My Ultimate Sign-in System Made Me Invincible

Chapter 631: Navigating An Expected Unexpected Situation

It was almost evening and the birthday party was just about an hour away. The invited guests had started making their way to the mansion an hour early or even earlier.

The invitation had stated that everyone are to convene at the mansion, where they would easily be able to access the party venue.

Daniel and the Bellemere Family Office staff at the main office would be arriving together. Those that were in region offices already had their transportation taken care by Lucy, as she chartered a Gulfstream G700 for each regional offices.

The mansion staff had arrived with their families, and they couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed by people coming to talk to them. The interactions came from the Bellemere Family Office staff, especially the regional offices staff.

And the reason for this was because the mansion staff are the closest in the staff network to Liam. The unspoken hierarchy among the staff put the mansion staff at the second spot, just below Daniel.

Whitlock had flown from New York to Los Angeles and was just landing. It will take about thirty minutes to get Liam’s place. He would be the last to arrive at the mansion.

Liam’s friends and families had already arrived, and their parents were currently chatting with Liam, as it was the first time they are meeting him.

"Liam Scott. I’ve heard so much about you from my son. It nice to meet you," Matt’s father said, extending his hand with a wide smile that said he had been looking forward to this and wasn’t going to pretend otherwise.

"Jim Henderson. And before anything else, my son told me about the five minutes and I need you to know that I will never let him live that down."

Liam shook his hand. "He earned the shuttle."

"He earned bragging rights he hasn’t stopped using since." Jim laughed.

Matt’s mother stepped forward, with a warm reel to her. "Liam. We meet again. How long has it been? You have grown."

"It’s good to see you, Ma’am. I trust that you have been well," Liam smiled.

"Naturally. And I just want to say — whatever you’ve been doing with my son, keep doing it."

"You don’t have to worry. I will continue to discipline him," Liam said.

Matt gave Liam a middle finger from where he stood, not caring about what his parents were saying.

The group around them laughed. Matt put his face in his hands and his mom patted his arm without sympathy.

"He really is proud of that shuttle," she said to Liam quietly, which Matt heard anyway.

"I know," Liam said. "He should be."

Matt looked up at that, and something in his face settled.

After he was done talking with Matt’s parents, Liam moved to Harper’s family.

"I’ve been trying to get Harper to introduce us for months," she said. "He kept saying ’it’s not the right time’ and ’you’ll embarrass me’ and I kept saying I have never embarrassed anyone in my life—"

"You told my thesis supervisor I was a difficult baby," Harper said.

"That was relevant context." She turned to Liam. "Patricia Osei. I’m so glad we’re finally here."

Liam smiled. "He talks about you both often."

"Good things, I hope," Harper’s father said.

"Mostly," Liam said.

Harper’s father’s expression shifted into something that was trying not to become a smile and failing. Patricia made no such effort.

"He said you’re the most grounded person he knows," she said. "Which coming from Harper means something because that boy has very high standards. He once rejected a friendship in secondary school because the boy used ’literally’ incorrectly."

"That’s not what happened," Harper said.

"He literally told me that’s what happened," she said.

Liam couldn’t help but burst into a small laughter, and Harper looked at the ceiling.

After a few more minutes of chatting, Liam moved along to the next.

Alex’s father had done his research. This was visible within thirty seconds. He asked a question about how Lucid works actually, and Liam answered it, saying that it’s a question that should be directed to Lucy, as he doesn’t like to bother himself with the technicalities.

"I will ask her then," his father said, with a small smile.

"He’s very competitive," she said to Liam. "Even with himself."

"I noticed," Liam said.

"I prefer thorough," his father said.

"They’re the same thing," Liam said, which made Alex’s father laugh, as he if he had heard their own logic reflected accurately.

When Liam got to Kristy’s father, someone he was a bit familiar with, he shook Liam’s hand with warmth and held it in both of his.

"Meeting you once again in person is something I’ve been genuinely looking forward to."

"Likewise," Liam said. "Your team has been exceptional."

"They’re good people," Robert said, with a face full of pride. "But I want to say something directly, if that’s alright. What you’ve trusted us with — the scale of it, the discretion required — we don’t take that lightly. Not for a second. My team knows what it means and they deliver accordingly because they understand what’s at stake."

