Chapter 132: New Years Eve Love 1!

Chapter 132: New Years Eve Love 1!

In her stunning white long-dress, and with her long white-hair cascading down, Kate's intense red-eyes looked especially pronounced when she tilted her head to look closely at me.

"Kate, come with me, I have important people for you to meet." I said, gently guiding her by the elbow away from the heavy glass window. "My two personal maids, and my Teacher and neighbor."

Kate, visibly excited to be functioning as proper friends again, offered a frantic nod of her head and willingly came along toward the side seats where Kim, Mei, and Mercy were currently having some warm coffee. I offered a proud smile to the trio, pointing to each one in sequence while explaining the household to the flustered idol.

"This here is Mei Xia, my first personal maid who migrated from the China Empire. And this tall woman here is Mercy Mu, of the Mu family's main branch. And this lovely lady is-"

Kate suddenly extended a manicured finger, cutting me off entirely as her eyes widened. "Miss Kim Smith, my new neighbor!"

My face instantly went entirely stiff upon hearing her sudden exclamation, my eyes narrowing as I looked down at her. "Wait?! You live in lot number 9 in Garden Estates?!"

Kim offered a calm nod of her head, setting her coffee cup down on the small table as she spoke. "Miss Kong moved into Linda's old house a few weeks prior, but only officially moved her things in a couple weeks ago, we bumped into each-other on the sidewalk and I found out she is our neighbor."

This time around, it was Kate's turn to look completely surprised, her jaw dropping slightly as she turned her head back to me. "Wait, Rick is your neighbor too?!"

Kim, who did not seem to know a single thing about our secret personal circumstances, simply shrugged her shoulders and answered as if it were common knowledge. "Mercy and Linda lived in that house till Linda was engaged to Rick, then they both moved."

Mercy, clearly seeing the three-way tactical confusion breaking out among the women, straightened her posture and decided to clarify the housing records. "Yes, I am the one that listed the home for Linda. I had specifically told the realtor to only sell it to a woman, due to Miss Smith living alone down the lane and all the women resting at Master's home, but I had absolutely no idea who bought it."

A massive, brilliant smile instantly broke across Kate's face, and she turned to me to ask a completely dumb question. "Rick, you really live in lot 5?! We are real neighbors?!"

I reached up to aggressively scratch the back of my head at the sheer density of my dumb luck in real estate. Even if I hadn't already reconnected with her as the tree-girl from my youth, the basic fact that my childhood idol was currently living two doors down would have been a massive deal to me.

"Well, I used to live in lot 7 with Mary and Hana," I explained, shifting my weight. "Then when I was officially brought back into the Tang family, my uncle Head Tang used my inheritance to buy lot 5 for my Branch Tang Family. So, yes, we seem to be neighbors. Garden Estates is one of the higher rated luxury communities near Star University and Star General, so only important people can buy there. Your Star power got you in there it seems."

Then, out of absolute nowhere, the excitement vanished from Kate's face. She looked really sad, her shoulders slumping as she muttered under her breath. "For two whole weeks, I had wondered how to meet you, and you were two homes down. I am so dejected, Rick!"

Mei instantly adopted a highly sneaky, plotting face, letting out a soft chuckle that made all of us mentally facepalm at her typical operative behavior. "Actually, I knew you moved in but said nothing. I had waited to see all of your faces at this exact moment, Ufufu!"

It honestly made perfect sense, due to the basic fact that Mei always keeps tight tactical tabs on the surrounding perimeter, but she was being exceptionally sneaky this time. I only offered a dry smile toward her, refusing to get actually mad at her. I did force her to watch Kate's movies, shows, and listen to her music for hours on end at the mansion, so she was clearly just demanding some intense drama payback from me.

I bet Lucy also knew everything. Now that I think about it, Kate might only have been able to secure the purchase of that exclusive house with Lucy's hidden digital help behind the scenes!

"Miss Xia, then why not tell Rick I lived there?" Kate asked, her lips ballooning into a prominent pout as she questioned the assassin.

Mei cutely tilted her head to the side, utilizing her own high-level Acting Skill to touch her chin in mock thought before answering. "Why would I say anything, is it not respecting your privacy to not tell everyone of your personal information? Plus my Master is really busy being bothered with every little thing. I also knew you two would bump into each-other sooner or later."

Kate, hearing her smooth words, desperately wanted to argue that it was a massive deal to her personally, but there was absolutely nothing logically wrong with what Mei said. And it was undeniably true; she may have originally not wanted me to know she lived there out of embarrassment. Kate's shoulders slumped forward as she accepted the reality. I turned away from the couch, nodding toward the front rows.

"Will be back, Victoria looks like she will blow a gasket."

So Victoria was currently standing directly at the polished refreshment bar, trapped alongside the mother-and-son duo of the Sun family. She possessed the exact rigid look of a woman who desperately wanted to escape the immediate area. Sam stepped closer into her personal space, asking an incredibly confident question.

"When midnight approaches, may I have your New Years dance and toast with you? I don't think anyone would mind us toasting on stage, or even dancing before?"

Pam quickly chimed in right behind her son, addressing her boss with a smooth, corporate tone. "Victoria, please, Sam was only asking due to my request. I just did not want you to have another year of being alone on stage. I figured my son was a safe bet to not ruin your stellar reputation."

Victoria, consciously trying to not point out the fact that her retarded son was the absolute last person any self-respecting woman would ever want standing by them willingly, just decided to tell them bluntly, clearing the board for her big reveal tonight.

"Well the reason I won't dance or drink with you or any man is... I am already married, so that is the end of that."

Pam, instantly noticing the thick gold ring resting on her finger, staggered backward, her face turning pale as she spoke in a complete daze. "B-But Kimberly had never announced it to anyone! And you never told us?"

Vicky had easily spotted me walking up to the rescue the exact second she dropped the blunt hammer on them. She squinted her purple eyes at Pam, her voice dropping into a frosty tone. "Explain to me, how my lovelife is any of your businesses?"

I caught the tail end of the intense conversation, specifically the part about her openly declaring that she was married to the world, so I stepped up to her side with a completely straight face. "Mrs Long, did you tell them about your husband, he is a nice guy!"

Pam and Sam both watched in a sudden shock as I smoothly walked up and anchored myself next to Vick. But when Pam, who was easily the smarter of the two Suns, saw the intimate way Victoria looked up at me, followed by the matching gold-rings and the raw closeness of a Long and a Tang, massive alarm bells instantly went off inside her head.

Her sharp eyes aggressively scanned my frame, rapidly calculating all the interactions we had shared recently—from the intense board meeting, to the SEG autograph signing, and all the high-stakes sports matches. Her entire face went completely pale, but she failed to stop her incredibly stupid son from ruining their position again.

"Rick Lee, why are you always sticking your nose where it does not belong?" Sam snarled, his chest puffing out in an unappealing display of arrogance. "I am going to beat you in acting class and show everyone you are just a Frog playing a Prince. If you're lucky I might get you a role as an extra in the movie I am making with Kate."

Victoria, seeing Pam's pale, trembling face, simply decided it was time to completely crush them and every single elite guest sitting inside the room all at once.

She stepped directly into my front, wrapping her slender arms firmly around my waist with a brilliant, triumphant smile as she looked up at my face. "Husband, you did not tell me you were a Frog playing as a Prince! Well if your acting is good enough to fool me, then, won't you win that bet? Good luck my husband~, mwah."

Yep, Victoria effortlessly scored many consecutive critical hits, completely stunning every single one of her high-level corporate employees because she hadn't made a single attempt to keep her voice down. The exact second she broke our passionate kiss, I offered a joking question to play along.

"Sorry Sam forced you to reveal us, but now that he knows you are married to me, can I shoot him if he tries anything with you again? I will use rubber bullets though?"

Standing near the seats, Kate let out a sudden shout of pure surprise, looking down at her manager. "Jean, I told you they are married! I know Rick!"

Even Victoria and I were completely taken aback by the sudden outburst, staring over at the airhead of our group for somehow figuring us out completely on her own. How the hell did she manage that? Is she an actual secret genius?!

