The bed seemed to have been made with clouds from Olympus. The silk sheet brushed Luna's skin like a silent compliment to her good taste.
After hours of insane gaming, her brain still pulsed with echoes of sound effects and whispers of victory.
She stretched like a lazy cat and pulled the blanket up to her chin. "Finally, peace..."
PLIM
The cellphone vibrated next to the bed.
@ Matthew: "Are you awake?"
Luna stared at the screen, eyes half-closed and expression of pure disgust.
"Seriously, Matthew? At three in the morning?" she grumbled before typing:
@SmellOfEarthAfterRain: "Unfortunately, yes. Surprise me."
The reply came in seconds.
@ Matthew: "We received a call from the president of your Malroth Foundation. They intend to carry out a humanitarian task force focused on communities below the poverty line."
Luna's eyes widened. "Here he goes starting to talk like an Excel spreadsheet..."
She rolled sideways in bed, rested her chin on her hand, and typed.
@SmellOfEarthAfterRain: "Matthew, are we flirting or trying to draft a UN treaty?"
But Matthew didn't seem to catch the tone.
@ Matthew: "I believe helping the poor is a noble gesture. I also wanted to know if you would authorize the insertion of Diamond Tycoon as a sponsor of the project. It's optional, of course."
Luna sighed. "His IQ is so low he might as well be a diplomacy NPC activated by keywords like 'humanitarian aid' and 'infrastructure'..."
But, curiously, she didn't end the conversation.
On the contrary, she continued.
The conversation slid into less formal topics.
He commented on the questionable taste of noble banquets. She mocked the outdated style of diplomatic clothes.
He said he thought the name "UltraClean LUX™" was kind of dramatic. She threatened to sue him for defamation.
They laughed.
Criticized global CEOs.
Remembered the dance at the gala.
And, without realizing it... 5:59 a.m.
Luna looked at the clock with a "this can't be happening" expression.
@Matthew: "It was good talking to you. Good night... or good morning, maybe?"
@SmellOfEarthAfterRain: "If I sleep now, I'll only wake up in 2070. Bye, Ambassador of Sleep."
She threw the cellphone onto the pillow, covered her face with her hands, and groaned softly. "Ivy... remind me never to talk to diplomats after midnight..."
As if summoned by the name, the hologram appeared with the punctuality of a Swiss clock. "Good morning, Miss Luna. It is 6 o'clock sharp. Your meeting with Amazon Global shareholders will occur at 10 a.m., local time, in the city of Austin, Texas. The helicopter is ready at the mansion helipad to take off in twenty minutes."
"...Austin?" Luna sat up, disheveled. "Seriously, Amazon doesn't have headquarters in New York like every sensible company?"
"The main headquarters has been in the outskirts of Austin since the merger with X-Mart Cloud, 47 years ago. The architecture is sustainable, and the servers are kept under a climate-controlled dome underground."
Luna looked at the ceiling.
"How did I end up in this world where having billionaire shares forces me to wake up before 7 a.m.?" she murmured, stumbling toward the bathroom.
Quick shower.
Toothbrush.
A practical ponytail.
Suit from the Tycoon collection.
In the mirror, she still looked like someone who would argue with the wall if it dared to reflect her sleepy face.
But elegant, powerful... and in control.
Always.
"Ivy, prepare jasmine tea and remind me never to accept a Tycoon system that promised to make me rich."
"Noted. But your fortune has already been declared on seven continents, Miss Luna."
"...Was that a joke?"
"A touch of logical sarcasm."
"I like that."
Moments later, Luna walked to the mansion's private helipad, the sun still rising on the horizon.
The helicopter, matte black with gold details, waited with the rotors spinning slowly.
She got in, put on noise-canceling headphones, and murmured, "Come on, Amazon. Surprise me... or bore me. Whatever."
The helicopter rose into the sky.
— One week later —
The sun reflected on the crystal-clear pool waters as if even it respected Luna's sacred rest.
Wearing a minimalist white bikini and sunglasses from the "Imperatrix Summer Edition" collection, she swam with feline laziness, gliding through the water like a millionaire mermaid in economy mode.
