Chapter 2 002

There was a stunned silence as Lucas Harrington knelt before Mia Harper.

Ethan stood there, still trapped in the bright red-and-yellow clown costume, the empty velvet jewelry box now in Mia's hands. His mind reeled. Months of scraping every dollar, every dime from QuickTask Hub, from every humiliating errand — all just to make her happy.

He and Mia had been dating for two months. In that time, he had bought her dinners, paid for her textbooks, and even surprised her with that expensive designer scarf last month. Most of the money he made from his gigs, she took. He lived on the scraps. And now she did this to him.

"What the hell are you doing, Lucas?!" Ethan finally roared. He lunged forward and shoved Lucas's shoulder.

Lucas stumbled back, surprised, but quickly regained his balance. "Hey! Watch it, Blake!" he snapped.

Ethan ignored him and turned his burning gaze to Mia. Her eyes, usually so warm and inviting, were now cold and distant.

"Mia! What is going on? We're together. You're my girlfriend!"

Mia flinched, then scoffed. "Together? Ethan, don't be ridiculous. We were never 'together'." Her voice was sharp, cutting. "You're just… an acquaintance. And a very persistent one, by the look of things."

A collective gasp swept through the room, quickly followed by murmurs. Then the boos started.

"Yeah, Ethan! Get real!" a voice shouted from the back.

"Mia's way out of your league, clown!" another chimed in.

"Lucas and Mia — perfect match!"

"The richest guy and the prettiest girl. It's the perfect love story!"

The voices grew louder. A wave of criticism and ridicule poured down on Ethan. He looked around desperately, hoping someone would back him up. But he saw no one.

Lucas straightened up and smiled as his classmates cheered him on. He pushed Ethan aside and leaned in close to Mia, wrapping a possessive arm around her waist.

"You heard them, Blake. You should take it easy. You're making a fool of yourself again."

Ethan stood rooted to the spot, his heart broken into pieces.

Lucas looked at Mia with soft eyes. "My Queen," he whispered. He lowered his head and kissed her — right there in front of everyone, and in front of Ethan.

The whole class erupted in cheering. A huge triumphant roar echoed down the hall. "Lucas! Lucas! Lucas!"

Mia nodded and leaned into the kiss, her eyes closed.

Ethan felt a cold, crushing weight settle over him. His heart sank so deeply he felt like throwing up. He was still in the ridiculous clown costume, the bright colors now a cruel mockery of his pathetic state. He was a joke.

"And don't think for a second we'll keep using your pathetic QuickTask Hub!" someone yelled. "Boycott it!"

"Yeah! No more jobs for the clown!"

"He's done for!"

The threats stung, adding insult to injury. His gigs on QuickTask Hub were his only source of income. Now they wanted to destroy that too — to make sure he had nothing left.

He couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't breathe.

Ethan turned and blindly pushed through the laughing, jeering crowd. Their taunts followed him, their cruel laughter echoing in his ears.

He stumbled out of the lecture hall and out of the building. He walked past the campus gates, past the familiar streets, his feet carrying him further and further away. Tears streamed down his face, blurring his vision and mixing with the sweat and cheap clown makeup.

"Life's not fair," he sobbed aloud, the words tearing from his throat. "It's just not fair."

Then the System spoke.

He had not forgotten it. How could he? One million dollars had landed in his account less than an hour ago — he had seen the number, felt his hands shake, felt something crack open inside his chest that was not grief. The System had been quiet since then, letting the scene in the lecture hall play out. Watching. Waiting.

Now it was done waiting.

"Phase two initiated."

The voice cut clean through the noise in his head. Calm. Precise. Unbothered by any of it.

Ethan wiped his face with the back of his hand and kept walking. "I'm listening," he said quietly.

"Current net worth: one million, two thousand, four hundred and eighty-seven dollars. The initial grant is confirmed and active. You have resources. What you need now is direction."

"Tell me."

"Your first objective: face-slap Mia Harper for what she just did to you."

Ethan let out a short, humorless laugh. Of all the things the System could have said — investment strategies, financial directives, empire-building instructions — it led with that.

He thought about Mia's face when she pulled away from him. The way she said acquaintance. Like two months of his life, his money, his loyalty meant nothing. Like he was something she had accidentally stepped on.

"Gladly," he said.

He hailed a cab — something he almost never did — and gave the driver the address for the city's biggest luxury shopping center. The driver gave his clown costume a long look and said nothing. Smart man.

He was done wearing this skin.

The cab pulled up to the sprawling, gleaming complex. Even from the outside, it screamed a world he had never belonged to. Two burly security guards stepped into his path before he reached the doors.

"Where do you think you're going in that getup?" the first one said flatly.

"I'm here to shop," Ethan said.

The second guard snorted. "Not dressed like that. Move along."

The old Ethan would have apologized and turned around. This Ethan had a million dollars sitting in his account and a System telling him what came next. He did not apologize. He ducked past them and ran.

Shouts erupted behind him. "Hey! Stop him! Security!"

He cut through the crowded entrance in his clown suit, drawing stares from every direction, found a side door and slipped through. The guards' voices faded behind him.

He made his way to the designer floor and pushed into the most elegant clothing store he could find. Cool air. Fine leather. Crystal chandeliers throwing warm light across rows of sharp suits and cashmere jackets.

Ethan ran his hand along the sleeve of a charcoal blazer. Silk lining. Perfect weight.

This is my life now.

"Ethan?!"

He turned.

Mia and Lucas. Standing ten feet away, staring at him like he had crawled out of a drain.

"Are you serious?" Mia stepped forward, voice rising. "You followed us here? You're stalking me now?"

She did not wait for an answer. Her hand came up fast — and she slapped him hard across the cheek.

"Get away from me, you pathetic creep!" she spat. "Still in that ridiculous costume? You're pathetic."

Ethan's cheek burned. He did not flinch. He did not step back.

He looked at her — really looked at her — and felt something go quiet inside him. Not sadness. Not rage. Something colder and more useful than both.

The System's first object

ive was still sitting there, waiting.

He smiled. Slow. Quiet.

"Thank you, Mia," he said. "You just made that very easy."