Rick stood at the door of the private room, greeting and seeing off one visitor after another.
Following Jason's instructions, he used Jason's name openly—and enjoyed a level of respect he had never experienced in his entire life.
Those big shots he previously wouldn't even dare to approach?Every single one of them spoke to him politely, even warmly.
As Rick talked with them, he became more and more certain of one thing.
This was no coincidence.
The excuse of "just happened to be in the next private room" was complete nonsense.
They had clearly learned that Jason was here and rushed over deliberately. As for how the news spread, City was small. Information traveled fast.
Rick felt lightheaded.
This feeling… was intoxicating.
At that moment, he suddenly felt that the sight of three beauties surrounding Jason was not strange at all.
Of course they should be around him.
My godbrother is this awesome—he deserves it.
More importantly, Rick understood exactly how valuable these connections were.
With people like this backing him, would he still struggle in the future?
Impossible.
However—
As he pieced together bits of information from different conversations, his excitement slowly turned into shock.
Because the conclusion he arrived at was simply too outrageous.
After finally sending all the visitors away, Rick returned to the private room. His expression was a strange mix of excitement and disbelief—as if he had just seen a ghost.
He sat directly across from Jason and stared at him.
"Jason," Rick said slowly, "who the hell are you really?"
"You're not some countryside kid at all. You're a young master from some powerful family, aren't you? You hid it way too well."
Ever since the bosses had started showing up one after another, Natasha's expression had already been tense. Hearing Rick say this, her ears immediately perked up.
Jason smiled faintly.
"My family lives in Carterville," he said calmly. "You've been there before, haven't you? I just made money recently."
Rick scoffed.
"Bullshit."
"What kind of 'recent money' lets you do this?" he pressed. "Those bosses told me you're investing in the development of the City—expanding Park, building residential and commercial districts, libraries, schools, and roads."
"A two-billion-dollar total investment."
"Is that true?"
"It sounds insane—but they were way too respectful for it to be fake."
"H-how much?!"
The entire room gasped.
Even Ethan, Katherine, and the others—who already knew Jason was wealthy—couldn't help but widen their eyes.
Natasha stood up abruptly.
Across from her, Caleb's pupils shrank sharply.
Seeing Natasha rise so suddenly made him panic.
He knew her well—she valued a man's capability. And capability, at its core, meant money.
Jason's looks already crushed him completely.
If Jason's financial strength was truly terrifying enough to casually invest two billion dollars, then what competitiveness did he have left?
Caleb immediately jumped out to refute it.
"What kind of international joke is this?" he said loudly. "Two billion dollars? That's impossible! Even City's municipal budget doesn't have that much!"
Tanya Covell let out a cold snort, her expression proud—as if Jason's wealth belonged to her.
"Just because the city budget doesn't have two billion doesn't mean Jason doesn't," she said confidently. "This project is already settled. If you don't believe it, go ask City Hall."
Caleb refused to believe it.
Or rather—he couldn't accept it.
At that moment, Natasha suddenly took out her phone.
As a top student, she had long considered becoming a civil servant as a backup plan and had already built connections with seniors working in the city administration.
She dialed a number directly.
"Hey, Senior," Natasha said without any pleasantries, her voice tight. "I heard someone is investing two billion dollars into development projects in our hometown recently."
"Is that… true?"
The private room fell completely silent.
All eyes turned toward her phone.
And in that silence, the truth was about to land like a thunderbolt.
The voice on the other end of the line paused for a moment, then laughed helplessly.
"How did you hear about that already?" the senior civil servant said. "Did the news spread that fast?"
Then his tone turned serious.
"Yes. It's true. I saw him sign the contract with my own eyes. I was completely stunned."
"Our City actually produced a super-wealthy individual."
Natasha's fingers tightened around her phone.
"W-What's his name?" she asked.
"Jason Carter," the senior replied. "And get this—he graduated High School with us."
"I graduated and became a low-level city employee. He graduated and invested two billion dollars."
"Comparing people really makes you feel bitter."
The call ended.
The private room fell into absolute silence.
Then—
A collective gasp.
It was real.
He had really invested two billion dollars.
Their understanding of wealth had always been limited.In their eyes, owning a million-dollar luxury car already counted as extremely rich.
If a classmate showed up driving a supercar, that alone would be enough to make everyone envious at a reunion.
That was the ceiling of their imagination.
But two billion dollars?
That wasn't just rich.
It was an astronomical figure.
So distant from everyday life that even hearing it on the news felt exaggerated.
And yet—
They were hearing it now.
At a class reunion.
A classmate was investing two billion dollars into their hometown.
Rick swallowed hard and turned slowly toward Ethan.
"So this is what you meant by… 'money power,'" he said hoarsely.
He nodded.
But even he was shaken now.
This level of "money power" was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
Across the room, Natasha looked as if she had been struck by lightning.
Her strength drained instantly as she slumped back onto the sofa.
Her mind was in complete chaos.
Back in college, after she had matured and adjusted her worldview, she had once felt relieved that Jason hadn't accepted her confession back then.
She believed it was a blessing.
Otherwise, she thought, she might have wasted precious years on him and damaged her future.
Being handsome is useless, she had told herself.
Later, at the University City alumni gathering, when a classmate sent her a photo of Jason driving a Bugatti Chiron, it had shaken her deeply.
But soon after, she heard rumors that Jason was about to go bankrupt—and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Looks without substance, she thought.That's all he has.
But now—
Where was the bankruptcy?
If someone was truly about to go broke, their spending would be tightly restricted.
There was no way they could casually invest—let alone invest two billion dollars in one go.
Not only was Jason not bankrupt—
His assets were far more terrifying than she had ever imagined.
The fact that he could pour two billion dollars into a small city meant one thing:
His total wealth was on a level she couldn't even comprehend.
Her sense of superiority had always come from her academic excellence and career prospects.
Even before graduating, she was already earning a high salary—over $80,000 a year, with strong growth potential.
She had believed that in the real world, capability mattered more than looks.
But compared to Jason's wealth—
That income was like a firefly competing with the full moon.
Earning eighty thousand a year meant:
50 years to make four million
500 years to make forty million
5,000 years to make four hundred million
And that still didn't come close to two billion.
Once, after being rejected by Jason, she had harbored resentment.
She had hoped that he would enter society with nothing but looks, struggle endlessly, and one day be forced to look up to her.
But now—
She realized she was still the one looking up.
And the distance between them was so vast that it was no longer even reachable.
Not now.
Not ever.
And in that moment, Natasha finally understood—
Jason Carter had never been someone she could judge.
He had always been standing in a world far above hers.
There are 150 chapters ahead in my Patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
patreon.com/B_A_3439