Chloe eventually stirred, stretching lazily before cracking one eye open to look at Maluck, who was lying comfortably beside her.

  “I am not moving. I am not getting out of this bed. Your job is to get me food,” she declared, voice still heavy with sleep.

  Maluck smirked, already reaching for the room service menu.

  “Yes, your highness,” he said with a mock bow.

  His Intelligence stat was 1.16, so he wasn’t an idiot. He knew exactly what she’d want after a night like that—steak, eggs, a fresh blueberry shake, and coffee so strong it could reanimate the dead.

  Life with room service? 100% awesome.

  Life with a hot goth girl in bed beside him and room service? 110%.

  As he placed the order, he turned back to her.

  “So, what do you want to do later?”

  Chloe barely cracked open her other eye. “Did you not hear me? I am not moving. I live here now. This is my home.”

  Maluck laughed. “Okay, today we lounge in bed and watch TV. But what about tomorrow? Technically, you only took a few days off work—”

  She groaned dramatically. “Why are you such a buzzkill? Ignoring you now.”

  Maluck placed the order and they both just lay in bed chit chatting.

  Before Maluck too much time had passed, there was a KNOCK, KNOCK at the door—the beautiful, magnificent sound of food salvation arriving.

  Maluck practically sprung from bed to retrieve it, wheeling in the cart like a medieval squire presenting an offering to his liege.

  “Here you go, Queen of Darkness. I, your loyal vassal, have procured the finest victuals for you.”

  Chloe sat up, hair still an absolute mess, but eyes lighting up as she saw the spread.

  “Foooodddd!” She grabbed her coffee first, taking a sip like it was the elixir of life.

  Maluck watched with satisfaction as she took her first bite of steak, eyes fluttering shut in appreciation.

  ‘Yeah. This was the life.’

  ***

  Chloe, after her rejuvenating meal and an additional hour and a half of lying in bed like a contented cat, finally sighed and stretched.

  “Fine. You’re right. I should figure out what I’m going to do tomorrow.”

  Maluck glanced over at her, smirking. “Oh? And? What’s the plan?”

  She flopped dramatically onto her side, burying half her face in the pillow. “I don’t know. I really don’t want to go back to working at the pawn shop.”

  Maluck nodded, feigning deep thought. “Then why don’t you work for me?”

  Chloe blinked. “What? By lying in this bed? I mean, I’m not really built to be a sugar baby. Or, because I’m a goth, I guess I’d be a sugar batty.”

  Maluck chuckled at that. “No. You’d be my first official employee of Lucky Star Ventures.”

  She propped herself up on one elbow. “What the hell is Lucky Star Ventures?”

  “Well, remember that comic book I told you I bought?”

  “Yeah, you got it at Abdul’s next door, right?”

  “Yep, that’s the place.”

  Chloe shrugged. “I mean, I know Abdul sells those comics for, like, a buck each. You said it was worth something, so what’d you get? Ten grand? That’d be awesome, considering he probably buys them in bulk for, like, twenty bucks a carton.”

  Maluck scratched his cheek, trying to hold back a grin. “Uh… not exactly.”

  She gave him a suspicious look. “Okay… how much then?”

  He hesitated just long enough to build suspense. “Two hundred thousand.”

  Chloe’s jaw dropped. Her arms shot up dramatically, nearly launching her coffee and juice across the room.

  “WHAT?!”

  “Whoa, whoa!” Maluck said, laughing as he rescued her nearly doomed drink.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  “TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND?!” She still wasn’t processing it. “For a comic book??”

  “Yep.” He grinned, leaning back with all the smug satisfaction of a cat who just stole an entire roast chicken.

  She stared at him like he’d just casually admitted to robbing a bank. “SERIOUSLY?!”

  “YEAH,” Maluck said, “And because it was such a large sale, I had to set up a business. Otherwise, the government would have taken a big ol’ chunk, and nobody wants that.”

  Chloe crossed her arms. “Yeah, fuck taxes.”

  “Exactly. So I hired an accountant, and we’re officially setting up Lucky Star Ventures.”

  Chloe blinked again, looking equal parts impressed and bewildered.

  “…And you did all of this while I was hanging off a bar like a sad squirrel in the gym?”

  “Yep!” Maluck said proudly, puffing out his chest. “See? I wasn’t slacking.”

  Chloe grinned and leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Well, you did good.”

  Maluck mentally celebrated.

  “Alright, so what would I even do as your ‘employee?’”

  He shrugged. “No clue. But there’s definitely a spot on my team for the world’s best thief…and worlds best….”

  Chloe narrowed her eyes. “Don’t. You. Finish. That. Sentence.”

  Maluck raised his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. Look, don’t think of it as employer-employee. Sure, it’s my business, but I was thinking more of a percentage deal. You get 25% of whatever we make, as long as you’re willing to work.”

  Chloe raised an eyebrow. “And what does this ‘work’ involve? Stealing things?”

  Maluck shook his head. “Honestly? I don’t know. I don’t want you breaking into houses or doing any of that kind of shit. But… who knows what we’re gonna end up doing?”

  She smirked. “You mean like yesterday?”

