The Formidable System: Alex Cole Secret Heir

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 

 Ethan sat at the edge of his bed long after Jonathan had gone. The house was quiet, the city beyond still humming with its indifferent rhythm, yet his mind was anything but still. He kept replaying Jonathan’s words, the System’s interface, and the unbearable memories of humiliation that had dragged him here.

 “System,” he whispered again, almost mockingly. “If you’re real, then prove it.”

 No reply came. The silence felt heavier than ridicule. Ethan rubbed his palms against his jeans, torn between laughter and despair. Maybe I’ve finally lost it. First, a ruined engagement, then a fantasy device promising salvation. What’s next? Voices in my head telling me I’m destined to be king?

 Yet a tiny flicker inside him refused to die. Hope, fragile but persistent, clung to him like a stubborn weed pushing through cracked stone.

 He looked around his sparse room. Nothing about it screamed destiny — peeling wallpaper, a single chair, and a desk stacked with books he hadn’t touched since university days. On the desk sat an old wristwatch, its glass cracked, hands frozen at eleven-fifteen. It had belonged to his father.

 Ethan picked it up, weighing it in his palm. It was the perfect candidate. If the System failed, no one would know. If it worked…

 His chest tightened at the thought. 

 “System,” he said, forcing a steady voice, “repair this.”

 For a beat, nothing. Then, like a faint shimmer in the air, translucent text blinked across his vision.

 [Minor Object Restoration: Available]

 Energy cost: 1 unit.

 Proceed?

 Ethan’s breath hitched. He nearly dropped the watch. His first instinct was to look around, searching for hidden projectors, cameras, anything that could explain it away. There was none. The room was still the same, and yet everything had changed.

 “Yes,” he whispered.

 A soft warmth tingled against his palm. He watched, wide-eyed, as the cracked glass fused seamlessly, the frozen hands twitched, then ticked forward with life.

 Tick.

 Tick.

 Tick.

 The sound thundered in his ears, louder than the mockery of his ex-fiancée, sharper than the laughter of her wealthy friends. For the first time in weeks, tears pricked his eyes … not from humiliation, but from raw, trembling awe.

 “It… it worked.” His voice cracked. He pressed the watch to his chest as if afraid it might vanish. “It’s real.”

 He collapsed back onto the bed, laughing and crying at once. His father’s watch ticked faithfully, a symbol of more than just repaired metal. It was proof that his shattered life could, perhaps, be pieced together too.

 But before relief could fully settle, new text flashed before his eyes:

 First Task Unlocked

 Task: Prove your worth by earning £100 within 24 hours without deceit or theft.

 Reward: 10 Energy Units + Basic Attribute Scan.

 Penalty for failure: Temporary System Lock (72 hours).

 Ethan sat up straight. His joy turned to tension. Earn £100 in one day? With what? I don’t even have a proper job…

 Panic clawed at him, but beneath it was a strange spark of determination. The System had given him something tangible. This wasn’t just about money …it was a test, a doorway.

 Still, fear whispered in the back of his mind. What if I fail? What if this is another cruel joke by fate, dangling hope only to rip it away? He clenched the restored watch, feeling its steady ticking. No, this was different. For once, the universe had given him a chance, however small.

 He stood and faced the cracked mirror by the wardrobe. His reflection stared back …tired eyes, slouched shoulders, a man beaten down by life. Yet behind the weariness flickered something new: possibility.

 

 “Fine,” Ethan muttered. “You want me to earn a hundred pounds? Then watch me.”

 The words tasted unfamiliar, almost foreign, yet they filled his chest with a warmth he hadn’t felt in years.

 As if responding to his resolve, the System pinged:

  Motivational Surge Activated

 Confidence +5% (temporary).

 Ethan chuckled shakily. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?”

 But deep down, the laughter masked a growing storm. His humiliation was still raw, his self-doubt still heavy, but now there was a crack in the darkness, a crack through which light could seep.

 Tomorrow, he would face the world again. Tomorrow, he would test not just the System, but himself.

 For tonight, he sat with his father’s watch in hand, its ticking like a promise: that the boy who was mocked as nothing might yet rise as something.

 And for the first time since the disastrous party, Ethan dared to dream. And it felt like purpose.