Chapter 198: A Fan’s Request!

Chapter 198: A Fan's Request!

The heavy crystal bottle of Jack Daniel’s clinked softly against the dark mahogany of my desk as I sat down, pouring a generous amber stream over a tumbler packed with ice. Before I could even bring the glass to my lips, the sharp, piercing tone of my smartphone shattered the quiet of the office.

Swiping the screen with my thumb, I leaned back in my leather chair and spoke into the receiver with a relaxed smile. "Hello, my beautiful redheaded lover."

[My Dragon, did I get you at a bad time?] Tina’s sultry voice purred through the speaker, though it was quickly softened by a maternal warmth. [Alice wanted to say hello to her daddy.]

"Nope, your timing was perfect," I replied, swirling the ice in my glass as I watched the dark liquid catch the dim office lighting. "I just got out of the boring boardroom, so can our little girl hear me yet?"

[Daddy is on the phone honey, say hello...]

[Daddy, I love you!]

Hearing her high-pitched, enthusiastic voice completely melted the residual tension in my shoulders. "Hello, my little Alice," I said, my tone softening completely as I pictured her bright face. "I will see you tomorrow morning right after you eat all your breakfast and get ready for your big day of watching shows."

[Daddy, can I have a white cat?]

A chuckle escaped my throat because I already knew exactly what she meant. She had previously begged me for one of the white tiger plushies from my burger joint franchise, and the prize was already sitting safely in the backseat of my car. "Hmm? Well, if you are a very good girl and listen to mommy, I think I might just find where he is hiding and catch him for my little baby," I teased, taking a slow sip of the burning whiskey.

[Okay daddy, I will be good...]

[You are off speaker now, and I can't wait to see you tomorrow,] Tina murmured, her tone shifting back to that familiar, playful hum. [Oh, and my annoying neighbor is doing fine, if you were wondering, fufu?]

I raised an eyebrow at the sudden shift in topics, setting the tumbler down with a soft click. "Are you talking about Luke and Cat?"

[No, my other neighbor. The one you seem to like hanging out with from time to time.]

Rubbing the back of my neck, I let out a wry, slightly guilty laugh. "Ah. Are you still mad about that? Sorry."

[If I was truly mad about it, would I have bought the entire Jefferson building and moved in right next door to her?] Tina laughed, a sharp, possessive edge bleeding into her beautiful voice. [No, unlike some of your other wives, I know exactly how to protect your treasures from the shadows.]

She paused, her breathing slowing as her voice dropped into a deeply affectionate, serious register. [My Dragon, your treasures need to be kept safe, or you might rage, and I do not want my Dragon rampaging. You and Alice might be my entire heart, but I know your heart has many pieces that need to be protected, so I will do it. So reward me well tomorrow, my dear.]

"Anything you want, my dear," I promised, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the city skyline, feeling a profound sense of gratitude for her fierce loyalty. "You never change, even from the very first day we met. Sleep well, Tina, and thanks for protecting Ana in the background."

[It is fine, plus Alice and Luna are great playmates when the two of us are here,] she noted casually. [I won't admit it to the others, but Ana and I actually get along pretty well. Plus, Luke figured out your little secret a long time ago.]

I listened closely as she let out another knowing chuckle through the line. [He saw you sneak into her apartment using her spare key around three years ago, right when you had just gotten back from America, fufu.]

Amusement washed over me as I took another slow sip of my Jack, smiling at the vivid memory of bumping into Luke in the hallway that exact night. He had been completely cool about it, casually mentioning he was looking to buy a nice, private place for himself and Cat.

Shortly after that quiet encounter, Tina had stepped in with her massive wealth to buy the entire Jefferson building for our Branch Feng Family. Of the four exclusive apartments on the top floor, one belonged to Ana, one to Luke, and one to Tina herself. The final unit was permanently reserved as Tina’s secure home office where she could handle dangerous clan work she hid away from Alice's innocent eyes, with the ultimate plan to gift it to Alice for her eighteenth birthday.

"I actually bought you a brand-new present as well, so be ready for it tomorrow," I said, changing the subject to stoke her anticipation.

[Is it that new dress I wanted?] she asked, her voice instantly dropping into a breathless, teasing whisper. [If it is, I will give you a very private, exclusive show tomorrow.]

"It is," I replied, a smirk playing on my lips as I recalled the sleek packaging in my closet. "The black vinyl one you wanted. Well, skintight still looks the absolute best on your body. Alright, my desk intercom is flashing, so someone is waiting to see me. I love both of you, dear."

