-Chapter 10-
Lucas looked toward Rose with unease, only to see her curl her lips and gaze at him with a doting expression, like an elder watching a mischievous child.
"Are you done yelling? Got it out of your system? Can we continue our engagement ceremony now?"
Lucas: "..."
[Continue? Seriously? You actually want to get engaged to me? Are you out of your mind? I've got nothing to offer and I'm just some perverted guy who stares at your photo every night doing disgusting things. What could you possibly want from me?!]
The guests gasped when they heard Rose's words.
Even the slowest among them realized something.
Rose wasn't acting. She wasn't being forced. She genuinely wanted to marry Lucas.
James, afraid something else might go wrong, quickly urged the officiant to continue the process.
The officiant steadied the guests, then awkwardly proceeded as if nothing had happened.
For the remainder of the ceremony, Lucas felt like he was in a dream.
He had actually gotten engaged.
And to the female lead who was supposed to be the first of the male lead's harem!
Originally, just touching Rose would've gotten his arms broken by the male lead and left him with nothing.
Now he had put a huge green hat on the male lead's head and walked away with the bride. Would the male lead dig up the graves of all his ancestors for revenge?
But at this point, there was no going back.
The engagement banquet wrapped up in a daze.
James smiled so wide his teeth vanished. He patted Lucas's shoulder.
"From now on, Rose is your responsibility. Don't let me down, son-in-law."
Lucas forced a laugh. "Don't worry, Father-in-law. I'll treat her well for the rest of my life!"
He then turned to Rose with a bitter look. There wasn't even a trace of love in his eyes, only deep frustration.
[What kind of dumb female lead are you? Ditching the male lead to marry some loser villain? Did you forget your brain at home this morning?]
Rose pretended not to hear his inner rant. She took his arm, stood on tiptoe, and kissed his cheek, then leaned close to whisper in his ear.
"Lucas, you're my fiancé now. If I catch you drinking coffee with another woman at home again, I won't let it slide."
Was she talking about that incident with Sylvia?
[Thanks for the reminder, but Sylvia's also one of David's women. Just stealing you from him is already enough for him to crush me. If I take her too, he'd skin me alive.]
Hearing this, Rose finally relaxed.
"Thanks to Uncle Grey, the White Group is back on its feet. There's still a lot to do at the company. I'll head back first."
Lucas nodded eagerly. "Go ahead, go ahead!"
Rose found his eagerness to get rid of her amusing. "How about dinner together tonight?"
"Uh, tonight I..."
Lucas instinctively tried to refuse, but Rose helpfully reminded him, "You're in love with me, right? Refusing my dinner invitation doesn't make sense, does it?"
Lucas nearly cried. "I'll pick you up at the office tonight."
Rose smiled. That's more like it.
After finally seeing the White family off, Lucas felt completely drained.
He flopped onto the couch at home and stared at the ceiling in a daze.
The plot had gone so off course. How was he supposed to act from now on?
Was he really going to marry Rose, have kids, and live happily ever after?
[Congratulations, host, for completing the second round of villain plot. Character integrity score: 100. Rewards have been distributed. Please check!]
The system's voice suddenly rang in his mind. Lucas sat up immediately.
What?
Character integrity score: 100?
Nothing broke? No points deducted? And still got a perfect score?
Lucas sat stunned for a long while before he gradually understood.
So no matter how much the male and female leads deviated from the script, as long as he stuck to his villain role, he could still get the rewards?
Amazing!
From now on, the heroine could self-destruct however she liked. It had nothing to do with him. He just needed to play the lovesick lackey to Rose and the roadblock to the male lead perfectly.
All of a sudden, Lucas felt incredibly enlightened. No worries at all.
He immediately checked the rewards.
The rewards for climax scenes were far better than for regular scenes.
At 60 points: 8 attribute points.
At 80 points: +10 to wound recovery speed.
At 100 points: two ancient martial arts techniques.
And an additional climax reward: a Resurrection Pill that could bring someone back to life.
So many rewards. It was glorious!
Lucas quickly used the attribute points.
Last time, just five points had made his senses sharper and body stronger.
This time with eight more, a powerful energy surged from his dantian throughout his entire body. He felt light as a feather, and when he punched the air, the resulting swish confirmed his strength.
As for the healing buff, it wasn't immediately noticeable.
But since he already had one stack, adding ten more points would definitely make recovery even faster.
Then he studied the two new martial arts techniques.
Last time, he chose "Legendary Light-Footwork Technique" for escaping danger. Now that his physique had improved, it was time for something more practical.
He skipped swords and blades. Carrying those around in modern times just made you look like an idiot.
Focusing on unarmed combat seemed more practical.
Among the countless techniques, Lucas picked Wudang's classic "Eight Trigram Dragon Palm" and "Chain-Link Phantom Leg."
The former emphasized softness overcoming strength. The latter focused on blinding speed.
Neither required raw power, making them perfect for his current physique.
He carefully stored away the Resurrection Pill. That thing could save his life one day.
Just as he finished organizing his rewards, his phone rang.
He picked it up and saw that the call was from Sylvia. His brow furrowed.
Why was she calling out of the blue?
He hesitated for a while before answering. "Hello? I'm engaged now. It's not really appropriate to talk to other women. I'll hang up—"
"David is investigating you."
That one sentence made Lucas freeze mid-hang-up.
He swallowed hard. "How do you know that?"
Sylvia reclined by the rooftop pool, gazing out at the entire city of Su. A sharp smile tugged at her lips.
"The person doing his legwork is a friend of mine. She came to me asking questions about you. I didn't tell her anything. Instead, I called to warn you. Lucas, how's that for loyalty?"
To be honest, pretty loyal.
But the more loyal she was, the more he needed to stay away.
