From Zero To Trillions

CHAPTER ONE

Austin Parker shuffled towards the entrance of the bar where he worked. His clothes told a story of hardship – torn in places, the fabric faded and stretched, and his jeans had seen better days, sporting rips at the knees and frayed hems. His gaze was fixed on the worn-out pavement, as if he hoped to find some lost treasure or perhaps just an escape from his current reality. Sadly, the ground offered no such comfort.

He often escaped into his own thoughts when he walked. This gave him a short rest from his nagging problems that piled up each and everyday.

Despite the state of his clothes, Austin was undeniably a handsome young man. He had a kind face and a natural charm, but today, those features were overshadowed by the shabbiness of his clothes, which looked as though they hadn't felt the touch of soap and water in ages. As he walked through the front doors of the bar, the early evening customers, dressed in their smart casuals, couldn't help but stare. Their eyes followed him with a mixture of curiosity and distaste, some even subtly stepping aside as if he might contaminate them or, worse, pickpocket their wallets.

This kind of attention wasn't new to Austin lately, but it still stung. Just moments ago, as he was walking to work, someone had carelessly – or perhaps deliberately – splashed a wave of dirty water all over him from their passing vehicle. He hadn't reacted outwardly, his expression remaining calm, a mask he'd learned to wear. He simply continued his journey to the bar, his workplace.

He made his way through the bustling main area of the bar, the clinking of glasses and muffled conversations a familiar soundtrack to his life. He headed towards the back.

The locker room was small and smelled faintly of stale beer and cleaning supplies. Here, he kept a set of clean clothes, a clear difference to the ones clinging to him now. He quickly changed, the simple act of pulling on a fresh t-shirt and jeans offering a small sense of relief.

Austin's job title wasn't glamorous; he was the cleaner. He wiped down sticky tables, swept up broken glass, and helped the bartenders by collecting empty bottles and glasses. It was honest work, and it provided him with a small but steady income, even if it barely covered his most essential expenses.

He often wondered if this was all there would ever be for him, a quiet, unseen life spent cleaning up after others. The thought was a heavy weight in his chest, one he tried not to dwell on for too long.

Just as he was grabbing a cleaning rag and a spray bottle, ready to tackle the evening's mess, his old mobile phone started buzzing insistently. It vibrated repeatedly inside his pocket, a jarring sound in the relative quiet of the back room.

Austin sighed, a puff of air escaping his lips, and muttered a mild curse under his breath. He reached for the phone, a battered old button model. Most of the buttons were stiff and unresponsive, a testament to its age and the countless times it had been used. He squinted at the tiny screen, wondering who could be trying to reach him so urgently.

Austin slowly slid his phone and brought it to his ear, his voice a little hesitant. "Hello?" he said into the receiver.

A deep voice, sounding like a man in his middle years, echoed from the other end of the line. "Yes, am I speaking to his royal highness Austin Parker?"

Austin let out a long breath, a sigh that carried a hint of weariness. He spoke into the phone again, his tone flat. "Yes, this is Austin Parker, but I'm not a royal highness…”

"Your highness," the man on the other end continued, his voice unwavering, "there is an inheritance that you should claim. Would you have some time to take care of this today? I would be..." The man started to explain, but Austin quickly interrupted him, a chuckle escaping his lips.

He paused, staring at the number on his phone. He wasn't ready to fall for a scammer not when he had a lot of bills to pay.

"What exactly do you mean by an inheritance to claim?" Austin asked, a genuine laugh bubbling up this time. "You really don't have to do this, man. It's 2025, and working hard to earn a decent living is much better than calling people to scam them. How am I even supposed to believe you when I'm an orphan?" Austin's eyes scanned the familiar surroundings of the bar, to notice that the manager was around.

"Your highness, you truly need to believe..." the man insisted, his voice holding a note of urgency.

