Chapter 7: Get Out of My Office with Your BL Novels

When the audio described a "dominant alpha" pinching a "delicate omega's" chin and forcibly kissing him while stripping him for the next step, Alaric Vane finally reached his breaking point and exploded.

"Seren Thorne! Get out of my office right now and take your BL novels with you!"

Seren leisurely continued eating her takeout from a five-star restaurant. "I'm not leaving unless you give me my money back."

Alaric was so angry he laughed. "Playing the rogue now? You think I have no way of dealing with you?"

Seren ignored him, turned her volume up to the maximum, and continued eating to the accompaniment of the mechanical "ungh" and "ah" sounds from her phone.

She was clearly doing this on purpose to disgust him.

With a darkened face, Alaric took out his tablet, found some "educational materials" online, cranked the volume to the max, and placed it directly in front of Seren.

"Why just listen when you can watch? Here, I found a little side dish specially for your meal. Take a good look."

Watch?

Watch what?

Seren shifted her gaze to Alaric’s 14-inch tablet.

Once she realized what was playing on the 4K high-definition screen, Seren felt like she was going blind.

Her face flushed crimson as she squeezed her eyes shut and turned away. "Alaric Vane! You pervert!"

However, the volume was so loud that she could still hear everything even without looking.

Alaric sneered. "Who was the pervert first? Turn off your trashy novel right now!"

"I won't! Not unless you pay up!"

Seren remained obstinate, and Alaric refused to back down. Both continued blasting their respective audio and video, locked in a battle of wills to see who would cave first.

When Arthur Vane entered the room, his ears were immediately met with a continuous stream of scandalous noises.

The personal assistant, Brooks, was right behind him. Neither expected to walk into such a scene, and both their old faces turned beet red.

Brooks reacted quickly, backing out and closing the door.

He immediately went to the anonymous company group chat to leak the news: {Shocking! The President of Vane Group is actually doing this in his office!}

Arthur, meanwhile, looked furious, embarrassed, and agitated. "This is the office! What on earth are you two doing!"

Hearing Arthur’s voice, Seren jumped in fright and frantically shut off her novel.

Compared to her panic, Alaric appeared much more composed. He unhurriedly turned off the video and looked toward his grandfather at the door.

"Grandpa, why are you here?"

Arthur huffed. "If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known you two spend your office hours like this."

Seren usually had a thick skin, but the current situation was genuinely mortifying.

Alaric, however, said with perfect calm, "We’re a legally married couple. A little roleplay and spice is normal."

Hearing Alaric say such things in front of his grandfather made Seren’s cheeks burn. She stomped hard on his foot under the table.

Alaric frowned slightly and shot her a warning glance.

Seren acted as if she didn't see his displeasure. She composed herself and smiled at Arthur. "Grandpa, don't listen to Alaric’s nonsense. We just accidentally clicked into a pirated website, that's all."

However, Arthur could hear her inner thoughts and had already guessed what the two were squabbling about.

Since it involved a couple's private matters, it wasn't appropriate for an elder to say much, so he pretended to be ignorant and skipped the topic.

"I see."

Seren stood up to invite Arthur to sit. "Grandpa, did you come here for something specific at this hour?"

Arthur remembered his purpose. "The younger brother of your former second-aunt is getting married today. Remember to go there after work. I forgot to tell you this morning, so I came specifically to notify you."

Dominic Vane had a first wife years ago who unfortunately died during childbirth.

For over a decade, Dominic lived in grief and never remarried, raising his son alone. It wasn't until a few years ago when he met Vivienne, who had undergone plastic surgery to look seventy percent like his late wife. Coupled with her gentle and considerate act, Dominic eventually fell for her and married her.

At the time, Arthur didn't approve of the marriage, suspecting the woman had ulterior motives. Now, it seemed his suspicions were correct.

Alaric said, "You could have just called for something like this. There was no need to come in person."

Arthur replied, "I happened to be eating nearby at lunch and thought I'd drop by. Who knew that as soon as I arrived, I'd see you two... cough."

With the topic brought up again, Seren wanted to curl her toes and disappear.

Alaric’s focus, however, was on something else: "Were you eating nearby with your online friend? How did it go? Was it successful?"

Arthur’s expression stiffened slightly as he laughed it off. "The past is in the past; no need to mention it."

Alaric's interest was piqued. "Why not? It didn't go well?"

{He's definitely too embarrassed to mention it. The girlfriend he's been dating online for three years is actually...}

"Seren!" Hearing her inner voice, Arthur hastily interrupted her thoughts. "Anyway, I just heard from Brooks that you're out of spending money. I have about a million left here. An old man like me has nowhere to spend it; take it and buy some bags or jewelry."

Brooks was Alaric’s personal assistant.

Seren hadn't expected the guy to be so helpful as to speak up for her in front of the old master. It seemed her free fortune-telling for him had paid off.

Seren’s eyes sparkled. "Thank you, Grandpa!"

Having successfully diverted the topic, Arthur breathed a secret sigh of relief and pulled a bank card from his pocket for Seren.

Seren took the card, unable to hide her grin.

{Grandpa Vane is truly the best! Such a kind man. That elementary school student who scammed him is truly despicable.}

{Scamming Grandpa's emotions for years just to buy Honor of Kings skins? So immoral!}

{Poor Grandpa thought he'd met a nice old lady because the scammer only asked for a few hundred bucks each time. Sigh.}

Hearing this, Alaric turned to Arthur with eyes full of pity. "My condolences."

Arthur: "..."

He felt a profound sense of helplessness—he could stop her from speaking, but he couldn't stop her brain.

He was numb.

And out a million dollars.

But seeing his grandson's wife so happy, he figured the small change was worth it.

Just as Arthur was comforting himself, he heard Seren’s voice again: {A million seems enough to buy a house in a small county town, right? Should I just run away to Hegang and live a quiet life?}

{I could set up a little stall to tell fortunes and just chill for the rest of my life.}

{In four months at most, Alaric will meet the heroine. I can't get in the way of the plot; I need to get away from the drama ASAP.}

Arthur was bewildered.

What heroine? What plot? Had his grandson's wife lost her mind?

Before he could figure it out, Alaric reached out with his long arm and snatched the bank card right out of Seren’s hand.

"I'll invest this money in the stock market for you. In a year, I'll return it to you at ten times the value."

Seren was about to snatch the card back, but upon hearing his words, she silently retracted her claws. She asked suspiciously, "Is the stock market really that profitable?"

Alaric said flatly, "Not necessarily for others, but for me, it is."

{Tsk, so arrogant.} Seren was disdainful in her heart, but her eyes were glowing. "Ten times in a year? If I only buy stocks for two months, can you give me three million?"

Alaric: "..."

"Who told you that's how the math works?"

"Just tell me if there will be that much money by then."

Alaric said, "In the short term, it's not certain. There might be that much, or you might have nothing left."

Meaning she could lose everything, even the "underwear" on her back.

Seren hesitated.

But ultimately, she couldn't resist the temptation of three million. "Fine, I'll take the gamble. I believe in you."

Arthur asked, "I heard from Brooks that you can tell fortunes. Can't you predict if you'll lose money in stocks?"

Seren replied, "I can't. I can only calculate the paths and fates of others; I can't calculate my own. The more an event is tied to me, the harder it is to predict."

Arthur and Alaric exchanged a look, realization dawning on them.

No wonder the girl didn't know they could hear her inner thoughts.