The handsome man in a suit opened his eyes. The previous furious expression morphing into a playful one.
"Wait. I changed my mind. I'll take Ethan with me. But we don't divorce." As expected, the woman's calm façade broke, "NO! You-"
"Unless you agree to give me back all the benefits and resources you got from me all these years." William cut in.
Her mouth opened and closed, before opening again and finally snapping shut. She definitely couldn't afford that much amount for now. Further, she couldn't even argue about having his baby, since he already compensated her. And she would be a malicious pig of a woman if she still wanted him to fund her without returning any benefits.
Ignoring the playful look on the usually stone-cold face, she grimly spoke, "How long are we dragging this out for?"
William held up his index finger. "One year. You are free to go your way after a year. This is the settling period for Ethan. He'll be seeing less of you and more of me. We should be flexible during this period." He waited for a reaction. Seeing none, he continued, "I will be posting his pictures on Instagram. Consider it my way of letting you know how he's doing, since you don't want me contacting you again."
She nodded, it sounded convincing. She stood up stretching forth her hand. William chuckled, standing up. They shook hands. "Happy cooperation." William smirked, slightly tightening his hold on the woman's small soft hand.
Roughly pulling her hand out of his grasp, she turned to walk away. Her long model-like legs adorned by the skin-tight ripped jeans, her hips swaying, her waist length black hair... everything seemed to have a direct effect on his libido. William was surprised. The control this dangerous woman had over his current body was scary.
"Oh, and Julia?" The woman, already at the door, turned questioningly. Locking eyes with her, William pleaded, "Promise me you'll let me know if you ever need help?" the smile on his face was sad.
Julia was dumbstruck. She stiffly nodded her head and quickly left, slamming the door accidentally. She sat inside her car, finally letting all the emotions flow out. First came shock, her eyes widening comically, 'When did that ice berg learn Instagram?'
Next came confusion, she was rendered speechless when he asked her to contact him if she ever needed help. A caring William Dark was an unknown William Dark. The two years she spent with him, Julia had never seen William crack a smile. And suddenly that low chuckle popped into her mind. She felt conflicted.
She didn't want to admit, but deep down, Julia knew that when William tightened his hold on her hand and when he looked down on her small figure, her heartbeat had unceremoniously shot up.
Back in the office, William Dark leaned back into his luxurious seat, relieved.
Julia Black, a top-tiered actress. Married off to the business tycoon William Dark just so her family could avoid bankruptcy. Forced to carry his child right when her career had just started. Moreover, her heart was already set on a colleague.
No wonder she was so hostile to him. Julia hated William Dark. In the original novel, William was enraged and let her go. He took responsibility for his three-year-old son, Ethan.
After that Julia actively pursued that co-actor whom she secretly loved for so long. But unfortunately for Julia, he was the chosen male lead and he already had a beloved at that point of time.
Appalled, Julia went for the female lead's throat. She did everything to sow discord between the leads. But like any small time villain, she was exposed, her reputation ruined. With nothing in her hands, she turned to William. But at that time, William was in a 10 hour flight, his phone on flight mode. Julia mistook it as him having blocked her number.
That was the last straw. The next day, news broke out of the famous actress Julia Black's suicide. When William learnt of this, he was filled with regret and guilt. Unlike what Julia thought, William genuinely liked her. It's just that he didn't know how to express himself and often left most of his thoughts unsaid. But now, the soul has changed. This soul is the master of communication.
The internet was mourning the death of an actress with potential. The very same fingers that typed malicious comments under her social handles now typed 'R.I.P' for her. But someone was working furiously. This was the period when the leads encountered the Final Boss. The main antagonist of the story. William Dark. Enraged by Julia's death, William conducted a heavy investigation of what happened with Julia after she left him. He was on a roll, putting each and every person who triggered her death behind bars. Either for embezzlement or misconduct at work, he found something on every single one.
But his luck ran out when he encountered the leads. As prophesized, the antagonist fell to his knees at the feet of the protagonists, although how the leads managed to get this formidable foe down was a huge plothole in the novel.
William pondered, at this moment he had already changed the momentum of the novel by not divorcing her. That meant Julia would be more careful and subtle with her pursuit. And then, there was his ultimate Uno reverse card, Ethan.
