She Used Me for a Dare… Now I Own Her Mother

Chapter 530: Eclipse Holdings

Alex stepped out of the washroom after a quick shower, now fully dressed again. His hair was still slightly damp, and the lingering heat of the earlier hours had settled into a calm, satisfied ease.

He started walking back toward Victoria’s office.

When he reached Margaret’s desk, it was empty.

A faint smile touched his lips as he continued forward and pushed the office door open.

Inside, the room looked almost normal again.

Victoria was already seated at her usual place behind the desk. She had washed up and changed, her appearance neat and composed once more, as if the earlier chaos had never happened. Margaret stood beside the desk, helping put the last of the files back in order.

The moment Margaret noticed him, a faint pink rose across her cheeks. She quickly looked down at the papers in her hands, pretending to focus on them.

Alex’s gaze moved across the room.

The floor had been cleaned thoroughly. The desk was polished, dry, and organized again. No scattered clothes. No fallen files. No trace of what had happened there only a short while ago.

If someone walked in now, they would never guess that this same table had been anything but a place of work.

Victoria looked up as he entered and offered him a small, warm smile.

”Come sit,” she said, then turned slightly toward Margaret. ”That will be all for now. Leave those with me.”

Margaret nodded quickly. She gathered a few files into her arms, and as she turned to go, her eyes flicked toward Alex for the briefest second before she looked away again. A moment later, the door closed behind her, leaving the two of them alone.

Victoria watched the door for a beat, then looked back at Alex with an amused smile.

”Did you do something to her?” she asked lightly. ”She’s been acting rather... different around you.”

Alex let out a quiet laugh as he sat down across from her.

”Your assistant is surprisingly easy to fluster for someone her age.”

Victoria’s smile deepened, as if that answer didn’t surprise her at all. She knew Margaret well enough to understand exactly what he meant.

Then her expression settled into something more thoughtful.

”So...” she said, folding her hands loosely on the desk. ”Have you thought of a name yet?”

Alex met her gaze without hesitation.

”Eclipse Holdings.”

Victoria repeated the name slowly, tasting it as she said it.

”Eclipse Holdings...”A faint, teasing smile touched her lips as she looked at him.

”So you want to go big from the very beginning, huh?”

She leaned back slightly in her chair, studying him with quiet interest.

”Not a small firm. Not something quiet. You want a name that already sounds like it belongs at the top.”

Alex didn’t rush his answer.

”There’s no point in starting small when I already have what most people spend years trying to gather,” he said calmly. ”Resources. Connections. Access. If I already have the means to compete with the ones at the top, then building something small first would just be wasting time.”

He met her eyes evenly.

”A name like that isn’t for show. It’s a statement of direction. Eclipse Holdings should be built to stand beside the best from the beginning... not crawl its way there later.”

Alex lifted his hand slightly.

In the next instant, a laptop appeared on the desk in front of Victoria, as if it had always been meant to be there. He opened it with a calm motion and turned the screen toward her.

Victoria stared at it for a second, then let out a quiet breath.

”You never fail to amaze me, Alex...” she said, her voice carrying a mix of surprise and genuine admiration.

She reached forward and took the laptop from him, pulling it closer so she could look through the plan herself.

Victoria leaned in and began going through it carefully. She didn’t skim. Her eyes moved from section to section... structure, first-stage operations, funding channels, possible partnerships, and the way the holding company would sit above the initial businesses.

For a while, she said nothing. The only sound in the office was the faint click of her scrolling.

When she finally reached the end, she looked up at him. Her expression was strange... a mix of surprise, calculation, and something close to disbelief.

”You’re planning to use your own funds for all of this?” she asked. ”That much capital from a single source... isn’t that too risky?”

Alex answered without hesitation.

”I don’t invest in losing businesses. If I put my money into something, it’s because I’ve already judged it worth the risk. There’s no chance of loss—”

He stopped midway.

Victoria was staring at him, her gaze sharp, her expression tight with anger.

For a second, Alex was caught off guard. Then it clicked. He finally understand what she had meant earlier.

A low laugh left him as he reached out and gently brushed his fingers along her cheek.

”I’m sorry,” he said. ”If it were that simple, I would have accepted it. But I really have to put my own money into this first.”

Victoria’s fingers stilled on the laptop.

”Then show me the mission,” she said. ”Let me see it first. After that, I’ll decide.”

Alex looked at her for a moment, then let out a quiet breath. There was no point in hiding it now. She already knew about the system. She already knew about Lilith.

A faint glow appeared in the air between them as the system window unfolded.

[NEW MAIN MISSION TRIGGERED]

[MISSION: BUILD YOUR EMPIRE]

[Description: You have graduated from Blackwood University. It is time to step into the real world and establish your own power base. Create a legitimate establishment (business, organization, or enterprise) and make it famous. Your empire begins here.]

[Mission 01: Register the Establishment]

[Objective: Officially register your chosen business or organization within 7 days.]

[Reward: New System Feature Activation - Empire Builder]

[Failure Penalty: Loss of system support for 30 days]

[NOTICE!!!]

[Host may use only system-earned funds for the initial establishment and must retain 100% ownership.]

Victoria read every line in silence.

When she finally looked up, the anger in her eyes had faded into reluctant understanding. She didn’t like it. That much was clear. But she also understood why he had refused her.

She leaned back in her seat and stayed silent for a long moment.

Then she let out a quiet breath.

”Fine,” she said at last, though the reluctance was still clear in her voice. ”I’ll allow it.”

Alex stood up, walked around the desk, and drew her into a side hug. His arm settled around her shoulders, steady and unhurried.

”I know,” he said. ”You’re worried. You care. And the system knows that too. It knows you. It knows your capabilities. It knows the weight of the Blackwood name.”

He lowered his voice a little.

”That’s why it wants me to build this company myself. To work for it. To face the problems that come with it. Not to be babysat through the beginning.”

Then he smiled faintly against her hair.

”But don’t worry. It never said you couldn’t help me. Right?”

Victoria nodded.

She didn’t argue anymore. The worry was still there, and so was the quiet wish to stand beside him in more than words. She had wanted to be part of whatever he was building.

But if that wasn’t possible, then she would do the next best thing.

She would help him grow it as far as she could.

Alex gave her shoulder one last squeeze, then moved back to the desk. He adjusted the laptop, clicked through the files, and opened another one.

A building appeared on the screen.

Not a modest office. Not a quiet first floor in some convenient district. It was a prime property in one of the city’s most valuable stretches... close enough to power, finance, and influence that owning it meant more than just having a headquarters. It meant being seen.

Victoria’s eyes sharpened at once.

”That’s the one you want as your main base?” she asked.

Alex nodded.

For a moment, she simply stared at it. Then a small, unwilling smile touched her lips.

”It’s a good choice,” she said. ”Too good, actually.”

Then her expression cooled.

”And that’s the problem.”

She tapped the screen once.

”That building is still available because no one has been allowed to take it cleanly. The owner wants to sell. But the moment the listing went out, three families locked onto it. Not because they love the building. Because of where it sits.”

Her voice grew quieter, more precise.

”That location sits on a corridor every major group wants. Access. Visibility. Influence. Whoever holds it gets a foothold too close to the center. So none of them are backing down. They’ve been tearing at each other for months... blocking permits, dragging the sale through legal delays, pressuring the owner, and making sure no outsider closes the deal first.”

She looked back at Alex.

”That’s why it’s still sitting there. Not because it’s unwanted. Because everyone wants it... and no one is willing to let anyone else have it.”