The first thing Luca Hale noticed when he woke up was the pounding in his head.
The second was that he wasn’t alone.
Sunlight filtered through a gap in the curtains, casting pale streaks across the luxury hotel suite. A chair had been knocked over near the window. A woman’s high heels rested beside the bed. Clothing was scattered everywhere, creating a trail that led from the doorway all the way to the tangled sheets.
Luca stared at the ceiling for several seconds, trying to piece together the events of the previous night.
Then reality caught up with him.
’Well... that happened.’
Slowly, he turned his head.
A woman lay sleeping beside him.
Long crimson hair spilled across the pillow like liquid wine. Even in sleep, she carried an air of elegance that felt completely out of place in the ssy aftermath surrounding them. Her features were delicate and refined, the kind that could stop conversations when she walked into a room.
Luca couldn’t help staring for a mont.
She was gorgeous.
Not just attractive. Not just pretty.
The kind of beauty that made people instinctively look twice.
A faint crease rested between her brows, as if she wasn’t entirely comfortable even while sleeping.
He searched his mory.
Nothing.
No na.
No phone number.
Not even a clear recollection of how they’d gotten here.
Only fragnts remained.
A crowded bar.
Far too much whiskey.
A beautiful stranger sitting alone.
A conversation that sohow lasted for hours.
Then a hotel.
And after that...
Well.
The evidence was difficult to ignore.
Luca rubbed his temples.
At twenty-five, his life had never exactly gone according to plan.
He wasn’t so young billionaire or tech genius. He’d graduated from a state university, landed a sales job at a mid-sized advertising company, and spent the last three years grinding his way up the ladder.
Long hours.
Impossible quotas.
Endless client dinners.
The kind of work that slowly drained your soul while promising things would eventually get better.
To his credit, they had.
A few months ago, he’d finally been promoted.
Not rich.
Not famous.
But stable.
Yesterday had destroyed all of that.
One unfortunate trip back to the office had led him to discovering sothing he absolutely wasn’t supposed to see.
His boss.
A married man.
And a company intern.
The affair would’ve remained secret if Luca had quietly walked away.
Unfortunately, he’d been spotted.
By lunchti, he was unemployed.
The official reason had been "organizational restructuring."
The real reason was obvious.
By evening, things sohow got worse.
His girlfriend called.
The conversation lasted less than ten minutes.
She didn’t yell.
She didn’t cry.
She simply inford him that she needed a partner with a future and didn’t believe he was that person anymore.
Then she hung up.
Just like that.
Job gone.
Relationship gone.
Future uncertain.
So Luca did what countless brokenhearted n had done before him.
He found the nearest bar and ordered sothing strong.
Then another.
Then another.
And sohow that disastrous night had led him here.
To a luxury hotel.
Sharing a bed with a woman who looked like she’d stepped out of a movie.
Life was weird.
"Have you finished staring yet?"
The voice nearly made him jump.
Luca turned.
Bright eyes were looking directly at him.
The woman had apparently been awake for so ti.
Amusent danced within her gaze.
Embarrassed, Luca cleared his throat.
"Sorry."
A faint smile tugged at her lips.
"Was I that interesting to look at?"
Luca considered lying.
Then decided honesty was safer.
"Yeah."
The smile widened.
"Good answer."
She stretched lazily beneath the sheets.
The movent nearly made Luca forget how to breathe.
’Jesus Christ.’
The woman laughed softly after noticing his reaction.
Clearly, she found his discomfort entertaining.
For a few monts, neither of them spoke.
The atmosphere was strangely comfortable.
Then she sat up and reached for her clothes.
The spell broke instantly.
Luca watched as she gathered her belongings with calm efficiency, almost as if last night had been completely ordinary.
Maybe for her it was.
A little later, the bathroom door opened.
Steam drifted into the room.
The woman stepped out wearing a fitted burgundy dress that matched her hair perfectly.
Seeing her fully dressed sohow made her even more intimidating.
She looked less like soone he’d t in a bar and more like soone who belonged on magazine covers.
Luca opened his mouth.
"We should at least—"
"No."
The response ca gently but firmly.
She picked up her handbag and t his gaze.
