Vital Lyst enters the game

Kath Lysts POV

I was sitting in my living room enjoying a nice cup of hot earl grey tea. I was catching up on the latest posts of Sinsin-sensei. It was one of the only few moments in the day that I had to myself. The rest of my time I would have to be the great leader of the right, the woman behind my husband, Vital Lyst, and make sure my daughter was keeping on the right path. I had convinced my husband to get involved with the CYA project. It is all part of my master plan. First I would need to work toward making Claire take up a role in the Lyst company. If we can mix the interests of the CYA and the Lyst company, it would only be a matter of time before Anna and Claire were working for us in proxy. Claire was not just remarkable as an influencer, that yuridium to which they owned a patent is quite the impressive achievement, and if she marries Anna, both Anna's part and Claire's part would be in possession of the Lyst group, making it technically ours. But we would have to mold her first. She was of low birth, and had not been prepared for such a role, so that was only logical.

One of my husband's secretaries came to me nervously with a message on a little plate. I picked it up and dismissed her.

When no one was around I started reading it.

“SHE WHAT?!” I spit out my tea. Apparently Claire had put demands to the Lyst group. The first one, that we could not use it for weapons, was acceptable seeing she was still young and naive. But the second one. Giving access to all our research. What impertinence! Again she proved to be a worthy adversary . We could not just say yes to her demands without losing face as the Lyst group. After all we had the reputation that nobody makes demands of us to maintain. A really important reputation for Vital. As an international arms dealer you had to have a strong reputation. Not something that could be allowed to be broken by a 16 year old girl for any reason.

But wait, I got an idea. This might actually be a good thing, and hasten my plans along. We could just make a counter offer that works more to my benefit, but follows in the lines of what she wanted. Since this has happened it would have to be made by the head of the group, and that would be Vital. It was clear by how nervous that secretary was, that there was already gossip spreading among the employees about Claire’s demands.

I got up and went to his study. I announced myself to the secretary. I knew my husband had affairs, after all we had an understanding about that. But I did not like to be a witness to it, so barging into an office would be a stupid thing to do. This way I could pretend not to know in public.

Our marriage was more of a practical nature to our families, and I had not made myself available to him after conceiving Anna. At that point, that part of the duty had been completed. I was rather happy that he went elsewhere for his needs. But I did look up to him as a businessman. He was a very good business partner and he had always supported my political career, as it was good for the Lyst group to have some extra pull in the parliament.

The secretary announced that I could go in.

Vital did not get up from his desk and asked “This is unusual, what can I do for you, my dear wife.” He then took a drag from his cigarette.

I sat down on the chair in front of him, and started telling him everything about Anna and Claire. Then I told him about my plans, and the plans I had to let them get married eventually. He nodded. “Well if she managed to convince even you, it might be worth putting her to the test. But it seems you got it all under control. So why are you here?”

I gave him the letter his secretary gave me.

He looked at it. For a second It looked like he would be furious. He crushed the card and killed his cigarette in the full ashtray before him. Then he started laughing very loudly. “I see why she piqued your interest. So I suppose you already have a plan.”

I explained to him the counteroffer I wanted him to propose to slowly catch her in our web, but Vital refused.

“No, that is not enough for me after such an affront. I will put some serious pressure on their relationship and see how they react. They have to learn who is boss.” He started laughing like a maniac.

Oh no, it seems like I had awakened Vital's sense for drama and he was playing the evil villain. I knew he was unstoppable once he got rolling like that. For that matter, he and Anna were like two peas in a pod. The worst part of this is, whatever happened now, he would continue his villain role until the bitter end. I knew there would be no stopping him. It would be up to Claire and Anna, and if they failed he would not hesitate to destroy Claire along the line. Vital never breaks his role until the game is over. In his arms deals, this was a rather handy trait, but did he really need to become a villain to his daughter?