2025-10-18 18:25:13The air around the parking lot was thick with tension as Salvatore approached Charlie, his men flanking him on both sides like a pack of wolves closing in on prey. The afternoon sun burned down, glinting off the metal chains around their necks and the smirks on their faces.
“Charlie,” Salvatore growled, his voice low and dangerous. “You’ve been avoiding us. Your debt was due twenty-four hours ago. We’ve been searching for you.”
Charlie looked calm, almost amused. “I’m aware,” he said. “I wasn’t on campus for a while.”
Salvatore’s expression darkened. “You dare to default on my loan and talk back? Do you want me to squash you right here unless you pay up—with interest?”
Charlie’s lips curved into a faint smile. ‘How funny.’ Twenty-four hours ago, he had been the one kneeling and begging. But now? He could buy Salvatore—and his entire bloodline—with a single swipe of his card and it won’t even make a dent.
Before Salvatore could reply, a mocking laugh echoed across the lot.
Mr. Wonderful, still lounging proudly against the Lamborghini, folded his arms with arrogant confidence. “Did I hear that right?” he said loudly. “This clown owes money? How shameless can one man be?”
He eyed Salvatore with mild curiosity. “How much does this loser owe you?”
Salvatore glanced at the luxury car, realizing instantly that anyone with a Lamborghini that sleek had power. His tone softened out of respect. “He owes me three thousand dollars, sir. But since he defaulted, it’s now ten thousand.”
Charlie chuckled. “That’s a lie. Our agreement was clear—I still have two hours left before the 24-hour mark is over. Then the 20% daily interest begins.”
Salvatore’s patience snapped. “Shut the hell up! Men of power are talking!”
Gory snorted, stepping beside him. “Charlie, just drop that shameless pride for once. Maybe Mr. Wonderful will help you out.”
Charlie’s gaze flicked to Gory, unimpressed. “I don’t need help paying my debts.”
Mr. Wonderful smirked, sensing an opportunity to humiliate him further. “Tell you what,” he said, his tone dripping with mock generosity. “I’ll help clear your debt. All you have to do is apologize for pretending this car is yours and walk away quietly.”
Charlie’s laughter rolled out soft and deadly. “Apologize? For claiming my car? No. Because it is mine.”
That earned a roar of laughter from everyone present.
Salvatore slapped his thigh, nearly doubling over. “Yours? You borrowed three grand from me two days ago, and now you own a supercar? Did you win the lottery or something?”
Even Vera giggled mockingly. “Charlie, you must be living in some fantasy world—like those Meganovel characters. What’s next? You’re secretly the Charismatic Charlie Wade?”
Charlie smiled faintly. “I’m better than Charlie Wade. I’m the Incredible Charlie Maxwell. But I’ll let the story prove that soon enough.”
The group burst into fresh laughter.
Mr. Wonderful, bored of the talk, waved his hand. “Enough of this nonsense.” He pulled out a stack of cash and handed it to Salvatore. “Here’s ten thousand. His debt’s paid. Now, Charlie, you should thank me. You’ve just witnessed what it means to be a rich man.”
He tilted his head, daring Charlie to speak. “If you don’t, Salvatore and his boys will help you understand gratitude.”
The ladies gasped, clearly impressed. Ten thousand dollars—just like that? If he could throw that kind of money away for someone who insulted him, what could he spend on them?
Salvatore’s eyes glimmered. “Boss, if you ever need men like us—we’re yours.”
Mr. Wonderful laughed. “You’re already employed.”
The group cheered, turning to Charlie with smug faces. “Apologize to our boss!”
Gory ordered. “Now!”
Charlie only smiled. “I pity you all.”
Mr. Wonderful wrapped his arms around the ladies’ waists and grinned wide, the picture of triumph. “You should. Now, crawl away, Charlie.”
Charlie sighed. “Ladies,” he called calmly, “bring my bags.”
Everyone turned as two elegant store attendants appeared, each holding several designer shopping bags and jewelry boxes. They walked straight to Charlie.
The crowd went silent.
Charlie nodded at valet beside him. “Bill the parking ticket to Mr. Wonderful. Since he claims the car’s his, it’s only right.”
The valet who had received the key earlier smiled professionally. “Of course, sir. The parking f*e for the VVIP section is one hundred thousand dollars.”
“What?” Mr. Wonderful blurted, his smile freezing. “A hundred thousand—for parking?”
The guy nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Everyone’s jaws dropped. Gory’s eyes widened. Salvatore whistled. Even Vera blinked in disbelief.
