North America / Louisiana (Garden District, New Orleans): April 23th, 2026.
It was a beautiful evening for the world. The city moving on with itself as if people were not drowning in debt, humiliation, family rot and legal nonsense all at once, yet if you were to look closely at one mansion in the garden district. To be more specific, inside of a large living room full of dark wood, expensive leather and the financial stupidity of a dead marriage. You could see a monstrously built scarred man in nothing but a pair of very tight black spandex boxers sitting on a couch surrounded by papers and looking as if he wanted to strangle arithmetic itself.
The atmosphere tense.
(Malakai's POV)
The living room was silent.
"This fucking gold digger, she laundered all of his money and left him to die for a billionaire. No, she could have been seeing that billionaire before the previous owner married her so my five children might not even be my own." I said muttering with squinted eyes as I stared down at the documents, my hand rubbing my stubble bearded chin slowly.
The living room was silent.
"Well, that is a good thing at least if there not my children, less nuisances for me" I thought with a sigh.
I lifted another bank statement and looked over it again.
A quiet transfer. A hidden account. A trust payment that didn't line up.
Luxury spending disguised as maintenance.
School fees that exceeded private university tuition.
And a signature that should not have still been active.
My eyes narrowed harder.
*Tak* *Tak* *Tak*
I tapped the black pen against the glass table slowly.
"This is not bad spending anymore. This is organized stupidity mixed with greed." I muttered calmly.
The living room was silent.
I grabbed another statement. Then another. Then another.
The pile getting uglier. The numbers getting worse.
The former owner of this body truly had been a financial whore with no discipline.
The kind of man who got rich, got horny, got lonely and then let everybody around him feed from his body and accounts like starving dogs.
I clicked my teeth softly.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
I leaned back into the couch and looked up at the ceiling with a dark look in my eyes.
"The marriage was fake, the divorce was late, the children might not be mine and now the debt is real. Excellent." I thought calmly.
Suddenly my iphone began vibrating against the leather cushion beside me.
*BZZZT* *BZZZT* *BZZZT*
I looked down at the screen.
Howard ceiss. My lawyer.
The living room was silent.
"If he is calling me this late then my evening is about to become even more insulting" I thought with a sigh as I answered and lifted the phone to my ear.
"Speak." I said flatly.
Howard adjusted his throat on the other end and said with a serious look in his voice "Mr ellington-nobel, I need you to listen carefully."
I stared down at a bank statement with a blank look on my face and said calmly "That sentence is always followed by nonsense. Continue."
Howard was silent for a moment and then said "You need to vacate the mansion Immediately."
The living room was silent.
I stared ahead.
"Explain." I said calmly with a dangerous tone
Howard Immediately said "The house has been flagged under temporary enforcement review. There are secured obligations tied to the marital holdings, concealed asset issues and a emergency action filed this afternoon. If you are still there when representatives arrive then it will become a public event. I strongly advise you to leave now."
The living room was silent. I said nothing.
Interesting. Very interesting.
So now the mansion itself had become another bill with walls.
I rubbed my forehead with my left hand and asked flatly "How long."
Howard answered "At least tonight. Potentially longer. I need time to sort out whether this is headed toward forced sale, negotiated protection or partial seizure, but right now you need to pack what you need and get out."
The living room was silent. I slowly looked around.
The chandeliers.
The shelves.
The expensive couches.
The giant television.
The bar cart.
The dark wood.
The overcompensating architecture.
I looked back down at the papers in my hand and muttered calmly "Reincarnation is a scam."
Howard adjusted his throat and said "Sir."
I let out a slow breath through my nose and said flatly "Fine."
Howard sounded relieved and said "Do not make a scene, do not argue with anyone who arrives and do not remove the larger property without clearance."
I looked at the furniture with disgust and said calmly "I was already planning to sell half of this ugly nonsense later."
Howard was silent for a moment and then said "Call me when you're out."
*Click*
I ended the call and sat there for a moment.
The living room was silent. I slowly stood up from the couch.
My very tight black spandex boxers stretching over my muscular scarred thighs and ass as my full height unfolded with a serious look on my face.
The living room was silent.
I looked around at the mansion again and said calmly "You expensive bitch."
The room was silent. I didn't hate the house.
I hated that I couldn't keep it without humiliating myself further.
That was different. Very different.
I grabbed two black duffel bags from the hall closet on the way upstairs and went into the master bedroom.
The bedroom was silent.
A massive bed.
Black furniture.
Walk-in closet.
Gold fixtures.
