CHAPTER TWO "Honey," Sabrina said, her voice soft but sharp, "why don't we just forget about this mess? Let's have a good time tonight. We should go now." As she spoke, she moved closer to Kelvin, snuggling into his side. She then whispered something in his ear that Austin couldn't make out. Kelvin smirked, a knowing look on his face. "You little sexy pine," he replied, his voice low and husky. "You can't wait to moan my name, can you?" His hand then went to Sabrina's backside, giving it a firm squeeze. Sabrina let out a little laugh, clearly enjoying the attention. Kelvin then reached into his pocket and pulled out some American dollar bills. He carelessly tossed them towards Austin. "Hey, you! Instead of just sitting there like a dummy, why don't you actually earn your keep? Here's two thousand dollars. Go get us some drinks and you can keep whatever is left over." "That's right," Sabrina added, a smug look on her face as she glanced at Austin. "You heard the man. Pick up th

CHAPTER FOUR The night air was cool on Austin's skin, but his brain felt like it was full of angry bees. He just stared at the ATM screen. Seven billion dollars. It was such a huge number, it felt like a bad joke. He blinked hard, then rubbed his eyes like he was trying to wipe away a dream. But when he looked again, the seven followed with all those nine zeros was still stubbornly in place. He took his bank card out. He thought maybe the machine would make a funny noise and say it was a mistake. But it just stayed quiet, its little green light blinking like normal. He put the card back in, clicked through the menus to check his balance again, and BAM! The same crazy number jumped out at him. A dizzy feeling hit him hard. He had to hold onto the cold metal of the ATM to stay standing. What was happening? Who could do something like this? And why would they pick him? His mind started spinning, trying to think of anyone he knew. But none of them, not even a little bit, seemed like

CHAPTER SIX Xavier moved slowly towards the big desk. He picked up a paper and held it out to Austin. "Mr. Parker," Xavier said, his voice serious, "this is the last will of the late Chairman Andrews. If you sign here," he pointed to a spot on the paper, "everything that belonged to him will be yours. But... there's one thing you need to do first.” Austin took the paper from Xavier's hand. He looked at it with a curious face. "What is it?" he asked, wondering what kind of thing the old chairman wanted. Xavier looked straight at Austin. "The chairman wrote very clearly in his will. He said that if you want all his things, you must marry Miss Fiona Lawrence. If you don't marry her, you won't get even one small penny from him." Xavier spoke slowly and carefully so Austin would understand exactly what he was saying. "Fiona Lawrence?" Austin asked, his eyebrows going up in surprise. He hadn't thought there would be a strange rule like this to get the money. He had hoped for somethin

CHAPTER EIGHTAustin was thinking about trying that shiny card that Xavier gave him. Could it really give him money? Just as that thought popped into his head, his phone went "BRRRING!" He pulled it out and said "Hello?" A loud voice came from the phone."Austin! Where have you been, man? Why aren't you back in school? You know we have class now, right?" It was Vince, one of Austin's very few friends at school, and he sounded like he was in a big hurry."Fuckkk! Oh no! I totally forgot!" Austin blurted out. Then he said, "I had something important to do, but I'm coming right now!""You better run like a cheetah!" Vince said in a low voice and then hung up.Austin quickly waved down a taxi. "Nest university, please!" he said, and off they went. Luckily, the school wasn't too far from that big building, the LEDGER GROUP, so he got there just in time. He walked into class, hoping he wasn't too late. But then he saw everyone looking at him in a funny way when he got to class. And guess wh

CHAPTER TEN"Austin, are you feeling alright in the head? Do you have any idea what kind of money we're talking about for that Exclusive suite?" Sarah blurted out, her eyes practically popping out of her head as she stared at Austin like he'd grown a second nose.Kelvin's face twisted into something resembling a lemon. "Yeah, last I checked, the minimum spend for that place could probably feed a small country for a month! What's gotten into you? Do you want to wash dishes or get arrested?" He'd been expecting maybe the regular VIP suite like he had stretched, but this exclusive room was way out of his league.The manager's perfectly composed expression flickered for a moment. She'd clearly pegged the loud and flashy Kelvin as the big spender, not the quietly dressed Austin. It just goes to show, you can't judge a book by its slightly worn cover.Sabrina squinted at Austin, a deep furrow in her brow. This didn't compute. The Austin she knew was the king of frugality, perpetually broke,