Chapter 32: FRAME

She sat there, her face totally shocked by the pushback. I turned my back on her and started walking toward the counter, deciding I’d just finish the rest of my break in the back alley hangout where we usually smoked.

But I didn’t even make it three steps.

Something heavy hit me straight in the back with full force. The sudden impact threw me completely off balance. I tripped forward, my head violently smacking against the edge of the counter before I collapsed hard onto the floor. The cold brew shattered, splashing the sticky, dark liquid all over my uniform.

I groaned, looking up from the ground, and saw my sister standing right over me. She was looking down at me with pure, hateful eyes.

"Doesn’t suit you, lil’ bro," she said, her voice chillingly calm now. "Acting like some big, bad wolf. You’re a deadbeat, Chance. Stick to what you’re good at."

Without another word, she turned on her heel and walked right out of the shop, leaving me on the floor.

Fucking bitch...

I pushed myself up, dusting the coffee grounds and liquid off my clothes, and picked up the broken shards of the glass. The entire coffee shop had gone dead silent. Customers were staring right at me, some quickly averting their eyes the second I looked back. Talk about being the center of attention for all the wrong reasons. I never thought Jodi would actually have the balls to pull something like that in public.

And calling me a deadbeat?

Oh, you fucker. I was going to prove her wrong. I was going to dismantle everything around me and climb to the top. Just you wait.

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I stepped inside and closed the door. It was just shy of midnight, and there wasn’t a peep coming from upstairs. Had Hubert and Sarah made up, or were they simply not talking to each other? Either way, the system wasn’t showing any changes to Partner Loyalty, whether an increase or a decrease. At least that was a good sign.

I was still thinking of a way to frame Hubert. If I could somehow get Sarah to check his phone and find the upskirt photos I’d planted there, she’d definitely lose it and start a fight. If that didn’t result in a loyalty decrease, I didn’t know what would.

"Jodi... what the fuck am I going to do with you now?"

I tossed my backpack onto the floor and headed into the bathroom. After switching on the light, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Fucking hell, I hated this life. Constantly struggling just to make ends meet was exhausting. But maybe, with this system, things could be different.

"They have to be," I muttered to my reflection. "They just have to be."

I washed my hands, dried them, and turned off the light before heading to the bedroom. After changing into something more comfortable, I lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

Fuck. I’d never expected Jodi to come all the way out to this part of town. Then again, I guessed she must have been desperate for money.

"Just go to sleep, man," I muttered as I closed my eyes. "Just go to sleep."

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The next day, I woke up to a small, annoying sound. A cat meowing somewhere outside my window. Thinking it might be that same purple-eyed cat from before, I dragged myself out of bed and yanked the curtains to the side. But the cat wasn’t there.

Instead, I saw a couple walking down the sidewalk with two dogs and a cat on a leash. The guy was holding the cat in his arms while one of the dogs casually pissed against a tree. Since my window was right at street level, the couple got visibly irked when they noticed me staring out at them. The woman leaned closer to her boyfriend, cocking an eyebrow in annoyance.

"Sorry if we woke you up," the guy called out, though his tone wasn’t exactly apologetic.

"It’s... yeah. I was already awake anyway," I lied, forcing a fake smile before snapping the curtains shut.

I sat back down at the edge of my bed, rubbing my temples. Fucking hell. My head was completely pounding, and I still couldn’t fully piece together what had happened that... ’faithful’ night.

Someone... was definitely there in the home with me. A woman, maybe? Whoever the fuck it was, they talked to me right before I completely passed out. Or maybe that psycho bastard just beat me to a pulp so badly that my brain was starting to hallucinate.

Either way, I just hoped that little cat was somewhere safe. At least she’d managed to escape the guy’s dog and ran for her life. That was enough for me.

"Ugh..."

Thinking back to last night, I still couldn’t believe I’d actually broken down and cried over the phone to Jodi. And the worst part? She didn’t even give a single shit. My own fucking sister. Hell, if my own family couldn’t be bothered to care whether I lived or died, why the fuck would someone like Sarah actually care about me? No way in hell. Trusting anyone other than myself was a mistake I’d never make again.

I needed to stop slacking and get ready for the day.

I got up, walked into the bathroom for a quick shower to wash off the leftover grime, and then threw together a sad breakfast... which was a basic cold sandwich. I started chewing on it while scrolling through my phone to check my targets.

"Let’s see what you’re up to, Dash."

I pulled up Jennifer Dash’s social media profiles while eating. According to her latest posts, she was spending the day at the beach. And surprise, surprise, her boyfriend wasn’t anywhere in the shots. Was she alone? Nah, I swiped to the third photo and saw another high-end girl with her. Just a girls’ day out.

Maybe I could pay her a little surprise visit at the beach today?

No, no. Patience. My focus needed to remain entirely locked on Sarah for now. My current stats and skills just weren’t high enough to properly handle a high-caliber woman like Dash yet. I needed to level up first. Since she was a professional model who clearly put massive importance on looks and status, I could try dumping my next stat points into Charisma to get her attention. My CHA was sitting at fifteen right now. If I leveled up, I could dump five more points into it to reach twenty, which would unlock a brand new perk.

"Hmm," I muttered, swallowing the dry bread and taking another bite. "Don’t worry, though. You’re next in line, bitch."

Suddenly, the system interface flared to life right in front of my face.

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[OPPORTUNITY DETECTED]

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[SUGGESTED ACTION]

You’re hearing a faint knock on

a door somewhere.

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COST: 25 Lust

EST. GAIN: ???

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What kind of vague suggested action was that? A faint knock on a door? I stopped chewing entirely and focused my hearing on the hallway outside.

Shit, the system wasn’t lying. I could distinctively hear someone aggressively thumping on a door across the corridor. Curious, I quietly crept over to my front door and looked straight through the peephole. A woman was standing out in the hallway, right in front of the door of my trashy neighbor, the guy who constantly called high-end whores to his place and fucked them loudly until three in the morning.

"Shit."

I quickly dismissed the minor notification reward, pocketing twenty Sin Points, and locked my attention onto the girl outside.

This chick looked like she was in her mid-twenties, and she was dressed in the skimpiest outfit imaginable. She was wearing a tiny, skin-tight leather skirt that barely covered her cheeks, a low-cut halter top that practically shoved her fake tits into the air, and heavy makeup paired with a messy blonde ponytail.

"Open the door, you fucker!" she snapped, banging her acrylic nails against the wood. "I swear to god..."

Before I could even process the scene, another system box flashed into view.

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[OPPORTUNITY DETECTED]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[SUGGESTED ACTION]

Tell the woman she is at the wrong

place. Frame Hubert.

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COST: 25 Lust

EST. GAIN: ???

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Shit... that would be brilliant. It was a million times better than what I had originally planned for Hubert. Since Sarah and her idiot husband were currently upstairs in their apartment, I could use this hooker to completely wreck them. I could tell her she was at the wrong door and claim that Hubert was actually the one who had placed the order. But if she just knocked on his door, he’d deny it and she’d leave. Unless...

A massive, dirty smile spread across my face.

I could easily pay her double what my horny neighbor was offering and have her put on a little performance. If I paid her enough, she could go upstairs, corner Hubert, and act like he was her regular client right in front of Sarah. A small, scripted play just for them. It was foolproof.