More signs of a man who spent like somebody who thought death and debt were things that only happened to poorer people.
I threw the duffel bags onto the bed.
*THUMP* *THUMP*
I started packing.
Black shirts.
Dark slacks.
Three fitted suits.
Toiletries.
Medication.
My jewelry case.
My laptop.
Two external drives.
Cash.
My reading glasses.
The black pen.
Phone chargers.
Personal files.
Nothing sentimental.
Nothing soft.
Nothing stupid.
I looked at a framed family photograph sitting atop the dresser.
The former owner's ex wife with a polished smile and a oversized voluptuous, taunting figure that could put any other woman to shame.
Five children dressed in wealth and discomfort.
And him. The man whose body I was using now.
Big. Scarred. stupid.
I picked the frame up and looked at it for a moment before saying flatly and crushing it "Pathetic."
*Crack*
It fell to floor.
*Tak*
The bedroom was silent.
I paused in front of the mirror wearing only the tight black spandex boxers again and stared at myself.
A 9'11 darkly handsome monster with scars, muscle and expensive ruin written all over him.
I ran my fingers through my black and white styled hair and thought with a serious look on my face "At least this body still has value even if the rest of this life is collapsing. I can make use of it"
That thought did not improve my mood.
It only made me more aware of how this world looked at me.
As a judge. a body. A spectacle. Something to watch.
I clicked my teeth softly. Annoying.
"I might as well use that to my advantage then." I said calmly while crouching to zip both the bags shut.
*ZZZIP* *ZZZIP*
The room was silent.
I looked once more at the custom furniture, the art on the walls and the luxury around me and thought calmly "I will sell all of this later. Let some other idiot buy it."
I picked my phone up and called samantha.
The line rang once. Twice.
Then she answered with a tired voice "What."
"Come get me." I said flatly.
The room was silent.
Samantha was silent for a moment too and then asked tiredly "Why."
I lifted both duffel bags and started walking out of the bedroom.
"Because the mansion has turned into a legal whore and I am being kicked out tonight." I said calmly.
Samantha was silent.
"You are serious." Asked samantha from the phone, letting out a quiet breath through her nose.
I started down the staircase and said flatly "No, I am calling you half naked and carrying duffel bags because I crave drama."
"Do you have somewhere to go." Asked samantha Immediately from the phone, completely ignoring what I just said.
I reached the bottom of the staircase and looked around at the mansion one final time.
Dark wood.
Leather.
Glass.
Failure.
"Yes. Your sister." I said calmly.
Samantha let out a short laugh. Of course she did.
"Give me fifteen minutes." Said samantha from the phone.
*Click*
I ended the call.
The mansion was silent.
I stood there in the middle of that huge living room with two bags and a collapsing life and suddenly the place felt even emptier than before.
No warmth. No family. No laughter. No actual love.
Just money, wood and the ghost of terrible decisions.
I put the bags down and got dressed.
Black fitted t-shirt. Black slacks. Black boots.
I grabbed my suit jacket and looked at the front door.
"Good. Let it burn without fire." I thought with a blank look on my face.
Headlights flashed across the front windows.
A car engine settled outside.
I grabbed both bags and walked out without looking back.
TIMESKIP: Minutes later.
The inside of the black sedan was silent. Streetlights passing slowly across the windows as samantha drove through the evening streets of new orleans with both hands on the wheel and a serious look on her face.
I sat in the back seat with my duffel bags beside me and looked out the window.
The car was silent.
After a moment samantha asked calmly "How bad is it."
I looked ahead and said flatly "Worse than I thought. The marriage was financially diseased. The house is temporarily dead. The former owner of this body was a bigger idiot than I gave him credit for and now I am being removed from a mansion in silence like a rich side piece after midnight."
Samantha let out a quiet breath through her nose. Her eyes blinking in utter confusion at what I just said.
The sedan was silent.
I adjusted the cuff of my shirt and asked calmly "What exactly do you expect from me."
Samantha kept her eyes on the road and said "I expect you to do what you do best."
I looked at the back of her head and said flatly "That answer is vague and stupid. Narrow it down."
The sedan was silent.
"Do you really want the honest version."
Asked samantha asked calmly.
"Yes." I said Immediately.
The car was silent.
Samantha sighed and said "I want you to shut victoria down."
I stared at her reflection in the rearview mirror.
Interesting.Very interesting.
I leaned my head back against the seat and asked flatly "In what way."
"In every way that matters." Said samantha Immediately while turning the steering wheel.
The sedan was silent.
