“I got into grad school.”

Inside the café, the words dropped out of Mabel Sullivan’s mouth so lightly yet hit like a stone.

Harrison Lee had rushed over like his life depended on it. He hadn’t even warmed the seat when she threw out that line.

For a moment, his mind latched onto nothing but “got into grad school,” and he reflexively felt happy for her.

“Congrats! I knew you’d ace it!”

His face lit up instantly. “I just got my bonus today. Let’s celebrate tonight. Hotpot? Barbecue? Anything you want—my treat!”

He even pulled out his phone, scrolling excitedly through reviews of nearby restaurants.

But across from him, Mabel kept her head down, stirring her coffee like she was avoiding his eyes. Her silence felt strange, even suffocatingly heavy.

“My point is… we should break up.”

In that moment, Harrison felt like he’d been struck by muffled thunder. His body went rigid, and his heart clenched painfully.

He forced himself to look “normal,” struggling to squeeze out a smile that was about to fall apart.

“Mabel… what did you say? I—I think I misheard.”

This time, Mabel lifted her head. The evasiveness was gone, replaced by a cold, decisive finality.

“Don’t pretend. You heard me.”

Harrison’s façade crumbled instantly. He couldn’t understand it. He couldn’t accept it.

“Why? Everything was fine… why would you suddenly want to break up?”

“Did I do something wrong? Did I upset you somehow?”

“Even the bag you were eyeing a few days ago—I’ve been saving up to buy it for you. Mabel, just tell me why. Tell me what’s going on.”

His voice was rushed and panicked, like he was clinging to his last lifeline.

This relationship had drained every bit of his heart, and he refused to let it end like this.

Harrison Lee and Mabel Sullivan had been classmates in high school. During the final sprint toward the college entrance exams, feelings quietly grew between them, and the two worked hard to get into the same university just so they could stay together.

He once thought their love was mutual, a two-way journey. Turned out he was way too naive.

Right before university started, tragedy struck—Mabel’s parents were in an accident and passed away.

Her family had already been living paycheck to paycheck. The emergency rescue costs burned through everything they had saved over the years. In the end, not only did her parents fail to make it, the family was left drowning in debt. For Mabel, now completely alone, it was a blow she couldn’t bear.

To let his girlfriend continue her studies without worries, Harrison hid everything from his own parents. He handed over his entire university tuition to Mabel and supported her through college. Meanwhile, he dropped out and worked every job he could find—washing dishes, scrubbing cars, delivering takeout. As long as it was legal and paid, he did it. Four years of grinding just to cover all her debts and her living expenses.

He thought that with such wholehearted devotion, she would stay by his side no matter what.

He never imagined that the very first thing Mabel did after getting accepted into grad school… was dump him cleanly.

For Harrison, her breakup was like a bolt from the blue.

He had cut ties with his own parents for her, struggled alone in the city, sacrificed four years of his youth—only for his love to be thrown away like trash.

“Mabel, you’re kidding, right? Please don’t do this. Why are we breaking up out of nowhere?”

His voice trembled. He stood there, completely lost, desperately trying to hold onto the relationship.

“Harrison, calm down,” she said.

“I’m a graduate student now, and someone like you just isn’t a match for me anymore.”

“Our paths are totally different.”

“How much do you even make in a month?”

“Three thousand? Five thousand?”

“When I graduate, I’ll be making tens of thousands at least.”

“In school, every guy who chased after me had better prospects than you.”

“Stop lying to yourself. We’re not on the same level anymore.”

Mabel Sullivan’s voice was icy, drained of any warmth, each word hitting Harrison Lee’s pride like a boot grinding down on it.

“I gave up everything for you all these years, and this is what you tell me?”

Harrison’s face went paper‑white. He stared at her, completely unable to grasp how Mabel could say something so heartless, so clean‑cut, as if their four years meant nothing.

“Look, I do appreciate everything you’ve done,” Mabel replied, her tone firm, almost self‑righteous. “But you can’t guilt‑trip me with that for the rest of my life.”

