Melting Chapter 92: Life Foundation, Venom! (Patreon)

“Stacy just became Mr. Aaron’s secretary, just like that? Damn it, why not me? I’m obviously super capable too!” grumbled a chubby Black girl, her face full of frustration.

“Ugh, so jealous. Stacy got singled out by Dr. Connors and Mr. Aaron on her very first day, and from now on she’ll be with Mr. Aaron practically every day. Maybe she’s the secret daughter of Lady Luck or something?”

“I worked hard to get into ESU, planning all along to join Osborn Group later!”

No one could help envying Gwen. If you compared that to Peter just now? Meh, not nearly as big a deal.

“Hmph! Sure, Stacy’s going to be Mr. Aaron’s secretary, but I’m not doing so bad either. I’ve already become his woman!”

Leaning against a wall, Mary Jane took out her compact mirror to fix her makeup; out of the corner of her eye, she glanced over at Gwen, but felt no jealousy.

After all, she had gotten way ahead already.

Even just being Aaron’s lover: if Gwen sees her, she’ll have to greet her as “Madam Boss” or something like that.

The thought made Mary Jane shiver with excitement.

She tidied her slightly wrinkled clothes, pulling the collar up to cover her neck—discolored from all the... activity—and forced herself to ignore the lingering aches, gazing dreamily at Aaron. Her eyes went all starry.

He’s so strong—like a raging bull!

No way she alone can handle such a powerful man…

Mary Jane, of course, wasn’t fantasizing about him having only her. She knew that wasn’t realistic.

She was sure if Aaron only had her, someone would wind up dead!

She brushed that thought aside, took a breath, and continued touching up her lipstick, her eyes never leaving him.

Moments later, Peter Parker sidled over.

“Hey, MJ, where’d you get off to? You missed a bunch of really cool stuff!”

Either from lack of observation or something else, Peter failed to notice how Mary Jane had become… more sultry, more enticing than ever. Every subtle movement seemed to captivate.

He glanced up at Gwen on stage, then back at Mary Jane. Both of them were great, he thought.

Harry walked up too and immediately got drawn to Mary Jane’s presence. Only now was he noticing just how amazing she looked.

From Harry’s more experienced perspective, Mary Jane was like every man’s dream…

He was just about to say something when he noticed the odd look in her eyes.

Following that line of sight, he realized the watery glow in her gaze was locked onto… Gwen?

No—onto Aaron!

Harry reined himself in at once.

Meanwhile, Mary Jane lightly twirled her flame-colored hair around one finger, then pinned it behind her ear, revealing flushed cheeks which had recently been oh-so-nourished.

She spoke in a carefree tone:

“Oh, I see. That’s too bad, I guess I missed out! I had a bathroom emergency, but I happened to see Mr. Aaron, so I chatted with him a bit.”

Though she smiled, there was something about Mary Jane’s posture that pushed others away. And in that moment, her eyes were glued to Aaron again—like the whole world held only him.

Peter remained oblivious. He just exclaimed, “You won’t believe this, Mary. Dr. Connors asked if I’d join his research group. He even wants to introduce me to Dr. Otto at ESU. This is like a dream!”

“Congrats, Parker. It’s everything you hoped for,” Mary Jane said with little sincerity in her voice. Then, in a tone loaded with hidden meaning: “And yeah, this day is like some amazing dream. Pretty nice, right?”

Peter eagerly nodded—she agreed with him!

Harry’s mouth twitched. Really, boss? You only disappeared for a few minutes, and you’ve already settled the best girl in our class?

He suddenly realized why Mary Jane was leaning on the wall.
My dear uncle, you must have been standing the entire time, going all-out, not showing a speck of mercy…

“Peter, c’mon, let’s head back—Dr. Connors might want to talk more with you,” Harry said while dragging away the clueless Parker, who didn’t notice that Mary Jane had addressed him as “Parker” without so much as giving him a look.

Harry knew what his uncle could do. He was aware that, in this world, men fell into two categories: either they were Aaron, or they weren’t…

Anyone walking after him was just out of luck. The sheer “size and depth” was enough to kill all hope.

