Divorced by Five Beast Wives, I Awakened Godly Powers

Chapter 9

"For once, we agree." He typed back quickly, telling Autumn she was welcome tonight and that he would leave the garage code with the butler.

Winter Hayes messaged next, her tone careful and respectful.

[Mr. Cole, this is Winter. I'm honored by the match. I'm currently stationed at a coastal outpost for work and won't be able to travel to New York for approximately two weeks. I hope that's acceptable. I don't want to cause any inconvenience.]

Maxver told her there was no rush, that he appreciated her letting him know, and that he'd keep her room ready whenever she arrived. A staggered arrival was better anyway. Getting to know five women at once sounded like a recipe for chaos.

Chloe Bennett had accepted the friend request but sent nothing. Radio silence. Maxver didn't push it. Some people needed time.

Riley Shaw hadn't even accepted yet. Given what the system had shown him about her location, she was probably still fighting exotic beasts in the Nevada desert. He'd worry about her later.

The flying car descended toward a neighborhood Maxver had never visited before. Silver Oak Estate. The residential enclave reserved for S rank citizens, tucked into the green hills north of Manhattan, shielded by a dome of purified air that made the sky look bluer than anywhere else in the city.

His new home was the third villa on the left. Three stories of white stone and glass, surrounded by a garden that wrapped around the entire property. He could see a pool glinting in the backyard, a sunroom on the second floor, and what looked like a private gym through the ground floor windows.

"Sir, I have completed the transfer of your belongings from your previous residence." His S class butler robot, a taller and far more refined unit than the old chrome model, stood at the front door with perfect posture. Its voice was smooth, almost human. "All rooms have been prepared. The gym, pool, and sunroom are fully operational."

"This is mine?" Maxver walked through the front door and stopped in the entrance hall, looking up at a ceiling that was three stories high and flooded with natural light from a skylight shaped like a hexagon. "This whole thing is mine?"

"Correct, sir. S rank residential allocation. Three floors, seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, full kitchen, entertainment suite, garden, pool, and underground garage with capacity for eight vehicles."

Maxver walked from room to room like a man touring a dream he hadn't earned yet. The kitchen was enormous, the living room had a viewing wall that stretched floor to ceiling, and the garden out back smelled like real earth and flowers instead of recycled air and metal.

Then he looked out the front window and his tour came to a sudden stop.

Directly across the street, in the villa facing his, a woman stood on the front porch watering plants. She had long auburn hair and the kind of delicate features that belonged on the cover of a romance novel. Behind her, through the open front door, he could hear voices. Multiple women. And one deeper male voice cutting through them all.

His light brain helpfully identified the property. Registered to Wyatt Jansen. S rank male. Five matched beast wives.

Maxver felt his stomach drop about two inches.

Wyatt Jansen. The book's male lead. The protagonist. The man around whom the entire story revolved, the man whose enemies got crushed and whose women got worshipped and whose path to the top was paved with the broken bodies of every supporting character who dared to stand in his way.

And Maxver Cole, the minor villain whose entire narrative purpose was to antagonize the male lead and get destroyed for it, was now living directly across the street from him.

"System."

[Yes, host?]

"The male lead of the book is my neighbor."

[Correct. Wyatt Jansen resides at the villa across the street with his five beast wives, including the female lead Cassidy.]

Maxver took a slow, deep breath. Then another. Then he stepped back from the window and drew the curtain closed.

"Here's the plan. I mind my own business. I don't look at his wives. I don't talk to his friends. I don't breathe in his direction. I live my life, run my purifications, treat my new wives well, and pretend that man doesn't exist."

[A wise survival strategy. The original Maxver Cole's downfall began precisely because he antagonized Wyatt Jansen.]

"Then I'm doing the opposite of everything that idiot did." Maxver turned away from the window and headed for the couch. "I'm going to be the most boring, invisible, conflict free neighbor in the history of Silver Oak Estate."

He stretched out on the sofa, closed his eyes, and let himself enjoy exactly four seconds of peace before his butler robot chimed in.

"Sir, Ms. Autumn Reyes has entered the underground garage. She is on her way up."

Maxver sat up, straightened his shirt, and ran a hand through his hair.

Time to meet wife number one.