While Nyx waited for an answer, Nate had pulled up the system screen, staring at his stats and the number of zeros in his balance.
He muttered, "Account balance, 24,000,050 million dollars."
Just two days after he splurged on a necklace and got a car, the money had doubled.
However, Nyx had heard everything, and she appeared on his face, "You have 20 million dollars, right now?"
"Yes…" He nodded.
"Where the hell did you get the money?"
He pursed his lips, glancing out the window as he started the car. He drove back into the villa, but then, no matter how she questioned him and even stared at him with sharp eyes, he didn't spill.
"You don't want to say anything, huh?" She clutched her waist.
"Yes."
"Then how are you going to defend yourself? The students council won't let this go."
Nate's brows creased, as he thought back to how the meeting with Daven and the council members went. Since they had ascertained it was a planned attack, he knew there was something fishy.
"The student's council leader wasn't in attendance at the meeting, right?"
"Yes…." Nyx nodded. "Mason wasn't…"
And at that moment, it clicked in her mind. If the leader were absent, then Daven could be controlled easily.
"Can you contact him?" Nate asked. She was the goddess and had access to high-ranking students.
"Sure…" She smirked as she sashayed her waist toward her purse to get her phone. But her smile slowly turned into a sly one.
"If I give you his contact, then what are you giving me in return? The truth or—"
"Let's go on a date later. After everything is done." He cut in before she could continue her questioning.
And it worked! Her eyes lit up, cheeks going round with a blush as she sent over her phone instead.
"I can't wait…" She swooned, as she bounced off the stairs. "Everything is in your hands, Nate. Make sure you come back victorious."
He smiled lightly, admiring how carefree she could be sometimes, but also scary, stuck-up, and smart other times.
He settled on the couch, and quickly sent a text message to Mason's phone number. He made sure to act like Nyx and in just a few minutes, he received a reply.
He got out of the house, going to meet up with Mason.
But as soon as he got to their meeting spot, Mason had his eyes behind him, wondering where Nyx was.
His fists clutched the suitcase in his hands while he glared at Nate, "Where is she?"
"Nyx isn't here to see you."
"Ohh…" Mason's brows creased, as he eyed Nate. "So, this was a ploy? I was shocked when I got a text from her, turns out it's an imposter!"
"Imposter?" Nate raised a brow.
"Yes, did you steal Nyx's phone to get to me? If you needed something as a student, you could go to the council's office to lodge a complaint. Why go through such means?"
Nate smiled, as he slowly realized Mason didn't know who he was.
"Did you go on a trip?"
"Yes." Mason nodded, as his anger eased. "Quick, tell me what you want! I need to get back to the office."
"Office?" Nate closed in on him, his voice going low. "Don't tell me you don't know what's going on with the council?"
"Is your assistant not telling you anything?"
Immediately, Mason's face turned serious. He took another glance at Nate, finally assessing him. He realized Nate didn't seem like a con artist and also, his eyes were steady and heavy with conviction.
"Is there something I don't know?"
"Oh yes, Mr. President…" Nate's lips curled at the edges. "There is a lot you don't know."
He spent the rest of the hours filling Mason in on what had happened with Daven and the council. However, he made sure not to tell Mason it was him.
And while Mason watched the videos scattered on the school's forum, he chastised himself for not paying attention and only believing what Daven had told him.
But then, his eyes zeroed in on the main attraction in the video, "This person looks like you…"
He turned to look at his side, but the spot was empty. Nate was gone with the wind, leaving Mason in shock while he burned in anger toward Daven.
He immediately typed an urgent memo on his phone, declaring a meeting. He knew Nate would appear at the meeting, and though he felt played by Nate, he was intrigued by his smartness.
___
Back in the villa, Nyx was cuddled against Nate's chest while they waited with bated breath for Aria's move.
"Are you sure she is going to do it?" Nyx bit on her lips, as she looked up at him in worry.
"Are you having second thoughts? Didn't you set this all up?" He snickered.
"Well…" She sighed. "It's 10pm already and she hasn't done anything..."
"Without concrete evidence against Rick, we won't be able to pull him down."
"I know…" Nate let out a sigh, as her worry was starting to rub off on him. However, he knew that without Aria's help, he could still achieve his aim to get out of this tricky situation.
He couldn't declare his financial records, no matter what.
"We are going to proceed as planned tomorrow no matter what. Using Mason should be enough."
"Are you sure?"
He smiled, opening his mouth to speak, but at that moment, his phone rang out.
As his screen flashed, he saw it was Aria calling and Nyx was fast enough to swipe the call in a second.
However, her expectant face was quickly destroyed, as her brows creased.
"Nate…" Aria's shrill voice echoed through the phone. "Please, save me! Rick is going to kill me—"
The call ended in that moment, and Nyx stared at him with wide eyes as the situation dawned on them.
"She must have been so sloppy with it." She sneered. "Are you going to save her?"
"No way—"
[Attention, Nate Williams. A New mission has arrived. Save Aria, and enjoy rewards. Failure to fulfill this mission, you will lose all your money.]