No woman who’d been with Aaron could ever see another man in the same light.

Peter, meanwhile, felt baffled. He’d wanted to show Mary Jane a little more of his manly flair. But he let Harry tug him away.

“Why, Harry? She might want me around.”

Harry gave him a look. “Don’t you sense MJ’s got something on her mind? When a girl’s lost in thought, don’t interrupt.”

“…I guess so?” Peter nodded, glancing at Mary Jane again. “Harry… she’s kind of looking at Mr. Aaron, huh…”

Oh, so you do notice now?

Harry inwardly sighed. In a matter-of-fact tone he said, “No woman can resist Uncle Aaron—his genius, wealth, and looks will drive ‘em crazy.”

Peter felt a sting in his chest, but it was the truth: he was still just a nobody compared to Aaron. He could only wish people saw him in that kind of spotlight.

“By the way, Harry, I noticed you’ve been pretty strong. Like, physically?”

Harry shrugged. “I’ve got a great uncle, that’s all.”

He didn’t elaborate. Without Aaron’s permission, it was better not to explain that any further.

Because of Aaron’s sudden appearance,

Gwen had left her tasks early. Now there was no need for her to keep order—everyone behaved themselves as soon as Aaron showed up.

Aaron led her back to the main office, where Hill gave them a quick glance then pretended not to see, burying herself in her massive workload.

“This is my other secretary, Maria Hill, who worked for a certain government branch. Maria, this is Gwen Stacy, a student at Empire State University—very capable.”

Aaron introduced them briefly.

Gwen reached out and shook Hill’s hand.

“Because of some, well, pressing issues, our company’s got a big backlog right now. So you’ll need to jump in ASAP, got it?” Aaron said, looking at Gwen.

She took in the towering piles of documents scattered around, but showed no sign of flinching—rather, she looked ready for a challenge.

“No problem, boss, but my classes—?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have Norman talk to them. From now on, you’ll work with Maria on these files. If you run into something you don’t get, just ask her.”

With that, Aaron shoved the matter of training Gwen entirely onto Hill. Hill nearly rolled her eyes: “Boss, you realize I only started a day ago? I’m new too. Now you’re telling me to train another new hire?”

But though she grumbled internally, Hill just said, “All right, boss, I’ll take care of it. Actually, I was short-handed. If you have more recruits, please send them my way.”

Aaron ignored the subtext. “Perfect. For the two of you, let’s skip the usual probation and go straight to formal. Full salary and benefits, starting at half a million a year each, plus annual bonuses. Good?”

Hill perked up immediately. “Absolutely!”

Half a million US dollars was no small sum. Even back in S.H.I.E.L.D., where she was deputy director, her total annual package fell short of that.

Truly not a typical secretary’s salary, but more like a professional manager. Then again, their workload might be heavier than a manager’s.

Gwen was utterly stunned. Half a million? That’s a secretary’s pay?

She’d never imagined. She began hesitantly, “Boss, I may not be—”

“Gwen, if I say you’re up for it, you’re up for it,” Aaron cut in. “All my secretaries get the same pay scale. Unless you want me to lower everyone else’s just because you won’t accept yours?”

Gwen clammed up. Fine, she’d give it her best, so as not to let him down. A swirl of thoughts rushed through her mind. I need to help earn him even more money, but… can I handle that as a mere secretary?

Hill took Gwen’s arm and gently steered her to their desks. She might not be fixated on money, but a hefty paycheck is always welcome. Even so, the two of them would be knee-deep in tasks.

Watching the pair get started, Aaron nodded in satisfaction and left.

He glanced at the clock, seeing he’d already “worked” over an hour today. Enough. The rest was his personal leisure time.

At that moment, Felicia called to say she wanted to take Savanah and Nina to an amusement park. Aaron figured he had time, so why not personally escort them?

He included Jean Grey as well. Together, five of them headed for Brooklyn’s Coney Island boardwalk park.

