MARVEL: BUYING GODHOOD

By the time we finally left the arcade, it was already getting late.

We had spent most of the day moving from one place to another, but none of them looked ready to go home yet.

As we walked toward the exit, I looked at the three of them and asked, “So, what do you want to do now?” Sara answered almost immediately, “Opera,” while Gwen said, “Dinner,” at almost the exact same time.

I looked between them before asking Gwen, “You want to eat?” She nodded without hesitation.

“Yes. I’m hungry again.” I then turned toward Sara.

“And you actually want to go to an opera?” Sara nodded too.

“I’ve never been to one. I always wanted to see what it’s like.” I hadn’t expected Sara to be interested in opera, but apparently there were still plenty of things I didn’t know about her.

Emily looked between the two of them before turning toward me.

“You know even rich people have to wait for that, right?

You can’t just decide you want to see an opera tonight.” I thought about it for a moment before saying, “One wants dinner and one wants an opera.

Fine.

It’ll be done.” Emily stared at me as if I’d ignored everything she’d just said.

“That’s not how an opera schedule works.”

I started walking again, but Emily followed me and said, “Wait. If they’re both getting what they want, then I want something too.” I looked back at her and asked what she wanted.

Her eyes moved toward the emerald suit I was wearing before she said, “I want you to wear the suit I chose.”

Sara immediately looked down at my jacket.

“He’s wearing mine.” Emily nodded.

“Exactly. You’ve had yours almost the whole day.” Gwen joined in before I could answer.

“Then mine should be next.” I looked at all three of them for a few seconds before shaking my head.

“You’re getting demanding.” Gwen smiled.

“You asked us what we wanted.”

I looked at Sara first and reminded her that I had already been wearing her choice for most of the day.

Then I turned toward Emily.

“I’ll wear yours tonight.” Finally, I looked toward Gwen.

“And I’ll wear yours tomorrow.” Gwen thought about it before nodding.

“Fine.” Emily smiled, apparently satisfied, while Sara looked at my current suit as if she was making sure she’d gotten enough time out of it before I changed.

The shopping bags were still in the car, so I brought Emily’s clothes back inside and changed.

Less than five minutes later, I returned wearing the cream suit with the black shirt she’d chosen.

Emily looked me over for a few seconds before giving a pleased nod.

“Better.” Sara studied it too before reluctantly admitting, “Okay, it does suit tonight better.” Gwen didn’t say anything, but from her expression, she was already waiting for tomorrow when I would wear her choice.

When we reached the car, the three of them stayed outside talking while I stepped a little away and pulled out my phone.

I had already gone through Father’s old contacts before, and there were far too many useful names among them.

I found the one I needed and called.

The man was surprised when I explained what I wanted, especially when I told him it had to be ready within an hour, but after a short conversation, he agreed to handle it.

I didn’t ask exactly how he planned to arrange everything.

As long as dinner and a performance were ready when we arrived, that was enough for me.

I returned to the car, and Sara immediately asked, “What did you do?” I unlocked the doors and answered, “Nothing yet.” She clearly didn’t believe me, but I didn’t explain anything else.

None of them knew exactly where we were going until the opera house finally came into view.

Sara leaned toward the window first, and Emily recognized it a second later.

“Wait, you’re serious?” she asked.

I parked nearby and got out.

“I did say it would be done.”

Sara stepped out after me and looked toward the building.

As we approached the entrance, however, she suddenly stopped when she noticed the large CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE sign beside the doors.

She pointed toward it and said, “It’s closed.” I kept walking.

“I know.” She quickly caught up with me.

“Then why are we going inside?” I glanced toward her.

“Because the sign isn’t for us.”

Sara stared at me for a moment before shaking her head.

“You’re doing it again.” When I asked what she meant, she gestured toward the entire building.

“This. You keep doing things that shouldn’t be possible with almost no warning.” I smiled.

“What can I say? My girls are getting too demanding, and I can’t exactly say no now, can I?”

That made all three of them go quiet.

Gwen looked directly at me, Sara stopped walking for half a second, and Emily’s face started turning pink again.

I kept walking as though I hadn’t noticed anything, although I was enjoying their reactions more.

Before anyone could say something about what I’d called them, the doors opened from inside.

Several members of staff were already waiting, and one of them stepped forward as soon as he saw us.

“Mr. Sterling, welcome. Everything has been prepared. Please follow me.” I nodded and walked inside with the girls following behind.

There wasn’t actually any maintenance happening.

The lights in the main hall were on, staff were moving around normally, and everything looked ready for guests.

The sign outside had apparently just been placed there to give people a reason for the building being unavailable tonight.

We were led through the building until we entered the main auditorium.

That was when all three of them slowed down.

Instead of taking us toward normal seats, the staff led us into an open section near the center.

Several seats had been removed, and in their place stood a dining table prepared for four people.

It faced directly toward the stage, with enough distance that we could eat comfortably while still having a perfect view of the performance.

The man leading us stopped beside the table and said, “I apologize, sir. With such short notice, this was the best arrangement we were able to prepare. The performers were also given very little preparation time, but they are ready whenever you are.” I looked toward the closed curtains on the stage before nodding.

“This is fine. Thank you.” He gave a small bow before stepping away.

When I turned toward the girls, Sara was still looking around the auditorium.

She finally looked at me and asked, “There are actually performers?” I pulled out one of the chairs for her and answered, “You wanted an opera.” She slowly sat down before saying, “I thought you were going to find tickets somewhere. I didn’t think you’d arrange the whole thing.”

Emily sat beside her and looked toward the stage before turning back to me.

“Okay, I take back what I said earlier.” I smiled as I took my seat.

“That was fast.” She shook her head.