  “Exactly!” Maluck grinned. “You saw what our day was like. It was insane. And fun. And profitable. Now imagine that… every day.”

  Chloe leaned back, tapping her chin.

  “…That would be pretty fucking awesome.”

  ***

  “Hey, can I borrow your car?” Chloe asked, grabbing her jacket off the chair.

  Maluck, who was lounging on the bed, glanced up. “Sure. What are you doing?”

  “Well, since we were just talking about it, I figured I might as well go to the pawn shop, quit, and get my back wages. It’s about a thousand bucks, too.” She zipped up her jacket and slipped her boots on, looking way too determined for what should’ve been a simple errand.

  Maluck tossed her the keys. “Cool. Go ahead.”

  She caught them and headed out, slamming the door behind her.

  The drive to the pawn shop was routine, but the moment she stepped inside, she knew something was off. The store felt emptier than usual—a bunch of the display cases were missing their usual clutter, and the owner wasn’t behind the counter. She looked around, spotting the shop’s only other employee, a greasy-haired guy named Travis, wiping down an old stereo.

  “Where’s the boss?” she asked, crossing her arms.

  Travis snorted. “Coin exhibition. Took off this morning with a case full of old junk.”

  ‘Of course.’ She should’ve known the bastard would be out trying to make a quick buck.

  “Figures,” she muttered. “Guess I’ll have to go track him down.”

  A quick search on her phone pulled up the location—some convention center across town. If Ron thought not being in the shop for the day would help him dodge this conversation, he had another thing coming.

  The exhibition was a mess of booths, collectors, and middle-aged men arguing over coins like it was a stock exchange. Chloe wove her way through the crowd, scanning the booths until she spotted him—Ron, her smug, weaselly boss, chatting up some potential buyer with a greasy smile.

  She marched straight up to him, cutting right into whatever sales pitch he was delivering. “Hey, Ron. We need to talk.”

  His face twitched when he saw her, but he quickly plastered on a fake, oily grin. “Chloe! What a surprise. What brings you here?”

  “I’m quitting for real,” she said flatly, crossing her arms. “And I’m here for my last paycheck.”

  Ron barely hesitated. “Oh, uh… yeah, about that.” He scratched the back of his head, suddenly looking very interested in a display case full of antique pennies. “You actually violated company policy, so I can’t pay you.”

  Chloe blinked. “What?”

  “You broke the rules. Pretty serious stuff,” he said, waving a dismissive hand. “Can’t reward bad behavior.”

  Her hands clenched into fists. “What ‘rule’ did I break, exactly?”

  Ron made a show of looking thoughtful, as if he were digging deep into the imaginary handbook he’d just made up. “Oh, you know… the one about, uh… not abandoning your shift without notice?”

  Chloe’s eye twitched. “I gave two weeks’ notice a month ago. You’ve been dodging me for the past three weeks.”

  Ron shrugged, all faux innocence. “Yeah, well, you should’ve given me a reminder.”

  Oh, she was going to kill him. Right here. In front of all these nerds trading dimes.

  She took a deep breath, physically forcing herself not to commit a felony. “Ron. Just give me my money.”

  He laughed. “Oh, c’mon, Chloe. You know how this works. It’s not worth the fight. You’d have to go through small claims court, pay fees, and even if you win, I’d just say I don’t have the money.” He leaned in with a smirk. “What are you gonna do? Get a lawyer? You can’t afford that.”

  Her fingers twitched. She could take him in a fight. She could absolutely take him in a fight. But, unfortunately, that wouldn’t get her a thousand bucks.

  Grinding her teeth, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the exhibition before she did something regrettable.

  Still fuming, she drove back to the hotel, gripping the steering wheel like she was imagining it was Ron’s neck.

  Maluck was about to greet her when she walked in, but one look at her face told him everything he needed to know.

  “Nope,” she said, cutting him off before he could ask. “Just… nope.” She threw his keys onto the table, flopped onto the bed, and groaned into the pillow.

  Maluck folded his arms. “He stiffed you, huh?”

  She lifted her head just enough to glare at him. “What was your first clue?”

  Maluck cracked his knuckles. “Oh, hell no.”

  Right on cue, his System flashed a task.

  [System Task]: Justice delayed is justice denied. Make sure this bastard learns the value of fair pay. Bonus based on severity.

  What Maluck didn’t know was the task had come straight from Justice herself, one of the toughest and most no-nonsense of the Virtues. She wasn’t the type to mess around when it came to fairness, and if anyone was taking advantage of people, they were about to learn her lesson the hard way.

  Justice had watched over the situation and knew exactly how to deal with it. While Wrath could get fired up and angry, Justice’s approach was more methodical, and exacting.

  Her task wasn’t just about getting the money back—it was about making sure that anyone who thought they could take advantage of others would remember the lesson. You don’t mess with fairness. You don’t mess with the concept of what’s right. And Maluck, whether he realized it or not, was the instrument for that lesson.

  Maluck grinned. “He’s still at the coin show, right?”

  Chloe sat up. “Yeah, why?”

  “Then I’m going.”

  She hesitated. “Are you sure? Ron knows some shady people. Like, dudes who sell things with the serial numbers scratched off.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll get your money.”

  ***