infinite Rebate System: 10x Rewards for Conquering And Taming Heroines

Jason sat at his desk, the old Nokia heavy in his hand. The desk lamp threw a low yellow pool of light across the wood, leaving the rest of the room in soft shadow. Outside the window the city had finally gone quiet. Only the occasional distant horn cut through the night before fading again.

For the first time since the rebirth, he actually had space to think.

Today kept looping in his head. His mother’s suicide attempt. The rooftop. The raw panic of racing against the clock. The moment Sarah had thrown herself at him and dragged him back from the edge. Even now the memory made his chest tighten. A few minutes later and everything would have been over. He didn’t let himself finish the thought.

She was alive. That fact alone was enough to keep him breathing.

A small, tired smile tugged at his mouth.

Then it died.

Because another face pushed its way in.

Olivia Hayes.

The bitch who had walked off with fifty thousand dollars of a nineteen-year-old’s hard-earned savings. The same bitch who blocked him the second he asked for it back. The same bitch whose selfishness had helped shove Sarah toward that rooftop in the first place.

Jason’s eyes went cold.

In his last life it had taken him years to see her clearly. Olivia had never been some soft university sweetheart. She was a climber. An opportunist. The kind of woman who treated every relationship like a ladder and every man like a rung. He had been young, stupid, and completely blind.

This time the blindfold was off.

The familiar mechanical voice slid into his mind.

[Mission Triggered]

[At nineteen, you entrusted your future to Olivia Hayes.]

[When your family desperately needed help, she chose herself.]

[Do you have the courage to reclaim what belongs to you?]

[Mission Objective: Recover your hard-earned money.]

[Mission Reward: Triple the amount recovered.]

[Bonus Reward: +10 Charm]

[Current Progress: 0%]

Jason’s mouth curved into a slow, sharp grin.

"Now that’s a mission I can get behind."

Triple the recovered amount. Fifty thousand back meant a hundred and fifty from the system. Not bad at all.

His fingers tapped lightly against the desk. Evidence. That was the key. In his previous life Olivia’s entire carefully built image had cracked the second someone exposed her academic misconduct. If he moved early this time, gathered the right pressure points, he might not even need a courtroom. He could make the bitch hand the money over herself just to make the problem go away.

He leaned back in the chair, the smile still on his face.

"Let’s see how long you can keep pretending, Olivia."

Three soft knocks cut through the quiet.

Jason blinked. Almost eleven at night. Who the hell was still awake?

Then a familiar voice, low and gentle, came through the door.

"Jason... you still up?"

Victoria.

He stood immediately. "Yeah, Aunt Victoria. Come in."

The door opened.

Jason froze for half a second~not from shock, exactly, but from the sudden shift in focus. Most of the day had been pure survival mode. Only now did he actually look at her.

She had clearly just gotten out of the shower. Her long dark hair was still damp, a few strands sticking lightly to her neck and the side of her face. A faint floral scent drifted into the room with her~clean, warm, and impossible to ignore. She wore a loose gray nightshirt that stopped just above her knees. Nothing fancy. Nothing deliberate. Just soft fabric that moved when she did, clinging lightly where it was still damp from her skin.

Victoria had always been beautiful. Even at thirty-seven she carried herself with a quiet, effortless grace that a lot of younger women never managed. The nightshirt did nothing to hide the soft curve of her hips or the way the fabric settled over her breasts when she breathed.

Jason looked away fast.

He wasn’t eighteen anymore. Mentally he was thirty-eight. He knew exactly what kind of thoughts that body could start if he let them.

Victoria caught the flicker in his expression and narrowed her eyes.

"What are you staring at?"

Jason cleared his throat. "Nothing."

"I don’t believe you."

He gave a short, rough laugh. "Seriously. Nothing."

She rolled her eyes in that familiar way that always made him feel like a kid again, then walked further into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. For a few seconds neither of them spoke. The quiet between them felt thicker than usual~charged in a way Jason couldn’t quite name.

Finally Victoria sighed, the sound soft and tired.

"Your mother scared the hell out of me today."

Jason’s smile faded. "Yeah. Me too."

She looked down at her hands. "When we got the diagnosis I knew she was struggling. She kept smiling. Kept telling everyone she was fine. But I could see it. She was terrified."

Jason stayed silent. He already knew. Sarah had always carried everything alone, even when it was crushing her.

Victoria’s voice dropped lower. "When we were younger your mom was always the brave one. When I got into trouble, she fixed it. When I cried, she held me together. And when my husband died..." She paused. For the first time Jason saw real vulnerability crack through her usual composure. "She was the only reason I kept going."

The room stayed quiet. Jason didn’t rush to fill it. Some things just needed space.

Victoria gave a weak little smile. "And now she’s the one suffering. I hate feeling useless."

"You’re not," Jason said immediately.

She looked up.

"You lent us money. You stayed at the hospital. You’ve been carrying this family more than anyone. You didn’t disappear when things got ugly."

Victoria stared at him for a long second, surprise clear on her face. Then a soft laugh slipped out.

"When did you get so mature?"

Jason almost told the truth~that he had already lived another nineteen years~but caught himself.

"Maybe today forced it."

Her expression softened. She reached over and ruffled his hair the same way she used to when he was a kid. Jason almost pulled away out of habit... then didn’t. It had been a long time since anyone touched him like that. Like family. Real family. Not someone calculating what they could get.

Something warm and unfamiliar settled in his chest.

Victoria seemed to notice the shift in his eyes. Her own gaze lingered a second longer than necessary before she spoke again.

"Jason."

"Yeah?"

"No matter what happens... you’ve still got us. Me. Emma. Sophia. We’re not going anywhere."

Jason looked away for a moment. His eyes felt suspiciously hot.

"Damn."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Victoria laughed under her breath, then stood. The nightshirt shifted with the movement, the soft fabric sliding over her thighs.

"Get some sleep. You look wrecked."

Jason nodded. "I will."

She walked to the door, then stopped and glanced back over her shoulder, a mischievous little spark returning to her eyes.

"By the way... Emma told me you actually cooked today."

Jason felt the trap coming. "Yeah?"

Victoria folded her arms under her breasts, the nightshirt pulling tight for a second. "Tomorrow you’re making breakfast."

He stared. "That’s not how this works."

"It is now. You cooked once. Congrats~you’re the official family chef."

"Who decided that?"

"I did."

Jason opened his mouth, closed it, then just shook his head. Victoria laughed hard enough that she had to brace a hand against the doorframe. For the first time all day the heavy weight in the room finally lifted.

She waved once. "Night, Jason."

"Night, Aunt Victoria."

The door clicked shut.

Silence settled again.

Jason leaned back in the chair, a small, real smile still on his face. Tomorrow would bring money problems, Olivia’s bullshit, hospital bills, and whatever else the universe decided to throw. But tonight felt different.

For the first time since waking up in this second life, he didn’t feel alone.

And somehow that made every fight ahead of him feel possible.

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