Chapter 135: Escaping

The funeral of the Stark couple was solemn and mournful. Nothing untoward occurred; at least, no one popped up claiming to be old Stark's illegitimate son and demanding a share of the estate.

Catherine actually wanted to talk to Tony, but she never got the chance.

It wasn't that too many people had gathered around the future head of Stark Industries, making it impossible to get a turn. It was that no one could even find him; whoever wanted to speak simply couldn't.

Young Master Tony was only seen while escorting his mother's coffin and during the final burial. As soon as the ceremony ended, he vanished again.

Henry didn't deliberately use his super-senses to find him; after all, even if he found him, he wouldn't know what to do.

Was he afraid that this young master, still in his rebellious phase, would blow up his own parents' grave? Even if he did, it wasn't Henry's business; that was a family matter.

Seeing there was no chance to talk and feeling somewhat tired, Henry reflected: arriving in New York late last night, getting up especially early this morning, and being tossed about for half a day was truly excessive for an eighty-year-old like Catherine.

So Catherine found Jarvis, exchanged greetings, and prepared to leave, even though he was qualified to attend the subsequent funeral banquet.

However, Audrey and Henry, who accompanied him to pay respects, were not close enough to the Stark family. The funeral banquet was only for family relatives or closest friends, so Catherine simply left with Audrey.

Henry couldn't determine Howard Stark's posthumous reputation. But the funeral, which dragged on until the afternoon, saw the sky darken, and even a light rain began to fall, as if the heavens themselves were mourning the departed.

Henry held a large umbrella, walking behind the two Lady He Bens, shielding them from the drizzle. He walked all the way to the car in the parking lot.

After seeing the two ladies into the car, Henry took off his suit jacket before getting in, gave it a slight flick to shake off the raindrops, and then sat in the driver's seat.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he settled in, someone burst into the passenger seat.

This damn car was rented! Otherwise, Henry would have definitely punched him out, sending both the person and the car door flying.

"Drive," said Tony Stark, who had sat in the passenger seat and buried himself in the seat cushion.

He spoke in a weak, listless manner. It reminded people of the two fresh flowers he held in his hands before the two coffins were covered with earth.

One flower should have been placed on each coffin, but this young master seemed to have used up all his final stubbornness, placing both flowers on his mother's coffin.

Such undignified behavior made those close to him and those who knew him well feel heartbroken.

So even though he was almost nowhere to be seen throughout the entire funeral ceremony, no one truly blamed him, because the Stark family was left with only Tony Stark.

Now that he suddenly appeared and ordered Henry to drive, the Kryptonian didn't know whether to get angry and kick him out or to sympathize with him.

Fortunately, his own boss and his old best friend made a decision. Catherine didn't care at all about the impact of the sole survivor of the bereaved family disappearing from the funeral. She just patted Henry's shoulder on the driver's seat from the back seat and said:

"Let's go. Find a place to eat something. Listening to those insincere speeches today, I thought I was stuffed with anger. But as soon as it ended, I realized I was still hungry."

"Anything specific you want to eat?" Henry asked while fastening his seatbelt.

"You decide, child. Just don't let me starve for too long; an old person can't stand such hunger."

"Alright. Please fasten your seatbelts, everyone; we are setting off." Henry had deliberately chosen a car model with seatbelts in the back seat specifically for the safety of the two ladies.

Although Henry was very confident that he wouldn't hit anyone while driving, sometimes others hitting him was unavoidable and unblockable, so proper safety protection was still necessary.

However, the main target of this reminder was the one sitting in the passenger seat. But seeing him look as if he wanted to prop his feet up on the dashboard, Henry gave up on telling this young master what to do and what not to do.

With a turn of the steering wheel and a press of the accelerator, the car drove off smoothly. Of course, no one noticed that Tony Stark was in this car.

Since someone had called out hunger, and Henry himself was indeed hungry, he didn't plan to drive all the way back to New York City before finding a restaurant to solve the delayed lunch.

Speeding was not advisable. It was not only dangerous but would also result in a fine. As a law-abiding Kryptonian, Henry found a family-style restaurant along the road and stopped, preparing to eat.

This wasn't the first roadside family-style restaurant they had encountered; rather, it was the one that smelled good according to Henry's super-sense of smell.

No matter how hungry he was, as long as conditions allowed, Henry didn't want to torture his taste buds. Fortunately, with his super-sense of smell leading the way, the risk of trying a new restaurant was greatly reduced.

The two superstars didn't have the pretension of only eating at star-rated restaurants; as for Tony Stark, who was like a zombie at that moment, when everyone in the car got out, he got out too.

It was just that Tony looked like he wanted to run, with no intention of eating. But with Catherine there, she directly grabbed the young man's arm and wouldn't let go, so Tony couldn't just shake her off and walk away.

It was already afternoon, past the peak dining hours, so there were few people in the restaurant.

The group found a seat and settled down. A waitress came over with a coffee pot, poured a cup of hot coffee for all four of them, and handed out the menus.

"What would you like to eat?" Catherine asked. Her target was no one else but the young master who looked like he had lost all will to live.

Tony didn't refuse to eat; he just leaned his head against the large window and said weakly, "Cheeseburger."

Catherine waved the waitress over and said, "I'll have a peach pie. And give him a cheeseburger."

Audrey then said, "Apple pie."

"One steak, a spicy sausage, honey pancakes, fried chicken, fried bacon, three poached eggs, and a serving of mashed potatoes."

Henry's bold ordering not only terrified the waitress; Catherine had the same expression. Even Tony Stark, who had been immersed in sorrow, looked at him with a disdainful expression, as if to say, "You idiot."

Only Audrey was used to it.

Henry said without any guilt, "What, I'm still developing; is that not allowed?"

Tony leaned back against the window with an even more lifeless expression, not wanting to say a single word of complaint.

The meals were served very quickly.

Since the two ladies had passed mealtime, they just wanted something in their stomachs so they wouldn't starve too much. They both picked up their forks, cut the pies into small pieces, and ate slowly and deliberately.

Young Master Stark still looked like he had no appetite; the burger sat in front of him, untouched.

But Henry, whose table was covered with food, was not polite; he seemed to make noise on purpose, quickly cutting the food on his plate with knife and fork, then shoving it all into his mouth to chew.

(End of this chapter)