Chapter 21

Kane let out a long sigh. You're literally being ruled by desire right now—what kind of twisted wolf-pack mentality is this?

"Just eat. Eat as much as you want, as long as you don't waste it."

"Thanks for buying me roasted chicken, Kane. You're my best friend."

"Missy, I'm your only friend. Of course, I'm the best one."

Nancy pondered this for a moment and found his logic sound. She corrected herself, "Then I think you're a good person."

Kane felt his heart crack a little. "If you're going to compliment me, just say I'm handsome. Don't hand me some lousy 'good person' card."

"Oh."

"By the way, I'm gonna be busy in a few days—learning to drive and testing the waters with a little business venture. I probably won't have time to take you out. Got anywhere to go?"

"I can read at the library," Nancy answered without hesitation.

"You won't feel lonely?"

"No. I used to be like this—alone."

Nancy lifted her gaze to him, her long lashes fluttering slightly, as if she had never even considered what loneliness was.

Her life had always been this way. Whether someone was there or not, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference.

" See? Told you I wasn't making it up."

Hansel Grant's last words plunged the entire group into silence.

No one was speaking anymore—not even Alexander Quinn, that loudmouth who once shouted in the cafeteria, "It's on me!" like some clueless fool.

To be honest, at this moment, they'd rather believe they were seeing things than accept that Hansel Grant, Amber Holt, and Andrew Tree were telling the truth.

Three hundred grand—this wasn't an amount a high school student could ever get their hands on.

These kids would be over the moon just finding ten bucks in their pockets. If they had three hundred grand, they'd probably blast off into the galaxy.

Then again, it was normal for Hansel Grant to hype Kane Brook up—he was practically his sidekick back in school. But Amber Holt and Andrew Tree had no reason to hype him up.

So… was Hansel telling the truth?

But here they were, feeling guilty even about splurging on a premium online membership, while that bastard Kane Brook had the audacity to drop three hundred grand just like that?

Were they even going to the same damn school?

The most shocked person in the room, however, was Sophie Chase.

No matter how she tried, she couldn't wrap her head around everything Kane had done over the summer. Every single thing sounded absolutely unbelievable.

While everyone else was lounging at home, chatting online, grinding for sun badges, stealing crops in Happy Farm, or agonizing over their first crushes, Kane Brook had already been making deals worth hundreds of thousands.

And yet, he had never once flaunted it—like it wasn't even worth showing off.

At that thought, Sophie suddenly felt an odd sense of distance from him, as if he had become unreachable. A strange, unsettling feeling crept into her chest.

So he hadn't been avoiding them out of embarrassment.

He was simply busy making money.

While everyone else was wasting time, drinking to prove their maturity, Kane had turned into someone who left the whole class in awe.

For a brief moment, Sophie spaced out. Then, a surge of irritation bubbled up inside her.

This was huge—why hadn't Kane told her? Even Hansel Grant knew about it, yet he had kept it from her? That was just too much! He used to share everything with her!

"Hansel, be honest—where did he get the money?"

"I already told you at the last gathering," Hansel replied. "Kane's been doing business. Obviously, he earned it."

"What kind of business makes three hundred grand?"

"How would I know? If I did, I'd be making three hundred grand too!"

"But didn't you guys say he was selling lunch boxes? I even saw you selling them before!"

Hansel replied with a string of ellipses. "Old Godmother started out selling wontons—did that stop them from building a company?"

Alexander Quinn was starting to lose his cool. "No way! I don't even have three hundred grand! How the hell does he? This is bullshit!"

Hansel sent a smirking emoji. "Dude, stop comparing yourself to Kane. Mooching off your dad doesn't make you talented."

"What are you guys talking about?" Rachel Warren suddenly surfaced from her lurking mode.

Sophie Chase replied, "Rachel, they're saying Kane spent three hundred grand to rent half a bar!"

"Wait, what???"

"Crazy, right?"

Rachel hesitated for a moment before replying, "Eh… not really. I saw something even crazier on Kane a few days ago."

Sophie immediately sent a shocked emoji. "What? What did you see?"

"…"

"Rachel? You there?"

"It's nothing, nothing. I was just messing around."

After much hesitation, Rachel Warren decided not to spill the secret about Kane Brook and Nancy Foster.

Three hundred thousand was indeed a shocking number, but at the end of the day, it was just a string of digits. People would gasp at it, but that was as far as it went—just marveling at its sheer size. But Nancy Foster was different from that number. She was a living, breathing white moonlight. If this got out, the group chat would explode for sure. Within a single night, the entire school would know.

At that moment, Kane Brook was also staring at the chat. Mainly because the QQ notifications were driving him crazy. No matter how many times he tried, he just couldn't mute them. Maybe the 2008 version of QQ simply didn't have that feature.

If it were Alexander Quinn, he would've jumped out immediately, showing off.

"Oh yeah, that was me. I'm the real deal!"

But Kane didn't care for that kind of thing. He didn't have the need to put on a show.

Bragging in the chat? And giving away a dozen free bar spots in the process? Did he look like he had nothing better to do?

Besides, he felt like he had to set things straight with Hansel Grant. I'm not showing off because this kind of thing is childish. Could you stop being my godfather's attack dog for once?

Maybe he should just turn off his phone.

Or maybe not.

There was a certain satisfaction in watching someone else show off on his behalf.

Kane held down the power button, waiting for the screen to go dark, then picked up a bag of snacks and stepped into Jade Isle City Library.

Half a month had passed since he came back from the hot spring town. He hadn't seen Lil' Rich Queen since. They barely talked on QQ either. Now that the bar wasn't open yet, he figured he'd stop by and take a look.

The moment he reached the second floor of the library, he spotted her.

She wore a white dress with a delicate black bow at the collar—elegant, quiet, and composed. A thick book rested in her hands, but her gaze wasn't on the pages. She was looking out the window.