“You were good to me, sure. But that wasn’t love. That was… childishness.”

“And the money you spent on me? I’ll pay you back. Eventually.”

“But we’re done. We’re really done. You’re not a match for me anymore. Let me go, Harrison. Can’t we just end this peacefully?”

Harrison’s fist tightened until the knuckles cracked, and he forced out every word one by one.

“You got into grad school, not heaven. How can someone with warm blood say something this cold?”

Only he knew how much of himself he had poured into these years—every hope, every plan, every ounce of sincerity—now crushed under her heel.

Letting go wasn’t as simple as she made it sound.

Beep—beep—

A sharp honking burst from outside the café.

Mabel jerked to her feet, panic flickering across her face before she smoothed it over. Her voice, though, stayed hard.

“I came today just to tell you this: from now on, we go our separate ways. And I hope you won’t cling to me anymore.”

She turned to leave, heels clicking—then paused, just for a second.

“I hope… we can at least keep some dignity for each other.”

Harrison Lee watched her storm out of the café, her heels tapping in a sharp, final rhythm. She didn’t even bother to look back.

His eyes stayed glued to that silhouette—so familiar it hurt, yet suddenly distant—until he saw Mabel Sullivan step outside and fall straight into the arms of a chubby middle‑aged man waiting by the curb.

Right there on the sidewalk, the two of them clung to each other like no one else existed. The greasy uncle wrapped one arm around Mabel’s waist, whispering something that made her laugh as they slid into a black Mercedes G‑Class.

The engine roared, and the car tore off without hesitation, leaving nothing but exhaust and a fading taillight.

And Harrison… he just sat there, frozen in that too‑quiet café.

In the end, love lost to money. Sweet promises collapsed under the weight of reality.

“So that’s it… all that ‘love’ you talked about—just money in disguise.”

His voice trembled. His chest tightened. The world around him seemed to tilt violently, like everything might cave in at any moment.

Then—

Ding.

A strange, metallic chime echoed inside his skull.

Harrison jerked upright, panic snapping through him. That sound definitely hadn’t come from the café.

Congratulations, Host, for realizing the truth of life: money reigns above all.

Ten‑Thousand‑Fold Rebate System has descended. Please confirm activation.

Harrison looked around wildly, his breath catching. When he understood the voice was in his head, he grabbed his hair with both hands, muttering in despair.

“No, no, no… great, now I’m losing my mind. Why me? Why now?”

System confirmation completed automatically.

Ten‑Thousand‑Fold Rebate System successfully bound.

System Overview:

From this moment onward, any money the Host spends on others will trigger the ten‑thousand‑fold rebate mechanism.

【Return multipliers include: double, tenfold, hundredfold, thousandfold, ten‑thousandfold, and special bonuses. The probability of each reward is for you to discover.】

【Since this is your first time binding with the system, the newbie gift pack is now active. Your first return will automatically trigger a ten‑thousandfold bonus.】

【Go on and enjoy life. Rewrite your fate.】

“This…”

Harrison Lee just sat there, stunned. The whole explanation from the system hit him so hard that his mind briefly froze. His mouth opened a couple of times, but no words came out.

“Wait… is my life actually turning around?”

He was still lost in that dazed, almost blank state when a breathtaking woman suddenly slipped into the seat right across from him.

Her long hair draped over her shoulders like a waterfall. Bright red lips, a tight dress that hugged every curve, legs so straight they almost glowed under the lights—she walked in like she belonged on a magazine cover.

Her face looked like someone had taken their time sculpting it. Clean lines, delicate features, eyes so clear they felt unreal—like she wasn’t a person but a masterpiece dropped into the world by accident.

Harrison instinctively looked around, checking left and right, half convinced she’d mistaken him for someone else.

“Uh… hey, I think you’ve got the wrong guy?”

She smiled lightly, the kind of smile that felt calm yet impossible to ignore.

“No mistake,” she said. “You’re exactly the person I’m looking for.”