Chapter 128: Flying Too Close To The Sun!

Chapter 128: Flying Too Close To The Sun!

That Monday morning, I spent the entire day with the Mu father and daughter. We eventually went out for a nice lunch together before finally separating and heading our own ways.

Mercy spent the whole time looking completely confused, her mind spinning over how exceptionally happy her father was about our current arrangement. We weren't even husband and wife, and yet he was treating the entire situation as if we were officially married.

Ultimately, she chose not to question her father's positive affirmation of our relationship. Instead, she simply clung to her newly acquired family sword, gripping the weapon tightly as if someone were going to snatch it away from her at a moment's notice.

On Tuesday, the atmosphere turned significantly more somber as the entire mansion traveled out to my parents' grave, splitting up into two large limos for the trip. I had already decided that I would bring Victoria during a much less public time alone later on.

One by one, the girls stepped forward in the cold air. Mary, Hana, Nichole, Nadia, Tina, Linda, Mercy, Jenifer, and then Mei again, all took turns burning a single stick of incense each. Once again, I deliberately held back and waited. My plan was to do it with Victoria later, allowing myself the rare privacy to be emotional just one time in front of only one woman.

And naturally, I had to hold Mary tightly against my chest while she softly said her prayers to our parents. The anniversary was incredibly hard on her every single year, but this time around, she managed to calm down much faster because of the baby growing inside her. She felt absolutely wonderful to finally report the upcoming birth of our daughter to their spirits.

Standing nearby, Nadia and Nichole were forcefully reminded of their own lost mother, prompting both of them to burn one more piece of incense just for her memory.

Linda stepped up next, offering a quiet confession that on the very last day of every year, she always came out here alone to burn some incense for my parents. Mary offered a warm, grateful smile upon hearing that hidden truth. Linda ended up crying happy tears when she formally reported her pregnancy to my parents, showing a deep pride in how their past sacrifices had ultimately given them a grandchild.

Hana remained exceptionally mature about the whole process, smoothly utilizing her professional experience as a medical worker to comfort the other emotional wives.

Tina was happy to greet the spirits, but much like Hana, her dark, grueling job in the underworld had largely numbed her heart to the concept of loss. She still happily and respectfully greeted them regardless of her internal detachment.

Mei secretly muttered her thanks to my father's memory, maintaining a completely normal, composed demeanor while performing only the surface-level offerings.

Mercy, after witnessing my intense duel with her father, was far more serious about openly showing her loyalty to my family line. It looked as though all the heavy chains on her shoulders had been completely lifted the exact second her father gave me his acceptance.

Jenifer, however, instantly caught my attention. I noticed she had just been staring at the three engraved names in a total daze while her stick of incense slowly burned down to ash. She really looked lost. Deciding I couldn't just leave her like that, I walked over and sat down directly next to her on the cold stone border to find out what was bothering her. She noticed my shoulder pressing against hers, her voice dropping to a quiet whisper as she spoke.

"I had introduced myself, but then, I was stuck on what I would say. I realized, I am an awful Personal Maid."

My very first instinct was to immediately pour out a wave of compliments telling her how wonderful she truly was. But looking at her downcast face, I realized she was dealing with something much deeper than a simple, passing problem, so I just looked at her and kept listening.

"I studied your history," Jenifer continued, her blue eyes fixed on the granite block. "I take notes on what you like and don't like. I wear things that make you happy. I step back and try to be an amazing secretary. My wish is to make you successful as the Fire Birds Leader, but... I failed to know you more 'Personally', like the name Personal Maid means. I don't mean sexual, but, your feelings, past, and your dreams. In this way, I have failed you, and me."

Jenifer was an incredibly smart, analytical woman who relied heavily on her intellect, which meant her logical brain and her raw emotions were currently in total conflict. I fully understood her exact personality type. To her precise way of thinking, a secretary was supposed to be the perfect, indispensable woman—the exact person the boss needed the absolute most to function. But now, she was forcefully realizing that the boss found love elsewhere, while his secretary was left only to manage his functional needs.

"My dad said, everyone makes mistakes," I spoke up gently, breaking her train of thought. "Sometimes you knowingly make mistakes, so someone else does not. He taught me to just learn from them, and change. But don't forget... Always follow your heart, even if it leads you into another mistake. If you follow your heart, you can never be wrong."

