Sanity returned not with a jolt, but with a slow, warm tide of sensation. The first thing Kate registered was the scent. Not her own crisp, expensive perfume, but something… earthier. Masculine. The clean smell of Sael's shampoo on the pillowcase, mixed with something uniquely him. It was a scent she already knew she'd crave.
She opened her eyes. The room was dim, the smart-glass windows of Sael's room still polarized to a soft, pre-dawn grey. She was alone in the bed, the space beside her still warm but empty. A soft, rhythmic hum drew her attention to the sleek, imposing form of the VR pod in the corner, its status lights glowing a gentle blue. He was already working.
A smile touched her lips. No frantic morning-after awkwardness. No need for forced conversation. Just… peace. For the first time in as long as she could remember, Katherine Beck felt utterly, completely grounded.
The constant, low-grade anxiety of being an orphan, of fighting for every scrap of respect in a cutthroat world, of coming home to an empty apartment… it was just… gone. Silenced. Replaced by a profound sense of security so potent it felt like a physical weight holding her to the mattress.
At thirty-three, she was a successful lawyer, a woman who commanded courtrooms. And yet, curled in her… boyfriend's bed, she felt a giddy, butterflies-in-her-stomach excitement she'd thought was reserved for teenagers. She finally had a partner. And not just any partner. Sael.
With a contented sigh, she slipped out of bed. The cool air made her shiver. She spotted one of his shirts discarded over a chair—a simple, soft black tee. She pulled it on. It swallowed her, the hem falling to mid-thigh, the sleeves covering her hands. She hugged herself, enveloped in his smell. It was perfect. Taking a steadying breath, she padded quietly out of the room to face the one thing that might be more intimidating than any corporate board: his family at breakfast.
The sounds and smells of breakfast—sizzling plant-based bacon, coffee, the low murmur of voices—guided her to the kitchen. She rounded the corner, and three pairs of eyes immediately landed on her.
Nadia was at the stove, a spatula in hand. Cathy was setting the table. Vera was leaning against the counter, sipping from a mug. For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then, all three women broke into wide, knowing grins.
"Well, good morning, sleeping beauty," Vera said, her voice rich with amusement.
Kate tried to muster her professional demeanor, but it was a lost cause. Every step was a tender, wobbly reminder of the night before. She had to brace a hand against the wall to steady herself, her legs feeling like over-cooked noodles.
Nadia chuckled, a warm, deep sound. "Come, sit, my dear. Before you fall down."
"Oh, hush, all of you," Kate managed, her face flushing. She carefully navigated the short distance to the table and practically collapsed into a chair with a soft groan.
Vera's eyes sparkled with mischief. "So. Important question. Did you remember to use lube?"
Kate's jaw dropped, her blush deepening. It was Cathy who answered, shaking her head with a wry smile as she brought over a cup of coffee for Kate. "No, they did not… I checked the bathroom cabinet this morning, It's still full."
Nadia tsked, plating up some food. "Katherine, my love. You are a smart woman…. You must always prepare…. My grandson is… generous in his gifts…. You cannot be reckless."
Covering her face with one hand, Kate mumbled into her palm, "Noted. For future reference… after all, learned that the hard way," She peeked through her fingers.
"Is he… is he always like that? I feel like I've been run over by a truck. A very… thorough truck."
Cathy, Vera, and Nadia all looked at each other, then back at her, and in perfect, happy unison, they said, "Yes."
Vera added with a wink, "And it's the best thing, isn't it?"
Kate just groaned again, this time burying her face in the table, but she was laughing. The teasing was relentless, but it wasn't mean. It was welcoming. It was initiation. She was one of them now.
After the laughter died down, Cathy placed a small, gel-filled cold compress on the table next to Kate's elbow. "Here… For… your sore ass," she said kindly, a gentle understanding in her eyes.
The gesture was so simple, so thoughtful, that it almost brought tears to Kate's eyes. "Thank you, Cathy," she said, her voice sincere.
Vera topped off her coffee. "So, come on... Spill. Before the main event started, what did the two of you even talk about? He doesn't usually… well, he doesn't usually bring women home to meet us, ever."
Kate took a bracing sip of coffee. Right. The business. The reason she'd come over in the first place. It felt like a lifetime ago.
"We talked about my new job," she said, her professional facade slowly reassembling itself. "He officially offered me the position of Legal Director for Meteor Studio."
The women nodded, impressed but not surprised.
"And," Kate continued, a fresh blush creeping up her neck. "I said one of the clauses of my employment contract was that he… well, that he takes me as his official girlfriend."
She quickly took another drink of coffee to hide her smile. "A lady has to take the leap sometimes…."
Cathy reached over and squeezed her hand. "We're glad it was you, Kate…. Truly. We're glad you're the first one he made it official with."
