2025-12-01 03:59:47Gray slipped the card back into his pocket, satisfaction settling warm in his chest. This was really happening.
"Can we go to the toy store next, brother? The big one?" Lily grabbed his hand, her face practically glowing with happiness. She'd never been able to just pick things out before and seeing her brother pay without counting every bill three times first had her buzzing to continue the shopping spree.
Gray chuckled and squeezed her hand. "I told you we're going crazy today. Lead the way."
"Yay!" Lily jumped and pulled him toward the escalator.
And just like that, their spending spree truly began.
[Ding!]
[$312.40 has been deducted from your balance.]
[Available Balance: $8,948.65]
At the shoe store, Lily picked out sparkly sneakers and pink boots that lit up when she stomped her feet. Gray grabbed himself a decent pair of running shoes, the first new shoes he'd owned in two years.
[$418.60 has been deducted from your balance.]
[Available Balance: $8,530.05]
They hit a clothing store next. Lily needed almost everything since most of her clothes either hung off her shoulders or were too small. Gray watched her pile items into the cart with a grin he couldn't wipe off his face.
[$429.99 has been deducted from your balance.]
[Available Balance: $8,100.06]
After a few hours of shopping, Gray's feet started to hurt and Lily's energy was finally wearing down. They decided to take a break at a restaurant they'd walked past a hundred times but never thought they'd actually enter. It looked super fancy with embroided cloth napkins and waiters in black vests.
The lights inside were soft and golden. The floor gleamed like someone polished it to perfection. Gentle music played from speakers Gray couldn't even see. Lily held his hand tight as a waitress in a crisp uniform led them to a table near the big windows.
"Right this way, sir." The waitress smiled, though Gray caught the way her eyes flicked over their clothes with just a hint of judgment.
They sat down on a cozy cushioned bench. Lily pressed her face against the window glass, watching people walk by on the street below. Her eyes were wide with wonder at being in such a fancy place.
Gray picked up the menu and nearly choked when he saw the prices.
"Wow, this stuff is expensive," he muttered under his breath.
Fifty dollars for a plate of pasta? No kidding! He could cook meals for a week with that money. This had to be some kind of scam. But they were already here, so they might as well experience it once.
"What do you want to eat, Lily?"
Lily turned away from the window, still smiling. "You can decide, brother. Anything you buy is good."
Gray sighed and looked back at the menu. Half the items were written in words he couldn't even pronounce. Being rich was harder than he thought.
The waitress stood nearby, pretending to arrange napkins but clearly listening to them. Gray didn't want to look stupid in front of her or Lily, so he cleared his throat and pointed at a few random items on the menu.
"We'll get this one and this one with the creamy thing. And this one. Oh, and this cake."
The waitress raised an eyebrow. "And for drinks?"
"Strawberry milkshake for her." Gray handed back the menu quickly. "I'll just take water."
"Of course." She nodded politely and walked away.
Gray let out a breath. Lily was already swinging her legs under the table and humming softly, completely content.
"Did you order cake too?" she asked.
"Of course I did." Gray grinned.
When the food arrived a few minutes later, both their jaws dropped. The plates were huge and beautifully arranged. Creamy pasta with herbs sprinkled on top. Grilled steak with sauce that caught the light. A chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream slowly melting on the side.
"Whoa," Lily whispered, her eyes huge.
They dug in immediately. The pasta was rich and cheesy. The steak was so tender it practically fell apart. The cake was warm and gooey in the middle. Gray had to admit that despite the ridiculous prices, the food actually tasted incredible.
"This is so yummy!" Lily said through a mouthful of pasta.
Gray smiled and took another bite of steak. For a moment, everything felt perfect. Just him and his sister enjoying a nice meal without worrying about the cost.
Then a voice cut through their peace.
"Well, well. Gray Adams? Is that really you?"
Gray froze with his fork halfway to his mouth. He knew that voice. His stomach dropped.
He slowly looked up.
Standing beside their table was a tall guy in an expensive coat. His hair was styled perfectly, not a strand out of place. A silver watch gleamed on his wrist, the kind that probably cost more than Gray made in six months. The guy was smiling, but it wasn't a friendly smile. It was the kind of smile that meant trouble.
"Jayden," Gray said quietly.
Jayden was his old classmate from high school. The same Jayden who'd made his life miserable back in school. Tripping him in hallways. Knocking his lunch tray onto the floor. Calling him names in front of everyone just because his clothes were worn and his shoes had holes.
"My eyes weren't deceiving me after all," Jayden's smile widened. "I thought that was you. What are you doing in a place like this?"
