"You seem rather protective of that good-for-nothing suit. I wonder why." Cynthia sneered, her gaze shifting between Brandon and the expensive suit. "By any chance, was it your sugar mommy's first gift to you? Are you trying this hard to impress her and prove how devoted you are?” Brandon's expression hardened slightly. "Cynthia, leave it alone." She lifted the glass and gave it a careless little swirl. "Why? Are you worried I might damage something you can't afford to replace? Or are you afraid of angering your sugar mommy?” "I don't have time for this." Brandon reached for the catalogue again, making it clear that he had no intention of entertaining her. Cynthia's smile faded at his dismissal. She had expected Brandon to lose his temper. That was exactly what she wanted. If she could provoke him into an outburst, she could turn the entire situation against him, portray him as an aggressive and unstable man, and humiliate him in front of everyone before having him thrown out of

"Is this real?"Jake stared at the screen of his phone without blinking.The banking application remained open in front of him, displaying a balance that made his heart pound harder with every passing second. He refreshed the page, watched the screen load, and waited for the number to change.It didn't.He closed the application and opened it again, almost expecting the entire thing to disappear.Still there.Millions.An amount he had only ever seen in other people's accounts was now sitting under his own name.His fingers began to tremble.For several seconds, Jake couldn't even breathe properly. Then a laugh escaped him, quiet at first, almost disbelieving, before growing louder until he had to cover his mouth with one hand."She actually paid."He sank onto the edge of the sofa, staring at the balance as memories flooded his mind.The cheap apartment, the old furniture, and the countless times he had watched wealthy people spend money without checking the price.The humiliation of

“Why is it so hard to complete a simple task?”The heavy flower vase struck the marble floor and shattered across the old mansion's drawing room. Pieces of porcelain scattered beneath the antique furniture, while the men standing several feet away remained completely still.Frederick stood near the fireplace, his expression dark with restrained anger. His age had done little to weaken his presence. Even without raising his voice, the authority in his tone was enough to make everyone in the room uncomfortable.“I gave you one simple task,” he continued. “I didn't ask you to find a missing army. I asked you to find one young man, yet you're standing in front of me with nothing except another request for more time. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?”No one dared respond.George finally stepped forward, keeping his voice measured. “I'm trying my best, Master Frederick. We've followed every lead you've given us, but the information hasn't been enough to locate him.”Frederic

“Damn it.”Jake stared at the black screen in frustration and pressed the power button again, holding it down for several seconds. Nothing happened. He released it, waited, and tried again, but the phone remained completely unresponsive.He picked up the charger and connected it to the device, expecting the charging symbol to appear. When the screen remained black, his irritation deepened.“What the hell is going on here?”Jake disconnected the charger and tried another socket. Still nothing. He checked the cable, connected it again, and held the power and volume buttons together, trying every method he could remember for restarting the phone.Nothing worked.His frustration grew with every failed attempt. The phone had been working perfectly a few seconds ago. He had been checking his bank balance and browsing furniture websites without any problem, and then he had opened one strange link from an un

“Glad to meet you Mr. Lincoln, have a pleasant evening.” Jake stood beside Lyra, greeting the investors with a confident smile while doing his best to ignore the uneasiness that had followed him for the past two days. His phone was still unusable, so he had been forced to rely on his laptop and the company's systems for anything important.The meeting had barely begun when his laptop gave a soft notification.Jake glanced down automatically and a banking alert appeared on the corner of the screen.‘Your account has been temporarily frozen pending verification.’His smile disappeared.For a moment, he simply stared at the notification, unable to process what he was seeing. He quickly clicked it, hoping it was some kind of mistake, but the message remained on the screen.His account was restricted.The millions he had been treating as his personal fortune were suddenly inaccessible.Jake's fingers tightened around the edge of the table.Not here…. Not now.He had promised to pay for th