Infinite Rebate: I Get Richer Every Time I Spend

The two of them remained seated in the deepest part of the cave, their backs resting against the cold stone wall.

For a while...

Neither of them spoke.

The fire between them crackled softly, casting flickering orange light across the rough cave walls. Outside, the wind howled through the trees, carrying the occasional rustle of leaves into the darkness.

Lucas, however, wasn’t relaxing.

His eyes never stopped scanning the cave entrance.

His mind was constantly calculating.

Based on the terrain...

Those kidnappers should need at least an hour to climb down the cliff and search this area.

That meant they couldn’t leave the fire burning for too long.

A fire was warmth.

But it was also a beacon.

If the Mexicans caught sight of the glow from outside...

Their hiding place would be exposed instantly.

Lucas silently counted the minutes in his head while waiting for their soaked clothes to dry.

Unfortunately...

His phone had been completely ruined after falling into the underground river.

There was no way to contact anyone.

No GPS.

No signal.

For the moment...

They were completely isolated.

Roughly twenty minutes later, Lucas reached over and felt the clothes hanging on the nearby rocks.

"They’re dry enough."

Without wasting another second, he crouched beside the fire, scooped up several handfuls of loose sand, and carefully buried the burning embers.

The flames gradually disappeared beneath the dirt.

The warm orange glow vanished.

In an instant...

The cave was swallowed by darkness.

The only remaining sounds were the distant rushing of the underground river and the strange cries echoing from deep within the primitive forest.

Somewhere outside...

A flock of night birds suddenly screeched.

The eerie sound echoed through the mountains.

Kristine instinctively shivered.

Without thinking, she quietly moved closer until she was almost pressed against Lucas’s side.

Lucas noticed...

But he didn’t move away.

He simply let her lean against him.

After everything they’d been through tonight...

This little bit of reassurance didn’t bother him.

Besides...

Any guy would admit it.

Having one of the campus beauty clinging to your arm wasn’t exactly unpleasant.

After remaining silent for another minute, Kristine finally spoke.

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"...Lucas."

"What do we do now?"

She hesitated before asking the question she feared most.

"...Will they keep chasing us?"

"Should... should we try to run?"

Her breathing became uneven.

"...Are we going to die here?"

The darkness amplified every fear inside her heart.

Lucas gently patted her shoulder.

His voice remained calm and steady.

"No."

"We’re staying right here."

He glanced toward the completely dark cave entrance.

"It’s pitch-black outside."

"Even if we tried to escape now, we’d probably get lost again."

"And if those guys really have rifles..."

"They probably have thermal imaging equipment too."

"If that’s the case..."

"Running around in the open would just make us easier targets."

He pointed toward the cave entrance.

"I blocked most of it with those rocks."

"And I already put out the fire."

"Unless someone walks right up to the entrance..."

"They won’t even realize there’s a cave here."

"So..."

"For now..."

"This is actually the safest place we can be."

Lucas leaned his head back against the stone wall.

Inwardly, he began calculating the situation again.

By now...

Lilith had probably noticed he was missing.

There was no way she’d sit around doing nothing.

She would definitely organize a search party.

If they still couldn’t find him after several more hours...

She would almost certainly contact the police.

Once armed police entered the forest...

Those kidnappers wouldn’t have much time left to hide.

Thinking that far ahead...

Lucas finally relaxed slightly.

Beside him...

Kristine also let out a long breath after hearing his reasoning.

The panic on her face gradually faded.

This cave stretched surprisingly deep into the mountain.

They had chosen the innermost corner, far from the entrance.

Even if someone happened to pass outside...

It would be almost impossible to notice them.

So...

The two of them quietly sat together in the darkness.

Waiting for the endless night...

To finally give way to dawn.

"By the way..."

Lucas suddenly broke the silence.

"You missed the fireworks show tonight, didn’t you?"

Kristine blinked.

Lucas continued casually,

"The others recorded plenty of videos."

"I’ll show them to you after we get out of here."

"They turned out pretty spectacular."

He wasn’t bringing it up to brag.

He simply wanted to distract Kristine from everything that had happened tonight.

Sure enough, the topic immediately caught her attention.

"Hmph..."

