Lila left The Crown Regent with Kael.

  Kael could feel the wall of shock around her and stopped after they had gone a short distance, giving her space. He understood. In a single afternoon, her entire world had been upended. Accepting that your father murdered your mother was a truth too heavy for anyone to bear. He said nothing, simply waiting by her side.

  After a long silence, Lila’s voice, quiet and brittle, finally broke the silence. "When did you know?"

  In the original timeline, Kael wouldn't have learned the truth for another five years. He couldn't tell her that.

  "I only found out today," he lied smoothly. "Ben pulled some strings through the Carrington family network."

  Lila looked up, her eyes searching his. "Was this your plan? To save me by destroying the Whitmore family?"

  Kael paused. "No," he admitted. "That wasn't the plan at all." He explained that his original idea was much simpler: to have the Carringtons announce a major partnership with her family at the wedding. With the Carrington name backing them, the banks would have opened their vaults, solving the Whitmores' financial crisis. There would have been no reason for her to marry Caleb Mordant.

  But he hadn't accounted for the sheer efficiency of the Carrington machine. In a single day, they had located Jill, who had been hiding in the countryside for nearly twenty years. And Jill, clever enough to have held onto key pieces of evidence to protect herself, had provided the knockout blow that stopped the wedding cold.

  After Kael finished, Lila nodded slowly. She had regained her composure and could see the logic in his original plan. It would have worked.

  "I'm sorry," she said, her voice soft with regret. "I should have listened to you before." She looked at him, a hint of awe in her eyes. "I just never imagined the Carrington siblings would actually listen to you."

  Kael rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, Ben was my idea. Thea… I honestly don't know."

  As if on cue, a voice came from behind them. "You don't know what?"

  Kael and Lila turned to see Thea and Ben approaching, with Jill and a security detail of four in tow.

  Lila quickly composed herself. "Miss Carrington."

  Kael walked up to meet them. "Ben, man… I owe you one for today."

  Ben just waved a hand dismissively. "Don't thank me. I didn't do a thing. My sister gave the orders; I was just the delivery guy."

  Kael immediately turned to Thea. "Miss Carrington, thank you."

  Thea smiled warmly and walked past him to Lila, taking her hands. "Lila, I hope you're not angry with me for what happened today."

  Lila managed a faint smile. "I should be thanking you. It's just..." Her expression turned bittersweet. "I feel… empty. I don't know where to go from here."

  "Don't worry," Thea said, glancing at Kael with a strange, knowing smirk. "Someone will take care of you."

  Kael felt a flush of heat creep up his neck.

  Lila understood Thea's implication too. A deep blush colored her cheeks, and she lowered her head, saying nothing. The air suddenly felt thick with awkwardness.

  Thea, ever in control, broke the silence. "Alright. Lila, let's get you out of that dress. We can all have dinner together."

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Lila nodded. Wandering the city streets in a wedding gown was hardly an option.

  Soon, Kael and Lila were following the Carrington siblings into their family's duplex penthouse in one of the city's most exclusive towers.

  After they entered, Kael and Ben stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, taking in the breathtaking view of the city lights twinkling over Silverbrook Park. Thea led Lila into her private suite.

  A short while later, the two women emerged. When Kael saw them, he was momentarily stunned.

  Lila, five years younger, was radiant and full of life now that she was free of the heavy bridal gown. And Thea, a powerhouse in the corporate world, exuded a captivating, confident charm.

  Lila noticed Kael’s stare and blushed, quickly taking a seat on the sofa by the window. Thea simply smiled and sat beside her. Then, her gaze shifted, landing on her brother like a targeting laser.

  Ben flinched as if struck. He quickly put on a grin and moved behind his sister, beginning to massage her shoulders.

  Thea’s expression turned to ice. "Ben," she said, her voice dangerously low. "Explain yourself."

  Ben froze, the playful excuse he'd prepared dissolving in his throat.

  "You spend your days doing nothing of consequence," Thea continued, "and then last night, you suddenly come to me for a favor. As your sister, of course I helped. But this little adventure of yours cost us our partnership with the Mordant family. I need something to tell our father."

  "Well… uh… it's like this…" Ben was like a mouse before a lion in front of his sister. With her glare fixed on him, he couldn't form a complete sentence.

  Kael saw the desperate look Ben shot him and knew he had to step in.

  "It's like this," Kael said, picking up the thread. "Ben has a classmate, Elon, who wants to build a business inside Godpath. We partnered up to create a dedicated platform for players to trade and auction items and gear."

  He saw Thea's expression soften fractionally and pressed on. "Here's the plan: Ben provides the platform infrastructure, his friend Elon handles the day-to-day operations, I supply the top-tier, high-demand items for auction, and Lila's guild will be the official in-game face of the platform…"

  Thea cut him off, her voice sharp and serious. "You do realize that the Carrington Family is one of the galaxy's licensed operators for Godpath, don't you? Any money you make is, in essence, our money. The game's native system already takes a transaction fee. Why should I support you building a competing platform?"

  Ben's heart sank. My sister is right. Why bring in outsiders to make money that's already ours? He felt like he'd been played.

  Lila, who was hearing about this trading platform for the first time, was also taken aback by Thea's logic. But then, a smile touched her lips as she watched Kael.

  He held up two fingers. "Two reasons," he said calmly.

  "First, player-run auctions generate hype. They create value out of thin air. Take the Sunfire Bell yesterday. Through the automated system auction, it might have sold for five or six hundred million, tops. But with a live, player-driven event, we drove the price far beyond anyone's expectations."

  Thea shook her head, unimpressed. "That's a software problem. We can easily change the system's bidding algorithm from a simple countdown to a dynamic last-bid refresh model to drive up prices."

  Kael knew there was more to it than that, but he didn't argue the point. He moved to his ace. "Second, Godpath isn't a Carrington Family game. You're just one operator. Most of the profits get funneled up to a dozen larger conglomerates across the galaxy. My guess is that for every hundred dollars of revenue generated in-game, you see maybe ten or fifteen of it."

  Kael stopped there, letting his words sink in as he held Thea's gaze.

  She stared back at him, her mind clearly processing the implications.

  "Very good," she said finally, her face relaxing into a smile. "You're right. I have no reason to oppose this." She held up five fingers. "The Carrington Family takes a fifty percent stake. The rest is for you three to divide among yourselves."

  Kael let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. He was about to try and negotiate for a little more equity when Thea stood up and headed for the powder room, the deal already concluded in her mind.

  Kael could only shake his head in reluctant admiration. In his past life, he'd heard countless stories about Thea Carrington's legendary business acumen. Now, he'd finally seen it firsthand.

  The next day, Arbazon was incorporated.

  The Carrington Family held 50%. Kael took 40%. Lila and Elon each received 5%.

  *****

  I want to be completely honest with you all.

  Due to a personal issue on my end, I’m temporarily unable to log into my Patreon account, which means I can’t post chapter updates right now. This is entirely my responsibility, and I’m truly sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment this may cause.

  Subscriptions are not affected, and you’re still welcome to subscribe if you wish. Once I regain access, I will immediately upload all the chapters owed during this period, plus additional bonus chapters as compensation, in one batch.

  Thank you so much for your patience, understanding, and continued support. It genuinely means a lot to me, and I’m very grateful to every one of you.

  *****