Austin didn't wait to hear any more. He pressed the button to end the call, a sense of annoyance washing over him. He couldn't afford to lose the job he had just managed to get because of some ridiculous phone trick. He barely had thirty dollars to his name, and these people thought they could fool him with stories of inheritances.

Just as he placed his phone back down, it started to ring again. This time, Austin simply switched it to silent. He turned his attention to the nearby tables, beginning to clear the empty glasses and plates. Once the tables were clean, he grabbed the mop, ready to finish up. As he was about to mop the last section of the floor, the sharp sound of shattering glass echoed through the almost quiet bar. A wine glass had fallen and broken into pieces.

Austin carefully bent down. He wanted to pick up the sharp pieces of glass. Just then, someone wearing dark, high-heeled shoes stepped right onto the broken glass.

Austin stopped what he was doing and looked up. "Sabrina? Ugh. What are you even doing here?" he asked, a bit surprised and not very happy.

The woman standing there was Sabrina. She had a lot of makeup on and was wearing a very short dress that showed off her chest and body. This girl wasn't just anyone; she had been Austin's girlfriend for four years.

Sabrina looked down at him. "Austin… are you still here cleaning up trash? You poor thing. Do you really want to waste your whole life working in this old bar as a cleaner?" Her pretty face suddenly looked very cold and mean.

"What…" Austin started to say something, but Sabrina cut him off quickly.

"What are you going to say? Just forget it. I've already broken up with you. Honestly, I can't stop you from being who you are… but I can't be with a guy who can't even buy me the cheapest drink in this bar. You'll just make me look poor too," Sabrina shouted at Austin. Her face showed complete disgust.

"Break up?" The words hit Austin like a cold splash of water. He stopped moving, his body stiff. "Sabrina," he said slowly, his voice quiet. He looked at her face, trying to see if she was playing a game. "That was just a joke, right?" He tried to laugh a little, but it sounded shaky even to his own ears. He could feel the eyes of the few people sitting at the bar turning towards them, and he wished the ground would just swallow him whole.

Sabrina didn't laugh. Her face was hard, and her eyes looked cold. "Why would I ever joke about something like this with someone like you?" she said, her voice sharp. "A 'zero penny poor boy'?" She said the words like they tasted bad in her mouth.

Austin's confusion started to turn into a knot in his stomach. "Why?" he asked, his voice a little louder this time, now that he knew she was serious. "Why on earth would you suddenly want to break up with me? What's going on?”

Sabrina rolled her eyes, like he was being deliberately stupid. "Are you really asking me that?" she scoffed. "It's because you have nothing, Austin. You're just poor. A broke boy who will always be broke." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Did you actually think that someone like Sabrina would stay with a nobody like you forever? Look at us! We don't even fit together. You can't even take care of yourself, so how could you ever take care of me, or even a family, if we were together?"

She took a step closer, her voice firm and cold. "Austin, I'm telling you right now. We are finished. Over. Done." She looked right into his eyes, and there was no softness there at all. "I don't ever want to see you again.”

Sabrina turned her back and started walking away. Austin was fast. He moved quickly to try and stop her. But just then, out of nowhere, a man hit Austin hard in the face. Austin fell to the ground.

"Kelvin, you shouldn't touch him," Sabrina said, looking at Austin on the floor. "You might catch his poorness." Austin looked up at them, his eyes wide with surprise. He stared at the man who was wearing very expensive clothes.

"Austin," Sabrina said slowly, "I want you to meet my boyfriend and my future husband, Kelvin. He looks much better than you. And he is also very, very rich. Only someone like him deserves to be with me." She then kissed Kelvin slowly on the lips.

Kelvin looked down at Austin with a hard look in his eyes. "I will only tell you this one time. Sabrina belongs to me. If I see you anywhere near her again, you will be dead.”

Austin lay on the ground, his teeth clenched. He didn't say anything. He knew that Kelvin wasn't just rich. He probably knew powerful people too. He knew that If he made Kelvin angry, Austin knew he would be the one to lose but he wanted to fight back but how could he do that?