In the guys' dorm room at University, Room 307, Jason's phone pinged twice in a row:
Emma: Favorability +5
Emma: Favorability +5
Jason blinked at the screen.
"What the hell? Did I miss something?" he muttered to himself.
He did not met Emma recently, so this sudden jump in her favorability score threw him off.
Before he could think too much about it, more notifications came in. He opened his messages to find several friend requests flooding in.
Emma: "Jason, will you add me? Seriously, if you don't, my heart's going to break."
Emma: "Come on, we still have history, right? Don't tell me you're that heartless."
Emma: "Okay, fine. Maybe I was wrong before, maybe I didn't appreciate you enough. But you can't just ignore me now."
Emma: "You chased me for three days straight back then. Now that I've messaged you three times, you're just going to leave me hanging?"
Jason didn't even hesitate. Block. Done.
He didn't know what was going on with Emma lately, but honestly, he didn't care enough to find out.
Just then, another message popped up—this time from his friend.
"Hey, man, a buddy of mine is a real estate developer. He heard you bought my old Cedar Ridge Cabin, and now he's begging me for your contact info. Should I give it to him?"
Jason leaned back in his chair. "He looking to invest or what? Is this guy even legit?"
Jason had just gotten his fourth payout from the system—a hundred million dollars. He was swimming in money but wasn't exactly eager to throw it at some shady deal.
After a pause, his friend replied:
"He's legit… kinda. But the project he's on? Not looking great right now. If you invest and it works, you'll make a killing. But there's real risk here, man."
Jason thought for a moment. "Fine. Add him. Let's see what he's got to say."
Minutes later, a friend request came in. Jason accepted, and almost immediately, a polite message popped up:
John: "Mr. Jason! I hope I'm not disturbing you. I've heard a lot about you from Derek."
Jason: "Mr Zach, no need for formalities. What's this about?"
John: "Straight to the point, I like that. I'd love to take you out to dinner, talk business. Name the time and place—totally up to you."
Jason: "Forget dinner. Just tell me now."
John: "Alright then, here it is: I'm looking for investors for a prime real estate project. It's called Silverwood Estates—top property in the brand-new Crestview Development Zone. Super popular right now."
John: "We've got all the permits, construction's halfway done, the buildings are almost ready to be capped. We just need funds for the final stretch—interiors, utilities, landscaping. Once that's done, the pre-sales alone will bring massive returns."
Jason listened for a bit… then lost interest almost immediately.
He knew the type.
A project like this, already stuck mid-way, wasn't just about "a little cash flow problem." That was what amateurs thought. In reality, half-built projects like this usually came with layers of unpaid contractors, banks freezing assets, debts stacked sky-high, and sometimes even lawsuits waiting to explode.
The only thing that could save a situation like that was a massive spike in housing prices.
And in the current market? Yeah. Not happening.
Jason smirked and leaned back, already drafting his polite rejection.
Even if Jason was not a businessman, there was no way he was going to accept this kind of mess.
He wasn't here to take on risky, high-profile real estate projects.
His only goal?
Privately siphon off money from the so-called "system," convert it into his own assets, maybe farm a little favorability along the way—basically, spend big, keep things quiet, and walk away richer.
So why would he bother with a complicated, high-risk disaster like this?
Jason didn't even hesitate.
"Sorry," he said flatly. "I'm not interested."
On the other end of the call, John—now John Quarles—tried to convince him, "Mr. Jason, maybe think about it? Once the real estate project is complete, we're guaranteed massive profits. You won't have to lift a finger, and the profit cycle is lightning fast…"
Jason didn't reply. He muted the number. No more disturbances.
At Starlight Properties, John and a middle-aged woman, Lucy, were staring at their phones.
After seeing Jason ignore multiple messages in a row, John sighed heavily.
"Looks like this Jason kid isn't stupid," he muttered. "He's got money and the brains to see this real estate mess for what it is."
Lucy nodded grimly. "The property's been mortgaged too many times already. The banks won't touch us anymore. Jason might be our last shot. Otherwise… we might have to skip town."
"But he's not interested," John said bitterly. "So now what?"
Lucy smirked. "Judging by the tens of millions he's thrown around the last few days, he's definitely from an elite family. To him, ten or even a hundred million dollars is pocket change. As long as we find a way to win him over, maybe he'll fix everything with a wave of his hand."
"The question," John said darkly, "is how?"
"For a man like that," Lucy said, eyes glinting, "we need to use the right bait. I'll start by digging into his life at Redwood University. Let's see what makes him tick."
Money talks. Within hours, Lucy had Jason's basic campus information on her phone.
She scrolled through it casually—then her eyes lit up.
"Bingo. He's liked a girl for three years. Might be ten times easier to start with her."
John grinned. "Right, I almost forgot—he's still just a college kid. The age where people believe in love."
The information was old—just enough to reveal that Jason had feelings for Emma, but nothing about what happened between them lately.
Still, it was enough for a plan.
They set off immediately forUniversity. On the way, Lucy had someone get Emma's number and arranged a meeting, pretending to be friends of Jason.
Emma, who was nearly drowning in regret, saw this as a glimmer of hope and agreed.
At a café just outside the university gates, John and Lucy waited.
Soon, Emma and her friend Lily rushed in.
John and Lucy were both struck by how beautiful Emma was… though her red, swollen eyes made it clear she'd been crying for hours.
They were just thinking about how to get close to her, maybe use her to connect with Jason, when Emma walked straight up to them, eyes full of desperate hope.
"You're Jason's friends, right? Did he ask you to come see me?"
John and Lucy froze for a moment.
Lucy shook her head. "No… he didn't send us. Why? Did you two have a fight?"
The moment she heard it wasn't Jason who sent them, Emma's expression collapsed.
Lucy tried to console her. "Hey, it's normal for young people to fight. You'll make up soon."
Emma's voice cracked. "Then… can you text him for me? Or maybe ask him to meet me? Please tell him I know I messed up. I shouldn't have ditched him on his birthday to hang out with that spoiled rich kid, Josh. Tell him… I realize now who really cares about me. I want to make it right. I'll treat him well for the rest of my life."
John and Lucy just stared at her like she'd grown two heads.
They needed a moment to process this.
Finally, John almost blurted out, You ditched a billionaire for some wannabe rich kid? Are you out of your mind?
But he swallowed it. Barely.
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