THE RISE OF JAKE MILLER

chapter ten

Chapter 10

Gasps filled the party hall. The crowd quickly formed a circle around Jake as the influencer—an online personality known as “RichieBoy_X,” who loved exposing fake rich people at events—stepped forward with a smug grin. He had nearly a million followers and was live-streaming already.

“Let’s see if this so-called rich boy is actually who he says he is,” RichieBoy_X announced dramatically, holding up the blinking diamond tester like it was Excalibur.

Arthur folded his arms and leaned against a pillar, smiling triumphantly. Melissa stood beside him with her arms crossed, pretending not to care, but the hope in her eyes was clear: she wanted Jake to be humiliated.

Jake stood calmly in the center of the growing circle. He looked at RichieBoy_X, then at the crowd filled with hungry eyes, waiting for a show.

RichieBoy_X stepped forward. “Don’t worry, it won’t hurt. Unless you’re lying. Then it’ll hurt your reputation forever.” He pressed the tip of the tester to the diamond on Jake’s Graff Hallucination.

Beep!

The tester’s light turned green.

REAL.

The crowd gasped.

RichieBoy_X blinked in surprise, but recovered quickly. “Let’s try another one.”

He tested the cufflinks.

Beep! Beep!

Another green light.

REAL.

“Try the chain!” someone shouted.

“Yeah, try the buttons on his suit!”

RichieBoy_X tested three more items and every single one lit up the tester, confirming that they were real.

Now the gasps turned into whispers, then into murmurs, and then into loud, shocked conversations.

“Wait, what?”

“No way…”

“Bro, that’s like millions of dollars worth of diamonds!”

The crowd exploded with noise. Soon mobile phones were out everywhere. Lights from camera flashes flickered like paparazzi at a celebrity gala.

RichieBoy_X looked stunned. For a man who had built his fame catching fakes, tonight was clearly not going his way.

He took a step back and gave a low whistle. “Damn, these aren’t just real… they’re top-tier diamonds. Buddy, you’re wearing half a museum on your wrist.”

Everyone turned to look at Jake who hadn’t said a word since the test began. He simply stood there, with his hands behind his back, composed like royalty. But in his eyes, behind the dark nightshade, there was fire.

A tense silence followed, and all eyes slowly shifted to Arthur. The gold suit that had looked so flashy before now seemed like trash. His fake confidence melted into panic as he realized what just happened.

Melissa loosened her grip on his arm. Her face turned pale and her lips opened in disbelief. Daisy and Samantha had quietly moved away, pretending they didn’t know him.

Arthur tried to laugh it off. “Heh… maybe your uncle gave you the watch or something. No way you bought it. Doesn’t matter anyway.”

Jake took a slow step forward. The crowd parted for him like waves splitting before a ship. Everyone was quiet now. Not a single beat of music played. Even the DJ had stepped down..

“You said something earlier,” Jake said calmly. “If my diamonds turned out to be fake, I’d bow and let you slap me as much as you want.”

“But since they’re real…” Jake continued, stopping right in front of him, “you already know what to do.”

Arthur laughed nervously. “C’mon man, it was just party banter—”

Jake replied coldly. “No. You said it yourself in front of everyone. And now, everyone’s watching.”

“Y-You can’t be serious. This is a joke, right?”

“You made the bet,” Jake said. “In front of this whole crowd. Now it’s time to pay the price.”

There was silence again. Then RichieBoy_X raised his phone and shouted, “Let the man of his word bow down! Don’t back out now, Gold Suit!”

The crowd roared in agreement.

“Bow down!”

“Slap yourself!”

“Keep to your word!”

Arthur looked around and saw no support. Even his friends weren’t defending him. Nathan and the others had stepped back.

Katy stood beside Jake now, looking furious. She folded her arms and said, “He should keep his promise. Don’t let him run from it.”

Arthur’s body shook as his pride shattered. He fell to his knees with a thud.

People began recording immediately, some even narrating what was happening like sports commentators as Arthur bowed his head in front of Jake, his face burning with shame. He tried to look tough, but even the veins in his neck were trembling.

Jake stood over him, watching him with a cold gaze. “Now give yourself a hundred slaps. Count them yourself.”

Smack!

The first slap echoed loudly in the ballroom.

“ONE,” Arthur said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Louder,” Jake commanded.

“ONE!” Arthur shouted.

“Again.”

Smack!

“TWO!”

Smack!

“THREE!”

The crowd cheered, some people laughing hysterically, others shaking their heads in disbelief. The so-called rich prince of campus, now slapping himself in front of hundreds like a circus clown.

By the time Arthur reached FORTY, his face was red and swollen.

By SIXTY, his nose had begun to bleed slightly.

By EIGHTY, he was crying, gasping between slaps.

By NINETY, he was begging with his eyes, but Jake remained unmoved.

When Arthur finally reached ONE HUNDRED, he collapsed completely to the floor, his pride, his dignity, and everything he had built crumbled in one night.

Jake looked around the room. “Let this be a reminder that the loudest mouths usually have the weakest hands.”

Arthur lay on the floor, too embarrassed to look up, while Jake calmly turned away and walked back to where Katy stood. Without saying another word, he reached for a glass of champagne, took a sip, and turned toward the stunned crowd.

The night was no longer about Katy’s birthday. It had become the night Jake Miller rose to power.