The Pizza Boy Who Owned the City

At the center of Downtown Plaza, Harkins City, the fountain flashed white beneath the sunlight.

The café on the corner had filled its patio with outdoor tables, office workers in sharp suits walked by with iced coffees in hand, and several street performers were playing violin by the curb.

Everything here was clean, respectable, and full of life.

Everything, except Dan Bridgers.

Dan rode in on a beat-up delivery scooter that looked as if it might fall apart at any moment, carefully squeezing into the temporary parking lane along the edge of the plaza.

His phone was mounted on the handlebar. The screen was cracked like a spiderweb. On the delivery app, the countdown was still ticking down.

Order #48: Two large pepperoni pizzas.

Delivery time left: 05:42

Dan glanced at the time and clenched his teeth. He could not be late on this order. If the customer complained, his boss would take it out of his tips.

His old phone suddenly started ringing. Dan did not want to answer, but the call kept coming.

In the end, he answered, “Hello?”

A middle-aged man’s voice came through, “Good afternoon. Am I speaking with Mr. Dan Bridgers?”

Dan frowned, “This is him.”

“Mr. Bridgers, I am contacting you on behalf of the family. There is an inheritance with your name under it, so do you have time to come over today?”

Dan could not help but laugh at the man’s words. “Do scammers not even do research anymore? My parents died years ago. I don’t have any family left.”

“Mr. Bridgers, I—”

Dan did not wait to hear the explanation before hanging up. He shook his head lightly. 

But during that split second of distraction, a skinny orange stray cat suddenly darted out. It seemed to have been frightened by the crowd and shot straight toward Dan’s front wheel.

“Damn it!” Almost by instinct, he slammed the brakes and jerked the handlebars to the side. 

But the plaza tiles near the curb were still wet from being washed. The front tire lost traction the moment it turned.

Bang!

Dan and the scooter crashed to the ground together, muddy water splashing all over his clothes.

He had no time to care about the pain. His first instinct was to reach for the pizza bag.

But before his hand could touch it, a red high heel came down hard on the bag.

Dan paused instinctively, and then his gaze traveled upward, past a pair of long, pale legs, until it landed on the angry woman standing in front of him.

He knows her. 

Caroline Hebert. The woman he used to call his girlfriend.

Caroline looked especially refined today. A tight black T-shirt outlined her striking curves, and the denim miniskirt made her waist look even slimmer and her legs even longer. Paired with those red high heels, she looked beautiful, confident, and impossible to ignore.

If not for the cold disgust in her eyes, Dan might have mistaken her for the same girl he had fallen for, the girl who used to smile at him so softly.

“Oh my God. What the f**k are you doing here?” Caroline’s face twisted the moment she saw him. “Did you find out I was shopping here and stalk me on that pathetic scooter of yours?”

She did not raise her voice, but the contempt in her tone was unmistakable. “I told you already, Dan. A broke loser like you can never be good enough for me. Stop showing up around me.”

Dan’s face tightened. He had known Caroline was no longer the girl she used to be. But seeing her look at him like he was something dirty still sent a sharp sting through his chest.

“I’m here to deliver an order,” Dan said quietly. “No one is following you. Don’t flatter yourself.”

Caroline sneered. “You’re already this poor, and you still want to pretend you have dignity?”

Dan pressed his lips together and said nothing. But Caroline seemed nowhere near satisfied.

“You’re a grown man, and all you can do is deliver pizza. Don’t you feel ashamed?”

After saying that, she suddenly stepped closer and spat in his face. The spit landed directly on Dan’s cheek.

Dan stood there, his body as rigid as stone. Slowly, he raised his hand and wiped the filth from his face.

At that moment, the last trace of warmth in his eyes disappeared.

“Caroline.” His voice was very low now, colder than before.“Did you forget who paid your freshman-year tuition?”

Caroline’s expression changed slightly.

Dan stared at her and spoke each word clearly. 

“Your freshman tuition came from the money I earned collecting bottles during the day and waiting tables at night.”

“Your sophomore living expenses came from the money I saved after getting off work at two in the morning, when I couldn’t even bring myself to buy a hot meal.”

“When you wanted a new phone in your junior year, when you wanted new clothes, when you wanted to stand on campus looking as respectable as every other girl, I paid for all of that, dollar by dollar.”

“And now you’re standing here, wearing the dignity I paid for, calling me the embarrassment?”

