Back in his room, Theodore checked a notification on his phone.
It was an alert from his bank confirming the deposit.
Even after taxes and Jonathan's commission were docked from the thirty-million-euro ERKE deal, he was still left with well over ten million.
Combined with his previous endorsements for Jili and Qingdao Beer, his net worth had just comfortably crossed the twenty-million mark.
He was officially a multimillionaire!
Theodore decided his first priority upon returning to England would be buying a proper house in Birmingham.
He had the money now, it was time to upgrade from his dormitory.
At five o'clock, Theodore arrived at ERKE's massive flagship store in Beijing for the autograph session.
Because he was signing in person, the brand had capped the event at fifty VIP spots drawn through an online lottery to keep things manageable.
Except, the crowd outside was nowhere near fifty people.
A conservative estimate put the mob at over fifty thousand.
The sheer scale of his popularity was terrifying.
Frenzied fans completely swarmed the streets, and the moment Theodore stepped out of his transport, the crowd erupted, screaming his name hysterically.
ERKE had thankfully hired a small army of private security to guard the doors, ensuring only the lottery winners actually made it inside the store.
"Theo, you look great. Can you personalize this one for me?"
The first person in line handed over an ERKE shirt.
She was bundled up in a trench coat, sunglasses, and a medical mask, but her posture and silhouette screamed high maintenance.
"Sure, what's your name?" Theodore asked, uncapping his Sharpie.
"Seriously, superstar? It's been a few months and you've already forgotten my voice?" She subtly pulled her sunglasses down her nose, flashing her eyes before pushing them right back up.
Theodore blinked, completely caught off guard.
"Reba? What the hell are you doing here?"
Reba sighed, crossing her arms. "At least you remember me. You flew all the way to China without even texting me, do you even consider us friends anymore?"
"Shit, my bad," Theodore muttered, looking genuinely apologetic. "I've been slammed lately, it completely slipped my mind."
"Whatever, just sign the shirt. But you're taking me out for dinner tonight to make up for it."
Not wanting to hold up the line of fans staring at them, Theodore quickly agreed.
He signed her shirt with a clean flourish and waved her through.
Knocking out fifty signatures took no time at all, and the session wrapped up in under an hour.
The ERKE reps desperately wanted Theodore to leave through the back loading dock to avoid the massive crowd out front, but he refused.
He knew those fans had stood out there for hours just to catch a glimpse of him, and fucking off through the back door felt like a betrayal.
When the security team finally opened the main doors, the roar of the crowd was absolutely deafening.
Theodore held his hands up in gratitude, trying to make himself heard over the noise.
"Thank you! Seriously, thank you all so much for coming out. I'll make sure to visit more often."
The street exploded into cheers.
...
After a few more waves, security practically shoved him into the waiting SUV.
Even as they pulled away, Theodore rolled his window down to wave at the fans chasing the convoy down the street.
Half an hour later, he was back in his hotel room.
He was just about to crash on the bed when his phone buzzed.
It was Reba.
"Hey, superstar, where are you?"
"Where do you think? The hotel," Theodore muttered, failing to stifle a yawn.
"Don't tell me you're going to sleep, it's barely past seven," she scolded. "You promised me dinner, remember? I just texted you the location. Get your ass over here."
Honestly, if she hadn't called, he would have passed out.
"Right, yeah, I'm on my way."
He dragged himself off the bed, changed into a clean white tracksuit, and threw on a baseball cap and a face mask.
Checking the mirror, he muttered, "Good enough. Nobody's recognizing this."
The restaurant wasn't far, and his taxi dropped him off in fifteen minutes. Reba had also gone full incognito, bundled up in a hat, oversized sunglasses, and a mask.
They actually walked right past each other at the entrance and had to use location sharing on WeChat just to find the private room they'd booked.
"Christ, why does grabbing a bite to eat feel like we're planning a bank heist?" Theodore groaned as he finally pulled his mask off and collapsed into a chair.
Reba rolled her eyes, already entirely used to the drill. "Welcome to the club. That's the price of fame, Theo. Do you have any idea how crazy sports blogs get when you play? You're arguably the biggest athlete in the country right now."
"And what about you?" Theodore smirked. "Where do you rank?"
"Top hundred, maybe," she joked, though they both knew she was an A-list actress.
A waiter knocked and entered, prompting both of them to instinctively shove their sunglasses back on.
The waiter gave them a highly suspicious look as he set the plates down, then slowly backed out of the room.
As soon as the door clicked shut, Theodore took his glasses off and laughed.
"That guy definitely thinks we're blind."
"Eat quickly," Reba urged, her tone shifting. "I have a bad feeling about this. I think he recognized us."
"No way, we're covered up."
"Trust me, a woman's intuition is never wrong."
She was right.
Downstairs, the waiter had immediately cornered a coworker. "Hey, you know who's in the private room upstairs?"
"Who?"
"Theodore Bjorn. The Aston Villa player. I swear to God, he's actually eating here."
It didn't take long for the rumor to leak online, and soon, a massive crowd began swarming the street outside the restaurant.
"Why the hell is it so loud out there?" Theodore asked, pausing mid-bite.
He stood up and peeked through the second-floor blinds.
What he saw made his blood run cold.
The street was completely gridlocked by hundreds of fans wearing Villa shirts!
"Holy shit. Reba, your radar was spot on, we've been compromised."
Reba sighed in resignation, grabbing her bag.
"We need to move. If we wait any longer, we'll be trapped in here." She spoke from experience, having survived her fair share of mobbings.
"Right behind you," Theodore said, grabbing his mask. "Though I will say, whatever meat this is, it's incredible. What is it?" He shoved one last piece into his mouth.
"Bullfrog," Reba said casually. "You've never had it?"
Theodore froze, his face dropping.
He immediately grabbed a napkin and spat the meat out. "Are you kidding me? You made me eat a frog?"
"You literally just said it was incredible!"
"Yeah, until I knew it spent its life in a swamp. Let's get the hell out of here."
They slipped out of the room and crept down the stairs.
The main hall was absolute chaos since the staff were desperately trying to hold the front doors against the surging crowd, meaning no one paid any attention to the two people in hats and masks slipping out the side exit.