My Quadrillionaire System

#1#

Kai Rivers pushed his mop bucket carefully across the surface, making sure not to splash water on the students walking past in their designer clothes.

Nobody looked at him. To them, he might as well have been invisible.

"Move it, janitor!"

A shoe kicked his bucket hard. Water spilled across the clean floor. Kai stumbled back and caught himself on the mop handle.

The student who kicked it didn't even slow down. He just kept walking with his date, laughing at something on his phone.

Kai grabbed a towel and knelt to clean the mess. His knees ached. He had been working since six in the morning. Twelve hours between his janitorial shift, his cafeteria job, and the weekend construction work. All of it to keep his younger sister Mara's scholarship safe and to pay for Rebecca's expenses.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. A text from Rebecca.

"Where are you? I need to see you at the VIP terrace."

Kai's heart lifted. She wanted to see him. After three weeks of barely talking, of canceling their dates, of saying she was too busy with her business networking, maybe tonight would be different.

He texted back quickly. "I'm finishing work. Be there soon."

He thought about the eight hundred dollars he had borrowed at high interest to buy her gala ticket. The emerald dress that cost five thousand dollars, paid for by selling his mother's jewelry. Three years of sacrifice. Three years of working himself to exhaustion because he loved her.

Tonight she would finally introduce him to her classmates and everything would be worth it.

Kai left his mop bucket in the supply closet and headed for the service stairs. His uniform smelled like bleach and sweat, but if Rebecca wanted to see him, he would find a way.

The service entrance to the VIP section had a security guard blocking it.

"Staff entrance only," the guard said without looking up from his phone.

"I know, but my girlfriend asked me to meet her."

"Your girlfriend?" The guard looked at Kai's stained uniform and laughed. "Sure she did. Now get back to work before I report you."

His hands clenched tightly. 

“Can I call her at least?”

They frowned deeply.

“Do you think a mutt would pick you in your dreams? If you want to lie, do a better job!” 

It was obvious that there was no allowing him inside and he had a find another means.

Kai walked away. He circled around to the garden entrance. The outdoor stairs were wet from the evening drizzle, but he climbed them anyway. When he reached the VIP terrace level, he looked through the glass doors, his face flushed with smiles.

But in a moment, they all vanished.

Rebecca was there. Wearing the emerald dress he bought her. But she wasn't alone. She was sitting on a man's lap. A tall guy in an expensive suit with perfect hair and a movie star face. His hands were on her waist. She was laughing and running her fingers through his hair.

Four other guys sat on white couches nearby, watching and laughing.

Kai's hand found the door handle. He pushed it open.

The laughter stopped. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Rebecca?"

His voice came out rough. Broken.

Rebecca looked at him. Then she started laughing. Not nervously. She was genuinely amused.

"Oh no. Kai, what are you doing here? This is VIP. Dogs aren't allowed."

The tall guy stood up. He towered over Kai, at least six foot three with the build of someone who had a personal trainer.

"This is the janitor boyfriend?" The guy's voice was full of amusement. "Rebecca, you weren't kidding. He actually smells like bleach."

His friends laughed. One of them pulled out his phone and started recording.

"This is Chase," Rebecca said, walking to the tall guy's side. "Chase Thornton. His family owns Thornton Industries."

"Who the hell is Chase?" Kai looked between them. "Rebecca, what is this?"

"This?" Rebecca smiled. "This is me with my real boyfriend. You were never my boyfriend, Kai. You were my ATM machine that happens to walk on two legs."

"But you said you loved me. You said after graduation we would..."

"Oh my God, you actually believed that?" Rebecca burst into laughter. "Chase, he believed it! He thought we would get married!"

Everyone laughed. Kai felt something breaking inside his chest.

“Guess my ATM pin, sweet words!” More laughter churned.

Kai's world spinned, everything was all a lie, she had deceived him.

His sad heart sooned flittered into silent anger.

“You used me Rebecca!”

“Yeah obviously!” She returned. 

Chase stepped forward with a mocking bravado.

“Which was quite obvious, who do you think would date you? A dog?” 

“It's the guts to even think she would date someone of your class… Well, today is a good day!” He confused. 

Chase walked closer. "Tell you what, janitor. Since you paid so much for my girl's dress, I'll give you a reward. Bark like a dog ten times, and I'll give you a hundred dollars."

"What?"

"You heard me. Rebecca says you've been her dog for three years anyway. Prove it, Bark."

Kai turned to leave. Two of Chase's friends blocked the door.

"Where are you going, doggy?" one of them said. "Chase gave you a command."

Chase grabbed Kai's shoulder. "Get on your knees and bark. Or I'll make one phone call and you'll be fired. My father sits on the university board. And your little sister Mara? That scholarship she has? It would be gone in a blink and she'll be on the street by Monday."

Kai's blood went cold. "Don't bring my sister into this."

"Then bark! Ten times! That's all."

Kai looked at Rebecca. If ever there was anything between them…

But Rebecca just smiled. "Oh, just do it, Kai. You've been my dog for three years. What's ten barks?"

Kai's legs gave out. Not from Chase's threat. From the look in Rebecca's eyes. There was nothing there. No guilt, not even regrets, just cold Just cold amusement.

"My sister," Kai said. "You'll leave her alone?"

"Scout's honor," Chase said. "Now kneel."

Kai thought about Mara, he bit his tongue and his pride until they bled. His fifteen year old sister.

 She had finally gotten a chance at a good education. If he didn't do this, Chase would destroy her future.

He knelt on the cold floor and the whole world seemed to make a thud.

"Good boy," Chase said. "Now bark."

Phones came out. Multiple people recording from different angles.

Kai closed his eyes. Mara's face appeared in his mind. He had to protect her. No matter what it cost.

He barked.

"Louder!" Chase kicked him in the ribs. "I can barely hear you!"

Kai barked again. The laughter was deafening. Rebecca's voice rose above the rest, cackling like he had never heard before.

Ten barks. Ten pieces of his soul left on that terrace.

"Good dog," Chase said. He threw coins at Kai. Quarters and dimes clattered across the floor. "Now here's your dinner."

Chase grabbed leftover food from a nearby table. Expensive appetizers that Kai would never afford. He dumped it on the ground.

"Eat it. No hands. Like a real dog."

"Chase, that's enough," Rebecca said. But she was still smiling.

Kai's vision was blurring. From tears or rage, he couldn't tell.

"Actually," Rebecca walked over and crouched down. "Before you eat like the animal you are, I want you to know something. That eight hundred for my ticket? I gave it to Chase. That three thousand for my networking conference? We spent it in the Bahamas. That apartment you pay rent on? Chase and I use it every Thursday. You've been paying for your own humiliation, you pathetic worm."

Something inside Kai broke. Not his heart. That was already gone. Something deeper.

From somewhere in the crowd that had gathered, he heard a young voice crying.

"Kai! Kai, get up!"

Mara.

His sister was there. Tears streaming down her face as she watched her brother kneel on the ground like an animal.

That was the last thing Kai saw before everything went black.

He collapsed on the terrace floor. The laughter faded. The world spun. His consciousness slipped away.

The last thought in his mind was simple.

If there's any justice in this world, let me destroy them all.

Then a blue light appeared in his fading vision.

[SEARCHING FOR WORTHY HOST...]

[REQUIREMENTS MET: Maximum Despair. Pure Heart Corrupted. Unbreakable Will. Righteous Fury.]

[SUPREME LAVISH UPGRADE SYSTEM ACTIVATED]

[WELCOME, CHOSEN ONE: KAI RIVERS]

Everything went dark.