Chloe wasn’t the type to be caught off guard. She was the one doing the catching, the one who saw through everything before it even happened. But this?
This was different.
She studied him, her head tilting ever so slightly—not in shock, but in that sharp, calculating way of hers. Like she was connecting dots he hadn’t even laid out yet.
"...Sothing changed," she said finally, more of an observation than a question.
Justin raised a brow. "What makes you say that?" While at the sa ti he checked her stats!
*****
Na: [Chloe Reynolds]
Soul: [Not Snatched]
Fear: [05/100]
Dark Lust: [85/100 (Lust, Highly Sexual frustration for sexual satisfaction)]
Trust: [90]
Stand: [Loyal (Completely loyal to the Black Veil and the Veiler but needs reassurance!]
Take: [Satisfy her cravings, agree to her conditions, she’s a valuable asset, and Recruit]
’This is so surprising. Nothing I expected. Her are off the chat. Feels like I am reading the stats of auntie Selena!’ he thought.
[Mission: Chloe owns the highest position in the hierarchy of Black Veil employees. Make her completely to your side!
Reward: Complete Veiler Body!] He didn’t know what that ant but he wasn’t going to miss it.
*****
Chloe just gave him a look. One of those don’t insult my intelligence stares before leaning back, crossing her legs in that effortless way that sohow made the movent look powerful. "I don’t know, Justin, maybe the way people have been staring at you all afternoon like you’re the second coming of sex itself?" She gestured vaguely.
"Or the fact that even I just felt—" She stopped herself, exhaling sharply. "Yeah. No. There’s sothing off."
Justin hesitated. "...Off how?"
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Don’t play dumb. You know exactly what I an." She leaned back, crossing one long leg over the other, watching him like a puzzle she hadn’t solved yet. "You’ve always had that whole ’dangerously unattainable’ thing going for you, but this? This is different."
Justin stayed quiet.
Because, yeah. She was right.
"...So?" Chloe pressed, tilting her head. "What changed?"
For a second, he considered lying. Brushing it off. But the way she was looking at him? Yeah, that wasn’t gonna work.
So instead, he exhaled and said, "Let’s just say... divine interference from gods after my parents passed."
Chloe blinked. "What?"
He gave her a half-smile. "Exactly what it sounds like."
She ’frowned’, clearly not expecting that answer. "Wait—are you serious?" While secretly rolling her eyes.
"As a heart attack."
Chloe studied him for a long mont, then let out a dry laugh. "Jesus. You really don’t do anything halfway, do you?" she went along thinking it as a joke Justin was playing. Whatever it was, she was happy to play.
Justin smirked. "Wouldn’t be fun if I did."
She shook her head, muttering sothing under her breath before eyeing him again, more thoughtful now. "So? What does it feel like?"
He considered that.
The way people reacted to him now, the way attraction lingered in the air like static electricity. How it made things both easier and infinitely more complicated.
"...Like walking into a room where everyone already wants sothing from you." He paused "Even if they don’t know why." he continued to— him telling this to Chloe was like handing a kid a quantum science book to read, there was no harm at all and he could get her guard dropped down the more he was casual. Even a drop of 2% of her defense would be enough. He of course knew she wouldn’t believe such things but it was a way to share so of your happiness to an oblivious stranger—or soon to be willing accomplice.
Chloe didn’t say anything at first. Just watched him, expression unreadable. Then, finally, her amusent faded just slightly.
"That sounds exhausting."
Justin huffed a quiet laugh. "Oh, it is."
She didn’t look away, didn’t drop the conversation. Instead, after a beat, she leaned forward slightly, voice quieter.
"Well, whatever this divine interference is..." Her lips curved, slow and deliberate. "Just so you know—I was already looking." And just like that, the conversation shifted again, the weight of it balanced on the edge of sothing else.
Justin stared at her, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. "Oh?"
Chloe smiled. "Oh."
Justin too, it wasn’t like he hadn’t noticed before. He always did everyti he saw her. So much that she’d been his wet dream for a few weeks long ago before he got the school belle’s best friend serve his little brother.
So Justin was a lot of things—calculative, ruthless, sotis too detached for his own good. But blind? No. Never that.
And Chloe? She was the kind of woman people noticed.
But the thing about truly beautiful people? The kind of beauty that stayed with you? It wasn’t always about the obvious. It wasn’t just about the way she looked in that sleek, form-fitting dress, or the way the light caught in her eyes like a deep, endless ocean.
It was how she carried it.
Like a crown she chose to wear, not one she needed to be given. And it hit him—really hit him like always— when she wasn’t even trying. Not when she was smirking at him, not when she was throwing around sharp, knowing glances. But in the quiet monts—like now—when she was watching him, waiting, her expression just slightly softer than usual.
Beautiful.
Not in the way that made people stop and stare.
But in the way that made them stay.
For a mont, neither of them said anything.
Not because they were smitten—hell no.
At least, Justin wasn’t.
It was just... Chloe looked a bit more beautiful today. Not in a life-changing, "oh my god, she’s the love of my life" way, but in a way that made his brain hesitate for half a second before resuming its usual plotting.
And that was annoying.
Because he wasn’t here to admire her. He was here to acquire her.
And yet, here they were, caught in so weird staring contest, like two predators circling the sa prey—except they were each other’s problem.
The small talk had been strategic. A way to loosen her up, drop her guard, make things easier. Yet sohow, she was turning it back on him, subtly shifting the balance like she was the one laying a trap.
Justin wasn’t falling for it.
He cleared his throat, about to speak—
But Chloe, being Chloe, got there first.
"I know why you called ," she said, her voice smooth, cool, and frustratingly unreadable. "And I’m in. But only on two conditions."
Justin blinked. Then chuckled. "You don’t even know what I’m offering you."
Chloe tilted her head, unimpressed. "Yeah. That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid."
His smirk twitched. "Oh?"
She nodded, arms crossing. "If you lay out so crazy-ass, once-in-a-lifeti, too-good-to-refuse deal, then boom—suddenly I have to take it, and my conditions go straight to hell."
Justin leaned back, watching her with sothing almost close to amusent. "Huh. That’s... surprisingly not reckless of you."
Chloe shrugged. "Well, you know . Always thinking ahead."
He gave her a slow nod. "Except this is kinda rushed. Not very ’calculating Chloe’ of you."
Chloe’s lips twitched. "Damn. You’re right. I should’ve taken a dramatic pause first."
"Yeah. Would’ve made it more cinematic."
They stared at each other again.
Justin hated that it wasn’t hostile.
"...Fine," he sighed. "I’ll bite. What are your conditions?"
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