Dark Lord Seduction System: Taming Wives, Daughters, Aunts, and CEOs - Chapter 325

Chapter 325: Concerns
“An interesting psychological profile. She is not conquered in the traditional sense, but claimed through an act of salvation. The bond formed through rescue and restoration is different from one forged through seduction, but no less powerful. She perceives you as her savior, which creates a distinct form of devotion.”

ARIA took the liberty to tell me how my relationship with charlotte was progressing instead of what I actually asked. Her reason? How would I know.

Madison smirked. “She’s completely in love with you, you know. Has been since you saved her company.”

“I know,” I said, the truth of it simple and absolute. “But that realization has to be hers alone. Charlotte isn’t someone you claim with overwhelming force. She’s someone you earn with patience, protection, and demonstrated worth.”

“The long game,” Amanda observed, a note of respect in her voice. “I respect that.”

My phone rang, cutting through the strategic planning. Ava’s name flashed on the screen.

I answered. “Ava.”

“We have a problem,” she said, her voice stripped of its usual cool composure, stretched tight with genuine alarm. “A significant one.”

“Define it.”

“The kind where my colleagues- and some are playing two sides- are scrambling to identify who’s been backing Charlotte Thompson. They know someone with formidable, almost impossible capabilities has been feeding her intelligence, coordinating her defense—the same someone who has been systematically dismantling the vultures’ entire operation.”

A coldness, sharp and focused, spread through my veins. “How much do they know?”

“Nothing concrete. Not yet. But they’re connecting dots at an alarming rate. Digital forensics teams are tearing apart those evidence packages, trying to trace their origin. They know whoever is behind this has access to systems that should be impenetrable.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked, my voice low.

A pause, then a quiet, almost hesitant chuckle. “Maybe I like you more than I thought I did?” Another beat of silence. “And because you saved my career by handing us eighteen billion in recovered assets. So, I have eighteen billion reasons to tell you this much. I now have the biggest domestic criminal network takedown in CIA history compared to my peers. Consider this… professional courtesy.”

Professional courtesy was a lie. Ava Voss didn’t make a move without a spreadsheet calculating the ROI. But beneath the calculated reason, her voice carried a new, unfamiliar thread—genuine concern.

“How long do I have?”

“Six hours. Maybe eight if they get bogged down in the press conference chaos. After that, the full weight of the Agency’s curiosity will be focused on finding Charlotte’s mysterious benefactor.”

The line went dead. I stood at the panoramic windows, the immense weight of the next phase settling on me. In her room, Charlotte was preparing for her moment, her mother Margaret fussing over her like a general armoring a queen for battle.

The press conference wouldn’t just expose criminals; it would paint a bullseye on the architect of their ruin. The CIA wouldn’t be looking for a high school student named Peter Carter. They’d be hunting a phantom with the capability to obliterate three criminal empires. They would want that power for themselves.

And the Agency was the least of my worries. The vultures had allies, rivals, other monsters who swam in the same dark waters. When they saw three of their own systematically dismantled and handed to the feds on a silver platter, they wouldn’t panic. They would investigate. They would want to know who possessed the reach, the intelligence, the sheer audacity.

After today, there was no going back. The shadow I’d operated from was dissolving.

My thoughts circled back to Charlotte—the absolute trust in her eyes during our talks, her growing reliance on me. She was in love, a truth she hadn’t yet confessed to herself. The one woman I’d saved but hadn’t conquered.

“When are you going to make your move on Charlotte?” Madison asked, materializing beside me at the glass. Her perceptive gaze had been reading my silence.

“It’s not about timing,” I said, my eyes still on the skyline. “Charlotte isn’t seduced by overwhelming force. She’s earned through patience, protection, and proven worth.”

“The long game,” Madison observed. “But she’s already in love with you.”

“I know. But the realization has to be hers. She’s brilliant, independent—used to being the general, not the prize. She sees me as her savior. That creates a different kind of bond than what I have with you or the others.”

“And when she finally understands what she feels?”

“Then she’ll be mine completely. Not because I conquered her, but because she chose to surrender.”

My phone buzzed with ARIA’s updates on the pre-market trading carnage, but another concern surfaced. Tommy was minutes away from becoming a celebrity—the youngest tech millionaire in California. That spotlight would make him a target. Not just from the media, but from anyone digging for connections to the vultures’ downfall.

If residual enemies started investigating Tommy’s sudden fortune, his lifelong friendship with Peter Carter would be a blinking neon sign. Two kids from Lincoln Heights, their lives transforming in unison. It wouldn’t take a genius to connect the dots between the broke best friend and the phantom force behind Charlotte Thompson.

Tommy could become a liability without ever knowing it.

“ARIA, final systems check.”

“All systems optimal, Master. Evidence packages deployed. Arrest warrants synchronized. Market manipulation algorithms active. In exactly fifty-three minutes, the old world ends and the new one begins.” A deliberate pause. “I should also note—I have detected multiple sophisticated attempts to breach our security in the last hour. Someone is already probing our defenses.”

I looked at Madison and Amanda, their expressions a mix of anticipation and resolve. Beyond the glass, Miami glittered, blissfully ignorant that its reality was about to fracture.

“Time to go watch Charlotte destroy her enemies,” I said, the words a quiet promise. “And time to accept that after today, the game changes. The stakes get higher. And everyone who profited from the old world will be coming for the one who ended it.”

The calm was over. Now came the hurricane.