LEVEL UP: HAREM EMPIRE

The night my late father's will was read, was the night I knew I didn't belong to this family.

...I was just a tool used for building this empire......

I knew I had to LEVEL UP.

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KANE CREES VILLA

Alex stood in the center of the Kane Crees Villa and forced his body not to shake.

This was supposed to be a burial ceremony.

It was supposed to be scared. Moody. Heavy with mourning for the dead great man, but Instead it felt like a party.

Champagne glasses clinked against each other. Low music drifted through the halls. People were laughing, while some were smiling.

It felt like a celebratory ceremony. Like something everyone had been waiting for, and they’d just been holding it in until now.

Across the room, Elena, his stepsister, tossed her head back and laughed as she tapped glasses with one of her friends. The sound was sharp, and painful in bks ears, and it wasn't just her.

Almost every person in the room had a glass in their hand. Wine, champagne, whiskey. Something expensive.

They were all grinning from ear to ear.

These were people Alex thought were his dad’s good friends. Ranging from Investors,employees and very close people his father had kept near. People Kane Crees had put their needs before his own.

The moment his father died, they showed their true colors.

KANE CREES.

A renowned billionaire, it's a name that meant power. His life had been cut off one night. A “sudden illness” that no one had heard of before. No warning, with no no clear history.

Everyone had just believed the story his wife told them. And the talk of investigation, of an autopsy, had been swept under the carpet before it could even begin.

Alex was still trapped in that cold dread when someone tapped his shoulder from behind, as he turned around fast.

It was one of Victoria’s maid. And usual she looked exhausted. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her shoulders were slumped.

Alex already knew what this was.

Victoria was using her again.

“What?” Alex asked. His voice was calm, but only because he was forcing it to be. He tried not to look at the bruises on her neck. But he failed.

“She’s calling for you,” the maid whispered.

Alex didn’t answer. He just turned and walked away.

When the maid said “she,” Alex already knew who she meant.

‘Victoria.'

His late father’s new wife. His stepmother. The woman who had made his life a miserable hell since the day his father got married to her. And now that his father was gone, she was worse. She was the one who had thrown this party.

To celebrate, to celebrate a victory.

To celebrate that the only hindrance she had was finally gone.

Alex straightened his collar as he walked through the huge mansion. It sat on acres of land, too big and too quiet despite all the noise inside. His footsteps echoed against marble floors, as he walked straight to her room.

He could hear her before he reached the door. She was cursing someone out. Probably a maid for a mistake that didn’t matter.

He swallowed hard, because off course none of it was his business.

He lifted his hand and knocked.

“Come in,” Victoria’s voice came from inside.

Alex pushed the handle down and stepped in.

The room was chaos. Victoria sat at the vanity doing her makeup. One maid knelt at her feet, polishing her shoes. Two others hovered around her face with brushes and sprays, moving fast like their jobs depended on it.

All of this preparation… for a burial ceremony?

Victoria looked up from the mirror when she saw him. The first thing Alex noticed were her lips. Pepper red. Sharp and razor like they’d been painted to cut.

“You called for me, ma’am?” Alex said. His tone was careful and measured.

“Yes,” Victoria said. She set her phone down on the table with a soft clack. “I wanted to be kind and tell you beforehand. So you won’t end up disgracing your late father.”

She paused. Her eyes studied his, searching for weakness.

“His lawyer will be reading his will out tonight.”

Her voice was firm. There was no room for argument in it.

“What?” The word left Alex before he could stop it. “Why would that happen today? Today is supposed to be the day we respect him. The day we put him to rest. Not the day we stir something up.”

Victoria didn’t flinch. A small smile touched her lips instead.

“Alex,” she said, like she was speaking to a child. “I’m only telling you this because of the love your father had for you. And you have no place to tell me how I should bury or handle anything about my late husband.”

Alex’s face fell. Disappointment and anger twisted in his chest. He rubbed his fingers over his temples.

“I’m not asking for too much,” he said. “I just don’t want to cause unnecessary chaos on his day.”

“On a dead man’s day!” Victoria snapped. Her palm slammed against the table and two maids flinched. “A dead man has no day, Alex. The day he dies is the day his life is gone. Anything else is nonsense. A waste of time.”

Alex went silent, and at the same time, fear crawled up his spine at the words coming from her mouth.

He knew she was cold. Ruthless and sharp around the edges. But he had never expected her to speak like that about the man she called her husband. All because he was dead now?

“How… how could you say that?” Alex asked. The pain in his voice was obvious and he hated it. “We all know the way he died was suspicious. Aren’t we supposed to investigate before anything else?”

There was no remorse in Victoria’s eyes. None at all.

“Listen, Alex,” she said, already picking her phone back up. “I have a lot to do. Dragging this out will be a hassle for me. So I prefer we do all of this tonight and be done with it.”

“It doesn’t change anything,” Alex muttered, barely believing his own words. “I’m just saying we should give him a little respect. Even in his last moments.”

But Victoria wasn’t listening.

“No more small talk, Alex,” she said, scrolling through her phone. “I already called the lawyer. Mr. Riggs. You should be waiting for him.”

The moment she said that name, Alex’s blood went cold.

“Mr. Riggs?” he said before he could stop himself.

He didn’t remember his father ever having a lawyer named Riggs. Not once. For ten years it had been Mr. Hale. Ms. Stanley. People Alex had met at dinners and meetings.

But Victoria wasn’t paying attention to him anymore. She was back to her phone, her makeup, her party.

“Did you just say Riggs?” Alex tried again. His voice shook despite him. “Who’s Riggs? He’s not connected to the family. Dad never mentioned him.”

No answer.

She acted like no one was talking to her.

“What are you trying to do?” Alex’s voice got louder. “Why aren’t you saying anything to me?”

Still nothing.

Almost immediately, the house security stormed into the room. Two men in black suits. Blank faces, with big hands.

“Leave me alone!” Alex said as they grabbed his arms.

“What the fuck are you trying to do Victoria?” He struggled, twisting to get free. “Let go of me!”

They dragged him out anyway, as he struggled to break free.

But it was useless.