The Kids Made Me A Billionaire; The Cashback System

The Million Dollar Pet

The office building lobby was chaos.

My lawyers were holding the elevator. The General Manager was still holding that folder that said I owned the whole plaza. Davis was upstairs, probably still trying to breathe. And my four kids were holding my hands like nothing happened.

"Daddy, are we going home now?" Tom asked, swinging his little Mercedes.

Home. Right. My $400-a-month studio apartment with one mattress and a leaking sink. I couldn't take them back there.

I looked at my phone.

Balance: $1,303,167.73

[NEW MISSION: Your children want a pet. A big one. Spend $1,000,000 in 3 days.]

[TIME LEFT: 71:59:12]

[FAILURE: System will downgrade to 50x]

My blood ran cold. Downgrade to 50x? That would make me exactly what Davis thought I was. A weakling.

"Daddy?" Lily tugged my sleeve. "You said we could get a lion."

I had whispered it as a joke in the elevator. They remembered.

Ben, my 5-year-old, was dead serious. "I want a dinosaur."

I laughed, but my brain was racing. How do you spend $1,000,000 on kids in 3 days without looking insane? Child services would be called.

We walked out of the building. The sun was blinding. My old car - a 2008 Honda that barely started - was parked across the street. Next to it, the GM had parked a black Rolls-Royce Cullinan with a bow on it.

"Sir, your new car," John said. "Bonus reward from your toy store shares. The kids need a safe car."

Grace screamed and ran to it. "IT'S BIGGER THAN OUR HOUSE!"

We all piled in. Leather seats. Screens in the back. Ben instantly fell asleep again.

"Where to, boss?" the driver asked.

I looked at my kids. They were tired, happy, but they were still wearing the same clothes from the bus this morning, even if they were new designer ones now. Their hair was messy from jumping on the hotel bed.

An idea hit me. The salon subplot you wanted.

"To Luxe Cuts. The one on 5th."

Luxe Cuts was where Sarah used to take her rich friend's kids. $300 for a kids' haircut. She once told me "People like us don't belong there."

Perfect place to spend money.

---

Luxe Cuts looked like a spaceship. All white and gold. Inside, women with perfect hair were sipping champagne while their kids got haircuts.

The receptionist didn't even look up. "Appointment?"

"Walk-in. For four kids."

She finally looked. At me, at my kids, at our bags. Her smile went tight.

"Sorry, we're fully booked today. Maybe try... um... the barber shop down the street? They do $10 cuts."

Behind her, I saw him. Jason Miller. My high school classmate. The guy who used to copy my homework and now sold crypto and never stopped posting his gold membership card on I*******m.

He saw me and his face lit up with that fake pity.

"Yo! Bro! Is that you? No way! With YOUR kids? Man, what are you doing here? This place is... you know... expensive."

He dangled his gold card. "I'm a Gold Member here. $10k a year. My son gets his hair cut by the top stylist. You know how it is, different levels."

He laughed, loud enough for the rich moms to hear. A few turned and stared at my kids' messy hair.

Lily hid behind me.

Something hot rose in my chest. Not shame. Anger. For my kids.

I pulled out my phone. I had $1.3M. I needed to spend $1M.

I opened the trading app John had installed for me. I searched: LUXE CUTS INC.

Public company. Market cap $12M.

I clicked BUY. 51% shares. $6.1M needed. I didn't have enough.

But I had my cashback.

I looked at Jason and smiled.

"Grace, baby, which hair do you want?" I asked.

Grace pointed at a poster. "Pink! Like a princess!"

"And you, Lily?"

"Just... just a trim, Daddy."

"Ben? Tom?"

"MOHAWK! BLUE MOHAWK!"

The stylists were giggling now.

I tapped my phone. I paid for:

4 Royal Kids Makeover Packages: $1,200

Full year of home private styling for all 4: $48,000

20 bottles of their most expensive kids shampoo to take home: $6,000

Total: $55,200. Spent on my children.

I clicked PAY.

[DING! SPENT $55,200.00 ON CHILDREN!]

[CASHBACK 200x: $11,040,000.00 DEPOSITED!]

[BONUS REWARD: 100% Ownership of Luxe Cuts Chain (87 Salons Nationwide)]

My bank notification: New Balance: $12,287,967.73

I didn't even check it. I just waited.

30 seconds later, the salon doors burst open. A woman in a black power suit sprinted in, heels clicking.

"STOP! EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING!"

It was the Regional CEO. I recognized her from the website.

She looked around frantically, then saw me and my kids. She ran and bowed - literally bowed 90 degrees.

"Mr. Sir! Chairman! We didn't know you were coming! I'm so sorry! This branch will be closed for your family today! Everyone out!"

The receptionist's mouth fell open. "Chairman...?"

"He BOUGHT the company 45 seconds ago!" the CEO shouted. "He owns all 87 salons! He is your BOSS!"

Jason's gold card fell out of his hand and clattered on the floor.

The CEO picked it up and snapped it in half in front of him.

"Gold member? You are BANNED. Don't ever disrespect our Chairman's children again. Security!"

Lily looked up at me, eyes huge. "Daddy... you bought the hair place?"

I picked her up. "You wanted a trim, princess. Daddy bought you the scissors."

Grace was already being led to a pink throne chair by three stylists apologizing.

Jason was being dragged out, stammering: "Bro... bro... it was a joke..."

I called after him: "Jason, keep the gold card. You need it more than I do."

The whole salon was now only for my kids. Champagne was replaced with juice boxes and ice cream.

My phone buzzed again.

[MISSION PROGRESS: $55,200 / $1,000,000 SPENT]

[TIME LEFT: 71:12:04]

[HINT: Pets are still waiting...]

Right. The pet. A big pet.

I looked at my new salon, my kids getting royal treatment, and I thought about Mark's family. The powerful Johnsons. They had a private zoo, I remembered Sarah bragging.

A big pet, huh?

I whispered to Lily: "How about we don't get a lion. How about Daddy buys you a zoo?"

She gasped. "A REAL ZOO?!"

Ben woke up from his nap, heard ZOO, and screamed: "DINOSAURS!!!"

The CEO of Luxe Cuts knelt next to me: "Sir, I also manage a... pet supplier for high-net-worth clients..."

I smiled. The $1M was going to be easy.

Outside, my old Honda was being towed away. I didn't need it anymore.

TO BE CONTINUED...