[Ufufu, bye lover.]

A sharp beep echoed through the line as the call disconnected. I reached over and pressed the blinking LED button on the sleek console to connect directly to my secretary's desk outside.

[Sir, I have one urgent family message and two separate appointments waiting for you,] her professional voice announced through the speaker.

"Give me the message first, then send in the very first guest," I instructed, leaning forward over my desk.

[Your wife, Mrs. Smith, went upstairs with the children a moment ago,] she reported smoothly. [As for the appointments, I currently have the party of Sun and the party of Yang waiting in the lobby. Who should I send in first?]

"If it is not an emergency, then apply our usual first-come, first-served rule, that is all," I said, cutting the feed.

The heavy office door clicked open, and my polished blonde secretary stepped inside, leading a trio of white-haired ladies of varying ages and distinctly different body shapes. They looked exactly like a large, medium, and small version of Gretta. Her two gorgeous daughters, Rayna and Tessa, walked closely behind her, their eyes wide and nervous due to the fact that I was one of the major media stars they idolized. Having watched these sweet girls grow up over the last four years, I immediately stood up to greet them with a warm, welcoming smile.

"Thanks for bringing them in, I shall host them," I told the secretary, waving her off before turning my attention to the trio. "Hello ladies, what brings the three of you to my office today?"

Gretta's arrival was expected, but seeing her young daughters caught me completely by surprise, though they were incredibly well-mannered girls. As I began walking over to the private drink station to play host, Gretta reached out, her fingers gently gripping my arm to stop me.

"I know exactly what they want to drink, so let me get it," she murmured, giving my bicep a soft, supportive squeeze. "Just go sit down and hear my eldest out, because she has a very special request for you."

I nodded cooperatively, walking over to the seating area to sit on the left couch while her daughters nervously settled themselves directly across from me. Rayna, the thirteen-year-old, fidgeted with the hem of her skirt before speaking up in a trembling voice.

"Um, Mr. Rick... my birthday is on Saturday, and I am turning thirteen," she explained, her cheeks flushing a bright crimson as she looked at her shoes. "I kinda told my friends at school that I knew you personally, and I, um... kinda said you were coming to my birthday party. I am so sorry, I just freaked out and blurted it out to impress my friends in middle school."

Tessa, her eleven-year-old sister, immediately chimed in to finish the explanation for her panicked sibling. "Mother said she absolutely would not ask you for us because you might be way too busy, so she made us come here to ask you ourselves."

Gretta walked back over, handing each girl a chilled bottle of the fruit juice they liked before sitting down on my couch. Strikingly, she chose to sit a few polite inches away from me, consciously avoiding the usual tight, seductive press against my side that she normally attempted during our meetings. She flashed me a warm, understanding smile, silently letting me know through her gaze that it was entirely fine for me to decline the invitation.

Ah, but Gretta completely forgot one crucial detail about my personality. I have an incredibly hard time saying no to nice, kind-hearted girls who are in a tight spot. "Well, I remember middle school perfectly, and it was a total dog-eat-dog world out there," I said, offering Rayna a reassuring wink. "I think I can definitely stop by the party for a little bit, depending on what time it starts?"

Rayna instantly stood up in pure joy, her eyes lighting up like fireworks as she nodded her head vigorously. "Mr. Rick, it is at three o'clock in the afternoon at our house, and thank you very much!"

Both sisters looked absolutely thrilled, clearly relieved after their mother had spent the entire car ride warning them that I would be far too busy for a child's party. I turned my head to look at Gretta, catching the genuine look of shock on her face, especially given how hard I had been dodging her romantic advances lately. I reached over, gently patting her soft hand.

"My father always told me never to make a nice girl cry," I said softly, meeting her gaze. "I have to go. I can easily stop by for at least an hour."

Staring into Gretta's deep golden eyes, I could clearly see a sudden wave of moisture gathering as she held back tears. The brutal reality of her recent divorce had clearly hurt her far deeper than she ever admitted to the world, and raising two young girls entirely on her own was a heavy, exhausting burden. I suppressed a quiet sigh, realizing once again that I am a total, unmitigated softy when it comes to the women in my life.

