Monday morning came with the usual cruelty.
Damian stared at the clock on his phone.
7:42 a.m.
His class started at eight.
He sighed.
"Great."
He grabbed his backpack and left.
By the time he reached the lecture hall, Ethan was already sitting near the middle, occupying two seats and looking like he had personally been betrayed by the existence of Mondays.
The moment Damian sat beside him, Ethan looked over.
"You’re late."
"I’m two minutes early."
"You’re late emotionally."
Damian stared at him.
"What does that even mean?"
"I don’t know. I just felt like saying it."
Damian shook his head and pulled out his notebook.
The lecturer walked in a few minutes later, and the conversation died.
For the next hour, there was nothing unusual.
No system notifications.
No business meetings.
No dramatic opportunities.
Just lectures.
Damian actually preferred it that way.
His life had become complicated enough lately.
A normal morning was almost relaxing.
After class, he and Ethan headed toward the student center.
"I’m starving," Ethan said.
"You said that before class."
"I was hungry then."
"And now?"
"Now I’m hungrier."
"That sounds like a personal problem."
Ethan stopped walking.
"Wow."
"What?"
"You have money now and you’re already becoming heartless."
Damian laughed.
"You’ve been watching too many movies."
They entered the student center.
Ethan headed toward the food counter, but Damian stopped him.
"Get whatever you want."
Ethan turned.
"You paying?"
"Yeah."
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
"You sure?"
"It’s lunch, Ethan."
"That’s not what I asked."
Damian frowned.
"What?"
Ethan looked at him for another second before shrugging.
"Nothing."
They ordered food.
It wasn’t anything extravagant. Two meals, drinks, and something small afterward.
Damian paid without thinking about it.
Ethan noticed.
He didn’t say anything.
But he noticed.
They found a table near the window.
For a few minutes, they ate in silence.
Then Ethan leaned back.
"You know what’s weird?"
"Everything about you?"
"Funny."
Damian continued eating.
Ethan pointed his fork at him.
"You’ve changed."
Damian looked up.
"How?"
"Not in some dramatic movie way."
"Then how?"
Ethan thought about it.
"You just... don’t seem stressed anymore."
Damian paused.
That was harder to answer.
"I’ve been sleeping better."
"That’s not what I mean."
Ethan looked down at his food.
A few weeks ago, Damian had been counting every dollar.
He remembered it clearly.
Damian had been worried about replacing his laptop. He’d talked about his money like every dollar had a job.
Then came the Westbridge investment.
Twenty thousand dollars.
Almost all the money Ethan thought Damian had.
At the time, Ethan had assumed Damian had practically emptied his account.
But then things started changing.
A better laptop.
Better clothes.
A nicer watch.
Paying for lunch without even checking the price.
And Damian didn’t have the nervous look of someone pretending everything was fine.
He looked comfortable.
Too comfortable.
Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Something doesn’t add up.
"Damian."
"Hmm?"
"How much money do you actually have?"
Damian’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he lowered it.
"Why are you asking?"
"Because I want to know."
"You’ve never cared before."
"I did."
Damian gave him a look.
Ethan sighed.
"Okay. Maybe I didn’t ask because I figured you were handling it."
He leaned forward.
"But think about it from my side."
Damian waited.
"You told me you invested twenty thousand dollars in Westbridge."
"Yeah."
"You made it sound like that was basically everything you had."
"I said it was a lot."
"You said you had to think about it because it was a huge amount."
"It was."
"Exactly."
Ethan gestured toward Damian’s clothes.
"Then you get a new laptop."
He pointed at Damian’s watch.
"You’re dressing differently."
Then he pointed toward the table.
"And now you’re buying lunch like you’re allergic to checking your bank account."
Damian almost laughed.
"That’s your evidence?"
"It’s a lot of evidence."
"You’re terrible at investigations."
"I’m serious."
The smile disappeared from Ethan’s face.
That was when Damian realized this wasn’t one of Ethan’s usual jokes.
Ethan wasn’t trying to pry for fun.
He was genuinely concerned.
Damian leaned back.
He had expected this eventually.
Maybe not today.
But eventually.
He couldn’t tell Ethan about the system.
That wasn’t an option.
So he needed something close enough to the truth.
"Westbridge is doing better than I expected."
Ethan frowned.
"What does that have to do with your money?"
"Everything."
Damian lowered his voice.
"The student pilot is working. They’re getting more interest than they expected. Another university wants to run a much bigger pilot."
Ethan’s expression changed slightly.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"And that’s making you money already?"
"Not exactly."
Damian paused.
"Not directly."
Ethan waited.
"The company is growing. The value of the investment is going up. And there are more opportunities coming in."
He shrugged.
"So I’m not sitting on the same twenty thousand anymore."
Ethan stared at him.
"How much is it worth now?"
Damian smiled faintly.
"I don’t know the exact number."
That wasn’t exactly true.
But it was safer than giving Ethan anything useful.
