Chapter 191 | The House

Chapter 191: 191 | The House

"Thank you for your assistance, Marcus."

"My pleasure! Absolutely my pleasure! And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call."

Dexter nodded once and stepped into the hallway.

The elevator ride down was smooth and silent. He stepped out into the lobby, walked through the marble archway, and emerged into the morning sunlight.

He stood on the plaza for a moment, looking up at the extraordinary building with its cascading plants and prismatic glass.

He had a house now.

He pulled out his phone and checked the time.

9:47 AM.

Plasmatic Man’s meeting was at twelve. He had two hours.

Two hours to drive to his new house, see it for the first time, and decide if it was truly as perfect as the holographic image had suggested.

Dexter walked to his SUV, climbed in, and entered the address into the navigation system.

Destination: Harvest Crest Residence, Plot 47, Edge District 3.

Estimated drive time: 38 minutes.

He started the engine and pulled out of the parking garage.

He needed to see the house first, Needed to verify that the holographic images and the enthusiastic sales pitch matched reality.

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The drive took 42 minutes.

He drove through the city and then the city ended.

Instead, the urban landscape simply... ran out. The last row of houses faced an open expanse of cleared land, beyond which the wilderness buffer zone began.

There were trees, grasses and distant silhouette of mountains on the horizon.

Dexter turned into the development.

He drove slowly, studying the neighborhood through the windshield.

Marcus had described it as a newly built estate, and the description was accurate.

The houses were fresh with the streets smooth, newly paved asphalt without a single crack or pothole and also standing street lamp.

Of the thirty plots in the development, perhaps twelve showed signs of occupancy with cars in driveways.

Furniture visible through windows and even a child’s bicycle foils be seen leaning against a fence. The rest were unoccupied as of yet.

The entire place was silence not too silent but was a comfortable kind of sileve.

Dexter found Plot 47 at the end of a cul-de-sac.

He parked on the street and got out.

The house looked exactly as it had in the holographic display with white exterior, dark roof and front porch with a steel railing. A small garden space in the front too.

He walked to the front gate and pushed it.

He could feel it was a grade one steel and could withstand significant force.

Wild monsters could break through it eventually, but it would hold long enough for the neighborhood’s defense formation to activate and for residents to take shelter.

He walked up the path to the front door and used his new key to open it.

Dexter stepped inside.

The house was just as he expected, clean and fresh.

The living room was spacious, larger than the entire ground floor of the bungalow.

There was room for multiple sofas, a coffee table, a television unit, and still enough open space for someone to move around comfortably, or for a wheelchair to navigate without bumping into anything.

He walked through the living room into the dining area and it was large enough for a table that could seat six or even eight, if you pushed it.

The kitchen was twice the size of his kitchen at the bungalow, it was enormous, running along two full walls with an island in the center.

The stove was a commercial-grade unit with six burners and a built-in oven and the sink was deep and wide and looked quite flashy.

Cabinet space lined every wall, floor to ceiling and enough storage to hold ingredients, equipment, and supplies for a small-scale Foodsmith operation.

There was even a separate pantry room off to the side. A dedicated space for dry goods, spices, and bulk ingredients.

Dexter ran his hand along the counter with slight smile on his face.

’This kitchen could feed an army.’

He moved on to the bedroom and it was large also, large enough for a queen bed, a wardrobe, and a desk.

This would be perfect for Mira as it was ground floor access and didn’t need stairs to navigate and was also close to the bathroom, which was right next door.

The bathroom was fully equipped with walk-in shower, deep bathtub and dual sinks.

Everything looked brand new, which meant it was ever used.

He went upstairs.

Three bedrooms. Each one larger than the bedrooms at the bungalow. Each one with its own window, its own closet space, and access to a second bathroom that was identical in design to the one downstairs.

Dexter stood in the largest of the upstairs bedrooms and looked out the window. The backyard stretched out below him with enough space for a garden, a patio and maybe a small training area, if he sectioned off a corner and installed some equipment.

Beyond the backyard, the iron fence marked the property boundary.

It was quiet, private and I solated.

Dexter nodded slowly.

The girls would like this.

Mira would have her ground-floor bedroom, giving her independence and dignity without the humiliation of being carried up stairs.

Selene would have a quiet room where she could cultivate in peace, far from the noise and chaos of the old neighborhood. Lyra would have space for her egg, her chips, and whatever else she wanted to accumulate.

And he would have a kitchen that could actually handle the volume of cooking he needed to do for both the household and the bakery business.

He smiled.

’This is quite perfect!’

He locked up, returned to the SUV, and checked his phone.

A message from Cole Stanley.

[Hey Dexter. We’re meeting at Janice’s Cuisine, 24 Thourist Plaza, Central District. Booth 24. We’ll be there by noon. See you there!]

Dexter raised an eyebrow. The restaurant was quite popular, he didn’t expect them to go to ont if the most expensive restaurants in the city.

He entered the address into the GPS, the Central District which was twenty-five minutes from his current location.

He started the engine and was about to move when a large man stood in front of his car.

"Who are you and what are you doing coming out from my building?"

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