Chapter 221: Well It Is The Same Old Shit!

Chapter 221: Well It Is The Same Old Shit!

I walked Hana into the ballroom, guiding her gently through the sea of well-dressed attendees as the ambient chatter of high society filled the room. It was time for her to take center stage, offering her opening thanks to the gathered Star City elites who had shown up in droves.

Scanning the crowd, I noticed Mercy’s father sitting near the front, his posture commanding respect as his daughter engaged him in conversation. Mercy sat right beside him, her navy-blue dress catching the light beautifully as they shared a rare, good opportunity to talk, reconnect, and just enjoy some quality father-daughter time.

In the meantime, I slithered over toward my first wife’s table, intending to give her the face and exclusive attention she deserved as the matriarch.

When Victoria saw me prowling through the crowd specifically for her, her lips curled into a delighted, knowing smirk. As I slid into the empty seat next to her, she immediately leaned in, pressing a warm kiss against my cheek before I could even open my mouth.

"And how is my lovely Long doing?" I asked, my gaze tracing the elegant lines of her outfit while I settled into the chair. "By the way, you are stunning as usual in your crushed velvet dress."

"Not too bad," Victoria replied, adjusting her posture with effortless grace as she rested a hand on my knee. "It was a nice excuse to get all dolled up for the evening. Ken is at home playing on the new computer you made him, and he is eagerly waiting for you to come over and play console games with him, fufu. I also reserved some of Helen's time to join us before your upcoming trip."

She paused, her eyes flashing with sudden excitement as she leaned in closer to whisper. "Oh, and before I forget, let us gather all of your harem and take a personal vacation on the Victoria cruise liner. I think having the whole vessel to ourselves would be incredibly fun. Make sure to invite Lan and her kids to come along as well. Sitting in a mountain temple all day must get terribly boring, ufufu."

"Actually, if all of you can be away from the city for a while, we could just take a cruise to the Japan Empire with everyone," I suggested, my mind already mapping out the logistics as I brushed a stray purple hair from her shoulder. "Those who aren't handling business matters can stay on board, meaning they won't have to deal with complex foreign customs. Can we expand it into a full world tour? I can bring some of my Velvet Group members along as well."

Victoria looked thoughtful, nodding her pretty face as she weighed the grand scale of the proposal. Pushing up her glasses with a slender finger, she smiled warmly and fixed her gaze firmly on mine.

"Alright, as the main wife, I shall organize the entire itinerary," Victoria declared, her tone shifting into her capable command mode as she straightened her back. "I will make sure everyone, including all of our personal maids, is completely ready within the month. I will have the Victoria fully stocked for an extended cruise, and this will be a mandatory vacation for us all, even your secret lovers."

She leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial murmur that tickled my ear. "With the employees and maids coming along, their massive presence will ensure our private interactions remain entirely unnoticed by the public. Hm? This will also be a good opportunity to invite Gretta and her children along, so get working on those arrangements, dear. Oh, and the music is starting up for the dance floor, so I claim the first turn, ufufu."

"Wife, then may I have this dance?" I asked, standing up smoothly and offering my hand with a dramatic bow. With that, Victoria and I stepped forward, becoming one of the very first couples to inaugurate the event's dancing as the orchestra began to play.

A half hour flew by in a blur of spinning lights and soft fabric, and I had already shared dances with Helen, Hana, Kim, and Mercy. Currently, the woman held securely in my arms—and the creative genius responsible for making all my ladies look like stunning Disney princesses tonight—was my beautiful Linda.

Right next to us on the floor, James and Akeno moved in perfect synchronization. James had put in real effort to learn how to dance properly, marking just one of many recent improvements in his overall knowledge and social etiquette. Jim’s growing confidence as a prominent businessman, a dedicated father, and a loving husband had mellowed his silly side a bit, though he hadn't changed completely.

He still loved pulling ridiculous pranks on me, like the time he secretly recorded my conversation for Gretta just to settle her anxious heart. He had actually done a solid there for me, helping bridge the gap between us. Catching my eye over his wife’s shoulder, James just winked at me, his hands shamelessly lowering onto Akeno’s ass as they spun past us.

Linda, noticing our silent interaction, pulled me close and kissed me softly to break my wayward thoughts. Her serious face and gentle, expressive eyes never failed to warm my heart to the core. Linda had been feeling a bit conflicted lately, knowing that one of my two parents had miraculously survived the bank tragedy, but in the end, the loss that affected her deepest was the death of Mary’s mother.

Sadly, there was absolutely no way Mary's mother could have survived the way my father had. Wanting to brush away her lingering melancholy and bring a smile to her face, I decided to copy James. I slid my hands down, firmly lowering them onto her ass, causing her eyes to squint happily as a soft blush crept up her neck.

