Chapter 33: Hospital Ball!

Chapter 33: Hospital Ball!

After we enjoyed a small bit of yummy food—which I honestly had to admit was better than what I could currently make with my own basic cooking skills—Mary finished her plate, wiped her lips with a napkin, and turned to look at Hana with a warm expression.

"It is your wedding day, so go dance first with Rick," Mary said smoothly, gesturing toward the open center of the massive floor. "Then I will come and dance with him. He and I have never really danced after we were little kids."

"Will do," Hana replied with a grin, a playful, highly amused glint in her eyes. "And he learned fast during our practice sessions, so our shoes won't get stepped on at least, fufu."

I finished my glass of liquid courage, letting the rich wine settle my nerves after the hectic rush of the registry office, and was pulled straight to the center of the room by Hana.

The music shifting through the air from the live band was a slow, sweeping classical instrumental piece. I reached out and gently placed my hands directly onto her hourglass hips. She let out a soft breath, smiling beautifully as she put her arms entirely around my neck in an intimate gesture, and the two of us started to sway to the rhythm. The smell of her perfume and the smooth texture of her dress against my hands made the crowded hall fade into the background.

"When I woke up in the hospital a new man, I would have laughed at anyone, including my sister, for telling me you and I would be here now, married,"

I murmured, staring directly into her eyes. "Thank you, Mrs. Lee."

She pressed her body closer to mine, her form-hugging dress shifting against my suit as we slowly turned with the rhythm of the music. Hana only smiled while our blue eyes continued our wordless confessions of our feelings, matching each other step for step across the floorboards.

Hana, seeing Mary make her way over from our corner table, leaned up and kissed me right in the middle of the dance floor, her lips soft and warm. It felt exactly like how a couple might do in a slow dance at prom. For a brief moment, looking down at her, I felt like I did not miss out on my high school milestones after all.

"Ufufu, may I cut in on you lovebirds?" Mary asked, stepping up beside us with a bright look.

Letting me go and gently pushing me straight into Mary's arms, Hana looked back at the two of us. "Perfect timing, I need to go talk to the Director and the board members to support the fundraiser, so keep him warm for me, fufu."

And then Hana turned on her heel and went over to where all the hospital staff were congregating near the main pavilion. Mary placed her hands firmly on my shoulders as I held her waist, offering her a warm, genuine smile as we picked up the tempo.

If I still had a System interface running in my vision, I would probably see a notification telling me that I had officially learned Dancing Basic, largely due to my recent practice sessions combined with the raw physical coordination of my Acrobatics Master and Kung-Fu Grandmaster skills. Because of that training, controlling my center of gravity and moving across the polished floor was incredibly easy for my body.

And you are probably thinking, 'but what about Chris Honda?' No, I have not forgotten that snake for a single second and had been actively watching him all during this event. My analytical mind kept track of who he was talking to, how his posture shifted, and exactly where he was in relation to Hana.

I fully intended to use my computer skills to listen to his phone calls later when I had some free time, but naturally, I couldn't execute a digital tap right here in public. Mary's voice brought me right back out of my tactical thoughts.

"Hana and I have been talking, and have come up with something for us now that we are both your wives," Mary told me, her eyes locked onto mine. "Hana has a few extra rooms, and wants us to live in her house?"

I had quietly thought of this exact living arrangement before and found it a bit sticky to bring up to them myself, but it seemed just like the shotgun wedding, the two of them had already thought through everything for us.

"My job as your husband is to make sure you two are happy, so I will follow your wants," I said, squeezing her waist reassuringly.

Mary leaned in and kissed my cheek with a wide smile, laying out the plan. "Then we will move in with Hana. It's safer, bigger, and you don't have to run all over the city just to find us. I will keep the apartment for you to use as a backup safe house and a place to hide things you don't want kids to see later on."

I nodded firmly because giving up the lease on the apartment would be a total waste, plus there was a deeper sentimental value to the place.

"That apartment is our home too, after all," I reminded her softly. "Our painful memories, and our happy ones. I don't want to forget our past, Mary."

