The Kids Made Me A Billionaire; The Cashback System

The Johnson Family

The photo of Davis, Mark, and the older man was an invitation to war.

I didn't sleep in the Presidential Suite that night. Not because Leo snored like a tiny truck and not because Gold kept stealing Ben's socks.

I didn't sleep because I Googled "Johnson family."

Mark Johnson wasn't just Mark. He was Mark Johnson III.

His grandfather, Johnson Sr., owned half the malls in the country. His father owned the Grand Business Plaza before I bought it yesterday. Old money. The kind of old money that thinks they own people.

And according to a forum post I found at 3 AM, the Johnsons were... weird. Every man in that family became a millionaire before 30 without ever having a real job. People whispered they had a "golden touch." They would buy something for $10k and sell it for $1M a week later.

100x Cashback. It had to be. Three generations of 100x users.

My phone buzzed.

[MISSION PROGRESS: $460,200 / $1,000,000]

[TIME LEFT: 32:15:44]

[WARNING: Hostile 100x signatures detected nearby. Protect your children.]

Protect my children. The system never said that before.

At 7 AM, Lily woke me up. With Leo.

"Daddy, Leo needs to pee."

My 10-year-old daughter was walking a 3-month-old lion cub on a leash in the hallway of the most expensive hotel in the city. The housekeeping staff were hiding behind a cart.

Gold was following them, barking at Leo's tail, trying to be the big brother.

"Princess, we need to build Leo a house today," I said. "A big one."

She nodded like it was normal. "And Gold needs a house too."

I spent the morning spending strategically.

Private 10-acre sanctuary enclosure built in 24 hours by emergency crew: $380,000

Lifetime supply of raw meat, dog food and vet team on call: $45,000

24/7 animal trainer & bodyguard for the kids: $34,800

Total: $459,800

I clicked PAY while Lily was brushing Leo's tiny mane.

[DING! SPENT $459,800 ON CHILDREN!]

[CASHBACK 200x: $91,960,000.00 DEPOSITED!]

[MISSION COMPLETE: $920,000 SPENT IN 3 DAYS]

[REWARD: $50,000,000 BONUS + SKILL: BEAST SPEAK and Your children can understand Gold & Leo]

[NEW BALANCE: $234,792,767.73]

[NEW MISSION UNLOCKED: Your daughter is being bullied. The bullies' parents own 30% of her school.]

$234 MILLION. In 4 days, I went from $212 to $234 million.

And the next mission was already here. Lily's school.

Before I could tell her, my hotel room phone rang. The front desk, panicked.

"Sir! There are men downstairs! They say they are from Johnson Holdings! They say you have to vacate the suite! They say they are the real owners!"

I looked out the window. Down in the lobby, three black Maybachs. Davis was there, pointing up. Mark was there, smirking. And the old man from the photo - Johnson Sr. - was sitting in a chair like he owned the hotel.

Which, technically, he used to.

I told the kids, "Stay here with Gold and Leo. Daddy will be back in 5 minutes."

Lily grabbed my arm. "Daddy, don't go. That boy from the photo is mean."

Ben woke up: "Is it the bad guys? Leo will bite them!"

I kissed her forehead. "No one bites anyone. But Daddy needs to talk."

I went downstairs alone.

The lobby went silent when I stepped out of the private elevator. $234M net worth in a simple t-shirt and jeans because all my suits were upstairs covered in lion hair.

Johnson Sr. stood up slowly. He was 70, but his eyes were sharp. He looked me up and down and laughed.

"So you're the 50x glitch," he said. His voice was soft, but everyone listened. "My grandson told me you bought this hotel. Cute trick. You know how I know you're 50x?"

He snapped his fingers. Davis stepped forward, holding his phone.

Davis showed me his screen. It was his system.

[100x CASHBACK SYSTEM]

[DETECTED NEARBY HOST: 50x - WEAK - CAN BE ABSORBED]

[RECOMMENDATION: INTIMIDATE TO FORCE SPENDING]

So their system was scanning me as 50x.

Johnson Sr. smiled. "50x is nothing. My family is 100x. For three generations. We don't work, boy. Money works for us. You? You spend on toys and dogs. That's not business. That's charity."

Mark laughed. "Yeah, man. You bought a lion? My family has 12 lions in our private zoo. And they are real lions, not a kitten."

Davis added, "We came to give you a choice. Work for us. Use your little 50x to buy things for us. We get 100x on top of that. You get to keep your kids in this hotel. Or..."

He looked at his phone again. "Or we call Child Services and tell them a broke, unemployed man is keeping a lion cub and a dog in a hotel room with 4 minors. I wonder who they will believe? The Johnson family, or the 50x glitch?"

That was it. He threatened my kids.

Before I could answer, the main hotel doors opened again. A cold wind came in.

A woman walked in.

Black dress. Black heels. Hair tied so tight it could cut. No smile. Everyone in the lobby - even the Johnsons' guards - stepped back automatically.

Victoria Sterling. CEO of Sterling Group. I had seen her on Forbes. 29 years old. Ice Queen. Worth $900M.

She walked straight past the Johnsons, past Davis, past me, and stopped at the elevator. She pressed the button for the Presidential Suite.

"I'm here to pick up Lily for school," she said without looking at anyone. "Her daughter and mine are classmates. I was told someone was blocking the lobby."

Johnson Sr.'s face twitched. "Victoria. This doesn't concern Sterling Group."

She finally turned. Her eyes were gray and dead.

"It does when four children upstairs have a lion cub that hasn't been fed breakfast. And when three 100x parasites are harassing the only 200x host in the city."

The entire lobby froze.

My heart stopped.

She said it. 200x. Out loud.

Davis's phone glitched. He looked down.

[ERROR... RECALCULATING... TARGET HAS 200x... IMPOSSIBLE...]

His hands started shaking.

Johnson Sr. stared at me. Then at her. "What did you say?"

Victoria walked to me, took my arm like we had known each other for years, and whispered so only I could hear:

"I've been looking for you for 5 years. My system is broken. My daughter needs your kids' system. And you need me to stop them from taking Gold and Leo."

Upstairs, I could hear Leo roar - his first real roar - and Gold barking.

Lily's school mission was about to start. And I just found out my love interest knew my biggest secret from day one.

TO BE CONTINUED...