Ch. 123 – I Started This Company by Accident

"Rhys! Get your ass back here right now!" Vespera’s voice called out behind him, sharp with sudden annoyance. "How dare you? We are not finished!"

Vespera scoffed at his sudden apprehension. Rhys walked away, completely ignoring her demands for him to turn back. He felt as if he had been buried deep underground and brought back to life entirely against his will.

He climbed the staircase overlooking the grand ballroom. Standing at the landing, he steeled his nerves as he looked over the massive crowd his grand opening event had drawn. He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice instantly caught in his throat.

I don’t even have a little wine glass and a fork to ring or anything, Rhys thought in a sudden flash of panic. I’m like a sitting duck up here.

Then his eyes locked onto the one person that truly mattered in the entire room, and he spoke.

"May I have everyone’s attention?"

His voice carried effortlessly over the bustling crowd—not in a reckless, desperate shout, but firm enough to instantly grab the entire room.

"There it is," the dark figure said, standing proudly right beside him on the stairs. "That’s a good start. Don’t trip up."

"I started this company the same way I stumbled through life..." Rhys continued, his tone turning resolute. "...by complete accident."

The crowd erupted into genuine laughter, their heads turning fully toward the man addressing the room.

"If you don’t know who I am yet, my name is Rhys. I am the one who has the great responsibility... of hosting all these hungry mouths tonight!" he said, a genuine smile breaking across his face as he actually began enjoying himself.

The crowd laughed a bit more at that as he took his first step down the staircase. His mind took a solemn step with him as he absorbed the reality of the night.

"I hope everyone has enjoyed... the astonishing festivities we have been fortunate to have tonight with the dancing and the light show. I bet you will enjoy this first course coming up—just the start to this amazing night!" he finished off on a high note.

He stepped down the rest of the stairs, not wanting to overstay his welcome, as the rest of the shadow clones smoothly took over under Omen’s silent command.

I feel like I might faint mostly just from that speech, Rhys thought, praying he hadn't just sounded like a total buffoon up there.

As he placed his boot on the final step down the stairs, he caught sight of the elegant heels and long legs that could only belong to one woman. His wife, Lira, stood directly in front of him. Her face was a complicated battlefield—a mixture of a proud smile and desperately hurt, aching eyes.

She opened her mouth to speak, but Rhys spoke first out of pure, frantic excitement.

"Hey! I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you!" he said, pulling her into a quick, desperate hug.

Lira hugged him back, but the embrace was stiff and tense. "Sorry it took so long for me to get over here," she said, her voice dropping almost to a whisper. She pulled back slightly, staring at him. "You look... a bit too happy to see me."

The words hit him like lead bullets straight to the chest.

"I am really happy to see you," Rhys said with a forced chuckle. It was a fact; it simply had to be. "Um... I think we should just sit down and finally get something to eat," he added, frantically trying to heal the gaping wound forming between them. "I feel like we can leave the talking for later."

He failed at keeping the bleeding from spreading across the conversation. Lira was looking right at him, but her gaze seemed to cut straight through him.

"Rhys... I think we should talk right now, actually," Lira said, her tone turning deeply serious. She reached up, taking his hands away from her arms and holding them in her own tight grip. "I feel like this shouldn’t have to be said after so long... it shouldn’t even matter to our marriage now," she murmured, looking down at their joined fingers.

What could be hurting her this badly? Rhys thought, desperately searching her eyes for an answer.

"You see, I was just talking to—" Lira began.

She was unfortunately cut off before she could finish. A djinn woman came sauntering directly over to them, a fine wine glass balanced loosely in her hand. Shula stepped right into the middle of their intimate conversation without a second thought.

"My word, Rhys! That was such a wonderful speech! I was nearly brought to tears by your words!" Shula exclaimed, every shred of her usual royal class completely forgotten.

"I, uh... appreciate that," Rhys said, his annoyance spiking right back up. "I was just in the middle of talking about something with my WIFE, Shula. Why don’t you go try the soup?"

"Ohhh, that’s no funnn~!" Shula whined, completely forgetting herself.

Lira’s expression hardened, her jaw setting into a look of visible irritation.

Oh, shit, Rhys thought, a sudden wave of worry washing over him for the ifrit woman’s safety.

"How about this!" Rhys interjected quickly, stepping directly between the two women. "You seem to be really eager to get going... how about you lead the way for us?"

And we’ll walk real slow, about ten paces back, Rhys thought smugly.

Shula stood frozen for a moment, looking as if she were actively arguing with herself over whether to jump his bones right there on the ballroom floor. Her deep burgundy skin began shifting, turning a strange, deep shade of purple.

"That’s concerning," Omen said, leaning over Rhys's shoulder to stare intently at the genie. "I’ve seen this before. You won’t like her if she goes full violet," the shadow added with a sinister chuckle.

Yeah... shit, Rhys thought nervously.

"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Shula announced suddenly with a surprising burst of high-pitched glee, turning on her heel.

Rhys gripped Lira’s hand tightly as they fell behind, walking several paces in her wake.

"I knew it probably wasn’t the best idea to try and talk about it out in the open here," Lira whispered softly to her husband. "I just... I wanted to get it done and tell you already," she murmured, looking up at Rhys with a rare, shy sense of embarrassment.

Before Rhys could even ask her what she meant, they reached the massive dining table Shula was leading them toward.

Rhys looked around at the setup, and his mind suffered a violent flash attack of conflicting emotions.

Sitting all around the table were Marcus, Ging, Darius, Ariadne’s husband Galen, and Dione’s husband Arthur. The thick bile kept rising in Rhys's throat, reaching a breaking point as his eyes landed on two absolute demons waiting for him on opposite sides of the table.

Vespera and Serephina.

Vespera stared right at him as if she had been impatiently waiting to pick up their intimate conversation where they left off, a wicked, frustrated smile playing on her lips. Serephina looked like the exact flip side of the coin, her brows furrowed in deep expectation, as if demanding an immediate answer she felt she was owed.

I wonder if it’s okay to just leave my own party right now, Rhys thought bitterly, his heart heavy and completely drowning in remorse.