"My feelings are the same," she murmured, her expression growing incredibly tender. "We had our first relationship there. Maybe we can use it for an anniversary night as well, fufu."

Meanwhile, speaking of lowlife snakes...

Across the massive convention hall, Chris Honda was standing near the edge of the floor talking directly to Scott Tang, knowing the intense conflict between the two of us and desperately wanting to learn more about my background.

"So you and Rick Lee are childhood rivals, no I meant enemies?" Honda asked, swirling the expensive alcohol in his glass.

"Yeah," Scott growled, his face twisting into an ugly, bitter sneer. "But that trash has changed lately and has been fucking faking being a pig to lower my guard, and now he is making my life awful."

"I thought Rick was dating Dr. Hana Chang, so why is he so in love with that other woman?" Honda pressed, his focus narrowing.

Scott looked at this thirty-year-old, good-looking doctor and immediately understood his obsessive fixation for Hana. Deciding to completely tip the apple cart and cause chaos for me, Scott grinned maliciously and dropped the truth.

"That's his sister he married, and as for that Hana woman... They are now married and she is now Dr. Hana Lee. Her father came to our table a few minutes ago and confirmed their wedding already happened today. Sorry man, she is completely off the market and spreading her legs for Rick tonight."

Scott, watching the sheer shock wash over Honda's face like a man being given a heavy green hat, just smiled broadly like he had performed a charitable deed. Manipulating arrogant idiots to do his dirty work for him was easily one of Scott's favorite hobbies.

"It's only been a few weeks, how is that even possible?!" Honda muttered, his chest heaving as his voice shook with pure rage. "She must be lying to everyone! I will be right back..."

The second Honda stomped away in a fury, Nichole Tang stepped forward from the shadow of a decorative pillar, holding a glass of apple juice. Having overheard the entire exchange, she came to stand right by Scott's side, her voice completely flat.

"I see, a borrowed knife again, Scott?"

Scott looked over at his wife, his malicious grin returning as he replied. "If Little Dick Rick has a good life, then mine will automatically be bad. So yes, using this arrogant doctor idiot to cause trouble for him is absolutely perfect. Also, why the hell are you drinking apple juice instead of wine? And why are you two still refusing to let me sleep with you again? You're my wife!"

Nichole rolled her eyes hard at him, completely matching her internal metric of treating him like an absolute retard. "You know damn well that my sister and I completely hate men, even you. Our original agreement was to marry into your family and provide you with Tang babies to secure the alliance. We are most definitely pregnant right now, so our side of the deal is officially done. I am not drinking wine because I don't want the baby in my belly to come out as incredibly dumb as you are."

Scott’s jaw tightened in white-hot anger, thoroughly pissed off that he couldn't even remember the details of hammering her and Nadia clearly due to how drunk he had been. He was completely dissatisfied with them, but he took solace in the fact that the two new black-haired girls his family had brought in to placate him had been absolutely wonderful in bed—easily as good as his lost lover.

"If it would not bring massive shame on my name or the Tang, I would tell everyone about your true sexual preferences," Scott hissed under his breath. "I have no idea why my father insisted on forcing you two to marry me. You are completely useless as lovers."

"Marriage is not about love, you idiot," Nichole countered coldly. "The entire point of the union was to buy the Ning family's permanent loyalty to the Tang clan, so don't you ever forget it. Plus, it's not like I haven't been useful. I have actively helped you make Rick Lee's life miserable, haven't I?"

Scott paused, a memory clicking into place as he looked at her. "That's right! Rick Lee actually signed up for the exact same advanced computer course as you and Nadia this semester. You make absolutely sure to make his life a living hell in that classroom. Sabotage his work for me."

Nichole, ever the calculator, let a slow, charming smile spread across her lips. "Nadia definitely won't do a job like that for free, Scott. You know exactly how much my sister loves cold, hard cash, so..."

"Fine!" Scott snapped, waving his hand dismissively. "I will give you two an extra 100000 dollars to make him miserable in university, just to make sure he is unhappy."

