Chapter 5

Gideon's face turned an angry shade of red, but when he glanced at the smiling patient in the next bed, he bit back his frustration.

Seeing me packing up, he gave me a confused look. "What are you doing?"

"I've taken care of your discharge paperwork. We're giving up the bed for someone who needs it more. Besides, we can't afford to stay any longer."

With that, I gently pulled him up.

Gideon was weak and drained. A look of clear displeasure flickered across his face. "But I've only been here half a day."

"Well, if we can leave earlier, then why not? You always say we should think of others, right?" I said, raising my voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Needing to maintain his image of selflessness, Gideon stiffly nodded. "Of course, I'm always happy to help."

I couldn't help but smile to myself.

I was happy too.

It seemed the system had tied Gideon and me together. Only when he agreed would the virtue system register the task as complete.

There was no way I could earn one million dollars by helping people peel a few apples.

Suddenly, Gideon surprised me once again with his words. "When you're done packing, you can go stay under the bridge. At least it'll shield you from the wind and rain."

My hand froze as I was packing. Was he really offering to give away my house?

He was still in denial, unable to accept that the system hadn't notified him of the task's completion.

I remembered when I tried to reason with him in my previous life. "That's my house! Why would you give it away without telling me?"

Gideon had lectured me, "I didn't know you were this heartless. Those homeless people are desperate to have a home. Don't you see that?"

"But you—"

"Enough! They're so pitiful, and you have a house. Why not give it to them?"

Because I refused to give away the house, I was hated by the homeless, and that eventually led to my death at one of their hands.

Now, Gideon was talking loudly in front of everyone, "I'm giving that house away. The homeless are so miserable. They deserve a home."

Everyone in the room heard him.

It seemed like he still hadn't given up. He was hoping the system would finally show its presence.

What he didn't know was that the system had already notified me that I'd earned one million dollars.

Gideon grabbed my hand. "I'll stay at my mom's, but you know she doesn't like living with you, so I guess you'll have to make do."

Gideon's mother, Lily Duncan, was a real piece of work. She'd once demanded 30,000 dollars as compensation when Gideon joined our family as a live-in son-in-law and even tried to get him to send money to her every month.

Now, Gideon wanted to give away my house and send me to live under a bridge while he went back to Lily's house.

I smiled. "Okay, I guess I'll be living under the bridge then."