William had only been awake for two days since coming out of his long sleep. Even after spending half a day shopping with Lila, there was still a mountain of new things he hadn't seen.
Including the job he was doing right now.
Since the dawn of humanity, women had rarely held high status. Even in brothels, it was always women serving men.
So this gig? This was William's first time doing anything like it.
Five wealthy women led them into a private lounge. One of them—still attractive in a mature, well-kept way—immediately latched onto William's arm, pressing her ample chest against him as they walked.
William wasn't the prideful type. Back when he was a beggar, or working as a servant, he'd bowed and scraped plenty.
A job was a job. If you took it, you did it right.
So he didn't pull away. In fact, he even smiled a little.
Tastes in beauty had changed constantly throughout history, and William had seen more than his share of stunning women—tall, short, curvy, slim, every kind of look.
The woman clinging to him now wasn't exactly beautiful in his eyes, but she wasn't ugly either.
And just like that, the group made their way into the lounge.
The woman was a full head shorter than William. Seeing that he wasn't brushing her off, she tilted her head up with a bright smile and asked, "How old are you, handsome?"
William smiled back. "Twenty. You look like you're maybe two or three years older than me?"
Nicholas, walking behind them, got full-body goosebumps.
Damn it. And they'd told him to show William the ropes?
This guy could say something like that with a straight face and not feel even a flicker of guilt?
Two or three years older?
The woman beamed even brighter. Sure, she knew William was just flattering her—but wasn't that exactly what she came here for?
"You've got a silver tongue, sweetheart. I'll make sure you're rewarded later."
Her name was Piper. She ran her own company—not as rich as Bella, but still worth tens of millions. She'd divorced her husband two years ago and thrown herself into work ever since.
After being single for so long, she did want companionship again. But her age made things tricky. She worried any man who showed interest was just after her money, so she'd given up on marriage altogether.
Instead, she'd come to places like this now and then—find a strong, energetic, good-looking young man to have a little fun with.
And the moment she saw William, she was genuinely smitten.
He looked so young, but there was something about him—an air of weariness, like an old soul in a young body.
Especially when he smiled. That smile made her heart flutter. She'd played the game with plenty of men before, but it had been a long time since someone made her feel like this.
"You're Piper, right? Maria mentioned you earlier," William said with a grin. "She told me you could drink anyone under the table, and that I'd better take good care of you tonight."
"Drink anyone under the table? Don't listen to her nonsense," Piper laughed. "Maria's one of my best girlfriends. I'll definitely be coming back to support your business."
She tightened her grip on his arm, her tone turning gentle. "I saw you drinking a lot at that other table earlier. If you're already feeling it, we can take it easy. I'll take you out for a late-night bite instead."
Take it easy?
Drinking was literally part of William's job now.
If the client said "drink less," how could he possibly agree?
He shook his head. "No worries. I was just getting started. But Piper, I feel like we really hit it off. Tonight, we're drinking till we drop!"
If Bella saw this scene, she'd probably explode on the spot.
The way William was talking to Piper was a night-and-day difference from how he'd spoken to her earlier.
"Perfect! Then it's drink till we drop!" Piper was clearly thrilled. William saying they "hit it off" made her feel like he genuinely liked her—even if it wasn't true, it still gave her a rush.
Her confidence came flooding back. Maybe she still had it. Maybe William really did like mature women like her.
But William had his own plan.
When you're drinking with clients, even if you can hold your liquor, you never let it show.
Especially when the woman next to you clearly wanted to take you to bed.
In that case, the only option was to get her drunk first.
Just then, Maria walked into the lounge. She still wasn't totally at ease leaving William alone—especially after seeing how he'd just pissed off Bella earlier.
"Piper, how's it going? William treating you okay?" Maria asked, a little nervous. But when she saw the glowing smile on Piper's face, she finally relaxed.
"He's great! From now on, whenever I come here, I want William to keep me company," Piper said, clearly impressed.
Maria hadn't expected this at all—William had barely even started, and he'd already won Piper over. After making the rounds and clinking glasses with each of the women, she downed a drink with every one of them.
"Maria, get us three more guys in here—make sure they're hot!" Piper said cheerfully, then glanced at William and quickly added, "Otherwise, these three sisters won't have anyone to keep them company."
There were five women in total, so naturally, they each wanted their own guy. But more importantly, Piper had clearly set her sights on William and didn't want anyone else trying to snatch him away.
Maria didn't waste time. Soon, three more young, good-looking men were brought in.
By then, William was already drinking with the group of wealthy women.
Piper had ordered two cases of beer and a couple bottles of hard liquor. The party was heating up fast.
After a few drinks, William's eyes started to look hazy, like he was already tipsy.
"William, you okay to keep going?" Piper asked, watching him closely. "If you're hitting your limit, we can go get a room and rest for a bit."
Like hell he was going to let her get her way that easily. William waved her off and said, "We keep drinking. We said no going home sober, so no going home sober!"
Piper hesitated. She was starting to worry—if William ended up passed out drunk, that would kill the mood. But since he insisted, she had no choice but to keep drinking with him.
Still, she upped the ante—beer mixed with hard liquor now.
William had already downed a good amount of red wine earlier. Even if he had a monster tolerance, the buzz had to be catching up to him by now.
Then William suggested they play some drinking games. The energy in the room spiked. He kept a steady rhythm—winning two rounds, losing one—just enough to keep things fun without drawing suspicion.
In less than thirty minutes, the lounge had turned into a madhouse. One of the rich ladies was crying as she belted out a love ballad, her voice so off-key it could've been used as a weapon.
William raised his glass, slammed it down on the table, and shouted, "An angel's voice!"
No matter how bad a customer sang, it was still an angel's voice to him.
Piper prided herself on being able to hold her liquor, but after mixing drinks and knocking back over a dozen shots, her words were starting to slur. She was also getting bolder—grabbing William and trying to kiss him outright.
William blocked her mouth with his hand, smiling as he said, "Piper, I'm not that kind of guy. Please, have some self-respect."
The other four women turned to watch, clearly entertained.
After all, they'd already gotten cozy with their own young men.
But Piper still hadn't sealed the deal.
Her expression darkened with a flash of frustration. She grabbed her purse, pulled out her wallet, and slapped a thick stack of cash on the table.
"One thousand dollars for a kiss!" she said, loud and proud.