“I’m still saying this is ridiculous. I’m just admitting you somehow did it.”

Gwen sat down beside me while looking around the nearly empty auditorium.

“At this point, I don’t even know why we’re surprised anymore.” Sara looked toward her.

“Because this isn’t normal.” Gwen smiled.

“I know. you get used to his version of normal.”

Menus were brought over soon after, and once we had them, I said, “Order whatever you want.” Sara immediately replied, “You really need to stop saying that.” Gwen smiled.

“It’s too late.

He already called us demanding.” Emily quietly added, “And his girls.” Both Sara and Gwen turned toward her, and Emily immediately lowered her eyes to the menu.

Once we placed our orders, the lights in the auditorium slowly dimmed.

Sara immediately turned toward the stage as the curtains began to open.

Several musicians were already seated below the stage while the performers took their positions beneath the lights.

Sara leaned forward slightly, and the smile appearing on her face told me everything I needed to know.

The music started soon after, filling the otherwise empty auditorium.

I didn’t know enough about opera to judge how good the performers were, but Sara seemed completely focused on the stage.

Even Emily stopped talking and watched.

Gwen leaned slightly toward me and quietly said, “You know you’ve probably ruined normal dates for them now.” I looked at her.

“This isn’t a date.” She gave me a look before turning back toward the stage.

“Sure.”

The first dishes arrived while the performance continued.

The staff moved quietly enough that they never interrupted anything, placing the food in front of us before disappearing again.

We ate while watching the stage, and for a while there wasn’t much conversation because Sara was paying more attention to the performance than her plate.

During a quieter part between sections, Sara finally looked toward me and said, “Okay, this counts.” I smiled.

“I’m glad I passed.” Emily looked at her and said, “You asked for an opera less than one hour ago, and now you’re eating dinner in front of one.” Sara nodded without looking embarrassed about it.

“I’m not complaining.” Gwen took another bite of her food.

“Neither am I. I only asked for dinner.”

As the next part of the performance began, we returned our attention to the stage.

By the time another break came, Sara seemed comfortable enough to stop staring at the performers every second.

She looked around the auditorium again before turning toward me.

“Okay, seriously. How rich are you?”

I thought about the question before answering, “From Father’s side alone, I’m already one of the richest people in the country.” Emily immediately noticed the way I’d said it.

“Father’s side alone?” I looked toward her, and she continued, “That means your mother had her own businesses too.” I nodded.

“She did.”

Sara looked interested now.

“What kind?” I answered, “Clothes, jewelry, cosmetics and some other things.” She stared at me.

“That’s very vague.” I smiled slightly before giving her the names.

“Sterling Apparel Group, Aurelia Luxury Group and Elysian Cosmetics were the main ones.”

For a moment, neither Sara nor Emily said anything.

Then Gwen frowned and looked toward me.

“Wait. Aunt Josephine owned those?” I stared at her.

“How many times have we talked about Mother’s companies?” Gwen immediately defended herself.

“You said she owned companies. I didn’t memorize every company name.” I shook my head.

“You really don’t listen to me.” She gave me a look.

“I listen when you say something important.”

Sara was still thinking about the names.

“I have clothes from Sterling Apparel.” I nodded.

“A lot of people do.” She continued, “And I use Elysian cosmetics.” I nodded again.

“Then I guess Mother knew what she was doing.” Sara leaned back slightly.

“I’ve looked at Aurelia jewelry too, but that’s way too expensive.”

I looked toward her.

“It’s luxury jewelry.” Sara shook her head.

“That doesn’t make the prices normal.” I smiled.

“I’ll tell the new manager you complained.” Emily immediately caught that part.

“New manager?” I nodded.

“I’m changing the management for Mother’s businesses. Someone else can handle them for me. I don’t have enough time to personally deal with everything.”

Sara asked, “So you’re not selling them?” I shook my head.

“No.” Emily was quiet for a moment before asking, “What was your mother like?” I paused before answering, “Strict.” Sara waited for more before asking, “That’s it?” I nodded.

“That’s the easiest way to describe her.” Neither of them pushed after that.

The performance became louder again, ending the conversation naturally.

We returned our attention to the stage while finishing dinner, and Sara seemed to enjoy the second half even more than the first.

By the time the final part ended and the performers bowed, all four of us applauded.

Because the auditorium was almost empty, our applause sounded ridiculously small inside the huge room.

Sara laughed when she noticed it before looking toward me.

“They performed all of that for four people.” I replied, “Technically, they performed it because you asked for an opera.” She looked at me for a moment before smiling.

“Then thank you.” That was probably the first time tonight she’d simply accepted something without arguing about it.

When we finally walked outside, the CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE sign was still beside the entrance.

Sara looked at it once more before turning toward me.

“I still can’t believe you arranged all of that in an hour.”

I dropped Emily home first.

Before getting out, she looked toward me and said, “Tomorrow. Don’t forget.” I immediately knew what she meant.

“The reactor.” She nodded.

“And I’m still calling it a gimmick if yours can’t be reproduced.” I smiled.

“You can decide after you see it.” She waved to Gwen and Sara before heading inside.

Sara was next.

When we reached her house, she opened the door but stopped before getting out.

“I’m coming tomorrow too.” I looked toward her.

“I already assumed you were.” She smiled before looking toward Gwen.

“Make sure he doesn’t suddenly decide to do something else.” Gwen laughed.

“I’ll try.”

Once Sara had gone inside, Gwen moved from the back seat into the front.

I waited for her to put on her seat belt before starting the car again.

Tomorrow, Sara and Emily would finally see what I’d been building beneath the house, and considering how surprised they’d been by tonight, I was looking forward to seeing their reactions when they saw the laboratory.