This time, I said:
“No.”
Silence.
“What?”
“I said no.”
She laughed awkwardly.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“But you said you’d help me.”
“I changed my mind.”
Her voice hardened.
“Ethan, what’s wrong with you?”
I looked at the calendar.
Three years.
“I’ve been thinking about myself lately.”
She didn’t like that answer.
“Are you breaking up with me?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet?”
I ended the call.
My hands were shaking.
Not because I regretted it.
Because I couldn’t believe how difficult it had been to say one word.
No.
The System appeared.
[Ding!]
[Major deviation detected.]
[Reward: Financial Insight.]
Suddenly, information flooded my mind.
Stock patterns.
Business opportunities.
Market movements.
Not enough to make me magically rich.
But enough to recognize opportunities before ordinary people noticed them.
The System wasn’t giving me unlimited money.
It was giving me tools.
That made it more interesting.
I transferred the ten thousand dollars into an investment account.
Then I waited.
Three weeks later, I made my first profit.
$4,700.
I stared at the number.
Then I laughed.
In my previous life, I had worked hundreds of hours to earn that amount.
Now I had earned it by making one intelligent decision.
But I didn’t celebrate.