I finally ended my dance marathon the moment my phone vibrated in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw a text from Jill, explaining that the bodyguard had been watching them far too alertly and asking me to create a sudden disturbance so she could safely deploy the drug.

With a dark smile stretching across my face, I quickly typed out a text to the Fire Birds members I had embedded within the hospital staff long ago, instructing them to set up and be completely ready to execute the backup plan. They were the same reliable crew who had handled the chaotic incident involving the south city naked guy.

Putting my phone securely away, I adjusted my suit jacket and began making my way toward the Feng Clan’s table located near the grand entrance.

Clark watched my smiling visage as I approached, his entire body instantly going on high alert. He could tell simply by the fluid, calculated way I moved that I was absolutely no opponent he could take lightly. The absolute last thing he could allow to happen on his watch was for the young lady or her lame husband to get publicly beaten or humiliated at this high-profile ball.

Jill, Greg, and Melody all harbored completely different expressions in their hearts as they watched me arrive, and two of the three held their breaths in sheer tension. I stopped right at the edge of their table, offering a slight, casual shrug of my shoulders.

"Sorry to bust up this happy gathering, but you guys all look so gloomy sitting here with deep frowns," I said, my voice carrying just enough to draw nearby ears. "What will the other noble clans think of the Feng family if you are all sulking here in the corner?"

With my Acting Master skill fully activated, I effortlessly drew the gazes of everyone in the immediate vicinity, creating the perfect theatrical distraction. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jill swiftly slip a small vial from the valley of her breast and insert its contents into the wine glass at her side.

Then, she elegantly shifted her posture, pretending the glass was hers all along. Right in the middle of our tense conversation, she flawlessly swapped her doctored glass with Greg’s, and my smile became genuinely amused as I witnessed the perfect execution.

"What are you playing at coming over here, Rick?" Greg demanded, his voice a low, defensive growl as he glared up at me.

I smoothly snatched a fresh wine glass from a waitress walking past our section and held it up in a mock gesture of peace. "My wife Tina Feng scolded me earlier for being a naughty boy and strictly told me to show her sister some proper face tonight," I lied smoothly, taking a slow sip as I watched them. "So, I am here to apologize for my past childishness. Let us toast to moving forward. Cheers."

Seeing me drink openly with several other prominent families watching the interaction, Jill took her glass of Sprite and drank it down. She gave sharp, meaningful looks to her table mates to follow suit, which they all reluctantly did to maintain public appearances. Bingo, fucker.

I set my empty glass down on their table with a satisfied click, flashing a thoroughly bastard smile at the group.

"Sister-in-law Head Feng, may I have the honor of this dance?" I asked, offering a slight, formal bow with my hand extended toward Jill.

Her eyebrow raised slightly at the request, recognizing that I was being incredibly forward given the family bad blood. She feigned a look of deep trouble for the onlookers, but she slowly began to stand up anyway. Greg immediately erupted in protest, slamming his hand down onto the tabletop.

"Jill, as my wife, you absolutely cannot dance with him!" Greg hissed, his face twisting with jealousy.

Jill turned a cold, calculating gaze toward him, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness as she gestured toward the room. "Then should you or Melody dance in my place to represent the Feng? The other noble houses are already watching our shameful, hesitant behavior."

To all of our surprise, Melody suddenly spoke up, her voice eager as she leaned across the table. "Husband, it is only a single dance. If you don't want sister Jill to go out there with him, I will gladly take her place."

Jill and I both internally clicked our tongues in unison, thoroughly disgusted by how incredibly shameless this woman was to offer herself up to dance with me. But to our absolute relief, Greg’s possessive nature over Melody caused him to sell out Jill instantly.

"No, Melody," Greg snapped, pulling Melody back slightly as he shot a venomous look my way. "Jill is his sister-in-law, and I don't want Rick's filthy paws anywhere near you, especially not after what he has done to this family!"

Under normal circumstances, Jill would have slapped Greg publicly for so blatantly choosing that slut over his own legal wife. Instead, she felt a wave of pure happiness in her heart as she gracefully took my extended hand. The two of us immediately walked out onto the dance floor, leaving Greg to stew in his own explosive anger.

I had purposely danced up closer to the Feng table, positioning our bodies so the vast majority of the crowd could no longer see the exact placement of my hands. Seeing Jill bite her succulent bottom lip in anticipation, completely failing to halt my naughty fingers, I decided it was time to execute Plan: Irritable Bowel.

