2025-12-01 18:17:14"What do you mean it's declined?" Jayden's voice came out louder than he intended, sharp enough to cut through the pleasant restaurant ambiance. "That can't be right!"
People at nearby tables turned to look. Whispers started spreading through the dining room like ripples on water.
The waitress stood frozen, clearly uncomfortable with the attention. "I'm really sorry, sir. Perhaps you have another card we could try?"
Jayden's face flushed red. Embarrassment and anger mixed together until he couldn't tell which was worse. His hands gripped the edge of the table so hard his knuckles turned white. This had never happened to him before. Never.
"Bro, people are staring. Calm down." One of his friends leaned in close, his whisper urgent.
That's when Jayden remembered Emma and Chloe were sitting right there watching everything fall apart. He slowly turned his head. Sure enough, both women were staring at him with wide eyes.
Emma looked surprised, her eyebrows raised but not mocking. Chloe's expression held concern, like she hadn't expected him to react so strongly to a simple payment issue.
Jayden forced out a laugh that sounded more like a cough. He ran his hand through his hair and leaned back in his chair, trying to look casual even though sweat was starting to form on his forehead.
"Ah, it's probably just a limit thing." He waved his hand dismissively. "You know how banks are with big transactions. They flag them as suspicious sometimes. Happens all the time to people with money."
Emma and Chloe didn't respond right away. They just looked at each other, some silent communication passing between them.
"No big deal." Jayden fumbled through his wallet and pulled out another card. His hands weren't quite steady. "Here, try this one."
"Of course, sir. One moment please." The waitress took the card and walked to the register.
She came back less than a minute later with the same apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, sir. This one was also declined."
"What?" Jayden's voice cracked. He dug through his wallet frantically now, pulling out a third card. His hands shook as he handed them over one by one.
The waitress took each card to the register. Each time she returned with the same answer.
"Declined."
"Declined."
Sweat was now running down Jayden's temples. His friends shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Emma and Chloe exchanged another glance, this one lasting longer and filled with unspoken questions.
Gray had been watching quietly from the side, Lily sitting contentedly beside him. He raised an eyebrow, fighting hard to keep the smile off his face.
This wasn't part of the plan. He'd just wanted to stick Jayden with an expensive bill and watch him squirm. But this? This was so much better.
Gray leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers on the table thoughtfully. A new idea was forming.
"Hey," he called out casually, "how much was that bill again?"
The waitress turned toward him, looking uncertain about who she should be addressing. "It was $7,618.45, sir."
Gray opened his system panel in his mind.
[Available Balance: $8,100.06]
He still had plenty left. More than enough to cover it. And honestly, watching Jayden's face right now was worth every penny. Plus, he'd get more money once he completed his mission anyway.
"I see." Gray reached into his pocket and pulled out the sleek black card. He handed it to the waitress without any hesitation. "Just put it on my card. We're taking up too much of your time."
Everyone at the table froze. All eyes turned to Gray. Jaws dropped open. Jayden stared at the card in the waitress's hand like he'd just seen a ghost. "Wait, is that—"
"That's a Novus Universal Bank card," Chloe breathed out, leaning forward to get a better look. "The black one."
Emma's eyes went wide. "Those aren't easy to get."
Gray just smiled politely and said nothing. Honestly, he had no idea what the big deal was. The system gave him the card and he'd been too excited about having money to think much about it. He figured it was just a regular card from a decent bank.
But the way everyone was staring at it made him realize it was apparently something special.
The waitress's entire demeanor changed the moment she saw the card. She took it carefully with both hands, like she was handling something precious and fragile. She practically bowed as she hurried off to the register.
Jayden's mind raced. Novus Universal Bank wasn't just any bank. It was one of the top global financial institutions. And that black card? That was reserved for their premium clients. Millionaires. CEOs. International celebrities. People with absurd amounts of wealth.
And Gray had one?
How? Why? What the actual hell was happening?
"Gray," Chloe tilted her head, genuine curiosity in her voice, "where did you get that card?"
Emma nodded eagerly. "Yeah, that's not something just anyone carries around."
Gray gave them a mysterious smile. "Let's just say I got a little lucky recently."
He didn't know what else to say. The truth would sound insane, so vague was better.
Jayden's hands clenched into fists under the table. His jaw worked like he was chewing glass.
Lucky? This nobody shows up out of nowhere, tricks him into offering to pay for an expensive meal, orders the entire menu, and then casually pulls out one of the most exclusive bank cards in the world?
Jayden felt like he was drowning and no one had noticed he was going under.
The waitress returned with a completely different attitude than before. She was actually smiling now, warm and genuine.
"Thank you so much for your payment, sir." She handed the black card back to Gray with both hands and a respectful bow.
That little gesture made Jayden want to flip the entire table over.
"Thank you." Gray took the card and slipped it back into his pocket like it was no big deal.
"Yay! My brother paid for everything!" Lily clapped her hands, completely oblivious to the tension suffocating everyone else.
Emma and Chloe both turned to look at Gray with new interest. What had been mild curiosity before had transformed into something much more intent.
Gray stood up calmly and reached for Lily's hand. "Come on, Lily. Time to go."
"Okay!" Lily hopped down from her chair and waved at everyone. "Bye!"
Just as Gray was about to turn away, Emma stood up quickly. She pulled a business card from her purse and held it out.
"Wait. Here's my number. You know, in case you ever want to talk. Or maybe meet up again sometime."