Mr. Wonderful’s throat went dry. “This… this is absurd.”
Charlie’s expression didn’t change. “You said the car’s yours. Pay up.”
The crowd started murmuring, enjoying the unfolding humiliation.
Gory snatched the ticket from the valet. “Our boss can handle it. He’s rich.”
Salvatore and his men began cheering again. “Pay it, Boss! Show him real money!”
But Mr. Wonderful’s face was pale now. He couldn’t admit the truth—that the car wasn’t his. Not after bragging this long. He hesitated, but the stares from his new ‘employees’ and the watching crowd burned into his pride.
Finally, sweating bullets, he handed his card to the valet. “Fine. Charge it.”
Beep.
The transaction went through—$100,000 debited in one go.
Charlie chuckled softly. “Thank you, Mr. Wonderful. You’ve now paid $110,000 on my behalf.”
“What do you mean?” Vera demanded. “How—”
“You’ll see,” Charlie interrupted coolly. “Ladies, load the bags into the car.”
The attendants obeyed immediately. The crowd watched in stunned silence as Charlie gave the Lamborghini a simple voice command.
“Open, Maxwell.”
Beep!
The Lamborghini chirped in response, doors unlocking automatically as it said,
“Welcome back, Mr. Maxwell.”
Gasps rippled through the spectators. The car spoke to him.
Mr. Wonderful froze. “T–that’s impossible!”
The car’s console screen lit up with Charlie’s profile photo, confirming ownership.
Charlie turned his gaze on Mr. Wonderful. “You said this car was yours. Then explain this.”
Mr. Wonderful stammered. “Y-you must have hacked it—”
Charlie ignored him and gave another command. “Car, take photos of these people and report an attempted theft to the police.”
The car’s cameras flashed rapidly, taking photos of Mr. Wonderful, Salvatore, Gory, Vera, and the others. Their faces appeared on the car’s display with the label ‘Suspects Identified.’
Mr. Wonderful dropped to his knees instantly. “Please, no! Cancel that order, Charlie! I—I just got out of jail last month—for fraud! I didn’t mean to steal your car. I was just—showing off!”
The crowd burst into murmurs, some laughing, some recording with their phones.
Charlie tilted his head. “That’s not my problem.”
But after letting him sweat for a moment, Charlie said coldly, “Car, abort the report.”
The lights on the dashboard dimmed.
Charlie got into the driver’s seat. The ladies placed the last of his bags in the trunk, then stepped aside. He looked once at the trembling group and smirked.
“Next time you see me,” he said, “remember this feeling.”
The engine roared to life, and the Lamborghini sped away, leaving behind the scent of burnt rubber and broken pride.
Mr. Wonderful watched helplessly as his ‘prestige’ dissolved with the dust trail. He wanted to beg for the $110,000 back—but the shame was already punishment enough.
Salvatore, Gory, and Vera stood frozen, speechless.
After a long silence, Vera fumbled for her phone and called Angela. “You won’t believe this—Charlie’s super rich! I just saw him drive off in a fifty-million-dollar Lamborghini!”
Angela laughed mockingly. “Vera, stop the jokes. Charlie? Rich? That’s impossible.”
“I’m serious! He—”
“Forget him!” Angela snapped. “I’ve got real news. The Grants are about to close a deal with Claire Corporation. Tonight’s party is everything. Their net worth’s about to hit ten billion. And guess what? A representative of the Claire Corporation will be attending!”
Vera frowned. “Claire Corporation? You mean—”
“Yes, the Maxwells. Apparently, their new heir’s running Claire Corporation now.” Angela’s voice dropped into an excited whisper. “Be at the party. This is our chance. Jey told me he’s giving me a million dollars after the deal’s signed.”
Vera tried again, desperate to make her believe. “Angela, I think—”
Angela cut her off. “Stop wasting time on that broke Charlie. He’ll never amount to anything.”
The call ended.
Vera stood there in silence, phone trembling in her hand. The irony was almost cruel.
Because the man Angela had just called “stupid Charlie”…
…was the very heir running Claire Corporation.
