blueteamnovel Chapter 197: System Exposed
Chapter 197: System Exposed
The Go board was clearly new, though it was made of high-quality Torreya wood. Even so, the set was quite valuable.
"Brother, you like to play Go?"
Warren Valentine replied casually, "I play a game or two when I’m bored. I wouldn’t say I particularly like or dislike it."
Having gone to great lengths, spending favors and money to find this Go board, Whitney Valentine could no longer even maintain her fake smile.
To be fair, as Dragonspire’s number one socialite, Whitney Valentine had the looks and bearing to command a room. She was also a master of pretense, acting kind to everyone with a constant smile on her face. With her delicate voice and top-tier fashion, she certainly seemed appealing.
But on closer inspection, one would notice her expressions were too formulaic, giving off a distinctly artificial vibe.
Now that she had dropped the smile, she actually looked a bit more genuine.
’His real sister is back. Did you think you could win him over with a Go board? I told you not to get any funny ideas, but you just had to ignore me. Look at you now. 2.95 million down the drain, gift delivered, and you got absolutely nothing for it.’
Riley Perry’s senses tingled, and she shot a look at Whitney Valentine. That mechanical voice was clearly talking to Whitney. ’It doesn’t sound like an artifact spirit,’ Riley thought. ’My Leo sounds like a child, not at all this robotic. It looks like this Miss Valentine is bound to a system.’
Whitney Valentine shot back in her mind, ’Shut up! If you weren’t so useless, would I have to be racking my brain trying to suck up to my uncle’s family?’
’Too bad sucking up to them for over twenty years has been completely useless.’
It infuriated her. They were both their grandfather’s sons, but her father just had to go into business. He had money, sure, but no power. Compared to her uncle, he was worlds apart.
The system’s voice piped up again. ’Host, your mission in this world was simply to change the original owner’s fate of being abducted and sold. Your fate has already been changed. Just live your own life. Why do you insist on going against the female lead?’
Whitney couldn’t explain it to the system; a machine could never understand complex human emotions. ’I already have a system,’ she fumed internally, ’so why can’t I be this world’s female lead?’
Besides, Riley Perry was never this beautiful before. Now that she’s returned to the Valentine Family looking like this, won’t she completely overshadow me?
She would absolutely not allow that to happen.
’Are you sure this world’s male lead is Cole Sinclair?’
System: ’No. Cole Sinclair is this world’s Son of Fortune!’
Greed sparked in Whitney Valentine’s heart. She didn’t know that Riley Perry and Cole Sinclair were already together—not that she would have cared even if she did. Whatever she set her sights on, she had to have. Otherwise, what was the point of living if you had to hold back?!
"Oh, come on, Brother. Don’t be like that. You used to love it. Just go ahead and accept it."
Warren Valentine actually had no intention of returning the Go set. ’After all, it’s worth a bit of money,’ he thought. ’Now that I’ve found my real sister, there will be a lot more things to spend money on.’
"Thanks, then."
Seeing Warren Valentine actually accept her gift, Whitney Valentine cheered up. Only then did she deign to pay Riley Perry any attention. She walked over, sat down on Riley’s other side, glanced at Iris Weldon, and then said to Riley, "Hello, cousin. I’m Whitney Valentine, your older cousin. I’ll take you out and show you a good time from now on."
Riley Perry blinked her big, beautiful eyes and switched on her passive-aggressive mode. "Don’t you have a job, cousin? How old are you? You look about seven or eight years older than me, which would put you in your thirties. How come all you think about is having fun?"
Iris Weldon, who had been getting quite annoyed with her niece, suddenly wasn’t angry anymore. She nudged her son aside, sat down next to her own daughter, and listened with rapt attention as Riley mocked Whitney.
Whitney Valentine’s face froze. ’Am I really that old? I’m not even twenty-seven!’
As if only just realizing she’d misspoken, Riley Perry patted Whitney Valentine’s shoulder in a mock apology. "Oh my, cousin, did I say something wrong? I’m so sorry. I’m just a bit too blunt sometimes. Please don’t take it to heart!
"You should stay for lunch, cousin. Don’t go. My mom prepared a huge spread."
Riley was itching with curiosity. She was rather intrigued by Whitney Valentine’s system, so she had to find a way to make her stay.
Warren Valentine raised an eyebrow. ’That was a rather abrupt change of topic.’ But since his sister had extended the invitation, she must have her reasons. He chimed in, "That’s right, don’t go. You’re in for a treat today. The kitchen has prepared a lot of special dishes."
Seeing both her children had spoken up, Iris Weldon certainly wasn’t going to object. She turned to her son. "Later, remember to remind Dawn to come home for lunch. She tends to lose track of time when she gets busy."
"Mom, does Dad not come home for lunch?"
"Mm, he’s very busy. Forget lunch, we’re lucky if he can make it home once a week."
Riley Perry smiled and opened the gifts she had brought. "Then you can give it to him for me, Mom. These are for you and Dad. You can hold on to his for now."
There were two gifts. One was a Nourishing Body Pill.
Because of her daughter’s disappearance, Iris Weldon had been ill for a long time, leaving her with numerous chronic health problems. Without proper care, she would at most live for another ten years or so.
Of course, for Riley Perry, this wasn’t a major issue. A single Nourishing Body Pill could take care of it.
The gift for Mr. Valentine was two porcelain jars of Spirit Fruit wine, which she had brewed herself. A small cup each day would be extremely effective for improving one’s health.
Whitney Valentine couldn’t resist interjecting, "Cousin, these things don’t even have a brand name on them. They aren’t some unlicensed products, are they? How can Uncle use something like this?"
Iris Weldon snatched the two gift boxes and clutched them to her chest. "Why can’t he? He’ll treasure these two little jars of wine more than anything."
"Mom, if you can drink, you can have a little too. I brewed it myself, so it might have a bit of a kick. One small cup a day is enough. Any more and you might be drunk for two days."
Warren Valentine was suddenly intrigued. "Now I want to try some."
"You can drink it too, Brother. When you run out, I’ll bring more." ’After all,’ she thought, ’it only has benefits and no drawbacks.’
Whitney Valentine’s system piped up again. ’Are you an idiot? They’re having a loving family moment, and you just have to stick your nose in. Now you’re all upset, and they’re annoyed just looking at you. If it were me, I would’ve left ages ago.’
The system had clearly decided to just give up. It said whatever was on its mind, regardless of whether its host wanted to hear it.
’Being stuck with a host like this is the worst luck in eight lifetimes,’ it lamented. ’All this worrying and not a single word of thanks. If only I could have been bound to the female lead instead.’
Riley thought to herself, ’Isn’t that the truth?’ This cousin of hers was certainly shameless.
As noon approached, Dawn York actually came home. The first words out of her mouth were, "Riley, where’s my gift?"
Riley Perry: ’Why is she asking for a gift right off the bat? Did someone tell her?’
Iris Weldon: ’...Heh heh. I might have accidentally posted about it on social media. And maybe bragged a little in the family group chat.’
Riley Perry said, "Your gift is a little special, Sis. Let’s go to my room."
Dawn York was delighted. "Let’s go, let’s go! I can’t wait."
The two of them, completely ignoring everyone else, went straight upstairs to Riley’s room.