All Chapters of The Kids Made Me A Billionaire; The Cashback System: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
13 chapters
The Humiliation Meeting
The AC in the conference room wasn't working. But Mr. Davis's office had its own private one. That pretty much summed up my life. "Okay, team, let's start the monthly review," Davis said, loosening his $10 tie like he was a billionaire. He never looked at me. He never needed to. I was the invisible guy in the corner. The guy who fixed the printer, who stayed late, who got paid late. "Great news. Mark closed the Henderson deal. $50,000 commission. That's how business is done." Applause. Mark stood up - tall, gelled hair, watch that probably cost more than my entire year salary. And next to him, clinging to his arm like a trophy, was Sarah. My ex-girlfriend of 3 years. The one who told me last month, "I can't keep struggling with you. Mark has a future. You... you just have bills." She saw me looking. She didn't even flinch. She just leaned in and whispered to Mark, "That's him. My ex." Mark looked at me and gave me that pity smile rich guys give poor guys. "Oh, you're... yeah. Sa
Daddy's $9,000 morning
I didn't sleep.How do you sleep when your bank balance went from $212 to $9,167 because you bought pizza?I kept refreshing my bank app all night. The money was still there. The hotel voucher for the Presidential Suite at The Grand Palace; the most expensive hotel in the city, was in my email. Confirmation code, my name on it. For tonight.At 6 AM, I was standing at the bus station in the same old suit, but I had taken a shower, shaved, and for the first time in a year, I used a cologne. The cheap one, but still.The bus pulled in at 9:02 AM. The exact time Davis's "mandatory" meeting was starting without me.The doors opened."DADDYYYY!"Four small tornados launched at me.Lily, 10 years old, with her crooked glasses and the card in her hand. Grace, 8 years old, already talking a mile a minute. Tom, 6 years old, holding his little backpack like a soldier. And Ben, 5 years old, my youngest, who I had to pick up because his legs were too short."Daddy you came! You really came!" Lily
The Return
2:00 PM. The exact same conference room.This time, I wasn't sweating.The doors opened and every head turned. The chatter died instantly.I walked in wearing a $3,000 suit the hotel stylist picked for me; dark blue, tailored perfectly. My shoes were Italian leather. On my wrist was a watch I didn't even know the price of because the system just gave it to me as a bonus reward.And holding my hands were four kids.Lily in her new Gucci dress, holding a Dior shopping bag bigger than her. Grace with her new pink backpack, swinging it like a weapon. Tom pushing a mini Mercedes toy car that cost more than Davis's monthly salary. And little Ben, asleep on my shoulder again, wearing a tiny suit that matched mine.Mr. Davis's jaw literally dropped. Mark's smile froze. Sarah... Sarah stood up so fast her chair fell."What... what is this?" Davis stammered. "You were fired! And you can't bring children to a corporate meeting!""Oh, I'm not here for the meeting," I said calmly. I pulled out the
The Million Dollar Pet
The office building lobby was chaos.My lawyers were holding the elevator. The General Manager was still holding that folder that said I owned the whole plaza. Davis was upstairs, probably still trying to breathe. And my four kids were holding my hands like nothing happened."Daddy, are we going home now?" Tom asked, swinging his little Mercedes.Home. Right. My $400-a-month studio apartment with one mattress and a leaking sink. I couldn't take them back there.I looked at my phone.Balance: $1,303,167.73[NEW MISSION: Your children want a pet. A big one. Spend $1,000,000 in 3 days.][TIME LEFT: 71:59:12][FAILURE: System will downgrade to 50x]My blood ran cold. Downgrade to 50x? That would make me exactly what Davis thought I was. A weakling."Daddy?" Lily tugged my sleeve. "You said we could get a lion."I had whispered it as a joke in the elevator. They remembered.Ben, my 5-year-old, was dead serious. "I want a dinosaur."I laughed, but my brain was racing. How do you spend $1,00
The Pet Shop
The private car didn't go to a pet shop as we thought. It went to a place that didn't have a sign. A big steel gate in the hills, with guards. The CEO of Luxe Cuts called it "The Ark." Where billionaires buy things you're not supposed to be able to buy."Are we going to get a puppy?" Lily asked, holding Grace's hand tight. She was excited but she kept looking out the window, worried."Daddy said big pet," Tom said seriously. "Like bigger than Ben.""I AM NOT A PET!" Ben shouted, almost crying, but he soothed him to go back to sleep.I checked my phone.[MISSION PROGRESS: $55,200 / $1,000,000][TIME LEFT: 58:42:11]I had spent $55k at the salon. I needed to spend $944,800 more in two days. On pets.The gate opened. Inside, was a mansion with acres of land. And it was full of cages, but clean, huge cages that looked like small houses.A man in a white coat met us. Old, calm, eyes like he had seen everything."Mr. Chairman. Welcome. I was told you need... something special for your child
