Chapter 150: They Come Crawling Back

Reinhard was still holding his phone when another notification appeared, followed by three more before he could even open the first message.

The screen was already crowded with invitations, partnership proposals, sponsorship contracts, and requests for meetings, the names attached ranging from large financial organizations to relic companies and established Awakener groups.

Lily leaned over his shoulder and read through the list, her expression changing almost immediately as she recognized several of the names. "They’re already here? These people didn’t even care about us before."

"Some of them probably didn’t," Maki shrugged, glancing at the screen.

"That makes it worse," Lily muttered, continuing to scroll through the messages. "Look at this one. They want Emily to become their exclusive representative after ignoring her for two years. What kind of shameless—"

Emily started laughing, and Lily looked at her in disbelief. "What’s funny?"

"You’re getting angry for me."

"Of course I’m getting angry for you!"

Rhea leaned over to look at the phone as well, smiling at the growing list of invitations. "Should we just send them all the same reply?"

"Which is?" Reinhard raised an eyebrow.

"No," Rhea smiled.

Lily immediately laughed, and even Emily covered her mouth trying not to laugh harder. Mara shook her head at the three of them. "You shouldn’t encourage this."

"I think it’s efficient," Reinhard said, scrolling through another message.

"Rejecting hundreds of contracts individually would be inefficient," Seraphine glanced at him.

"See? My advisor understands me," he said, pleased.

"That wasn’t what I meant."

Rhea laughed again while Reinhard kept scrolling, clearly enjoying himself.

Some of the offers were ordinary enough. One company wanted Emily as an exclusive representative and offered an enormous salary, luxury accommodations, priority access to resources, and a list of benefits that would have been difficult for most Awakeners to refuse.

Emily glanced at the offer and shook her head. "No."

"That was fast," Reinhard looked at her.

"I don’t need it."

He nodded and closed the message.

The next offer was considerably more serious.

A large Awakener organization wanted an exclusive partnership with the Ashcroft Family and was willing to provide better mission access, additional resources, and a substantial annual payment in exchange. Reinhard actually read the entire proposal before his expression changed slightly. "They’re asking for too much."

"How much?" Emily looked over.

"Control over which missions we accept."

She shook her head immediately. "Then no."

He deleted the proposal without another word. It wasn’t that he rejected every offer automatically, he simply had no reason to surrender control over the family when they were already capable of choosing their own opportunities.

The third offer was from a wealthy family that wanted Emily to attend a private dinner.

The message was written as though they were old friends who had simply lost contact over the years, but Emily recognized the name immediately. They had been among the people who stopped contacting her after her Gnosis shattered.

She looked at the invitation for several seconds before quietly saying, "No."

Reinhard didn’t comment. He simply closed the message and kept scrolling.

By the time they finally stopped looking through the offers, Lily was convinced that half the city had suddenly remembered that Emily existed.

The next morning, Reinhard and Emily decided to walk around the city rather than spend the entire day dealing with contracts. They had no particular destination in mind, and for the first few minutes, it almost felt normal.

Then someone recognized them. "That’s Emily Ashcroft!"

Another person turned at the sound of her name and immediately recognized Reinhard beside her. "Reinhard too!"

The attention spread quickly, but unlike the frantic reaction to Archon the previous day, this was warmer. People approached them with congratulations, asked for pictures, shook their hands, and occasionally requested signatures.

Emily tried to stay composed, but she was clearly embarrassed by how many people wanted to speak with her.

Reinhard, naturally, found the entire situation entertaining. A young woman asked Emily for a picture, and he stepped closer and put an arm around his wife’s waist.

"What are you doing?" Emily glanced at him.

"Helping you smile."

"I’m already smiling."

"Then smile more."

She laughed despite herself, and the young woman hurriedly took the picture before thanking them.

They continued down the street, but they couldn’t walk for long before another group recognized them.

Someone congratulated Emily on the Top 5 ranking, another person asked Reinhard about the Garden, and a group of young Awakeners began excitedly discussing the Ashcroft Family’s rise.

"We’re not going to get much walking done, are we?" Emily sighed.

Reinhard looked around at the people still watching them. "Probably not."

Before Emily could answer, a polished man in an expensive suit approached them with a smile. "Miss Ashcroft! It’s wonderful to see you again."

She stopped and recognized him immediately.

He had represented one of her former sponsors before her Gnosis shattered, and she remembered how quickly his organization had disappeared when her rank collapsed.

Yet now he stood in front of her as though they had simply been old acquaintances who had lost contact.

"We always knew you had exceptional potential," he said warmly. "Seeing how far you’ve come is truly remarkable."

Reinhard almost laughed, managing to keep his expression neutral, but he didn’t interrupt. This was Emily’s conversation.

The executive continued praising her recovery before presenting an offer for a new contract. The compensation was several times greater than what the organization had once offered her, and the benefits included resources, training facilities, and exclusive access to their network. Emily listened until he finished.

"No, thank you."

The man’s smile froze. "Perhaps you should hear the full proposal before making a decision."

"I heard it," she replied with a polite smile. "But I’m not interested."

He stared at her for a moment, apparently struggling to understand how easily she had dismissed an offer that would have once been extremely valuable to her. "I see," he finally said.

Emily nodded and continued walking, Reinhard following beside her without a word.

They hadn’t gone far before another organization approached, this one offering Emily a leadership position.

She declined.

Another offered exclusive access to rare resources, and she politely explained that she already had everything she needed. Reinhard glanced at her when she said that, and she gave him a small smile.

A wealthy family soon approached with another invitation, this time asking her to attend a private banquet so they could "reconnect."

"I appreciate the invitation," Emily said. The representative smiled hopefully. "But no." The smile disappeared.

They left without another word, and Reinhard had to suppress another laugh.

A former rival approached not long afterward, claiming she had always believed Emily would eventually return to the top.

"Thank you," Emily smiled politely. She didn’t say anything else, simply continuing to walk, while the woman remained behind, apparently expecting a longer conversation that never came.

"Why are there so many?" Emily sighed as another group approached.

"You’re famous," Reinhard looked around at the people gathering nearby and smiled.

"I know."

"You’re also Top Five."

"I know."

"And you’re married to me."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Emily looked at him.

"Everything," he smiled.

She laughed and lightly pushed his arm. "You’re impossible."

"I’ve been told."

They continued walking, but the offers grew more extravagant as the day went on. One organization wanted the Ashcroft Family as its flagship team and offered an enormous annual payment, private training facilities, rare relic access, political connections, exclusive contracts, and investment opportunities.

Even Reinhard stopped to read that one carefully. He didn’t reject it immediately. The offer was genuinely good, and he understood exactly how much value the organization was placing on their name.

Emily watched him silently. After reading the entire contract, he finally looked at her. "Do you want it?"

She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "No."

He smiled and closed the proposal. "Then no."

"You didn’t even try to negotiate," Emily looked at him.

"I could," he said, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "But if you don’t want it, there’s nothing to negotiate."

She smiled and took his hand, and they walked together for several more minutes before another representative caught up with them, this one considerably more desperate.

"Miss Ashcroft, please wait."

Emily stopped. The man hesitated before asking the question that had clearly been bothering him. "What would it take for you to reconsider?"

She looked at him quietly. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" he blinked.

She shook her head. "I’m not looking for another sponsor."

There was no anger in her voice, and that made the answer feel even stronger.

She glanced toward Reinhard, then back at the representative. "I already have what I need. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been, my family is with me, and I have people who trust me. I don’t need someone else to tell me that I have value."

The representative didn’t know how to respond. Emily simply smiled politely and continued walking, Reinhard beside her, his hand still holding hers.

For a moment, he said nothing.

The old Emily had spent years wanting someone to tell her that she still had value. After losing her Gnosis, she had been surrounded by people who treated her former achievements like something that belonged to another person, and recognition had once been something she desperately wanted back.

Now those same people were standing in front of her, offering it freely, and it meant almost nothing. Not because Emily had become cold, but because she no longer needed their approval to know who she was.

Reinhard squeezed her hand. She looked at him. Neither of them needed to say anything.

They walked on until another familiar organization approached. This representative was different. Instead of apologizing or offering an enormous contract, he tried to rewrite the past.

"If you had remained with us after your injury," he said carefully, "you might have reached this level much earlier. We always believed you had the potential to return."

Reinhard’s smile faded slightly, but Emily answered before he could say anything. "Maybe." The man’s expression relaxed. Then she continued. "But I didn’t." She looked toward Reinhard, their hands still intertwined. "And I’m glad I didn’t."

The man’s expression froze. Emily didn’t wait for a response. She simply continued walking with Reinhard.

After they had put some distance between themselves and the representative, she released a quiet breath. "That felt strange."

"What did?" Reinhard looked at her.

"Having all of them come back." She looked toward the streets ahead, where people were still occasionally recognizing them and offering congratulations. "There was a time when I would have given anything to hear those people say they believed in me."

"And now?" He squeezed her hand gently.

She looked at their intertwined fingers before smiling. "Now I don’t really care."

"Good."

"That’s all you have to say?" she asked, amused.

"What else should I say? You’re already where you wanted to be."

"Not quite," she shook her head.

"No?" he raised an eyebrow.

She leaned slightly closer to him. "I’m somewhere better."

Reinhard smiled and rested his hand against her back as they continued walking through the city together. For the first time since they had left the Association that morning, Emily looked completely relaxed.

Then his phone vibrated again. He looked down. Another invitation had arrived. Then another. Then another. He laughed as the notifications kept appearing.

"Another one?" Emily glanced at him.

"Another one."

She sighed, though there was a smile on her face. He looked at the growing list of messages and shook his head. "I think we’re going to be busy."

She squeezed his hand. "At least we can choose what we do."

"Exactly," he smiled.