Jenifer carefully slipped her glasses off her face, using the edge of her sleeve to wipe the moisture from her eyes. She turned her head, looking directly into my caring eyes before she spoke. "I see, so you don't regret your mistakes, because you are happy you made them!"

I nodded my head with a broad grin, offering an honest explanation. "Loving Mary as a wife, may be a mistake, but I would do it every single time if made to choose again. Getting Nadia and Nichole pregnant was a huge mistake, but I would happily do it again."

I reached out, my right hand gently patting her back in a soothing motion to calm her internal racing thoughts.

"Loving so many wonderful women is probably a mistake," I added, my voice steady. "But once again, I would never regret my choices. But I learn from every mistake and try to make less 'bad' mistakes. So Jenifer, you are the only person who knows of this lesson my dad taught me. So you are one step closer to being the Personal Maid you want to be."

A sudden, sharp gust of winter wind blew through the clearing, causing Jenifer's brown hair to fan out across her face. Her striking blue eyes blinked rapidly due to the biting breeze, a new light shining in her gaze as she looked back at me. "You and I will spend more personal time together, so I can exchange stories with you. And I will make mistakes I do not regret, okay?"

I offered a solid nod, immensely relieved to see that her dark funk was completely over with. But just as I was shifting my weight to get up so she could finish her private talk with my parents, she suddenly leaned in and crashed her lips directly onto mine.

It was a very inexperienced, unpolished kiss, and her fingers instantly locked onto my collar with a frantic grip so I couldn't pull away from the contact.

Right there in front of the entire gathering, she clumsily but passionately stuck her tongue in my mouth with her inexperience, but I did not stop her. I think this is the mistake she is talking about. Not doing it well, in front of everyone, in front of a grave! But... She wont regret it!

A sudden chorus of clapping and loud whistling erupted from behind us, spearheaded by an immensely impressed Tina, which finally forced Jenifer to break the kiss with her entire face turning bright red in absolute shame. Yet, the happy gleam in her eyes told me she had been dying to do that for a very long time now.

"Are you all better now?" I teased gently, wiping my mouth.

"I know what to tell your parents, so shoo Master, so I can finish." She huffed, her face still burning as she gave me a playful shove.

I stepped away, watching from a distance as Jenifer muttered a number of quiet words toward the stone that I couldn't quite make out. It felt great to see that I had successfully helped blow away her deepest insecurities.

That night, Jenifer made me explicitly promise to take her out on a private lingerie shopping date, wanting to find out exactly what I secretly preferred for her going forward. It was clearly a detail she hadn't been able to get a solid logical read on, so I readily agreed to her request.

By Wednesday night, I decided to completely take over the mansion's kitchen, aggressively kicking out everyone except for the active maids to assist me with the preparation work. I was aiming to cook a massive, multi-course meal for the entire family, and Victoria even traveled over to the estate specifically for this occasion. Lucy also managed to shamelessly invite herself over, eager to watch my frantic attempts to break past my current limits in culinary cuisine. I had been studying and training under Vicky and Mei for a while now, but tonight, I was going completely solo.

I methodically prepared a distinct main dish for each of the major meat types, cooking beef, pork, chicken, and salmon all at once. To truly push myself, I also included a complex vegetarian dish to challenge my technical skill while simultaneously juggling the cooking times of the others. Part of the reason I kept a few maids around to help, outside of the mountain of preparation work, was because Advanced Cooking strictly required the ability to seamlessly direct others through complex dishes, essentially running a professional kitchen under pressure.

The final meal was a massive hit across the entire dining room. I couldn't officially prove it through a status screen, but I firmly believed I had finally entered the official ranks of Advanced cooking. If that was the case, reaching the legendary Master level would take an immense amount of grueling work, but it put me just a tad ahead of others, sitting at a rock-solid basic tier of the rank. Realistically, I didn't believe I would ever actually reach a true Master level in my lifetime, simply because my primary priorities lay in training my combat and business skills.

On Thursday, I found myself behind the wheel of Victoria's sleek, black BMW 7 series, navigating the evening traffic. Both of Vicky's parents were still alive and happily enjoying their retirement, currently living down in South City within Azure State territory where the weather was consistently a bit warmer.

This meant the two of us only needed to meet my parents tonight. We had intentionally chosen the nighttime hours because we didn't want any unwanted observers or rival factions seeing Victoria visiting my parents' grave, at least not yet. As I kept my eyes on the road, she gently placed her hand on my leg, her voice tinged with a slight worry.