Nichole's smile turned deeply predatory as she looked at her husband. "Good husband, I will make him very uncomfortable, and we will screw him over, fufu."

And yes, when I remotely pulled the audio logs from Scott’s phone tomorrow morning and heard Nichole's exact words, my spine felt a distinct chill.

But do remember one critical thing: I absolutely do not spy on the twins directly. I only heard her conversation because I had a high-tier tap running on Scott's device audio feed. For me, it feels fundamentally wrong to spy on women I have been or am currently in a relationship with.

Over by the main doctors' pavilion, Hana was standing in the center of a large circle of her peers, proudly showing off her new wedding ring and cheerfully instructing everyone to address her as Dr. Lee from now on. Standing just outside the circle, a deeply miserable Chris Honda looked like he was on the absolute verge of either throwing a physical rage or bursting into tears.

I caught sight of his unraveling expression from across the room and quietly excused myself from Mary, who had already headed back toward our corner table for a second helping of food.

Blending into the background shadows, I used my stealth to completely hide my presence from the surrounding crowd. I glided across the floor like a ghost, coming up directly behind Chris Honda's right shoulder. Leaning in close, I dropped my voice to a cold, venomous whisper right against his ear."XXX Langley St. Lot 10-B, bedroom in the second floor rear right of the house. That is where you live so don't forget my warning, you bastard."

Chris spun around on his heel in absolute horror, his eyes wide as dinner plates. He hadn't registered my approach for a single fraction of a second, and the realization that I was standing right there smiling at him—metaphorically holding an invisible blade against his throat—terrified him to his core.

"How dare you threaten me, you little punk?!" Honda bellowed, his voice rising as he actively tried to cause a massive public scene to get me thrown out by security.

The moment he raised his voice, my Acting skill kicked in instantly. My posture softened, my expression shifting seamlessly into that of an innocent, startled high school kid who was being falsely accused by an aggressive adult. The surrounding doctors all stopped talking, turning their heads in unison to see their prominent coworker shouting accusations at a polite, black-haired young man.

"Dr. Honda, I only politely asked to get by you? I don't think that is a threat. You don't look well right now, doctor. Maybe you're not feeling well?"

Hana, instantly recognizing our ongoing beef and seeing the trap I had laid, stepped in perfectly to support her man. She let out a loud, clear laugh and called out over the crowd.

"Husband, over here, come and meet my coworkers. I was just telling them about you."

Completely ignoring Chris, I took a step around his frozen form, walking straight into the center of the pavilion to take my place at Hana's side. She immediately looped her arm through mine, holding me tight. I could tell Honda wanted to make a big deal, but the social layout now made it completely impossible for him to move without ruining his own reputation.

I smiled, staring past him. Looks like I will have to employ Operation: Pay Honda a House Call in the near future.

"Hello everyone, I am Rick Lee and it's a pleasure to meet all of you."

For about fifteen minutes, Hana masterfully buttered me up to the hospital staff. I even joined in on some of their high-level medical talk, using the hardwired training from my Advanced Medicine skill to speak confidently, thoroughly impressing several of her friends in the process. This performance firmly solidified in their minds that Hana hadn't married a punk, completely ruining the narrative that Chris Honda would try to paint around the workplace tomorrow.

Then Hana went to be with her parents and Mary to finish discussing our upcoming living arrangements.

I had a glass of wine in my hand, and had just tried a dessert I wanted to evaluate so I could attempt making it for my wives later at home, when an unexpected voice was heard directly behind my shoulder.

"I did not know you could dance, so may I please dance with you?"

Swallowing the last of my food, I turned to face Linda Lang.

"No, I don't—"

Just as I was halfway through rejecting this stupid woman for causing me endless problems, I saw Scott from across the room glaring at me, practically daring me to talk to her. Not afraid of this fucker anymore, a cold thrill ran through me. My analytical mind calculated a quick shift: if I dance, two specific individuals would suffer immense psychological damage tonight—George Lang and Scott Tang!

"No, I would be rude to turn down the daughter of Lang," I corrected smoothly, fixing a polite smile onto my face. "And for being rude earlier, I shall accept your offer. Please?"

