Chapter 16

  Present Day

  “So you’ve been deceiving us all along?!”

  Zeedee shot up, breathing heavily with rage, fists clenched and sweaty. The soon-to-be wife sat with arms crossed, smirking smugly, clicking her tongue.

  “Ten years, let it go already.”

  She waved her hand dismissively.

  “Besides, don’t forget who won, sweetie. You’re lucky I didn’t kill you.”

  “You tricked us!!! You filthy wretch!!!”

  “What about your precious camera?”

  Thud, thud.

  Dan let the 18-year-old brawl with the 30-something auntie while he stared at his own paper.

  He didn’t want much.

  Just for everyone to be happy…

  “So what Freya and I had all along was a husband-wife bond?”

  Fury’s disappointed tone hit his fiancée, who quickly shot back.

  “No! Not at all!”

  “I don’t know if I can trust you anymore.”

  “Fury, you have to believe me!”

  Casca crawled toward him swiftly, leaning close.

  “You have to believe me!”

  “Then what’s the meaning of husband and wife? I’m completely lost…”

  He clutched his head, no longer understanding.

  Freya was a handful, but Casca was no saint either.

  Like attracts like, and these two proved it.

  “I don’t think I can trust you anymore…”

  “Fury!!!!”

  Casca grabbed the young man, pressing his cheeks, her face like a pleading auntie to her nephew.

  “I know what I did, but it was for us!”

  “Was this manipulation for us or for you?”

  “…Hic…”

  “Enough.”

  Dan gently lowered Casca’s arms.

  “…Both of you need to take a step back, starting with you, Casca.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  The wife deflated, twirling her finger on the silk rug, muttering under her breath.

  “What can’t you compromise on?”

  “I don’t want that Skank near you.”

  Dan nodded, then turned to Freya.

  “And you?”

  “I can’t accept it. I’ve been with you for 30 years—why can’t I be near you? What you and I have is the same as what you have with her! Exactly the same! …Minus the mating.”

  Freya said.

  “No matter how you look at it, she’s clearly manipulating our ignorance!”

  “I didn’t manipulate! I just didn’t tell the whole truth!”

  “Shameless, no dignity at all, huh?”

  “Don’t lecture me on dignity—you have no right!”

  “True… but Casca’s victory over you is still the trump card.”

  Dan looked at Zeedee.

  “I’m sorry, Freya, but with that result, you have to accept it.”

  “And I’ve already compromised so much, you wretch.”

  “…”

  Momentum shifted to Casca. Zeedee couldn’t argue. Even ignoring the deceit, Casca’s win sealed the deal. Yet she’d compromised to let Freya come to terms with letting Fury go… Ten years, and she still hadn’t.

  “No…”

  Zeedee hugged her knees, curling up.

  “…I won’t let go.”

  “That’s exactly your problem, you beast.”

  “Uwaaahhh!!!”

  Out of arguments, Zeedee rolled on the floor like a tantruming five-year-old, wailing.

  “No, no, no!!! Your Majesty is mine alone!!!!”

  “Your fault for having her as your only mate for 30 years…”

  “My fault how?”

  “It made her smug, thinking she’s the best. She broke down when I came along.”

  “Interesting theory, Casca.”

  ((Zeedee wailed, rolling.))

  “Honestly,” Casca sighed deeply.

  “I didn’t mind you mating back then. I knew I couldn’t fulfill you physically… Seeing you commit to my beliefs made me feel selfish. Honestly, I wouldn’t care if you mated with other concubines, but you only had her…”

  “So the problem’s Freya?”

  “Whatever. Now you’ve got a human body, right~? So…”

  Casca scooted closer.

  “Hee hee hee~”

  “Not cool, Casca.”

  “Juvenile law… Section 3.6… Anyone engaging in sexual relations with a minor…”

  “Ugh!!! I know, you wretch!!!”

  Though Zeedee lay face-down, despairing, she remembered: even if Casca could mate with Fury now, “Dan Burn” was a 16-17-year-old kid, and Casca was a 30-something auntie.

  Sure, 30 was still “hot,” but acting on it meant jail, her legacy ruined. Zeedee was ready to trip her up, no hesitation.

  “…I just… want back what was taken…”

  Freya knelt, head bowed, pounding the floor.

  “…Is that so wrong…?”

  From her perspective, minus the drama, she was somewhat pitiable.

  Casca disrupted her world, kicking her out of what she cherished most. That was the truth.

  A bit of pity crept in.

  “One won’t budge, the other won’t either. Honestly, I don’t know how to solve this.”

  At Dan’s words, the room fell silent as a graveyard. No one met eyes, awkwardness thick with despair. They couldn’t keep acting like hormonal teens.

  Dan gathered the papers they’d written.

  “Unless we live like this forever—three of us until we die… or pray the world explodes tomorrow to end this mess.”

  Fury spoke without thinking.

  But it sparked a “!” over Casca’s head.

  She closed her eyes, thought, then took a deep breath.

  “How about… one year from now?”

  “What?”

  Dan rolled his eyes.

  “The world ending? I can’t predict that.”

  “I mean… we live together, the three of us, for a year. How’s that?”

  Zeedee, slumped, revived like a phoenix.

  “Like a throuple?”

  Casca didn’t answer.

  The women exchanged awkward glances. Casca turned away, shouting.

  “Ugh, forget it! Ridiculous nonsense, just drop it!”

  “I don’t love sharing the world with her, but we haven’t tried this.”

  Casca cracked one eye open. Zeedee turned to Dan.

  Dan scratched his head, confused.

  “Isn’t that what we’ve been doing for ten years?”

  “Not the same. This time, we… don’t try to kill each other.”

  Casca straightened.

  “I can’t see a solution either. If it’s for mutual benefit, trying this won’t hurt. Trying… for a year, or less… then see how it goes.”

  “One year’s fine… Hmph, I’m in.”

  “You’re all in, huh?”

  Casca turned to Dan.

  “You? What’s your call?”

  “I’ll take anything to end this… but can you do it without stabbing Freya’s throat first?”

  “I don’t want to!”

  Casca declared.

  “But when you’re at a dead end, you think outside the box. I’m out of retreats.”

  “Fine, do what makes you happiest, Casca.”

  “Yes!!! Yessss!!!”

  Zeedee lunged at Dan.

  “!”

  “Your Majesty~~~~ Ack?!”

  Eyes bulging, Zeedee was choked from behind.

  “Hold on. We need rules, you wretch.”

  Casca tossed Zeedee across the room.

  Turning to Dan.

  “Give me one day to draft rules. I’ll handle it.”

  She added.

  “I’ll make sure she gets the least benefit, just watch…”

  “Are you this serious in battle?”

  “Shut it, lizard. Come here.”

  “Oi! Where’re you dragging me?”

  “I brought you something outside.”

  “Oh! My peanuts?”

  “Heh, come on~”