“Checkmate!”

Amelia planted her Knight on F5, trapping Keith’s King form all sides with the help of her Queen, Bishop, and Rook.

Keith kept staring at the board for a while, trying to process everyrhing that had just happened. He was not going easy on her since he knew how fierce her Chess Skills were, but still, how he got played by her on the board was too much of a shock for him. ｂ𝚍ｏｖ𝚕．𝚝

“I am going to log it in.” And she rubbed some more salt on his wounds, picking up his Log Book and making the first entry of their Match.

His current Chess skills were Advanced Tier, close enough to the Expert Tier, and for Amelia to toy with him from the very first move, she was bound to, at least, possess Master Tier Chess Skills.

“Want to play again?” She smiled lightly and asked.

“Sure.” He was not the one to back down and nodded to her, helping her reset the board.

This time, he stayed alert and played much more cautiously, dragging the game for over 10 minutes, but eventually, he still lost it.

Keith helplessly smiled as he watched Amelia log her second victory in the book.

“Again?” She asked.

“Sure…”

And they were at it again and again.

Keith lost seven games consecutively before Amelia stopped asking for more.

“Let’s call it a day.” She reset the board and then stood up, walking to the dressing room. “You have improved a lot in the last two games.” She commented before she closed the door behind her.

“Thanks!” He chuckled and shook his head.

Yes, he was a little depressed after losing seven games, but at the same time, he was excited that he had another competitor whom he could not beat. It roused his desire to improve, and he did not care if he would have to lose a 100 games to her to get his first win. All he cared about was beating her at it fair and square.

Keith realized that he possessed a system that could help him improve on any of his skills, but he did not want to solely rely on it. He had always been a fast learner who found learning new things quite enjoyable. He wanted to learn a few skills on his own and improve on his existing skills as much as he could in the time he had, and decided to only take aid of the System when it becomes necessary.

He stood up from the seat and walked up to the study table, opening his laptop and logging into May’s Brokerage Account. He could not have his own account since he had not graduated yet, and Keith did not want to involve any Stock Brokers in the investments he planned on making. Luckily, May was a registered Stock Broker at the Netherian Stock Exchange, and she handed her details and account to him to use as he pleased.

It was 18th of December, 2040, and tonight a certain Cryptocurreny was at it lowest value in several years. However, it would sharply rise for the next hundred days for as much as five times the original value before taking the inevitable dip.

For anyone else, it would have been a risky venture, but Keith knew all the ins and outs, knowing exactly when he had to pull out his investment to make the most profit. However, he had to be very careful with it as it was not something he could very heavily invest in, otherwise, the pattern of its Value would see unforseen changes. There was no need to be too greedy, but he did not have to be modest either.

At exactly, 23 30, he bought the Cryptocurreny worth 420 Million Neris. He knew that even if his investment caused some fluctions in the market value, it would not be enough to derail it from the projected path. He was ready to only get a return of four times his investment instead of five as that would earn him nearly 2 Billion Neris, which was a huge sum.

He looked at his remaining balance and sighed. Yes, he still had more than a 100 Million in his account, but it was the first time in his life that he felt like he did not have enough money in his hands.

Sebastian was utilizing the 800 Million Neris he had given to him to secure the land, and Keith was hopeful that he would not need more of it. In case things turned out differently, he would simply ask his mother to give him some money.

He had already handed over the operating costs of the companies to May, and things would run smoothly for the next six to seven months. It was enough time for him since he would have a lot of money in his hands by then.

Thinking of this, Keith decided to test out his Expert Tier Stock Flipping Skills, picking up several decent stocks that would offer him immediate gains. He did not spend a lot of money on these investments since he was just testing himself out, and continued to play in the Stock Market for the next four hours.

Amelia had returned hours ago after freshening up, and she had been meditating for the last couple of hours on the bed. When she opened her eyes and still found him sitting at the study table, she could no longer contain her curiosity.

