Chapter 19: The Breaking Point

Kyle’s smirk lingered on Stan for a long moment, slowly curdling into something more deliberate. Then an idea drifted into his head, small, petty, childish, but in Kyle’s mind, it gleamed like a stroke of genius. The corner of his mouth twitched upward into a crooked, satisfied smile.

"Hey, Stan." His voice rose just enough to carry across the table. "Out of curiosity, do you happen to know any internet celebrities? Any famous streamers? Anyone like that?"

The question was a trap, dressed up as casual conversation. Kyle wanted Maya to watch Stan stammer through the answer. He wanted her to see, in real time, exactly how many leagues separated the two of them.

Stan glanced up from his plate. "What do you need the names for?"

"So you don’t know any. Got it." Kyle let out an exaggerated sigh, loud enough that everyone within earshot turned to look. "Of course you don’t. Someone whose birthday gift didn’t break fifty bucks isn’t going to be moving in those circles, are they?"

"It’s not like you’re using the information for anything," Stan said flatly.

"Sour grapes, kid. Pure sour grapes."

With Xenia at the table, the energy in the room had shifted into something brighter and more theatrical. Everyone was leaning into her orbit, fishing for her attention, laughing a little too loudly at every word she said.

"There’s a new luxury mall that just opened on Steel Street," Kyle announced over the chatter. "How about we all head over after this?"

"Sounds great."

"I’m in."

The group ratified the plan in seconds. Stan didn’t object either. He was finishing his coffee anyway.

Out in front of the hotel, the situation began to deteriorate almost immediately.

"Stan, why don’t you sit this one out?" Kyle’s voice was syrupy with false concern. "Everything in that mall starts at a few hundred dollars. There’s no point dragging you along to window-shop something you can’t afford."

Stan was getting tired of Kyle’s mouth.

"How would you know what I can or can’t afford?"

"Oh? You really want to come?" Kyle’s grin sharpened. "Fine. Come along. Don’t say I didn’t warn you."

’If you want to embarrass yourself, by all means.’ Kyle smile widened at this thought.

Then the awkward part of the evening began.

Every other guest had a car waiting at the curb, sleek imports with valets standing at attention. Stan was the only one with a bicycle. And as he walked over to retrieve it, he discovered something else: both tires had been quietly punctured. Flat. Useless.

The bike was finished. Clearly something must have happened behind the scenes, obviously, Kyle must’ve had a hand in it.

"Oh, no." Kyle’s voice dripped with mock sympathy. "Stan, I’m so sorry, there’s really no room left in any of the cars. Maybe just grab a taxi? It’s only a few blocks. You’ll catch up to us in no time."

Maya was already opening her door.

"I’ll take a taxi with him. The rest of you go ahead."

"Maya, don’t be silly, get back in the car!"

Before Maya could resist, one of the other women practically pulled her back into the seat, slamming the door behind her with a loud, decisive click.

Maya’s head snapped around and she shot the woman a sharp, furious glare, but Stan caught her eye through the glass and gave her the smallest, most reassuring shake of his head.

’Stay put. It’s fine.’

Maya could only stay put after seeing Stan’s reassuring gaze..

Meanwhile, Stan sighed, the whole thing had stopped being subtle several minutes ago. They were openly trying to humiliate him now, collectively, gleefully, like a pack of well-dressed children pulling the wings off a fly.

The cars pulled away one by one, engines fading down the boulevard.

Stan stood alone on the curb beside his ruined bicycle. He let out a long, slow breath through his nose, and a cold little smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Forcing my hand, are you."

’Fine. So be it.’

He’d spent the last few days deliberately keeping a low profile. Quietly accumulating wealth, quietly building his rebates, quietly avoiding any kind of attention that might attract complications.

He hadn’t wanted to be flashy. He hadn’t wanted to throw his money around in front of people who couldn’t even comprehend what he was sitting on.

But there was a limit, and these people had walked straight past it.

"A bunch of snobs." His voice was low, almost amused. "By the time we’re done at this mall, I’ll make damn sure every one of you knows what a real tycoon looks like."

He raised one hand and flagged down a passing taxi.

... Inside the mall, the air was cool and softly perfumed, the marble floors polished to a mirror shine. Brand-name flagships lined both sides of the main concourse, Gucci, Hermès, Cartier, Dior, the kind of storefronts where the doormen looked you up and down before deciding whether to smile.

Maya and the rest of the group had already wandered into the Gucci flagship by the time Stan caught up.

Maya was drifting between the racks with one hand idly trailing along a row of cashmere coats. Her mind, however, was somewhere else entirely.

A memory had floated up unbidden, Stan, walking calmly into a Gucci store one afternoon and casually buying out every single piece of merchandise just to give it all to her. No hesitation. No fanfare. Just a quiet, ridiculous gesture from a man who had more money than he knew what to do with.

A small smile touched her lips before she could stop it.

[Maya Zimmerman: Favorability +5] [Maya Zimmerman: Favorability 58]

Across the store, Stan blinked at the notification floating in his vision.

’Her favorability went up? I haven’t even done anything yet.’

Meanwhile, a small cluster of guests had drifted over to Xenia, eager for celebrity gossip.

"Xenia, is it true? Some mysterious tycoon dropped over ten million dollars in your livestream room the other night?"

Xenia nodded, lowering her voice for effect. "Completely true. And the wildest part, he’s a local. Right here on Inksea Island."

"No way. Inksea has a whale like that and nobody knows who he is?"

"Truly a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers."

"I’d give anything to meet someone like that."

Xenia let out a small, theatrical sigh.

"He’s incredibly aloof. I tried to invite him out to dinner afterward, and he turned me down flat. Didn’t even bother explaining why."

"What?"

"He turned down you?"

The whole group erupted in disbelief, which only made the mystery whale all the more fascinating in their imagination. Whoever this tycoon was, he had to be on a level beyond anything they’d ever brushed up against.

At that exact moment, the chime above the store entrance rang.

"Young Master Stan has arrived!" Kyle bellowed across the showroom, loud enough to make several customers turn around. "Make way, everyone, the bicycle prince is gracing us with his presence!"

He swept over and grabbed Stan by the elbow with theatrical enthusiasm, dragging him deeper into the store.

"Stan, I have to be honest, your outfit is genuinely embarrassing. Why don’t you treat yourself to something new? Every single piece in this store is better than whatever it is you’re wearing right now."

Stan opened his mouth, he had, in fact, been planning to buy himself a new outfit anyway,

"Oh, what’s that?" Kyle cut him off cheerfully. "Can’t afford anything in here? Yeah, that tracks. The cheapest jacket on these racks is what, five thousand dollars? Maybe ten? Of course a guy who pedals a bicycle to a five-star hotel can’t swing that. My mistake. I shouldn’t have brought you in here at all."

The mockery had stopped pretending to be subtle. Kyle was laying it on thick now, deliberately, in front of every single person in the room, Maya, Xenia, the entire entourage.

He wanted witnesses. He wanted Stan crushed in front of an audience.