The woman already knew Alex had arrived on a bicycle.
Everyone did.
He was probably the only man in this entire city still riding one in this age of airborne vehicles and silent electric cruisers.
But amission was still money on the table, and she wasn''t about to let it slip away. Better to try and risk being wrong than walk away with nothing at all.
The world was full of strange millionaires-entric, unpredictable people who never looked like what they were. For all she knew, he might be one of them.
"This is the barcode," she said, steadying her voice. "Scan it, transfer the funds, and everything will be yours."
Alex lifted his wrist. His bracelet glowed.
He scanned the code.
A soft chime.
Then the transfer-ten million dors in clean, unquestionable cash-shot out of his ount in a single breath.
The bracelet vibrated as the system confirmed ownership.
The car bond snapped into ce.
In the very next second, the entire showroom erupted.
Sirens red. Lights swept across the hall.
A massive holographic screen burst open above them, visible to every booth on the floor.
"CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW WINCHESTER OWNER OF THE V?XEN SERAPHINA THE ONE AND ONLY MODEL IN THE CITY!"
The words thundered through the building like a festival announcement.
V?XEN staff flooded the hall from all directions, forming a perfect line beside the Seraphina.
Their uniforms glowed under the lights as they waited for the new owner to step forward.
They were ready.
Ready to p.
Ready to cheer.
Ready to celebrate the man who had just bought a car worth more than some buildings in Winchester.
Across the entire showroom, staff and visitors froze in shock. You didn''t see someone casually buy a ten-million-dor vehicle every day.
Not here. Not anywhere.
The Arcturus Regional Manager stared from the next booth, mouth half-open, eyes wide.
Everyone from Arcturus-those who had mocked Alex, dismissed him, called him a "broke gardener"-stood paralyzed.
They saw everything.
Alex, the man they swore couldn''t afford a tire, had just purchased the V?XEN Seraphina.
The saleswoman stood frozen, her hands shaking as the reality finally hit her.
She stared at Alex-really stared-seeing not the man on a bicycle, but someone suddenly sharp, maic, dangerously radiant under the showroom lights.
"You... you know what you just did, right?" she whispered. "Ten million... for that car? People die for less."
Alex doesn''t turn. "It''s mine. That''s all that matters."
The saleswoman hurried to Alex''s side, practically shaking with excitement as she matched his pace.
"Sir! Sir! Do you have anyments about bing the new Seraphina owner?" "Comments?" Alex echoed, thoughtful. "Sure."
"Great!" she beamed. "Let me guess-you''ve dreamed of this moment your whole life?"
"Not really."
She blinked. "Oh... then is it a symbol of your sess?"
"Nope."
"Your ambition?"
"No."
"Your lifelong passion for luxury vehicles?"
Alex finally turned toward her, his expression calm, almost bored.
"Honestly? I bought it because yourpetitor-Arcturus'' sales team-insulted my bicycle."
The woman froze mid-step.
"...That''s it?"
Alex let out a casual hum. "Well... partly."
He leaned in just slightly, voice dropping to a smooth, dangerous murmur.
"I was also considering buying the entire Arcturuspany-just so I could fire them myself, with style."
Her mouth fell open.
"But that sounded like too much work," Alex added with a shrug. "So, yeah... I bought this big toy instead."
He walked toward the car as V?XEN staff showered him with apuse. Flower petals drifted from the ceiling, trailing behind each of his steps like a coronation.
The Seraphina rose from the ground-half a meter-its engine a whisper, its body gliding out of the showroom like a living piece of art.
Alex slipped inside.
The interior stunned him—sleek, impossible, a world crafted in perfection. Every surface shimmered. Every detail breathed luxury. The Seraphina wasn''t just a car.
It was a throne.
When he drifted past the Arcturus booth, he lowered the window.
Alex shed them his best, sharpest smile-calm, dangerous, unforgettable.
"I bought this ten-million-dor toy in cash," Alex said, his voice smooth and razor- sharp.
"And she didn''t even ask if I needed credit... or why I rode a bicycle. That''s how a real salesperson does their job."
He let the words hang in the air-sweet, cutting, humiliating.
Then he added with a casual shrug, "Shame, really. I was minutes away from buying twenty Arcturus models as gifts for my people.
But you turned me away.
You refused the sale."
Alex smiled calm, sharp, almost lethal-and drifted away in the levitating Seraphina, leaving the Arcturus Manager and his entire sales team standing there, sturned and speechless.
The sales executives who had mocked Alex stared in disbelief.
Arthur, the Regional Manager, spun toward them, fury burning in his eyes.
"Do you fools realize what you''ve done?" he hissed.
One brave soul raised a hand. “Manager... maybe it wasn''t that bad—"
"Not that bad?" Arthur spun. "He bought a Seraphina! A TEN-MILLION-DOLLAR SERAPHINA!"
"We know "
"AND HE SAID HE WANTED TWENTY OF OURS!"
Silence.
One of them cleared his throat.
"Sir... in our defense... he came on a bicycle."
Arthur stared at him as if the man had suddenly grown a second head.
"You absolute idiots," he growled. "That wasn''t a bicycle. That was
RED FLAG OF DESTINY. All of ele
damn destiniest
His voice cracked like a whip through the showroom.
"HR. Now."
Cold. Sharp. Final.
"All of you are fired. Everyst one of you."
One of the salesmen whispered under his breath, trembling, "But sir... it''s just one
customer..."
Arthur whips around, eyes zing.
"One customer? That ''one customer'' bought the Seraphina like he was buying
gum, and you treated him like street trash."
Another salesperson steps forward, desperate.
"We misjudged him, okay? We didn''t know who he was—"
Arthur cuts him off, voice shaking with wrath.
"That''s the point. Professionals don''t need to know. Respect shouldn''t have a
price tag."
They fall silent.
Someone whispers, "Manager... do you hate us this much?"
Arthur''s voice drops-quieter, darker.
"No. I hate what you turned me into. I''ve spent years defending this team. Today,
you proved I was defending rot."
"Manager... please-" one of them tried.
"Get out of my sight!" Arthur snapped. "Now!"
Silence. Shock.
The entire Arcturus team stood stiff, pale, unable to process what just happened.
The man they mocked the man on a bicycle-turned out to be so rich he could drop ten million without blinking.
He even said he wanted to buy twenty Arcturus cars. That was two hundred thousand each-four million total.
Money he clearly had.
And they had thrown him out.
Five of the fired sales execs cursed themselves in pure regret as they packed
their belongings.
Not only had they lost the biggestmission of their careers, but they had also
lost their jobs in the same breath.
If they could rewrite thest hour, they would never have looked down on anyone -especially not a man like Alex.
Meanwhile, Alex guided the V?XEN Seraphina onto the sky road.
People slowed their vehicles just to stare at the floating masterpiece drifting
beside them.
Alex pped his forehead.
Not because of the price. He didn''t care about that.
But because he had no idea how to exin this to Sofina.
What was he supposed to say?
That ten million dors fell from the sky?
That someone paid his family an old debt out of nowhere?
It all sounded insane.