Steven was currently on his bed, thinking about the experience of riding the Superleggera V4. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The machine was everything he had hoped and more. He had been cautious and made sure to take things easy and slow, but he had still enjoyed it.

He would have to take the machine out on a few more slow and easy ride before he would truly be able to push it to its limit. And even then, he would still have to be careful.

The experience of the ride wasn’t the only highlight of the ride for Steven. He had noticed during the right that he was increasingly getting familiar with the machine very quickly.

It was the same feeling of familiarity that had crept up during the ride, but he had quickly suppressed it.

He understood that the feeling was thanks to the increase in his stats. It was something he hadn’t been able to focus on because he had been busy.

He wondered what changes the increase in his stats brought. He felt his much stronger he had become compared to before. How lighter his body felt, giving him the feeling that he could move as fast as the wind. And there was also the huge amount of energy flowing through his body, that gave him a feeling that he can never tired out.

Those weren’t the only changes. With the increase in his stat, he noticed that there has been some changes to his sight and the speed at which his brain was processing information, has become even faster.

Steven remembered that the stats’ description had said that the maximums points a human can have was 50 points in each stats, and amount and average points was 20.

But he was now way past the average and also halfway to the maximum, and it made him curious and wondering if he was the strongest or there were others stronger than him.

He understood that the reason why he was able to grow this strong was only because of the system. Which led to believe that the number of people stronger or on the same level of strength as him, are far and in between.

It was also the same for his intelligence. He had noticed the changes immediately. He noticed that the information that had been surfacing when he was eating, are becoming clearer and more detailed than before.

Steven had no idea just how much stronger he would grow in the future but with the fact that he has to spend money to receive exclusive points that he can use to increase, then he can very well say that his growth would be limitless.

He decided to stop thinking about it for now and focus on other things. He thought of Marcus’ case and he immediately picked up his from, and sent him a message.

"How are you, Marcus?"

Steven saw that Marcus’ wasn’t online and he opened the group chat to check what they were talking about, but it was silent.

He sighed softly and decided to find something else to spend his time on, but he couldn’t come with anything.

After a moment of contemplation, he decided to just do as he do always, game.

He jumped up from the bed and walked to the living area.

***

Time passed pretty quick and Steven gamed until late in the afternoon, when he got a message from Lena.

"Baby 💕. Can you please come pick me up? I’m about to close from work but I don’t want to take a ride home."

Steven dropped the controller, picked up his phone and replied.

"Sure, babe. I will there shortly."

"Okay. I will be waiting for you. Drive safe. I love you."

"I love you too."

Steven stood up from the sofa, picked up his cards and the Aston Martin’s key fob, and left the apartment.

A few minutes later, he was steering the car out of the underground garage and into the afternoon street.

The city was in its mid-afternoon register, as the traffic heavier than the morning had been but not yet at the evening peak. He followed the familiar route toward Lena’s office.

He reached the final turn and the glass and steel mid-rise came into view. He signalled, pulled into the drop-off lane, and sent her a message.

Steven: Outside.

Her reply came within a minute.

Lena: Coming down now. A minute, please. 💕

He kept the engine running and watched the entrance. A few people came and went through the automatic doors — colleagues finishing their day, a courier leaving with an empty bag, a man in a suit on his phone.

Then Lena came through.

She had her jacket over her arm and her bag over her shoulder and she was looking at her phone as she pushed through the door. She glanced up, found the Aston Martin immediately, and the tiredness in her expression quickly gave way into something warmer.

Steven reached across and opened the passenger door from inside.

She got in, pulled the door closed behind her, and exhaled.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he said.

She leaned across and gave him a warm, brief kiss, then settled back into the seat with her bag on her lap and looked out through the windscreen.

"Long day?" he asked, pulling out of the drop-off lane and back into the street.

"The longest," she said. "The recommendation I’ve been building came back with questions from the board. Good questions, but it means another round of documentation before it moves forward." She paused. "Which is fine. It’s the process. I just wanted to be done with it today."

"It’ll close quickly. Trust me on that," Steven said.

Lena smiled and looked back out at the road. "How was your afternoon?"

"It was quiet," he said. "Went to the DPS to get the endorsement certificate, checked out the property I got recently, took the Superleggera for a short ride, then gamed for a few hours. Nothing pressing."

Lena turned to look at him. "Wait. Back up."

"Which part?" he asked.

"The property," she said. "You recently acquired a property?"

"More like received. But yeah, I did," he said.

"When?" she asked.

"It came through this morning," Steven said. "I went to see it after the DPS."

Lena shifted slightly in her seat to face him better. "Where is it?"

"Buffalo Speedway," he said. "Upper Kirby."

She was quiet for a moment, processing. "That’s a good corridor. What kind of property?"

"Residential apartment complex," he said. "Thirty-two units. Four storeys. Well-maintained, currently occupied."

The silence that followed was longer than the previous one.

"Steven," she said.

"Yes?"

"A thirty-two unit residential complex in Upper Kirby."

"Yes," he said.

"That’s a portfolio," she said.

"The document puts annual revenue at over a million," he said.

Lena stared at him for a moment, then turned back to face the windscreen. She was quiet long enough that he glanced across at her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I’m recalibrating," she said.

He smiled. "Take your time."

She exhaled slowly. "Okay. Walk me through it. How did it come through this morning? Did you close on it over the weekend without telling me?"

Steven considered how to answer that. He can’t exactly tell her that he got the property from a system, can he? Even though he’s honest with her, his honestly hasn’t gotten to that point and they just started dating too.

But while he can’t tell her the truth, he can still give her an abridged version of the whole thing.

"It came through the trust. I received the documents this morning," he said.

"Trust? You have a trust fund?" Lena asked with surprise visible on her face.

"Yeah. I do," Steven replied, smiling, as he found Lena’s reaction to be funny.

"I never took you for a trust fund baby. I now understand why you don’t bother with Drew. But I have so many questions."

"That’s to be expected."

"You know. The more I get to know you, the more questions I have," Lena muttered.

Steven smiled and saying nothing, as he continued driving.

Lena looked out through the windscreen as the familiar streets of her neighbourhood came into view.

Then she looked at Steven for a moment, then smiled and turned back to the window.

He turned onto her street and pulled up outside her building, cutting the engine.

Neither of them moved immediately.

Lena turned to face him properly, her bag still on her lap. In the amber light coming through the windscreen, the tiredness from the day had softened.

"Thank you for picking me up," she said.

"Any time," he said simply.

She leaned across and kissed him, one hand resting briefly against his jaw, and he kissed her back without rushing it.

When she pulled away, she stayed close for a moment.

"Call me later," she said quietly.

"I will," he said.

She held his gaze for a moment, then smiled and reached for the door handle. She stepped out, slung her bag over her shoulder, and closed the door behind her.

At the entrance she turned and looked back at him through the glass, raised her hand and waved at him, and pushed through the door.

Steven watched her disappear into the lobby.

He started the engine and pulled out onto the street, heading home through the early evening city.