The confirmation settled over her, warm and solid. She was in. Both in the family, and in the empire. It was the most terrifying and exhilarating feeling in the world.
The warm, teasing atmosphere in the kitchen settled into a comfortable quiet, broken only by the clinking of cutlery. Nadia, ever the matriarch, looked at Kate with a curious, gentle expression.
"So, this new job, my dear," Nadia began, scooping some eggs onto her plate. "What will you be doing for our Sael, exactly? Keeping all those money-hungry wolves away from his door?"
Kate took a sip of her coffee, using the moment to gather her thoughts. She set the mug down with a soft, decisive click. This was her first official act as Legal Director.
"In a manner of speaking, yes," Kate said, her voice taking on a more formal, professional tone that commanded their attention. "But my first duty, it seems, is to inform all of you of an existing corporate arrangement you were unaware of."
The three women paused, their forks hovering mid-air.
"Effective the moment Meteor Studio was formally incorporated," Kate continued, her gaze sweeping over Cathy, Vera, and Nadia, "Sael allocated a one percent equity stake in the company to each of you. And to Emily and Bella as well."
The silence that followed was absolute. Vera's fork clattered onto her plate.
Cathy was the first to find her voice, a faint, disbelieving whisper. "A... a stake? In the company? But... how? Why didn't he...?"
Nadia just stared, her eyes wide, her hand slowly coming to rest over her heart.
Kate's professional demeanor softened into a warm smile. "He really didn't tell you, did he? He just... did it." She shook her head, a fond look in her eyes. "That sweet, secretive, brilliant boy."
The shock on their faces slowly melted into a profound, overwhelming wave of emotion. It wasn't about the money, not yet. It was about the gesture. The unconditional, protective love it represented. He had made them all shareholders. He had tied their futures directly to his own, ensuring they would always be taken care of.
"He did," Cathy finally said, her voice thick with tears she refused to shed. Vera just nodded mutely, looking stunned. Nadia finally blinked, a single tear tracing a path down her cheek before she quickly wiped it away, a proud, radiant smile breaking through her surprise.
"Now," Kate said, gently steering the conversation back. "As a fellow stakeholder and the newly appointed Legal Director, I can tell you a bit about what my job will entail."
Leaning forward, Kate folded her hands on the table. The mood in the room shifted from emotional to intensely focused.
"Listened ladies, Meteor Studio isn't just about to become a successful company," she began, her voice low and serious.
"It is, by every financial metric, a nascent titan... Its growth curve is vertical. The revenue from Silent Hill: First Fear alone would be enough to classify it as a major player. The revenue from the music... it's rewriting the industry's understanding of profitability."
She let that sink in for a moment.
"The operation is becoming too large for a single person to manage, even someone as... uniquely capable as Sael. To that end, he's already structured the company into subdivisions. Meteor Creative handles all the narrative intellectual property—comics, manga, novels, the stories behind the games. Meteor Entertainment manages the music, the artists like Millie, and will eventually handle films and shows."…
Cathy looked amazed. "He's... he's built all that? By himself?"
"Essentially, yes," Kate nodded. "But that's the point. He can't run it all by himself anymore…. Not and keep growing. He needs staff. A legal team. An HR department. Accountants. A physical office. That's where I come in. My first task is to build the framework of a real-world corporation around the digital genius he's already created."
Kate's expression grew grave. She looked at each of them in turn, her lawyer's eyes ensuring she had their full and complete attention.
"This is the most important part," she said, her voice dropping to a near whisper, though no one else was in the apartment to hear.
"What Sael has built is unprecedented… He is currently a ghost, swimming silently amongst the corporate whales. They are terrified of him because they can't find him. They can't buy him, they can't bully him, and they certainly can't compete with him."
She paused, letting the tension build.
"The only reason we are all safe—the reason this apartment isn't surrounded by corporate spies and media drones—is because they believe Meteor Studio is a 'group' of reclusive geniuses. A whole team of brilliant minds working in secret. They cannot ever be allowed to discover the truth: that it is, essentially, one seventeen-year-old boy and his... unparalleled digital assistant."
Her gaze was iron. "Your son… Your grandson... Your nephew… His safety, and by extension the safety of everyone in this family, depends on this secret. We must all maintain the illusion. To the outside world, we know nothing. We are just his family, proud and perhaps a little confused by his incredible success. We do not speak of how it works. We do not speculate. We smile, we shrug, and we say we're just as surprised as they are. Do you understand?"
The room was dead silent. The weight of the secret, which had been an abstract concept, now settled onto their shoulders with tangible gravity. They weren't just a family anymore. They were the inner circle of a fortress under siege, and their number one weapon was deception.
Nadia was the first to nod, her face a mask of fierce determination. "We understand," she said, her voice firm. Cathy and Vera nodded immediately after, their eyes wide but resolute.