"Back when Tanner told me that you were playing a videogame, I was astonished indeed... I never thought you'd be the type of person to waste their time on that, so I did my own research about the synapse".
Laurent began her explanation and she started to eat her dish as well, long after the other two had already finished. Even Amber was listening attentively, waiting for her turn.
"I must first tell you this... and this is a secret you must keep until you die. I wasn't supposed to tell you this until we married. My father's real identity is Fink Adamwire, the Chairman of Blackrock".
!!!
It was at that moment that Carter's jaw hit the floor, literally… of all names, she had to go and mention an individual that was most likely in the top 10 most powerful people to exist. Not the wealthiest, but certainly one of the most powerful.
A person billionaires, millionaires, politicians and military generals sucked his toes for funding, a person who had the final say over more than a dozen trillion dollars of assets.
"No way…" he still couldn't believe it even after the fact had been presented in front. It was intimidating. But if that wasn't enough… a jealous Amber had to open her mouth as well and allow dew to cascade down.
"My father is Gerald's O'Brien the chairman of JP Morgan Chase and my mother is the model, Penelope Santos" she spoke as if she was boasting that her background wasn't any less than her rival's.
"What?!"
Carter almost fell down his butt… now even harder considering that her father was someone he had spoken to face-to-face.
In front of him were two of the top-class rich girls, their influence and riches so massive… that they couldn't leisurely boast it around unlike those in the lower class. Doing so would mean imminent danger.
His legs started to shiver. The money their parents held, no, the power... couldn't just be equalled to their net worth which was surely in the billions.
Fink Adamwire... had the greatest power decision in a hedge fund that managed more than a dozen trillion dollars... this man could create or end a country with a word.
Gerald O'Brien, the man that had taken everything away from him, was much the same.
'And I just took both their daughters' he resisted the urge to laugh… laugh at how f*cked he was. Only now he realised that he had half of his body inside a tomb.
"Do you see why you have to take responsibility now, hubby?~" Amber sat next to him, to accentuate the fact that she wasn't going to let him go, she hugged his arm tightly, earning Laurent's silent scowl.
"W-Why?"
"Why what?" The ladies tilted their head.
"Why did you never tell me? Why choose me?" He had a hard time believing that out of everyone in the world, he had to be the one chosen by these two… perhaps only Laurent could be attributed to a coincidence. But Amber as well?
Both girls tilted their heads and looked at each other.
"Asking what I choose you when we're so far down this hole… did you forget how you got me, Carter?" Laurent pouted with a frown, she hadn't initially fallen for him… he had snatched her away.
He scratched the back of his head, only now realising how much risk he had incurred that night, forcefully ploughing the daughter of a man that could demolish Harvard if he wanted. Thankfully everything went well and his skills on the bed guaranteed Laurent's infatuated. Otherwise, 'I'd not be here today!'
"As for me? It was never my intention to marry whatever billionaire young master from China, Britain or France… that's my father's wish, but not my mother's wish. My mother took me to live with her in Spain for a few years when I was a child and that was the best time of my life. Away from the spoiled life of a rich lady… actual freedom".
"…"
"…"
"I wanted someone that loved me for who I am… when I joined the company you were there for me, Carter… you explained everything to me like I was a baby and took care of me. Something that my brother should have done… but he was busy with something else".
"…"
"So I fell in love with you. That's all there is~ I didn't fall in love like a spoiled rich girl, meeting a prince from a foreign country under the scrutiny of the world's eyes… I fell In love like a normal girl, to my boss, in the company I work at. That's what I wished".
'A load of coincidences…'
"We're not allowed to say our background lest we create a risk of security... the only reason I know Amber's background is because we met at a private party, I also met Bryce at that party and he was smitten with me ever since".
Carter placed his hands on his head as some ferocious realisation dawned on him.
'Last night... I, a man merely in the six figures, creampied the daughters of two of the most powerful men in this world'.
"If your father knows..." He mumbled, gulping audibly.
"You're dead~" Amber 'assured' him.
"Then you, Laurent...?"