My two hands roamed dangerously down, slipping past the fabric of her gown to settle into a thoroughly questionable place right on her ass without looking too obvious to the surrounding crowd. The moment I was sure only the remaining Feng family members were at the correct angle to see us, I gave her a firm, intentional squeeze.

"Ah~!" Jill let out a sharp, incredibly sexy whimper that escaped her lips before she could stop it, catching the immediate attention of the nearby tables.

She cast a look upward, her gold eyes narrowing as they silently signaled that she would absolutely punish me tomorrow for this stunt. She clearly had not expected me to make her make such a scandalous sound in public, and my unrepentant smile only served to shame and fluster her even more.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry, Jill," I whispered with mock innocence, pulling her slightly closer. "I was thinking of Tina for a second, and my hands slipped..."

"Rick, you bastard, get off of her!" Greg roared, slamming his chair back as he stood up. "Jill, come here right now!"

Greg began running over to pull us apart, his face violently scrunching up in profound physical discomfort as the laxative began its aggressive work.

Before he could even bridge the gap, the stoic bodyguard Clark intervened, moving with lightning efficiency to step right between us. "Head Feng, please come back to the table," Clark requested, his tone perfectly flat and professional as he blocked Greg's path. "Your husband is concerned about the rumors of this moment. Please?"

Jill looked at me, appearing torn between returning quietly to avoid a scene or staying out here to continue provoking him.

"Jill, Clark is right," I said smoothly, playing the part of a reasonable guest while maintaining a straight face. "You should go back to avoid causing the Feng family any more sexual scandals, thanks to your husband."

Using Clark's large frame as a visual cover from the rest of the ballroom, I reached around and gave Jill another nice, firm squeeze. She rolled her eyes hard at my relentless playfulness, but she finally relented, turning around to return straight to her table.

Clark, who had witnessed my blatant provocation, did absolutely nothing to intervene further. I found myself respecting his restraint; he saw through my bait to make him attack and chose professional duty over a public brawl. I nodded to him respectfully, and he gave a slight shift in stance before we both turned our attention to Greg.

Greg was currently clutching his stomach in absolute agony, his face a twisting mask of escalating physical pain and blinding anger. Realizing the timing was absolutely perfect, I pulled out my smartphone and sent a mass text message.

[Rick: Lucy, do it.]

Without pausing, I fired off a follow-up directive to the Fire Birds members stationed inside the venue.

[Rick: Lock all the ballroom side doors for a bit, along with restrooms.]

The operation moved into motion instantly. All secondary exit doors were quietly shut and secured, the movement going completely unnoticed by the distracted guests. Greg, however, was rapidly running out of time due to his intense anger and a fully accelerated intestinal tract that could no longer hold back the urge. With sweat pouring down his face, he frantically looked for the nearest exit and broke into a desperate run.

Unfortunately for Greg, only the main entrance remained open, which provided only a cruel illusion of hope. Every single common restroom in the corridor had already been occupied and locked from the inside by a Fire Birds member. This was easily the most fun part of the entire evening.

To ensure no issues arose later, Lucy had already successfully looped all the security cameras. This guaranteed that Adam would find absolutely no digital evidence of my foul play.

Clank! Clank! Greg hit the side entrance doors at a full sprint, rattling the handles violently, but they wouldn't budge an inch. He turned and sprinted back through the dance floor at top speed, aiming for the front entrance and turning left toward the common restrooms while the crowd watched in total, speechless bewilderment. Then, the shouting started.

"NOOOO~! Get out of my waaaaaaaay~!" Greg yelled, his voice cracking with pure panic.

The guests stood entirely speechless as they watched him run from the left corridor, sprint down the hall, and head straight for the right corridor in a desperate search for an unlocked door. My wives, however, knew better than to buy his sudden sickness and could see right through my evil smile. They knew this was a definitive Chris Honda moment, and Hana was biting her lip hard to hold back her smile. Suddenly, a howl of pure agony echoed through the entire hallway.

"OPEN GODDAMMIT~! NOOOOOOOO! Ah~ sniff sniff sniff..."

A few curious people walked out into the corridor to see exactly what had happened. When they returned a few moments later, their faces were a hilarious mix of sickness, deep humor, and utter pity. Sadly, my Fire Birds members who work as janitors will have to clean up that absolute disaster later.

Ping! Just as the venue staff rushed to close the heavy front doors to block out the sobbing sounds from the hallway, my phone vibrated. I looked down to see a text message from Jill.

[Jill: Rick, I love you so much right now. Thanks for that.]

I stared at the screen, a wide smirk spreading across my face at the success of the terrible gag.

"Well, it is the same old shit, ha-ha," I muttered aloud to myself.

After that exciting moment, the curtains fell on the rest of the boring ball.