A month passed by in a flash. The money from OnlyStar was finally transferred to their account. As Owen and Clara were sitting in the living room, Clara, who was checking the account balance, shrieked and began to jump for joy. When she saw the figure of over $57,000 appear on the screen, an enormous sum for her, she forgot herself in her excitement, throwing herself at Owen and planting a huge, loud kiss on his cheek.
This left Owen stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected her to become so bold and expressive. He quickly regained his composure and congratulated her. But their moment of happiness was short-lived, as a loud commotion suddenly erupted from the hallway. It was the sound of Damian and Julian arguing.
"You can't do this, Damian! That's my prize money!" Julian shouted in Damian's face, furious.
Damian averted the young man's gaze and spoke in a tone filled with guilt. "I'm sorry, Julian, but we need the money for the next debt payment. I'll consider it your advance rent payment."
"Ours? Did you say 'ours'?" Julian's eyes widened in disbelief. "That's your debt, not ours! Don't make our relationship worse over a few tens of thousands, Damian!"
Even though Julian said that, Damian showed no sign of returning the money. "I really need it, Julian… Please understand… If you really want me to return it… then you have to get out of this house. I don't welcome people who would abandon a friend like you."
Hearing those irrational and selfish words come out of Damian's mouth, Julian was stunned. He never thought the person he respected would speak to him like this. Julian's face turned red with anger, and just before he could explode, Owen and Clara walked in to see what was happening.
"What's going on?" Owen asked them both.
Seeing Owen arrive, Julian's simmering anger immediately began to cool down, because he knew very well that Owen was the true pillar of this house, not a loser like Damian. Julian quickly explained the whole situation to Owen and Clara.
The story was that last week, Julian had bought a lottery ticket online for fun and happened to win a grand prize of over $50,000. But on the day the package containing the actual ticket arrived, Damian was the one who received it. He opened it and saw that it was a winning ticket. Blinded by greed, he secretly cashed the ticket into his own account. By the time Julian found out, it was too late.
"You have to tell Damian to give me back my money, Owen. He's gone too far! How could he do that to me!" Julian shook Owen's arm, putting on a pitiful puppy face, while Clara could only look at her own husband with intense disappointment.
Owen could only sigh at the situation and looked at Damian with equal disappointment. "Sigh~ I understand everything now, Julian. You can stop shaking my arm," he said to the younger man before turning to face his close friend. "As for you, Damian. You were really in the wrong this time. You know that, right?"
Damian avoided everyone's gaze and said in a softer voice, "I.... I know... but it was really necessary, Owen. If—" But before Damian could finish his excuse, Clara, who could no longer stand her husband's behavior, cut him off almost instantly!
"One word it's necessary, two words it's necessary! Don't you have a better explanation than that? Every single expense in this house is necessary, Damian! But which is more important, those necessities or your friend? I can't believe you would say those words to Julian. Give him back his money, Damian!" Clara yelled at him, not giving an inch. She seemed truly furious with him.
"And you don't have to worry about the next debt payment. I have that money for you! While Owen and I are working ourselves to death to earn money, you're stealing from a kid? I can't believe something like this would happen!"
Hearing that, Damian's eyes widened. He looked at Clara with disbelief and suspicion. "You... where did you get that much money? That's tens of thousands, Clara... Your job at the flower shop couldn't possibly make that much, right?"
But Clara seemed unwilling to answer his question. "Hmph! Does an unemployed person like you have the right to question others, Damian? I'm in no mood to explain anything to you right now!" This time, she feigned anger because she was afraid Damian would find out about OnlyStar, and she stormed off.
Seeing the perfect opportunity, Owen quickly helped Clara cover it up. "You don't have to worry about where the money came from, Damian. She didn't borrow it or do anything illegal," he said, pulling out his phone. "She just started her own social media presence and got over a thousand followers. Recently, a fashion brand sponsor got interested in her page and hired her for a photoshoot for a large sum."
After saying this, Owen showed Damian Clara's public social media page, a page he had created a long time ago specifically for situations like this. On that page, he only posted cute, bright, and warm pictures of Clara. There were no sexy photos to be seen at all.
When everything was cleared up, Damian, having no further arguments, reluctantly transferred all the money back to Julian. The atmosphere remained tense, but with nothing more to say, everyone went their separate ways, leaving behind a crack in the household's relationships that would be difficult to mend.
...
At Nova's gym.
Owen's heavy breathing mixed with the rhythmic clang of metal from the exercise equipment.
"That's it, Owen! Scream it out! If you want to be as strong as me, you have to work even harder!" Nova shouted encouragingly as Owen desperately lifted the barbell up and down.
Half an hour later, today's training finally ended. Owen sat panting on a bench, drenched in sweat, while Nova walked over to inspect his physique with satisfaction.
"Not bad, Owen! You still have that same shining determination every day. I don't get how you do it. It makes me feel inexplicably fascinated by you~" Hearing that, Owen raised an eyebrow in surprise. Even though he already knew Nova was a straightforward person, he didn't think she would be bold enough to say she was "fascinated" with him like that.
"Hmm~ Are you hitting on me, Nova?" Owen asked back playfully.
Nova just laughed loudly. "Hahaha! It's not that I'm hitting on you. It's that you've used the flames of your determination to melt my strong heart! Besides," she then smiled slyly, "don't you have a crush on me too? Don't think I haven't noticed you secretly staring at my chest and butt all the time!"
