Chapter 24: New Legacy: An Unexpected Fortune
After staring for what seems like forever, Asher finally moved and slowly touched Kelly’s shoulders, and gently shook her. The rhythmic rise and fall of her chest was hypnotic, a stark contrast to the violence he had just orchestrated across the city.
"You can’t sleep here... Your neck will get hurt by tomorrow morning." He softly murmured.
"Hmm..."
Kelly shook her head, continuing her sleep. She snuggled deeper into her folded arms, entirely lost in a world of pleasant dreams fueled by the meal.
’My goodness.’
Asher moved his gaze around. He wasn’t planning on leaving her on the table, so he simply moved his hand under her thigh, and slowly picked her up. Her weight was practically nothing against his newly forged C-Rank strength, and physique. He cradled her carefully, hyper-aware of how fragile she was compared to the monsters and Awakeners outside these walls. She wasn’t even in her nightgown.
He remembered what happened this afternoon, when both him and Juliana met Kelly tied up, then it struck him.
’Wait a second! That’s like five hours ago, is she such a deep sleeper?’
He stared at the wife who was three years older than him, and chuckled to himself. She was blissfully ignorant of the chaos surrounding them, a trait he both envied and fiercely wanted to protect.
’How would I increase your Affection? And I don’t want to enter any dungeon leaving you guys without protection.’
He slowly walked up the stairs with Kelly in his arms, a smile on his face. For the first time in his life, he felt like a true pillar for someone else.
__
Asher slowly kicked her door open, and walked inside her room, gently placing Kelly on the bed, only for his hood’s button and her black hair to lock in place. He paused, awkwardly bent over her sleeping form, trying not to wake her.
’You kidding me?!! If this is a novel, I will definitely slap that author!! You know I can’t touch her, but you’re getting us this close.’ He grumbled inwardly, and gently removed her hair from his button.
’How can hair even stick with a button? Is that even possible?’ He thought, getting the two freed with a careful, surgical precision.
Asher stood upright, staring at Kelly’s face with a smile. The moonlight filtering through the window highlighted her soft, relaxed features. He so wanted to bend down and kiss her cheeks, but...
’Wait! Why am I scared? She is sleeping.’ He shook his head, momentarily distracted as his eyes wandered down, staring at her full chest.
’D... No, I think those are E-Cups...’
He felt a sudden flush of heat rise to his face.
’No. No. No... I need to leave this room, or I might do more than just kissing.’ He quickly walked towards the door, checking his self-control, and walked out, closing it shut behind him.
"Phew, that was close."
{DING!!}
{Congratulations Master for Investing in your wife Kelly.}
"Huh? When did I invest??"
{Investment: Warmly putting Wife Kelly to Bed.}
"Does that still count as an investment??" Asher was getting confused by the system.
{Congratulations!! Master Triggered the 40,000x Return.}
"Oh!! I want to see it?!!!" Asher was shocked, his voice barely a breathless whisper in the quiet hallway.
{Gained Heaven Hotel. Owner and Right are all granted. From now onwards, you are the CEO of Heaven Hotel!!}
{All Rights, credentials and assets all settled.}
’What did I just hear?!! Heaven Hotel?! Isn’t that the Biggest 5-star hotel in Vaeloria?!! Its main branch is in Silverspire, and its branches are scattered all over the country!! Its annual income should be in the trillions!!’ He yelled inwardly in shock. The sheer financial magnitude of the reward completely shattered his understanding of wealth. Turning to the closed door, he opened it, rushed back inside, and kissed Kelly on her cheek.
’Hahaha!! Thank you, Kelly!! I now have a 5-Star hotel!!’ He yelled inwardly, his heart pounding with euphoric excitement.
{Reminder Master.}
{Master Hasn’t picked a family name.}
Asher walked out of the room again, closing the door. His smile slowly faded, replaced by a solemn, heavy contemplation.
’Family name, at first I didn’t think much of this... But it seems the system wants to completely remove me from the Starfire family...’ He clenched his fists. The Starfire name had brought him nothing but pain, humiliation, and abandonment.
’Why am I hesitating?! They already abandoned me. But.’ He looked over his shoulder at the door. He wasn’t just making this choice for himself anymore.
"I am no longer alone, so we will have to make this decision together." He walked towards another room, holding the immense weight of his newly acquired evolution stones, and knocked loudly on it.
’I am sorry for disturbing you this late, but I need something from you.’ He thought, bracing himself for the chaotic energy of his third wife.
"Who is that this early?" Juliana’s sharp words tore through the door, laced with sleepy irritation.
’Phew, it’s still the hot-blooded one.’ He thought, taking a step back as the door flew open.
"What now?!" Juliana snapped, then froze, staring at the heap of SSS-RANK evolution stones before Asher. Like a chameleon, she instantly changed her tone, her eyes wide open, the sleep completely forgotten.
"WOW?!!! So many!!!"
"Yup, all for you... Try and absorb everything." He said with a smile, watching her eyes sparkle.
"Really?!!"
Juliana might be considered careless, and has many issues, but she knew the value of evolution stones. She has no idea what the rank was, but this many was still shocking to a girl who had been starved of cultivation resources.
"You hid this from me??" She muttered, looking up at Asher with a mix of suspicion and awe.
"Sorry about that, go ahead." Asher said, rubbing his neck with a smile, playing the part of the apologetic provider.
Juliana stared at him for a long while, assessing if this was a trick, then placed her hand on the pile. The next moment, and under Asher’s broken heart, all the precious SSS-RANK Evolution stones vanished, sucked into the endless void of her dormant physique.
{Physique: Time Body - Divine-Tier: [LOCKED]: [To Unlock: 206/100,000 Evolution stones].}
{Note: All Evolution stones are calculated equally.}
’This is complete cheating! Seems I will have to give her low ranks stones in the future... She can’t sense the energy in it, so I can simply say they’re all S-Rank or even higher.’ He thought with a smile, finding a silver lining in her bizarre limitation.
"Thank you. Now, I am going back to sleep."
Juliana said, entirely transactional, and without another word, she walked back inside, and closed the door shut, leaving Asher standing in the hallway once again.
{Congratulations, Wife Juliana’s Affection: +2%.}
{Total Affection: 52%.}
’Only 2%, not much but also not bad. Hey system!! Where are my rewards?!!’ He demanded, eager to see how the system would compound his massive investment.
{Congratulations Master for Investing in your wife Juliana.}
{Investment: 100 SSS-Rank Evolution Stone.}
{Congratulations!! Master Triggered the 10,000x Return.}
{Gained 1,000 SSS-RANK Evolution stones. [Can’t Be Invested]!!}
{Item Has been stored in your storage.}
".....?!"