The opportunity was a gift from the System, an orchestration of perfect timing. Eleanor was scheduled for a rare lunch date with her husband, but Thorne, at the last minute, was called away to an emergency board meeting across town. His flustered personal assistant apologized profusely and suggested Eleanor wait in the comfort of his private office.
At that exact moment, Ren was tasked with delivering an "urgent" physical report to the boss's office—a task he had subtly orchestrated himself. He arrived on the executive floor to find the assistant's desk momentarily empty. This was his window.
He gave a light knock on the grand oak door before letting himself in. "Sorry to disturb you, Mrs. Thorne," he said respectfully. "I was just asked to drop this off."
Eleanor stood by the panoramic window, a lonely, elegant figure surrounded by the monuments of her husband's ambition. This was the heart of her pain, the office that her husband loved more than her. And Ren was about to desecrate it.
He unleashed his entire arsenal. He activated [Mind Reader], feeling the waves of her sadness and her deep-seated desire for a family. He spoke, his [Mesmeric Voice] laced with perfect, manufactured empathy. "It's a beautiful view. He must love his work very much to spend so much time here." And then, he flooded the room with his most potent [Aphrodisiac Aura].
The combination was devastating. An attack on all fronts in the place she felt most neglected. The shock of the raw desire mixing with his apparent understanding of her exact sorrow shattered her defenses instantly.
The risk was the ultimate aphrodisiac. With her husband's name on the door and his scent in the air, Ren claimed his ultimate victory on the one piece of furniture that was a true symbol of Thorne's power: his enormous mahogany desk. It was an act of supreme desecration and absolute conquest.
Chapter 15: The King's Ascent
The fallout was a quiet catastrophe for Thorne. With his wife suddenly transformed into a distant, cold stranger, his iron-clad focus began to rust. He became distracted, paranoid, and erratic at work. Compounding his problems, his key subordinates—Adrian, Leo, and Mark—were emotional wrecks, their work quality plummeting and dragging the entire department into a quagmire of missed deadlines and client complaints.
Amidst this chaos, Ren became a star. He was the sole point of stability and brilliance in a collapsing department. He used his System powers with surgical precision: [Mind Reader] in negotiations to anticipate his rivals' every move, and his [Mesmeric Voice] in presentations to win over skeptical executives and board members with his unshakable confidence.
The final move was his masterpiece of corporate sabotage. He used the System to orchestrate a major deal failure, subtly planting a trail of digital evidence that framed a distracted and emotionally volatile Thorne for gross negligence. The board, already concerned, was furious. The next day, Ren presented them with a brilliant, multi-layered recovery plan—a plan so ambitious and detailed that only he had the vision and capability to execute it.
The office is the same, but the man behind the enormous mahogany desk is different. Ren leans back in the expensive leather chair that once belonged to Mr. Thorne, looking out at the sprawling city below. The view from the top is everything he imagined. The nameplate on his door, polished to a high gleam, now reads his name.
His phone buzzes on the polished surface of the desk. A message from Eleanor.
Thinking of you. Can't wait for tonight.
A cold, triumphant smirk touches his lips. He has the job, the power, the money, and the women. He has taken everything.
The poor, mistreated rookie who was overworked into an early grave has been reborn as a king, his throne built upon the ruins of those who wronged him.