The week had been chaos wrapped in suits, contracts, high-level diplomacy, and dinners with executives smelling of figures and ego.
The meeting at Amazon Global had been the peak of business gymnastics.
Flashbacks came like an underwater movie in Luna's mind:
She, in an impeccable white suit, seated at the head of the oval table.
The CEO, smiling nervously.
And Luna, with her soft voice and sleepy eyes, saying, "You put UltraClean LUX™ in Amazon's global catalog... or I put my shares where they will be better treated."
It was said delicately.
But there was ice and a knife behind every word.
Of course, they accepted.
"Willingly."
Who in their right mind would say no to one of the company's largest shareholders?
Back at the pool, Luna dived, wetting her hair like a luxury goddess dissatisfied with the world.
As she surfaced, she saw Ivy appear in the air, floating holographically above the water. "Miss Luna. The non-interference contracts were sent to all companies in which you hold shares."
Luna rested her arms on the pool edge and smiled lightly. "Finally... peace. That means I can skip all meetings from now on, right?"
Ivy blinked with an artificial expression of hesitation. "Negative. The contracts guarantee you will not make direct executive decisions, but your presence at board meetings is still mandatory to maintain your veto and majority shareholder voting rights at strategic moments."
Luna's smile died like Wi-Fi dropping during an important meeting.
She yawned from pure frustration and leaned her forehead on the pool edge. "Isn't there a way I... hire a stunt double? An emotional hologram? A corporate ghost?"
Ivy shook her holographic head. "Unfortunately, the bylaws of all millennium-old companies require physical or synchronized digital presence with biometric consciousness registration."
"...They really thought of every possible way to avoid a meeting, huh?"
Ivy added, "Trillion-dollar companies don't usually make things easy for lazy billionaires."
Luna looked at the sky.
"Tycoon System... I just wanted to get rich without effort. Why did you give me a whole empire to manage?" she murmured sarcastically.
Ivy thought for seconds before saying, "Maybe because you are the only one capable of turning laziness into a new global economic philosophy."
Luna smiled, tired. "Okay... that was good. But I still want to sue all the Amazon founders for forcing me to socialize."
She sank her body up to her chin in the water, as if she could melt there and become one with the pool. "Let me know when the next meeting is. I'll meditate on the futility of billionaire existence until then."
Smiling, Ivy said softly, "In thirty minutes we have a conference with Stellar Investments."
Luna let out a muffled scream inside the water.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, more precisely, in the Phoenix Empire...
On top of one of the most sophisticated buildings in the imperial capital, a glass, marble, and golden steel penthouse reflected the privileged city view.
Inside it, Victória was sitting on a modern sofa, with a next-gen MacBook resting on one crossed leg and a holographic tablet on the right, where messages, charts, and employees' faces appeared and disappeared chaotically.
She wore a white satin robe over silk lingerie, trying, unsuccessfully, to maintain the composure worthy of a CEO while her patience melted faster than ice in a volcano.
"The ImperialNews just refused the interview, Mrs. Lancaster — I mean, Mrs. Victória," informed the fourth employee that day, with a trembling voice over the video channel.
Victória closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her left eyelid twitched slightly. "Them too?"
"Yes... and PhönixVision said they received... 'higher orders' not to get involved with newly formed companies without official imperial history."
She almost laughed.
But it was the kind of laugh that precedes a bottle of wine being opened at 10 a.m.
She ended the call with a tap and tossed the tablet onto the coffee table with a light thud.
"Perfect bastards," she murmured, staring at the ceiling. "They'd rather lick the Lancaster boots than position themselves as independent media."
The laptop beeped with more email notifications and administrative pendings.
Since the Diamond Tycoon explosion at the auction, the business world had turned its eyes to them... but now the siege tightened.
The Lancaster family's influence, even without her being part of it anymore, was still a shadow cast over every closed door.
The imperial holographic phone rang.
"What now?" she answered, exhaustion dripping from her voice.
It was Jasmin, one of the first employees hired for public relations.
"Mrs. Victória, sorry to bother, but... the channel 'Solarium Broadcast' also canceled. They used the same excuse as the others. Some 'informal' block from the patriarchal families."
"Of course," she murmured. "How dare four young billionaires want to create a corporate empire without the approval seal of the moldy patriarchs?"
She massaged her temples with her fingers.
"Jasmin, send a formal letter to the office responsible for telecommunications. We demand a hearing. If they want to block us in the shadows, we'll expose the light."
"Yes, ma'am."
After hanging up, Victória collapsed against the sofa back with a long sigh.
She looked around her modern penthouse.
It was not her old mansion, which had been gladly returned to the Lancaster family along with all the ghosts that came with it.
Now... this was her territory.
"If they think they'll break me..." she whispered. "They'll need more than closed doors."
Her gaze found the penthouse balcony.
The sunset sky of the Phoenix Empire seemed to burn in perpetual fire.
Perfect.
She stood, went to the balcony, opened the glass doors...
And shouted to the sky. "I am the damn Phoenix! And I rise in spontaneous combustion, bastards!"
Inside, the tablet beeped.
Another email.
Another refusal.
Victória sat again.
And this time... started to laugh.
Softly.
Madly.
Determined.
She grabbed her iPhone and opened the girls' group chat.
But this time, she didn't want hearts or laughter, she wanted results.
She took a deep breath, bit her lip, and dialed directly the only one who could move mountains with a yawn and a wink.
"Calling..."
Luna's holographic image appeared reclined on a sofa with a phosphorescent green smoothie in one hand and the smart house remote in the other.
"Hi, drama queen. Is the Phoenix combustion crying over?"
Victória rolled her eyes with a tired little smile. "Funny. I need a favor."
"If it's about Swiss rosé wine, there isn't a drop left. I drank it all yesterday."
"It's about the Lancaster family. They are using all connections to prevent Diamond Tycoon from breathing here in the Empire. And since you have a certain... silly prince head over heels for you..."
Luna raised an eyebrow. The smoothie stopped mid-air. "You're asking me to use my charm on Matthew?"
Victória gave a sly, devilish smile. "Exactly. Do your little play, speak with that angelic voice of yours, put him in tomato mode and… plim, ask him to intercede with his father. Maybe we can remove some of the political blockade if the emperor interferes."
Luna huffed so loud the smoothie bubbled.
"That's emotional blackmail… I like it."
She gave a mischievous little smile and sighed like someone about to sacrifice herself for a noble cause.
"Okay. But if he freaks out and starts stuttering, it's your fault."
She hung up on Victória, threw the smoothie on the counter, stood up and... ran her hand through her hair like a heroine going on her secret mission.
A few minutes later...
On the sunny mansion veranda, barefoot and with a flowing white silk robe, Luna opened the call to Matthew.
On the other side, Matthew appeared with a background full of papers and a secretary in the back dictating diplomatic appointments.
"Luna!" he smiled. "What a nice surprise... are you okay?"
Luna tilted her head softly and spoke with a voice that would make even the Sun late in the sky.
"Matthew, dear... are you busy? I was thinking... maybe we could talk a bit. I need a very small favor."
Matthew raised an eyebrow. The secretary in the background started to freeze.
"A-a f-favor?"
Luna smiled with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Actually… you know Victória? Her situation with the Lancaster family got pretty complicated. And it seems your daddy emperor could solve this little impasse with a pen stroke..."
"You want me to... talk to him?" Matthew laughed softly.
Luna leaned closer to the screen, her skin glowing in the sun, eyes half-closed in casual charm.
"Just a little diplomatic chat. You're so good with words... Matt." She said his name like it was an intimate secret, a spell.
And it worked.
Matthew coughed lightly and said with a deep voice. "I'll talk to him right now."
Luna smiled victoriously but kept the sweet tone. "Thank you, Matt."
He hung up, probably going straight to the imperial wing.
Luna ended the call and threw herself back on the sofa, sighing loudly. "The world runs on two engines: power… and testosterone."