For a brief moment, Caroline’s face looked ugly. But soon, she lifted her chin again and sneered. “So what? You gave me all of that because you wanted to. Did I force you?”

Caroline went on. A smug smile returned to her face. “Dan, people are supposed to move up in life. And I’ve already found a much better choice.”

As soon as she said that, a young man walked out from behind her.

Before Dan could react, a sharp kick struck his stomach.

Thud!

Clutching his stomach, Dan looked up. When he saw the young man standing beside Caroline, his eyes darkened.

Ed Alsbury. A notorious rich kid in Harkins City.

Ed was not particularly handsome, but he was dressed head to toe in designer brands. An expensive watch gleamed on his wrist, and there was always a condescending smile on his face, as if everyone around him existed beneath his feet.

Caroline naturally wrapped her arm around Ed’s and leaned almost entirely against him. “Dan, where did you go? I miss you so much.”

Then she looked at Dan again, her eyes full of smug satisfaction. “Dan, this is my new boyfriend, Ed Alsbury.”

Ed glanced at Dan as if he were looking at a dog blocking the road. “So this is the worthless ex-boyfriend you told me about?”

Caroline leaned closer to Ed and deliberately spoke loudly. “Yeah. Looks like he still isn’t over me. He was just trying to bring up all those pathetic things he used to do for me.”

Ed let out a laugh. “That’s disgusting.”

He took a step forward and looked down at Dan. “Caroline is my woman. If I ever see you bothering her again, I’ll make sure you spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair. Understand?”

Ed’s reputation in Harkins City was terrible. Everyone knew he was not someone to mess with. He was not just rich, but also had ties to street gangs, and to people far more dangerous than that.

“Babe, just ignore this loser. Let’s go.”Caroline leaned into Ed’s chest, her voice soft and sweet.

Ed smiled faintly and slipped an arm around her waist. “That’s my girl. Just can’t wait, huh?”

Then, he pulled a few bills from his pocket and waved them in Dan’s face.

“Dan, if I remember correctly, you’ll do just about anything for money, won’t you?”

His grin widened. “Here. Take this and run to the pharmacy for me. Grab a box of morning-after pill. Caroline and I need it later.”

Caroline’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment, but she did not say a word.

Dan stared at the money in Ed’s hand, his eyes burning red with anger.

Dan and Caroline had been together for three years, and they had barely even truly held hands. Back then, she always said she was not ready and wanted to save the best version of herself for the future. But she had only been with Ed for a few days at most, and they were already talking about spending the night together.

And now Ed was humiliating him with it in front of everyone.

What's even worse was that, as Dan looked at the bills in Ed’s hand, he actually wavered for a split second. If he took that money, he could pay this month’s rent.

The moment that thought appeared, Dan felt almost sickened by himself.

“So?” Ed asked with a bright, mocking smile. “Yes or no? If you don’t want it, I can always ask someone else.”

Dan stood there for a few seconds. Then he slowly turned to Caroline, his eyes cold.

“Caroline, I hope you never regret what you did today.”

Dan said nothing more. He took a deep breath, picked up the pizza bag, and rode away.

Behind him, Ed’s laughter, Caroline’s sneer, and the whispers of the crowd stabbed into his back like needles.

*****

After a long day, Dan finally returned to the small room he rented. The room was barely bigger than a closet, but to Dan, it was enough.

Once he was back home, memories of Caroline flooded his mind. The promises they had made to each other now seemed painfully stupid.

Back then, Caroline had not been like this. She used to be gentle and innocent. When others mocked Dan, she would stand up for him. When he was so exhausted he could barely keep going, she would hand him a bottle of water and smile as she told him that things would get better someday.

Dan had once truly believed that as long as he worked hard enough, the two of them would eventually make it through. So he worked himself to the bone.

But today, he finally understood. In Caroline’s eyes, all his effort had been nothing but cheap, laughable nonsense.

Dan lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Ding!

Just then, his phone suddenly chimed. It was a text message.

Dan froze for a moment before taking it out and glancing at the screen.

The moment he read the message, his eyes widened in disbelief.

An account ending in 6174 has transferred $10,000,000 to your account. Current balance: $10,000,020.

Dan shot upright in bed.

His eyes widened as he stared at the message, reading it again and again.

Ten million?

There was actually five million dollars in his account?

“This…”

Dan’s throat went dry, and even his voice trembled.

“Ten million? This has to be some kind of joke, right?”

Knock, knock!

Before he could figure out what was going on, a rapid knock suddenly sounded from outside his door.