Chapter Twenty-Two: A Friend Who Understands

"You kept refusing to listen yourself, what was I supposed to do?" Tony Stark replied, a little sheepish but unwilling to admit defeat.

"Forget it. What did you call me for?" Harvey, seeing Tony still being stubborn, couldn't be bothered to press the issue and asked directly.

"It's rare enough to actually get through to you—why not come over to my place for a chat?" Tony immediately perked up, extending an invitation. "I have something I want to show you."

Of course, he wanted to flaunt his latest technological breakthroughs to Harvey Ambelarca. He mostly used his Mark II suit, but over the past month, he’d already upgraded to Mark V. Only he knew about these improvements.

Tony imagined Harvey’s awe at seeing his new suits in the lab, and couldn’t help but smile.

"Will there be food?" Harvey, surprised at the invitation, considered for a moment before replying with a question.

"Food?" Tony was momentarily taken aback, still lost in his own daydreams. "Harvey Ambelarca, I rarely invite anyone to my home. I call you over and the first thing you ask is if there’s anything to eat?"

But then Tony remembered a rumor circulating among New York’s upper crust: Harvey Ambelarca’s appetite was bottomless. The story had gained traction at Stark’s charity gala a month ago, where Tony himself witnessed Harvey’s remarkable enjoyment of the food.

"Wait… I can have something prepared," Tony quickly recovered.

"Have your staff prepare dinner for a hundred people. I’ll be there soon," Harvey replied without hesitation. The moment he finished, he hung up, changed his clothes, and headed out.

"Jarvis, what did he just say?" Tony wondered if he’d misheard.

"Sir, you heard correctly. Mr. Harvey Ambelarca requested dinner for a hundred people," Jarvis confirmed at once.

"Jarvis, contact the top chefs from a five-star hotel. Get them to deliver as quickly as possible. Aside from the cost of the dishes, offer each chef five thousand dollars as a rush fee," Tony ordered. The last thing he wanted was for Harvey Ambelarca to complain about his hospitality.

"Understood, sir," Jarvis responded and immediately began making arrangements.

In truth, Tony’s motives weren’t solely to show off. There were other matters he wanted to discuss with Harvey—such as his thoughts on the Avengers Initiative. If possible, he even wanted to broach the subject of extraterrestrials. Perhaps Harvey Ambelarca already knew about alien life in the universe? Tony couldn’t be sure, but with that, he left his lab and sat in the living room on the first floor.

"What’s going on?" Pepper, noticing Tony had come back upstairs and was now restlessly sitting in the living room, asked with concern.

"Nothing, just wanted to sit here for a bit," Tony paused before answering.

"Jarvis?" Pepper, unconvinced, turned to Jarvis for clarification.

"Sir is expecting a guest," Jarvis replied.

"What guest? Just someone dropping by," Tony interjected.

"What guest? Why didn’t I know about this?" Pepper pressed, her curiosity piqued.

"It’s Mr. Harvey Ambelarca. He’s on his way now," Jarvis replied honestly.

"When did they become friends?" Pepper was surprised. She knew of Harvey Ambelarca but wasn’t aware Tony was close with him.

"In the past month," Jarvis answered.

Pepper was momentarily puzzled by Jarvis’s vague reply.

"No need for more questions. The point is, Harvey Ambelarca is coming over. There’ll be a lot of food delivered soon—please help receive it," Tony cut off her curiosity with instructions.

That only made Pepper even more confused. Hadn’t they just eaten dinner?

"The food is for Mr. Harvey Ambelarca. He has an impressive appetite, so we need to prepare extra," Jarvis explained, seeing her bewilderment.

"So the rumors are true?" Pepper asked in amazement.

"While I can’t comprehend how a human could eat so much, the rumors are indeed accurate."

"Not even professional eating champions can match him?"

"Correct. Currently, no eating champion in the world has an appetite to rival Mr. Harvey Ambelarca’s."

Pepper and Jarvis continued their discussion. Soon, more than twenty minutes had passed.

"Sir, Mr. Harvey Ambelarca has arrived at the gates. I’ve opened them for him," Jarvis announced.

The villa’s doors opened automatically. Harvey was unsurprised by any of this.

Pepper saw Harvey Ambelarca walking in, dressed in a crisp white suit, strikingly handsome and upright. For a moment, she was stunned. Most of the attractive men she saw were white; handsome young men of Asian descent were rare. Though this wasn’t her first time meeting him, she’d only seen him in passing before and hadn’t paid much attention. Now, with him visiting in person, she found herself a bit dazzled—after all, who could ignore such a charming presence?

A discreet cough from the side brought her back to reality.

"Hello, Mr. Harvey Ambelarca," Pepper lowered her head, then looked up with a polite smile.

"Hello, Miss Pepper Potts," Harvey replied just as courteously.

"Let’s go downstairs and talk," Tony said, getting up and gesturing toward the basement with his thumb.

Harvey glanced at Pepper thoughtfully, then nodded.

"Pepper, no need to serve us coffee unless I ask. We’ll come back up once we’re done," Tony instructed as he led Harvey downstairs.

Pepper, curious about Tony’s mysterious behavior, could only agree.

"If you won’t let her know, then clearly what you want to discuss with me isn’t just your latest tech inventions," Harvey remarked as they reached the stairs.

"I suppose I couldn’t hide it from you. Since you’ve guessed what I want to talk about, you also know these aren’t matters she should be privy to," Tony admitted, a trace of resignation in his voice.

"It’s not that you think she shouldn’t know, more that if she did, she wouldn’t understand you," Harvey observed, glancing at Pepper, who was still watching them with curiosity, and then at Tony, who seemed preoccupied.

"It’s not just her—there are many who wouldn’t understand. That’s why I called you," Tony sighed.

"Then I’m all ears," Harvey said, pausing with a faint smile.

"Jarvis, they really do look like friends," Pepper commented. She couldn’t hear their conversation, but saw Tony and Harvey already deep in discussion before they even reached the basement lab.

"Sir isn’t good at expressing his feelings, but my judgment is never wrong," Jarvis replied with a hint of pride. Though he didn’t know Harvey Ambelarca well, anyone for whom Tony Stark had persistently asked him to call, day after day for a month, must share some common ground with Tony Stark.