Chapter 190: Mother’s Gratitude

Michael began to understand why Skylar didn’t want him to watch the documentary for the first week after it was published.

Before he could answer the woman that had asked him for his number, a shadow crept behind her.

“Hello.” Richard said calmly, startling her.

“You see… I’m pretty new to this bodyguard thing, but I have a strong suspicion that just walking into our store and immediately asking one of our staff members for their number, without even bothering to make a purchase, could be considered harassment.”

The woman felt a chill down her spine seeing Richard’s scary face.

“P—Please forgive me! I didn’t mean to cause offense.”

The Grandmaster sighed inwardly. Truthfully, under normal circumstances he wouldn’t have stopped the woman from speaking with his Boss. However, Ava, who was quietly waiting from the side, was throwing quite the glare.

Richard was 99% sure if he didn’t intervene, the woman would have an ’accident’ that would cripple her for life.

“Skylar is quite the genius.” Scarlett murmured under her breath.

As it turned out, the incident where a woman would enter the store and immediately approach Michael for his number happened multiple times throughout the day. As such, he decided to watch the documentary the reporters had released once his shift was over.

[Thirsty Lady: AHHH! The merciless soldier returns! I was his number one fan!]

[Anon420: I feel like the documentary was staged, but honestly I don’t give a shit. I would kill for eye candy like Michael!]

[Michael’s wife: Apparently he is still at his family store. I plan to go and ask him for his number! Wish me luck!]

[Wanderer: Quite selfish, trying to hog him all for yourself, don’t you think?!]

[Cat_person: Ladies, if we were to share him there would be no need for fighting amongst ourselves!]

[Harem is the way: It should have been me, not him! It’s not fair!]

[Cultured Gentleman: Our pain truly knows no bounds, brother, but fear not! After my extensive research, I finally managed to find a natural one! It’s quite pricey, but the spicy videos are definitely worth it! Check your DMs.]

[Lurkerer: Care to share the sauce?]

Michael heaved a sigh. It was quite clear that the video was targeted towards a female audience, which, while fine by itself, worried him that they would be missing out on half of the population.

The dream of his mother was to operate a prosperous cafe, but he was pretty certain that she wanted it to be popular with everybody, not just women.

However, when he requested a meeting with Skylar, she seemed quite sure of herself.

“No, no, no.” Skylar said, waving her finger in front of her face. “This is how we propel the store into the mainstream!”

With an arched eyebrow, Michael crossed his arms. “Elaborate.”

“Many people fail in advertising because they try to cater to everyone, which only makes their message feel shallow.” Skylar exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“In reality the best way to increase your popularity would be to attract women customers! The more the merrier!”

Puffing her chest in pride, she continued. “And before you ask why, it’s simple! Wherever, there are a lot of women gathering; men would inevitably follow. This is quite literally the law of nature!”

Michael nodded thoughtfully. ’She is right, I didn’t even consider marketing the shop this way… Fortunately, it seems that she is quite capable in what she is doing.’

Judging that the approach of the reporters was the correct one, Michael decided to let things be.

Initially, for the first few days, the customer base was overwhelmingly women. However, just like Skylar had claimed, rumors began to spread online about a coffee shop that was always full of ladies.

Even more effective since most of the women that had been intrigued by Michael’s documentary being young led to men recently out of puberty taking interest in the store.

Certainly, it was a new experience for most, as these men didn’t usually care for cafes. But over time, they began to appreciate the atmosphere and top-notch service Ava and Scarlett provided, to the point where they started coming back on their own, forgetting about the women altogether.

With the documentary gaining more popularity, some haters inevitably showed up claiming how over-the-top and staged the documentary was. Yet with people that lived nearby confirming that the gang had indeed perished with no sightings of them, nobody could call it fake news. At best they could call it embellished truth, yet that didn’t really hurt the credibility of the documentary.

“Two omelets, five scrambled eggs, and three waffles!” Ava relayed the order to the cook.

“Coming right up.” Richard said, aside from acting as a bodyguard, he also realized that he was a proficient cook. That led him to take the role, allowing Ava to focus on being a waitress.

Isabella, who had been busy cleaning a coffee mug, suddenly stopped, her eyes trailing across the busy coffee shop that was beaming with life.

“Ah…” Slowly her eyes began to tear up, her lips trembling slightly.

“Mother? Is something wrong?” Alerted that something had gone amiss Michael checked up on his mother.

“I…” Isabella began to feel a lump forming in the back of her throat. Gradually she neared Michael, taking him in her embrace.

“I am glad to have you… Thank you for fulfilling my dream even when I repeatedly told you there is no need to get involved.”

She whispered, her arms tightening around him.

“Truly… I couldn’t have asked for a better son than you.”

“…”

Left speechless by her words, he could only accept her hug.

“There is no need to thank me. It’s only natural that I will help my mother.” He replied a second later.

Meanwhile, at one of the buildings belonging to the Golden Vanguard, Victoria flipped through several documents on her desk.

With her status as a Grandmaster, she held an authority that many could only dream of. Honestly, she herself had a tough time adjusting.

“Venus seems to be doing the worst. Without a doubt it will be the next place where the squad should go once Michael assembles us. Perhaps I should contact him about the matter…”

Her words trailed off. Having spent more than a week away from Michael for the first time ever, her heart felt weird. She yearned to see him again.

As she logged into the internet to take a breather, a certain trending documentary caught her interest. For some reason, it was overwhelmingly recommended by women.

Curious, she decided to watch it, only to choke on her drink when the first frame showcased a familiar silhouette.

“Michael?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep