Chapter 140: The Show Must Go On!

Chapter 140: The Show Must Go On!

After the chaotic events of that bloody week finally settled down, we successfully finished taking our final exams.

Victoria completely settled the legal aftermath of her sudden removal from the Long family hierarchy.

With my corporate connection to the main Long house entirely broken by Kimberly, the immediate economic aggression launched by Tony Feng, George Lang, and Anthony Tang was absolute and fierce.

Smelling fresh blood in the water, the three other main family Heads who had traditionally ranked second to the Long dynasty seemed to form an unspoken, highly calculated agreement to tear massive chunk-sized bites right out of the Long Group's corporate assets.

Kimberly was struggling heavily under the immense financial pressure due to the distinct fact that all three families purposefully ignored the assets owned by Victoria Long Inc.

Their coordinated movements explicitly showed the public that the three Great Houses were targeting her personally for her hostile move against our branch.

This was the absolute first time in three hundred years that the main Long family branch had been aggressively pushed straight into a tight corner by a completely united, combined front.

The overall economic strength of the Long clan was systematically cut down to a mere three-quarters of its original power following Victoria's departure.

It was a devastating blow stemming entirely from losing her massive business enterprise networks.

Because of this massive oversight, many lesser Long family members were becoming deeply dissatisfied with Kimberly's leadership style at the moment.

Their growing anger functioned as a core component of her rapidly compounding problems.

As of late, a warm bottle of heavy alcohol was the only companion warming her lonely nights.

That exact night after I finished my evening shower, I immediately placed a secure call to Luke Fu.

I ordered him to take his West Side syndicate crew and completely dismantle the remaining Mad Hatters network operating out of warehouse number three on Jasper Drive.

Luke, that absolute crazy motherfucker, instantly mobilized every single armed Fire Birds member operating under his direct territory control.

He launched a raid on the facility with such pure, unadulterated ferocity that the blockaded Mad Hatters couldn't even react in time before their entire nest was ripped up to the foundations.

Every single scrap of internal documentation, hidden black-market loot, and high-profile syndicate persons were successfully seized by my group during the sweep.

We even managed to completely capture their massive underground stock of rare gemstones that were actively being prepared for illegal smuggling transit over to North America.

I immediately handed the full digital data cache over to Lucy, letting her handle the decryption algorithms exactly as she saw fit.

I explicitly instructed Luke Fu to adopt a completely brand-new form of dockside execution for our prisoners to aggressively build up his personal reputation across the West Side.

I told him to utilize custom concrete shoes before sending the targets on a permanent swim straight off the edge of one of our shipping docks. I wanted every single one of our enemies to feel a deep, paralyzing fear whenever they thought about cross-examining the Fire Birds on the West Side.

I had to literally hold the phone away from my ear as I listened to Luke laugh maniacally for a couple of uninterrupted minutes upon hearing my brutal new execution method for rival criminals and corporate debt forfeitures.

The crazy bastard even recorded a high-definition video showcase of all the surviving Mad Hatters standing rigidly on the wet dock ledge with their lower legs encased in heavy blocks of stone, crying hysterically as his men kicked them off into the dark harbor one by one.

The viral video clip was immediately broadcast straight onto North America's mainstream media networks under a massive, mocking digital banner. The text read exactly [Eurasia welcomes the Mad Hatters, come one and all!]

The video clearly showcased Luke laughing like an absolute psycho as his heavy boots kicked each masked member down into the freezing water. This intense display instantly transformed him into a legendary Fire Birds hero among the syndicates' younger generation of fighters.

This upcoming second half of the University year was naturally splitting up some of our established class schedules from before. For example, James was now officially joining the ranks of the university Kung-Fu Club alongside me.

But all things considered, we wouldn't see a truly major structural shift in our daily schedules until we formally entered our second year of courses.

Nadia and Nichole were completely dropping their standard Computer courses, pivoting their focus over to more intensive Law-related classes instead. Now that they were officially married and living permanently with me at the estate, the original tactical reason for them monitoring the computer department was entirely lost.

Because of this change, they now strictly wanted to fast-track their professional Law degrees to help manage our growing family assets.

So, what exactly was Mary going to be doing during her long, mandatory vacation time from the police force?

She was now officially placed in charge of designing and decorating the massive, centralized group nursery for the estate mansion. She was tasked with purchasing all the high-end cribs and medical supplies, ensuring the room layout was made exactly to the wives' collective structural specifications. She also made sure that every single wife possessed a matching personal crib resting right inside their private bedrooms to align perfectly with the distinct aesthetic decorations of the individual mothers.

This ingenious setup allowed our future babies to either sleep peacefully in a private crib right by their mothers' bedside or rest inside the massive, twenty-four-hour professionally manned nursery room. This monitoring process formed the main operational duties of the elite personal maids that my uncle Head Tang had specifically hired to manage my household.

Kate had called my direct line earlier to chat about her upcoming premier hosting gig on Entertainment Tonight. She asked me for my professional business opinions and structural critiques regarding the format. Naturally, the mere sight of Sam Sun on screen thoroughly annoyed me to my core, but I had to admit he was relatively tolerable as a standard television host.

The absolute last thing of notable news?

Oh, my second Harem-Chat commercial finally officially premiered on television, and it seemed to be massively liked by the public. The broadcast caused our total numbers of brand-new subscribers to double overnight.

Well, to be perfectly honest with myself, the massive spike in revenue was strictly due to the extreme, raw sex appeal of Ana Zi and Kate Kong modeling together on screen. But as the saying goes, sex sells beautifully in any market.

And that beautiful trajectory brings me directly to the start of the third week of January—the official launch of the second university academic term.

"Mercy, I am cumming."

Mercy turned her head slightly to look back over her shoulder into my face, her fingers gripping the wet tiles as I continued to deliver a series of deep, rhythmic thrusts from behind.

A radiant smile broke across her flushed face the exact millisecond her own intense climax finished rippling through her core.

The hot water from the shower head cascaded beautifully over our glistening bodies as she spoke in a happy tone. "Master~, I have finished, so please fill me."

My right hand rested firmly over her flat, lower belly while my left hand tightly squeezed the soft flesh of her left breast.

Hearing her thoroughly fulfilled, breathless voice in the steam, I let out a low groan and released the entirety of my hot seed deep inside her warm belly.

Following our very first night together in her room, her natural biological cycle had immediately triggered her period. Because of this timeline, she was highly hoping that within these next few days of peak fertility, my efforts would successfully get her pregnant. That intense family goal was part of the reason why she was being so exceptionally insistent on having sex this morning, but what exactly was her other hidden reason?

"Thank you, Rick," Mercy murmured softly, a playful grin breaking across her face as she rested her weight back against my chest to relax. "And now, when you meet those beautiful movie stars later today, you can maintain a perfectly clear head."

While I wrapped my arms tightly around her wet waist to hold her frame close against mine, she merely grinned up at me, thoroughly happy to watch me roll my eyes at her blatant excuse to empty my balls.

I leaned down to press a firm kiss against her lips, tightening our embrace. "It is just standard acting, dear, so please don't be jealous. It isn't like I can actually do anything inappropriate with them in the middle of a crowded university classroom, right?"

Mercy smoothly disconnected our bodies, reaching for the soap to wash our privates completely clean before looking back up at me through her long lashes. "Really? Then what exactly happened with Nadia and Nichole at the very beginning of the University year?"

Just as I was about to open my mouth to firmly deny her suspicious words, the memory of our early campus encounters hit me.

I realized she was actually 100% correct about my track record, which caused me to sigh in defeat. "Then, I will completely count on you to give me your wise advice, and I have to say, I really thoroughly loved seeing your jealous side just now, haha."

She wrapped her arms tightly around my neck and smiled warmly, though she admitted her confusion about her changing mindset. "My internal feelings are honestly a bit strange lately. I don't get a single shred of jealousy when it comes to some of the women, but others tend to give me an incredibly bad vibe under the surface. But I truly like every single member of my Master's current Harem, so please don't worry about me."

And with that final reassuring statement, our private, pink-tinted world inside the shower steam officially came to an end.

At the grand breakfast table a little while later...

Mary was sitting directly on my right side while Vicky occupied the seat to my left, eating her breakfast before she turned her purple eyes to deliver my morning orders. "For Kate Kong's ongoing physical safety, she will be coming and going from the University campus directly inside our private family limo from now on. I also explicitly want you to personally escort her straight to her very first classroom in the morning, and it is completely fine for you to arrive a bit late to my own business lecture afterward. Is that alright with you?"

I immediately squinted my eyes in an accusing glare across the table at her, knowing for a fact that she was leveraging my protective nature because she knew damn well I wouldn't turn down a safety request.

I shook my head slightly at her behavior, knowing this arrangement would hassle me. "And what exactly is the real hidden reason behind this assignment?"

"She gave me those irresistible puppy-dog eyes," Victoria admitted with a soft sigh, smoothing down her skirt to compose herself. "And I know for a fact that Sam Sun will constantly try to bother her on campus, well, that and pretty much half of the entire University student body. So her being seen walking out in the open directly with you and your notorious combat methods will easily stop half the male population from bothering her. Also, you can walk Ana Zi along with her to class as well. The two women share the exact same morning class schedule for structural safety reasons anyway."

I rolled my eyes dramatically at the ceiling, thinking to myself that adding Ana Zi to my morning routine was just going to be another massive pain in my ass.

I turned a serious gaze toward my maid, ready to prepare for trouble. "Mei, can you please go grab my industrial-strength tactical pepper spray and my high-voltage stun taser from the armory?"

A highly creepy, sinister smile instantly broke across Mei's face as she dropped into a formal bow, her fingers twisting together mischievously. "I will gladly go get the high-output electronic stunner that can literally make a grown man's bladder release on the spot, fufu."

Victoria watched the two of us immediately preparing to violently ruin someone's day. Seeing our extreme response, she suddenly felt like this escort idea might have been a terrible tactical mistake after all.

In front of lot number nine in Garden Estates...

Kate smoothly walked out of her front doors, looking drop-dead gorgeous in a casual pair of blue jeans and a warm, form-fitting white sweater. Her signature white hair was pulled back into her classic high ponytail, swaying slightly as she walked down the stone path. She was even wearing a massive pair of dark sunglasses, acting as if the cheap accessory might somehow make her look like an average, unnoticeable civilian girl out in public.

Nope, not a chance.

Her striking hair color and her massive, tight sweater-puppies were far too damn obvious for anyone to ignore.

The exact moment she stepped inside the spacious interior of the white luxury limo and spotted Victoria and Tina securely occupying both of my adjacent sides, a look of sudden disappointment flashed deep within her heart.

She quickly masked her expression, offering a bright wave to the rest of the occupants. "Hello everyone! I am so incredibly excited for my very first day in University! Linda and Tina, it is really wonderful to see you two again."

Because Linda, the twins, and Jenifer had already tightly claimed all the premium leather spots around my section, Kate was forced to slide onto the far end of the seating array right behind the driver's partition.

Linda merely offered a silent, disinterested nod in her usual cold mode, though her sharp grey eyes aggressively scanned the pop idol. She tracked the incredible evolution of the once-ugly duckling girl turned into a national beauty.

Tina reached down to tightly squeeze my right arm, turning her calm gaze toward the idol to state the obvious fact. "Leaving Star City really helped out a lot in your life. Becoming a big-time celebrity star and everything. I had even explicitly told Rick a while back that I knew your face before we ever found out you were his childhood pen pal, fufu. You changing your stage name entirely kept Rick from finding your location for years."

Kate's smile went completely forced as the weight of Tina's words hit her, her posture stiffening as she realized that her own silly childhood mistake of not letting Rick know her true family last name was Kong had completely messed with their entire romantic timeline.

"Yeah, I still wanted to be called Pu back then, and completely failed to tell Rick in the letter," Kate admitted with a soft sigh, her expression turning slightly embarrassed as she leaned back against the limo's cushions. "That probably made my mother incredibly angry seeing Rick's letters arriving with my old childhood name on the envelope."

I could instantly smell some metaphorical gunpowder brewing in the air from that lingering childhood drama, so I quickly intervened to change the subject. "Kate, where exactly are yours and Ana's first class located this morning?"

She smiled brightly at my question, clearly thrilled by the prospect of being personally escorted by me across the campus grounds, and she rested her hands neatly on her crossed knees before answering. "We are taking an English class to help us with our reading and writing basics. This will drastically improve our reading of scripts, teleprompters, and general writing assignments. As childhood entertainers who grew up working constantly, we still have some major holes in our formal education from relying mostly on self-studies."

I nodded my head slowly, mapping out the campus terrain in my mind and realizing that the designated English building wasn't terribly far from the main business plaza, meaning I shouldn't be too late for my own schedule.

Linda turned her sharp grey eyes toward the front partition, speaking to the pop idol in her usual straightforward, blunt tone. "Miss Kong, I don't mind your friendly attitude with Rick in private, but please entirely refrain from doing it in front of others on campus. My fiance already has more than enough people who deeply hate his guts, and encouraging your massive fanbase to hate him even more is absolutely not acceptable. Even his official fiances and wives keep our public interactions to a strictly respectful level while out in public. Right, sister Victoria?"

Vicky knew for a fact that Linda wasn't being mean or aggressive here, but was truly only worried about my ongoing physical safety, so she offered an immediate nod of agreement. "Linda is completely correct, Kate. So in the eyes of the other students, just imagine Rick is Sam Sun, and that should tell you exactly what kind of strict social distance you need to maintain."

Kate looked across the leather seating at me, wrinkling her nose as she tried to visualize the repulsive actor. "Rick, if I honestly have to imagine you as Sam, maybe I should just walk entirely alone to class instead?!"

"Get off your tree-branch, woman, sigh," I muttered, letting out a tired breath at her ridiculous dramatics.

Kate and the other girls in the back burst out into loud laughter at the sight of my exhausted face as the limo began to slow to a halt.

As we smoothly pulled into the designated student drop-off area, I immediately spotted Ana Zi standing by the curb wearing a black beanie cap paired with dark sunglasses and a matching dark-blue version of Kate's outfit. She actually managed to disguise herself significantly better than Kate did, but her natural beauty still managed to shine through the simple fabric.

Mei, looking perfectly professional in her long maid uniform, stepped out of the front passenger opening to open the rear door for us all to pile out. She did, however, deliberately give Ana a heavy stink-eye as the actress approached, a silent threat that Ana definitely noticed under her sunglasses.

Jenifer adjusted her posture, turning a respectful gaze toward Victoria before we stepped away from the car. "Teacher Long, I will personally escort Rick along this dangerous campus path today, so I ask for your permission for the two of us to be a little late to your lecture?"

Victoria, thoroughly knowing Jenifer's true administrative and romantic role in my life, smiled warmly and nodded her approval, much to the faint dismay of the two watching actresses. "You are recognized as Rick's Personal Maid, so you helping him out with perimeter security is perfectly fine with me, just make sure he isn't secretly skipping my class entirely."

Jenifer, wearing the exact same styled long coat as myself, pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses with a confident click of her fingers and nodded in complete understanding.

I turned a strict, warning gaze onto the two actresses as they adjusted their beanies. "Let's move, ladies, and just completely refuse to cater to your fans while you are at school. Learn to say 'no' firmly, or you will be aggressively hounded by every Tom, Dick, and Harry on this campus. And remember, I don't play the role of a fake boyfriend unless it is explicitly written on a script onstage."

I could easily see a flash of disappointment in both Ana and Kate's eyes, realizing they had to throw away at least half of their planned schemes to manipulate the student crowd today.

With Ana tightly claiming my left side and Kate hugging my right, I navigated the crowded brick walkways while Jenifer tracked closely behind us as our rear guard. Whenever a lingering fan attempted to step forward to talk with the two star actresses, I would rudely cut them off with a cold glare.

"Both of you, if you stop to talk to fans, I will keep walking and leave you stranded with them, so move your asses or be abandoned right here."

Both Kate and Ana felt completely helpless about my blunt, purely business-like attitude, sighing at my utter lack of understanding that being rude to the general public was bad for a celebrity's career.

"Fuck! That is both Ana Zi and Kate Kong walking with Rick Tang!" a student down the lane suddenly gasped, pointing a trembling finger at our group.

"No, for the love of all that is good, please don't tell me they are going to end up featured in his Harem-Chat app too!"

Ana merely grinned deviously at the poor guy's panic, deliberately leaning closer to my shoulder as if to confirm his absolute worst fears, which made me let out a silent sigh.

Zap! Zap! Zap! I suddenly raised my high-voltage hand-stunner at a guy who was stepping directly into our path with a thoroughly lecherous look in his eyes, letting the bright blue sparks crackle violently across the contacts. The guy froze dead in his tracks, his face turning pale as he raised his hands.

"You can't use that thing on me for just trying to say hi, you total barbarian!"

My cold eyes told him that I sure as fuck would use it if he took another step forward. Kate and Ana looked thoroughly surprised by how genuinely terrified most of the campus men were of my presence, treating me like a high-level criminal, before the two women suddenly locked eyes as a massive realization hit them.

I am a literal Syndicate Leader! This guy they had been teasing and acting playful with was actively set to inherit one of the big four criminal syndicates in the region. Ana finally showed a hint of real hesitation and respect in her posture, but Kate, with her wild imagination, only thought of me sitting behind a massive Bond villain desk giving out lethal orders to heavy thugs—which, scarily enough, was a perfect description of the main executive office I would soon own!

After dealing with a few more nonsense students trying to bother my line, I finally brought them to the doors of their building and pointed directly to their classroom. "ONLY call my line if you are in a literal life-threatening situation, not because some harmless fan is bothering you for an autograph. Call Campus Security to handle that everyday mess. So whenever you reach for your phone, just ask yourselves, is calling Rick honestly worth getting this specific person killed?! Do you two thoroughly understand me, because I will gladly shoot first and ask questions later."

Both women answered clearly and rapidly, their expressions turning serious under the weight of my words. "Thanks, and Campus Security will actually be escorting us back to the limo after this class anyway, so you don't have to worry," Ana stated, her pragmatic thinking earning a nod of approval from me. "But if we are ever in real danger, I will definitely call you."

"Can I call you if I happen to get lost on campus?" Kate suddenly piped up, looking up at me with a hopeful, teasing pout.

I rubbed my face in absolute exhaustion, groaning at her persistence. "Use the standard SU Map App on your phone. But if you are ever trapped inside someone's car trunk, then yes, call me, sigh."

Kate playfully stuck her tongue out at me in response, and I waved them both goodbye as they stepped inside the lecture hall.

Jenifer smoothly walked up to my side the exact second the doors closed, a soft smile gracing her lips as she looked up at me. "Master, seeing how strictly you treat those two beautiful national icons, I feel incredibly lucky that I am your maid."

I reached down to gently take her hand in mine, offering her a warm, genuine smile as we walked toward the business building. "We both thoroughly know that you are significantly more than just a maid or a secretary to me, right?"

She squeezed my fingers firmly in response, her cheeks dimpling before a look of sudden remembrance crossed her face. "Sorry, Master, I almost forgot something incredibly important! On February 1st, we need to fly out to the Crimson State to conduct an official corporate inspection there. You officially own a private luxury plane as the next Leader of the syndicate, so we will be flying out for the weekend."

I looked down at her, a bit surprised by the sudden travel notice. "We are going to Crimson to meet with Bill Woo, Cat's uncle? And who exactly is going on this trip?"

Jenifer interlocked her fingers tightly with mine, her blue eyes betraying her inner feelings as she answered. "I will be right at your side, and possibly Cat Woo, if you want to bring her along as a local guide or not, but I also know my way around that territory perfectly."

I could easily read the subtle hope in her gaze, seeing that she desperately wanted me to pick just her for this trip, so I didn't hesitate to reassure her. "If it was Tina, I would love for her to come along, but I think Cat Woo's presence would only make my business trip significantly less smooth. So I will let you take care of all the arrangements. Oh, but we do absolutely need to bring Mei along with us. I cannot leave her behind in the territory or she will inevitably cause massive problems, like flying behind us on a commercial flight and tailing me like a literal stalker, so make sure you clear it with her, right?"

Her blue eyes flashed with pure happiness while she desperately tried to maintain her professional secretary appearance, thoroughly glad that I wasn't tempted by Cat Woo's beauty whatsoever. "I already made preliminary plans for both Mei and Mercy to join us as fellow Personal Maids," Jenifer admitted softly. "I must maintain a good working relationship with them both so we can work in perfect sync to serve you."

While the hallway was completely empty of students, I smoothly pulled her face in close for a gentle, reassuring kiss to send her my true feelings. By the time we finally entered Victoria's lecture room late, Jenifer's face was completely red from embarrassment.