"Last night was supposed to be simple, rember?"
Luca frowned.
Simple?
Apparently she’d rembered far more of the conversation than he had.
"No nas."
She held up a finger.
"No personal questions."
A second finger.
"And no expectations afterward."
A third.
Luca vaguely rembered agreeing to sothing along those lines.
Alcohol really was dangerous.
The woman stepped closer.
For a brief mont, Luca thought she might reconsider.
Instead, she leaned down and kissed his cheek.
A faint lipstick mark remained behind.
"Take care of yourself, mister."
Then she walked toward the door.
The lock clicked shut behind her.
And just like that, she was gone.
Silence returned to the room.
Luca sat there staring at the closed door.
’That’s it?’
No na.
No number.
No way to find her.
Just a mory.
And sohow that bothered him more than it should.
[Ding!]
A chanical voice echoed inside his mind.
Luca froze.
[Ding! Detecting host compatibility.]
[Binding God-Tier Cashback System...]
[Binding successful.]
For several seconds, Luca simply blinked.
Then he looked around the room.
Nobody.
No speakers.
No television.
Nothing.
"...What?"
[God-Tier Cashback System activated.]
[Core Function: Spending money may trigger cashback rewards ranging from 2x to 10x.]
[Special Function: Spending on designated female targets may activate Critical Hit Rewards.]
[All funds originate from legal and traceable sources.]
[Additional features will unlock as the host progresses.]
Luca stared into space.
Then he pinched himself.
Hard.
"Ouch!"
It hurt.
Which ant...
This wasn’t a dream.
A system?
An actual system?
The kind from all those novels he’d wasted countless nights reading?
His heart imdiately began racing.
"You’re serious?"
[System online.]
"That’s a yes."
Luca jumped out of bed.
The hangover vanished instantly.
If this thing was real, everything was about to change.
While getting dressed, however, his gaze landed on the bedsheet.
A small crimson stain stood out against the white fabric.
He paused.
For so reason, the image of the mysterious red-haired woman appeared in his mind again.
His expression grew complicated.
’Her first ti...?’
The question lingered briefly before he shook his head.
There was no point dwelling on it.
She’d made her decision.
He had no way of finding her.
And right now, there was sothing far more important to verify.
The system.
Twenty minutes later, Luca stepped onto a busy downtown street.
His eyes imdiately locked onto a convenience store.
Perfect.
He grabbed a bottle of water from a refrigerator and carried it to the counter.
"Two bucks," the cashier said.
Luca handed over the money.
[Ding!]
[Host spent $2.]
[5x Cashback Triggered.]
[Reward: $10.]
His phone vibrated.
A bank notification appeared instantly.
$10.00
Luca stared.
Then stared again.
Then checked his account balance.
The money was really there.
For several seconds he remained completely motionless.
And then he burst out laughing.
"Hahaha!"
The cashier jumped.
Several nearby custors turned to stare.
Luca didn’t care.
It worked.
It actually worked.
He wasn’t dreaming.
He wasn’t hallucinating.
He had a system.
The future suddenly looked a whole lot brighter.
Grinning like an idiot, Luca headed toward the busiest shopping district in San Fierro.
If spending money made money...
Then he planned to spend a lot of it.
A few minutes later, he turned a corner at full speed.
And imdiately crashed into soone.
Soft.
That was the first thing he noticed.
Very soft.
The second thing was the startled yelp.
"Oh my God! I’m so sorry!"
A young woman stumbled backward, nearly dropping her phone.
Luca instinctively reached out and steadied her before she could fall.
"It’s my fault," he said quickly. "I wasn’t watching where I was going."
The woman blinked.
She was tall, probably around five-foot-seven, with clear skin and delicate features that gave her an almost doll-like appearance.
And her figure...
Yeah.
There was absolutely no missing that.
A livestream was running on the phone in her hand.
Apparently she’d been streaming while walking.
"You okay?" Luca asked.
The woman finally looked up properly.
The mont their eyes t, she froze.
For a second, she completely forgot what she was about to say.
’Wait...’
Naomi Monroe’s heart skipped a beat.
’Why is he so handso?’
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