Chapter 3

Megan threw herself shamelessly in front of Charlie, into the young man's arms, and declared, sweetness in her voice. "Charlie, meet Franklin, my new boyfriend. You're nowhere close to his wealth. I love him, not you."

She relaxed in his arms, pressing her head comfortably on his chest.

Franklin Jones is the popular, wealthy student on campus. He is from a wealthy family. Naturally, he's proud and also a playboy, however, girls on campus had been dying to be with him.

Megan was the beauty goddess on campus so she won him over.

"Charlie," Franklin called out, one hand casually relaxed in his pocket and the other wrapped around Megan, keeping her warm. "From now on, Megan is mine. She belongs to me and not you so I'm warning you, stay away from her or I'll have you visit an early grave," he said wickedly.

Charlie's face was red, his blood boiling, but he couldn't utter a word. He loved his life so he knew better than to be silent. Franklin had connections with dangerous thugs on campus and if he dared to talk back or attack him, Franklin might end up hiring the thugs to beat him up.

"Got it, boy?" Franklin laughed at Charlie's silence.

Soon, students began to gather, watching the scene. One had seen when Franklin kicked Charlie in the stomach and she had called to her best to come have a look.

Her best friend also called hers, and it went on that way until the place got filled with students.

Some looked with outer disgust at Charlie's figure, while some looked with pitiful expressions.

"I saw it. He kicked him right in the stomach, but he's a coward, he couldn't fight back," one said.

"Franklin is a big shot and you want a pathetic pauper like him to fight back? You want him dead, don't you?" Another student replied.

Then heads turned toward Megan who nestled in Franklin's arms, wide-eyed. "Isn't she supposed to be Charlie's girlfriend? Why is she so comfortable in Franklin's arms?" One student murmured.

"She just broke up with him," another responded. "She said he isn't up to her level, that he's pathetic."

Everyone burst into laughter, watching Charlie get humiliated.

Meanwhile, Franklin, enjoying the moment, reached into his pocket and pulled out some bucks. Holding it up to Charlie, he mocked, "Boy, I remember you could do anything for money, correct, right? Now, here's six hundred, I want to have Megan in bed so go to the pharmacy and get something.....you know what I mean, right?" He laughed mockingly. "Get it, then keep the change."

Everyone burst into another segment of laughter.

"Oh, what a generous gesture. That's so kind of you, Franklin," one student said, clearly mocking Charlie.

"Will he really do that after his girlfriend has been taken from him?" Another inquired, covering his mouth.

"What choice does he have? That's a generous amount that Franklin had offered so he'll definitely go to have the change to himself."

Charlie clenched his fists at his sides, hearing those annoying and taunting words from the students. His face exploded with anger. How dare he tell him to get that for him!

He felt like propelling a dangerous punch to Franklin's face, but he managed to hold back, knowing the aftermath.

"Hey boy, don't keep me waiting. Are you grabbing this generous gesture or not?" Franklin asked again with a smug smirk. "I can have someone else do it if you don't want to."

Charlie totally ignored him, turning his angry expression toward Megan who still remained nestled in Franklin's arms, his muscles tensed, almost pulling out.

Since he had been dating her, Megan had never once allowed him to touch her, but she felt so relaxed in another man's arms just because of the money.

He stared at her, hesitated before saying. "Megan, I hope you never regret your decision someday."

Megan couldn't help, but chuckle. "What a joker you are. What makes you think I'd regret leaving a loser like you? I'll never regret it."

"Okay." Charlie didn't say anything else. He turned around and started walking away from the crowd with a shattered heart.

As Charlie left there, he went to the small apartment that he had rented. It wasn't far from school. He preferred staying in a dormitory, but because of his part-time job, he chose to rent an apartment to enable him to move out at night to work in the bar without restriction.

Charlie collapsed onto the bed, face up, staring blankly at the ceiling. Memories of his good time he had with Megan began flooding his mind. Tears formed in his eyes.

"How could she?" He muttered to himself, broken. "I loved her, but what did she do? She traded my love for money?"

How Megan spoke to him flashed through his eyes. "She even called me names. That I'm pathetic. Loser. All sorts of names like I meant nothing to her." Tears started to drop down his cheeks.

But then....snap!

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound of his door echoed, snapping him out of his shattered emotions.

