My Milf Conqueror System novel Chapter 148

Chapter 148: The Winter Table

[Jake’s POV]

Martin Hale gave us the first real shape of Isabella’s pressure network before Evelyn Cross took him away.

Not the full picture. Men like Martin never had the full picture. They were given one locked door, one number to call, one threat sharp enough to keep them obedient. But fear made people careless, and by the time he finished shaking in the back of the SUV, Claire had seven names, two private dinner locations, and a phrase that made everyone in the car go quiet.

The Winter Table.

It sounded harmless. Almost elegant. The kind of name rich people gave to private charity circles so they could gossip over wine and call it philanthropy. But the way Martin said it, with his voice trembling and his eyes fixed on the floor, told me it was something else. Not a company. Not a board. A room. A circle. A place where the women attached to powerful men traded information those men were arrogant enough to leave unguarded.

By the time we returned to Apex Tower, Nia already had the first traces on the wall screen. She stood in the operations room with her sleeves pushed up, hair coming loose from her messy bun, one hand flying over the keyboard while the other held a coffee she had clearly forgotten to drink. Cassandra sat beside her in the oversized grey sweater, knees tucked up on the chair, staring at the connection map like it was a puzzle box whispering insults at her.

"The Winter Table meets once a month," Nia said as we entered. "Private salons, rotating locations, no formal membership list, and absolutely no public photographs. Which means, naturally, every single person involved thinks they are subtle."

Ethan lowered himself onto the couch with a groan. "Are they?"

"No," Nia said. "They use the same florists."

Claire moved to the screen, her eyes narrowing. "Florists?"

Nia tapped a key. Six names appeared, tied together by soft red lines. "Same floral designer, same private caterer, same rotating security contractor. They hide the guest lists, but rich people are creatures of habit. You can erase emails, but apparently you cannot resist imported white roses."

Cassandra leaned closer, her voice soft. "They also use the same seating pattern."

Everyone looked at her.

She immediately pulled her sleeves over her hands, but kept going. "Sorry. It’s just... the names we found from Martin’s phone keep appearing in pairs. Wife beside donor. Mistress beside banker. Widow beside regulator. It is arranged to make people talk to the person they think is safest."

"That is not a dinner," Victoria said from the doorway. "That is an information trap."

She walked in wearing a black suit and carrying another folder, because Victoria Sterling apparently slept in board reports and woke up angry at spreadsheets. She placed the folder on the table in front of me and opened it to a printed photograph.

A woman in her late forties smiled from the page. Dark blonde hair. Black gloves. A soft, elegant face that looked warm until you studied the eyes.

Margot Delacroix.

"Her face finally cleared on one of the club cameras," Victoria said. "She left the Lennox Club seventeen minutes after the alley incident. Different exit. Different coat. Same gloves."

"She saw enough," Claire said.

"Good," I replied.

Claire looked at me. "Good?"

"If she saw enough, she knows Martin is gone. She knows Richard is gone. She knows Marianne is no longer quiet. That means she has to check the Winter Table before we do."

Nia looked over her shoulder. "You keep saying things like that and then getting shot at."

"I have been shot at long before I said things like that."

"That is not comforting."

Darius entered last, dragging a chair out with one hand before sitting down opposite me. "The shooter from the alley is alive."

"Talkative?"

"Not yet."

"Make him comfortable."

Darius stared at me.

"Fine. Make him nervous."

"That I can do."

A blue screen flickered in front of my eyes.

[Ding!]

[Mission Chain Updated!]

Mission Chain: The Winter Table

Objective: Enter the social circle behind Isabella’s pressure network.

Current Lead: Margot Delacroix.

Reward: Hidden Influence Route.

Penalty: To be determined.

I stared at the last line.

The System always sounded happiest when it had not decided how to ruin my day yet.

Another notification appeared.

[New Mission Generated!]

Mission: Secure an Invitation

Objective: Obtain access to the next Winter Table gathering without violence, bribery, or buying the building.]

Reward: Social Route Unlocked.]

Penalty: Host will hiccup during next compliment.]

I closed my eyes.

Claire noticed immediately.

"What now?"

"Nothing."

"That means something."

"It means I am being spiritually harassed."

Ethan raised a hand weakly from the couch. "I vote we add that to the medical chart."

Nia pointed at him. "You are still on soup and silence."

"I finished the soup."

"Then just silence."

Victoria ignored all of us and tapped the folder. "The next Winter Table gathering is tomorrow night. Private townhouse on East Seventy-Third. Host is Aurelia Bancroft."

Claire’s expression changed. "Aurelia Bancroft?"

"You know her?" I asked.

"Everyone in that world knows her. She is married to Charles Bancroft, one of the board advisors tied to Isabella’s European estate structures. Publicly, she is a patron of the arts. Privately, she decides who gets invited into rooms their husbands pretend they control."

"That sounds promising."

"It sounds dangerous," Claire said. "Aurelia is not lonely in the obvious way. She gets bored, and bored women with money are worse than armed men because they think consequences are a form of entertainment."

Ethan looked at me. "So naturally, Jake is going."

"Obviously," I said.

Claire sighed. "You do not even have an invitation."

"Marianne does."

Victoria shook her head. "Marianne can get you near the door, not through it. The Winter Table does not allow unapproved men inside the main salon. Husbands wait downstairs, drivers wait outside, and everyone else pretends it is a charity committee."

"So I need Aurelia to invite me personally."

"Exactly."

The System chimed.

[Target Detected!]

Target: Aurelia Bancroft

Age: 45

Status: Married

Affiliation: Winter Table / Bancroft Household

Strategic Value: High

Mission: Impress the Gatekeeper

Objective: Earn Aurelia Bancroft’s personal invitation.

Reward: Entry to Winter Table.

Penalty: Host will hiccup during next compliment.]

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