"She is stuck up. Mouthy. Too used to being the prettiest woman in the room and getting away with things because of it. Too used to people dancing around her attitude instead of actually checking it." Said samantha with a more irritated tone.
I was silent for a moment and then asked calmly "And you want me to do what exactly. Bark at her. Lay her over my lap and spank her ass and have her call me daddy while ruining her peace."
Samantha's lips curled upward slightly and said "Sound useful. Not a bad idea at all. I knew I could trust you with this."
The sedan was absolutely silent. Samantha's eyes turning serious.
"I want you to establish control over the space Immediately. Don't wait. Don't be polite. Don't let her start getting comfortable with her own mouth. Shut it down early." Said samantha calmly as she adjusted her hands on the steering wheel.
The inside of the black car was silent.
"Your family is exhausting." I said flatly.
"Yes." Said samantha Immediately. Her eyes tired.
The sedan was silent.
I looked out the tinted window at the passing lights and then asked again with a serious look on my face "No. What do you actually expect."
Samantha was silent for a moment and then said plainly "I expect you to humble her hard. Psychologically and physically. However you need to. Nobody has ever properly checked her attitude and she needs it."
Interesting.
So I was not being taken to a temporary place to stay.
I was being delivered into another woman's apartment like a very large problem with shoulders and bad patience.
Excellent. I snickered softly under my breath.
Annoying.
The car drove on.
After a while the neighborhood changed.
The roads cleaner.
The buildings tighter.
The air quieter.
We pulled up in front of a upscale apartment building with polished windows, cream stone and the kind of entrance that tried very hard to look more expensive than it actually was.
The sedan came to a slow stop. The street was silent.
I looked up at the building and then asked one final time "What exactly are you expecting from me."
Samantha turned slightly in her seat and looked back at me with a serious face.
"I expect you to walk in there and make it clear that your existence outweighs her attitude. Don't negotiate with the mouth. Break the rhythm of it. She needs to be humbled because nobody has ever done it properly." Said samantha very flatly with eyes full of support.
The inside of the car was silent.
I nodded once. Good.
That was simple enough.
I stepped out of the sedan first and grabbed both duffel bags. Samantha got out too and locked the vehicle before walking beside me toward the entrance.
The elevator ride up was silent.
The hallway was silent too.
Cream walls.
Soft lighting.
Clean wood.
The faint scent of expensive perfume.
Interesting. Very interesting.
So victoria lived like a woman who spent money carefully enough to pretend she had class.
We stopped in front of a dark apartment door.
Samantha knocked twice.
*Knock* *Knock*
No answer.
Samantha banged and kicked the door with anger.
*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*
Footsteps sounded from inside.
Then the lock turned.
The door opened.
Victoria stood there in a fitted cream lounge set that hugged her body too well for me to think her sister had been lying about her vanity. Her long red hair pinned loosely back, light eyes sharp with annoyance and her full mouth already tightened like it had been waiting for somebody to irritate her tonight.
She looked at samantha first.
Then at me.
Then higher.
And higher.
Our eyes met.
The hallway was silent.
Her face changed.
Annoyance to confusion.
Confusion to disbelief.
Disbelief to offense.
Good. Very good.
"What the hell is this." Said victoria sharply.
Samantha folded her arms and said calmly with a yawn "Your temporary inconvenience. Be grateful bitch."
Victoria looked at the bags.
Then my scars.
Then my size.
Then at aamantha again. Her eyes full of anger.
"Absolutely not." Said victoria with a laugh as she started closing the door.
I stared at the closing door for one second.
*BOOOM*
I bent down and slammed the door open with my right hand and walked in.
Victoria had a flabbergasted looks and moved like she thought standing there angry would somehow stop a 9'11 man with duffel bags and a collapsing life.
It did not.
*THUMP*
My shoulder hit hers as I shoved straight past her into the apartment and knocked her sideways against the wall beside the doorway.
*BAK*
The apartment went silent.
I walked in without looking back and looked around once.
White couch.
Pale wood.
Expensive rug.
Clean glass.
Little decorative nonsense placed around the room like she had paid money for the illusion of softness.
I dropped both bags beside the couch.
*THUMP* *THUMP*
Victoria finally gathering her bearings back snapped loudly "DID YOU JUST SHOVE ME IN MY OWN APARTMENT."
I looked around the room and then said calmly without turning around "Yes."
The apartment was silent.
Samantha shut the door behind us with a quiet click.
Victoria stared at my back for a moment and then said with even more anger "Excuse me."