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Chapter 370: Trending
Gray couldn't sleep that night.He got home past midnight. Eli had fallen asleep in the car on the way back, head against the window, his hand still holding the cuff of Gray's jacket. Gray carried him inside and laid him on his bed without waking him. Lily was already asleep. He sat on the edge of his own bed and stared at the wall. His phone was on the nightstand, buzzing in steady intervals. He didn't pick it up. He stayed there until the sky outside the window started changing color, then he got up and made coffee.By morning, the city had split open.Every news channel was running the story. As an entire broadcast. Anchors sat behind desks and narrated footage from the venue, the arrest, the broadcast, the testimony. They played clips of Benjamin Crowe's report. They played clips of Alistair's rant about Cedric Ventura. They played clips of Eli standing at the microphone in his short-sleeved shirt, speaking in a voice so quiet the boom operator had to adjust mid-sentence.They pl
Chapter 369: If I'm Going Down
Alistair laughed.It started low in his chest and climbed until it filled the microphones and the speakers and every corner of the room.People in the front row leaned back.Alistair braced both hands on the podium. His shoulders shaking, head dropped between his arms. The laughter kept coming, louder now, spilling over itself, the sound of a man who had reached his end.Then he lifted his head.His eyes were wet from pressure. The face behind the laughter was stripped down to bone."You want the truth?" he said.His voice came through the speakers ragged and unsteady. He wasn't performing anymore. The part of him that knew how to perform had burned out somewhere between Gray's question and Eli's testimony and the silence that followed."You want to know what politics looks like?" He straightened up behind the podium. His hand swept across the room. "You think I'm the only one?"Someone in the crowd shifted. A murmur started near the back and died before it reached the front."Cedric
Chapter 368: Am I Your Enemy Too?
Gray walked to the podium with a sense of victory in his steps.He walked at the same pace he had used to cross the main hall, steady and unhurried, as though he were walking to deliver a speech he had prepared weeks ago.Alistair saw him coming.He was still standing behind the microphones, one hand resting on the podium, the other holding his phone. His mouth had been open mid-sentence, still pushing back against the broadcast, still telling the room that what they were seeing was a coordinated attack by his enemies.He stopped talking when Gray stepped onto the stage.For a moment, neither of them moved. The screens behind them were still showing documents. Benjamin Crowe's voice was still coming through the speakers, measured and relentless, narrating each new piece of evidence as it appeared. The crowd below the stage had gone completely still. Phones were raised. Cameras were rolling. Every eye in the room was pointed at the two men standing five feet apart on a platform that ha
Chapter 367: Breaking Point
By nine o'clock, the main hall was full.Every seat was taken, people standing along the walls and in the aisles between the chairs. The air had changed from the cool, open quality of the morning setup to something thicker, warmer, compressed by bodies and noise.The two screens flanking the stage showed the count. Alistair Reid: 58%. Cedric Ventura: 36% with other candidates splitting the rest. The numbers had barely moved in the last hour but the margin was wide enough that the campaign staff had stopped checking and started celebrating.ear the staging corridor, Alistair's team was already preparing. Two aides carried a binder with his victory speech. Another adjusted the height of the podium microphone. The backdrop behind the stage was lit now, Alistair's name glowing in clean white letters against the campaign's navy blue. Someone had placed a small bouquet of flowers on a stand near the podium's base.The supporters in the front rows were on their feet. Some held signs, others
Chapter 366: The Last Toast
The hours moved slowly.Votes were being counted across the city. District by district, the numbers fed into the central system and appeared on the two large screens flanking the stage. Each update brought a small ripple through the room. Campaign staff checked their phones. Aides whispered to each other near the staging corridor. Supporters in the growing crowd pointed at the screens and nodded.Alistair's name sat at the top of every update. Fifty-six percent. Fifty-seven. The lead was comfortable and widening and nobody in his camp looked surprised by it.Gray sat in the third row with a glass of water and his phone face-down on his thigh. He watched the numbers change, the room quietly fill. He watched the clock in the upper corner of the nearest screen tick forward in a count that meant something different to him than it did to everyone else in the building.Hours left."Gray."Alistair appeared beside him. He had come from the staging corridor, jacket unbuttoned, a glass of some
Chapter 365: The Day Had Started
Gray rang Mara at exactly six in the morning.She picked up on the first ring. She had been awake already. He could tell by her voice being lear and sharp that there was no sleep left in it."Everything?" he asked."Everything," she said. "Benjamin Crowe is confirmed at the venue. His press credentials went through last night. James handled it from the inside and as far as Alistair's team knows, he's just another reporter covering the results.""What about the database?""They are live. All four outlets have access codes and are on stand-by." A pause. "The attorney's office confirmed the filing was received and logged. The prosecutor has a sealed copy. We're in the clear."Gray stood at the window of his condo. The city was still dark at the edges, the sky just beginning to lighten along the tops of the buildings to the east. Streetlights were still on. Below, the first cars of the morning moved along the main road in thin, steady lines."How are you?" Mara asked. He almost laughed.
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