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CHAPTER 179
Charlie spent the next few days at his grandfather’s estate, where quiet felt intentional rather than empty. The silence didn’t loom or press in; it held. The halls were wide enough to swallow footsteps, the ceilings high enough to let thoughts finish themselves. Nothing here demanded immediacy. No alarms. No vibrating phones. No dashboards blinking red. It was a deliberate stillness, curated over decades, the kind that suggested life could be lived without constant proof of usefulness. It stood in direct opposition to campus urgency—and an even sharper contrast to corporate life, where silence usually meant something had broken.Here, mornings unfolded without violence. Light crept through tall windows instead of sirens or schedules. Coffee appeared when he wanted it, not when a meeting required it. Evenings arrived gently, without briefings or contingency plans. For the first time in months, his body stopped bracing for impact. The tension he hadn’t realized he carried began to loos
CHAPTER 178
Finals week arrived like an unavoidable storm, the kind students could sense days before it broke. The library shifted into a twenty-four-hour organism, lights burning through the night as bodies rotated in and out, eyes glassy, hands shaking slightly from caffeine and lack of sleep. Across campus, students moved like survivors, fueled by energy drinks, instant noodles, and the stubborn belief that endurance alone could carry them through. Charlie felt it too, that collective pressure humming beneath everything, binding strangers into brief alliances of stress.He studied alongside Rashford, Daniel, and a loose orbit of classmates whose names blurred together between flashcards and half-finished notes. Anxiety flattened hierarchy. Everyone was equally uncertain. That shared vulnerability created an odd camaraderie, a sense that they were all temporarily equalized by the weight of expectations.“I can’t believe I’m actually worried about economics finals,” Charlie muttered during a lat
CHAPTER 177
Charlie helped prepare the slides with the same discipline he once reserved for board presentations. Charts, timelines, comparative analysis, all showing Claire Corporation reduced to bullet points and graphs, its chaos flattened into something legible. Strategic decisions were mapped neatly: early consolidation of authority, aggressive legal defense, recalibrated spending priorities, gradual stabilization. From the outside, it looked almost elegant.The conclusion his group reached was balanced, careful not to sound starry-eyed or cruel. They acknowledged effective crisis management, noted measurable financial recovery, and credited decisive leadership under pressure. At the same time, they questioned certain tactical choices, particularly the speed and aggressiveness of early responses and flagged long-term sustainability as an open question, citing the CEO’s youth and relative inexperience.Charlie watched his own leadership summarized in a single slide and felt strangely hollow. No
CHAPTER 176
November brought the semester’s second half and Charlie’s first genuine crisis since returning to campus. Up until then, the challenges had been manageable. He had to just deal with papers, seminars, long nights in the library, the quiet strain of living a double life as both student and silent corporate overseer. But this was different. This was personal, precise, and unavoidable.Dr. Voss assigned a group project analyzing the strategic decisions of a contemporary corporation in crisis. The instructions were deceptively simple: pick a real company, trace its leadership choices through instability, assess outcomes with academic rigor. Charlie barely registered the assignment itself. What mattered was the randomness of the group selection and the danger hidden inside it.His group gathered after class: Kimberly San, meticulous and sharp-eyed; James Creed, confident and talkative; and Ashley Rodriguez, energetic, already halfway into whatever she touched. None of them knew who Charlie
CHAPTER 175
Dr. Voss had returned his first paper with an A-minus and a note: "Strong analysis, though your treatment of governance failures suggests either extensive research or personal familiarity with similar situations. Either way, well done."Charlie read the note twice. The praise felt more meaningful than the grade itself.Professor Morrison’s course challenged Charlie with moral dilemmas that echoed his own life. Readings on power and corruption raised questions about ethical leadership. In discussion, one student argued the protagonist believed his good intentions would protect him from becoming ruthless but by the end, he used the same methods he condemned. Charlie stayed silent, too aware of his own shift from idealism to compromise, as circumstances had blurred the line between necessary force and cruelty. The protagonist's tragic arc mirrored his own: once driven by ethics, now questioning if he'd already crossed the line."But how do you balance competing stakeholder interests?" an
CHAPTER 174
The semester settled into a rhythm, and Charlie adjusted to student life, relishing the intellectual challenges. Dr. Voss’s economics seminar stretched his thinking, challenging many of his assumptions about business. Meanwhile, Professor Morrison's literature course delved into moral ambiguity, confronting Charlie with questions of power, ethics, and ambition. The texts, exploring flawed human choices, felt unnervingly personal, especially one novel about a man whose inherited power corrupted him, lingering in Charlie’s mind long after."The protagonist thinks he's different," one student had argued during a seminar discussion. "He believes his good intentions will protect him from becoming like the people he's fighting against. But by the end, he's using the same ruthless methods he initially condemned."Charlie had sat silent, listening to the discussion unfold, the words sinking deep. It was hard not to feel like the story was more than just fiction, more like an inevitable portra
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