The Hundred-Million Dollar Redemption Chapter 1

The System said: "Julian Sterling is going to destroy the world. You must stop him." I pulled out my phone. "I'm calling the cops." The System screamed, "Stop! Do you know what love is? Do you understand what 'redemption' means?" Redemption. Save and redeem. I nodded. "I got it." The next day, when I tied Julian—the billionaire heir—to a chair in my apartment, the System collapsed screaming: "YOU DON'T GET IT AT ALL!!"

* * *

The System was emitting a high-pitched screech in my brain. I was annoyed. "Didn't you say 'save'? How am I supposed to save him without tying him up? How else is his family going to pay the ransom?"

The System was losing its mind. "Are you a college student or a felon?! I swear I'm going to call the cops on you! Chloe, haven't you read a romance novel? Redemption means saving his soul! Filling his heart with love! With sunshine!"

I paused for a moment. "You mean... you want me, a broke college student, to save the soul of a billionaire heir with assets worth hundreds of millions? And fill his heart with love?" What the f*ck. I wake up every day and grind just to survive. Who's coming to redeem me? Forget it. I'm going to destroy the world too.

Julian had woken up. A pair of cold, dark eyes were staring right at me. "How much do you want?" he asked calmly. Wait, is this for real? I blurted out, "Two thousand dollars!"

Silence. The System and Julian both went quiet. The System broke first. "Oh my god, why did I choose someone so useless! Kidnapping is bad enough, but who kidnaps a billionaire for two grand?!" I wanted to slap this foul-mouthed System. "Ask for too much and it becomes a felony kidnapping! Do you know the law? Use some common sense!"

"I'll give you twenty thousand. Untie me," Julian said after a long pause, sounding almost like he was sighing. My rental apartment was shabby. The young master was thrown onto my small bed, lying on his stomach, hands and feet tied behind his back. The posture was undignified, but his expression was calm. He asked unhurriedly, "You kidnapped me for two thousand dollars?"

The System kept barking in my head: "Don't say it's for money! Make him feel your love! Love! LOVE! Do you understand?!" Under the System's duress, I stiffly changed my tune. "I did it for love."

The young master finally lost his composure. His handsome face was written with confusion. He paused. "Is thirty thousand okay?" Thirty thousand. That's thirty thousand dollars. With tears in my eyes, I gritted my teeth and shook my head. "I don't want money. I just want your happiness."

Julian was silent for even longer this time. He thought I was sick. I thought I was sick too.

He struggled to lift his head to look at me, trying to figure out my angle. "You know my family will find this place. Soon they'll find you and send you to the police station. It's not too late to let me go." Julian negotiated patiently. "Don't worry. As long as you let me go, I won't let them send you to jail. I'll even give you a large sum of money. Is fifty thousand enough?"

Fifty thousand! Oh god, fifty thousand. How many DoorDash meals is that? Just as I was calculating my beautiful life with fifty grand, Julian raised the stakes. "One hundred thousand. Let me go and I'll transfer it now." Stop talking, rich boy. I really can't hold out much longer.

I gritted my teeth and said, almost angrily, "I don't want anything!" Julian was lying on his stomach. I sat halfway on him, untying the ropes on his hands with tears in my eyes. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. He's so rich, why does he want to destroy the world? My life is so hard, why do I have to save him? Let him live my life where I can't afford meat once a day, and I guarantee he won't have time to destroy the world! It's just rich people problems.

I was so mad my teeth itched. I couldn't help but slap the back of his head hard. "Let me tell you, go back and live a good life! Be positive, love life, do charity! If you're bored, sponsor a poor student like me!" Julian got smacked. He buried his face in my mattress and didn't speak for a long time. The room was quiet. The System spoke faintly in my mind again. "The villain definitely hates you now. It'll be harder to redeem him."

I stopped untying the rope. "What do you mean? Is he going to take revenge on me?" "Hard to say. The only info I have is that he's vindictive, ruthless, and cruel." I looked down slowly. Julian's wrists were red from the ropes. I was sitting on the noble ass of a billionaire heir. And I had just suicidally slapped the back of his head.

I quickly got off him and used all my strength to help Julian up. Blinking my big eyes with utmost sincerity, I said, "I have no malicious intent towards you, and I won't take your money. But to prevent you from taking revenge on me in the future, I have to do one thing." The young master immediately went on alert. "What are you doing?" I reached out with trembling hands, trying to unbutton his shirt. "You dare?!" Julian's face flushed red, and he began to struggle frantically.

His white dress shirt buttons were hard to undo. I was already nervous, and he was struggling violently. I could only coax him gently, "It's okay, it'll be over soon. I'll finish quickly." Maybe because I had loosened the rope a bit earlier, the knot on Julian's hands actually came undone. Before I could dodge, he flipped me over and pinned me under him. His face was cold and menacing as he choked my neck. "Who sent you?"

I confessed without thinking. "The System! That money-losing System made me do it!" "Chloe!!" The System roared. "You coward!!" Julian frowned slightly. "What did he make you do?" "Make me... make me love you." I thought about it and shook my head. "No, make you love me." I spoke sincerely, and Julian believed it. He nodded calmly. "Oh."

I just breathed a sigh of relief when the large hand on my neck suddenly tightened. His dark eyes were cold and emotionless, as if looking at a dead object. I couldn't breathe. The feeling of suffocation made my vision go black. "Relax. It'll be over soon," Julian comforted me gently. His low, melodious voice sounded like the whisper of the Reaper. In the moment of life and death, I finally grabbed his critical area. And squeezed hard. Come on! Mutual destruction!

Julian's face changed. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he didn't dare apply more force. I raised my eyebrows arrogantly. Julian stared at me grimly. Our eyes met, filled with pure hate. He loosened his grip a little, and I loosened mine a little. But no one let go first. The System, which had crashed from fear earlier, was now mentally broken. It laughed inexplicably. "Haha, how is this not a match made in heaven? Maybe you've pioneered the path of pure hate redemption. Haha, I might as well die." After speaking, the System went completely silent.

During the standoff, the front door slammed onto the floor. I looked over in shock. Immediately, a crowd rushed in through the door. Police, reporters, countless flashes going off at Julian and me. Why are there reporters? A beautiful woman crying squeezed through the crowd. "Julian! You died so..." Her crying stopped abruptly when she saw the two of us. Julian suddenly lowered his head and kissed my cheek. "Baby, let go first. We'll continue later."