They spent a fun afternoon at the amusement park with minimal powers. During a Ferris wheel mishap, Jean used telekinesis to save a child stuck up top. Although no one noticed it was psychic power, Savanah and Nina both thanked Jean for her righteous act and used their “Light Elves’ Blessing” on her. That, combined with the day’s carefree vibe, left Jean feeling physically and mentally lighter.

Jean even sensed the “Dark Phoenix” persona in her head receding slightly. The elves’ powers, though they couldn’t fully cure her Phoenix problem, did help soothe her mental stress.

Aaron quietly noted that Savanah’s “light magic” might slightly calm the black Phoenix’s hostility but would never truly fix it. If Jean wanted a solution, the best route remained the Primordial Furnace. That said, Jean still felt reluctant. She discovered her mind held another version of herself, who wasn’t truly evil—just locked away for too long. She was still hoping to reconcile with Phoenix.

But for Aaron, none of it was a pressing concern. Meanwhile, he himself was steadily growing stronger, so Phoenix was unlikely to pose a threat.

By early evening, as they were about to head home, Norman Osborn called:

“Boss, something’s come up you might find interesting. Just now, a rocket belonging to the Life Foundation lost contact and made an emergency landing near San Francisco.”

“From what I’ve heard, the Life Foundation’s always been eager to find alien life-forms other than humans, and they’ve been acting oddly. I suspect something’s up.”

Usually Norman wouldn’t care about such a small outfit. But Aaron told him to keep tabs on various biotech or advanced-science companies, so he formed a watch department. The Life Foundation was under watch. Once Norman caught wind of it, he phoned Aaron immediately.

“Life Foundation? Who’s heading it?”

Aaron rifled through memory, feeling it was somewhat familiar. “Their head is Dr. Carlton Drake.”

Hearing that, Aaron was sure: Venom was coming.

“All right, gather all the info you can about the Life Foundation and send it. I’ll take a look.”

He hung up and scanned the documents Norman emailed. The Life Foundation was fairly strong in biotech, and also a big name in the Bay area, with many political connections.

As soon as he saw a photo of Drake, Aaron fell into thought.

Felicia, noticing his expression, said, “Boss, you’ve got something else to handle? The rest of us can head back ourselves, so it’s no problem.”

He nodded. Since San Francisco was all the way on the West Coast, and if this universe’s Venom storyline was unfolding, it might be worth going over there. So he bade them farewell.

Jean and the elves parted ways. He got in touch with Darcy Lewis and Jane Foster. Ever since their return from New Mexico, they’d settled in New York, enjoying comfortable R&D roles at Osborn Group, leading a handful of interns, well-paid and with plenty of free time. Darcy had also, in her spare time, been learning about flight attendant “techniques”—stockpiling outfits from around the world, hoping to provide Aaron with a brand-new “high-altitude experience.”

She thought that day was far off, but unexpectedly,

“Finally, I can show my stuff!” Darcy exclaimed, rummaging through her closet for the perfect flight attendant uniform.

“Jane, how do I look?”

Jane Foster glanced at Darcy’s revealing outfit, flustered by how eye-catching it was. She responded a bit sourly, “He’ll love it, obviously.”

Darcy grinned. Then, rummaging further, she pulled out a second uniform for Jane.

“Nuh-uh, not me,” Jane insisted.

“Aw, c’mon, we’re best friends—aren’t we in this together? What if I get murdered mid-flight from exhaustion?”

Jane stared at her in shock, paused, and finally relented.

Half an hour later,

Aaron boarded his private plane to find two flight attendants:

One tall, one short, both in matching uniforms.

“Welcome aboard, sir,” they said sweetly.

Aaron scanned them, dazzled by so much bright fairness. Indeed, decadent living deserved a thorough condemnation…

Meanwhile, on the West Coast,

Carlton Drake oversaw his team rushing to the crash site. An armed security crew retrieved a set of special canisters from the rocket debris—each one containing a peculiar non-Newtonian fluid.

“Boss, one canister got broken,” someone reported.

Drake’s eyes narrowed. “And the contents?”

“Not found.”

“Damn it!”

He cursed under his breath, then answered a call.

Moments later, his expression darkened.

“Not good,” he muttered. “Looks like someone’s about to swoop in and steal the prize!”