Chapter 265: What Can We Offer Him Back?

Back at the penthouse, The moment the sound of the elevator was gone, Kristopher turned back toward the dining table.

The others were all still sitting there, finishing their drinks or talking about random things. But Kristopher wasn’t smiling. His face was more serious than usual.

"We need to talk," he said.

The words were simple, but everyone understood from his tone that this wasn’t a joke. The laughter around the table faded one by one.

Matt looked up first. "About what? Liam?"

"Yeah," Kristopher nodded. "About Liam."

The others straightened a bit, sensing the weight in his voice. This wasn’t the normal joking-around Kristopher. This was the version of him that came out only when something important needed to be said.

Harper folded his arms. "Alright. What’s on your mind?"

Kristopher looked around the table, meeting each pair of eyes one by one.

"We keep taking," he said plainly. "We take his time. We take his resources. We take his generosity. We take everything he gives without ever asking for anything in return."

Stacy cleared her throat softly. "Let’s be real," she said. "Liam is... everything. He’s rich, he’s powerful, he’s smart, he has skills none of us can even explain. He builds tech that the whole world is losing its mind over, and run companies that could eventually swallow nations. What can we even give him?"

"That’s exactly why we need to talk," Kristopher said. "Because if we keep quiet, we’ll fall behind and become dead weight. I don’t want that. I know you don’t either."

Matt nodded. "Yeah. I hate the idea of slowing him down. I want to help him. Not just follow him like a puppy."

"So what are you suggesting?" Harper asked.

Kristopher didn’t answer right away. He took a slow breath and said, "The question is simple: what can we do for him? What can we give him back?"

The table went silent, as everyone understood the weight of the question.

But no one had an answer.

Matt finally spoke. "We can’t give him money. We can’t give him status. We can’t give him anything he doesn’t already have."

"Then we find something else," Kristopher said. "Something he actually needs."

"What does he need?" Harper asked.

Elise was quiet for a moment, then said softly, "Support."

Everyone looked at her.

"Support?" Lana asked.

"Yes," Elise nodded. "Not the kind that money solves. The real kind. Emotional. Personal. Liam does everything alone. He never talks about his problems. Maybe he has none. He never says when he’s tired. He handles everything like he’s fine all the time."

"True... he does keep everything to himself," Matt nodded slowly. "Sometimes, it feels like he’s a robot but that’s not true. I noticed that while he might not be too expressive, only showing us smiles, he might actually be doing his best to show his emotions."

"Someone like that breaks easily. Though, maybe not Liam. But he won’t tell us if he’s struggling," Elise sighed.

Harper nodded. "I agree with Elise. Liam doesn’t ask for help because he probably doesn’t want to burden us."

"Then we help him without waiting for him to ask," Kristopher said. "We don’t wait for him to fall before we offer a hand."

Alex looked around. "Okay... but what does that look like?"

Kristopher leaned forward. "I don’t know yet. That’s why we’re here. We need ideas."

The group fell into thought.

Finally, Stacy spoke. "We can help by keeping his life smooth. Take small things off him and make him trust us enough to share his struggles with us."

"That’s good," Harper said. "We can work together to manage whatever we can."

"Yeah," Kristy added. "Small things add up."

Matt looked at his hands. "I want to help in a real way. But I don’t know how. Liam is so far ahead of us. We don’t even know the full scale of what he’s doing."

Elise hesitated, then said the thing everyone had been avoiding.

"And what about Nova Technologies?"

Silence again.

Everyone’s eyes shifted to her. She swallowed once and asked, "Should we tell our parents?"

Her question created instant tension.

"Hell no," Matt said immediately, shaking his head. "If any of our parents find out, they will latch onto Liam like sharks."

Harper agreed. "Yeah. They’ll try to pull him into business. They’ll treat him like an asset. We can’t allow that."

Lana frowned. "But aren’t we supposed to tell them big things? Isn’t it bad to hide something so huge?"

"This isn’t our secret to share," Elise said quietly. "If Liam wanted anyone else to know, he would have told the world. He told us because he trusts us."

"And we’re not breaking that trust," Kristopher nodded.

They all agreed at the same time:

"

We keep this secret

."

Kristy rested her elbows on the table and asked, "So... how do we help him without ruining anything?"

Harper exhaled. "We start with being reliable. We don’t add stress to his life. If he asks something, we don’t hesitate. We don’t drag trouble into his home. No scandals and no drama. We keep ourselves steady."

Kristopher continued, "Second, we become people he can depend on. Each one of us has strengths. Matt is good with people. Alex is one of our group’s critical thinkers. Harper and Lana are good with numbers. The girls are good with planning and strategy. We use these skills."

Matt rubbed his chin, thinking hard. "Wait... We could even help test new things. The Hub is new. Liam is still building the system. We can be testers for features. Give feedback. Help him refine things. Even the platform too."

"That’s smart," Harper said. "We’re in a unique place. We’re close to him. We can give honest feedback without any filters."

Elise nodded. "That’s one way."

Lana leaned forward a little. "We can also watch his back in public. The world is watching Lucid. People have strong opinions. Some love it because it’s a groundbreaking tech. Some hate it for the same reason and because it’s not under their possession. Liam is at the center of everything, even if they don’t know his name yet."

Stacy added, "Yeah. When the world starts connecting dots... Liam will need people around him that he can trust."

Kristopher gave a firm nod. "Then that’s what we become."

Silence fell again, as a shared understanding had finally settled among them.

Kristopher looked around at all of them. "Listen... I know that compared to him and compared to what he’s doing, we aren’t special. But we’re the closest people he has outside his company. That means something."

Elise’s voice was soft but steady. "Liam isn’t the kind of person who asks for help. So we should be the kind of friends who give help without waiting."

Matt smiled faintly. "And maybe one day, when he finally talks about whatever he’s carrying... we’ll be there."

Harper chuckled lightly. "This is the most serious meeting we’ve ever had."

"And the most important," Kristopher said. "Because this isn’t about money or favors. It’s about loyalty. If we’re going to walk with Liam, we need to walk the right way."

Everyone nodded.

Slowly, the tension faded and the group relaxed. But something had changed. A quiet resolve settled in the room.

Liam had given them everything.

Now they would return it — not with money or power, but with loyalty, support, and strength.

They would become the people he could depend on. Not his followers or burdens. But friends who walk beside him.

Kristopher leaned back and exhaled softly. "Alright. Meeting over. Let’s not make it deeper than it is. But from today... we do better."

Everyone agreed, with smiles on their faces.