The Billionaire System: Only I Know the Currency Has Changed

CHAPTER 2

“Excuse me, do you know how much a room costs here?”

The hotel receptionist glanced at Lucas's worn suitcase before giving him a polite smile. “Our cheapest room is eighty dollars per night, sir.”

Lucas checked his wallet. “Do you have anything cheaper? Even a small room without room service?”

“I'm sorry, sir. That's our lowest rate.”

“Right. Thank you.”

He turned away before the receptionist could notice his embarrassment.

Outside, Lucas stood beneath the hotel lights, staring at the money in his hand. Eighty dollars might not mean much to some people, but to him, it was almost everything he had left.

He couldn't afford a hotel. He couldn't afford a motel, either, and the guesthouses he had checked online weren't much better.

“Three years of marriage, and this is what I've got to show for it,” he muttered.

His phone buzzed. For a moment, he hoped Victoria had called to explain herself, but it was only a notification from his bank.

Lucas laughed bitterly. “Of course. Why would she call?”

He could still picture her sitting beside Damien Blackwood, looking completely comfortable while asking him to sign the divorce papers.

You have nothing to offer me anymore, Lucas.

Had she ever loved him, or had she simply enjoyed having someone who would do anything for her?

He shoved his phone into his pocket. He wasn't going to stand in the middle of the street and mourn a woman who had already moved on.

At least, that was what he told himself.

He started walking again, pulling his suitcase behind him as the evening traffic swept past. His stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten properly, but he couldn't justify spending money on food when he didn't know where he would sleep.

A couple walked past, laughing as the man draped an arm around the woman's shoulders.

Lucas looked away.

“Get yourself together,” he whispered. “You're not the first man to get divorced.”

But he might be the first man to lose almost everything because he had trusted the wrong person.

He had transferred his properties and investments into Victoria's name because he wanted their marriage to have no secrets. Whenever his friends warned him against putting everything in one person's hands, he dismissed their concerns.

He had believed love was enough.

Now, he didn't even have a home to return to.

His phone vibrated again. This time, it was a message from an old acquaintance asking whether he would attend an upcoming family event with Victoria.

Lucas stared at the message, then deleted it without replying.

He didn't have the energy to explain that there would be no more family events, no more marriage, and no more pretending that everything was fine.

After walking for another fifteen minutes, he stopped at a crossing and looked around for somewhere he could sit. That was when he noticed a brightly illuminated sign across the road.

SAUNA & WELLNESS CENTRE.

Lucas squinted at the building. It looked considerably less expensive than the hotels he had visited, and there were still people going in and out.

“Maybe they have a lounge,” he said to himself. “Or somewhere I can sit until morning.”

He checked the time. It was getting late, and wandering around all night wasn't a sensible plan.

“Please be affordable,” he muttered. “I'm not asking for a presidential suite. Just somewhere I won't be chased out.”

He almost smiled at his own joke.

For the first time that evening, he had found a possible solution, even if it was only temporary.

When the pedestrian signal changed, Lucas gripped his suitcase and stepped onto the crossing.

A horn blared behind him.

He turned.

A large truck was rushing toward the intersection, swerving wildly as the driver struggled to control it. The vehicle mounted the edge of the road, and its headlights swept across Lucas's face.

“What the—?”

“MOVE!” someone screamed.

Lucas abandoned his suitcase and tried to run, but the truck swerved directly into his path. Its tires screeched against the asphalt, and the driver's desperate attempts to regain control only made the vehicle skid harder.

Lucas barely had time to raise his arms.

The truck struck him with tremendous force.

His body flew across the road as his suitcase spun away, scattering his belongings over the asphalt. The impact was followed by the deafening crash of metal against a roadside barrier.

For several seconds, the street fell into stunned silence.

Then people began screaming.

“Oh my God! Somebody call an ambulance!”

“Don't move him! Just call for help!”

A man rushed toward Lucas and dropped to his knees beside him. “Sir, can you hear me? Open your eyes!”

Lucas tried to respond, but no words came out. Pain spread through his body, and every breath felt impossibly difficult.

He could hear the man shouting for help, the distant wail of a siren, and the frightened voices gathering around him.

Someone pressed a hand against his shoulder.

“Stay with me, sir. The ambulance is coming!”

Lucas wanted to tell him that he was trying, but his vision was already fading. The streetlights blurred into pale streaks, and the faces above him became indistinguishable.

His last clear thought was strangely simple.

He had only wanted somewhere to sleep.

Then darkness swallowed him.