And as I said that, I extended my hand properly, mimicking the exact high-society etiquette I had been taught by Hana. I just hoped my wives wouldn't get completely pissed at me for playing this card.

Her hand was encased in a pristine evening glove as she reached out and took my palm. Her flat, emotionless facial expressions never fluctuated much, but her eyes had a look of absolute surprise for me to accept. Clearly, she had expected a harsh rejection.

I led her to the center of the floor and held her left hand with my right. I placed my left hand flat against her side in a normal, respectable spot for dancing, and the music from the band was right on beat. So the two of us started to move. She was clearly better trained at ballroom dancing than me, but the physical output of my high-tier skills ensured my movements didn't bring shame to either of us.

Although I had absolutely no intentions of ever pursuing this woman again, I couldn't deny that her smell and physical beauty were hands down great.

This was also the first time in my entire life that I had ever come into direct bodily contact with Linda.

As Linda and I moved in a steady rhythm, her eyes looked as if she had a million things she wanted to scream out loud, but her mouth would let none escape. Her eyes looked as though if she spoke I would instantly vanish into thin air, and she completely ignored all of the whispering commotion our pairing was causing among the high-society onlookers.

If my four years of high school were not so complicated due to this woman and Scott's obsession, my heart would be so excited right now, but... her original, trampling words still hurt my pride to this day.

[Hi, I am Rick Lee. You're the first person I met in high school, let's be friends?]

[Commoner, don't talk to me. I don't need you as a friend, humph.]

I am not stupid and can tell she is not the exact same woman as back then, but my father and mother passed away soon after that rejection, making the isolation hurt so much more.

"Rick, am I making you sad?" Linda finally said something to me, her quiet voice breaking me from my dark melancholy.

"Just remembering my past, don't take it personally," I replied, keeping my tone completely detached. "You're fine and just ignore me."

Linda did not seem to know how to talk with me, or me her. Soon, however, someone in the room could no longer stand our close dancing.

"Let her go, Lee, this instant!"

I completely ignored the barking dog, Scott, and asked Linda, "Shall we stop dancing?"

Linda without hesitation answered loud enough for the surrounding dancers and Scott to hear, "No, don't stop."

Scott hearing Linda and seeing us continue to dance while pretending he was not standing there just shocked his brain.

Scott had intense delusions of me marrying her and riding her on our first night. The very same delusions born from his four-year-long obsession with Linda. Then the imaginary Linda while being ridden by me spoke to him in his mind.

[Ahhh~! Only Rick is the one for me, 'little' Scott. Now Rick, I want more~!]

"LET MY LINDA GO, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!"

And like a raging tiger, Scott advanced on the two of us in blind, unhinged anger.

Linda was confused and was forcefully pushed to the floor by Scott as he tried to separate us, and then he lunged forward to grab my neck in a chokehold.

Thanks to my strict workouts over the past month, my body is in much better shape, and reacting to his Karate skill was completely effortless and instinctive. To my Grandmaster Kung-Fu skill, his aggressive moves looked like a small child swinging in slow motion.

Grabbing his incoming wrist, I launched my weight and flipped flawlessly with my Acrobatics Mastery, flying over his extended arm and bringing his face down hard into the ground. I slammed him down into an arm-bar lock, pinning him flat against the floorboards. I know his nose may not have broken, but the steady trickle of dark blood leaking from it meant he did not land softly on his face.

"Wrong move, tiger, and tigers should stay down crouching," I whispered down at him. "Miss Linda, are you alright?"

Soon Mercy was at Linda's side to quickly help her up off the floor. Fortunately, everyone in the hall saw exactly what happened, so no one can try to blame me for Scott's unprovoked actions. Scott's two bodyguards did not come to help him out of this situation, which made sense given they were lying unconscious down the hall.

I smoothly rolled off of Scott's arm knowing the shock would keep him from attacking, and dusted off the fabric of my suit. Then I walked away from all three of them without another word, heading straight back to my table.

The second my feet left the floor, the gossip started at maximum speed.