Ethan leaned back.
"So you’re telling me your investment is suddenly worth way more?"
"I’m saying Westbridge is doing better."
"And that’s where all this confidence is coming from?"
Damian thought about it.
"Partly."
Ethan studied him.
There was something different about Damian.
Not just the clothes.
Not just the money.
His entire posture had changed.
Before, Damian always seemed to calculate every decision before making it.
Now he still thought carefully.
But there was less fear behind it.
Ethan wasn’t sure whether that was because Damian had more money or because Damian had finally realized he wasn’t trapped anymore.
Probably both.
"So," Ethan said slowly, "you’re not secretly broke?"
Damian laughed.
"No."
"Good."
Ethan picked up his drink.
"I was actually starting to wonder if you were pretending."
"Pretending what?"
"That you had everything under control."
Damian smiled.
"I wouldn’t be very good at pretending."
"That is true."
They returned to eating.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Ethan looked at him again.
"You know, twenty thousand was still insane."
"I know."
"You really just looked at a company and thought, ’Yeah, I’ll give them twenty grand.’"
"I didn’t just look at it."
"You know what I mean."
Damian nodded.
"I did my research."
Ethan shook his head.
"Still insane."
"Maybe."
"But it worked."
Damian smiled.
"Looks like it."
Ethan sat back.
He still wasn’t completely convinced.
There were too many gaps.
Damian’s explanation made sense, but not perfectly.
It explained some things.
Not everything.
The new laptop.
The clothes.
The watch.
The way Damian seemed increasingly comfortable spending money.
There was clearly more happening than Damian was saying.
But Ethan knew Damian.
If Damian wanted to keep something private, forcing him to talk about it wouldn’t make him more honest.
It would just make him shut down.
So Ethan let it go.
For now.
"Anyway," Ethan said, "enough financial talk."
"Thank God."
"You coming to the football match this weekend?"
"Probably."
"Probably?"
"Depends."
"On what?"
"I have work to do."
Ethan stared at him.
"You’re becoming boring."
"I’ve always been boring."
"No. Before, you were broke and boring."
Damian laughed.
"That’s better?"
"Much more interesting."
They finished lunch and headed back toward the main campus.
Neither of them mentioned the conversation again.
But it had changed something.
Not their friendship.
If anything, Ethan felt slightly better.
He didn’t understand everything happening with Damian.
But he understood one thing.
His friend wasn’t drowning anymore.
And for Ethan, that was enough.
Later that afternoon, Damian sat alone in the library.
His laptop was open in front of him.
A business article occupied one tab.
Westbridge’s latest financial documents occupied another.
He read through the numbers carefully.
The company was still small.
Still vulnerable.
Still far from guaranteed success.
But it was moving.
The second university inquiry was real.
The student pilot was producing better-than-expected engagement.
And now there were conversations about expanding the advisory group.
Damian leaned back.
Ethan’s question kept returning to him.
How much money do you actually have?
He understood why Ethan had asked.
If their positions were reversed, Damian probably would’ve wondered too.
He glanced at the empty space beside his laptop.
For a brief moment, he considered summoning the system.
Then stopped.
Not here.
He didn’t need it right now.
He returned to the financial report.
A few minutes later, his phone buzzed.
Emily:
Are you still on campus?
Damian smiled.
Damian:
Yeah. Library.
A reply came almost immediately.
Emily:
Of course you are 😂
Damian:
What does that mean?
Emily:
You’re becoming predictable.
Damian shook his head.
Damian:
You literally texted me because you knew where I’d be.
There was a pause.
Then:
Emily:
Fair point.
Another message appeared.
Emily:
Are you free tomorrow after class?
Damian stared at the screen for a second longer than necessary.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
Don’t overthink it.
He typed.
Damian:
Yeah. Why?
Emily replied:
Emily:
I’ll tell you tomorrow.
Damian smiled.
He put the phone down and returned to his work.
For once, he didn’t bother wondering what it meant.
Across campus, Adrian Cole sat outside the business building with two classmates.
The conversation had mostly been about the upcoming entrepreneurship competition.
Adrian wasn’t really listening.
His attention was on his phone.
Emily had replied to his message earlier.
A polite response.
Nothing more.
He locked the screen.
She’s spending a lot of time with Damian.
He had noticed it several times now.
The café.
The group meal.
The way Emily naturally looked for Damian during conversations.
Adrian didn’t like that.
But he wasn’t angry.
Not yet.
He wasn’t going to make a fool of himself over a girl who hadn’t given him a reason to.
Instead, he wanted to understand the situation.
And Damian Cross was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Adrian looked across the courtyard.
He saw Damian through the glass doors of the library, sitting alone with his laptop.
Calm.
Focused.
Completely unconcerned with whatever was happening around him.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
Who exactly are you?
He leaned back in his chair.
Whatever the answer was, he intended to find out.
And this time, he wasn’t going to wait for Damian to volunteer it.