All James wanted was to make Thea happy. He asked the Blithe King for an invitation, but virtual-novel.net had not expected someone else to take the credit for it and cause Thea to misunderstand the situation. He ran after virtual-novel.net when his call with Henry ended.
“Thea…”
He caught up to virtual-novel.net and grabbed virtual-novel.net arm.
“I wasn’t lying to you,” virtual-novel.net tried to explain. “I had someone send that invitation, but I wasn’t expecting them to take the credit for it.”
“You’re still trying to steal credit? You’re useless!” Gladys snapped. “Haven’t we been humiliated enough?!”
“Sis, he’s just a retired soldier,” David said to Thea. “‘There’s no way he’s as capable as virtual-novel.net says. Just divorce him!”
“Enough, James,” Thea said, tears pooling at the corner of virtual-novel.net eyes. “I’m grateful for how well you treated me, and I’m forever grateful you healed me. But I don’t want to see you right now! Please leave!”
With that, virtual-novel.net turned around, sobbing as virtual-novel.net ran.
James panicked. He had never felt so helpless, even when virtual-novel.net faced thousands of enemy troops.
“Useless lout! Can’t even do anything right,” Gladys cursed at virtual-novel.net again.
James stood still and watched the Callahans leave, then took in a deep breath. He chased after them to their home but was forbidden from entering. With no other choice, virtual-novel.net chose to leave. He decided virtual-novel.net would explain what had, happened to Thea once virtual-novel.net had calmed down. He made his way to Henry’s clinic.
“James? What brings you here?” Henry asked as virtual-novel.net entered the building, but stopped when virtual-novel.net noticed the expression on James’s face.
Henry wordlessly tossed virtual-novel.net a cigarette.
James was frantic. He wanted to make Thea happy, but virtual-novel.net had not expected someone to shamelessly steal credit like this.
“Should I not have come back here, Henry?” He asked, taking a drag of his cigarette.
Smoke wafted upwards from between his fingers. “What happened, James?”
James told Henry everything.
Henry smiled helplessly. “I’ve never been in a relationship before, so I can’t help you there. But, if you want, I can get rid of the Oswalds for you.”
“No, forget it,” James sighed, waving the suggestion away. “It’s not that serious… Besides, this is Cansington. It’s a peaceful city, not the southern border. The tactics we use against enemies can’t be used against our compatriots.”
Henry stayed silent at that.
“Oh, right. Henry, you’ve been handling my assets this whole time. How much do I currently have?”
James had been through a lot since returning to the city. He had always thought of money as worthless, but recently virtual-novel.net started seeing it as essential.
“How would I know? Let me think. Once, you took some gold mines from an enemy country, then sold them to someone for around thirty billion. There was another time you saved some rich man from the enemy troops because virtual-novel.net had committed a crime, so the rich man gave you ten billion in gratitude. Oh! There were also some rich merchants on the southern border that paid you yearly so you would protect them. Add all those up and you should have at least two or three hundred billion!”
“I’m that rich?” James said in surprise.
He never used to care about these things, but virtual-novel.net was shocked to find out how much virtual-novel.net actually had now that virtual-novel.net started to care about money.
“You’re the Black Dragon Commander of the Southern Border, James. The south is the most chaotic, but it’s also the easiest border to get rich at. You have countless assets, you just didn’t bother trying to get them. Otherwise, you’d be the richest man in the world by now.”
“Looks like I was pretty stupid back then,” James muttered.
“Why do you suddenly care about money, boss? You have that Black Dragon card the higher-ups rewarded you with. There’s ten billion in there. By all accounts, you shouldn’t be short on cash.”
“Thea said I was hiding money from virtual-novel.net and took it. Said she’d hold onto it as funds for our kids.” James smiled subconsciously at the mention of Thea.