Prestige Spending System

The cold, hard pavement hit Julian Musk's back with a sickening crunch. Rain poured from the dark evening sky, soaking his cheap suit instantly. 

Before Julian could even catch his breath, a cardboard box flew out of the open glass doors and crashed onto the ground right next to him. 

The box tore open. His favorite coffee mug shattered into sharp white pieces. Cheap blue pens, loose papers, and a small, framed photograph of a little girl scattered across the wet street.

Two massive security guards stood at the entrance of the Rutherford Investments building. They looked like brick walls in black suits. One of them cracked his knuckles. "Stay down, kid," the guard growled. "Or the next time we throw you, it will be into traffic."

Julian ignored the pain shooting up his arm. He scrambled to his knees, his eyes fixed on the man standing safely behind the thick glass doors.

Marcus Rutherford, the billionaire CEO, wore a custom-made silver suit that cost more than Julian’s car. Marcus pushed the doors open just enough to let his voice out. He looked down at Julian with a twisted, arrogant smirk. In his right hand, Marcus twirled a small silver USB drive.

"You can't do this!" Julian yelled. The rain washed over his face, hiding his angry tears. "That is my algorithm! I spent three years writing that code! Every weekend, every single night! It belongs to me!"

Marcus chuckled. He stopped twirling the USB drive and slipped it into his expensive pocket. "Your code? Julian, please. You used company computers on company time. Read the fine print in your employment contract. Everything you create belongs to Rutherford Investments. I am simply taking what is mine."

"It is a revolutionary trading formula!" Julian shouted, pulling himself up from the puddles. "It will make billions! You fired me just so you wouldn't have to pay my percentage!"

"I fired you because you are a nobody," Marcus said in a smooth, calm voice. "Who is the world going to believe? Me, a respected billionaire? Or you, a broke junior analyst who smells like wet dog?"

Julian stepped forward, ready to fight, but stopped dead in his tracks.

The sharp clicking sound of high heels echoed from the marble lobby. A woman walked up to stand right beside Marcus. She had long, perfect dark hair, a designer red dress, and eyes that used to look at Julian with love.

It was Chloe. His girlfriend of two full years.

Julian’s anger vanished, replaced by a deep, hollow shock. "Chloe? What are you doing? Tell him! You were there when I wrote the code in our tiny apartment! You know he stole it!"

Chloe did not look angry at Marcus. Instead, she gently wrapped her arm around Marcus’s elbow. She looked down at Julian in the rain, and her face was perfectly flat. There was no pity in her eyes. Only annoyance.

"Go home, Julian," Chloe said. Her voice was cold, like ice scraping against glass.

Julian shook his head, unable to understand. "Chloe, come out here. We can fight this. We can hire a lawyer."

"With what money?" Chloe sighed, rolling her eyes. She looked at him as if he were a bug on the bottom of her shoe. "Julian, wake up. Look at yourself. You are crying in the gutter. I gave you two years of my youth, waiting for you to become someone important. But you are just a stepping stone."

Julian felt as if someone had punched him right in the chest. "A stepping stone?"

"I am a realist," Chloe continued, tightening her grip on Marcus’s arm. "I want penthouses. I want vacations in Paris. I want a man who controls the world. You are a nice guy, Julian. But nice guys stay poor. I need a winner."

Marcus laughed out loud, pulling Chloe closer by her waist. He looked at the security guards. "If he tries to come back inside, break his legs."

The glass doors slid shut. The heavy locks clicked.

Julian stood alone in the freezing rain. He watched through the glass as Marcus leaned down and kissed Chloe. She smiled and kissed him back. Then, they walked away, disappearing into the warm, bright lobby.

Julian slowly sank back down to his knees. His entire body shook from the cold and the betrayal. He reached out with trembling fingers and picked up the wet photograph from the pavement.

It was a picture of Lily, his ten-year-old sister. In the photo, she was smiling brightly, but her skin was pale. She was sitting in a hospital bed.

"Lily," Julian whispered, his voice cracking.

He pushed himself up and limped slowly down the street, dragging his feet until he found a small, dirty bus stop shelter. It barely kept the rain off, but it was better than nothing. He sat heavily on the metal bench.

He reached into his soaked pocket and pulled out his smartphone. The screen was cracked across the middle. He wiped the water off the glass with his sleeve and opened his banking application.

His heart pounded against his ribs. Lily needed a new heart valve. The hospital had given him a deadline. Her surgery was scheduled for exactly five days from today. If they did not pay the fees, the hospital would remove her from the priority list, and she would not survive the month.

Julian had saved every single penny he could over the last year. He had skipped meals. He had walked to work to save bus fare. He managed to save $1,200. It was nowhere near the $50,000 required, but he had planned to use the money from his algorithm to pay the rest. Now, the algorithm was gone.

The banking app loaded on the screen. The small blue circle spun and spun.

Finally, the numbers appeared.

Current Balance: $0.00.

Julian stopped breathing. "No. No, no, no."

He tapped the screen frantically, looking at the recent transactions list.

[Transaction Alert: Auto-draft. City General Hospital. Past Due Room and Board Fees.]

They had taken it all. The hospital’s billing department had automatically cleared his account just to pay for Lily's bed. He had absolutely nothing left. He could not even buy a cup of coffee, let alone a $50,000 heart surgery.

Despair crashed down on him like a heavy iron weight. He buried his face in his hands and let out a broken, miserable sob. He had failed. He had failed his parents who asked him to protect Lily before they passed away. He had let Marcus steal his future. He was going to watch his sister die because he was too weak and too poor.

Suddenly, his cracked smartphone began to vibrate.

It was not a normal buzz. It shook so violently that it rattled against the metal bench. Julian jumped and grabbed it. The device was burning hot to the touch.

"What now? Is the battery exploding?" he muttered.