"This is between Pam and Kate. The issue is to make the 2nd Vampire movie and who the main lead will be. Pam wants her son. And Kate wants you. So Pam wants a fair competition between you and Sam Sun for the lead role. But Pam is offering Kate a very large deal to sign this new long term contract, so it is tempting. But, Kate may be forced to do the movie with Sam and the quality of the movie will go down when the two leads do not get along. Sigh, I am irritated by this as well."

I let out a heavy sigh, my fingers tightening on the leather steering wheel as I shrugged. "First, I am sure any fair competition will be rigged in his favor, so she is stupid thinking I can't see that. Second I can just not go and Kate can sign or not sign, not my problem. I don't need to be drawn into something that does not even benefit me at all, right?"

Victoria, caught completely in between a rock and a hard place, turned her head to look out the side window. She watched the shimmering city lights go trailing past us in the darkness as she processed my words.

"On one-hand, I don't want my husband to be hassled and made to do something that will make him unhappy. The fact Pam is playing petty games for her retard child is also bothersome. But if he gets the role, he will be even more of a narcissist in pursuing women. Kate sure can go to another company that I don't own. I would lose out on her fame, that will go to someone else for no hard work."

She stopped speaking for a moment, shifting her weight on the leather seat before her purple eyes turned to look directly at me.

"On the other-hand, I can keep Kate in my company, make the movie, and grow her fame more, bringing SEG to the peak of the 4 Groups. My husband will be a movie-star and I think I would find that kinda hot~. Hmm? How about this for benefit. If you can get Kate to sign up with me, I will move into the mansion full time, and openly declare our marriage. You can proudly tell reporters, "You are married to the boss?""

She was currently throwing me a highly seductive look, her purple eyes clearly telling me that I should willingly jump straight into this corporate pit solely for her benefit. I knew damn well that she was planning to move into the mansion and expose our relationship to the public anyway, but she was just trying to craftily frame it as a major payment. Fuck, wife guilt trips are real, and she knows I know exactly what she is doing!

"I don't have an agent." I muttered, trying to find a solid tactical escape route.

"Lucy Shen already got her license to be your agent." Victoria replied instantly, her lips curling into a triumphant smile.

Fuck, hackers are absolutely terrifying! What does a digital ghost like her even know about the entertainment industry?! And shit, this meant Lucy was actively conspiring with Vicky behind my back to forcefully push me into the movie business.

"And if you are willing to at least come to the meeting tomorrow, I will give you a blowjob, when we park?" Victoria added smoothly, reaching up to pull a stray strand of purple hair behind her ear as she smiled invitingly at me.

I rolled my eyes at the blatant bribe. What kind of total chump does my wife Vicky think I am, to do all that grueling work just for a blowjob that I can already get from her absolutely anytime I want?!

Ten minutes later, the BMW glided quietly into the dark, desolate parking lot of the Star City Crematory and Cemetery.

Slurp Pop Slurp!

I leaned my head all the way back against the comfortable leather headrest, the car's tinted windows rapidly steaming up from our combined body heat as her head enthusiastically gave me one of her better blowjobs. Victoria was putting an immense amount of passion into it, adding extra spit and making incredibly lewd, wet sounds while masterfully adding in deep throat choking effects for maximum physical stimulation. She has been massaging my balls like she is encouraging my swimmers to go to her belly.

She strained to maintain unbroken eye contact with me through the dim dashboard light, constantly throwing me a heavy, questioning look that practically screamed, how is that? She would occasionally slow down her pace, using the flat of her tongue to lick from the very base of the shaft all the way to the tip from the highly sensitive underside. I don't know who the fuck is giving her these explicit pointers lately, but holy crap, the physical sensation was so intense that I could not hold out a single second longer. I gently reached down and rubbed the back of her head, signaling her that I was right on the edge of exploding.

Slurp Gulp Gulp!

Vicky immediately took my entire head into her mouth with a remarkably strong, continuous suckling motion, simultaneously using her slender hand to pump the base to drain me for every single last drop. She was doing the absolute best job, or blowjob, she could possibly muster for my pleasure.

After about thirty seconds of pure, unadulterated ecstasy, my little Dragon finally began to weaken inside her throat, fully slain by this purple-eyed goddess of supreme beauty.

Pop!

