Urban Plundering: I Corrupted The System!

Diana's expression grew serious. "That's the thing, Ethan. For generations, our families have paid astronomical amounts for protection from beings that could atomize entire armies without breaking a sweat. We've always known about the Origin Families—the ancient bloodlines that control millions of supernaturals, creatures with power that makes nuclear weapons look like firecrackers."

Thomas nodded grimly. Everyone in their circle understood this hierarchy. The supernatural world had rules, and the Origin Families enforced them while staying completely out of human politics.

"Well," Diana continued, "apparently all those Origin Families—every single ancient bloodline we thought was the top of the supernatural food chain—they're all middle management."

The silence that followed was deafening.

"Middle management?" Elena whispered.

"According to every supernatural asset we employ, the Nyxliths rule over all the Origin Families. Every. Single. One." Diana's voice carried the weight of someone who'd spent her life dealing with impossible situations and just found one that topped them all. "The families we thought were guarding Earth from cosmic threats? They've been taking orders this whole time."

Ethan felt his worldview crumbling. "But the Origin Families never interfered—"

"Exactly!" Diana interrupted. "For centuries, they maintained the balance. Protected the planet, managed supernatural affairs, never got involved in mundane human politics. They were the guardians in the shadows, and we respected that arrangement."

"And now?" Thomas asked, though he dreaded the answer.

"Now their bosses are casually stopping people from dying, preventing buildings from collapsing with hand gestures, and making mythological champions look like children's toys." Diana's laugh was slightly hysterical. "We always knew more than we probably should about what really runs this world, Tommy. But when it comes to this family? We know absolutely nothing."

"The gods..." Elena started weakly.

"Are apparently terrified of them," Diana finished. "Our supernatural contacts—beings that used to whisper about gods in hushed, reverent tones—are now reporting that actual divine entities are running scared from the Nyxliths."

The implications hung in the air like a sword over their heads.

"We need to talk," Ethan said without preamble. At twenty-one, he'd inherited the family's intelligence along with their steel spine, but tonight he looked like someone who'd been carrying a heavy weight.

"About?" Thomas asked, though his tone suggested he suspected the answer.

"About grandfather's illness. About this marriage. About why everything seems to be happening so fast and so conveniently." Ethan glanced around the ballroom, his gaze lingering on certain guests. "And about some things I've discovered that don't make sense."

Elena touched her necklace nervously. "What kind of things?"

He was quiet for a moment, clearly struggling with how much to say. "Have either of you noticed that some of our... protection... seems different lately?"

Thomas's expression sharpened. Like all the Five Families, the Wilders employed security that operated outside normal human limitations. "Different how?"

"More attentive. More present. But also more..." He searched for the right word. "Deferential. Like they're answering to someone else now."

"Someone else?" Elena's voice was barely above a whisper.

"I've been doing some research," Ethan continued. "About the energy readings from Manhattan, about what happened in Seoul, about these rumors of gods actually walking around in broad daylight."

Thomas felt something cold settle in his stomach. "Ethan—"

"There's a pattern, Father. All of it traces back to one source. This Nyxlith family that nobody had heard of six months ago but somehow has the resources to reshape reality."

The three of them stood in silence for a moment, the weight of implications settling around them.

"You think they're behind grandfather's illness?" Elena asked finally.

"I think they're behind everything," Ethan said quietly. "The question is why. What do they want from us? What do they want from this marriage?"

Before anyone could answer, the conversation was interrupted by Vivian Wilder practically bouncing over with the kind of radiant obliviousness that came from nineteen years of never having to worry about anything more serious than which yacht to take to the Hamptons.

"Everyone looks so serious!" she declared, air-kissing Diana like they were besties instead of acquaintances who could probably ruin each other's lives. "This is supposed to be a party, not a board meeting."

"Some of us are concerned about our sister," Ethan said, his big brother protectiveness showing.

"Concerned about what? Tessa's getting married to one of the most eligible bachelors in the Western Hemisphere," Vivian replied with the kind of breezy confidence that suggested she'd never encountered a problem money couldn't solve. "If anything, we should be concerned that she's being so dramatic about it."

Diana's eyebrows climbed toward her hairline. "Dramatic?"

"Oh, you know how Tessa gets," Vivian waved dismissively. "All brooding and mysterious and 'I don't want to get married to someone I don't love,'" she said the last part in a melodramatic voice that suggested she thought love was a quaint concept for poor people.

Ethan stared at his sister like she'd just announced she was joining the circus. "Vivian, she's being forced into marriage."

"Forced is such an ugly word," Vivian replied, helping herself to champagne from a passing server. "I prefer 'strategically encouraged.' Besides, it's not like she has better options."

The awkward silence that followed was broken by Elena clearing her throat. "Vivian, darling, perhaps we shouldn't discuss family business quite so... publicly."

"Why not? Everyone here knows everyone's business anyway," Vivian shrugged. "Besides, Diana's practically family. Aren't you, Di?"

Diana's smile could have powered a small city. "I'm honored by the association, though I have to say, the family dynamics are becoming quite fascinating lately."

"Fascinating how?" Thomas asked, though he looked like he was already regretting the question.

"Well," Diana's voice carried the tone of someone about to drop a conversational bomb, "it's not every day you watch people discover they've been playing checkers while gods have been playing chess."

The group fell silent, the weight of that statement settling over them like expensive but suffocating perfume.

"Gods?" Vivian asked, her voice suddenly much smaller.

"Figure of speech, darling," Diana said gently. "Though when someone can casually spend more money than most countries' GDP and make it look like pocket change... well, the distinction becomes somewhat academic."

Before anyone could respond, they were interrupted by someone who looked like he belonged at the party but moved like he definitely didn't want to be there.

"Excuse me," he said, his voice carrying barely controlled urgency. "You're Thomas Wilder, right?"

Thomas nodded warily, noting how Diana subtly shifted her posture into something that looked casual but could probably transition into violence in half a second.

"I'm James Ashford," the young man said. "Aleric's cousin. I... I need to tell you something about this engagement. About what's really happening here."

The champagne suddenly tasted like cardboard in Thomas's mouth. "What about the engagement?"

James glanced around nervously, then leaned closer. "Your daughter isn't just being pressured into this marriage. She's being controlled. And my family isn't the one doing the controlling."

Diana's expression shifted into something that would have made international diplomats break out in cold sweats. "Controlled how?"

"I don't know how," James admitted. "But I know it's not normal. It's not human. And whoever's pulling the strings..." he swallowed hard, "they make our families look like children playing with toys."

Vivian's champagne glass slipped from nerveless fingers, shattering on the marble floor with a sound like breaking illusions.

"So," Diana said conversationally, "just to recap—we're all cosmic peasants, there are actual gods playing games with our lives, and someone's been using supernatural methods to manipulate a teenager into marriage?"

"That... appears to be the situation," Ethan said faintly.

"Well," Diana's laugh was bright and slightly hysterical, "this party just became significantly more interesting than my usual Tuesday evening... diplomatic negotiations."

The group stared at her.

"Look," Diana said, suddenly serious, "we've always operated in the shadows of something bigger. We knew the Origin Families existed, knew they controlled supernatural forces that could end civilizations, knew they kept Earth safe from things we couldn't even imagine. But we also knew the rules—they stay out of human affairs, we don't interfere with cosmic business."