While in America, the system says Roosevelt was an emperor.

After finalizing a few more details, Tom left the No. 2 office building.

Tom returned to Diane's apartment. Instead of watching TV, Diane had laid out a pile of clothes on the sofa.

As soon as Tom entered the door, Denise called out:

"Honey, can you help me pick out some clothes?"

"You should change your clothes too, you can't wear this to your aunt's banquet tonight."

Tom walked toward the living room and casually said:

"You look good in anything, I don't need to pick anything, right?"

Denise smiled and said:

"Never mind that, just sit here."

Tom obediently sat on the sofa watching Denise choose clothes; it was quite a sight to behold.

Denise held up each dress in front of her, then looked at Tom and giggled foolishly.

Tom didn't understand what Denise was laughing at.

Following Denise's gaze, I finally understood the reason for choosing the clothes—

Little Tom Index!

Denise chooses which clothes to wear based on Tom's reaction.

Tom thought to himself that this wouldn't work; he didn't want others to see Diane and also generate an index.

Finally, under Tom's "firepower" coercion, Denise chose the dress with the lowest index.

She wore a loose, light purple jumpsuit underneath, and a snow-white mink coat over it. Her only jewelry was a pair of fake pierced earrings.

Tom changed into a tuxedo, revealing his physique in full view.

If it weren't for important business later, Denise would have planned to play a few rounds first.

After changing their clothes, the two drove towards William's estate.

As a New York State Senator and head of the Vanderbilt family, William naturally owned more than one estate.

The estate we're heading to now is the largest estate owned by the Vanderbilt family.

Built at the turn of the century by the second generation of the Vanderbilt family, it features a pure French style and French materials.

Even the stones used for the foundation were shipped from Paris.

Even decades ago, it cost nearly ten million US dollars to build.

As soon as she got in the car, Dani tugged at her loose-fitting clothes, which accentuated her figure, and asked:

"Honey, why are you making me wear this?"

"Not at all slimming."

Tom answered instantly:

"Because you will become my wife."

"If you're just my girlfriend, you can wear whatever you want."

Denise paused for a moment, then smiled even more sweetly, pounced on Tom and hugged his arm, and started fiddling with the gear shifter.

If it weren't for the Autopilot driver assistance system, Tom would have almost been in a car accident.

Moreover, Tom looked dashing today, and the support from the Machine Soul was much stronger than usual.

Tom couldn't help but mutter: What a lecherous scoundrel.

Finally, the car came to a smooth stop in front of the manor gate.

Upon entering the manor, Tom saw the group of people in the center of the lawn.

Everyone held their red tea cups, chatting and laughing.

The banquet, which was for nearly a hundred people, was not a gathering of everyone, but rather a group of close friends chatting about their own topics.

Although he was quite far away, Tom overheard some of what was being said.

It was nothing more than a group of bourgeois, lamenting the state of the world and discussing philosophy, history, and literature.

The only thing Tom was interested in was the people attending the banquet.

Almost all of the 25 New York City council members were present.

Several New York State legislators also attended.

There are also some members of prominent families:

Anna sat next to her uncle Toth with a displeased look on her face, her pen twirling incessantly in her hand, clearly still preoccupied with Tom's speech.

Karl, on the other hand, was feigning a smile as he chatted with several young ladies about the history of Russian literature.

What caught Tom's attention most was a young woman—Ethel DuPont.

To be precise, she should now be called Ethel Roosevelt.

After learning that she would be attending a dinner party, Denise showed Tom many photos and introduced him to a lot of people.

Ethel was one of them; she was the daughter of the main branch of the DuPont family and the daughter-in-law of Emperor Luo Da.

Denise brought Tom along to Ellie's side.

After introducing themselves, Tom was officially a member of the small chat group.

Tom isn't interested in the content of the conversation, but with his [5.0 Intelligence] stat, he can talk at length about anything.

Regardless of whether Tom is right or wrong, just based on his face and physique, all the ladies present would give him their praise.

About half an hour later, Anna reluctantly came over with her cousin Tos.

Anna knew most of the people, but Tos, a city councilor, only got to know them through Anna's introduction.

When Anna introduced Toth and Tom to each other, Toth volunteered to say:

"Mr. Tom, I heard you've become a candidate for city council."

"I've watched your campaign interviews, and all I can say is that you're quite ambitious."

"However, you should be prepared to lose. The competition in your constituency is fierce, with more than a dozen candidates registered."

"In the last election, I was also lucky to win with 80 percent of the vote."

Toth spoke with a smile, but there was no smile in his eyes, only condescending mockery and contempt for Tom.

Denise tightened her grip on Tom's arm, preparing to unleash her fury on Toth.

Tom patted Dani's waist and spoke first:

"There are actually more than a dozen candidates?"

"So, how many votes will I get, and where will I rank?"

Toth, habitually strutting with his nose in the air, said:

"After all, this is your first time running for office, and you're still young. Voters won't support you."

"If we're not last, we can thank God for his leniency."

Tom remained silent, but Ethel, intrigued, interjected:

"So, you two are competitors in the same constituency?"

Tom and Toth nodded, and Ethel continued:

"How about we start a bet and guess who will be elected?"

Tom waved his hands repeatedly and said:

"Ms. Ethel, you must be kidding me. How could I possibly be a match for a councilor from Tos?"

Toss said proudly:

"He's already scared, is there any point in continuing to gamble?"

Ethel shook her head and looked at Tom, saying:

"Disappointing a lady is not gentlemanly behavior."

Tom had no choice but to nod in agreement:

"Then let's make a bet."

"If I win, please have Toth write me a letter of introduction for U.S. Steel."

Toss, full of confidence, replied:

"If I win, please ask Mr. Tom to write me a letter of recommendation as well."

"Please recommend me to Senator William. I've been wanting to meet you for a long time."

Tos exuded an aura of certain victory, completely oblivious to the fact that:

Why would Tom, a newcomer, dare to gamble, especially since the letter of recommendation for the bet happened to be from the steel industry, the very industry that made the Carnegie family their fortune?

After the little incident, everyone started talking about petit-bourgeois topics again.

Having achieved his goal of getting to know everyone, Tos made an excuse to leave.

After Toth left, Ethel smiled and said to Tom:

"Mr. Tom, you owe me a favor. I got you a letter of recommendation."

Tom raised an eyebrow slightly and replied:

"Ms. Ethel, please stop joking with me. How am I supposed to win?"

Ethel smiled slightly and replied:

"I know everything you said in your speech a few hours ago."

"I don't think you'll lose."