Call from overseas

Aric wanted to throw the paper into the dustbin, but he stopped himself at the last moment.

"Mira, can you recognize the handwriting?" Aric asked.

"No. I haven't seen enough of your classmates' handwriting to recognize the pattern," Mira replied, and this time she was serious. After much thought, Aric decided to put the paper inside his bag while keeping an eye on the girls around him.

In fact, Aric hadn't noticed, or rather didn't have a proper "measuring tool," to compare himself with his previous life. If he had, he would have realized there were significant changes. His face had become more handsome, and he was at least three inches taller than he had been at the same age in his previous life.

His body was more toned, and he gave off an aura of maturity, which came from the newfound confidence he had gained after discovering his abilities. This was also compounded by the fact that he was the top student in the class. Teenage girls often gravitated toward boys who excelled in their studies, so it wasn't surprising that Aric had received such a letter.

The letter spoke of her undying admiration for Aric and mentioned that she had been noticing him for the past year. At the end, she asked him to meet her under the banyan tree after school. If this were the old Aric, he would have been very impressed and over the moon.

After all, what teenage boy wouldn't like being admired by someone of the opposite gender? But the current Aric wasn't impressed at all. Having a romantic connection here would only tie him down. In fact, Aric was almost certain that he would never have a romantic connection in this life. He held a huge secret that he would never be able to share with anyone.

Even his own parents didn't know what he was up to.

"You should bring a flower," Mira suggested.

"I'm not bringing anything, nor am I going to meet her," Aric said.

"You're going to leave her hanging?" Mira asked, using the most heartbreaking tone possible for an AI.

"Yes, and it's better for her and her future," Aric replied.

"Aren't you curious to see who it was? From what I can see, there are quite a few beauties in your class," Mira asked. Aric wanted to say that he had seen too many beauties in his previous life to care.

"No," Aric replied. The class had already started, and though Mira wanted to tease Aric a bit more, he just ignored her and continued staring blankly at the mathematics teacher, who was busy explaining trigonometry.

The class soon ended, and Aric left the school as fast as possible. He went straight to the bank without any delays. The bank manager was a bit annoyed because he himself didn't know that their bank had such a scheme, and this random teenager knew more about the bank's schemes and policies than he did.

But it was a private bank, and customers were gods. He could only nod in approval and open a bank account for Aric, which was also linked to his phone number.

"It will take a week for your account to be functional. Welcome to Citibank."

"Thank you. Please make sure international transactions are approved," Aric reminded him again before leaving his office. The bank manager nodded in full understanding.

---

**2 months later.**

The last four months had been a bit dull for Aric. The only interesting part of his life was the two siblings he had "adopted" at his place in Distant Wind city. The little girl was definitely a bundle of joy. She was a silent girl who had opened up to Aric over time. Alden was cautious about Aric and his sister, but he soon realized that Aric wasn't some creep.

Aric was genuinely happy to play with his sister, Tina. The girl who had sent him the "love letter" had sent him another one on the 14th, but like last time, Aric didn't bother to follow the instructions written on the paper. This girl seemed to be very shy and wasn't ready to show her face to him in public, for which Aric was thankful.

He didn't want more drama after his confrontation with Ishaan. Aric was expecting a confrontation from Ishaan's parents, but there was none. In fact, nobody seemed to know that Aric had beaten up two seniors. It was probably because both of them were too ashamed to admit that someone younger had handed their asses back to them.

Aric didn't seem to care about it either. His business in Distant Wind had blossomed a lot. His coke business was now slowly spreading outside the city, and now the two bars and bakeries all over the city were selling it. Of course, the main supply came from Albert's bakery, and he had been swimming in money for the last few months.

Aric had assigned Gopher to the sale of paper and pens, and it had bloomed much faster than the coke. Everybody loved the thin and crisp sheets of paper and the usefulness of pens. It was the most hassle-free and cheap thing for daily use. And he didn't bring all the gold back to Echorysia, as he didn't need that much gold now anyway, since he had a steady source of income.

He had been arranging things and had kept a massive storage of coke and paper at his home in Distant Wind, as he would be leaving Echorysia in the next few days. But before he could have his first-ever space travel, he received a call on his phone.

Normally, Mira would help Aric ignore calls from irrelevant people, but the international number on the caller ID forced Mira to let the call ring on Aric's phone.

"Hello!"

"Hello, good morning, Mr. Kashyap. This is Eric Schmidt of Google..."

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