Blake Leaf’s mood improved even more, and his smile became a bit more genuine.
Looking at this woman who was very likely his mother, Blake Leaf’s gaze held a bit more affection.
This look also affected Suzanne Summerbreeze.
Seeing this handsome young man from Yan University treating her with such respect, Suzanne even felt a surge of maternal emotion.
Her voice became gentler and more humble: "Don’t be nervous, don’t hold back, ask anything you want. I’m just a regular business person who caught a lucky break, with the help of some friends, to have achieved a little success."
Blake Leaf coughed several times before he found his voice and said, "You’re too modest. I’m very interested in your personal development story. May I ask where you’re from?"
Suzanne Summerbreeze laughed and said casually, "Guess where I’m from?"
Blake Leaf squinted his eyes, smiled, and said, "Your accent sounds a bit like you’re from City Y. Are you from City Y?"
"Oh? You could tell?" Suzanne laughed, covering her mouth. "I thought I’d lost my accent, but you still figured it out..."
She nodded lightly and said cheerfully, "Yes, I’m from City Y. I grew up there, went to college there, and only after graduation did I come to City C to work, which led to the scale of my business today."
Blake Leaf pretended to flip through notes on his phone for a while before asking, "I heard that your Ride Wind Commercial Properties Ltd. owns several very successful stores. Could you tell me how you came across those properties back then?"
Suzanne Summerbreeze opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but at the last moment held back. Her smile faded slightly, and she said, "...That’s my business secret, I’m sorry I can’t disclose it."
How is that a business secret?
Weren’t those stores hers?
But the records at the neighborhood office were clear, weren’t they?
Thinking this, Blake Leaf remembered something else.
That was, more than twenty years ago, Suzanne Summerbreeze was only in her early twenties, just out of college.
According to what she just said, she came to City C only after graduating from City Y.
In just a year or two, how did a freshly graduated female student become the owner of so much real estate?
The Summers Family in City Y didn’t seem wealthy.
Did Suzanne Summerbreeze win the lottery?
Blake Leaf thought about it and decided to ask differently: "...Then could you please tell me how you earned your first pot of gold?"
For self-made businesspeople, the first pot of gold is usually the hardest to earn and often involves chance and dramatic effect.
Suzanne Summerbreeze’s gaze was somewhat evasive, seemingly reluctant to discuss the issue. She slightly furrowed her brow, looked at her wrist, and said gently, "You have eight minutes left." Newest update provıded by 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦·𝘯𝘦𝘵
Wasn’t she supposed to be open and honest?
He didn’t even ask anything inappropriate, did he?
Just wanted to probe into what happened more than twenty years ago that made this woman abandon her own son...
But she seemed to be very wary of that time, almost refusing to speak about it.
If she wouldn’t say anything, how could he get more clues?
Blake Leaf had a flash of inspiration and almost laid his cards on the table, saying, "I’ve been to Ms. Su’s hometown, City Y, and met some of your relatives there. May I ask, when did you get married?"
From the moment he mentioned her relatives in City Y, Suzanne Summerbreeze’s expression visibly worsened.
She pursed her lips, her voice somewhat sharp: "Weren’t you going to do a series on female entrepreneurs? Why ask about my relatives and family? Are you digging into my privacy?"
"These are just standard questions. When reporting on a female entrepreneur, of course, it can’t be separated from her family, right?" Blake Leaf replied calmly, his smile less warm, more formal.
Suzanne Summerbreeze was unwilling to talk about matters in City Y at all.
She coldly said, "I got married at twenty-eight. This is in many of my interviews and profiles. Didn’t you do your homework before interviewing me?"
Blake Leaf felt his heart sink.
If Suzanne Summerbreeze married at twenty-eight, then he was either her illegitimate child or not her child at all...
Full of confidence moments ago, feeling almost like he had grasped the truth, Blake Leaf was suddenly struck hard.
His smile completely disappeared as he looked intently at Suzanne Summerbreeze, undergoing an intense internal struggle.