I slowly turned and looked down at her.
She was pretty. Too aware of it too.
Her body tight with outrage. Her arms already crossing over her oversized chest as if they had done that many times before whenever she did not get her way.
I looked at her for a long moment and said flatly "Do not stand in front of doors if you are not prepared to be moved. First lesson from
This daddy."
The apartment was silent.
Victoria let out a sharp bitter laugh and said "You arrogant bitch."
I adjusted the strap of my duffel bag and said calmly "And you are loud, entitled and decorative. We all have burdens to bear little girl."
Samantha let out a quiet breath through her nose.
Victoria's eyes widened almost Immediately.
Good. That hit.
She took a step closer and said with a bitchy look on her face "I did not agree to this. You do not just walk into my home like some oversized animal and start acting like you own the place."
I looked down at her and said flatly "Wrong. I already did."
The apartment was silent.
Victoria's jaw tightened hard.
Samantha stayed by the door with her arms folded and a look on her face that was getting far too entertained for my liking.
Victoria pointed toward my bags and said sharply "Take your things and get out. Now or I'm calling the police"
I looked at her finger. Then at her face.
"Do you point because you think it makes you look serious or because your mouth starts failing halfway through arguments." I asked calmly.
Victoria slowly lowered her hand with a visibly angered look on her face.
"You are not staying here. LEAVE." Said Victoria with her voice rising in pitch and her face full of rage and gritted teeth.
I took one slow step toward her. Then another.
She held my stare for a moment but I saw it.
That little instinctive shift in her body.
That tiny retreat pride always tried to hide.
There it was.
I stopped just close enough for the space between us to become uncomfortable and said calmly with my gravel voice low "Listen carefully young lady because I do not enjoy repeating myself to women who confuse being pretty with being important. I am here because my situation is temporarily inconvenient and your sister offered this apartment as a holding space. That means this is now a shared problem and you are already handling it like a spoiled little brat."
The apartment was silent.
Victoria stared up at me with fury in her eyes.
"Your opinion was relevant before I put my bags down. You waited too long. I am already inside and now all you are doing is reacting badly in nice lighting." I said calmly, flicking her forehead.
*Thunk*
Samantha smiled.
Victoria snapped her head backward slightly and looked towards samantha and said loudly "Are you serious right now. You brought this asshole here on purpose."
"Yes." Said samantha Immediately. Her pinky finger in her ear and took it out and blew on it.
The apartment was silent.
Victoria looked like she wanted to scream.
"He is not staying here. He talks like a psychopath, he looks like trouble and he just put his hands on me, a woman. If you don't leave this instant I am calling the police, end of discussion." Said victoria while pointing at me.
I clicked my teeth softly. She's pulling the woman card.
Annoying.
Unfortunately for her, I'm a man of equality.
"First, I did not put my hands on you. I moved through space and you were stupid enough to still be in it. Second, you look like the kind of woman whose worst trauma is hearing no in a expensive room, so spare me the performance." I ssid calmly and very dryly with a sigh.
The apartment was absolutely silent.
Victoria laughed once with visible offense written all over her face and said "Oh my god. You really think you can come in here and dominate everything just because you are big."
I looked around the apartment once more.
The soft colors.
The expensive decorations.
The careful cleanliness.
The curated comfort.
Then I looked back at her and said flatly "No. I can come in here and dominate everything because you mistake attitude for authority."
The apartment was silent.
That one landed deeper.
I saw it Immediately.
Good.
Victoria folded her arms tighter and said "You have no idea who you are talking to."
I stared at her for a long moment and then said calmly "That would mean more if you did not look like the final evolution of a expensive headache."
Samantha turned her face away slightly.
Probably to hide the smile.
Victoria noticed and snapped "Why are you smiling."
"Because he is right. Your a total bitch. This is for all of the treatment you put me through as kids you female dog." Said samantha without remorse.
The apartment was silent.
Victoria looked between both of us like betrayal itself had just put on heels and walked into her living room.
"So that is what this is. You bring some giant rude bastard into my apartment to teach me a lesson." Said victoria bitterly whike letting out a hard breath.
I adjusted my sleeve and said flatly "No. Life brought me here because the former owner of this body handled money like a horny corpse with access to credit. Your sister merely completed the delivery."
Victoria blinked a couple of times and stared at me with visible confusion and annoyance mixed together.
Good.
Confused people usually spoke slower.
I picked up one of my bags and started walking deeper into the apartment.
Victoria Immediately stepped after me and said "Excuse me. Where do you think you are going."