The moment she finished drawing the last bit of fluid out, she acted like a perfectly supportive, good wife, neatly putting it away and buckling my belt for me with a happy smile of complete victory written across her face. She sat back up in her passenger seat, reaching into the glove compartment to pull out a travel-sized bottle of Listerine that she had clearly stashed there in advance. She poured a generous amount into her mouth and began swishing it around, showing me she had planned this entire encounter from the very beginning. She spat the mouthful of minty Listerine directly into an empty coffee cup before turning to look at me.

"I think I did my part, Ufufu. I watched some videos Lucy recommended. I think it worked. Oh, it was not a porn-video, just a step by step, I will share it with the other wives, fufu."

Post-nut clarity immediately washed over my brain, telling me that I had been completely and utterly had by a tech-driven tag-team. But at the exact same time, my empty nuts were strongly telling me that I had made the absolute right choice. I sat up straight in the driver's seat and adjusted my clothes.

"Lets go burn the incense, I want to take you home. Tina is doing an overnight job, and won't be back till morning."

Victoria offered a supportive nod, her hand reaching back to open her door. "I already have my bag in the trunk. I knew you did not want to leave your wife to fend for herself. I really want to shock the world Saturday night, so accept whatever stupid trick Pam is playing, and I love you with all my heart, Action Movie Star, Rick Lee."

She stepped out of the car into the freezing air, and I quickly followed her out into the snow.

Standing directly in front of my parents' granite stone, Vicky and I held hands tightly, our fingers intertwined as we quietly talked to the rising plumes of smoke.

"I thank all three of you for giving birth, raising, and caring for my Rick." Vicky spoke first, her voice full of genuine emotion as she stared at the engraving. "I only wish you could see how happy he has made me. Just bless us with a long and happy marriage. Mr Lee, father-in-law... Lee and Long wed, so please know your honor is still in your son's and my heart."

She gave my fingers a firm, heavy grip to let me know it was officially my turn to speak to them.

"Birth mother, thanks for giving me life, and making it possible for me to love Vicky." I murmured, watching the glowing tips of the incense sticks. "Father and mother, I am taking good care of everything both of you left behind. I will be the best father I can, just like you were incredible parents to me and Mary. This time next year, I will have some grand-babies for you to see."

Yes, I knew damn well that they couldn't actually hear a single word I was saying, but deep in my heart, I desperately wished I was wrong. I wanted to believe that human souls truly do linger around to listen, or eventually reincarnate into completely good lives elsewhere. Hope is always significantly stronger than cold fact. I think it is an incredibly good thing to hope for magic to exist, even if it is nothing more than pure fantasy.

With heavy, reflective hearts, the two of us finally turned and left the gravesite, feeling a renewed determination to bring back even better news by the time next year rolled around.

That very night, Vicky came home to the mansion with me, and due to her knowing me exceptionally well and me knowing her just as deeply, she officially and permanently moved into my bedroom as of tonight. Victoria and I made love a few intense times across the mattress, deliberately making sure the bed fully knew it belonged to the two of us now. I simply could not get enough of this woman's touch, and if I truly have to become a mainstream actor just to keep her smiling, then I want to make her very happy. I love her after all.

Friday arrived, marking the final day before New Year's Eve...

Victoria informed me first thing in the morning that she wouldn't be attending the corporate meeting with me, explaining that running the day-to-day operations was strictly Pam's job as an executive. Vicky's only task in this plot was to successfully get me to show up at the office, and she had already accomplished that beautifully. Instead, Lucy would be functioning as my official advocate during the contract talks.

Victoria explicitly assured me that Lucy had already thoroughly proven she possessed whatever skills it took to seamlessly handle complex legal entertainment contracts. Why? Because as the actual Owner's husband, I could effortlessly break any damn contract she put me into anyway! How is that for a massive, absolute fuck-you to Pam's authority?

Victoria needed to travel over to the main corporate Tower for her own administrative work, so we all traveled together as a unified group, with Mei taking the wheel to drive the two of us down town. On a side note, Tina came back completely safe from her brutal Blood Demon night job this morning. Yes, she still actively earns her millions by doing her dangerous dark-work in the shadows. I don't ask about the details and she doesn't volunteer the information, but I know she would tell me everything in a heartbeat if I ever pushed for it.

The heavy elevator doors hummed as the lift made its way up toward the thirteenth floor.

"Good luck sir, I will make sure the Boss gets up safe, just go get em Tiger!" Benz said to me with a supportive grin as he guided Victoria out into the executive hallway.

