When Mikael entered the house, he heard the laughter of the three girls, who were sitting on the couch chatting with each other.
He felt a little funny when he saw boxes of Pizzas from Romeo's on the table, and even without asking, he knew that it was Anaiah who had brought them with her.
"Brother!" The girl rushed up to him, skipping along the way, and then happily hugged him.
He felt her body stiffen a little and then she escaped his arms and pouted at him, which made him a little confused.
"You should go get changed and freshen up." She told him, and he raised his brow at her.
He was certain that he did not smell bad, and then she tiptoed to tell him the reason why she was saying this.
"There's a scent of a girl on you."
"Oh." He helplessly chuckled and flicked her nose before walking towards his room.
"Where were you?" Rayeya suddenly asked when she saw him leaving, and he stopped and smiled at her.
"I was at quite a few places today, but I am coming from Emres."
"And who was with you?" She did not even look at him as she questioned him.
"My Chief Fashion Designer and my Secretary." He answered, and seeing the frown on her face, he quickly left. "I will be right back."
When he left, Raeya looked at Anaiah and narrowed her eyes.
"He smelt of a girl's perfume?" She asked her, and the Zarayne was surprised at her intuition.
"No. There was this soggy smell. Must have gotten wet in the rain."
"Really?" She smirked, and the Zarayne rolled her eyes at her behaviour.
Half an hour later, when the girls were happily chatting again, Mikael returned to the lounge in his pyjamas and immediately checked the boxes for any slices.
Luckily for him, there was a half-eaten slice and a full slice, which he happily picked and started eating.
Klara's face burned up in blush when she caught him eating her leftovers, but none of them stopped him or said anything.
"Brother, who's your Chief Fashion Designer? Someone famous?" Anaiah curiously asked.
"No, she is not famous yet." He shook his head. "However, it won't be long before she makes a name for herself. She's a genius."
"Really?"
"Yes. No comprises when it comes to business." He smiled at her.
"How old is she?"
"19, will be 20 next month. You know Zhang Min-Jin, right? It's her."
Anaiah's mouth dropped open in shock, and he could not help but see how similar she looked to Alison at this moment.
He failed to hold back his chuckle at how adorable her reaction was.
"Zhang Min-Jin?!" She asked, just to be sure that she had heard it right.
"Yes. Have you seen her submissions for the Junior Year exams?" He asked, and she shook her head.
"I will go to the Art School and check them out tomorrow... no wait.." She quickly rushed up to the dining table and picked up her phone, and then she made a call to one of her friends in the Art School.
Within minutes, she received some images, and she sat down with Klara and Raeya to go through them.
The designs were undoubtedly good, but all three of them felt that they were lacking a little.
"She comes from a very humble background and has not gotten a chance to touch, much less buy, expensive fabrics and experiment with them. The designs you are looking at have been created using the common cotton lawn. Her total budget was 200 Draks. She has a very lazy personality, so she was not even serious when she made them. Her goal was only to pass the exam, and yet she grabbed the silver medal."
Now that he provided them with the context, they were truly amazed at the designs.
"She's good, but why the Chief Designer? She isn't experienced enough." Klara still doubted his decision.
"I trust her vision." He answered, and after finishing eating, stood up to throw the boxes in the bin.
"You trust her vision or yours?" Raeya smiled when he returned. "She's pretty, I am sure you are tempted."
"That's true as well." He shrugged and did not deny her words, which made her glare at him, but then she just turned her eyes away.
Suddenly, his phone, which he had placed on the table, rang, and before he could reach for it, his wife picked it up because she saw that it was an unknown number.
"Yes?" She answered the call, and there was silence on the other end for a few seconds.
"May I speak to Sir Mikael?" A man answered, and she immediately tossed the phone to her husband and got up to leave, having realised that she had been a little too rude just now.
"Have you made up your mind, Mr Anderson?" Mikael looked at the clock and saw that there were still five minutes until midnight.
"Yes, Sir. I will report to the office tomorrow morning."
"Come after the lunch break at 2 pm to sign your contract and to see the office. You will officially start the work from Tuesday."
"Yes, Sir."
Mikael smiled and ended the call, and seeing that he was in a very good mood after the call, Anaiah became very curious.
"Who was it?"
"My new Director of Finance. A very capable man."
"Seeing your smile, I can tell that you are very happy. Congratulations." Klara smiled at him.
"Thank you."
[Congratulations, Host, on successfully completing the First Support Task. The Supporting Character, James Anderson, has joined your Camp]
[A random reward is being generated...]
[Congratulations, Host! You have won 20 Million Draks]
[+25 Fate Value]
As soon as he heard the prompts for the First Task, another series of prompts followed.
[Congratulations, Host, on successfully completing the Second Support Task. The Supporting Character, Zhang Min-Jin, has promised herself to you for life and is falling in love]
[A random reward is being generated...]
