In an apartment on the 72nd floor of White Angel Corporation.
Agatha slept alone on the bed. As the first ray of sunlight fell on the room, she opened her eyes. After freshening up, she stepped towards the living room.
As she entered, she was stuck on the floor in disbelief. A man was adjusting items on the tables. The man seemed to notice her, so he turned around and said, "Good morning!"
"Good morning..." Agatha absentmindedly repeated the greeting. Getting over her surprise, she quickly said, "Kiba, you did say that we will meet soon but I didn't expect this soon! It has not even been 12 hours!"
"I thought it would be a good idea to have breakfast together so I came here," Kiba explained, trying to sound normal but there was a clear hint of panic in his voice.
Agatha eyed the 'breakfast': Pancakes, bagel, waffles, baked eggs, taquito, crepes, quiche, toast, milk, juice, coffee, fruits, and a dozen more items.
"If it is not up to your liking, I can bring whatever you want in no time," Kiba said while taking a seat.
"Ah... no, it is more than enough," Agatha took a seat as well. She was surprised, but she didn't mind his presence here.
After twenty minutes, Agatha finished her breakfast and looked at Kiba who was drinking juice.
"Thanks," Agatha thanked him for the breakfast and continued, "From next time, I need a nutritious breakfast instead of a luxurious one."
"I-I will remember from next time," Kiba was clearly nervous.
"Can I ask why you are so panicked?" Agatha asked. She could see the nervousness on his face.
"I..." Kiba took a deep breath. He had spent the entire night thinking about the life blooming inside Agatha.
He wasn't sure of how things happened but he knew the feeling he felt from Agatha wasn't false. So he decided to have an honest conversation with Agatha.
"There is something I want to tell you," Kiba was never this nervous in his entire life.
"Ok. Shoot," Agatha didn't think much of it.
"I am the father of Hope!" Kiba quickly said everything in a single sentence.
Agatha was leaving her seat when she heard Kiba's words. She lost her balance and almost fell on the floor, but Kiba quickly gave her support.
He teleported both of them onto the bed.
"Was that a joke?!" Agatha was displeased. But she then remembered Kiba's reactions from before and reasoned he was likely speaking the truth. She tried to calm herself and think about what it implied.
"I had a paternity test... was it manipulated by Hank or my family?" Agatha clearly knew the extent business families would go to save their reputation and benefit.
Kiba braved his heart and replied, "No."
"No? Then who?" Agatha couldn't understand who would do such a thing.
"Will you believe if I said that I changed the report without knowing?" Kiba answered in a very low voice.
Her eyes opened wide with shock. Almost as a reflex, she slapped him.
Kiba didn't feel any pain, but Agatha, on the other hand, screamed loudly as her hand released the sound of bone cracking.
"I am sorry!" Kiba made a grasping motion in the air, and from out of nowhere, tiny blood-red particles appeared on Agatha's fractured hand. Quickly, they entered her hand and regenerated her bone.
"You better give me a reasonable explanation!" Agatha was having a hard time gripping with reality.
"Trust me when I say this, but I only learned everything after meeting you yesterday!"
Kiba knew how unbelievable his words were. Even he couldn't believe what he saw from the security logs, so how could he expect Agatha to believe?
Agatha felt a severe headache. How was she supposed to react?
"What do we do now?" Agatha asked after a few minutes of silence.
"I don't know," Kiba answered. He had made plans for fighting with the forces from World Government but never for the present situation.
"Can you answer my next few questions with full honesty?" Agatha asked.
"Yes," Kiba nodded.
"Do you want to be involved in Hope's life?" Agatha slowly asked.
"I don't know," Kiba answered honestly.
"So her existence is something which happened by an incident and you don't know if you want to take responsibility?" Agatha asked.
"I..." Kiba didn't know how to answer.
Agatha released a deep sigh. She knew his dreams, so she could pretty much guess what type of shock this situation has given him.
Back then he has said that he dreamed of enjoying every phase of his life. He wished to taste the best delicacies, drink every fine liquor, and make love with the most beautiful women out there.
The greatest dream of his was stealing wives in daylight for an affair while their husbands die of envy and shame.
He has barely started his journey to his dreams, but now...
"You did say you wished to enjoy every phase of your life even if it was as an old man waiting for death," Agatha carefully chose her words before continuing," So why not enjoy fatherhood? After all, it is a phase of life just like old age."
Agatha wanted her daughter to have the love of both parents.
"....." Kiba remained silent.
"Or perhaps you are afraid?" Agatha slowly asked, "Afraid that you will become a terrible father because of what your parents did?"