The Johnson Family
The photo of Davis, Mark, and the older man was an invitation to war.I didn't sleep in the Presidential Suite that night. Not because Leo snored like a tiny truck and not because Gold kept stealing Ben's socks. I didn't sleep because I Googled "Johnson family."Mark Johnson wasn't just Mark. He was Mark Johnson III.His grandfather, Johnson Sr., owned half the malls in the country. His father owned the Grand Business Plaza before I bought it yesterday. Old money. The kind of old money that thinks they own people.And according to a forum post I found at 3 AM, the Johnsons were... weird. Every man in that family became a millionaire before 30 without ever having a real job. People whispered they had a "golden touch." They would buy something for $10k and sell it for $1M a week later.100x Cashback. It had to be. Three generations of 100x users.My phone buzzed.[MISSION PROGRESS: $460,200 / $1,000,000][TIME LEFT: 32:15:44][WARNING: Hostile 100x signatures detected nearby. Protect y
A Day at School
The lobby was still frozen.Davis was staring at his phone like it had betrayed him. His system was still flashing ERROR. Mark's face had gone from smug to pale. Johnson Sr., for the first time in maybe 40 years, didn't know what to say.Because Victoria Sterling just said the one word no 100x user ever wanted to hear.200x.She held my arm tighter and said louder, for the whole lobby to hear:"This man is under Sterling Group protection. This hotel is under Sterling Group protection. His children are under MY protection. If Child Services comes, they will talk to my lawyers first."She looked at Johnson Sr. directly. "You have 10 seconds to leave my hotel."Your hotel? John the GM, standing in the corner, almost fainted. The hotel I owned 15% of was now hers?Johnson Sr. recovered. He was old, but he was a predator."Victoria, sweetheart, you always liked to collect broken toys," he said, smiling cold. "A 200x? Please. There's no such thing. Your scanner is broken. Like your father's
The Ex Returns
The school owned us. By 10 AM, the news was everywhere: "Ice Queen Victoria Sterling and Mysterious Single Dad Buy Elite Academy With a Dog and a Lion."By 11 AM, Lily sent me a video: Leo sleeping on her desk during math, Gold sitting next to Emma as the class guard dog, and Jake Johnson sitting in the BACK row where he put Lily yesterday. The teacher was asking Lily if the temperature was okay for Leo.By 12 PM, my bank balance was $234 million and climbing from the school's tuition fees cashback.And by 1 PM, Sarah showed up.I was in the Presidential Suite, trying to build a proper lion-proof crib for Ben, when John the GM knocked, terrified."Sir... your... your wife is downstairs. With... lawyers. And Mark."My ex-wife. The woman who told my kids "Daddy is a loser, we need to find a new daddy."I told Lily and the others to stay in the bedroom with Gold and Leo. Victoria had left a female bodyguard who nodded and closed the door.I went down alone.Sarah looked different. She h
The $10 Billion Birthday
I was a billionaire for exactly 14 minutes before the system ruined it.We were still in the lobby. Sarah's perfume was still in the air. Lily was showing Emma how Leo liked his belly rubbed. Gold was trying to steal everyone's shoes and pile them in a corner like treasure.Victoria was about to say something... something soft, which was rare for her, when all our phones screamed at once.It was an emergency alert. Like a tsunami warning.[EMERGENCY: JOHNSON FAMILY ACTIVATES 100x FAMILY COMBINE][3 GENERATIONS OF 100x USERS HAVE COMBINED TO 300x FOR 24 HOURS][TARGET: YOUR $10B EMPIRE + YOUR CHILDREN'S TRUST FUNDS][THEY WILL SPEND $100M IN 24 HOURS TO STEAL YOUR CASHBACK]Victoria's phone also buzzed. She went white."My system... it says 'Family Combine Detected - Hostile Takeover In Progress.' Johnson Sr. called his sons and his brothers. There are seven of them. Seven 100x users. If they all spend $100M today, their combine will hit $30 BILLION. They will outspend us and the bank
The Gold Membership Card
The $30 billion birthday party lasted until 2 AM. The castle was half-destroyed by Leo who discovered he could climb it. Gold had eaten 7 cakes and was sleeping inside Tom's mini Rolls-Royce with his belly up. Ben had declared himself King of the Ballroom and made everyone call him "Your Majesty Ben-Ben." Emma and Lily had built a fort out of $2 million worth of dolls and were whispering secrets inside. Victoria was asleep on a pile of toy boxes, holding Emma's hand, frosting still on her cheek. For the first time in 2 years, her phone wasn't buzzing with system errors. Her 100x was back, warm and quiet. And I was standing on the balcony, looking down at the street, where Davis was still sitting on the curb. He hadn't moved in 5 hours. His suit was ruined. His briefcase was empty. The Johnsons left him there when his 100x broke. At 2:13 AM, my system buzzed. It was a notification. [250x BONUS SENSE: A former 100x host nearby is about to lose everything. Including his famil