Once her daughters had finished draining their juice bottles, Gretta quickly ushered them toward the door. She knew Pam was waiting anxiously out in the lobby, and she wanted to avoid triggering any unnecessary drama or corporate conflicts in the office. "Go and wait out in the hall for a minute, girls," she instructed them gently, ushering them across the threshold. "I have something private to tell Mr. Tang."

The moment the heavy door clicked shut behind her children, her entire demeanor shifted into something deeply serious as she turned back to face me. She stepped into my space and wrapped her arms around my torso, pulling me into a tight, fierce embrace. It wasn't the seductive, predatory hug of a succubus trying to ensnare a man, but the raw, profoundly grateful embrace of a relieved mother.

"Thank you for being so wonderful, Rick," she whispered softly directly into my ear, her breath warm against my skin.

As she slowly pulled away, the soft curve of her lips lightly grazed my cheek, leaving a tingling sensation behind as she turned on her heel and slipped out of the office. I stood there for a moment, letting out a long, defeated breath. "It has been three years since I fell for a woman," I muttered to the empty room, touching my cheek. "Dad, your romantic advice seriously sucks ass."

I sat back down on the left-side couch, positioning myself with my back to the drink station so I could keep a clear, tactical view of both the secondary couch and the executive bathroom. Within moments, the heavy latch clicked, and the door swung open to reveal my blonde secretary leading Pam and Ling Ling into the room.

"Please offer the Sun family some drinks," I requested, nodding politely to my staff.

The two women moved gracefully across the room, sitting down on the couch directly opposite me. The secretary quickly refilled my whiskey glass before preparing two hot K-cup coffees for my guests, setting them down on the glass table before quietly exiting the room.

Turning my attention to the older woman, I offered a calm, measured smile. "Mrs. Sun, what can I do for you today?"

Pam’s expression remained somewhat tense and irritable. She was clearly still frustrated by my intense, burning hatred for her son Sam, a massive rift she had desperately tried to patch over for years, even though neither Sam nor I had any desire to fix our issues.

"Actually, it was Ling Ling who wanted to talk to you about your bad feelings regarding Sam," Pam explained, forcing a polite diplomatic smile. "I knew it was both highly inappropriate and wrong for her to come here completely alone, not to mention the fact that you wouldn't even grant her an audience without me present."

I let out a heavy, tired sigh, leaning forward to lock eyes with her. "Sigh. Pam, you and I both know exactly why your son and I will never walk the same path in this lifetime. He is incredibly fortunate that I haven't made him completely vanish from this earth yet, get me?"

Her hand instantly began to tremble against the warm ceramic of her coffee cup. She knew with absolute certainty that dangerous people routinely went missing around my orbit, and not a single powerful entity in the city would ever lift an eyebrow to investigate. The absolute might of the Big Four Clans and the ruthless Fire Birds were forces that her mid-tier Sun clan could never hope to handle.

Ling Ling’s dark blue, razor-sharp eyes locked onto mine. She instantly caught the subtle squint of my eyelids, tracking the exact moment my relaxed facade fractured into cold calculation.

Pam, entirely blind to the lethal undercurrents sweeping across the room, simply blinked her eyes in polite confusion. Capitalizing on her mother-in-law's ignorance, Ling Ling tilted her head, softening her features into a picture of fragile innocence as she turned toward the older woman.

"Mother, Mr. Tang will absolutely not do anything to hurt Ling Ling," she cooed, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness. "So, can you please give the two of us just a private moment to talk about making friends?"

I rolled my eyes toward the ceiling, taking another slow, deliberate sip of my whiskey to mask my annoyance. Pam’s posture stiffened with immediate reluctance, her eyes darting between us as if she genuinely expected me to violently ravish her son's wife right here on the leather cushions within the next thirty seconds.

Letting out a quiet, internal sigh at her paranoia, I watched Pam reach into her designer handbag to retrieve her ringing phone. "I will step away to make a quick business call in the executive bathroom for just a couple of minutes," Pam announced, her tone sharp with warning as she leveled a glare at me. "So, please stay exactly in your seat, and that way no one can possibly be offended."

The heavy wooden bathroom door clicked shut behind her, sealing Pam inside with her muffled conversation. The very instant the latch caught, the loli assassin turned her head back to me, her wide eyes instantly losing their ditsy warmth as she began analyzing my posture with predatory focus.

"Has Mei Xia ever mentioned me to you?" she asked, her voice dropping into a smooth, practiced charm.

"Why in the world would she ever mention you?" I countered smoothly, leaning my head back against the cushion without breaking eye contact. "Just because you happen to be Chinese? No."

