Harem Stealing System
Chapter 35 : Early morning surprise

Chapter 35: Chapter 35 : Early morning surprise

"Fck!! Fck!!"

Great Just the thing i needed to conclude this day ,me accidentally sneaking up on my own parents making out. His face twisted in a mix of disgust, regret, and second-hand embarrassment. He wanted no, needed to erase the last five minutes of his life. But unfortunately, he now had an upgraded memory thanks to the three stat points he recently dumped into Intelligence, raising it from 22 to 25. A slightly sharper memory was not a gift tonight it was a curse.

"Great... Now I’ll remember that for a long while, im sure ," he muttered, voice dry, as he leaned against the outer wall, still outside the house. There was absolutely no way he was going to walk back in right away. He needed to give it time. Let the shame air out.

Eiden stayed outside for the next ten minutes, eyes glued to his phone as he desperately tried to distract himself from the traumatic visuals now permanently burned into his retinas. Eventually, he decided it was time to go in. But not quietly. No, this time he wanted them to hear him.

He opened the front gate with enough force to make it rattle. His footsteps weren’t mere walking they were stomps, deliberately heavy as if he were trying to summon a demon from the ground. He swung the front door open with flair, letting the hinges creak in protest.

"Yeah, yeah. I’m home," he mumbled with exaggerated volume, hoping that if his parents were still doing that, they’d at least retreat in horror. But as he entered, he saw no one in the living room. No giggles, no rustling, no moans of forbidden midlife passion. Just silence.

He exhaled in relief. "Good. They heard me."

Eiden marched straight to his room. As he collapsed into his study chair, the brief comfort of relief wore off, and his brain, traitorous as ever, began reflecting.

"Sh*t! Again?!"

He clenched his teeth and smacked his forehead. But as much as he wanted to forget, another thought crawled into his mind. Why? Why is Mom not saying anything? She clearly saw him cheating with Mika. There’s no way she didn’t. But instead of being angry, filing for divorce, or even confronting Dad, she was... showing him affection? Smiling like nothing happened?

"Is she pretending for the sake of the family?" he whispered to himself. "Or is it because she still loves him, and she’s trying to protect the marriage?" Eiden sighed deeply. "I get it... kinda. But still how is she able to act like nothing happened? Is that how love works after years of being together? Or is it just survival instinct after building a life together?"

He wanted to sympathize with her. He really did. But the more he thought about it, the more questions piled up. His gaze slowly drifted to the mirror. "Let’s be honest," he began, pointing at his own reflection. "Dad’s not handsome. Not rich either. He’s... below average."

He didn’t mean it to be harsh, just honest.

"Yeah, yeah, it’s not nice to talk about your dad like that, but it’s the truth. I got this average face from him. If not for Mom’s genes, I’d probably look like an expired boiled potato."

He chuckled dryly, but then paused. "Which brings me to the real question... how the hell did he bag Mom? And more importantly how did he manage to make Miss Mika fall for him too?!"

Miss Mika elegant, sharp, the kind of woman who looked like she stepped out of a high-society drama. She was a professor at Fors Height College, one of the richest institutions in the city. And she fell for his dad? "There’s no way money’s involved. So is it... seduction? Is he, like, some kind of natural-born harem protagonist? A real-life Casanova hiding in the skin of a boring office worker?"

Eiden frowned as another memory resurfaced. He had the system. He had Charm stats. And even then, things weren’t easy. "Dad doesn’t have a system. Unless... wait No way. Is there a ’Dad System’ I don’t know about?" The thought made him snort.

"Or maybe... he’s just someone who understands people. Knows how to manipulate emotions. Someone who uses psychology as his weapon."

Now that was scary. He shook his head. "Still, why cheat? Why betray Mom after all these years? Or... has he been doing it for a long time, and I just never noticed?" A tsunami of thoughts kept crashing into him. But no matter how many times he swam through them, he couldn’t reach any conclusion.

All he could do was speculate. The truth? That was locked away behind adult facades and quiet dinners. "Ahhhh, I can’t anymore. I’m going to sleep. Screw this."

He dragged himself to bed and collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. No checking his phone, no glancing at messages, no replying to Sasha’s usual midnight nags. Sleep took him swiftly dark, dreamless, and absolute.

The Next Morning, Location: Lyra’s Room

Bzzt... bzzt... bzzt...

Lyra blinked her eyes open as the ringtone played softly beside her pillow. She didn’t mind the call; she was an early bird anyway. She reached for the phone and glanced at the name. Linda?

She tapped answer. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lyra! Have you seen it yet?!" Linda’s voice sounded like she’d downed three energy drinks. Lyra blinked in confusion. "Seen what?" "You haven’t?! Wait, wait I’ll send it."

The call ended with an excited beep.

A second later, a notification buzzed. Linda had sent a video. Lyra hesitated for a moment, then tapped play.

No words left her lips as she watched. Not a gasp. Not a wince. Just silent observation. Her brows barely moved, her mouth remained neutral. After the video ended, another notification popped up.

Linda: Are you okay?

Lyra stared at the message. Then, slowly, her hand rose to her chest. Her fingers touched the area over her heart.

A small smile so faint, it might have been a trick of the light formed on her lips. She replied with a voice message: "I’m fine. I... don’t feel anything at all."

Back to Eiden – Morning

BUZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZ! Eiden smacked the alarm clock with a groan and cracked open one eye. "Ugh..." He wrestled with his blanket like it was a sentient creature refusing to let him go. Eventually, he freed himself and dragged his zombie-like body toward the bathroom.

His eyes were only half-open as he stood before the mirror and began brushing his teeth. With his other hand, he checked his phone out of habit. 500 unread messages in the group chat. He scrolled lazily through them, letting his brain boot up. Message after message blurred into one giant scroll of chaos... until something caught his eye.

His half-lidded eyes snapped wide open.

"Ohh... So this finally got noticed." He stared at the video linked repeatedly in the chat the very one he’d sneakily recorded. Ruel’s secret. The video System-chan had automatically uploaded. The scandalous content Eiden had captured when he discovered the pervy truth behind Ruel’s pristine image.

The chat had exploded. Comments were flying like bullets. People were losing their minds. Ruel’s reputation was crashing in real-time.

Then he read something that made the blood drain from his face.

"Yo! Ruel’s parents hired a cybersecurity team to trace the upload!"

"They’re using pro hackers!!"

"The source is being tracked!!"

Eiden’s hand trembled. "Sh*t!!!" He stared at his screen in horror. Sweat formed on his forehead.

"System-chan...Ding! He asked desperately " "you didn’t leave a trace, right? RIGHT?!" But only answer he got was

Silence...