System Revenge: From Trash Boy to Top Boss

Chapter 26

It all seemed rushed and abrupt after he made his way to the private dining room. The air was still shorn of tension, but a little at the moment as he walked in, he offered a polite smile and flashed his eyes over the faces of Beatrice, Chloe, and Daphne, settling then finally on Aria, whose eyes were beginning to open slightly with concern.

" Ladies " he said, his voice dull and collected, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important

Beatrice, ever the contagious girl, tried to give herself up a little. “Damon! What a surprise. We were just hanging out with Aria.

“Well, I can see that clearly, ” Damon said, his voice at least concealing that he packed much more than just that. He pulled out a chair and sat beside Aria and gave her a little squeeze. “I couldn’t help but notice some... passionate conversation as I was passing by, ” he recalled.

Chloe tried to keep her seat on the far side. "We were just telling her about... our concerns," she began. "it nothing really…”

Concerns? " Damon finally repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I am sure you Aria is capable of making her own decisions. "

"Not exactly, " Daphne countered with a furrowed eyebrow, "We just want what's best for her. And we're not sure of your intentions with her."

Damon laughed softly and the sound sent chills down all three women's spines. It was funny because the three girls where desperately trying to act like they care for Aria, when I fact there were jealous of her, "Well, let's deal with those things, shall we? I suppose I heard somebody mention 'rumors' and 'business dealings'?

Beatrice fought her way back into the story, "We were just saying, Damon, that your... sudden wealth is a little of a mystery. People just don’t go from rants to riches okay, this isn’t some online billionaire story.”

"Like curious, or skeptical? " Damon asked, his gaze steady and his voice sacarstic. "Though I understand the latter, it's not every day a poor man circumstances change so dramatic, but as I assure you, my fortune comes from hard work, dedication and a little bit... strategic investment. "

"Strategic investment? " Chloe shrugged. "Is that what we are now calling it? What kind of strategic investment puts a college student in a million dollar investment portfolio overnight?”

Damon shrugged with a slight grin. “What do you mean, perhaps I’ll give you all a seminar someday? But for now let’s just say that I have an excellent sense of chance. ”

"Excuses that may or may not be entirely legal? " Daphne ayed into her accusatory tone.

Damon's smile vanished. "I resent that implication," he said, his voice hardening. "Everything I've done has been above board. And I'm prepared to prove it."

In Damon’s mind:

“System I would like to use my wish now.”

System:

“What will that be USER.”

“I would like to have a system on my phone that gives me all the information on anyone, I want as well as all their personal documents and recordings on their electronic devices.”

System: “wish granted”

He reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. "Now, about those rumors… I believe I heard something about me being dishonest?"

He tapped a few buttons on his phone, then placed it on the table, activating the speaker. A recording began to play, a conversation between Chloe and Daphne from a few days prior.

"…I don't trust him, I'm telling you. There's something shady about him. We need to find something, anything, to discredit him."

Chloe and Daphne exchanged horrified glances.

"That's… that's not what it sounds like," Chloe stammered, her face paling.

"Isn't it?" Damon countered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Because it sounds to me like you were actively trying to undermine my reputation."

He stopped the recording, then tapped his phone again. Another recording began to play, this one a conversation between Beatrice and another student.

"…We need to get Aria away from him. She's too good for him. Maybe we can dig up some dirt on him, spread some rumors…"

Beatrice's face flushed crimson. "That was just… a hypothetical conversation," she protested weakly.

"Hypothetical?" Damon repeated, his eyebrow raised. "Or a plan in motion?"

He stopped the recording again, then swiped through his phone, displaying a series of screenshots. "And then there's this. A series of text messages between the three of you, discussing ways to sabotage my events, spread false information, and generally make my life miserable."

The screenshots showed a clear pattern of coordinated attacks, malicious gossip, and deliberate attempts to damage Damon's reputation.

The three women were speechless, their faces a mixture of shock, shame, and fear.

"I think it's safe to say," Damon continued, his voice calm but firm, "that my reputation is not the one that's in question here. It seems the three of you have been rather busy behind my back."

He paused, looking around them at their faces. "And now let's talk about Aria, I suspect I was reading some things about her being a 'social climber' and a 'trophy girlfriend'? "

Turning to Aria, he softened his eyes with tenderness. “Aria is one of the most intelligent, kind and full of life women I’ve ever encountered. She’s not with me for my money or my status. She’s with me because we care for each other and anybody who makes the statement is naive.”

He turned again to the three women, his eyes harder shut. "I understand that you might be jealous of our relationship, that you might be bitter over my success, but that doesn't mean you have the right to attack us, to spread lies, and to try to destroy us. "

The waiters and waitresses got a nervous kick out of the constant tension building up in the restaurant. They were quickly standing over there watching as all the other people at the table began turning their heads around and shutting their mouths.

Damon leaned forward in his chair, his voice quiet enough to be almost whispered "I'm not going to fight back, " he said, his eyes fixed on Beatrice's face. "I'm not going to be on your level. But I'm going to make sure everyone knows what you did. "

“And Beatrice, I think I heard you report sometime ago that you've allowed the campus newspaper to publish 'retouched photographs of me'? You better get ready, I'm sure you'll find out soon how I have managed to get hold of the university ethics committee. They'll be getting in touch, " he said, his tone tone of steel.

Beatrice gasped, the color of her face fading, because the university's ethics committee was notoriously strict about keeping its code of conduct, and if someone broke it they'd face a raft of punishments -- like expulsion.

Damon stood up, grasping Aria’s hand. “But, enough about that, we have a special guest joining us. Oooh Aria School’s pets!.”

As the girls turned their head to the exist there see a familiar face.