As I completely expected, she casually tossed her glasses onto the side table. Her hand blurred as she reached deep between her legs, slicing through the air under her skirt to pull a small, wicked throwing knife from her hidden thigh sheath.

Before the glasses even touched the wood, she leaped violently from her cushion. Her small foot slammed onto the surface of my coffee table exactly one time, using the momentum to cross the ten-foot gap like a coiled spring. Holding the assassination blade in a tight reverse grip, she lunged directly for the exposed skin of my neck.

My bright-blue eyes calmly tracked the contraction of every single muscle fiber in her body as she landed squarely on my lap, straddling my waist. The cold steel of the blade pressed firmly against my pulse point, and she stared down into my eyes with the exact same dead, serious expression that Tina wears when she activates her Blood Demon persona. She wasn't even breathing heavily after a high-speed maneuver like that, but I internally shook my head; sadly for her, she was only at the peak of the Advanced rank in her assassination arts.

She seemed simultaneously confused and darkly amused by my utter lack of reaction. My eyes had gone completely cold, a defensive trait she had clearly studied in her targets, yet my pupils never even contracted as I followed the precise trajectory of her weapon.

Realizing her intimidation tactic had completely failed, she pulled the knife away from my throat, sliding the flat of the cold blade down my torso toward our lower body area. I didn't flinch, nor did I question whether she was planning to slice my dick off. Seeing my absolute indifference, she let out a quiet hum and slid the weapon back into her thigh sheath. Her wicked smile returned, her small frame relaxing against me.

"Rick, I never felt a single drop of killing intent from you during that entire rush," she murmured, her voice laced with genuine fascination. "You are most definitely a Grandmaster to be able to hide your aura so flawlessly! Oh, and does that mean Mei is also a spy?!"

I took another slow sip of my drink, keeping my lips tightly sealed. Her grin only widened when she saw that her proximity hadn't flustered me in the slightest. Realizing she was completely out of her depth trying to play psychological games with me, she leaned in until her lips practically brushed my ear.

"I have finally figured out your deepest secret..." she whispered, her voice shifting into a flawlessly smooth, ancient Chinese dialect that hadn't been spoken on Pangaea for millennia. "So... will you kill me right now to keep it quiet?"

She frowned slightly when she realized that even with her sitting directly on top of me and exposing my hidden strength, my body had not flinched. The girl was being a bit silly; if she actually planned on revealing my identity to the world, she wouldn't be testing me face-to-face like this. She simply wanted to gauge my true capabilities and test my underlying loyalty to Eurasia. Furthermore, she clearly had a strong hunch that I had accepted Mei for who she really was, and that realization was visibly annoying her.

"You are not falling for my seduction at all, tsk," she muttered, switching back to standard speech as she shifted her weight. "But you haven't even tried to hurt me yet. Why?"

I lifted my left hand, pointing a single finger directly at her chest. "Not a single movement you made just now possessed any real intent to harm," I explained calmly. "And if I break your neck right now, it will only make life incredibly difficult for my Mei. As long as my lovers remain safe, you are not my enemy, but..."

Before she could even blink, my left hand blurred, wrapping firmly around her slender throat. I didn't squeeze or hurt her, merely holding her completely immobile to demonstrate the terrifying gap in our speed and accuracy.

I smiled as I saw the realization dawn in her eyes, slowly lowering my hand back to my glass. However, an uneasy sensation suddenly washed over me; the moment my fingers left her neck, her eyes flushed with a thrilled, ecstatic light, and her entire body began to tremble like a masochist experiencing pure pleasure.

"I have ignored your presence for the last three and a half years solely because you stayed completely inside your own lane," I warned her, my voice dropping an octave. "Get me?"

Instead of backing off, she leaned closer until we were completely eye-to-eye, pressing her firm grapefruits tightly against my chest to maximize her charm. Her warm breath tickled my skin as she spoke, uttering a sentence that I completely did not expect.

"I have finally found you, my Yellow Emperor!" she purred, her eyes wide with a manic, possessive devotion. "Do you truly not know who I am~?"

I actually shook my head, entirely clueless as to what in the world this crazy woman was talking about. A deeply unsettling, beautiful smile spread across her face, and she leaned back into my ear, whispering like a long-lost lover returning from the grave.

