Chapter 72: Snow White

"Don't worry, bro. I will work for it myself.""Do you know how much money you need to start a company? Maybe even buy a new place to set it up? I saw your backyard; you're already running out of space for the cars. You'd need to work for years before you'd make enough to get it off the ground."

"I know. I get that," he said, clearly frustrated. "But even so, how could you of all people help me? You're just a student. Are you going to ask your parents to invest?"

"Jacob, I don't want to talk about it right now, but I've made a lot of money on my investments... A LOT of money. I could help with a small investment to get you started—cover the cost of renting a bigger space or buying equipment."

Jacob's eyes wobbled slightly. "Are you for real?" he said nervously. "But, like... what would you want for that?"

"No worries, bro. If you ever get big enough and become a shareholding company, just slide a few shares to me..."

We chatted a bit more about the idea and agreed to stay in touch for now.

"Yo, man. Did you play RuneScape?" Jacob suddenly asked.

"No... you know I don't generally play games."

"Alright, let me show you something." He quickly fired up his computer and launched RuneScape.

He walked to a mining area in the game and started to mine ore.

The experience bar at the bottom of the screen slowly filled up.

After a few minutes, the bar hit a milestone, and Jacob's character leveled up in mining.

"That's how it works," Jacob explained. "This is just one thing you can do, but I like mining and fishing cause I can just stop thinking and relax. I mine a bunch of ores, and as I gain levels, I can mine better ores and make more cash. It's fricking cool!"

"Definitely addictive..." I said and then I remembered something. "Have you heard about World of Warcraft?"

Jacob turned his chair around, his face lighting up. "Oh, yeah. That's from the same company that made Diablo II. Remember, you watched me play it like a year ago. It was a fucking banger. The loot system and progression were crazy good.

Heck, I might actually do another run..."

"World of Warcraft is going to be an MMO," I said.

"Yhym, I watched the gameplay demo," Jacob replied. "It looks pretty epic."

"Do you invest in anything?"

Jacob shook his head. "No, I don't think I'd be good at it. It's a bit too complicated."

"How about your parents?"

"Well... I think they did put some money in gold."

"You should try convincing them to invest in the company behind these games. Blizzard."

Jacob laughed. "I don't think they'd listen to me. They're pretty set in their ways. But hey, I'll mention it if I get the chance." Sёarᴄh the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

We spent the next two hours playing Runescape.

Even if Jacob's family would invest in Blizzard way later, it was still alright; the company had a pretty steady growth and even when the public opinion of the company fell, they still found ways to make more money and continue growing.

...

On Saturday, I realised that if I wanted to get back to Gainessville, I would actually need to buy a new car right now.

"Hey, Dad, is the car dealership open on Saturdays?" I asked my dad, who was reading the newspaper in the living room, more relaxed than ever.

No wonder he looked more relaxed.

Both of my parents moods were much better now that they didn't have to argue with each other all the time.

He looked up from his paper. "Hmm... Yeah. They're open Monday through Saturday."

Thankfully...

Additionally, Britney showed up at our house that morning.

She had just received an acceptance letter from MIT a few days ago.

When I said "Hi," she looked at me with the same cold look she always has.

Now that I thought about it, I'm pretty sure that before the accident, Sydney was aiming to get accepted at Central Florida University in Orlando, which might have been another reason why she agreed to go with Joshua...

...

Since I knew the store would likely close earlier on Saturdays, I left right away.

When I got to the dealership, it was quiet—no people in sight, but the cars were still there. I walked in and began browsing through them, searching for something more luxurious than the Ford Mustang I'd been driving.

I had a few models in mind, but with this being a small dealership, my wishes were not commands...

"Hi there! I think I saw you here before..." I heard a female voice coming from behind me.

I turned to see a blonde woman with a large bossom and slightly tanned skin. It was the same lady who had sold me the Mustang.

It was around 64°F (18°C) even at this time of year. Her outfit, a black hoodie over a white skirt that fell to her knees, was perfect for this weather.

"Good morning, umm..." I tried to remember her name. "Lynn?"

"Good morning. " She smiled warmly. "You remember my name, and yet I don't remember yours..."

Yes. I have a pretty good memory...

"Jack Somnus. I bought a Ford Mustang from you a few months ago."

"Ah, then you're quite lucky to come here on my shift again," she said. "I only work Fridays and Saturdays."

"I see..." I said, and then I looked around the dealership. "Listen, I was thinking about buying another car."

"Hmm... did something happen to the Mustang?"

"No, nothing happened to it. It's been serving me well." I replied.

'Mentioning that I gave it away might make her more aggressive during negotiation,' I thought.

"Are you looking for something in a similar price range?" she asked.

"No." I shook my head. "In fact... could you show me your most luxurious cars?" I asked bluntly.

She blinked, looking slightly surprised. "Oh, um, sure. Come this way."

I followed her.

"I told you last time I would be back to buy a few more cars." I added.

She glanced over her shoulder and cocked her eyebrows slightly. "A few more? So, you're not just buying one this time?"

"Let's keep it at one for now."

We stopped in front of a striking blue 2000 Chevrolet Corvette Z06. I knew this car, and seeing it up close, I wasn't immediately impressed.

I was not crazy about the car's long, water-drop-shaped front.

Lynn seemed to sense that I was on the fence, so she started talking about the car. "It's got a powerful 5.7-liter V8 engine that produces 405 horsepower. It's perfect if you want something to take for a drive on a track."

I walked around it.

I really liked it's butt, but the car just felt a bit too... racing-focused.

"Do you have any BMWs or a Mercedes that could reach similar performance? I feel like this car has a bit too much of a sporty look for me."

"Unfortunatelly, we don't have any Mercedeses in this price range at the moment. The S-Class models we have are around 6 to 8 years old. But... we do have a 2000 BMW M5."

We walked up to a snow white BMW, and as soon as I laid eyes on it, my impression was totally different than with the Chevy.

The car's design was fierce, but it was also elegant, and it had this impressive impact to it—this umpf that I was looking for.

"I see that you like it..." Lynn noticed my interest. "This is the BMW M5 E39. With a 4.9-liter V8 engine producing 400 horsepower. Perfect choice if you want something that is both exciting and stylish to drive."

I looked at her with a grin. "Did you memorize that from a script?"

"Nope, I just took a quick peek at my phone's notes."

I glanced at the performance details card on the car's window. It stated the horsepower as 394, so she was exaggerating a little bit.

43,000 in mileage.

The asking price was $34,000.

"So, what do you think?" Lynn asked.

"I'll buy it for $32,000," I said firmly.