Chapter 39
Riley: Wow! My son has grown up so much!
"Hmph, this bunch of useless trash dares to put on airs in front of me, do they really think they're some kind of genius scientists..."
After hanging up the phone and making the necessary arrangements to prevent Dr. Connors from backing out halfway through,
Norman Osborne muttered curses to himself as he raised his hand and irritably tugged at his tie.
After a moment of silence, Norman Osborn, having composed himself, picked up his phone again and dialed another number.
However, compared to their arrogance not long ago...
Norman Osborne, on the other hand, seemed like a completely different person this time, his tone full of flattery and ingratiation.
"Hello, General Ross... Yes, that's right, it's me. I hope this call at this hour isn't bothering you?"
"I'm glad I didn't disturb you. So, I saw a news report about your operation to capture the Hulk in Brazil... Hey, hey, don't get me wrong, I'm not calling to mock you. Even if you had a million lives, I wouldn't dare do that!"
"What I mean is, you must have many wounded soldiers under your command, some even disabled, right?"
"One of our employees at Osborn has recently developed a serum that claims to enhance the body's self-healing abilities, even enabling limb regeneration. Would you be interested?"
……
Meanwhile, on the other side...
……
"Oh? Gwen invited us to her house for dinner tomorrow?"
Back home, Riley took a nice hot shower and changed into soft pajamas. She was ready to get a good night's sleep and recover from the jet lag of her international trip.
But at that moment, Peter entered the room and awkwardly told Riley the news that instantly banished Riley's sleepiness!
Then, with a swift movement, he sat up in bed, revealing the typical uncle-like smile of a bystander, and jokingly said in an exaggerated tone.
"Oh my, that's something! Our Parker's eldest son has finally grown up and knows how to flirt with girls... Come on, Peter, who kissed whom first?"
"Huh? It seems like I kissed first... No! What kissing nonsense are you spouting?!"
At first, Peter, who was just beginning to experience romantic feelings, was inevitably a little embarrassed. In order to maintain his composure, he didn't have time to think and subconsciously responded to Riley's question.
Peter stopped abruptly when he realized something was wrong halfway through his sentence.
His face flushed red, and he gestured wildly with his hands, trying to defend himself.
"Gwen simply invited us brothers to her house for dinner. And it's not like we haven't been there before. How did it come out differently in your mouth!"
"But in the past, when Gwen invited us to her house for dinner, she always informed her father first, and then Sheriff George would call me, right? The fact that you're the one relaying the message can only mean one thing—there's something between you two that you're hiding from me. Like, some silly boy has finally faced his true feelings, mustered up the courage, and confessed his feelings to our school beauty?"
Unfortunately, even ignoring the first half, that self-destructive, truck-like statement was already too late to retract...
To Peter's close friend who grew up with him, Peter's explanation sounded like a blatant attempt to cover up his misdeeds, completely confirming Riley's suspicions.
Therefore, seeing this awkward young couple finally break through the barrier and truly come together.
Riley, who had been eagerly anticipating this day, had a smile on his face that became noticeably more radiant.
She reached out and patted Peter on the shoulder, gesturing for him to sit on the edge of the bed. Then, without hiding her enthusiastic gossip, she asked Peter with shining eyes.
"In other words, Gwen wants to introduce you to her parents, but she's afraid her dad will reject you, so she's dragging me along as a third wheel to shield you two... Well, I'm fine with going with you to see Sheriff George, but you'd better tell me properly how you two got together while I was away, how about it?"
"...Sigh, okay, okay, I knew I couldn't hide it from you... Stop pretending, I'll tell you, alright? This all started when you called me before you left, on that day..."
Meanwhile, seeing Riley, who seemed even happier than he was after learning that he and Gwen were together, Peter felt a surge of warmth in his heart.
After all, there was a secret that Peter would never admit to Riley in his entire life...
As the saying goes, the eldest brother is like a father.
Over the years, Riley and Peter have accompanied each other and grown together, even though Riley and Peter are about the same age.
But the mature demeanor he occasionally displayed always made Peter, who had lacked parental companionship since childhood, unable to help but take on the role of "father" as Riley, who had always been by his side, not only standing up for him when he was bullied, but also always doing his best to care for and look after him.
This is why Peter, who knew Riley well, knew that if he told Riley this news, Riley would immediately guess the hidden secret. But Peter still followed Riley into the room as soon as she returned, eager to share the good news with her.
The reason was simple: Peter genuinely wanted Riley's blessing and approval in this budding relationship.
That's why, seeing Riley easily expose the truth just as she predicted, she didn't offer any mockery or discouragement, nor did she suggest that Peter was unworthy of Gwen, or that Gwen, as an ordinary person, was unworthy of Peter after gaining superpowers. Instead, her words and actions revealed her support for their relationship.
Peter then breathed a sigh of relief, and then, feigning helplessness, raised his hands in surrender and honestly recounted what had happened that day.
However, due to the confidentiality agreement signed with Osborne during his internship, and the fact that Peter only wanted to share his joy of winning Riley's heart at that moment, he was bound to be excluded.
Therefore, in his narration, Peter deliberately omitted the fact that he handed over the formula for the decay rate algorithm to Dr. Connors and helped Dr. Connors create a new version of lizard serum, enabling the mice to survive and achieve the feat of limb regeneration.
So much so that one side naturally assumed that since they had only been away for a short time, the other shouldn't cause much trouble. The other side, meanwhile, planned to deliberately conceal their involvement as a surprise after the lizard serum's official release…
What the Parker brothers didn't know was...
A crisis that is about to engulf the entire city of New York is quietly brewing...