The moment Roman saw Ashley’s tray, his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Miss Ashley, are you sure you can finish all of that?" he asked, staring at the mountain of food she had piled onto her tray. "Won’t you get a stomach ache from eating so much first thing in the morning?"

A faint grimace appeared on his face.

As a delivery driver who spent most of his day on the road, Roman had long developed the habit of eating light breakfasts. Usually, a few bites and a cup of coffee were enough to get him through the morning. After all, there was nothing worse than dealing with stomach troubles while rushing around the city making deliveries.

Hearing his question, Ashley tilted her head slightly in confusion.

To her, the amount of food on her tray was perfectly normal.

Ever since she started her combat drills, she had always eaten a hearty breakfast before her morning trainings. Her body burned through an enormous amount of energy every day, and a substantial meal in the morning helped keep her fueled until lunchtime.

Unfortunately, Ashley had forgotten one small detail.

What she considered "normal" was far from normal for most people.

No wonder Roman was staring at her as though she had ordered half the menu.

"Oh."

Roman could only mouthed blankly as Ashley took her seat with her loaded tray.

What surprised him even more was that Gage returned moments later carrying an equally impressive amount of food. Clearly, he was just as accustomed to eating large meals. Across from them, Drake wasn’t much different. As someone who regularly trained and fought, he also had a hearty appetite.

Compared to the three of them, Roman suddenly felt like a baby chick pecking at grains.

He glanced down at his own breakfast, a simple cup of coffee and a waffle, and couldn’t help feeling a little self-conscious.

The gap between their appetites was simply too great.

Once breakfast was over, the group headed to their first destination of the day.

Ashley had deliberately chosen to inspect the farthest location first before gradually working their way back toward the city center.

The first building had an excellent location and strong pedestrian traffic, making it attractive from a business perspective. However, after spending some time observing the area, Ashley quickly noticed several issues.

The road in front of the property suffered from frequent traffic congestion. While the slow-moving vehicles increased visibility and foot traffic, it also made commuting inconvenient. Clients and business partners visiting the location could easily become frustrated by the constant delays.

More concerning was the high rate of minor traffic accidents in the area. The heavy congestion often tested drivers’ patience, leading to reckless behavior and frequent incidents. While it wasn’t a deal-breaker, it was the kind of problem that could become a significant disadvantage over time.

Rather than making a decision immediately, Ashley spent nearly half an hour walking around the neighborhood.

She carefully observed the surrounding businesses, noting what products and services were already being offered nearby. She also paid attention to the neighboring establishments and the overall atmosphere of the district, looking for potential advantages as well as possible sources of conflict in the future.

Only after gathering enough information did she move on to the next property.

Then she repeated the process all over again.

At each location, Ashley would inspect the building, analyze the traffic flow, study the surrounding businesses, and evaluate the area’s long-term potential.

Throughout the entire process, Gage, Roman, and Drake quietly followed behind her without complaint. None of them interrupted her observations, allowing her to focus entirely on her work.

One property after another, the hours slipped by.

Before they knew it, it was already lunchtime.

The group grabbed a simple lunch along the way and took a short one-hour break before resuming their inspections.

From afternoon until evening, they continued moving from one location to another, carefully evaluating each property on the list.

Only when the sun began sinking below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and gold, did they finally finish their last inspection.

"There we go," Ashley said with a satisfied smile as she tapped her phone and placed a checkmark beside the final property on her checklist. "That’s the last destination crossed off the list."

After spending the entire day walking around the city, even she felt a trace of fatigue creeping into her body.

"So, have you made your decision?" Gage asked.

Twisting open a chilled bottle of water, he handed it to Ashley before opening one for himself.

"Which location are you planning to use as the storefront, and which building will become our office?"

"Mm, I’ve actually narrowed it down to three prime locations," Ashley replied.

She accepted the bottle of water from Gage and took several long gulps, draining nearly half of it in one go before continuing.

"Tomorrow, we can contact the representative Mr. Lowe assigned to us and arrange a more detailed tour of the buildings. After that, making the final decision should be much easier."

Not far from them, Roman and Drake were also taking a short break. After spending the entire day walking from one property to another, both brothers looked visibly tired as they drank from their own bottles of water.

Since they were standing some distance away, Ashley didn’t bother lowering her voice when mentioning Mr. Lowe’s name. The conversation wasn’t particularly sensitive, and she didn’t think the brothers could hear them clearly from where they were.

The cool water helped ease the dryness in her throat, and as she glanced at the notes on her phone, her confidence in her selections only grew stronger.

Of the dozens of properties on the list, only three had managed to meet most of her requirements. The rest had either suffered from poor accessibility, problematic surroundings, excessive competition, or long-term development concerns.

Those three locations, however, stood out from the rest.

"Then what about the business proposal?" Gage asked. "Have you heard anything from Mr. Lowe?"

Ashley shook her head.

"I sent the revised proposal to his email yesterday, but I haven’t received a response yet."

Gage nodded before asking another question.

"How long do you think we’ll need to stay here, then?"

Ashley fell silent for a moment as she considered the matter.

"It depends," she replied honestly. "If Mr. Lowe decides to review the proposal personally, it could take a few days or even a few weeks. We also don’t know whether he’ll agree with the profit distribution or the terms we’ve proposed."

She took another sip of water before continuing.

"At this stage, there’s no point speculating. We’ll have to wait and see what his response is before making any further plans."

Although her tone remained calm, Ashley understood that negotiations rarely proceeded as smoothly as people hoped. Even if Mr. Lowe was interested in the proposal, there was no guarantee that he would accept their terms without modifications.

For now, all they could do was wait for his reply.

"Shouldn’t we leave the negotiations to Eldest Brother’s people?" Gage asked, unable to hide his concern.

Unlike Ashley, he wasn’t aware of the agreement she had reached with Apollo.

In his eyes, business negotiations were complicated matters filled with countless variables and hidden pitfalls. A single careless mistake could turn a promising opportunity into a disaster.