"How did you do it?" Alice asked Ryder as soon as he entered the kitchen.

Ryder pumped up his chest and stood proudly as he replied to her.

"Did you doubt my words? You might not know it, but I'm low-key a Mafia don," Ryder joked around.

"Is that how you got all that money?" Alice glared at him. She didn't understand that he was joking.

"Hey, I'm kidding. Why do you take it so seriously? I have no relation to... I mean, I'm not a Mafia don or a gang member,"

He was about to say that he had no relation to any mafia or underworld group, but he remembered Esmi and changed his words.

"Then how did you get the Dean to come to ask for forgiveness?" She asked.

"It's not that strange. When I went there, I saw him having private time with his secretary. He was scared and started begging me not to expose him. You can imagine what happened next," he said with an innocent smile on his face.

"Really? That was quite lucky that you managed to see them together. I guess I can understand, though. He would be ashamed if someone found out that he had an affair with his 60-year-old secretary," Alice said as she thought about it.

"Exactly," Ryder smiled.

"You can go to college without any worries. He won't do anything. In fact, you can do anything in University now," he added.

"Thank you for that," she said as she stepped towards Ryder and hugged him tightly.

"Don't say thanks. It makes me feel like I'm an outsider," Ryder muttered as he hugged her back.

She freed him shortly and went back to her place.

"Just wait a second. Lunch will be ready in a few minutes,"

Ryder nodded and sat on the dinner table as he took out his phone and started going through his news feed.

"The Basketball Knights won the National Basketball Championship for the 3rd time in a row,"

"Actress Jiah Malkova won the best actress award for her praiseworthy role in the movie, 'Friday Love in the Wind'. The whole community congratulated her,"

"The mystery of disappearing bodies continues. According to expert's, ten dead bodies went missing from various graveyards this week,"

The last news attracted Ryder's attention, and he clicked on the headline to open the page.

"This morning, the grave keeper of Oarkinson Graveyard noticed something strange. One of the bodies from the place had gone missing, and only a human-shaped hole was left behind in the ground. This is not the first time this has happened. This is the 10th case like this of the week. This year alone, hundreds of bodies have gone missing from all over the country,"

"The authorities are searching for the culprit, but there is no clue at the moment. Mr. Hatch Hutchinson, the Officer handling this case, said that this thing is unprecedented. Although he refused to give any details, he talked about how they believe it to be the work of a big organization as the cases seem to be appearing all over the country,"

Ryder read the news before closing the page.

'Stealing the dead? Why would someone do that? If they wanted dead bodies, they could've taken all the bodies from the same place. Why take ten bodies from 10 different states,' Ryder thought.

"Criminals are weird," He muttered as he shook his head.

"Did you say something?" Alice asked as she looked back.

"Nothing. I didn't say anything," Ryder replied.

Alice prepared the lunch and placed that on the table before she sat beside him.

"Looks delicious," Ryder complimented.

Alice smiled at the compliment. Her smile attracted Ryder's attention.

"I should learn some jokes," Ryder let out as he glanced at her.

"Why?" Alice inquired.

"So that I could make you smile. You look so beautiful when you smile," Ryder said to her.

Alice's face turned red as she heard Ryder talk about it.

"Do I really?" Alice asked.

"Of course. Every time I see your smile, I feel like just watching you smile for eternity wouldn't be so bad," Ryder answered.

"I feel the same when you smile. I feel jealous of the girl that will become your wife," Alice muttered in an almost inaudible voice, but Ryder managed to hear her.

"How about you become my wife then? We are already together; nothing much would change," Ryder chuckled as he said.

"Don't talk while eating," Alice said as she looked away from Ruder, hiding her red face. Her heart was beating faster as she thought about Ryder's words.

Ryder smiled wryly as he started eating.

Alice had finished faster, and she had already gone to her room.

She was lying on her bed as she hid her face in a pillow.

"Why am I thinking so much about it. Of course, he was joking," She muttered.

After a long time, she managed to calm down.

****

Ryder also finished eating and went to his room.

"I'm so stupid. Why did I say it? I hope she won't find me weird for saying that," he muttered as he walked to the shower.

He came out after he finished his shower and got dressed.

He sat in the bed and placed the briefcase that was given to him by Dean Greyson on the table.

"Now I have 17 million dollars, including it. The lottery results will be announced in 2 days, and I'll get 10 million dollars from there. That will make it 27 million dollars. I can get all the equipment I need with it and establish the operations, and I'll still have money left. Finally, things are falling in place," Ryder let out.

"Next month, the Estaragon Limited will sell its shares cheaply to save themselves from bankruptcy, but no one will buy them as they have lost the trust of people on their business. I know, though, It is all just temporary. As soon as I get the majority shares, the next stage of my plan will be complete as well," he added.

Ryder put the bag filled with money in his storage space.

"It might take some time, but I will definitely make Divine Corporation the biggest conglomerate in the whole world," he muttered as he laid down on the bed.

He rested for half an hour before he left the house and got in his car.

The Car's engine silently started. Ryder took the car on the highway and raced it towards his destination.

After a brief moment, he got to his destination, which was the Bucky's Club. He parked his car near Esmi's car.