Coercion and Temptation

Three days later.

At a manor by the Hudson River.

A helicopter slowly descended.

Moments later, a blindfolded figure was led down from the helicopter by several female mercenaries armed with guns.

Sauron, who was leading them, walked over to Xu Mo.

"Boss, we brought her back!"

"Mm."

Xu Mo nodded, then took the lead toward the villa.

A few minutes later.

In one of the villa's rooms, two female mercenaries removed the hood covering Wanda's face.

Wanda looked around in terror before finally fixing her gaze on Xu Mo.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"All right, you can leave first."

Rather than answer immediately, Xu Mo first instructed the two female mercenaries to leave. Only then did he look Wanda over from head to toe.

Wanda bore a ninety-percent resemblance to Elizabeth Olsen from the movies he had seen in his previous life. The only difference was that the woman before him looked even younger and more beautiful.

After all, by this point in time, Wanda had only just turned eighteen.

"Wanda Maximoff, born in Sokovia, Western Europe. When you were eight, your parents died in a terrorist attack, leaving only you and your brother, Pietro Maximoff..."

Hearing Xu Mo recite her entire background, Wanda's expression changed.

She then forced herself to remain calm and asked,

"Why did you kidnap me? What exactly do you want?"

Xu Mo closed the file in his hand and looked at her with a smile.

"Ms. Wanda, I hope you understand that I had people bring you here with no ill intentions!"

"No ill intentions?"

A mocking smile appeared on Wanda's face.

She then shook the ropes binding her tightly.

"This is what you call no ill intentions?"

Xu Mo sighed. Rather than answer, he took out a dagger, stepped forward, and cut the ropes around Wanda.

Wanda, whose abilities had yet to awaken, was merely an ordinary person.

Xu Mo was not worried that she could pose any threat to him.

"I brought you here simply to make a deal with you."

"A deal?"

Wanda rubbed her sore arms and looked at Xu Mo warily.

"That's right."

Xu Mo nodded.

"I know a little about your situation in Sokovia as well."

"You work at a coffee shop, while Pietro delivers pizza for a pizzeria. The two of you earn less than two thousand euros a month combined. All in all, it seems you haven't been living very well."

"That doesn't seem to have anything to do with you."

Wanda retorted.

Xu Mo glanced at her and continued.

"The terms of our deal are simple. You marry me, and your brother Pietro can receive enough wealth to live the rest of his life in comfort."

"Of course, you can refuse."

"But if you do, I can't guarantee the safety of either of you."

Wanda's face changed at Xu Mo's blatant threat.

"You... you're shameless!!"

Seeing her furious expression, Xu Mo merely shrugged indifferently.

"Think whatever you want."

Xu Mo understood Wanda's personality fairly well.

If she had been alone now, this would have been much harder to handle.

Given her character, she might not have agreed to his terms even if it meant death.

But unfortunately, she still had Pietro, her only family.

Family was her weakness.

Of course, his method was indeed somewhat despicable, but he did not care.

He needed to activate the system first.

"Ms. Wanda, I'll give you five minutes to consider it. I hope you think carefully. One decision from you could change the lives of you and your brother forever!"

After saying that, Xu Mo fell silent and leaned back in his chair with a composed expression.

For him, this was already the most suitable method.

After all, he could not slowly cultivate feelings with her.

Never mind whether he had the time; even if he did, who knew whether he was her type?

He was not some chosen protagonist with an aura that made every woman throw herself into his arms without hesitation.

What if she did not like him? He could not keep wasting time with her forever.

He did not have that kind of time.

To say nothing else, there were only ten years left until Thanos snapped his fingers.

Without knowing what the system could do, he could not be certain whether he could become strong enough to fight Thanos within that time.

Naturally, the sooner he activated it, the better.

Besides, this might not necessarily be bad for Wanda.

Judging by the course of her original life, she practically had the fate of a cursed lone star.

When he felt the time was about right, Xu Mo sat up straight and stared intently at her.

"Well, Ms. Wanda? Please tell me your final choice."

Wanda raised her head and glared at Xu Mo with resentment.

"Why does it have to be me?"

"You don't need to know that."

Xu Mo did not intend to tell anyone about the system. Only something no one knew could truly be called a secret.

Hearing his answer, Wanda let out a long breath.

"I'll agree, but you have to keep your promise and let Pietro go!"

In the end, she had no choice but to yield to his coercion.

Judging from what had just happened, he was clearly one of those powerful, influential people.

What could she and Pietro, two orphans, possibly use to fight him?

In this society, having money really did mean being able to do whatever one wanted.

If she resisted, Pietro and she might very well disappear from this world without a trace.

If it had only been her, she might have chosen to fight him to the death. But Pietro was still there, so she could only submit.

Pietro was her only family now.

"You can rest assured. I've always kept my word. I never go back on a promise!"

Seeing her agree, Xu Mo immediately assured her.

That afternoon.

Pietro was brought there as well.

In the villa's living room, Pietro stared at Wanda, who was wearing an extravagant wedding dress, as though he had seen a ghost.

"What the fuck!"

"Are you kidding me?"

He could not imagine that Wanda, who had never had any contact with men, would suddenly tell him she was getting married—and that the wedding was set for tomorrow.

Even more outrageous, the man was a wealthy businessman from the United States, over two thousand kilometers away from them.

After entering the manor earlier, if not for a servant guiding him, he would likely have gotten lost in the massive estate.

He pinched his arm hard.

After confirming that he was not dreaming, Pietro's expression became incredibly vivid.

Wanda, who had been downcast while trying on wedding dresses, finally smiled a little when she saw Pietro.

"Because I hadn't made up my mind before, I'm only telling you now."

This was the excuse they had prepared in advance.

She knew Pietro's personality well. If he learned the truth, he would only make things worse, so it was better to keep it from him.

"But..."

"How did you two even meet when you live so far apart?"

Pietro still found it hard to believe.

"Of course..."

Wanda, who had already prepared an explanation, was just about to answer when Xu Mo walked in through the door.

Seeing Pietro standing beside Wanda, a smile appeared on his face.

"Hello, you must be Wanda's brother, Pietro."

"You are?"

"I'm Wanda's boyfriend, Xu Mo. You can call me Xu."

Looking at Xu Mo, who was tall, handsome, and refined, Pietro suddenly became somewhat awkward.

Years of living at the bottom of society had left him at a loss.

After a long while, he slowly raised his right hand.

"Hello."

Half an hour later.

The facts before him left Pietro with no choice but to accept reality.

When Wanda told him the news over the phone, he had been convinced that some bastard had tricked her. He had rushed over intending to teach the man a lesson.

But now, he had already driven that thought from his mind.

Xu Mo was not only young and handsome, but also appeared to be wealthy. No matter how Pietro looked at it, Xu Mo did not seem to have any motive to deceive Wanda.

Scammers only wanted one of two things: money or sex.

Money was clearly impossible.

And if it was sex, there was no need for him to make such a grand spectacle of it.

While walking through the manor earlier, Pietro had already seen the wedding venue being prepared.

With that kind of money, what sort of beautiful woman could he not find?