Chapter 138

Ray dragged his hands down his face, groaning through his teeth as he sat up. His head felt like lead. Before he could even swear at her for throwing a cushion at his face, Milady leaned down, her face coming unnaturally close to his. Her lips were parted slightly, her eyes softened with a rare, sultry look that made Ray’s heart instantly hit his ribs.

"If you get up right now..." Milady whispered, her breath brushing warm against his cheek, "...I’ll give you a kiss to start your day."

Ray’s brain, still half-fogged by sleep and heavily wired for cheap dopamine, took the bait instantly. His eyes dropped to her lips, his body leaning in on instinct, pride completely forgotten for a fraction of a second.

TAP.

Milady flicked him hard right on the bridge of his nose, pulling back with a loud, mocking laugh that cut through the room like shattered glass.

"Look at that pathetic face," she sneered, wiping her index finger on her coat like she’d touched something contaminated. "You really are that easy. Go wash your disgusting face, loser."

"Tch. Fucking psycho," Ray muttered, rubbing his sore nose as he dragged his feet toward the bathroom.

Three minutes later, Ray walked back into the living room, slumping onto the edge of the sofa while drying his wet face with a towel. He checked his phone and squinted at the time.

"It’s way too fucking early for this shit," Ray grumbled, his voice still raspy. "Can’t we do whatever this is in the afternoon? I’m dead."

Milady didn’t even look up from her laptop on the coffee table. Instead, she slapped a printed stack of paper right into his chest.

"Read," she commanded.

Ray pulled the pages away, his brows furrowing as he scanned the text. It was a dense, meticulously structured script detailing fake paranormal phenomena, rigged ’warning signs,’ and specific eerie phrasing.

"What the fuck is this for?" Ray asked, frowning.

"It’s your narrative upgrade," Milady said smoothly, taking a sip of her iced coffee. "Right now, the public just views you as a guy who gets heavy, sudden sleepiness every time a Common Sense Hijack is about to trigger. They think you’re just sensitive to the shift. That’s not enough anymore. We need them completely hooked on you, on your personality, believing you’re actually tapping into something supernatural on a whole different level."

Ray stared at her. Despite how much of a sadistic brat she was, he had to admit—when it came to strategic manipulation, Milady was a terrifying professional. She didn’t just play the game; she rewrote the board.

"Here’s how we run the stream today," Milady continued, tapping her nail against her glass. "Step by step. I’ve set up a burner account loaded with cash. Once you go live, I’m going to act like a whale donor, spamming massive tier subs every time I drop a specific question in the chat."

Ray raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"And you just talk normally, act like your usual nonchalant, bad-boy self," Milady explained, a sharp, sinister smile playing on her lips. "But the moment my whale subs hit the screen, you answer my prompt immediately. It’ll trigger the audience’s herd mentality. Watching one mystery donor dump millions just to get your attention will make the rest of those brain-rot viewers lose their minds fighting for a piece of your focus."

Ray leaned back, tossing the paper stack back onto the coffee table with a heavy, irritated sigh.

"Why the fuck do we gotta do all this extra shit?" Ray asked, glaring at her. "It’s making things way too complicated. I already got their attention. Millions of people are literally waiting for my next move."

Milady stopped mid-sip. Her jaw clenched tight, her eyes darkening as a wave of genuine, venomous frustration washed over her face. She set her glass down on the table with a sharp, echoing CLACK.

"You really are a pathetic, brain-dead loser, aren’t you?" Milady spat, her voice laced with pure disgust. "Every single time something requires actual strategy, your first instinct is to run away and settle for the easiest, most brain-rot path possible."

Ray’s jaw tightened at the insult, but Milady leaned forward, her small frame radiating an overwhelming pressure that cut him off before he could speak.

"You think ’attention’ is enough?" she sneered, poking her finger aggressively into his chest. "Right now, the public doesn’t belong to you, Ray. They’re just pitied by your doxxing sob story and terrified of the weird shit happening around you. Pity and fear, that’s all they have for you! That’s not loyalty. That’s a temporary circus."