"And as your instructor, I don't want you looking at these silly lumps of fat! You should be looking at the results of my training! Behold this, Owen! Get a good look, and feel its strength~" Nova said as she raised her arm and flexed her muscles. She held her bicep out for him to touch. Suddenly, a choice window appeared before Owen.
.....
[1. Touch her bicep. (Affection +5, Angel Path +1)]
[2. Touch her chest. (Affection +1, Demon Path +1)]
[3. Ignore her. (Affection -5)]
.....
Having come this far, how could he not seize this opportunity? He had never once touched a woman's breast in his life, and this was a golden opportunity! Owen chose option 2 without hesitation. His hand reached out and grabbed Nova's large breast almost instantly!
The soft, supple, and bouncy feeling transmitted to Owen's brain, along with an imaginary squishy~ bouncy~ sound. The fair-skinned breast under the sweat-drenched sports bra was both huge and soft, making Owen feel like he was in heaven.
"Wow~ Your chest is so soft... I mean~ so strong, Nova! Is this the result of the training you were talking about? Thanks so much for letting me touch it. You're so nice, Nova~" Owen said shamelessly, completely ignoring her darkening expression.
Nova: "..."
Nova: "That's not my bicep, Owen! Stop grabbing it now or I'll crush your bones!" Seeing that Nova was about to lose it, Owen immediately let go of her breast. If he messed with her any more, he might end up in the ICU the next day.
The days of Owen's training with Nova passed by quickly…
Several days later. "Not bad, Owen. You've tried hard for the past month!" Nova congratulated Owen after he had perfectly completed the basic physical training program. "You now have a very solid foundation, ready to start learning martial arts!"
Nova continued in her powerful voice, "And do you know which martial art is the simplest, most direct, the best for building a foundation, and yet unbelievably powerful!... That's right, Owen. It's Muay Thai~ Once you've mastered Muay Thai, you can then learn MMA and Jiu-Jitsu."
At this point, Nova looked at Owen with anticipation and an unusually sly smile. "And if you can train in Muay Thai until you can defeat me, I'll even let you have your way with my body~ Are you interested? Hehehe~" Nova challenged Owen with a small laugh.
Hearing the unexpected offer, Owen's eyes widened in disbelief. "Huh? You'll really let me do whatever I want with your body?"
Nova nodded firmly. "Of course, if you can do it. I don't mind using my own body as a little motivation for my student," she smirked. "But don't expect it to be easy, Owen~ The real brutal training is about to begin!"
Hearing that, Owen swallowed hard. He imagined the tantalizing prize for a moment, but then the image of Nova lifting the 10-ton barbell flashed in his mind. He had forgotten she was an S-rank Awakened…
How could he possibly defeat her? The goal seemed distant and impossible. But deep in his heart... it ignited the most intense fire of determination he had ever felt.
…
The next morning…
As Owen finished making his coffee and was about to walk into the living room, he heard Clara's voice talking to another woman whose voice he recognized. "Clara~ I've missed you so much! It's been months since we last saw each other because I was busy abroad. How's Damian? I heard he's doing really badly, right?"
Clara replied in a not-so-pleased tone, "You know how bad he's getting, don't you, Claire? As his friend from school, why don't you help me figure out a way to make him better?"
But before they could continue talking, Owen walked into the room with a cup of coffee in his hand. Claire, upon seeing Owen, immediately rushed over and clung to his arm intimately, because she knew full well that doing so would annoy Clara. "There you are, Owen~ I've missed you just as much! Thanks for taking care of Clara and Damian for me~"
Of course, upon seeing that, Clara immediately went over and pulled Claire off Owen. "Don't cling to him like that, Claire, you shameless woman!" As for Claire, who was pulled away by Clara, she could only laugh with delight. She knew very well how possessive Clara was of Owen, even though they were just friends.
But as Clara's best friend, Claire knew that the two of them had a strange "more than friends" vibe going on for a long time now.
Claire, or her full name, Claire Virelle, was 40 years old and a school friend of Damian's. She had long brown hair and a beautiful appearance that was on par with Clara's. Due to her career in high-end tourism, she often had to travel abroad and always visited this house whenever she had the chance because she was very close to Clara. You could call them frenemies.
[Character Illustration: Claire]
Owen, seeing the two of them arguing again, could only shrug with familiarity. "Welcome back, Claire. I'm glad you're here. As you can see, Damian's not doing so well lately. It would be good if you went up and talked to him. Clara and I have done our best…" After saying this, he went to sit on the sofa and sip his coffee comfortably.
"Hmph~ I'm in no mood to care about that depressed old man right now, Owen. I'm only interested in you and Clara. Right, honey?" And with that, Claire leaped to hug and snuggle against Clara's chest again, forcing Clara to push her away with a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.
"By the way, the weather is so nice today, don't you think? Why don't we go lounge by the pool together?" Claire suddenly suggested with a playful expression, while Clara almost immediately refused. "I'll pass. I'm not free right now."
Hearing that, Claire couldn't help but attack her with a provocative smile. "Oh~ don't act so busy all the time, Clara. I know you're just afraid you won't look as good as me in a bikini, right?"
That challenge worked like a charm. Clara spun around instantly. "Huh? Where did you get that kind of confidence? Fine! Let's see who looks better in a bikini! Owen! Come be our judge right now!"
Clara said in an irritated tone, and the one who had to bear the burden of being the judge was none other than Owen, who was just peacefully sipping his coffee and was now left with his mouth agape in bewilderment. "Huh? Me?" He could only think to himself, 'Why do you two have to drag me into your fights!'
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