Alex stepped out of Viktor’s villa and walked toward his car.
The afternoon sun hung low, casting long shadows across the manicured grounds. He slid into the driver’s seat, closed the door, and sat there for a mont.
Silence.
His hands rested on the steering wheel, but he didn’t start the engine.
His mind was still turning over the pieces. Vivienne. The visitor. Villa Six. The Vanderbilts circling him like sharks who’d caught a scent.
But that wasn’t the only ga in play.
He had unfinished business.
"Lilith," he said quietly. "Show the revenge mission."
The familiar interface flickered to life in his mind, translucent text hovering at the edge of his vision.
***
[ACTIVE MISSION: SWEET REVENGE]
Targets: Sophia Blackwood & Marcus Steele
Objective: Complete their humiliation and downfall.
Progress: 40% Completed.
Ti Limit: None.
Reward: Special Reward
***
Alex stared at the display.
Forty percent.
He frowned slightly, replaying recent events. Sophia had seen him with both of them. Her mother. Her aunt. Together.
And yet... not even one percent increase since then?
He hadn’t noticed at the ti. Too focused on Catherine. Too distracted by the rewards her seduction had unlocked.
But now, looking at the stagnant progress bar, he understood.
The mission isn’t just about Sophia.
It was about both of them. Sophia and Marcus.
He’d wounded Sophia’s pride. Shaken her confidence. Made her question her place in Victoria’s world.
But Marcus?
Marcus Steele was still untouched. Still strutting through his father’s empire like nothing had changed. Still believing he was untouchable.
That needs to change.
"And this special reward," Alex said. "Care to tell what it is?"
Lilith’s voice curled through his thoughts, amused and unhelpful as always. "Special."
"That’s not an answer."
"It’s the only answer you’re getting. Complete the mission and find out."
Alex exhaled slowly, deciding not to rise to her bait. Lilith enjoyed her gas. He’d learned to work around them.
He started the engine.
The car humd to life, and he pulled out of the driveway, mind already shifting gears.
By the ti he reached his villa, the outline of a plan had begun to form.
Not complete. Not yet. But the shape was there, waiting to be filled in.
He parked, killed the engine, and stepped out.
The evening air was cool, carrying the faint scent of jasmine from the garden hedges. He walked toward the front gate, keys in hand.
And stopped.
Sothing white caught his eye. A small envelope, tucked neatly into the iron scrollwork of the gate.
He glanced around. The grounds were still. No movent. No sound. Just the quiet settling of dusk over the estate.
He pulled the envelope free.
No stamp. No address. Just his na, written in elegant cursive across the front.
Alexander Hale.
The handwriting was feminine. Confident. The kind of penmanship they taught at finishing schools and Swiss boarding academies.
He turned it over. Unsealed.
Inside, a single card. Thick stock. Ivory colored. The sort of stationery that cost more than most people’s monthly rent.
He read the ssage.
__
Dear Neighbor,
You’re quite difficult to catch at ho. I stopped by earlier, but it seems you were out.
A sha. I was hoping to introduce myself properly.
Perhaps we can redy that soon? I’d love to welco you to the neighborhood over coffee. Or sothing stronger, if you prefer.
Until then.
Warmly,
Vivienne Vanderbilt.
__
Warmly.
He almost laughed.
There was nothing warm about this woman. He’d seen her daughter’s cruelty. He knew the family she ca from. The empire she commanded.
This wasn’t a friendly invitation.
It was bait.
She wanted him curious. Wanted him to co to her. Wanted to set the terms of their first real eting.
Alex’s smile widened, cold and satisfied.
"It’s good," he murmured. "You’re paving my way yourself."
The words had barely left his lips when a familiar chi rang in his ears... soft, distinct, impossible to ignore.
[Ding!! ]
The system interface materialized before his eyes, golden text shimring at the edge of his vision with that sa translucent glow.
Alex’s pulse quickened.
"I was waiting for this," he said quietly.
The mission details unfurled across his sight.
***
[NEW MISSION AVAILABLE]
[MISSION 1: THE MATRIARCH]
Objective: Seduce Vivienne Vanderbilt.
Target Details: Mother of Jennifer Vanderbilt. Matriarch of the Vanderbilt Family. Businesswoman. Power broker.
Reward:
- 10,000 CP
- 5 to All Stats
Ti Limit: None
--
[MISSION 2: MOTHER AND DAUGHTER]
Objective: Seduce both Vivienne Vanderbilt and Jennifer Vanderbilt. Achieve a threeso with both targets.
Reward: Mysterious Reward.
Ti Limit: None.
***
Alex stared at the second mission.
"Mysterious reward?" His voice carried a note of exasperation. "Again?"
Lilith’s presence curled through his thoughts, her amusent palpable even without words. When she finally spoke, her tone was playful, teasing, entirely unhelpful.
"Where’s the fun in spoiling the surprise?"
Alex exhaled slowly, shaking his head. Of course she wouldn’t tell him. She never did.
But his attention had already shifted back to the missions themselves.
Mother and daughter.
Together.
The image settled in his mind... vivid, provocative, and undeniably complex. Jennifer Vanderbilt, with her icy arrogance and sharp tongue. Vivienne, calculated and controlled, a woman who commanded empires with the sa ease most people ordered coffee.
Getting them both into the sa bed wouldn’t just be difficult.
It would require precision. Patience. A level of manipulation that went far beyond anything he’d attempted before.
And ti.
Ti he didn’t necessarily have in abundance. Not with the dozen other threads pulling at his attention.
But as he stood there, letter in hand, the pieces began shifting in his mind.
Vivienne had reached out first. She’d made herself accessible. Interested, even, if the letter’s tone was any indication.
That was an opening.
And Jennifer... She was proud. Competitive. The kind of woman who hated being overlooked.
If he played this right...
Alex’s gaze drifted toward Villa Six, barely visible through the hedges and manicured trees. Lights glowed softly in the windows, warm against the encroaching dusk.
Sowhere else, Jennifer Vanderbilt was going about her evening, likely unaware that her mother had just made the first move in a ga she didn’t even know had started.
His lips curved into sothing darker. Anticipatory.
"Jennifer," he said quietly, voice carrying a note of cold amusent. "I wonder what you’ll think when you see with your mother. When you realize she chose . When you’re standing exactly where Sophia stood... watching. Helpless."
The thought was delicious.
Sophia’s humiliation had been satisfying. Watching her crumble as her mother and aunt both fell into his arm, watching her world fracture under the weight of betrayal she couldn’t even voice.
But Jennifer?
Jennifer would be different.
Jennifer wouldn’t just crumble. She’d burn. That pride, that arrogance, that absolute certainty in her superiority... it would all turn to ash the mont she realized her own mother had been seduced right under her nose.
And then, when the shock settled and the anger cooled into sothing more desperate...
That’s when he’d offer her the choice.
Join, or be left behind entirely.
He folded the letter carefully, slipping it back into the envelope with deliberate precision.
The missions hovered in his vision, waiting.
He dismissed the interface with a thought.
Vivienne wanted to et.
Fine.
He’d et her.
But this ga... this beautiful, intricate, dangerous ga she thought she was starting?
She had no idea who she was playing with.
Alex turned and walked toward his villa, the evening air cool against his skin, his mind already three steps ahead.
Mother and daughter.
It would take ti. Strategy. Absolute control over every variable.
But when it was done... when both Vanderbilt won were exactly where he wanted them... the payoff would be worth every calculated risk.
He smiled.
This was going to be fun.
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