Gray raised an eyebrow but took the card. "Thanks."
Chloe jumped up too, already pulling out her own card. Her smile was bright and eager. "Same here. You can text or call me whenever you want. Either works."
"I'll keep that in mind." Gray chuckled softly.
Both women nodded, and the interest in their eyes was unmistakable now. They'd barely noticed Jayden for the last ten minutes.
A notification flashed in Gray's vision.
[$7,619.45 has been deducted from your balance.]
[Available Balance: $418.61]
Gray glanced at Jayden one last time. The guy looked like he'd aged five years in the last half hour.
Gray thought to himself with a smirk he couldn't quite hide, 'Thank you, System.'
He took Lily's hand and walked out of the restaurant, two phone numbers in his pocket and the satisfaction of watching Jayden's world crumble fresh in his mind.
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Chapter 217: Isn't That Sister Chloe?
Things at the store had settled into a better rhythm over the following days. With that, Gray finally got some time back. Not exactly for himself, considering where he ended up. He was seated at a table in one of the higher-end restaurants in West Arcadia. The kind of place where the waiters wore tailored black suits and held their composure like it was a professional requirement. The menu had no pictures and no prices you would call reasonable. He had wanted to stay home. Lily sat across from him, happily working through the menu with the focused intensity of someone who already knew what they wanted but was enjoying the process anyway. Selina sat on her left, amused and relaxed, entirely at ease in a place where most things cost what they cost. Mara sat on her right, reading the menu with Lily, occasionally pointing at something. Gray rubbed his temple. "Remind me how we got he
Chapter 216: Best Boss
[Ding!] [Mission Complete!] [$20,000 has been added to your wealth.] [+2 Influence gained.] Gray felt the notification settle over him like something he had been holding his breath for. A slow smile spread across his face. It was just 4 in the afternoon but the mission was done. He sat back in his chair and let it land properly. Seven hundred orders in a week. The system, the riders, the staff pushing past the problems, the four going around their neighborhood and asking people to trust the store. All of it had added up to this. Across the room, Mara glanced up from her laptop. "What's with the grin? Don't tell me you're plotting something." "Nothing like that," Gray said. "I'm just in a good mood." "Sure," Mara said, returning to her screen. Gray turned his chair slightly and looked at her. "Order food for everyone."
Chapter 215: Countdown
Dante, Marco, Luis, and Ricky settled into the chairs with the same wariness they always carried into Gray's office. Their eyes moved to him, waiting. Gray leaned forward and clasped his hands together on the desk. "I've got a favor to ask you four," he said, his tone careful. He looked at each of them. "It's not about deliveries this time." The four exchanged glances. "What do you mean, Boss?" Marco asked. Gray's lips curved slightly. "I want you to spread the word. Tell people about the online store. What it offers, how easy it is to order, why it's worth trying. Friends, family, neighbors. Anyone." Dante blinked. "That's it?" "That's it," Gray said. Luis clapped his hands once. "Leave it to us, Boss." "Tomorrow you won't know where to find enough drivers," Ricky said, nodding firmly. "We'll bring in orders." "Consider it done," Marco added. Gray exhaled and let the small smile come through. Their confidence was not just reassuring. It was contagious. "Alright," he said.
Chapter 214: Pushing Through
"How many orders did we have for the whole week, Ben?"Morning light came through the blinds in thin lines, falling across Gray's desk. He had documents open in front of him and his laptop running on the side. Mara was at the smaller table near the window, earbuds in, working through another exchange with Jet2. Ben sat across from Gray with a notepad on his knee.He flipped through a few pages before looking up."We're close to 600, Sir. 593, to be exact."Gray leaned back. "Just under 600?""Yes, Sir." Ben gave a small nod. "But that's still a significant number considering the problems we had early in the week. Feedback has been positive. People noticed the delivery improvements, and some customers mentioned our riders by name."He smiled slightly. "Your new recruits are leaving an impression."From the side, Mara let out a quiet smirk without looking up from her screen. "I heard Dante asking one of the other staff if
Chapter 213: Thank You, Boss
Gray made sure the rough start did not hold them back.In the days that followed, he became more hands-on at the store than usual. He had Mara coordinate directly with Jet2 to close off the rider shortage issue for good and make sure it did not resurface. On top of that, they worked quickly to help the four men complete their formal requirements. Within two days, every document was submitted and processed.As that happened, Gray quietly learned more about each of them.He called the four into his office on a Thursday morning without giving them much of an explanation beforehand. They arrived together, as they always seemed to, and settled into the chairs in front of his desk with the wary energy of people being summoned to a room they were not sure about.Their leader was the tallest of them. His name was Dante. He had a clean shaved head, arms covered in tattoos, the kind of build that made people on the street reroute without thinking about it.
Chapter 212: Just The Beginning
The moment the four men split at the intersection, the real work began.Engines running, phones mounted on their handlebars, they scattered in different directions and followed their assigned routes. For once, they were not running from anything. No debt, no trouble, no bad decision catching up behind them. They were running toward something. Something that actually helped someone.Back at the store, the effect was immediate.The queue of pending online orders began to move. Cancellations dropped. The packing team, no longer watching bags sit uncollected, found their rhythm again. The staff settled back into focused work rather than the frustrated half-pace that had been dragging the day down.And it did not stop there. Following Gray's complaint to Jet2, more riders began appearing in the system throughout the afternoon. It looked like the company had quietly escalated the issue and pushed additional resources to their area. Ben and Gray chose no
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