Chapter 229: Guests

Friday, 26th September 2025…

During almost an entire month, Villa number 5 had not seen guests, with only Adrian and Lucas occasionally coming by.

As Michael, during all this time, he had remained within the villa, without going out.

He had been so much focused on acquiring SP, with an average of 4 skills pushed to the expert level on each single day.

It had become something like a routine, waking up early in the morning, pushing a skill to the expert level, after a break, pushing it another skill to the expert level, then lunch, yet another two skills before he went to bed.

The following morning, it would still be the same routine, which was quite boring if one had to admit.

Even for Michael, it was kind of tiresome, but what other choice did he have? He had an advantage, considering that he had the system. But still, he needed to put in enough effort, in order to be able to succeed.

During this time, in the past 24 days, Michael had managed to push a total of 95 skills to the expert level, pushing the total number of skills that he had in possession to 205 skills.

Of course, with the addition of the skills, his SP had also surged with an additional 571,045 points, bringing his balance to 725,677 points!

This was a massive amount of wealth that he had managed to accumulate, still, Michael wasn’t complacent. After all, there were quite a lot of things that could not be acquired with money.

Since that was the case, he would have to depend on the system store in order to be able to acquire them. And for that to happen, he would need to have sufficient number of store points.

As usual, today, just like any other day, the villa was tranquil, almost as though there was no one at home at the moment.

The sun had dipped low with a tired glow, its warmth softened into something gentler. The air carried a faint chill that hadn’t been there weeks ago, as shadows stretched longer than they should.

Leaves stirred with a dry whisper underfoot, and the sky faded from pale gold to a muted blue, as if summer had finally loosened its grip and stepped aside for autumn.

And at this moment, outside Villa number 5 in Riverside residential area, two people arrived.

“So, this is the place? I never expected that he would be staying in such a place. Though, it barely matches his status, considering that this is a small city.” One of them, the youngest of the two, spoke as he looked at the villa from outside the low perimeter wall.

“Young master, it is already good enough to be able to find such a good place in this small city. But if this villa is taken to the central province, barely anyone would pay any attention to it.” The oldest of the two also commented as he nodded.

The young man did not say anything, instead, he approached the villa. Currently, the small gate was not locked, so, they were able to easily enter into the courtyard of the villa.

Reaching the main door of the villa, the oldest of the two pressed the doorbell, and the two of them waited.

They did not have to wait for long, considering that just a few seconds after the bell had been pressed, the door opened, revealing Michael.

His hair was neatly trimmed and carefully combed, lying flat. He was dressed casually for the late-September evening, a soft long-sleeve top worn loose at the wrists, comfortable cotton trousers, and indoor slippers.

The moment that Michael appeared, he gazed at the two people outside the door, immediately recognizing them.

Even though he had never met them before, he had already gotten the information on them quite a while ago.

“Well, that is unexpected. I thought that you might have taken after your mother’s appearance. It seems that the genes of the Santos family are quite deep in you.” The young man spoke with a slight smile on his face.

“Is there anything that I can help you with?” Michael simply shook his head as he asked.

He did not have the time to bother with these guys. So, he just wanted them to go straight to the point, so that he could get back to earning SP.

“Seriously? You are not even inviting your cousin in? Oh, my bad. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Henry Santos. I am your cousin, my father is the younger brother to your father.” The young man introduced himself as he stretched his hand towards Michael.

Michael shook hands with him, still, his expression was still calm and indifferent, as though he was not surprised by the identity of this person.

Ever since Henry had began investigating about Michael, Michael already knew. And when he stepped in Brenton City, Onyx already paid attention to him, and even his arrival at Riverside Residential area did not go unnoticed.

Henry on the other hand could not help but raise his brows slightly at Michael’s reaction. Initially, he bought that Michael would be shocked by this, but unexpectedly, it seemed that Michael already knew about him?

Additionally, from his appearance, it was as though he was already expecting them to come here. This was something that shocked Henry, considering that his movements had been quite subtle, trying to make sure that he will not attract anyone’s attention.

Currently, even his father did not know that he had come here. So, it was quite a surprise to him that Michael might have known that he was coming over.

“Okay, come inside. But I really don’t have much time, so, I would prefer you to go straight to the point on the reason why you came to find me.” Michael simply shook his head as he turned around and entered the villa, leaving the door open.

Henry gazed at Chris who was standing beside him, before he shook his head slightly and silently followed behind Michael.

Even though his villa was more luxurious than villa number 5, Henry continuously looked around, as though he was trying to get familiar with his surroundings.

Michael did not mind, as he went ahead and sat on the couch, while Henry and Chris sat on the couch opposite Michael’s.

“So, hope you would let me know what reason you came to find me.” Michael spark calmly.

Henry on the other hand revealed a faint smile, as he commented sarcastically, “Well, I have to admit that you are very good at hosting guests.”

Seeing no reaction from Michael, he simply decided not to pursue the matter anymore. Instead, his expression became serious.

While gazing directly at Michael, he said, “Actually, I have always been curious about you. While I was growing up, I heard rumors that apart from my father, my grandfather had another son, who was older than my father.

According to the rumors, it seemed that my eldest uncle had left home together with his girlfriend, who was pregnant at that time.

Nobody knew where they had gone to, and it is already a little over 18 years now.

It was only recently that someone began investigating the Santos family, especially Michael Santos. It was obvious that they were investigating about you, but they linked you to the Santos family.

It was only then that I came to know about your presence. So, I did a little bit of investigation, though I was not sure if it was true that you were my cousin or not.

But today, after meeting you, I can be sure that you are indeed my cousin. After all, I can see that there is some form of resemblance between you and my uncle’s photos.”

“That’s it? Is that really what brought you here?” Michael looked at Henry as he asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

He just found it unbelievable. Just out of curiosity, Henry decided to come and look for him? Why did that not make any sense?

Could it be that this guy was so idle that he decided to come and look for him just to pass time? Otherwise, why would he even come to look for him just because of something like this?

“Actually, that is the main reason why I came to look for you. But another reason is to invite you back to the family. Your father left the family back then, before you were even born.

But now, you are already an adult. And considering the small amount of information that I managed to obtain on you, I believe that you are not simple.

So, why don’t you come back to the family, and help us manage the family business? Our family doesn’t have that many sons, of our current generation, as apart from myself and you, there are only other two more.

But those two are complete idiots, all that they know is how to fight. But from what I can see in you, it is clear that you are someone who uses his brain.

I believe that if the two of us take charge of the family in the future, we can bring it to new heights, and it would not be impossible for us to be able to conquer the entire nation, or even spread our influence worldwide.

And, since grandpa has been nurturing you all this while, I believe that you have some sense of responsibility, right?” Henry went ahead and explained, before he suddenly asked a question that left Michael momentarily speechless.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep