
Neither of them had eaten yet, so Daniel headed into the kitchen and cooked a piece of Beast God's meat for Susan.
After she finished eating, Daniel continued where they'd left off.
Romance just wasn't his style.
He preferred relying on his own... abilities.