Chapter 71: The Thorne Name

"Were you planning to meet her?"

Damon considered Eleanor’s question for a moment.

"Yeah. If she’s still there, I’ll meet her. But if she’s already left, I’ll see her another time. There’s no need to arrange anything special."

Eleanor nodded, then glanced at him with a thoughtful expression.

"You know, it’s still strange thinking about you as a Thorne."

Damon looked at her. "Still having trouble believing it?"

"A little." She smiled faintly.

"You used to rent an apartment from me. Now you’re apparently the young master of one of the most influential families in the country. It’s not exactly the sort of thing you expect to discover about a former tenant."

"Life has a way of surprising people."

"Apparently." She paused, as though something had just occurred to her.

"Speaking of the Thornes, I remember hearing about a deal between your family and the Sterlings about six years ago."

Damon’s interest sharpened slightly. "What kind of deal?"

"I don’t know all the details. It was discussed in business circles at the time, but people were careful about what they said. From what I heard, the Sterlings were pressured into giving up some of their property. If they wanted to maintain their position and influence, they had little choice but to accept."

"So it wasn’t much of a negotiation."

"That’s how it sounded. I can’t tell you how accurate the story was, though. I only heard it secondhand."

Damon considered that for a moment. The timing caught his attention, but he had no intention of treating an old business rumor as proof of anything.

"Interesting," he said. "I’ll have to look into it sometime."

"Just be careful. Deals involving families like yours rarely tell the whole story."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

They talked about a few ordinary matters afterward. Eleanor mentioned a meeting she had scheduled for the afternoon, while Damon told her he had some things to take care of himself.

When he finally stood to leave, Eleanor walked with him to the entrance.

"Don’t disappear for too long," she said.

"I’ll visit when I have a reason."

She rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face remained as he left.

On the drive back to Blackstone Manor, Damon checked the system notification again.

The monetary return from Eleanor’s Sterling deal had reached $107.9 billion.

He had never imagined having this much money when he first arrived in this world, but now that it had stopped being a limitation.

He could purchase property, hire people, establish businesses, and make plans on a scale that would have been ridiculous to consider only a short time ago.

It was time to put that advantage to use.

His first priority was Blackstone Manor.

For all its size, the place still lacked the appearance and staffing of a truly powerful family’s residence.

Thomas was capable, but one butler couldn’t handle every responsibility forever. Damon needed reliable guards to protect the estate, along with enough servants to keep the household running without his constant involvement.

He would have Thomas begin recruiting.

The manor didn’t need to become crowded overnight, but it did need people he could trust and a proper security arrangement. If he was going to live under the Thorne name, he might as well make the residence worthy of it.

The second project was more interesting.

Damon wanted to establish an all-female talent and lifestyle agency, with its public business built around recruiting women and offering them opportunities in fashion, modelling, hospitality, and related fields.

It would have professional staff, proper facilities, and legitimate services. From the outside, it would look like an ambitious new company entering a profitable market.

That was the public purpose. Damon’s real intentions were far less respectable.

He wanted women for pleasure. For him, lust had never been merely physical gratification. As a Lust Demon, he could use lust and corruption to cultivate his demonic essence, gradually recovering the power he had lost after reincarnation.

Rebuilding his demonic essence required more than relying on the system’s returns. He needed to indulge his nature and cultivate that lost power, and with his current wealth, he finally had the means to create opportunities for himself.

Still, not every woman would serve the same purpose. Eleanor and Vivian were his bonded partners, and both had considerable potential.

Their potential was too valuable. Vivian’s martial development was already strengthening him through their bond, while Eleanor’s growing business empire had brought him an extraordinary monetary return.

He wanted them to continue improving, and he would protect that progress because their growth was tied to his own ambitions.

Other women were a different matter. Damon had no intention of restricting himself to his bonded partners when his nature demanded more.

He wanted to find women who attracted him, enjoy their bodies, and, where the opportunity allowed, use lust and corruption to nourish his demonic essence.

He wasn’t building this agency to play the benevolent businessman. He was creating a steady source of opportunities for himself, with a legitimate enterprise serving as the cover.

If the business prospered along the way, all the better.

Money could expand the agency, the agency could bring more women within his reach, and his cultivation could benefit from the opportunities that followed.

Each part served the same ambition: to regain his demonic power and become stronger than he had been before.

The agency would have a legitimate public purpose, but Damon wasn’t founding it out of generosity.

Blackstone Manor came into view as Damon turned through the gates.

Tomorrow, he would have Thomas begin recruiting guards and household staff. Once the manor was properly secured, he could start looking for a suitable location for the agency.

The money was there. The opportunities were there, too. He only needed to put everything in motion.

Damon parked the car, already considering how quickly he could get the first steps underway. His demonic essence had a long way to go, and he intended to give it every opportunity to grow.