CHAPTER HUNDRED AND NINE

RICHARD’S POV

I walked briskly down the crowded sidewalk, dodging people with the ease of long practice. The city’s evening rush hour, as usual, was filled with car horns and agitated voices, but I was in too good a mood to let it bother me today. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see a notification from the Ultra system.

“You have 24 hours to spend another $3 million,” the message read.

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. A few people glanced at me like I was crazy, but I didn't care. This is going to be fun. I started mentally listing the most outrageous things I could buy. A yacht? A private island? Maybe I’ll just buy a fleet of sports cars and give them away to strangers.

As I turned the corner onto my street, my thoughts faded. I spotted my mother standing outside our apartment building, surrounded by a depressing assortment of our belongings. My heart sank. This can’t be good.

“Mom?” I called out as I jogged over to her. “What’s going on?”

She looked up, he