Across the road from the Plaza Hotel, an Uber was parked. Behind its tinted glass sat Amelia, watching the hotel entrance as two young men strolled out: Aaron and John.“Can’t believe he actually gave us that huge amount of money, man,” John said. “I’m still shaking right now. In my life I never thought I’d be given a million dollars free of charge without being asked to offer anything else in return. It still feels like a dream.”“Man, Nathan has always been the best,” Aaron replied, staring up at the night sky littered with unblinking stars. “It might just be that he’s only being generous because he got the money without breaking a single sweat, but I wouldn’t put it past him to just be as generous as he is right now.”“You’re right,” John replied thoughtfully. “In any case, hurrah to friendship.”“Hurrah!” Aaron echoed.Amelia watched as they boarded a taxi back to school.“What?” she asked pensively. “What on earth does that good-for-nothing pauper think he is doing? Why is he giv

“There’s nothing pleasant about this morning,” Mrs. Lee snorted, turning her head in the other direction as though she did not deem him worthy enough to receive a stare from her.“We saw the news,” Mr. Lee said, regarding Nathan coldly. “Those are some exploits you’ve made in the past few days, haven’t you? The last time we came across you, you were an errand boy for my son, Michael. I suppose you know him. And now you’re…” He raised an eyebrow, “Pauper King? That’s quite a surprise. A trillionaire the last time we checked.”“I guess people get lucky,” Nathan said, about to leave.“You will stay there when I am talking to you, young man,” Mr. Lee barked. Nathan stood still, wondering at the audacity behind those words. “How dare you try to leave me standing. Do you know who I am? Do you think stealing and scamming has suddenly placed you at my level? Let me tell you one thing, Mr. Rhodes: you were born a pleb, and you will always be a pleb. It doesn’t matter what you have right now, o

Michael couldn't believe his eyes. Already, the captions were trending."#OldMoneyGotHumbledByPauperKing." "#TheLeesTriedToThrowThePauperKingOutOfThePlazaHotelAndGotShownTheWayOutThemselves." "Old Money is defeated by New Money." "Pauper King On The Rise."Michael kept watching the video, rewinding it over and over. His sister puked on the other side of the table. He could hear it. The sound of it making him sick."Damn him!" Michael declared, throwing the phone away into the field of grass beside him."Hey!" His friend dove after the phone. "You'll break it."Michael didn't care. He stood up. "This errand boy has bitten off more than he can chew this time. But I'm going to make sure he swallows it. I will make sure it clogs his throat and he is unable to eat more. He is mad."Melody sat up straight, still clutching her retching stomach. "I hate this," she said, slamming her fists on the table. "I hate this. I hate it so much. They're even tagging us on all platforms.""Just put your

“But I promise you that this is a real home. It would be better than what we have here.” He spared a few seconds to look around the old house. There were irreparable damages—holes where rats snuck pieces of food through. He sighed, trying to push the sadness aside.His grandmother was hesitant, but it was becoming harder for her to hide the excitement brewing under her skin.“You know,” she began, “if not for the fact that our damn landlords keep pestering us for money, I don’t think I would like to leave here. What’s more in this world to see when I don’t have much time left to spend?”Nathan rolled his eyes. “No more doomer talk, Ma. We’ll go see this place I got for you, and you will love it.”“Okay. If you say so,” the woman relented. “But you have to eat first before you go.”“Alright,” Nathan agreed.The old woman got up to serve Nathan some stew and rice. He ate it up, relishing it and telling her how much he missed her cooking.When he was done, she picked up a bag that contai

Amelia gasped as she held the binoculars against the window glass of the car, still shocked. She could not get her eyes of the house and all its grandeur.'He's rich. Super rich,' she said in her mind, her stomach locking into knots. "Dodgercoin? Isn't that the same thing with Michael and his family. It's amazing how something like that can end up changing someone's life entirely. But how come? Why did he hid it from him for such a long time? Did I mean nothing to him at all?"Jealousy splurged within her. She could no longer hold it in. Her heart beat so fast against her rib cage that she could almost feel it melting out of her chest."If he could pull this off," she continued, her voice filled with much bitterness, "why didn't he spend on me when we were still together? Why all this? Why now that I am no longer with him? Or was he playing me? Was it all a test to see if I could endure with him? Was that day in the restaurant just the last test to see what I would do?" She lost her b