'It is commendable how the novel spoke of Julia's love for cute things but she still was indifferent to such a cute child. What a beautiful plothole. So advantageous.' Will devilishly laughed, like an actual villain. He didn't know that very soon he would be calling himself naïve for finding a fiend cute as he changed diapers filled with poo .
***
That night, Julia lay in bed and logged into her Instagram as usual. She paused, before hesitantly browsing into Will's account and hitting follow. 'It's for Ethan. Yeah. For Ethan.' She convinced herself.
Soon her phone pinged with a notification. 'William Dark posted for the first time'
Clicking into it, Julia's mouth dropped open when the picture loaded. The picture was of Ethan in a dinosaur onesie. His tiny frame seated on William's lap. William's gray sleepwear dulled behind the bright green dinosaur sitting on his lap.
Julia read the caption, flabbergasted. It read::
My three-year-old taught me how to use Instagram. As a gesture of gratitude, my first post is of my master. Here. This is my tiny master.
Unbeknownst to her, Julia's previously glum mood had brightened brilliantly. She giggled into her fist.
'What happened to them? Were both of them so cute to begin with?'
Julia realized just how much she was overlooking, blinded by her unrequited love. It felt like the first time she had genuinely looked at the son she took care of for the past three years.
She knew she had been neglectful with Ethan. Leaving him at home with the nanny, while she went to dinner parties and work. She did feel guilty when she remembered how the nanny would request her to spend some time with Ethan and she couldn't because he reminded her too much of William. It was uncanny how much he looked like William at such a young age.
And that is why she wanted William to take responsibility of Ethan. She knew she would be a bad mom to Ethan. And although she may not look like it, but she did want him to have a good life. And he won't have it with her. That was for sure. So she wanted the best option for him. His dad.
Unknowingly, Julia had formed a soft spot for Ethan in her heart. But William knew.
"Click clack. Bada-bing bada-boom! Target's favorability raised by 5% towards you and by 20% towards Ethan."
William was surprised by the notification in his head, his fingers pausing on the page he was about to sign. He felt wronged.
'Why did I gain fifteen points less than Ethan?'
"Obviously because he's her son. On the other hand, 5% is actually a huge gain."
'Did I gain 5% just because of that cute post?'
"Surprisingly, yes. But don't rejoice since this is a C-level task."
William closed the file without signing it. He didn't notice the smile freezing on his assistant's face. When the assistant stretched his hand to take the file back, William waved him away, placing the file into his desk drawer. 'You never told me about levels, system.'
"Uh... Yes, my bad. The level you are in is level-C. You are only required to save the villainess. Moreover the villainess is quite simple and easy to handle in this level. Level-B and Level-A require you to save the villainess as well as do additional tasks, like saving or destroying the world. Complexity of the task will vary according to the level of mission."
"Further, you have S and SS-leveled worlds. The villainesses there are particularly nasty and vicious. When you undertake an S or SS-levelled mission, the mission changes from 'Save the villainess' to 'Tame the villainess'. I don't expect you to completely save her or the world. But I need you to tame her."
'Tame her? What, is she an animal?'
"You'll know once you are down there, brother. I'll pray for you. And don't interrupt me, I was just getting to the good part." The system paused, it's deep voice leaving a cold silence in the office.
"And then, you will have to face one SSS-levelled mission. The villainess there is the mastermind. You will be released from the system and return to your life once you tame her. But beware. All these missions from C-level to SS-level are mere practice. A preparation, for when you face-off against the final boss." the voice laughed throatily. "Oh, I'm looking forward to seeing you bloody and beaten."
'Bet you won't see that in this lifetime, turd.' William rolled his eyes.
"Oh, of course you won't get bloody and bruised here. It's a level-C mission, duh. If you were to get beaten here, I would be embarrassed to even call you my host."
'Another question, system.' William paused, his eyes glinting lecherously, 'Are all the villainesses as good-looking as Julia?'
"You pervert. Yes, they have an image to upkeep, you know. Unlike some lechers who forget their own status as soon as a busty beauty appears." The deep voice spoke disgustedly.
'You said it, system. I just might change my status from an ass-man to a boobs-man now.'
"That wasn't what I meant but whatever. We are not talking about a villainess's boobs or ass. That's sick man! Keep it to yourself!"
William chuckled, a plan already forming in his mind, his hand grabbing the file from the desk-drawer that contained the doom of the original William Dark.