All of Vick's business CEOs sitting around the lounge had vastly different, chaotic thoughts racing through their heads at this shocking news.

Kevin looked over at me, and much like Pam, his sharp brain worked at a rapid pace to calculate the shift. He quickly remembered that he had chosen to be nothing but incredibly polite and respectful with me from the very beginning of our meeting, and he internally felt a massive surge of pure gladness that he hadn't shamed the Boss's husband! He was also exceptionally happy that his first wife and I seemed to get along so smoothly, smiling broadly at his good fortune.

Gretta was just as sharp, her mind instantly realizing that I must have functioned as the actual creator behind the massive Harem-Chat network. A deep blush crept up her neck as she recalled how she had forcefully made me star in that first cosmetics commercial, but she was deeply thankful that she hadn't rejected me as an actor and had actually launched the Harem-Chat company under her branch. She could easily feel that the balance of seats would violently shift at the corporate table now. Oh, first thing Monday morning, she was going to personally double the investment capital into the project!

Diana Long, who was currently in charge of the entire advertising division, realized with a cold dread that she had essentially slapped Vicky directly in the face by refusing to promote the Harem-Chat application earlier, her skin turning an absolute pale shade of white. Victoria had actually gone out and married a Tang! And when she thought about why the powerful Tang family would suddenly help out the business empire, the puzzle pieces violently clicked into place inside her skull. Plus, she had been nothing but aggressively rude and dismissive to me from the very beginning of the night. She bit her lower lip in a complete panic, struggling to decide on who she should support going forward—Kimberly or Victoria?!

Pam, after hearing the unhinged words of her wonderful son alongside our lethal retort, fully realized she had just completely and utterly done fucked up. Without a shred of executive dignity left, she aggressively reached out and snatched Sam by the ear, physically dragging his groaning frame across the floor to force him into their assigned seats.

Sam looked like he had completely lost his soul, staring blankly ahead as if his entire life had just been violently flipped backward. With his current crushing ED issues and his completely barren nuts, every single one of his grand plans was going down the drain simultaneously—losing his shot with Victoria Long, Kate Kong, and even that local tramp Ana Zi!

He had even desperately threatened to expose Ana to the press with her private video, and the actress had only laughed mockingly right in his face before physically kicking him out of her apartment a while ago, right when he was confidently preparing to take her to bed! He couldn't comprehend why the absolute entire world was against him lately.

Victoria, immensely pleased with the absolute wave of shock she had just generated across the lounge, smiled beautifully as she turned to face me. "I was going to wait, but my heart just could not hold it in anymore, sorry, Ufufu. I think the last couple of months have been the best and worst time for me. Hiding my husband was hard on me. Now, let us see if my older-sister wants war or not."

I reached out, my hand gently patting her back to reassure her as I gave her a simple, solid response. "When you need me to do anything, just ask. I will support you."

As the two of us were quietly talking, Kim suddenly walked up to our front. Oops, I realized right then that she hadn't known a single thing about our secret marriage status either.

"Victoria, I am sorry if I may have acted inappropriately with Rick in front of you before." Kim stammered, her cheeks turning bright red as she looked between us. "Back in the fight, I mean. Congratulations by the way. I really should have guessed, but..."

Victoria, seeing Kim—a fellow University teacher—looking completely awkward and guilty, acting as if she had just boldly messed around with another woman's man, immediately let go of my waist. She stepped forward, warmly taking Kim's trembling hands into hers and offering a reassuring smile.

"Nonsense." Victoria spoke clearly, ensuring her words carried across the front row. "Both Rick and all of his wives think you are a wonderful woman. You are Hana's best friend, Rick's teacher, and our neighbor, so you acting close and friendly with Rick is fine with us. Come sit with me and let's chat."

I only offered a faint, silent smile toward Kim as she allowed herself to be pulled toward the center seats, her green eyes looking back at me with a massive amount of emotional confusion swirling in her heart.

No, I am definitely not stupid, and I am entirely sure that my wives have already clearly seen Kim's feelings and my own getting closer over the recent weeks. But I had explicitly said it to myself before—I will simply let nature take its natural course with her and refuse to push her into anything.