"I know they do," Liam said.

Kristy beside him was smiling sheepishly.

"She was right," Robert said simply. "It’s good to know you, young man."

"And you," Liam said, and meant it.

Stacy’s mother arrived with the energy of someone who had already decided the evening was going to produce a particular outcome and was simply working toward it.

"Gloria," she said, shaking his hand with both of hers. "Stacy has told me so much. So much. I feel like I already know you."

"Good things, I hope," Liam said.

"Wonderful things." She looked at him the way people looked at something they were considering acquiring. "You know, Stacy is very special. She has her father’s patience and my instincts, which is honestly the best combination—"

"It really is," Liam agreed. "She’s kept the group steady through some genuinely difficult moments. That kind of calm is rare."

Gloria beamed. "Exactly. Rare. And she’s very—" She leaned in slightly. "Are you seeing anyone?"

"I’m focused on the company right now," Liam said.

"Of course, of course. But you must have some time—"

"Honestly, the past eight months have been — you saw the livestream."

"I did. I watched the whole thing." She paused. "But even very busy people find time for—"

"Mum," Stacy said.

"I’m just asking a simple question."

"You have asked it four times in four different ways."

"The first three were warm-up," Gloria said, entirely without shame. She turned back to Liam. "Well. The offer stands. That’s all I’ll say."

Stacy’s father caught Liam’s eye from behind his wife with the sympathetic expression of a man who had been navigating this particular situation for many years and had developed a comprehensive resignation to it. Liam returned a small nod that acknowledged the solidarity.

Elise’s mother had done something more sophisticated — she had come prepared with a dossier of Elise’s qualities delivered as natural conversation, which Liam recognized within the first ninety seconds and found genuinely impressive as a strategy.

By the time she reached the direct question — which she asked while laughing at something Liam had just said, so it arrived in a warm cloud of goodwill — it had been framed as the most natural thing in the world.

"She really is wonderful with people," her mother said. "You must see that. The way she reads a room—"

"She does," Liam said.

"And she’s very—" She smiled. "I’m going to be obvious, aren’t I."

"A little," Liam said, smiling back.

She laughed. "Fine. Yes. I think you’re remarkable and she thinks you’re remarkable and I’m her mother, so I’m mentioning it."

"I appreciate it," Liam said. "She’s one of my closest friends. That’s something I don’t say about many people."

"Friends," her mother said, tasting the word.

"Good friends," Liam said warmly. "The kind that last."

She accepted this with considerably better grace than she had expected to, which Liam thought well of her for.

Elise mouthed thank you from beside her with the expression of someone who had survived something.

Lana’s mother bypassed the warm-up entirely.

"I’m going to be direct," she said, thirty seconds into the introduction. "Lana is brilliant, she’s driven, she’s beautiful, and she’s been talking about you since before most people knew your name. So I’m asking plainly — what’s your situation?"

The group nearby had gone quiet in the particular way of people watching something unfold.

"I respect the directness," Liam said.

"Good. So?"

"I think Lana is genuinely talented," he said.

Lana’s mother blinked. "That’s — yes, that’s true, but—"

"She has a real future ahead of her," Liam continued.

Her mother looked between them. "That’s very — I mean, that’s wonderful—"

"It’s nothing," Liam said simply.

Lana’s mother looked at her daughter. Lana looked at Liam. The matchmaking conversation had been thoroughly and gently buried under something Lana actually wanted more, and her mother recognized this and laughed.

"Alright," she said. "Alright. He’s quick."

"He really is," Lana said, still slightly stunned.

***

The Bellemere Family Office staff had gathered naturally around Daniel near the edge of the main room, and they parted as Liam crossed toward them with the ease of people who had been watching him work the room all evening and had adjusted their expectations accordingly.

Daniel shook his hand first.

"Happy birthday," he said. "How are you holding up?"

"Better than the governments," Liam said.

Daniel’s mouth twitched. "The bar you’ve set for yourself."

The staff around them relaxed at the exchange — the tone landing as permission for the evening to be what it actually was rather than what formality required.