"I’m not watching."

Lucas looked at her in confusion.

"Why not?"

"I specifically ordered the Excalibur Artillery Shells."

"You don’t get to see fireworks like that very often."

Kristine froze.

"...Wait."

"The fireworks tonight..."

"...You arranged them?"

She had always assumed they were part of Bryce’s elaborate confession to Maya.

Lucas looked at her like she’d asked something ridiculous.

"Of course I did."

"You don’t seriously think your precious Bryce could afford something like that, do you?"

"He spent a little money setting up those tiny fountain fireworks."

"One Excalibur shell costs two million dollars."

"I fired off several of them."

"Do you honestly think he could afford that?"

Lucas couldn’t help snorting.

Just thinking about Bryce irritated him.

If Bryce hadn’t been such a two-faced jerk...

Kristine never would’ve run into the forest.

If she hadn’t run away...

Lucas wouldn’t have spent the entire night searching for her.

He wouldn’t have been chased by armed kidnappers.

They wouldn’t be hiding inside some cave right now.

Instead...

He could’ve been lying comfortably in the presidential suite.

Curled up with Maya.

Getting some actual sleep.

Yet somehow...

He’d ended up babysitting a hopeless romantic.

Meanwhile...

Kristine was thinking about something completely different.

So...

The fireworks...

They were all prepared by Lucas?

Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

The dazzling display that had lit up the entire sky...

The one everyone had been talking about...

Had actually been his.

Her cheeks slowly turned pink.

He’s...

So romantic...

He’s nothing like Bryce...

Then another thought suddenly popped into her head.

Wait...

Why is Lucas even bringing Bryce up?

Could it be...

Does he think I still like Bryce?

Her eyes slowly widened.

No way...

Is he... jealous?

The more she thought about it...

The more convinced she became.

He has to like me.

Otherwise...

Why would he risk his life coming into this forest alone to find me?

Why would he jump off that cliff with me?

Why didn’t he let go of my hand even when both of us were falling?

And earlier...

When I was changing out of my wet clothes...

He never once took advantage of me.

Kristine quietly lowered her head.

She had always been confident in her appearance.

She knew she was beautiful.

She knew countless boys on campus secretly admired her.

Yet Lucas had remained perfectly respectful the entire time.

There was only one explanation.

As people always say...

"Lust is reckless."

"Love knows restraint."

Her heartbeat became faster and faster.

Of course...

There was still Maya.

The thought made Kristine hesitate.

But almost immediately...

She convinced herself.

Lucas is outstanding.

Someone like him naturally attracts attention.

Even Bryce always had girls surrounding him.

If an ordinary rich guy could attract countless admirers...

Then someone like Lucas...

Would naturally have even more.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t like me...

Before she even realized it...

Kristine had completely talked herself into believing it.

She took a deep breath.

"...Lucas."

Her voice was so soft it almost disappeared into the darkness.

Lucas turned his head.

"What?"

Kristine nervously twisted her fingers together.

Inside the quiet cave...

She could clearly hear her own heartbeat pounding against her chest.

"...I was wrong."

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

She lowered her head.

"I shouldn’t have believed Bryce."

"I shouldn’t have spoken badly about you back at school."

"I’m... really sorry."

She paused for several seconds before finally gathering all her courage.

"And..."

"I realized something."

She slowly looked up at him.

"I’ve fallen in love with you."

The confession echoed softly inside the cave.

Lucas wasn’t particularly surprised.

After all...

The system had already told him everything.

Her Favorability had reached ninety-nine.

There wasn’t much room left for it to go.

He simply nodded.

"...Yeah."

"I know."

His calm response only made Kristine more nervous.

"W-You’re still mad at me, aren’t you?"

"I promise..."

"From now on..."

"I’ll only love you."

"I was tricked by Bryce before."

"I’ll never make that mistake again."

"So..."

"Please don’t stay angry with me..."

As she spoke, her voice turned soft and almost trembling. She slowly scooted closer until she was sitting right beside Lucas, her warm body nearly pressed against his side.

Almost unconsciously, she rested both hands lightly on his thigh... then let them slide a little higher, her soft fingertips brushing closer and closer to the sensitive area between his legs.

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