Charlie quickly wiped his eyes, his eyes darting toward the entrance. "Who's that?" He asked, trying to steady his voice. "Wait, I'm coming."

Charlie didn't get to reach the door when it burst open. A woman walked in, her face grim.

Charlie was taken aback as he quickly recognised the figure. His heart throbbed.

Chapter 4

The woman was old, probably in her late sixties. Despite her chubby nature, she was very agile in terms of action. She was no other than Charlie's landlady.

"Good afternoon, landlady," Charlie greeted in a low voice, knowing the reason she was here.

It is for her rent.

The woman glared at Charlie and pointed her finger at him. "Scrap it, Charlie!" She growled. "I called you earlier and knew why I was calling, but you declined it!"

Charlie quickly recalled his phone had rang for the second time after that scammer called him. He rejected it without glancing at it, thinking it was the same person.

"I'm sorry, landlady, it wasn't intentional. I didn't know it was you," he said apologetically.

But the old woman gave him a fierce stare. "Keep that aside!" She stretched out her hand as if trying to receive something. "Hand it over. My rent! Where is it?" She demanded, not batting an eye.

Charlie swallowed hard, scratching the back of his head. "Landlady, I....." he started nervously, "I haven't been paid, I swear. Once I get paid, I promise, I'll pay you. Please, give me some extra days. Three or four, I'll run around and make sure to get your money."

"More days?" The woman scoffed angrily. "Aren't you any shame, Charlie? You were supposed to be paying monthly, but you're four months' rent behind, and considering you're a student, I decided to stay patient, yet you're still demanding extra days."

She jabbed her finger at him. "Three days, you promised. If nothing is done, I'll have your things thrown out."

Charlie looked helplessly as he watched his landlady exit the room with fury. His heart was submerged, hurt that he couldn't do anything.

He's been owing three months' rent and had been begging for mercy; his landlady had been kind enough to always show him mercy, and it hurt him that he couldn't fulfil his promise. Not because he didn't have that money.

But he had used it to get stuff for Megan on her birthday wishlist.

Turning around, Charlie collapsed again on the bed, completely speechless as he stared at the ceiling, expressionless.

Just as he looked fixedly at the ceiling, the silent moment was suddenly disrupted by the sound of his phone.

Ding!

A message dropped.

Charlie reluctantly took it and glanced down at the screen.

Boom! His heart skipped when he read the content of the message.

'Your account number ending with 7580 has just received a deposit of fifty million dollars. Your new balance is 50,000,010.

He jumped out of bed and sat up straighter. He was briefly startled, reading the message again, this time, with wide eyes. "Fifty million dollars?" He mumbled, disbelief crossing his eyes. "Is this for real? Who could make such a big mistake by sending such enormous amounts of money to my account?"

He paused then shook his head. "No, this must be clickbait."

Just right after he dismissed the thought, about to put down his phone, the phone vibrated and started to ring.

It was a strange number.

Charlie frowned the moment he saw the number. He was a smart person, and he quickly remembered it was the same number that had called him earlier today at school.

"What does he want from me?" He said out of frustration. He wanted to reject the call, but then the thought of picking up and giving the caller a severe warning crossed his mind.

"Let me show him the other side of me. I think I was so nice to him earlier today." With that he answered the call, but before he could say a word.

The man from the other end started before him. "Young Master Charlie, I just deposited fifty million dollars into your account. Did you receive it?" The man asked with utmost respect.

Chapter 5

Charlie was frozen at first, his eyes winking. "You did what?"

"Yes, Young Master. I just deposited it into your account. Hope you received it," the man said. "You can check at the bank to confirm it if you don't believe it."

The man's voice was firm and Charlie couldn't help, but admit, stammering. "I-I received it, but thought it's fake. A clickbait."

"Oh no, Young master Charlie, it actually is not. It's real. I transferred it. Just check it out."

Charlie quickly ended the call without saying anything, anticipation in his eyes. "Is this really true? Or am I just imagining things?" He muttered. Then, he swiftly dialed his bank's USSD code. "Maybe, I should check it out using Duke's details."

Duke was his only best friend on campus. One who always stood by him no matter what. They do add up money together to buy food for themselves, so it was no hassle to put down his account details.

Without hesitating, he hit the send button, transferring five hundred dollars to Duke. Since he just wanted to test if it was real, Charlie intentionally made it low. Also, he wanted to make it easy to pay back if it turns out to be real and the man is demanding something silly in return.

