Chapter 3

Lulu’s POV

Jasver Chadwick was standing right in front of me, staring as though he had discovered his wife was an entirely different person.

“You’re not Ivelle, are you?” He repeated.

His arm acted as a blockade resting against the wall beside my head. His expression suggested he expected me to panic, cry, and beg him in no particular order.

Unfortunately, I had more important things to worry about than a billionaire who wanted validation.

“You’ve changed,” he continued. “Yesterday, you were begging me to reconsider our divorce. And today, you humiliated Liora in public and sold a necklace I gave you as though it meant nothing.”

“It didn’t.” I blinked then shrugged.

His eyes grew darker. “Stop playing games with me, Ivelle.”

“Move.” I said.

His grip on my arm tightened. “You’re going to explain yourself.”

I stared at his handsome face and felt nothing but irritation. The original Ivelle would have been trembling by now but I wasn’t interested in a man who derived pleasure from emotionally manipulating his wife.

Besides, my drilling crew needed another two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I looked down at his polished leather shoes, lifted my stiletto, and stomped down hard.

He groaned like a strangled animal and released my arm. I moved past him, straightened my dress and hair, turning around to give him a sweet smile.

“Your ego is bigger than your bank account, Mr. Chadwick. And that’s impressive, considering your bank account.” I winked, waving at him as I left.

His mouth fell open in shock. “Ivelle!”

I waved without looking back. “Have a wonderful evening. You might want to put ice on that before it swells.”

I made a sharp turn toward the ladies’ restroom working on a hunch. I wanted to know the number of Rebellion Points I had earned from stomping on Jasver Chadwick’s expensive shoe.

I pushed open the restroom door and made sure I was all alone. I couldn’t hear any movement except a faint hum which was probably from the vents. 

Perfect.

I locked the door and walked back to the mirror. My lipstick was still perfect and my dress looked like it had been made solely for lethal seduction. 

I looked like a woman who had just humiliated a billionaire. I wanted to know whether the System had rewarded me for it and if the rebellion point I’d gotten was big then I’d return to the hall, find Jasver again, and stomp on his feet until security dragged me out.

“System,” I whispered.

I waited but nothing happened.

“Open System menu.”

Still nothing happened. I waved my hand in front of my face, then tapped the air to my left, where the blue screen appeared the last time.

Nothing.

I tapped the other side. I even tried dragging my fingers across the empty air, as if I was operating an invisible touchscreen.

Nothing. 

“Open status window. Display character information. Show Rebellion Points. System interface, activate!” I said.

The restroom remained silent. I controlled the urge to curse and scream. I took a deep breath and tried again.

“System, show me my points.”

“System, I would like to check my current rebellion score.”

“System, if you don’t open your stupid menu right now, I’m going to start kicking people randomly until you cooperate.”

Nothing happened. I stared at the ceiling.

Was this thing running on voice recognition or did it require a secret handshake to boot up? Because I was prepared to learn either one.

I looked back at the mirror and an idea hit me. Maybe the menu needed physical contact with a specific spot. I tapped my temple.

Nothing happened so I touched my forehead. Then I snapped my fingers. Still nothing. Then I tried pointing at the ceiling, twirling my finger.

“Fucking fuckitty fuck!” I yelled in frustration. 

A toilet flushed behind me. I froze and turned around slowly to face the stall. The door opened and a woman walked out. She stared at me like she wasn’t sure if I was going crazy or having a mental breakdown. 

“I’m rehearsing,” I explained, chuckling nervously.

Her eyebrows rose like she was calling bullshit.

“It’s for a performance,” I added like it would make it more believable.

She gave me a slow nod before washing her hands. She hurried out before I could say another word. I waited until the door closed before sighing deeply. 

I opened the door and walked out with all the dignity I could salvage. I hurried out of the hotel just as my phone rang. It was an unknown caller. I answered.

“Miss Ivelle!”

I dropped the phone away from my ear. It was the foreman of my drilling crew, and he sounded furious enough to chew through steel.