"Thanks, but my fiancée doesn't want me getting too close to other women..."
Before he could finish, Sylvia interrupted again.
"My friend also said David is planning to target the Grey family next."
That one sentence made all the difference. Lucas finally stopped rushing to hang up the phone.
He even wanted to chat a bit more with Sylvia!
It was normal for David to want to kill him; Lucas could accept that. But if David wanted to go after the Grey family, that was absolutely unacceptable.
So, at a little past three in the afternoon, Lucas arrived at the rooftop of the building Sylvia had told him about.
She was the only person in the massive swimming pool.
Wearing a bikini, she lounged on a unicorn float, basking in the sun.
Her fair skin gleamed under the sunlight, and her slim waist paired with her voluptuous curves made her look like Marilyn Monroe stepped out of a magazine.
Lucas swallowed hard in his mind and cleared his throat. "Miss Morgan, isn't this kind of place a little inappropriate for a business discussion?"
Sylvia chuckled, took off her sunglasses, and swam to the edge, beckoning him with a finger.
The intent was obvious, but Lucas was still curious what she had to say, so he leaned in.
As soon as he did, Sylvia wrapped an arm around his neck and yanked him into the pool.
Splash!
Lucas instantly turned into a drowned rat.
Above him, Sylvia's playful laughter echoed. Lucas wiped the water off his face, furious, and grabbed her float, pulling it down.
With a scream, Sylvia also fell into the water.
Feeling triumphant, Lucas grinned, but before he could let out a laugh, Sylvia grabbed his leg underwater.
His eyes widened as he was dragged under.
The next moment, Sylvia wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him underwater.
...
[What the hell? Why is this woman suddenly kissing me? Is she nuts?]
Lucas tried to struggle, but he was helpless in the water. Sylvia swam like a mermaid, her legs wrapping around him as she absorbed all the air from his lungs before surfacing first.
By the time Lucas got out of the pool, she had already dried her hair with a towel and was sitting on a lounge chair sipping juice.
"Hey, I have a fiancée. You can't just go around kissing people. Don't you have any shame?"
Despite what he said, he remembered very well. Sylvia might look sexy, but she was actually extremely innocent. She had focused solely on martial arts and family responsibilities growing up, never caring about men.
It was exactly that innocence that made her fall for the male lead without realizing it.
But now, she had thrown herself at him. Hugging and kissing without warning. Her character had completely changed.
Thankfully, Lucas was used to female leads collapsing their own personas by now…
As expected, even when insulted, Sylvia didn't care. She sipped her juice and glanced at him. "You got it backwards. I only kissed you because I care about you."
When she saw the news about his engagement to Rose earlier, she nearly smashed her phone in anger.
She had thought that with her looks, taking him away from Rose would be a piece of cake.
Who knew Rose would move so fast?
If she didn't step up her game, she might never get another chance to get close to Lucas.
"Why do you care about me?"
Before Lucas could finish questioning her, Sylvia cut him off. "The way David plans to go after the Grey family..."
Hearing that, Lucas shut his mouth and listened intently.
But she stopped halfway. "My legs are a little sore. Massage them for me."
Lucas: ...
He understood now. This woman was using the situation to mess with him.
Fine! Do whatever you want. As long as I don't break character, I don't care what you do.
Lucas walked over, crouched down, and began massaging her calf. As he did, he grumbled, "Trying to seduce me is pointless. I already told you, I've made up my mind to only love Rose. No one else matters."
[Still, credit where it's due. These are some nice legs. Smooth, pale, soft, and shapely... Just touching them is enough to make me feel numb all over.]
Hearing his inner voice, Sylvia nearly burst out laughing.
Clearly a little pervert, and yet he's pretending to be some loyal, devoted wolf.
"A little higher. Keep going. A bit more."
Lucas blushed and glared. "How much higher do you want? I'm almost at the top. You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
Sylvia looked innocent. "On purpose? What are you talking about? I don't understand."
Female pervert!
Lucas sighed. "Enough with the games. Just tell me what exactly David is planning against the Grey family?"
Seeing that his patience was wearing thin, Sylvia finally relented. "He just saved Harmony Group, the Grey family's biggest partner. Most likely tomorrow or the day after, Harmony will cut ties with your family. They might even rally other allies to blacklist the Grey family."
Harmony Group!
A multinational giant. Their partnership accounted for a tenth of the Grey family business.
If they cut ties, it would be a huge blow.
Worse, it wouldn't stop there. If other companies followed their lead, the Grey family could be ruined.
All because of one engagement, and now his parents were in trouble. Lucas clenched his fists, fury boiling.
[David, you've gone too far! In the original plot, I forced Rose to marry me, so you hating me made sense. But now she chose me willingly. What right do you have to target me?]
[This is your idea of a righteous protagonist? You're no better than a villain hurting innocents.]
Hearing this, Sylvia nodded.
Exactly.
Lucas had done nothing to provoke David. Yet David had crashed his engagement and made a scene.
If anyone was at fault, it was David for stirring up trouble.
Thinking back to how she once gave her cultivation to such a petty man, she was even more annoyed.
"Tomorrow at noon, the chairman of Harmony Group will attend an auction. If you're interested, I can take you to meet him. Try to win him over directly."
"If it works, you'll save the Grey family from disaster. And if it doesn't, you lose nothing. What do you say?"
Lucas agreed without hesitation.
As long as it could help his family, he'd do anything.
And now that the system had confirmed it. No matter how everyone else's character fell apart or the story went off-track, as long as he stayed true to the villain role, he'd keep getting rewards!
Around six in the evening, Lucas finally shook off Sylvia, changed into a clean outfit, and drove his brand-new Porsche to the front of the White Corporation building.
As soon as he got out, he saw Rose and Yelena walking out of the building together.
-End of Chapter 10-