Chapter 80: Three parts mission...

Adrian returned to his estate with the events of the night still burning under his skin.

The driveway lights washed over the front of the house as he stepped out of the car, but none of the usual order of coming home settled him. The moment he entered the living room, the key left his hand hard.

He threw it at the direction where the television was. It struck the television screen with a sharp crack, leaving a fractured line across the center. The sound landed louder than he intended.

Two of his domestic staff appeared from the side hall at once, startled by the noise. Helen, the older one who usually knew when to stay invisible, froze in the doorway at the sight of him.

Adrian turned on her immediately.

"Get out of my sight, Helen."

"Yes sir." She muttered almost to herself. She knew better than to ask questions. She lowered her head and pulled the younger, newer staff with her, together they withdrew at once, the door to the service corridor closing quickly behind them.

Left alone, Adrian paced the length of the living room. His jaw was locked so tightly it ached. Pride scraped raw under every thought;

He had done more for Stella than most men in his position would have bothered to do. Doors opened for her because he made a call. Invitations arrived because his name sat close to hers. Industry people who would have kept her waiting became suddenly available when his influence entered the conversation. She knew that. She had always known that.

And after all of it, she had stood in her living room, looked him in the face, and ordered him out of her house.

Because of a nobody, Tom Harlow?

"An absolute nobody!" Adrian muttered angrily.

That was the part he could not swallow.

If Stella had been reckless with a man of standing, a man with office, money, and public weight, Adrian’s anger would still have been violent. But this was different. This was an insult. A man with no title worth repeating. No political value. No social presence. A man who had sat at a wine table the same evening and been unable to offer even one credential that belonged to him alone.

The memory of that table only made it worse.

Adrian stopped by the cracked television, breathing hard through his nose. Would Stella leave him for Tom?

The thought rose and died under his pride almost at once. Of course not. Stella was ambitious. She understood the value of the life attached to him. She liked luxury, she liked access, she liked being desired by rooms that mattered. She would not throw that away for a nobody with a decent face and borrowed confidence. He knew that much about her.

So what was she doing with the nobody?

"To chase thrill..." The answer was provided by the other part of him which had always looked down and disregard that part of Stella.

At that same time, guilt rose in his mind. He knew he was partly the reason she looked outside.

But the nobody still had to be put in his place.

Adrian took out his phone. He scrolled past the saved names, past the contacts that belonged to clean daytime business, and stopped on a number he had never bothered to store. He knew it by heart because numbers like that were meant to be used quietly. He dialed.

It connected after two rings.

When he spoke, the roughness was gone from his voice. What replaced it was smooth, controlled, and almost mild.

"I need to put someone in their place."

There was a short silence on the other end, the silence of a man already listening properly. Adrian’s eyes stayed on the fractured television screen as he continued, every word measured.

"Not publicly, not messily. I want him to understand the difference between where he stands and where he should never have reached."

He listened to the reply, then gave a short nod the other man could not see.

"I’ll send the name and details."

When the call ended, the house felt no calmer. If anything, the quiet only made his anger more concentrated. Adrian remained standing in the middle of the living room with the phone still in his hand, pride and fury settled into something colder than the first explosion had been.

Tom Harlow had walked into a room he did not belong in and Adrian intended to make sure he understood he didn’t belong there.

~~~~~~~~

Morning came pale and ordinary.

Tom woke to the System’s chime and a cleaner panel than the one that had followed him through the previous day.

```

[DAILY TASK COMPLETED]

Rewards delivered:

+8 Authority

+8 Charm

+5 Lust

```

He let out a short breath as he read it. Relief first. Then a more practical satisfaction. At least the undergarment task was finished. There would be no immediate repeat of walking through the house half-exposed under the eyes of Sienna and the staff.

He waited for the next list of daily tasks.

Nothing came.

Tom frowned at the empty air above the bed. "No daily tasks?"

[There are none today,] the System said.

That made him sit up properly. "That’s a first."

[Host has something larger to occupy the day.]

Tom rubbed a hand over his face, still shaking off sleep. "Larger than daily tasks?"

[Yes.]

"What is it?"

[Calm down.] The System sounded faintly amused, as if his impatience was expected. [The mission will come in three parts. Only the first is available now. The rest will unlock after completion.]

A new interface unfolded in front of him, darker and heavier than the ordinary daily panels.

```

[MAIN MISSION — PART 1]

Dress in proper corporate attire.

Arrive at Goldy Realty Group by exactly 10:00 AM.

[REWARD]

Gold Chest

[PENALTY]

$100,000 debt

-15 Authority

```

Tom read the penalty line twice.

"What the heck?" He frowned at the penalty.

Goldy Realty Group... He knew the company . Anyone who paid even light attention to the city’s big commercial buildings knew it. And he knew how tight the security there was. Front desks that smiled while sorting people into those who belonged and those who did not. A man could not simply walk into a place like that because a System panel told him to. Not without looking the part. Not without some reason for being there.

"What’s this mission about?" he asked.

[Complete Part 1 first,] the System replied. [Curiosity is not one of the requirements.]

Tom gave the empty room a flat look. "Helpful as always."

[I am consistent,] [That should count for something.]the System said dryly

He checked the time, it was 7:30 a.m.

Then he realized he would have a tiny problem... Corporate attire. He didn’t have anything decent enough for a corporate environment other than the suit the system had brought.

He pushed the covers aside and stood.

"Shopping first," he muttered.

[A wise decision,] the System said. [Host’s current wardrobe is insufficient for environments of that grade.]

"You could have said that before now."

[I just did.]

Tom huffed once under his breath as he began to get ready to leave the house before the clock could start working against him.