CHAPTER 395: RESTRUCTURED

The first thing that Adam and Penny saw when they rematerialized was the city skyline. Adam recognized it as the view from the window of the Penthouse office at the Samael Pharmaceuticals Head Office.

The place that was supposed to be his office.

However, the voice of the woman who called out his name immediately after seeing him sent a chill down his spine. Turning slowly, Adam saw Melanie sitting behind the desk, her cold expression seemingly melting into one that he struggled to understand.

"Adam? Is that really you?"

There was a hint of excitement in her voice that was strangely unsettling. Penny on the other hand felt a chill down her spine for a different reason. Melanie’s eyes were entirely focused on Adam, it was as if she didn’t see anyone else but him. It was the look of someone obsessed.

Arachne who had once been the target of Melanie’s rage and selfish desire for Adam, now had a frown on her face. Before she found it amusing because of the difference in strength, Arachne could have easily crushed Melaniie no matter what she did.

But now....without her Divinity, she was just a weak mortal and could very well struggle if not fall to any evil machinations the crazy bitch sitting behind the table had in store for her.

Adam’s own lips curled into a frown as he coldly remarked "Where’s Anthony?". Penny’s head immediately perked up with concern. Adam was talking about her own father.

The room was silent for a long moment after Adam spoke, the hum of the city outside the tall windows the only sound filling the space. Melanie rose from the leather chair behind the desk with deliberate slowness, her movements fluid, almost theatrical. Her heels clicked softly on the polished floor as she came around the desk toward them.

"Adam," she repeated, her voice dipping low in a tone meant to be warm yet somehow making the air in the room feel heavier. "It really is you. I knew you would come back to us."

Her words carried a certainty that made Penny shift uncomfortably. This was not simple relief or joy. It was possession. The way she said it... it was like Adam was not a person, but something she had claimed long ago and expected to return to its rightful place.

Melanie’s eyes had not left Adam once, and the faint smile curving her lips sent a ripple of unease through everyone present.

Finally, her gaze flickered, almost reluctantly, toward Arachne.

"And who," Melanie asked softly, her expression carefully neutral, "is this unfamiliar woman?"

Adam’s face did not change as he answered, his tone cold enough to cut the air between them.

"She is like a mother to me."

Something flickered in Melanie’s eyes at that. A storm of emotions crossed her face in a heartbeat before settling into what could only be described as disturbingly sweet warmth.

"Ohhh," she said softly, drawing out the word in a way that made Penny’s skin crawl. Melanie took a small step toward Arachne, tilting her head in a gesture of mock respect. "Then that makes you so very important to Adam. Family, even."

Arachne stiffened under that syrupy smile, every instinct in her screaming that this was the same woman who had once snarled and raged at the mere thought of anyone being close to Adam. Yet here she was, acting as though she adored the woman who had just been introduced as his mother figure.

It was an act, Arachne thought grimly, the kind that dripped poison even while dressed in honey. Her arms folded loosely, though the goosebumps rising along them betrayed the calm expression she forced onto her face.

Adam’s own expression never softened. His eyes were as hard as stone when he spoke again.

"You didn’t answer my question. Where is Anthony?"

The warmth in Melanie’s expression did not falter, but there was a faint tightening around her eyes before she answered.

"Your uncle," she said lightly, "collapsed from overwork a few days ago. Nothing serious. The doctor says he simply needs rest. He will be back in the office soon."

Adam studied her, his gaze sharp and searching. Penny, however, could not keep her concern from showing.

"My father collapsed?" she asked quickly.

Melanie glanced at her, the movement almost impatient, as though Penny’s voice was an interruption rather than a concern worth addressing.

"Yes, yes," Melanie said with a flick of her hand. "He simply pushed himself too far. The Ascension of Souls changed everything, as I am sure you have noticed. Our world is... different now. The company had to adapt overnight. With Adam missing, there was no choice but to restructure things. The strongest member of the family had to lead until he returned."

Arachne’s frown deepened.

"Strongest?" she repeated softly.

Melanie smiled as though the word carried no weight at all. "It was the only logical choice. Someone had to carry the burden until Adam came back to claim his place."

Penny stared at her, suspicion clear in her eyes.

"And what," she asked slowly, "would you have done if we never came back?"

The question hung in the air.

Melanie turned to look at her, and for the first time since they arrived, the pleasantness drained from her face. Her expression went blank, as though Penny had spoken in a language no one understood.

"What would I have done?" Melanie repeated, voice flat.

"Yes," Penny pressed, though there was a small tremor in her voice now. "What if Adam never returned?"

Melanie stared at her for several long seconds, unblinking. Then her lips curved again, not into the earlier saccharine sweetness but into something stranger.

"That was never a possibility," she said softly. "Adam was always going to return. I knew it. I believed it." Her voice sharpened as she spoke, the words taking on a fervor that filled the room like rising heat. "No matter how long it took, no matter what happened, he was always coming back to us. To me. The thought that he would not?" She shook her head sharply. "It never even crossed my mind. Not once."

The look in her eyes as she said it was not devotion. It was something far darker.

Penny felt her stomach twist. There was something wrong with the way Melanie spoke, with the absolute certainty in her voice. It was not love, not loyalty. It was obsession wearing those things like a mask.

Before she could say anything else, Melanie smiled again, all warmth and false cheer as though the shadow of fanaticism had never appeared.

"Enough questions," she said lightly. "You have been gone so long. Let me show you everything that has changed. So much has happened since Ascension began to reshape the world. I want you to see it all for yourselves."

Her voice was bright now, almost cheerful, as though nothing about the last few moments had been unsettling.

Adam did not move. His eyes remained locked on hers, cold and unreadable.

Penny stayed silent too, though her hands clenched at her sides. The passionate certainty in Melanie’s voice still rang in her ears, that blind conviction that Adam would always return, that nothing else mattered.

Arachne said nothing either, though her gaze followed Melanie carefully. She knew the type of woman who could smile like that, who could speak with such warmth while hiding knives behind her back.

Melanie turned toward the door, her heels clicking softly again, and gestured for them to follow.

"Come," she said with that same bright tone. "You will see for yourselves just how much better things have become."

Adam exchanged a brief look with Penny and Arachne before stepping forward.

None of them trusted her, but for now, they followed.