"Sure thing, and see you for lunch dear, bye." I called out to Vicky, watching her wave before the doors started to slide shut again.

Yeah, that go get em Tiger phrase is incredibly common for people to say to Tang family members, sadly.

Stepping directly into the main lobby of the Star Entertainment Group's primary corporate office, I walked straight up to the front receptionist desk.

"Rick Lee, 9 am appointment."

The blonde receptionist quickly confirmed my name on her digital monitor before offering a professional smile. "Come with me, I will take you to conference room #2."

I followed the exceptionally pretty woman through the quiet corporate hallways, watching as she professionally opened a heavy door and gestured into the interior space.

"You are the first to arrive, so help yourself to the refreshments station there, and have a seat."

I completely ignored the expensive refreshments counter, opting to walk over and sit down at the far end of the ten-person conference table. I pulled out my smartphone to check the tracking software to see exactly where my team was.

"Fucking trolling me!" I growled under my breath, staring at the screen.

Ring Ring Ring!

Without hesitating, I immediately dialed Lucy's number, waiting for the line to connect.

[Rick, where are you, it says you are close?]

"Pam had her secretary put me in meeting room #2 to make me look stupid, so tell her..."

Over in conference room number one, a completely separate drama was unfolding. Pam and her son were seated stiffly on one side of the long table, while Kate and her manager Jean occupied the chairs directly across from them.

Lucy sat by herself near the door. The exact second I finished my sentence on the other end of the line, she calmly hung up her smartphone, a deeply displeased look flashing across her face as she lifted her eyes to glare at the executive.

"Pam Sun, if this is the way you run your company, then you can shove your deal up your asshole!" Lucy snapped, her voice cutting through the silent room like a razor blade. "Rick was put into room two by himself, so if you want to do business come there, or fuck off!"

She began aggressively grabbing her legal pads and stuffing her tablet back into her leather bag. Pam's eyes widened in a sudden panic, and she quickly raised her hands in a desperate hurry to keep her from walking out.

"No, there must have been a mix-up with the secretary, she is new!" Pam scrambled for an excuse, her voice losing its previous corporate authority.

Lucy said absolutely nothing in response. Instead, she cracked a cold smile, tapped her fingers against the screen of her phone, and pressed the speakerphone button to play my recording of the receptionist from earlier for the entire room to hear.

["Rick Lee, 9 am appointment." "Come with me, I will take you to conference room #2." "You are the first to arrive, so help yourself to the refreshments station there, and have a seat."]

Every single person sitting around the table heard the receptionist's voice crystal clear. Once the audio file finished, Lucy didn't just leave it at that; she played another clip where I had explicitly recorded a follow-up message right after the woman left me alone.

["Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Fly too close to the Sun, and you get burned. Kate Kong, don't trust the Sun. I am waiting in room #2 like you told me, come or don't, I don't care." Click... do do do...]

The playback cut out, leaving the room in a state of absolute, staggering silence. Lucy flashed a gorgeous, entirely victorious smile at Pam's pale face, threw her bag over her shoulder, and immediately left the room to head straight down the hallway to be with me.

Kate Kong slowly stood up from her chair, a highly amused glint shining in her eyes as she adjusted her designer sunglasses and looked down at her manager.

"It is a bit hot in here," Kate remarked smoothly, her voice dripping with lazy disdain. "I am going to room #2, let's go Jean."

Without offering a single glance or a word of explanation to the two Suns remaining at the table, both women turned on their heels and walked out of the room as well.

The heavy door clicked shut behind them, leaving Pam sitting alone with her son. Trying to forcefully hold in an explosion of absolute rage, she slowly turned her head toward her retarded child, a lethal look in her eyes.

"Did your brain go limp with your dick?!" Pam hissed, her teeth clenched so tightly her jaw looked like granite. "You fucking told the secretary to sabotage this meeting?!"

"Mother, it was a harmless prank," Sam whined, shrugging his shoulders as he tried to laugh it off. "I would have had him sent in a couple minutes late."

A thick green vein on Pam's forehead began throbbing violently against her skin, her hands clenching into tight fists on the polished wood.

"Now, I must lose all my face and dignity to go to that room #2!" She snarled, her voice dropping into a dangerous whisper. "Not only that, but this will cost more money for your little Prank! Fucking don't talk unless I ask you a question, now get up and go, lets salvage the sinking ship, sigh!"