Ding!
The elevator lifted with a soft chime, and Zayden stepped out. His mind was consumed with one thought, how the hell was he going to pay off all his debt?
"Will I ever clear this debt with honest work? Or should I consider something shady? Damn it, Zayden... you might be morally questionable, but you're not that low. Not yet."
He arrived at his apartment door, eyes half-shut from exhaustion. Pulling out his access card, he swiped it against the sensor.
Thutt!
Access denied!
"What?"
Thutt!
Access denied!
"Are you kidding me?!"
He scanned the card over and over, but it kept failing. Then he noticed a paper taped to the door.
---
(NOTICE OF EVICTION)
Tenant: Zayden Chester
This property is under repossession due to unpaid rent/mortgage.
Access is prohibited without authorization.
City Housing Authority
---
"Damn it!" He punched the window.
One by one, disaster struck him today without showing an ounce of mercy.
"At least put all my stuff outside before locking the damn place..." That was the thing he was most concerned about.
With a sigh, he pulled out his phone and searched through his contacts. One number stood out on the screen:
MOMMY HOUSE
Next to it was painful reminder,the number was last called 6 months ago.
But now, he had nowhere to go. Not even enough money to rent a room at an inn. He had no choice but to swallow his pride.
He tapped Call.
"Hello mom… um, can I stay there tonight?" he asked politely.
---
One hour later…
"Well, well, well. The prodigal son returns. I was starting to forget what you looked like," said his mother, Christine Chester, as she lounged on the sofa with her legs stretched out, polishing her nails. A drama played on the television in front of her. Despite being middle-aged, she had a beautiful appearance and a slim figure. Her dark black hair, just like Zayden's was tied in a ponytail, and her face was free of wrinkles.
Zayden's parents' house was actually quite nice. A modern two-storey bungalow, fully paid off thanks to his mother alone.
She had been a single mom for many years after being abandoned by her first husband. That experience made her a strong woman who relied on no one. Later, she remarried.
"Hello, Mom. I'm fine. Thanks for asking," Zayden replied sarcastically. It had always been like this since he was a kid. He walked straight to the refrigerator without a hint of shame.
"Where's Dad? Not home yet?" he asked.
"He's on call today. He'll be back tomorrow evening. By the way…" Christine paused, turning to glance at him. "I got a call from the bank today. They said they needed to inform you about something. What's it about?"
"Nothing. They just wanted to tell me I'm bankrupt," Zayden said casually, like it was no big deal, as he drank fresh milk straight from the bottle.
"You and I both saw this coming months ago. I told you to marry my friend, but you're still clinging to that thin, useless ego. If you had listened to me, this wouldn't be happening," Christine said.
"Mom… you wanted me to marry a 50-year-old widow. She already has grandchildren! I'd be breaking a world record for becoming the youngest guy with grandkids," Zayden snapped.
"In this day and age, appearance and age are subjective. What people care about now is what's in their heart… and their bank account," Christine defended her suggestion.
"No! I'm not sacrificing my virginity to an older woman just for money. Never!" he shouted, slamming the milk bottle back into the fridge and stomping toward the stairs.
"Listen, Zayden. I'll give you one last chance. Six months. If you can't clean your name by then, I will force you to marry her. That's your only salvation. After that, the deal is off," Christine said firmly.
Zayden turned to respond, but paused. Her expression was dead serious.
"…Just let me think about it first," he muttered, then headed upstairs.
As he opened the door to his old room and flicked on the light, his jaw dropped. Boxes were stacked everywhere, old items covered every surface, and spider webs clung to the corners of the ceiling.
"Mom! What the hell happened to my room?" he yelled.
"We thought you'd never come back, so we turned it into a storeroom. Clean it yourself if you want to sleep there," she replied from downstairs.
Listening to his mother's words, Zayden couldn't help but think, "Am I really their biological son? Or was I found in the garbage and adopted as a baby? Because that's exactly how I feel, like I'm being treated like trash."
He let out a long sigh and cleaned just enough of the room to make space on the bed.
As he sat down, he glanced at his phone. A new video had been sent to his group chat.
The video showed his girlfriend,or more accurately, his ex-girlfriend dancing in a pub with a man. She looked like she was having the time of her life. The video was tagged with his username and a mocking caption:
(@zayden)
Where the hell are you, man? Your girl's dancing with Kronos now? You not gonna fight to win her back?
Zayden tossed his phone to the side. "That woman's a gold digger. She only hunts guys with money. Once she drains them dry, she moves on to the next prey," he muttered to himself.
He sat up straight and stared out the window. The night sky was scattered with countless stars, and the moon hung large, casting a gentle, dim light.
As he gazed at the sky, his mind drifted back to everything that had happened today.
"Man… my luck is absolute trash. There goes my dream of hitting financial freedom at 21."
Suddenly, he spotted a meteor streaking across the sky.
"They say to make a wish when you see a shooting star… I don't believe in superstitions, but honestly, I need all the help I can get right now."
He closed his eyes.
"I wish to become a billionaire. No… a trillionaire. No, no, a quadrillionaire...Ah, forget it. Just give me the power for me to become the richest man in universe!"
He then opened his eyes. "Huh… there's no way that would actually work."
Letting out a small sigh, he started to lie down, then paused, taking one last glance at the shooting star.
"…Why did it suddenly stop moving?"
The shooting star appeared frozen in midair, no longer streaking across the sky like it was supposed to.
And then he noticed it.
It was getting bigger. And brighter.
And then even bigger, and even brighter.
He noticed that the shooting star was heading straight for him like a missile.
"No!"
He threw his arms up to shield his face, just as he was engulfed in a blinding light.