“What do you mean I don’t have any shares in King Enterprises?!”

Kim, Felicia, and Darius were currently sitting in the office of the lawyer that originally worked for Damien King. He was reading through Mr. King’s will.

Mr. Braum pushed his glasses up onto his face, expression stiff.

“Mrs. King, your husband’s company is being divided 30/70 between Miss Felicia and Mr. Darius. You’re getting the mansion, the summer home, all the cars but two, plus the dividends of various investments that equal $500,000 a year.”

Kim slammed her hand down on the desk in front of her, furious. She’d done everything that old man wanted for over ten years and this is what she got for it?

“I am his WIFE. How can I not have some ownership in his company at all?!”

“Mom,” Felicia was blushing, ashamed at Kim’s outburst, “500 grand is still a lot—”

“What do you know?!” Kim snarled at her daughter, “Do you understand how much King Enterprises is worth?! Millions and millions of dollars, and all I’m getting is a measly half-million from unrelated dividends!”

Felicia sunk into the leather chair she was sitting in, wishing there was a hole she could hide in. How could someone be this greedy?

“And he didn’t even split the company evenly between the two of you!” Kim openly glared at Darius. Without Mr. King around, she was no longer obligated to treat him well. “Even though my daughter practically raised this imbecilic son of his! He still gives the lion’s share to the idiot! That ungrateful bast—!”

“Mom!” Felicia cried out, mortified.

Even Mr. Braum couldn’t let that go and began objecting.

“Mrs. King—”

“Oh shut up,” She hissed at the lawyer. “As if you could even BEGIN to understand what I’ve had to put up with from this half-wit for the last 12 years! And now my daughter’s future is in his hands—” Her eyes watered, as if suffering a great injustice. “—how will she survive?! He won’t care about us, he’ll try to drive her out the moment he’s got the chance! He’s no better than a machine!”

Felicia turned to Darius, and said earnestly, “I’m so sorry Mom’s being this way. I swear I don’t—”

“Don’t apologize to that retard!” Kim suddenly stood up and slapped Felicia across the face. “I’m doing this all for you! How could you be so ungrateful!?”

“Mom, you hit me!” Felicia covered her swelling cheek, stunned.

Mr. Braum half stood out of his chair, furious. “Mrs. King, your behavior is absolutely unacceptable—”

Darius had been watching this all with ambivalence up until Kim slapped Felicia. He immediately stood up and walked towards Kim, his face calm but a chilling air seeming to seep out of him.

At 17, he was already as tall as his father and, having exercised since he was 12 in track and field, he was also broad shouldered and obviously muscular. Though Kim was on the tall side for a woman, she was still much shorter than Darius.

He towardered over and said in a deep steady voice, “Kim, that’s enough.”

Despite herself, Kim shuddered.

“I’m not afraid of you!” She managed to spit out.

“I don’t need you to be afraid of me. I need you to calm down.” He looked down at her, his eyes cold. “Sit quietly like a responsible adult or leave.”

“Y— you don’t have authority over me!”

“That’s true.” He paused. “But you don’t have authority over me either now that Dad is dead. So if you throw another tantrum like that again, I’m not obligated to treat you like my mother.” He raised an eyebrow. “I own 70% of King Enterprises. Kim, ask yourself, how miserable can I make you with that 70%?”

Kim paled noticeably.

“Dee…” Felicia tugged on the back of Darius’ shirt to get his attention. “Please don’t…”

He turned to her, frowning slightly. “Even now you’ll defend this woman?”

Still holding her stinging cheek she could only look down pathetically. ‘It’s not me, it’s the stupid host! The host can’t stop loving this witch!’

She looked back up with watering eyes and quivering lips, “She’s… she’s my Mom, Dee… I can’t… I can’t….”

Seeing her being so pitiful, Darius sighed. His body posture relaxing, he returned to his seat, his expression once again one of disinterest.

Only after he’d walked away did Kim finally feel able to breath again.

“Everyone, everyone let’s calm down…” Mr. Braum squeaked out after the fact. He had taken out his handkerchief and was using it to soak up the sweat forming on his balding forehead. “Mrs. King, please have a seat.”

Though Kim was still angry, her fear overshadowed any further desire to stir up trouble. She quickly sat back down, acting like nothing untoward had happened.

Mr. Braum snuck glances at Darius through the rest of the will reading.

Darius King very much took after his father, Damien King, in his ability to intimidate people. Even though Mr. Braum was just a bystander, he felt like he lost a few years of his life from the oppressive air Darius had been exuding. He couldn’t help thinking that if Darius had even half of his father’s talent for business, he’d take the business world by storm.

When they returned home, Kim didn’t say a word to either Felicia or Darius. She immediately went to her room, which had always been on the other side of the mansion from the children’s room, and acted like they didn’t exist.

Felicia headed towards the kitchen, finding some paper wrapped steak meant for dinner in the fridge, she took it out and hissingly put it to her face. Darius had followed her and, after seeing what she was doing, left.

She didn’t think much about his absence until he came back carrying an empty ice bag. Walking to the freezer, he took out the ice cube tray and began filling the bag. Once he’d gotten it properly stuffed with ice, he went over to Felicia and took the steak from her while handing over the ice bag.

“Thanks.” Felicia said in relief. The cook only used the freezer for meats and desserts, believing that fresh fruits and vegetables should be used for meals. There wasn’t even a bag of frozen peas in the freezer as a result.