She pulled her hand back, crossing her arms with a cold, dismissive huff.

"Fear makes people watch, but it also makes them want to destroy you the second a bigger threat comes along. If we don’t turn that pity and fear into total, obsessive fascination with your persona, the moment Hime or Angelo drops a counter-narrative, your entire ten-million-follower audience will turn on you like starved hyenas."

Ray’s anger melted right off his face, replaced instantly by that lazy, irritating smirk that always drove Milady crazy. He leaned back into the sofa cushions, tilting his head up at her with a smug, provocative look.

"Yeah, yeah, big speech, Matriarch," Ray teased, his voice low and raspy. "I get it. But... kiss me first, then I’ll do whatever you want. Heh."

Milady froze. Her face twisted into a look of absolute, skin-crawling disgust, her nose crinkling as if he had just dumped a bucket of sewage right at her feet.

"You really are a hopeless, pathetic degenerate," Milady muttered, her voice dripping with disdain.

She stared at him for a long, silent second. Then, her eyes narrowed into something dangerously calculating.

"Fine," Milady said softly, her voice suddenly dropping into a calm, eerie tone. "Close your eyes."

Ray raised an eyebrow, genuinely caught off guard. He expected a kick to his shins or a cushion to the chest, not compliance. But his pride and wired brain couldn’t resist the gamble. He let out a short, cocky chuckle and actually followed the order, closing his eyes and tilting his chin up, waiting for the prize.

Silence fell over the living room.

One second. Two seconds.

Ray could hear the faint, subtle rustle of her coat, followed by the soft sound of liquid moving. He held his breath, his chest tightening with a sudden surge of anticipation as her shadow leaned over him, blocking out the morning sunlight.

Then, soft, slick warmth pressed directly against his lips.

Ray’s heart skipped a beat, before his eyes snapped wide open in sheer shock.

Milady hadn’t given him a kiss. She had taken a huge mouthful of her ice-cold black coffee and forcefully parted his lips, dumping the bitter, freezing liquid straight into his throat.

"Ghh—! COUGH!"

Ray choked, his hands violently grabbing her shoulders to push her back as the harsh, freezing coffee flooded his mouth and went down the wrong pipe. He sat bolt upright, coughing violently, dragging his sleeve across his wet, dripping chin as Milady pulled away with a triumphant, sadistic smirk playing on her lips.

"Wakes you up better than a kiss, doesn’t it?" Milady purred, wiping the corner of her own mouth with her thumb, looking down at him like he was a stray dog she’d just sprayed with a hose.

Ray cleared his throat, coughing up the last of the bitter coffee as he wiped his chin with the back of his hand. His instinct was to blow up, to grab her or yell at the sheer audacity of what she’d just done. But as he looked up at her standing there with that triumphant, smug look, the heat in his chest died down.

He took a slow, heavy breath and forced himself to swallow the remaining bitterness.

’Whatever.’ Ray thought, leaning back into the sofa and letting his eyes trail over her. ’Let her have her fun. At the end of the day, if playing along with this stupid play keeps this crazy girl safe and keeps her second personality locked in... it is what it is.’

Milady froze for half a second. Her eyes narrowed, reading through his thoughts as if his skull were made of clear glass. Then, a sharp, incredibly condescending smirk spread across her face.

"Aww... look at you, having those pathetic, hero-complex thoughts again," Milady sneered, leaning down to pat his cheek with two mocking, heavy taps. "Swallowing coffee from my mouth just so you can ’protect’ me? Good boy. That’s my super dawg."

Ray’s face instantly went hot with pure embarrassment and rage. He slapped her hand away from his face, sitting up violently.

"What the fuck?!" Ray snapped, glaring holes into her. "Did you just read my mind again?! Stop doing that shit, Milady! It’s fucking invasive! Gimme some privacy!!!"

Milady just laughed, a dry, amused sound, and took a step back, completely unbothered by his outburst.