Chapter 58: Dependence: 0%

The first article I opened was about the woman from the bus.

Jackie Pollard.

Good to finally have a full name. According to the write-up, the man had been charged and she was being praised for "speaking up," held up as an example for other women. I had watched the entire thing happen. No one had groped her. No one had taken photos. She had lied, cleanly and deliberately, and now some random guy was dealing with the consequences.

I made a mental note to stay the hell away from her.

"Twenty... five..."

I dropped onto the floor after the last set of push-ups, chest heaving. Another Endurance quest finished. Today’s reward was 275 EXP, solid progress, but still not enough. If I ever wanted to go after Cole properly, I needed a lot more than this.

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MAIN MENU

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NAME: Chance Brooks

LVL: 11 [379/689]

RANK: Homewrecker

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[ CORE STATS ]

> CHA: 25

> END: 11

> PER: 25

> LCK: 4

> IBE: 16

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[ ENERGY ]

> LUST: 200/200

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[ACTIVE PERKS: Expand]

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SIN POINTS: 1520

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I pushed myself up, rolled my shoulders, and walked into the kitchen. The fridge was basically empty, half a loaf of bread and a couple of cucumbers. I needed to go shopping, but the Star situation had left me almost broke. That extra fifty had hurt more than I wanted to admit.

At least the recovery time between workouts kept getting shorter. The old me would’ve collapsed into bed after a session like this. Now I actually felt awake. The system was forcing me into better habits, even if the reason I needed them in the first place was still my sister’s fault.

"What shitty weather..."

I closed the fridge and went to the bedroom window. Snow covered everything. The wind had calmed a little, but it was still strong enough to bend the bare trees along the sidewalk.

My phone buzzed. Sarah.

I picked it up, a little surprised. "Hey, Sarah."

"Hey, Chance." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Um... morning."

"Morning. Is everything okay? You’re whispering."

"I don’t want Hubert to hear. I’m in the bathroom." There was a short pause. "His work friends are coming over today. He doesn’t want me around while they’re here. Is it okay if I crash at your place until five?"

"Sure. You didn’t even need to ask."

"Okay. I’m going to act like I’m heading out. I need you to come up and knock on our door. That’s when I’ll slip inside back into the apartment."

I raised an eyebrow. "You think he watches to make sure you actually leave? That’s a little much."

"He’s... weird like that sometimes." She exhaled. "Can you do it?"

"Yeah. Just let me know when."

"Thank you. Talk soon."

The call ended.

So Hubert was throwing her out of her own apartment for the afternoon so his work friends wouldn’t have to see her. What a stand-up husband. He had no idea she’d be spending those hours downstairs with me instead, hopefully not just sitting on the couch.

I went straight to the bathroom, made sure my phone wasn’t on silent, and took a quick shower with one eye on the screen. I was still drying off when her next call came through.

"You’re out?" I asked.

"Yeah. Can you come up now?"

"On my way. I’ll text when I knock."

I dressed fast, grabbed my keys, and headed upstairs. After sending the message, I knocked.

Footsteps approached, then the door opened by none other than the bastard himself. Hubert’s face soured the second he saw me.

"Ah. You. The fuck do you want?"

"Sorry to bother," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "That cat I mentioned before, you happen to see her yesterday?"

"The cat..." His lip curled. "Get the fuck out of my face, you scum. I don’t want anything to do with you. You hear me? Scum. SCUM! Fuck off!"

"I was just wondering if you..."

He slammed the door.

I stood there for a second, then smirked, gave the closed door a middle finger, and went back downstairs.

Sarah was already waiting in front of my door, arms wrapped around herself. I checked the hallway once, unlocked the door, and we both slipped inside. I locked it the moment it shut.

She let out a shaky breath and pressed a hand to her chest, still slightly out of breath. Nervous. Maybe a little excited. Either way, she looked like she’d just finished a sprint. She was that scared of her husband, huh? What a way to live.

"Hey," I said.

She gave a small, breathless chuckle. "Hey... sorry about all of this."

"Don’t be. A little excitement never hurt anyone." I smiled. "Want tea? That’s about all I’ve got right now. Hope you already ate."

"I’m fine." She dropped onto the single couch and exhaled hard. "Phew."

"You good?"

"Yeah. I just... really hate his friends. They’re the bad kind."

The way she said it made the small apartment feel even quieter than usual. Hubert’s work friends were upstairs. And his wife was sitting on my couch.

"What kind of bad?"