“The ground is too rocky. We can’t risk damaging our equipment. We’re packing up!”

My throat went dry. “Don’t you dare leave.”

“We’ve wasted hours on this site. We’re done.”

“I’ll double your payment,” I said. “In cash. Just give me thirty minutes.”

He said nothing for a while and I could barely hear the sound of his brain thinking through the phone.

“Get here in thirty minutes,” he grunted. “After that we’re gone.”

The call ended. I booked a rental car and drove like a wraith to the resort, still wearing my expensive red dress from the auction. It had looked magnificent all night, but I suspected it wouldn’t survive a confrontation with mud. 

I arrived earlier than I thought. I parked beside a battered truck, got out immediately walking in mud.

I stared at my shoes then at my dress. “Okay. That’s tragic.”

I shrugged out of my shoes, gathered my dress, and ran to the drilling site. The crew was already loading equipment into their trucks. 

“STOP!” I yelled, raising my hand.

The foreman turned, a bored look on his face. “You have twenty minutes left.”

“No, you haven’t. Drill over there.”

I pointed at a cluster of dead oak trees near an old stone fountain. If my memory of the story could be trusted then that was the exact spot the first oil was discovered. 

The foreman stared at me in disbelief, then at the trees.

“You want me to move the rig because you suddenly developed an interest in dead trees?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “My instincts are excellent.”

“So now we’re going off instincts.” He laughed. 

“I’ll double your payment,” I repeated. “Cash. I’ll transfer an advance right now.”

The foreman studied me as if he was deciding whether I was insane or just rich enough to be annoying.

They started the drill and got to work. I stood several feet away, watching the drill plummet into the earth. I kept my fingers crossed the whole time. 

The System had already demonstrated that it could destroy my finances. If I lost this oil reserve, I could lose all my money, my points, and eventually my life.

I wasn’t interested in finding out whether death inside a novel came with a refund policy.

I stumbled back as the ground erupted. A violent geyser of thick, black oil exploded from the ground. It rained down across the site. 

For a moment, I could only stare then screamed excitedly before kicking off my celebratory dance moves. My hair was a disaster, my feet were filthy, and I probably smelled like a mechanic’s ass.

The foreman stared at the oil in disbelief. He looked like he wasn’t sure whether to be excited or shocked. I pointed at him, grinning.

“Tell me my instincts are terrible now!”

A blue screen appeared in front of me followed by a loud chime that sounded like a notification alert.

MAJOR ASSET DISCOVERED

Oil Reserve: Confirmed

I wiped oil from my forehead and smiled. I wasn’t officially a billionaire yet but I’d taken the first real step. For the first time since waking up inside this ridiculous novel, I felt like I might actually win.

Suddenly three massive black SUVs ran through the resort’s rusty gates. My celebration ended immediately and my smile was replaced by steel.

The vehicles sped down the driveway, in a cloud of dust before stopping beside the drilling site. The tinted windows and bulletproof bodies suggested these weren’t ordinary visitors.

My heart was racing but I told myself I was going to pretend to be strong no matter what happened. 

Armed men in black suits jumped out, spreading across the site like it was a training exercise. Within seconds, they had surrounded the workers, the machinery, and me.

I looked down at my bare feet still buried in the mud. I tried to move but the effort left me out of breath. 

One guard stepped forward. “Stay where you are.”

“Trust me,” I replied, “I’m not going anywhere. This mud is fucking with me.”

The door of the middle SUV opened and a man stepped out. He was tall and wore an expensive black suit. His dark hair, sharp features, and handsome face would have made him the center of attention in any room. I wondered what he would look like without his sunglasses. 

He ignored the oil spraying and the workers staring angrily at him. His attention was entirely on me. I was a hot mess. This was not how I had imagined meeting another handsome man.

He stopped in front of me, staring at my face with an expression I couldn’t read. He sized me up for a moment and I thought he was about to recruit me to join his gang or something. 

Then he smiled. “Found you, little sister.”