It had been a long time since he had done it with her, moreover, his father knew they were in a relationship so he wondered why the man hadn't yet taken action against the 'evildoer' who stole his daughter's purity.
"I'm an illegitimate child... my father travelled to the UK once on a business trip with his wife but this influential British lady seduced him. The result of that affair was me... she then extorted my father for a load of money and left me to my luck".
Carter gasped, not expecting this tale at all.
"My father was so angry that for many years he didn't even see me... I was an orphan in London until his wife demanded him to at least take care of me financially, and take responsibility. He decided to support me until I finished my studies... he knows that you took my virginity and he doesn't like you either... but he's not that concerned about me to take action. After we graduated from Harvard the agreement he had with his wife finished, but he still proposed to me to do something to place me in the heir line. He demanded me to marry Bryce and I rejected... he didn't pursue the subject but I might as well not be a member of his family anymore. You should be more worried about her father than mine".
Although her words sounded dismissive and uncaring, he could feel a distinctive sadness irradiating from those words, even Amber could... she contrasted her own experience with her family and realised that although she argued with her father often, it hadn't reached the point where her father would be completely indifferent towards her wellbeing.
"You don't need to worry about me".
"Uh?"
Carter felt her touch the back of his palm on the table, his gaze drifted unconsciously towards the blonde sweetheart whose smile was as broad as the daily skies, bereft of sadness or loneliness.
"Because I have you now, Carter... I have never felt left alone since".
'I see, for her... this relationship is way more important' He bit his lips, reluctant to release a sigh. Breaking up with her, playing hard-to-get for revenge... believing that Laurent was just being obsessive and a toxic girlfriend, 'She is truly obsessive... but she has her reasons'.
"Until you broke up with me; that day I felt like I lost everything and was back in that orphanage".
"Then... let's make up, Laurent".
!!!
"We're adults. You forgive my grievances, I forgive yous... and we leave this in the past".
Laurent didn't wait, she practically jumped across the table, right into her lover's arms, tearing down. Amber twirled her tongue and sighed, scratching the back of her head, "This is not the result I wanted but... I'm the third party here anyway. Beggars can't be choosers".
"If you're a beggar then I'm a speck of dirt on the ground" Carter mused with a brief smile, playing with Laurent's lovely hair that he admittedly missed.
For a long time, the blonde just sobbed like she was just taken from the deepest abyss, she clutched onto his body so tight that Carter had to refrain from having a reaction since she was just wearing a bathrobe, like Amber.
The latter limited herself to hugging the two of them as the trio shared a rather odd yet satisfying moment of quietness, like a family... one she very much wished to form a part of.
...
"Now that this is solved, tell me... what does your father's identity have to do with Evanescence" He recalled the conversation that began just like that.
*sob*
Laurent cleaned her tears and regained her composure, yet her arms refused to let go of her lover now that she was assured... they were a couple again.
"Blackrock is the one financing that artificial intelligence project overseas. I didn't get the information from my father, I got it from his secretary" She affirmed, taking her phone and looking through the emails that were sent to her.
"Artificial intelligence, what are you talking about? Evanescence is a game".
"I don't know much... but what I know is that the project originally started as artificial intelligence research and in five years evolved to something else completely out of the scope of the initial proposal. Apparently, everything changed after the appointment of a new director of research development, Jonah Arcuied... a software engineer and popular weeb. It was his idea to join the game company OrcgameCO to create a new VR game that took three years of development".
"There are currently three companies involved in this project. AI-art Limited is the original artificial intelligence research company. OrcgameCO the developers of Evanescence and Neural-labs, the creators of the Synapse... everything led by AI-art's Jonah Arcueid and financed by BlackRock".
"It is difficult to believe that game took just three years to develop" Carter recalled the marvellous views of Evanescence, Agatha, Valeria... the fighting modes, the world... everything done in just three years? It was difficult to believe.
"So what you're trying to tell me is?"
"You had your doubts on whether this game was going to be worth your time? I can assure you with 100% accuracy that in the next ten years, Evanescence is going to be the biggest game out there. It is worthwhile to invest in it, dear~".