"To whichever room offends you most. Likely you're room so we will be bed buddies and rubbing feet together from now on. I look forward to it." I said calmly with a wave of my hand.
The apartment was silent.
Victoria let out a furious laugh and moved faster to get ahead of me.
She failed.
Of course she did.
I stopped in front of the hallway leading deeper into the apartment and looked at samantha once.
"Which room." I asked flatly.
Samantha pointed with her chin and said "Master room. End of the hall."
Victoria spun toward her sister and said loudly "ABSOLUTELY NOT, HE IS NOT LIVING WITH ME. YOU ARE NOT SLEEPING IN MY ROOM."
I looked at victoria and asked calmly "Do you hear how emotional you sound."
Victoria stared at me and said through her gritted teeth "Do you hear how insane you sound."
I answered Immediately "No. Because unlike you, I am making sense."
The apartment was silent again. I walked down the hallway.
Victoria followed.
Samantha followed behind her.
The master room was clean, soft and expensive in that same irritating way as the rest of the apartment.
Neutral bedspread.
Pale lamp.
Soft rug.
No personality beyond purchased calm.
I walked inside and set both bags down beside the bed.
*THUMP* *THUMP*
Victoria stood in the doorway with both hands on her hips and said "This is unbelievable."
I looked around the room once and nodded slowly.
"I agree. Your decorating preferences are extremely sexless. I find your sex appeal will be nothing as bed buddies for this old body of mine." I said calmly as I rubbed my stubble bearded chin.
Samantha laughed out loud.
Victoria shot her a murderous look and then turned back to me.
"You are impossible." She said with squinted eyes.
I looked at her calmly and answered "No. I am temporary."
The room was silent.
I sat down once on the edge of the bed and looked up at her with a blank face.
"Now let us make this easier for everyone involved. You will stop speaking to me like I arrived here begging for a favor. I did not. I arrived here carrying a inconvenience and wearing it better than most men wear dignity. You will lower your voice, manage your face and stop performing outrage every time reality refuses to kneel in front of you." I said very flatly with my eyes opening slightly
.
Victoria stared at me with complete disbelief on her face.
Samantha leaned lightly against the wall by the door with her arms folded.
"You are not the queen of this apartment. You are simply the loudest tenant in it. There is a difference. Learn it quickly and the next few days may remain tolerable. Or this daddy will teach you manner personally." I said calmly with my left eye closing.
The room was silent. Victoria's lips parted.
She laughed once. Short. Sharp. Dangerous.
"You really think I am going to let you talk to me like this in my own home." Said victoria with a scary look in her eyes.
I stared at her and said flatly "I think you already did."
The room was silent.
Victoria narrowed her eyes and said "And what exactly happens if I do not play along with your little power trip."
I leaned back slightly, my massive frame taking up more of the bed than the room seemed prepared for, and answered with a calm voice "Then you continue embarrassing yourself and I continue surviving you. But let us be honest. One of those things is much harder to watch than the other."
The room stayed silent. Victoria looked at samantha.
Then at me.
Then at the bags.
Then at the bed.
Then back at me again with a expression I recognized Immediately.
She hated this.
Hated that I had entered her space.
Hated that I was bigger than the room.
Hated that I was not flirting.
Hated that I was not impressed.
Hated that I looked at her like she was a problem instead of a prize.
Good. Very good.
I stood up from the bed and walked toward her slowly.
Victoria did not move at first.
Then only at the very end she stepped back once into the hallway.
There it was.
I stopped at the doorway and looked down at her.
"One more thing." I said calmly.
Victoria folded her arms again and glared up at me. "What."
I looked at her for a long moment and said flatly "Do not point at me again in this apartment unless you are prepared to lose the argument attached to it. Daddy's second lesson."
The hallway was silent.
Samantha let out another quiet amused breath.
Victoria said nothing. Interesting.
She had finally gone quiet.
That alone made the room feel cleaner.
I looked at samantha and asked calmly "How long."
Samantha shrugged once and said "A few days. Maybe a week. Depends on your lawyers, your finances and whether your life gets worse first."
I looked up at the ceiling and thought "It will"
I looked back at both sisters and said flatly "Excellent. Then let us all do our best not to become more irritating than necessary."
Victoria stared at me with murder in her eyes.
Samantha looked satisfied.
I stood there in Victoria's room with two duffel bags, a collapsing life, a dying show and another woman's apartment already full of resentment, perfume and quiet sexual hostility.
My life remained exhausting.
Absolutely exhausting.
…
THE END…