"Yes..." Kiba slowly confessed.
"Just because they were terrible parents doesn't mean you will become a terrible parent yourself!" Agatha took his hands in hers before continuing, "You won't be an ideal father but honestly idealism is overrated. I can guarantee that Hope will love an imperfect father rather than an ideal father."
Kiba looked at her in surprise.
"Thank you for being patient---" Before he could finish his words, he found his lips locked by hers.
"Why so surprised?" Agatha asked in a teasing voice as their lips parted.
"You are a demoness for teasing me," Kiba didn't let the lust inside him take control.
He lied on the bed next to her and faintly rubbed his hand on her belly.
"Hope..." Kiba muttered. He then looked in the eyes of Agatha and said, "I have made some preparations for you two."
Kiba took out a red box. Inside the box, there was a bracelet similar to the one he gave to Felicity.
Claudia has prepared five bracelets, and so far one was with his Zed form and another with Felicity.
"What is this?" Agatha could obviously judge from Kiba's words that it was more than a bracelet.
"Consider it as a sort of amulet. It will automatically activate when it senses you are in a life and death crisis," Kiba explained, "I will be able to track you if it is activated."
"I see," Agatha put the bracelet on her right hand. Kiba then removed a golden card from his pocket.
"This card is the key to an apartment I own under a pseudo name," Kiba gave her the details of the apartment. He then gave her credit cards, emergency contact numbers, and other such stuff.
"You seem to have made enough preparations for a man who was confused until moments ago!" Agatha remarked with a smile.
"It's because I'm worried about the future. Leave White Angel Corporation as soon as possible!" Kiba explained to her about the possible conflict with Sky Fiend Group.
"I understand," Agatha decided she would leave by evening.
-----
For now, they slept in each other's arms without saying anything. An hour passed by, and then suddenly, there was a worried expression on Agatha's face.
"What happened?" Kiba asked.
"I am afraid we will become a news item again," Agatha replied. She was no longer worried about the reactions of her family and friends, but the corporate media was another matter.
Agatha wanted her child to carry Kiba's name and not Jack's. She wanted her child to live freely without worrying about any social stigma.
"Leave the news agencies to me," Kiba left the bed and adjusted his clothes before continuing, "I planned to take it slow, but now is not the time to slack off."
"What do you mean?" Agatha asked.
"After ten days, we can announce the truth without worrying about anything," Kiba had a devilish smile on his face as he continued, "No media corporation would dare to slander you after I am done."
"Done with what?" Agatha asked curiously.
"Done making an example out of Daniel," Kiba had a smirk on his face as he continued, "The media dogs will know the price they have to pay for harming someone I care about."
"Example? Surely you will not kill him!" Agatha was worried. She hated Daniel to the core, but she didn't want Kiba to murder him. In today's era, it was hard to get away with murder unless one becomes a fugitive. Agatha didn't want this life for Kiba.
"Relax. I am not the type to resort to violence!" Kiba kissed her on her forehead before saying, "I believe in love and peace!"
"Love and peace...?!" Agatha was sure the love and peace Kiba was talking about were different from the traditional concepts she knew.
The time has come to focus on the hunt!
An ash-blonde woman, in her late twenties, sat in the chair, looking at a file. She was dressed in a pink sheath dress and her ears were complemented by diamond earrings.
"I deserve a bonus for such a hectic job!" the woman left the chair and walked towards a virtual board nearby.
On the board, there were many pictures of Sarah at various locations. There were details of her regular schedules, her hobbies, favorite locations, colors, and such. Even details about her favorite novels, movies, and drama were placed.
The mood of a person can be subtly influenced by the right choice of location, color, clothes, food, etc. This was why politicians and businessmen would spend thousands to make sure they were wearing something that can generate trust and goodwill among the audience.
Of course, clothes or colors can't bring goodwill or faith on their own but they offered the finishing touch.
The woman made an extra panel named 'Recommendation'. She added: 'Suggesting Graveyard setting.'
The woman stretched her hands apart as she thought of additional recommendations.
"You seem tired," A male voice came from the entrance of the office room.
The woman looked at the door and said, "Kiba, you can enter but only if you are going to talk about promotion!"
"Have you forgotten we are a non-profit organization?" Kiba didn't seem surprised by the woman's demands as he continued, "You yourself claimed so in the business cards we distributed!"
The woman seemed offended at the mention of the business card. Suppressing her annoyance, she took her seat back and said, "I was crazy to agree on that crystal card idea!"
Kiba didn't wait for her permission as he took a seat opposite to hers.
