THE GOLDEN RING!

For a moment, May was stunned. It is true that she didn't know that Lay was the one who paid for everything for his dad's night vigil, but she looked confident again.

"Hello? For your information too, all of Mr. Leo's property was named to Madam Jia already. Lay should start packing up already because after the burial, Madam will sell this shabby house and we will go back to the Lockey's mansion already."

Lay was surprised to know it, but he didn't expect less of what his cunning, evil stepmother would do anyway. He is angry, but he acted like he didn't hear anything and just continued eating.

"How dare she!" Fiona was suddenly worried about Lay, but seeing that he's acting like he doesn't care at all made her feel a little relief.

May took the whole strawberry cake.

"Hey! Not that one!" Fiona shouted and was about to stand, but Lay finally spoke.

"Just let her take it!" Then he continued to eat again.

"What a wild cat!" May kicked her chair lightly before she left.

Fiona can do nothing but pout and look sharply at her plate in anger.

"I can't believe you are just letting them bully and trample you this way. Even a mere servant in your own house doesn't respect you." She drank some water, having no appetite to eat anymore.

"Dad always told me to be calm, especially when I'm angry," was his simple, cold reply.

"You're unbelievable!" Her brows were furrowing, and she looked so pissed off.

***

After the burial, Lay wants to stay a little bit longer in the sepulcher where his father's grave was placed. Fiona and his other friend, John Andy, were still with him.

"Dude, I need to go home now. I still need to bring Mom to the clinic for a checkup," Fiona said.

"It's okay. Just go ahead!" he immediately replied without even looking back at her.

"Take care of yourself and call me if you need anything. Okay?" And Lay just nodded.

"Geez! I'm here anyway; don't worry. I'm going to take care of your lover." Andy winked at her.

"You're crazy!" Fiona rolled her eyes. "I gotta go now! Bye!" She patted Lay's shoulder before leaving.

Actually, everyone can see how much Fiona cares for Lay and how broken she looked every time Lay was with Cheska in the past. Even Andy felt pity for her, but Lay? Even now, he's still dumb and didn't notice Fiona's affection for him. He just totally treats her like a best friend and sister—no more than that.

"Bro, what will you do next?" Andy seriously asked.

Lay turned around and faced him. "I need you to work for me. Gather information about my stepmother, and when she sells my father's house, we will buy it."

Andy chuckles, "You're supposedly the real new owner of that house anyway. Your stepmother is really different. Even the Fererro's bakeries, it was all in her name already. You have nothing, not even a single penny. Why don't you just get a good lawyer and fight to get your father's properties?"

"That's useless! She's the CEO of Lockey's Shoes company, resourceful and powerful. I will only waste time and money if I fight head-on against a cunning demoness like her," he seriously replied.

"You have some point anyway." He sighed. "I just wonder why a big-time millionaire like her would lower herself and marry your father, whom she obviously doesn't love in the first place. Do you think your father is hiding something big and that Jia knows it?"

Lay squinted his eyes, seeing Andy's point. But he never thought of it before. "What could Dad hide from me?" He shook his head. "He's just a small business man."

"Who knows?" Andy shrugged. "Even you have a lot of secrets anyway. In the last few weeks, you couldn't even afford to buy your food, but now everything that you're wearing is branded, and you even offered me work."

"Don't change the subject. I'm in a different situation." He turned around. "I promise Dad to take care of our business, but it's at risk in the hands of Jia now. Honestly, what I have now can't afford to take my father's business back from her."

"Don't worry. I will make sure to find a big loophole and get evidence against your stepmom to help you take her down someday," Andy replied.

Lay started to wonder what would happen after seven days. Today is already the fifth day since he activated the wealthy system, and he still has $800,000 in his bank account.

"If I use up the rest of the money within the two days left, I will survive being killed by the crazy system, but after it, will I become poor again?" He mumbles.

"You're such an idiot!" The system immediately said.

"Is calling me an idiot really one of your recorded lines?" Lay sarcastically asked.

"You're a crazy idiot!" It answered. Actually, the way she speaks and pops up to comment about what's happening around Lay makes her more like a live agent of the crazy wealthy system. The system is obviously called crazy too because of her.

"Whatever! Can you tell me what will happen next if I pass this level?" He mumbles.

"What did you say?" Andy, who was standing behind him, curiously asked.

"Oh? Nothing!" Lay immediately replied.

"You're crazy! You must be talking to yourself!" Andy chuckles.

"See? Even your friend called you crazy," the system said.

"Let's go home already!" Lay immediately walked away, so Andy just followed him quietly.

"Tell me now!" Lay whispered.

"Of course, if you pass level 1, that will unlock level 2," she replied.

"Level 2? So my level is increasing; does that mean that the wealth I'll receive from the system will also get bigger and bigger?" Lay curiously asked.

"I can't give you the rules and details about level 2. It depends on you if you can unlock it. Duhh?" The system sounds really unfriendly.

"I surely will pass anyway. Just spending money? Spend more to earn even more at the end? That's the easiest thing to do anyway." He chuckles.

In all the games he knows, once the level increases, the challenge increases too. But if the challenge is only to ask him to spend more and more money, for Lay, it could be the easiest thing to do and probably the best thing he would enjoy doing.

"Just remember, I will kill you if you can't do the challenge in the allotted time."

"I still have a long way to go, then!" Lay smirked, thinking that he would never have any financial problems in the future.

"Wait! Will there be other rules on how to expense the money in the higher levels?" He asked, but the system didn't answer.

"Hey?" He called, but the system seemed to have gone completely.