Ch. 104 – That Is NOT What I Asked!

"It’s so good to see everyone here," Ariadne cooed, her sweet tone failing entirely to mask the predatory focus in her eyes as she locked onto Rhys.

Her husband, Galen, flashed a completely dead smile, raising a hand in a stiff greeting. "Hello, everyone," he offered in a flat, raspy voice, introducing himself to the group.

Rhys stared at the couple, his newly awakened vision flaring as he felt—and now physically saw—the suffocating heat radiating off his former arch-nemesis. Ariadne’s aura was no longer just a feeling; it burned as a roaring, blood-red spectral fox, its ears pinned back, coiled and ready to pounce on its prey.

Goddamn... Rhys thought, staggering slightly under the weight of the visual revelation. Is this what you see all the time?

The dark figure of Omen didn't bother answering the query. Instead, it thrashed wildly against the spiked, glowing chains of Vespera’s contract magic, its shadowy frame bulging with raw power as it desperately strained toward the glowing amber tether connecting Rhys to Shula.

Vespera, utterly oblivious to the supernatural tug-of-war, stepped forward and embraced Ariadne in a warm, welcoming hug. She was visibly delighted to have one of her primary allies on the floor.

"Ariadne, you look absolutely stunning!" Vespera praised, stepping back to admire her outfit. "I see you got the dress I suggested!"

"Of course I had to," Ariadne replied smoothly, smoothing out the fabric of her sleek black evening gown. "It’s such a special occasion... I simply had to dress the part." She turned her sharp gaze directly onto Rhys, adding with a heavy, dangerous cadence, "After all, I played such a massive hand in helping Rhys plan for this grand opening."

Rhys desperately wanted to snap back, but he literally couldn't—Vespera’s contract magic still held an invisible, suffocating grip on his vocal cords, keeping him mute. Refusing to break under her stare, Rhys offered a curt, unbothered nod and raised his champagne glass in a silent, mocking toast.

Vespera’s lips twitched into a subtle, surprised grin; she clearly hadn't expected him to play off the threat so smoothly.

Marcus, completely blind to the landmines littering the floor, chirped up with a bright smile. "Oh yeah! I remember the day Ariadne came over to help Rhys plan down in his office! Man, you must have been a huge help to get all of this set up!"

Still the exact same oblivious fool, Rhys thought with a affectionate, internal sigh. God, I love ya, man, but you are killing me right now.

Sensing an opportunity to stir the pot even further, Vespera took another delicate sip of her champagne. "You know, Ariadne... Shula was actually telling us the most hilarious thing before you arrived. She actually went ahead and bought this entire luxury venue... just for Rhys."

Rhys went rigid beneath his suit, forcing his mask to maintain a tight, pleasant smile while the shadow in his mind crept another inch closer to Shula’s glowing amber tether.

Ariadne’s expression instantly froze. For a fraction of a second, she looked as if someone had just casually informed her that they had kidnapped her dog. She forced a tense, brittle laugh, her knuckles whitening. "Wow... that is absolutely... unbelievable!"

Shula, enjoying the reaction immensely, waved a dismissive, manicured hand through the air. "Oh, it was really nothing," she purred smoothly. "It hardly even made a dent in one of my spare accounts."

She really is stacked, Rhys acknowledged frankly, remembering the absurd wealth he had witnessed back at her estate. The thought of her fortune suddenly sparked a faint, random memory in his mind—the tiny, enchanted cat figurine he had quietly pocketed from Shula’s collection days ago, which was still resting safely in his inner jacket pocket. He quickly pushed the thought away to focus on the immediate disaster.

Vespera, thoroughly annoyed by Shula’s absolute lack of shame, pressed her attack even harder. "And then, Ariadne... Shula went on to explain that she did it because Rhys is going to be her baby daddy! Just catching you up on the conversation, of course—those were practically her exact words." Vespera flashed a wicked, devilish grin across the circle.

Darius, who was halfway through swallowing his third ladyfinger, instantly started violently choking. "Please..." he sputtered, pounding his chest in panic, "some... water!"

Without even glancing his way, Shula snapped her fingers, casually summoning a crystal glass of water onto the nearby cocktail table. She stood her ground without a single shred of shame or regret, failing to deny a single word. "What can I say? It happens to be the truth."

Beside Ariadne, Galen raised his gray eyebrows, a rare flicker of genuine alarm piercing his slouched, somber posture. Marcus broke into an anxious, overly loud laugh that was clearly aimed at convincing himself the entire conversation was a bizarre joke.

Rhys stood trapped behind his mask, forced to smile while the shadow reached out, its clawed fingers hovering a mere millimeter away from Shula’s tether.

Ariadne, however, had gone eerily, terrifyingly silent. A suffocating wave of volcanic rage hummed beneath her skin—so intense that even her husband, Galen, subtly shuffled a few inches away from her side.

Rhys glanced briefly at Galen. He knew he had met the man in passing years ago, and seeing him now sparked vague, foggy memories of a completely unremarkable citizen. He just looks like about as regular a guy as you can possibly get, Rhys analyzed bluntly. I've got nothing on him.

"Now that is really fucking unbelievable," Ariadne spat, her sweet suburban housewife persona completely shattering as her deep, terrifying villain tone tore through her throat.

Marcus blinked, looking at her in genuine shock. "Heyyy... I mean, it might be a lot to process right now, but that’s a bit of a harsh way to put it, right?" Marcus asked, his hero instincts finally pinging as he began scanning Ariadne up and down, subtle mental gears turning as he tried to connect the dots on who this woman actually was.

SNAP.

In the spiritual plane, the shadowy alter-ego finally latched its dark jaws onto Shula’s amber tether—and began forcefully drinking her boundless magical energy.

A surging wave of raw, intoxicating power flooded through Rhys's nervous system in a split second. A deep, booming laugh echoed violently inside his skull as the shadow expanded, bursting Vespera’s contract chains off its body like brittle twigs. Reaching forward, the shadow grabbed the magical chains wrapped around Rhys's chest and effortlessly bent them until they shattered, leaving the glowing fragments to fall uselessly away.

His voice unlocked, Rhys stepped forward, his silver tongue returning with overwhelming force.

"Marcus, you are exactly right," Rhys declared smoothly, his voice cutting through the tension with hypnotic charisma. "It is a lot to discuss. So why don’t we go ahead and switch the subject to something else?"

He thrilled at the sensation—a taste of power he hadn't experienced in years, absorbing magical energy directly through a tether without needing physical contact.

Vespera’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief as she felt her contract magic shatter into dust. "How... when did you—?"

Rhys cut her off instantly, turning his entire focus to Ariadne’s husband. "You know, Galen, I hosted this entire grand opening specifically to get to know my neighbors better. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? How long have you and Ariadne been married, for instance?"

Galen blinked, looking utterly stunned to suddenly have the entire circle's high-stakes attention thrust upon him.

Yeah... sorry, man, Rhys thought with a brief pang of sympathy. I really didn't want to throw you under the bus, but that thing was coming at us fast.

Galen cleared his raspy throat, a faint, somber smile touching his face as he began to reminisce. "Well... we actually met about eight years ago now. It was raining heavily that night..."

That is NOT what I fucking asked! Rhys screamed in utter disbelief inside his head as the older man casually launched into a full, cinematic origin story of his marriage.