After a short but eventful drive, the duo finally arrived at Metal Gear where a variety of cars were being put up for sale.Getting out of the cab, Richard promptly paid the driver before helping Melinda from her seat.With that sorted, both made their way into the building, intent on leaving with a car.***Vance Felton was the heir to the Felton family, one of the five families part of the Five Coalition.A lecherous man at heart, he'd been one of those who pursued Melinda to make her his woman.He'd always fancied her and dreamt of one day pinning her under him and taking away her purity.Just thinking about it left him as horny as could be.Unfortunately, Melinda always rejected him, treating him as nothing more than a foolish man which caused him to grow even more crazy about her.He'd enjoyed watching her suffer since the start of the conference and after the last nail in the coffin that saw her lose her black card, He had thought that it was his chance so he sent an invitation.
“Hah, don't kid yourself, Melinda. This no-named fellow wouldn't even be able to measure up to a servant in my family talk more of being at my level.” Vance remarked arrogantly as he regarded Melinda, not even deeming Richard worthy of a glance. “Is that so?” Melinda intoned before glancing at Richard.She wished to get his permission to do what she had in mind so it wouldn't end up being that she pulled him into an unnecessary fight.Richard, however, was game to teach the fool a lesson and so, he nodded.“How about a little game?” Melinda inquired with a mischievous grin.“What game?” Vance asked.“Let's have a mini-auction, right here, right now, I mean, we are both here to purchase cars so I don't think it would deviate much from our intended purpose,” Melinda remarked causing Vance to burst into mocking laughter.“You can't be serious. After the disgrace you suffered last time, do you still think you can compete with me in an auction?... Come on, Melinda, don't be daft. Do you t
“Is he alright?” Melinda asked as the older attendant checked on the unconscious Vance.The man nodded. “He just passed out.”“Pathetic.” Melinda intoned before glancing at Richard. “You put him in his place.”Richard shrugged. “It isn't that big of a deal.”“Well, it is for me. Thank you.” Melinda remarked as she hugged Richard.Richard was about to say something when Lolita approached them.“Oh hello there handsome, my name is Lolita, daughter of the Minister of Levison. Nice to make your acquaintance.”As she spoke, she made sure to stand in a manner that accentuated her curves, radiating seductive vibes to the max.Richard gave her a perfunctory glance before Melinda detached from him to glare at her.“That's my man, get away before I beat you up,” Melinda spoke fiercely, not even bothering to hide her distaste.Lolita feigned a sad expression as she remarked. “I was only being nice.”“Be nice without showing off.” Melinda pointedly said.Silence reigned for a moment before Lolita
Unbeknownst to the people gathered at the gate, Richard, with the help of Melinda, had already gotten across to the head of the park and after a brief talk, had managed to shut down the park so that the two of them would have the entire place to themselves.It took some convincing and roughly 10 million but at the end of the day, the manager relented and closed the park.Of course, the idea of closing down the park was brought up by Richard with Melinda having no part of it.She was as shocked as the park manager when Richard suggested it and even pushed to ensure the manager accepted.Was this a date?... The thought caused Melinda's cheeks to turn as red as tomatoes from embarrassment.Richard, however, tried not to focus on her reactions as he drove to the park entrance and signaled for them to open it before driving into the awe of everyone present.“Whoa, what's going on?... I thought the park shut down?... Now it's opening for them?”“This makes no sense though I don't mind consi
“Are you sure about this?” Isaac Vaughn inquired as he sat around a round table with the children of the Five Coalition mostly in attendance.Isaac was the third son of the Vaughn family who just like the Felton and Vane families were part of the Five Coalition.He'd gotten the call from the Vane sisters about an important matter and on getting to the meeting point, found himself regaled with a fantastical tale that sounded unreal.“I guess that this Richard Smith is the one Melinda reached out to help her regain lost ground in the conference,” Geraldine remarked.Pascal Marlow, fifth son of the Marlow family and yet another member of the Five Coalition intoned. “I had no idea that bitch still had some fight in her. It's unexpected but I doubt this new man should be any problems to take on.”“Is that so?... Fine then, how about this, he owns a Gold Streak Black Card. Is that enough to make you fools take him seriously?”Silence immediately fell on the gathering as Pascal and Isaac sta
The date at the amusement park went better than expected.After hanging over the stuffed panda to Melinda, a gesture she found most endearing, Richard had led her to a carousel where he picked a white horse while she picked a pink one.Moving together in sync, he watched her enjoy herself without a single care in the world with a beautiful smile on her face.Richard did his best not to comment but Melinda noticed his eyes on her and so, shyly inquired. “Am I embarrassing you?... Sorry about that.”“No, not at all. It's nothing of that sort. Why would you even think that?”“Oh, I just thought…” Melinda trailed off as she seemed to ponder something before finally replying. “You know, when I was younger, they never really allowed me to go out much.”“Why?”“Because they were worried I'd get infected with what they tagged as mundane and useless people. People that struggle every day to make a living, my parents tagged them as a disease.”“Hmm.”“Yeah, only high-class events and the likes
Seeing as the armed men were gathered in front and there was no other path to take, Richard contemplated driving back only to realize that there were armed men behind as well with some tire spikes already laid out on the road.“Richard,” Melinda called out nervously. As an Alchemist, she wasn't in the slightest made for combat or anything of that sort.“Calm down, I'll handle it. You stay in the car, okay?”“Richard no, don't do it. Let's just try and get out of here.”“Mel…”“Richard, you don't understand. This isn't Intercity, these men are surely going to be cultivators with Spirit-infused weaponry. If you fight them, you'd get hurt or maybe even worse…” The panic in Melinda's voice was evident as she pleaded with Richard not to leave. Richard, however, knew that it would be difficult to drive away even if he were to enhance the car they were driving.Taking a deep breath, he reassured Melinda before going ahead to utilize [Midas Touch] to enhance the car before finally stepping o
Spending the night at the park, Richard and Melinda ended up leaving in the wee hours of the morning with the former now mostly recovered from the draining effects of the talisman he'd used.“Maybe we should report to law enforcement or something,” Melinda suggested on their drive back to the hotel they were staying at.Richard shook his head. “I doubt that would make much difference, remember, Melinda, this is their tuff. I doubt they'd get anything more than a slap on the wrist.”“So what do we do?”“Isn't it obvious?... We go after them ourselves.” “Richard, you can't be serious,” Melinda remarked while staring at Richard incredulously.“I am actually.”“Those guys are armed to the teeth and would stop at nothing to have us both killed. We can't afford to face them.”“So what?” Richard inquired. “We run away, maybe even run away from the island just because they are armed to the teeth.”“That…”“That's what they want you to do, Melinda. They want you off this island but that's not