"Like... degenerate shit." Sarah exhaled and leaned back a little. "You know that woman who got assaulted a couple days ago? The one from the bar?"

"Yeah. They drugged her. Poor girl."

"I heard one of his friends say she deserved it because she dressed like a..." she made air quotes with her fingers "...whore. That the guy couldn’t help himself."

I stared at her for a second.

I had already decided I wasn’t going to be the old "good guy" version of myself anymore. But this was something else entirely. That wasn’t just being an asshole. That was pure monster logic. The man couldn’t help himself my ass. Hubert was already a piece of work. His friends somehow managed to be worse. That alone felt like an achievement.

"Wow," I muttered. "That’s... something."

"Yeah." She exhaled again, then glanced at me and changed the subject. "Anyway. Forget it. Let’s change the subject... oh, your hair’s wet."

"Just finished the morning workout. Felt like hell at first, but I’m starting to get used to it."

I sat down on the chair next to the couch and turned toward her.

She still had her jacket on, a dark, slightly oversized one that she hadn’t bothered to take off yet. Underneath was a soft cream sweater that clung just enough to show the shape of her chest. Her pants were the real problem. Tight black ones that hugged her hips and thighs and made the curve of her ass obvious even while she was sitting. She looked unfairly good for someone who had just snuck out of her own apartment.

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PERCEPTION CHECK: ?

[Needed: 14] - [Result: 14]

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Wait... what’s in her pocket?

The outline is familiar...

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Fourteen... phew. Barely made it.

I focused on the side of her jacket. Something in the pocket was giving off a faint outline I never would have noticed without the check. Square. Flat. Familiar.

"Sarah." I raised an eyebrow. "Hold on."

Before she could react I leaned in, slipped my hand into the pocket, and pulled the object out. A condom. Still in the wrapper.

She froze. "Oh." She cleared her throat, eyes flicking away. "That’s... just my friend’s."

I looked at her. I just knew she was lying. "Really?"

"I..."

"Come on. Tell the truth."

She rubbed the back of her neck, leaned forward, then back again like she couldn’t decide how to sit. Her eyes kept returning to the condom between my fingers. The longer the silence stretched, the more nervous she looked. I didn’t mind watching it happen.

"It’s... a just-in-case," she finally said.

"A just-in-case?"

"We don’t really talk about it, but... you and I already had sex, Chance." Her voice was quieter now. "And since we’re going to be alone until five, I thought... I should bring one. Just in case."

The system updated the second the words left her mouth.

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TARGET: Sarah Angi

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[ RELATIONSHIP ]

> Partner: [Hubert]

> Loyalty: 0%

> Dependence: 0%

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[ SYSTEM SYNC ]

> Favor: 0% [?]

> Threat: None

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x2 Sexual Encounter EXP

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> GRIEVANCE LOG

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Zero! Finally.

I hadn’t even needed to push hard today. Helping her escape Hubert’s friends had been enough to finish the job. Her Dependence was gone.

Then the world changed.

Colors drained out of everything. The apartment turned into something that looked like an old black-and-white film. Sarah froze mid-breath. Even the faint bird sounds from outside cut off completely. The silence was absolute.

A new prompt floated in front of me.

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TARGET UPDATE

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> [Sarah Angi] is no longer

loyal to her husband. [Hubert]

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> Choose CAREFULLY

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> [A] Nonchalant

> [B] More More MORE

> [C] Investment

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"What the..."

I had no idea what any of them meant. I hovered over the first option.

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INFO: Nonchalant

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> This option allows the

target to be in the harem

without taking up a place.

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"Taking up a place?"

As if the system had heard the question, another window appeared. It showed my name at the top and two empty slots underneath. The second slot had a lock icon in the center and a cost of 1000 Sin Points to unlock. A short explanation followed: women placed in the harem slots wouldn’t mind me being involved with others.

Useful later, maybe. Right now I only had Sarah.

I moved to the second option.

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INFO: More More MORE

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> x4 Sexual Encounter

rewards.

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I already had a permanent x2 multiplier with her, and I could possibly update that to x4. This would stack on top of it. Four times the base and this... eight times the EXP from sex. That was disgusting in the best possible way.

I checked the last one.

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INFO: Investment

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> +1 extra point after

leveling up. Earn 5 now.

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Every future level-up would give me six points instead of five, plus five points immediately. Long-term power. Steady growth.

All three options were strong.

Nonchalant gave me flexibility with future targets. More More MORE would explode my EXP gains with Sarah right now. Investment would accelerate every stat decision I made going forward.

I could only pick one.