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.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
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.
You may also like
Underestimated Son In Law
Raishico309.4K viewsThe Heir of the Family
Rytir91.2K viewsUnderrated Son-In-Law
Estherace108.6K viewsRise From Prison: Married To A Beautiful CEO
Rex Magnus218.5K viewsThe Untouchable Commander
Lady Chids26 viewsHE LOST HIS DAUGHTER ONCE, NOW HE’S A RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE
Shadow hunter318 viewsThe Zillionaire's wrath
Charms67 viewsThey Should Have Died
Noah Ash52 views