Chapter 107: Time to use the leverage

Tom excused himself from the living room with a short murmur to Stella about needing the bathroom and headed down the hall.

Once the bedroom door shut behind him, the polite cover dropped. He did not actually need to pee. He needed space. The System had placed something major in his hands, and he was not going to read it with Stella’s head still resting against his shoulder.

"I’m ready..." he said under his breath.

[Congratulations, Host.]

[You have successfully recruited the FIRST official member of your 200- member Harem.]

The system’s tone was all serious. Then the air in front of him changed.

This time around, the system presented the panel in his vision with a heavier unfolding, layered, formal, almost ceremonial appearance;

```

[FIRST RECRUITMENT COMPLETE]

────────────────────────

Target: Stella Marchetti

Designation: Harem Slot 001

Capacity Progress: 1 / 200

Status: Fully Recruited

────────────────────────

```

Tom’s breath caught.

One out of two hundred; The number had always existed in the abstract. But seeing Stella locked into it as the first made the whole structure suddenly real and no longer felt like an absurd fantasy.

"Slot 001," he repeated what he had read at the beginning.

[Yes,] the System said, and for once there was weight under the voice. [The first successful recruitment is not a minor event. It stabilizes the harem framework.]

Then the panel revealed another set of designated information.

```

[SPECIAL REWARD UNLOCKED]

Private Club Foundation Package

Contents:

• Lease rights to exclusive private club property

• Brand identity registration

• Founding membership framework

• Seed capital for launch operations

• System-backed discretion protocol

Note:

Interior completion, staffing culture, and social penetration remain Host’s responsibility.

The first major founding member will determine the club’s market gravity.

```

Then the second reward followed.

```

[TIME-LIMITED MISSION COMPLETE]

Recruit Stella Marchetti within deadline

[REWARD]

• +800 System Points

• Business Management Skill Lv. 1

[Skill Effect]

Foundational competence in elite business operations: staff structure, budgeting, vendor negotiation, membership design,service standards, and discreet high-end management.

```

Tom sat down on the edge of the bed without realizing he had moved. He was being absorbed in reading all that was displaying in his vision.

Tom rubbed a hand over his mouth, pulse climbing. "So, the club...what really is that?"

[That is your new business, Host.]

[Treat it as an access ground.] The System’s tone sharpened with purpose. [It is not a common lounge but a controlled environment where men of rank gather for privacy, status, and soft power. Their presence creates gravity. Gravity attracts more members and members open pathways into their worlds, their routines, their weaknesses, and the women attached to them.]

"So I build a place powerful men want to enter," Tom said slowly, "and the club does part of the hunting for me."

[Correct. Chance encounters are inefficient. Structure is better and there you have it.]

He laughed once under his breath, low and disbelieving. He was excited but he wasn’t too excited to remember that right now, he didn’t have much knowledge on what was being bestowed on him.

"I don’t know how to run something like that."he divulged quietly.

[You know more than you did before these panels opened.] The System said, sounding completely amused.

[Business Management Skill Lv. 1 is active. Host will understand enough to begin: how to shape staff hierarchy, control budget bleed, negotiate with vendors, design membership tiers, and maintain service standards for elite clientele. Host should read the skill book.]

[Note, however, it is not mastery or competence but it is enough to stop panic from making the decisions.]

Tom leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, staring at the fading edges of the panels. "Alright. That helps."

[There is more.]

A third sequence opened before Tom could even adjust himself on the bed, properly, because it felt he needed to sit tight now.

```

[NEXT TARGET UNLOCKED]

Josie Hale

Value: High

Utility: Critical

Route: Spouse-access pathway

Spouse: Stiles Hale - Deputy Mayor of New York City

```

Tom’s eyes narrowed with interest. "Josie?"

[Yes. Host has already touched her path. She is now formally designated. Through her, the Deputy Mayor becomes reachable. Through the Deputy Mayor, the club gains political weight. Through that weight, other high-value men will seek association.]

[Host should understand that harem members and targets can be used for host’s benefits.

That sank deeper than the money or the skill. Tom understood that Stella could be used for his benefits as her social reach, and influence are available assets.

He nodded in understanding then asked the remaining questions carefully; how active the lease was, how soon capital could move but before the system could start answering...

A sharp breaking noise cracked through the villa from the living room.

Tom was on his feet immediately. He rushed to the living room.

There, he found Stella by the low table, an ugly frown plastered on her face, having erased the softness of the evening.

A glass lay shattered near the edge of the carpet, its content spreading swiftly on the floor. And Her phone was being gripped tightly in her hand. From the way her shoulders were tight, and her breathing was heavy and fast, Tom could see she was holding anger in by force.

Tom slowed as he approached her. "Hey, what happened?"

She did not look up at once.

"What happened?"

For a moment she seemed to consider not answering. The silence stretched long enough for him to see the conflict under the temper; pride, humiliation, fury, and the refusal to appear handled. Then she turned her head, her eyes hard. ℴ

"Adrian... That’s what happened." she gritted out.

Tom inhaled sharply then asked; "What did he do?"

"One of my ambassadorial deals just got terminated." she informed him, in a voice that remained elegant, but every word carried edge.

"The one he opened through his political connections. And that asshole made sure I knew it was him. He had the audacity to tell me himself." Her fingers tightened around the phone.

Tom’s gaze flickered to look at the broken glass, then back at her face.

"Because of your involvement with me right?" He asked.

Stella let out an annoyed hiss.

"That’s how men like him correct a woman. They remove something she values and wait for her to become manageable again."

"That asswipe!" Stella gritted out again, trying everything in her to control her anger.

Despite the fact that the anger in her was not loud, Tom saw how deep it was. And slowly, he remembered he had something that could control Adrian.

He watched the shattered glass for a long second as he thought of how exactly to use it then he spoke up;

"If you will allow me to step in, I’ll handle this for you."

Stella’s eyes sharpened on him. "Handle it how?"

"Very smoothly. I already have a way to make him behave. You don’t need every detail. But if you trust me with it, I’ll put pressure on him properly." he told her firmly.

She peered at his face as if waiting to see him call what he just said a bluff studied him but after a second and she still saw he was standing on his ground, she blinked.

"You sound very sure of yourself," she stated simply, her mouth left hanging open.

"I am."

Another pause before Stella finally gave a short nod, the decision settling into her posture. "Okay."

"Then we go back to the city tonight. We shouldn’t waste more time." he maintained.

Her gaze moved over his face once more, measuring the seriousness under the offer. Whatever she found there was enough. "I’ll go pack."

She turned toward the hallway quickly with purpose.

Tom looked away from her retreating steps and fixed his gaze on the open window, his lips curved into a small smile as he thought that now was the time to show the pompous Adrian Cole he wasn’t a nobody as he had believed.

Because this supposed nobody could end his career in a blink of an eye.