Darius leaned against a nearby kitchen counter and watched her intently without speaking.

Unable to stand it, Felicia finally broke the silence.

“Just spit it out…”

“Why did you stand up for that woman today?” He asked, his voice tinted with displeasure.

Her lips pressed together, silently frustrated. She’d like to know why her host insisted on loving that witch too!

“Wouldn’t you stand up for you Dad if someone threatened him?”

“You’re comparing that woman to Dad?”

Felicia lowered her head feeling guilty. “Sorry.”

“I just…” Darius finally looked away, staring off into the distance. “...I don’t understand. She’s never treated you well. You’ve just been an object to her this whole time. I thought after getting slapped…..”

He didn’t finish speaking his thoughts, brow furrowing instead.

Felicia laughed bitterly, “...that maybe that slapped some sense into me?”

Darius didn’t reply but nodded.

“I don’t know Dee. It’s like… I just feel a compulsive love for her. Maybe it’s instinct or something, I can’t help it...” She grimaced. “Sorry, I know that’s not a good answer. I don’t have a better one to give you though.”

Though she was talking about her love for her mother, her misery was obvious. Darius looked away for a moment and muttered quietly, “...if she just wasn’t around…”

“Hm?”

“Ah, nothing, just thinking to myself.” Darius turned back and gave a rare, gentle smile. “It’s alright Fee. I know people aren’t always rational. If they were, would I have the problems I do?”

She gave a somewhat puzzled smile in return. Was that something to be smiling about?

“I guess so… but I’m sorry for what Mom said about you…” She bit her lip.

He waved his hand dismissively, “Don’t worry about it. We both know she never liked me that much. She only pretended for Dad.”

Felicia’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah.”

“Anyway, what are you going to do?”

“Do?”

“Even though I technically own 70% of the company, I’m underage. I can’t do anything until I’m 18, but you’re already 18. You can claim your 30% now…”

She stared at him blankly.

“...oh yeah…”

He cast her an exasperated look.

“You really haven’t thought about it?”

“I just found out today! And I got slapped in the middle of being told!” She harrumphed. “At least give me a day to process a huge change in my life, jeesh…”

“Alright. You’ve 24 hours to think about it.”

“Don’t be so literal! I’ve gotta graduate first before I can do anything anyway!”

“What about after you graduate? Are you going to college? If you do, the board members will have control over King Enterprises. They’d only have to contact you for major decisions. Who knows what those old fogies will do when it comes to the minor stuff.”

“Well, I mean, Dad wouldn’t have them as board members if they were that untrustworthy…”

“Naive.” He shook his head. “They have their strengths and weaknesses. The success of King Enterprises is because Dad is good at leadership and business. Right now, King Enterprises is a snake without a head. They’ve got no bite. They’ll start falling apart without some guidance.”

“And I’ll give them guidance? Me? You DO realize I’m 20 years younger than the youngest board member right..?”

“Age has nothing to do with it. Talent is talent.”

“And you think I’ve got the talent?! Dee, I’ve never run a business before!”

“So? You’re a King. The King family has always been good at business.”

“Stupid, I’m not related to you by blood!”

He paused. “That doesn’t matter. You’ve soaked in the King aura just by being around Dad and me.”

She laughed incredulously, “How do you figure?”

“Weren’t you “King” of your grade until middle school?”

“But that—”

“The only reason you lost control was because you weren’t an authority figure that outside students were required to listen to. In King Enterprise, they’ll have to listen to you.”

Felicia hesitated.

[User, it would be beneficial to directly work in the company after graduating.]

‘...why?’ Felicia hadn’t been talking to DARS since the hospital. This was the first time he’d spoken in almost two weeks.

[Your presence in King Enterprise will make it easier for Darius to take control when he’s legally an adult. Also, if you suggest he directly takes over after graduating and you both work in the same building, it will make it easier to avoid both Janice and Jenny.]

‘What about college?’

[Why do you need college when you’re already millionaires?]

Felicia hummed aloud, thinking. Finally she said, both to DARS and Darius, “I’ll think about it.”

Later that night, when Felicia was lying in bed, she glanced at DARS. The last few weeks he’d been staying in the peripheral of any room she was in, never disappearing but also never interfering.

‘I still don’t like you.’

[...]

‘But…. I need to work with you so…’ She sighed, making a face. ‘Truce?’

[Truce accepted.]

The knot in her heart loosened a little. This was the best she could do at the moment.

She knew it wasn’t DARS’ fault that Mr. King had died. He wasn’t even her real father to begin with and she’d leave this world someday, so she shouldn’t care so much about his death.

But she did care.

The sense of alienation she felt upon first entering this world had long since disappeared. She was almost completely integrated with her host, with only a few areas of dissonance (such as Kim). Even if she knew mentally that Mr. King wasn’t her “real father”, emotionally he’d long taken that spot in her heart.

Her heart was bitter. She knew Mr. King was going to die, but she couldn’t stop it. After coming back from New Am, she’d nagged him about getting a physical checkup. He kept saying he’d definitely do it and then something would always come up and he wasn’t able to. And at the end… at the end she couldn’t save him…

Thinking about how she held him in her arms as he died, she began to weep in the dark.

It hurt so much to care.

Next time… next time she’d make sure she didn’t care so much…