"I... am... your First Empress, Ling Ling," she breathed, her voice shaking with an ancient weight. "And I have been continuously reincarnating for thirty thousand years just to find you again..."

I focused my senses entirely on her heartbeat and muscle twitches, but I could not detect a single trace of falsehood or deceit in her words. My eyes dilated for the absolute first time in years as the gravity of her claim hit me like a truck.

"Why is it that I can remember every single detail of you, but you completely forgot about me?" she demanded, her voice cracking with a sudden, raw anger. "Do you have any idea how many miserable lives I had to live through just to find you, you total asshole?!"

The entire atmosphere in the executive office shifted violently. The playful, ditsy aura of the loli-spy completely vanished, replaced instantly by the suffocating, majestic pressure of an immortal cultivator. Ling Ling sat up perfectly straight, looking down at me with an intense glare that demanded answers. For the first time in a very long time, I could feel cold sweat beginning to bead on my back.

"How is any of this possible?!" I demanded in ancient Chinese subconsciously.

Ling Ling just shrugged her shoulders, a flash of genuine confusion crossing her regal expression. "I don't possess all of my past memories, and I can hardly remember the specifics of my previous lives. It feels like a vivid dream that immediately fades the moment I awake. The absolute only thing I remember clearly is our original life together, and the massive Heavenly Tribulation that completely transformed us."

She paused, her eyes staring blankly at the wall as she recalled the vision. "You turned into a massive Golden Dragon and flew directly into the Heavens, and I ascended right behind you. I don't remember what happened after that point; that was exactly where my memories ended. I did not die during the tribulation... I think?"

Just as the two of us were firmly locked in the middle of a massive, multi-life existential crisis, the sharp sound of footsteps echoed from inside the executive bathroom.

Ling Ling clicked her tongue in annoyance. In a flash of terrifying speed, she leaped off my lap and vaulted back across the coffee table, settling perfectly into her original spot on the opposite couch before the bathroom door could even finish opening. She smoothed down her skirt, appearing as though she hadn't moved an inch, though the intoxicating scent of her perfume still lingered heavily over my clothes. My mind was in absolute chaos.

Pam stepped out of the bathroom, and being a sharp, observant corporate woman, she immediately noticed the look of profound confusion plastered across my face. Turning her eyes to her daughter-in-law, who was currently sitting with her hands folded innocently in her lap, Pam frowned.

"Mr. Tang, are you quite fine?" Pam asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Ling Ling, did you say something to offend Mr. Tang?"

"Mother, how could I possibly offend him?" Ling Ling chimed in, letting out a soft, melodic laugh. "Mr. Tang is an incredibly strong fighter and a brilliant man; I could never pull the carpet out from under his feet, ufufu. We only spoke briefly in an Old Chinese dialect, since very few people in Pangaea actually know it! So, I think the two of us are truly meant to be good friends, right, Mr. Tang?"

Fuck, she was absolutely right. When she had claimed to know my secret and asked me who she was, she had spoken in the absolute oldest, deadest dialect of Chinese currently known to history, a language completely unspoken in modern times. FUCK!

Forcing my features back into a relaxed expression, I offered a casual shrug. "It seems Mrs. Ling is significantly smarter than I initially gave her credit for. Well, I am just not entirely sure if Pam or your husband would appreciate the two of us becoming close friends, so..."

Pam, thoroughly surprised to see me acting so uncharacteristically accommodating, stepped forward to intervene. "I will handle talking to Sam myself. I think completely burying the hatchet is the absolute best move for our families at this stage, so becoming friends would be perfectly alright, at least within the workplace."

Ling Ling had completely forgotten to slide her glasses back onto her face before Pam emerged, but as she picked them up and slipped them over her eyes, a truly wicked, predatory smile spread across her face while staring directly at Pam’s turned back. I could easily imagine that her version of burying the hatchet involved slamming it directly into Sam's spine.

Anxious to make a quick exit while I still seemed somewhat buzzed and cooperative from the Jack Daniel's, Pam turned to her daughter-in-law and gestured toward the exit. "Let us go, Little Ling," Pam instructed smoothly, smoothing down her business jacket. "Mr. Tang clearly has many important things to attend to tonight. We will take our leave. Good night."

I sat completely frozen on the leather couch, watching my two dangerous adversaries walk out the door. The moment the heavy oak lock clicked into place, the room fell into a dead silence. The absolute only thing that managed to escape my mouth was a hollow whisper.

"What the absolute fuck just happened?"