My Taboo Harem!

Chapter 965: Robbed With Familiarity

The laughter carried on, silken and bright, the limousine gliding through the cold brilliance of Hell’s Paradise Island while Phei endured the slow public burning of his dignity in a private vehicle. And yet, no matter how they mocked him, no matter how thoroughly they roasted him into dry, seasoned ash, his excitement did not diminish.

It remained there, luminous and stubborn, burning under every insult like a boyhood star that refused to be embarrassed out of shining.

Because what did they know?

’What do any of them truly know about the first-car excitement?’

Phei looked around at them, at their amused faces and jewel-bright eyes, at the women who teased him from within a world they had always belonged to, and for once he felt the distance between their childhoods and his with unusual clarity:

Most of them had been born into money so deep it had become weather. Cars, mansions, drivers, private garages, designer keys, luxury models, limited releases, all of it had surrounded them before desire could even properly form.

By the time they received cars in their own names, the thrill had already been robbed from their souls by familiarity.

Ownership did not feel like a miracle to them.

’It felt like transition.’

A little freedom from home-owned vehicles to personal vehicles. An upgrade in autonomy. Convenient, perhaps.

Pleasing, surely. But not as sacred.

’Not like this.’

Elena, for example, had grown up in a compound where expensive cars practically littered the grounds from the gates almost to the entrance, polished beasts resting in elegant lines like metallic trophies of boredom.

Phei could still remember the cars he’d seen in her estate compound... so many of them.

Half of them were hers, though she had bought many simply because they were new, because they were useful to own, because showing off was practically a social language among legacy children, or because the Parks had released something fresh and naturally the world expected princesses to sample luxury like dessert.

Delilah owned four cars, maybe more, though some still remained at the old Maxton household and would probably never be retrieved. Victoria too had her own, equally unlikely to bother taking them back because sometimes wealth made abandonment look casual.

There were girls like Maddie and Sierra who bought cars the way some women bought beauty products, not because they desperately needed them but because the shade, shape, mood or novelty pleased them.

Emily had two or three, Phei was not entirely sure, which was ridiculous because Emily looked like the kind of woman who would create a spreadsheet titled Vehicles, Maintenance, Tactical Use and Emotional Value and still forget to mention it.

Then there was Catrina, whose family currently stood richer than the Maxtons had ever been able to manage without disgraceful assistance from cruelty and rot. There was Patricia, who moved through life with enough old authority that cars seemed less like possessions and more like objects reality placed near her out of respect.

Phei had even driven a pink car from their date, a memory that still existed in his mind with dangerous softness.

And as for the Ashford Madam, he did not bother measuring her against cars at all.

She could probably buy entire dealerships with a snap of her fingers, then politely forget she owned them by breakfast. Valentina had cars too, of course.

Her previous job had paid well, perhaps not princess-level extravagance, but far from ordinary.

Phei himself had paid for a car before.

But that had been for Mother.

In all the people he knew, perhaps only Sienna could have understood a small piece of what he felt now:

Unlike the other princesses, Sienna did not have her own car and usually rode shotgun with Delilah when they went to school, assuming Delilah felt like driving the home-provided car. Delilah did drive it often, mostly so she could ride with her baby sister rather than because she lacked options, and that made the gesture sweeter in a way Delilah would probably deny under oath.

Even so, Phei knew that if Sienna were here, she still would not feel the same level of excitement he felt.

Because this was not merely about transportation.

This was not about steel, leather, horsepower, design, brand or all the other things car enthusiasts discussed with the solemn insanity of priests studying scripture.

This was about having once owned nothing that truly belonged to him:

About wanting quietly; watching others receive casually what he could not even imagine asking for. About surviving a decade where even desire had needed to be disciplined because wanting too much only made hunger louder. And now, absurdly, impossibly, beautifully, he was rich enough to buy a car not as a dream, not as a gift for someone else, not as a borrowed symbol from Grandma’s bottomless love, but as his own choice.

His first car.

’My own.’

Phei lifted his chin, recovering enough dignity to glare at them all with theatrical seriousness, an effect somewhat undermined by the woman still curled contentedly in his lap. "You do not understand."

Maddie immediately smiled. "Here we go."

"No, truly," he said. "None of you understand what I am feeling."

Sierra nodded solemnly. "Car virginity speech."

Phei ignored her through sheer force of will. "You grew up with garages fuller than some people’s neighborhoods. You received cars like weather updates. New model released? Fine. Add it to the compound. New color? Why not. Limited edition? Obviously. You never had the chance to feel this properly."

Delilah’s smile softened, though she still looked ready to attack if an opening appeared. "And what exactly are you feeling, Grandmommy’s boy?"

Phei pointed at her. "By the way that nickname dies tonight my love."

"It really does not," Victoria said.

"It has heirs now," Maddie added. "A dynasty."

Phei exhaled slowly. "I am feeling the thrill of buying my first car."

"Your first Grandma-independent car," Sierra said.

"My first car," Phei insisted.

"The first car whose grandmother cannot be cross-examined," Elena added softly.

Everyone laughed again.

Phei lost.

Completely.

But even while he lost, even while they teased him, recorded him, kissed his cheeks, leaned on his shoulder, poked his chest, held his hand and turned his private excitement into a group festival of mockery, Maddie’s smile softened with open affection.

She watched him beneath the limousine’s soft interior glow, watched the way his eyes kept brightening despite every insult, and her own heart warmed in a quiet place.

"It’s cute," she said, voice gentler now. "Seeing you like this."

Phei glanced at her, suspicious. "Cute again?"

"Yes," she said, leaning over to rest briefly against his arm — the side Valentina had not already colonized. "Not the dangerous kind. You’re not the beautiful young master. Just you. Excited."

That quieted him for a moment.

The car seemed softer around them then, wrapped in leather, moonlight and the hum of the road as Hell’s Paradise Island passed beyond the tinted windows in strokes of silver, black and gold. The teasing did not disappear, but it changed shape. It became warmer. Less blade, more ribbon.

The affection that bruised dignity but left the heart strangely full.

Phei looked away toward the window, trying and failing to hide the curve of his mouth.

"Still," he muttered, "you are all terrible."

"We know," Valentina said into his collar, not moving an inch.

"And proud," Delilah added.

The Goddess squeezed his hand lightly, drawing his attention back to her. "Enjoy it," she said softly. "You deserve to."

Phei looked at her.

For once, he did not joke immediately.

Then, because the universe remained tragically committed to his personality, he said, "I deserve several."

The Goddess blinked.

Maddie burst out laughing.

"There it is," Patricia said.

Phei turned back to the window, excitement returning in full force. Because yes, he was about to buy his first car, but somewhere deep down, he already knew he was not buying just one. Or two. That would be ridiculous.

Miserly, even, practically tragic.

He was newly rich, emotionally undercompensated, surrounded by women who had mocked him beyond forgiveness, and headed toward the biggest dealership in Hell’s Paradise Island.

Car shopping.

’Real car shopping.’

The kind of decadent, resplendent, wallet-insulting car shopping that made ordinary budgeting curl up in a corner and weep into a financial advice column.

And the dealership they were headed toward was not just any dealership.

It belonged to a certain princess.

Maddie, meanwhile, had already decided that tonight would not merely mark Phei’s first true descent into car ownership. No, that would be too simple, too innocent and merciful for the kind of life they were living.

Tonight would also mark the commencement of the second phase of the legacy princesses’ rebellion.

The thought sat behind her smile like a beautiful knife.

It was time.