She stood up and slowly approached him, leaning over his shoulder and looking at the screen that displayed all the numbers and graphs.

“What are you doing?” She asked even though she could see what he was doing.

“Making money.” He smiled at her and then returned his attention back to the screen.

“Any luck?”

“Yup.” He nodded his head. “Made two million in the last three hours.”

His words surpised her and she looked at the screen with a lot more interest than before. However, she could not understand anything she saw on it.

“Do you plan on spending the entire night on it?”

“No. I am done.” He smiled at her and closed on his last investment before logging out of the account.

Keith was pleased to discover that he had gained a better understanding of Stock Exchange after spending all these hours on it, and he wanted to make it a regular thing to improve on his Stock Flipping Skills.

“Let’s go to bed.” He closed his laptop and picked up his wife in a princess-carry.

Amelia shied her eyes away from him, but did not really refuse him for anything. He was her husband and he could do whatever he desired with her. But to her relief, he did not plan on doing much tonight.

He layed her down on the bed and then climbed onto it laying right next next her before he turned to her and looked right into her emerald eyes.

“Do you like the place?” He softly asked.

“It’s a beautiful home.” She smiled at him.

“And my family?” He smiled at her and asked.

“You are blessed, you know?”

“I know.” He chuckled and nodded. “Do you miss your parents?”

Amelia stayed silent as she kept smiling at him for a good minute.

“I was only three when they passed away. It has been over two decades now. Yes, there were moments when I wished I still had them around, but now I feel no such desire.” She told him. “What about you?”

Keith knew that she was asking about his father, and he closed his eyes before taking a deep breath.

“I saw him die right in front of my eyes. And I was quite depressed for several months.” He informed her. “But my mother never really made me feel like I needed him in my life. I may have sometimes wished he was still around, but now, quite frankly, I am glad that he is dead. He would have harmed my family even more had he lived.”

Amelia frowned at his words.

Keith knew that she was not aware of what exactly had transpired all those years ago, and he decided to tell her everyrhing he knew about it.

“What would you have done had you been in his shoes?” She asked after she listened to everything.

“I would have never decided to give up on my family who loved and needed me just for some woman, no matter how much I loved her.” He unhesitatingly answered her question. “But if I were in his shoes, things would have been a lot different.”

“How so?”

“I am not as weak as him.” He smiled at her. “I would have used force, not caring about all the blood I would have had to shed.”

“Even if you had to kill the woman you loved?” She smiled and asked.

“No.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Not if she loved me back and was sincere. In that case, I would have hidden her from the public, even if it meant caging her in a dungeon.”

“You are selfish too.” She pointed out and smiled when she found him not bothered by her remark. “But yes, you would not abandon your family.”

“There’s nothing more important than family to me.” He truthfully said.

“I want to meet your lover. And the girl named Qingyue that Mother told me about.”

“I guess you two talked about a lot of things after dinner?” He sighed and asked.

“She told me a lot about you, and the people who surround you.” She smiled at him. “She told me that you like Qingyue. And I want to meet the people you would add in our family one day. You see, just like you, I won’t allow someone to harm my family too.”

“Is that so?” He mischievously smiled at her and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Are you planning on declaring your sovereignty over me?”

“You can think of it that way. Afterall, I am your first wife.” She did not deny his words, but Keith knew that she was not a woman who envied anyone.

“I promise you, I would never bring someone into our family who would harm us.” He seriously said.

“We shall see.” She softly said. “Things never go as planned, not even if you know everything.”

He could not really deny her words and just wrapped his arms around her, closing his eyes and resting his head back on the pillow.

Amelia leaned in, snuggled in his embrace, and closed her eyes too.

“Good Night!” She whispered.

“Good Night, Love!” He planted a kiss on her head and gently stroked her back, helping her fall asleep faster.

It did not take long for him to lose himself to her warmth and enter the world of dreams as well.