"I might complain of work harassment if you don't increase my pay," the woman clicked on a panel to order two coffees.
"You are the most paid CEO in our profession. Aren't you satisfied with that?" Kiba asked.
At the mention of CEO and profession, her face turned dark.
"Can you imagine the reactions I get when I say - I am the CEO of Wife Pleasuring Service Ltd!?" the woman continued while rubbing her forehead, "They think I am running some high-class brothel service! I don't think I will ever find a lover if I continue working here!"
If Ryan were here, he could easily identify this ash-blonde haired woman! She was the woman in the holographic projection asking him to 'Contact Us' for pleasuring his wife!
"The world is full of ignorants who can never understand the importance of the work we do!" Kiba tried to pacify her.
Just then, there was a knock on the door before the woman could respond.
"Enter," the woman said.
"Natalie, I have brought the coffee," a girl in her early twenties entered the room and placed two glasses of coffee.
"New employee?" Kiba asked the girl.
"Yes, sir," the girl nodded her head.
"Chloe, leave us," Natalie said in a commanding voice.
Chloe quickly left.
"You scared the poor girl," Kiba said with a sigh.
"Don't you dare think about what you are thinking. She is my cousin," Natalie warned.
"What am I thinking?" Kiba seemed confused as he continued, "If your cousin can work here then surely you don't think we are running a brothel or any place where harassment can take place."
Natalie ignored his words. She took a sip of coffee and then made a grasping motion towards the virtual board. The virtual board came in front of Kiba.
"Graveyard setting again?" Kiba felt a headache.
"Yeah," Natalie also felt a similar headache as she continued, "I have to say your brain runs well in such stuff. The graveyard setting has rarely disappointed us."
"I should fire you for being incompetent," Kiba continued in a complaining tone, "You are only following my ideas and not finding anything new."
"Who the hell collected all this information?" Natalie pointed out the details on the board, "Not everything can be achieved by computers."
As the digital medium rises, so do the concerns of privacy. Many technologies have been developed to combat spying by AIs, satellites, and such. Claudia has taken the help of Wife Pleasuring Service Ltd for the 'judgment' she made regarding the category classification.
Even Claudia was not omnipotent because she was mainly created by Kiba for managing the lab, villa, and personal life instead of spying. There were even more advanced systems where Claudia didn't dare to hack, afraid she will be reverse traced.
"Ok, you win," Kiba replied.
"Sarah definitely knows your womanizing habits. Plus her marriage is very strong so this leaves you with very few choices," Natalie's expression turned serious as she continued, "Our first priority should be to create the sparks and turn them into a fire."
"I only have ten days so we need to hurry up," Kiba said.
"What? Ten days!?" Natalie was shocked. Gritting her teeth, she responded, "Sarah belongs to the third category! We need a month if we follow our top arrangements!"
"I wish I had time but I already gave my words to someone so we have to hurry," Kiba continued without waiting for her reply, "I am sure Daniel would be trying to find information regarding me. Use this to your advantage."
"But..." Natalie stopped for she could see Kiba truly wanted to finish everything in ten days.
At the same time, Kiba started studying Sarah's schedule and habits carefully.
"I forgot to tell you but we have got a customer," Natalie clicked a panel on the table and a holographic image of a man and a woman appeared in front of Kiba.
"Ryan and Vienna?" Kiba was surprised.
"Yeap," Natalie didn't seem surprised by Kiba knowing their identities. From the conversation she had with Ryan, she was sure Vienna was someone Kiba selected through the 'Lucky Draw' policy of the company.
"That was a bit unexpected," Kiba didn't know his muscular teacher loved being a cuckold so much.
"He is requesting a blindfold session and wishes to be there when you pleasure Vienna," Natalie explained the requests she got.
"Maybe someday later but now," Kiba looked at Natalie in the eyes as he continued, "I wish to pleasure my CEO first. She has been working far too hard and deserves some relaxation."
"Well well," Natalie seemed to expect this. She left her chair and arrived in front of Kiba. She rubbed her hand on his pants and felt his cock turning hard.
"Seems like I will have all the evidence for filing a harassment case!"
Forty minutes later~
Both of them laid down on the couch.
"Sarah is going to Close Horizon this evening," Natalie left the couch and looked for her clothes, "I have made the arrangements for introducing you two. Just make sure you bring a date with you."
"I know," Kiba nodded.
"Do you have any particular woman in mind?" Natalie asked as she hooked her bra.
"Yes. Meghan."
(Meghan was introduced in Ch 17 and was mentioned again in Ch 39)
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