A notification dropped immediately right after the transaction.

'$500 successfully transferred. Your new balance is $49,999,500.'

His eyes went wide, shocked. To add to it, his phone started to ring with the caller ID, Duke, flashing on the screen.

"Duke?" He muttered and picked up. "Hello, Duke?"

Duke's voice was filled with curiosity yet concern. "Charlie, I didn't ask for any money, why did you send me money? I know we're friends, but you need this money the most." He explained.

Charlie was hesitant at first, the man's voice telling him that the money was real, playing in his ears. "This is re...real!" He felt a pang of excitement as he murmured.

"Let me assume you made a mistake," Duke continued, snapping Charlie out of his thoughts. "I'm sending it back to you right away."

"No, no, don't," Charlie said quickly, shaking his head even though Duke couldn't see him. "Duke, you don't have to. It wasn't a mistake. Just keep it to yourself."

"What the heck do you mean by I should keep it," Duke scolded in a friendly manner. "Have you forgotten when you told me you're owing three months' rent? Don't you know this $500 might solve part of it?"

A sigh echoed through the speaker from Duke's end. "I'm sending it, man. You need it more than I do."

"I say you shouldn't bother. Just keep it to yourself!"

"Are you sure y-" Duke was about to retort, but before he could finish, Charlie hung up the call.

Charlie held the phone and stared at the debit alert he had received after transferring $500 to Duke. He couldn't help, but wipe his face, as if trying to wake himself from daydreaming.

"This can't be real. I must be dreaming," he doubted, shaking his head.

Just then.....

Ring, ring!

His phone vibrated in his hand and started to ring. It was the same number.

Charlie didn't hesitate to answer it.

"Young master Charlie, have you confirmed it?" The man's voice came through respectfully.

"Y-- yes, it's r....real," Charlie stuttered, then reluctantly asked. "But why did you send such money to me? What do you want from me?" He asked in a suspicious voice.

"Nothing, young master Charlie. I just want you to come take over the inheritance waiting for you."

"What inheritance have you been talking about?" Charlie asked softly.

"I'm sorry, young master Charlie, but this shouldn't be discussed over the phone. You know what? Just come to Pinnacle Group, the thirtieth floor today, where I mentioned to you earlier, but if you can't make it today, then come tomorrow, just anytime you find convenient."

Charlie hesitated before accepting. "All right, I'll be there."

"Good. For the meantime, manage that fifty million dollars I sent to you until you show up here to claim everything."

As the call ended, Charlie blinked, trying to piece everything together. However, he was interrupted by the sudden ring of his phone.

It was Duke calling him this time.

He answered, pressing the phone to his ear. "Hello, Duke. What's up?"

"Where are you now?" Duke demanded with urgency.

"At my apartment," Charlie replied softly, but sensing the intensity in Duke's voice, he added. "What's the problem?"

"At your apartment?" Duke scoffed, "You'd better run down to the campus. The mathematics lecturer suddenly announced he wants to give a test and you know what that means if you don't participate. You've failed."

"Ah!" Charlie shouted. "Thanks, man. I'll be there."

As Charlie disconnected the call, he jumped out of bed, preparing to head to school. He had been preparing for this maths test, but he never expected it would come so suddenly.

Rushing everything, Charlie sprinted to the campus. In five minutes Charlie arrived at the campus since his apartment wasn't far.

His breath was faster, but he suddenly paused, taking a deep breath as he arrived at the door entrance, and realized the lecturer wasn't yet in class.

Charlie scanned every face, and he could see Megan, his ex-girlfriend, sitting in the midst of her friends, discussing. Next was Franklin, Megan's new boyfriend with his own friends, also talking.

Immediately, his presence was noticed, and the room fell silent as if a lecturer had stepped into the class. Heads turned toward him, all eyes falling on Charlie with disdain.

Soon, murmurs riffled in the air.

"Here, he comes!"

"The wound is really fresh and it doesn't seem to be healing soon. It's just evident in his expression."

Their murmurs were with disgust and feigned pity; however, Charlie ignored them, walked past, and headed to the back seat, taking a seat close to a chubby figure.

"Oh, thank God, you're right here on time, Charlie," the chubby guy said happily. But then he narrowed his eyes, curiosity in his voice as he asked. "Charlie, is it true what I'm hearing?"