Chapter 90: Mission complete

"No, no..." Tom’s teeth clattered quietly. He willed for something to just happen and stop the man from entering but without warning, the knob turned.

Tom held his breath so tightly his chest began to hurt.

The bathroom door opened.

For one stretched second he was certain the next sound would be discovery; a voice, a shout, the scrape of a man reacting to a stranger where no stranger should be. His body locked against the side wall, his phone still in his hand, every muscle prepared for the worst.

The General Manager stepped in just far enough to reach the bin. A used tissue dropped from his fingers. The lid settled back into place. Then the man turned, walked out, and shut the door behind him without even looking deeper into the bathroom.

Tom did not move at once.

Only when the outer office sounds shifted toward departure did the air leave his lungs in a sharp, uncontrolled rush. He stopped the recording with his thumb, forced his fingers to steady, and waited through another stretch of silence before easing the bathroom door open.

The office was empty.

He walked through it quickly, paused at the main door, checked the corridor, and stepped out as if he belonged to the building’s ordinary traffic. Every step toward the elevator still carried the echo of risk, but the worst of the trap had already passed so he carried himself with confidence that screamed he belonged right here.

By the time he reached the ground floor and crossed the lobby, his expression had flattened back into a presentable outlook.

At the entrance barrier, the same kind of security attention rose again.

"Badge?"

Tom did not let the pause grow. "I came in with Ms. Marchetti’s team." he said smoothly.

Whether the man remembered the earlier entry or simply did not want trouble with that name, the barrier opened. Tom walked out into daylight with his shoulders held controlled and his pulse still running too fast underneath.

"Oh, I did it." Only after he got into the Mercedes and shut the door did the rest of the tension break. He leaned back against the seat and released a breath he had not realized was still trapped in his chest.

For a moment he only sat there, keeping his hands on the wheel, and allowed himself to think about how the building standing behind him had nearly swallowed him whole.

The System chimed then;

```

[MAIN MISSION — PART 3]

Status: Completed

[MAIN MISSION COMPLETE]

Reward delivered: Gold Chest

```

[Would Host like to open the chest now?]

Tom did not even hesitate. "Open it."

Light unfolded over the passenger side of the car as the chest resolved into view and unlocked. Items rose from it one after another in a clean, smooth manner.

```

[GOLD CHEST CONTENTS]

• Charming Physique (×1,000)

• Manhood Increment (+2 inches)

• $200,000

```

Tom’s lips parted slightly as he stared.

The money landed first in his understanding because it was the simplest. Two hundred thousand, absolutely enough to soften the wound of the earlier debt and put real room back into his hands. Then his eyes moved to the other two, and the implications hit harder.

"Charming Physique...?" he said under his breath, his brows furrowing, not understanding.

[A full-body elevation,] the System began to explain; [Symmetry, definition, presence, visual pull. However note, host will not transform by lying in bed. Intense training is required to activate and stabilize the change. Once active, the improvement will become noticeable regardless of styling or clothing.]

Tom’s throat worked once. "And the other one?"

[Exactly what it says. Permanent increase. Two inches.]

"Permanent?" A short disbelieving breath left him.

After the roadside humiliation, the failed entrance, the knife through his suit, and the minutes spent locked in a toilet with Adrian’s voice on the other side of the door, the rewards of the mission felt well earned. He sat there with one hand still on the wheel and let the satisfaction settle properly into his body.

[Host now also possesses usable evidence against Adrian Cole.

[How it is used is Host’s decision.] the System added.

Tom’s mouth curved. "Good."

[And?] The System’s tone shifted, lightly needling. [Does this finally make the modeling path more attractive?]

Tom’s smile remained, but he did not give the answer out loud. It was obvious, anyway. He started the engine instead.

Then he drove home with the chest rewards making his heart race and the recording sitting in his phone like a hidden blade. For the first time since the wine evening humiliation, the balance of things felt less one-sided.

~~~~~~~~~

Tom arrived at home and he went straight upstairs, to his room, with one purpose...

The corporate suit came off piece by piece and was left over the chair without ceremony. He stripped down to his boxers, dropped to the bedroom floor, and planted his hands against the ground.

Then he started pushing. He wanted the physique to build immediately so he was going for intense pushup.

The first set was rough. His arms burned sooner than he wanted, breath turning sharp as he forced his chest down and up again. Sweat came quickly. Still, each repetition carried a different weight from ordinary exercise. He was not training vaguely. He was training toward a body the System had already defined as possible, denser, cleaner, impossible to ignore once the change took hold.

So he kept going after the burn set in. He kept going after his arms began to shake.

He kept going because the thought of looking in a mirror later and seeing the difference made the fatigue useful.

By the time the knock sounded at his door, sweat was running down his back and his breathing had turned rough. Tom pushed up from the floor, wiped one wrist across his brow, and without remembering he wasn’t decent and was only in his undergarment, he opened the door.

Sienna was standing in the doorway...

Whatever she had come to say never reached her mouth. Her eyes moved over him at once and when she saw his bare chest, sweat-darkened skin, the boxers sitting low, the flushed look of a man dragged straight out of hard exertion...

Her lips parted at the sight, a thought forming in her head in total surprise;

’What transformation drug worked that excellent and fast?’