[Congratulations! You have won a surprise that is waiting for you at the Royal Pet House on Richard Street. Please drop by the pet nursery tomorrow to pick up your new pets]
[+50 Fate Value]
He was a little disappointed by the reward of the Second Support Task, but he was not upset or sad.
These rewards were just bonuses. The real rewards were James and Min-Jin, who would prove very helpful to him in the future.
Alison's Task was still pending, but he was sure that it would be marked as complete after she signed the contract tomorrow.
"Alright. You can keep talking. I have to get up early tomorrow." He stood up and lazily stretched his arms, and then smiled at the two girls before leaning in and giving them a kiss each on their heads. "Good night."
"Good night, Brother!" Anaiah happily smiled back at him and then laughed when she saw the blush on Klara's face.
Mikael entered the room of his wives, and he found Raeya sitting at the study table, practising Calligraphy.
She froze when she heard his steps approaching her, and closed her eyes when she felt him plant a kiss on her head.
"Good night."
Her brows furrowed as she glanced at the door when he closed it behind him and then gritted her teeth and focused on what she had been doing.
"I hate you..." She whispered as her hand moved, creating beautiful lines under her calculated and gentle strokes.
Mikael sent a good night message to Min-Jin and then dozed off as soon as he put the comforter on.
It was the most comfortable sleep that he had had in a while, and early next morning, he got up to go for a jog.
By the time he came back, Klara and Raeya were already dressed up for the day, sitting at the breakfast table and having their meal.
He checked up on Anaiah, and sure enough, she was still sleeping like a kitten.
Since the University was off for another two weeks, he did not wake her up. And he told Aunt Lu to not disturb her rest either.
After a quick shower, he had his breakfast and then entered the lounge where Klara and Raeya were sitting, checking their files, and behind them, their bodyguards, Marla and Sarah, were attentively standing.
"Master." They greeted him, and he smiled at them before he walked over and planted a kiss on each of his wives' heads.
"I will see you at lunch, or maybe in the evening." He told them and then left the house.
There was quite a lot of work at the office that he had to deal with, and considering that he had two more companies now, they were short on staff.
Luckily, neither of the projects required him to fill in the number of employees for the time being.
For the entire morning, Mikael went through the files that detailed decent Construction Companies that they could absorb under their Real Estate banner.
He did not just plan to buy, hold, and sell properties, but also planned on constructing buildings and much more.
After marking the two that inserted him, he closed the laptop and put away the files to get some rest.
Moving to the couch and closing his eyes, he entered the System Mall, which he had not had the time to explore.
He had 50,000 Villain Points that he could spend, and unfortunately, the only way to earn them was by completing the Main Tasks from the System.
"What do you suggest?" He asked the System in his mind.
{The System suggests that the Host takes a gamble with the Lucky Draw. The first 10 Draws have 50 times the chance of getting something valuable. This applies to all three types of Golden, Silver, and Bronze Draws.}
"Oh?" He looked at the costs of the Draws and sighed in his heart.
Bronze Draws cost 2,000 Villain Points, Silver Draws cost 5,000 Villain Points, and Golden Draws cost 10,000 Villain Points.
He debated for a long time and took a deep breath as he decided to go with the Golden Draws.
"Roll five Golden Draws." He told the System and soon heard the dice rolling in his mind.
One by one, a total of five dings sounded out in his mind, and then with bated breaths, he waited to hear the System's voice.
{Congratulations, Host! You have won an unknown Heroine's favourite lingerie...}
"Fuck!!!" He screamed in anger, but things were only getting started.
{Congratulations, Host! You have won 30 Million Draks...}
His face darkened even more.
{Congratulations, Host! You have won a Skill Upgrade Card (Golden)}
Finally something good.
{Congratulations, Host! You have won the Skill, Architecture (Expert Level)}
"Nice!"
{Congratulations, Host! You have won a Phoenix Pill}
Mikael immediately checked the details of the last reward.
[Phoenix Pill: Created out of the essence of a True Phoenix and other very precious ingredients. Anyone who eats it will suffer pain where they would beg for death, and the body will die before it will be reformed. The body will become stronger, faster, and sturdier. All bodily systems will see considerable enhancements. The six senses will become sharper as well. Depending on the talent of the individual, they will have a small chance of inheriting one of the powers of the True Phoenix.]
He was both ecstatic and fearful after reading the description but managed to get a grip on his emotions.
Now was not the right time to consume the Pill.
"The Golden Skill Upgrade Card can level up any existing Skill to the Master Level, right?"
{Yes, Host.}
"Alright. Use it on Hand-to-Hand Combat."
{Initiating Host's request...}
Soon he felt his body growing hot, and then he felt like ants were crawling through his flesh.
Streams of knowledge suddenly poured into his mind, making it hurt, and this time, he managed to hold back his screams. Otherwise, he would have alarmed everyone in the office given how excruciating the process was.
Mikael did not know how long the process lasted, but once it was over, he heard the System ask him something, which he was too tired to understand, and lost consciousness.