Millionaires for the Month: Chapters 31–44

“You look beautiful,” he whispered as they stepped onto the white carpet.
“I might throw up,” she replied, which made him feel queasy.

"I’m Benji Porter. I’m friends with the bride’s brother, Felix.” Friend was a strong word, but now wasn’t the time to get a thesaurus.

“What did this cost?” Benji’s dad asked Felix.
Felix turned white, and Benji thought he might tip over.
You don't have to answer, Benji tried to say telepathically.

Who wants to work until they're thirty?
But Benji politely nodded and listened and kept most of his attention on his dad, who smiled every time Mr. Rubin said annuity, or compound interest, or low-risk.

"Hello?” Felix answered.
"Hey, buddy. It’s me.” Benji wandered out of his mom’s eavesdropping zone.
“Where are you? You haven’t spent any money since the wedding.”

His dad held up a folded newspaper and pointed to an article.
“The band—Apex-7—they're refunding your money. Most of it, anyway. They're keeping a few thousand for expenses, but they're returning over one million dollars. I think the social-media pressure got to them. They took advantage of a couple of naive kids. That's not the publicity anyone wants.”

“We'd set up hospice care, and they made him comfortable. But I was out of the country for work and didn't make it back in time. I said my final goodbye to him on the phone, but I don't know if he heard me.” Laura Friendly shoved her hands deep into her coat pockets. “Fortunately, my sister was there. But if I was granted a do-over—if I could buy a do-over—I'd be there at his side.”

“You can't.” She shook her head. “You signed a contract. The lawyers will seize all assets you have after December first. Leonard Trulz's job depends on it. He will not be paid if any rules are broken. He has a bonus structure tied to the successful conclusion of this venture.”

They planned to sink every last penny into the drama club fundraiser: custom cupcakes flown in from a bakery in LA, skywriting, prepaid food trucks, a performance by two Broadway stars, flowers from Holland (which was a six-figure expense!), acrobats, real penguins, and a traveling planetarium.

“Your rooms are prepaid through December first, but every morning we charge the previous day’s incidentals, like room service and pet cleaning fees. Today the payment was denied.”

"I know my dad’s password. We’ll log in to his email, and you can write his lawyer a message and tell them to drop the case. Something like: Objection, I've changed my mind. Please cease and desist. I don't want to sue Laura Friendly anymore. Give them the money back.”
Felix stared in disbelief. This was not a plan. This was a crappy idea.

Benji’s mom sat next to Felix. She squeezed his hand and whispered something. Felix nodded slightly without looking up. They settled into the chairs, taking up half the waiting area. Other people came in with their sick animals—a dog that had swallowed a corncob, a lethargic cat, a puppy that refused to eat.

“Decisions?" Benji asked, but he knew what she was getting at.
“Sometimes the humane thing to do is the hardest. We have to consider the quality of life, including long-term pain and special needs." The doctor looked to the adults in the room.

"Freebie didn’t deserve this,” he repeated.
"Maybe he did,” Benji said, and Felix’s head snapped up, disgusted. "He chewed up the steering wheel on a Bugatti. That’s gotta be bad karma or something.”

“He’s a fighter,” Dr. Rhamid said with a half smile. “He had some issues during surgery, but he refused to give up. We will know more after the anesthesia wears off and in the coming days. If he does well, he’ll need another surgery for his leg.”

Benji stood in his room that morning. He'd only slept a few hours, and his eyes felt heavy and his brain sluggish. But he had to tell his parents about the challenge without really telling them.

People held out their cell phones and recorded the event. Felix knew there would be a backlash tomorrow. Another viral video—and he didn’t care.

“Oh, Tracey, please. I can address this. I took a well- orchestrated publicity opportunity and turned it into an impossible challenge.” Laura Friendly shrugged. “It was a mistake.”

She scoffed. “But maybe you’ve earned something.” She tapped a finger on her chin, and Benji held his breath. “How about this? You and Felix can each keep one thing you bought. Just one thing. And it can’t be a car. Those were rentals.”

"Where’s your phone?” Benji asked Felix. "Ms. Friendly sent us the prototype for our game.”

Felix fished through his duffel bag to find his iPhone. That was the one thing he had decided to keep. The rest of the stuff they’d bought in November had been confiscated by Laura Friendly’s goons.

Turned out they weren’t really goons—just a moving company with a meticulous checklist of all the stuff Benji and Felix had bought.

Reggie sighed. “The ends justifying the means is something a ruthless dictator might say, not a philosopher.”
“Really?” Benji asked. “I thought it sounded philosophical.”
“Well, some attribute the phrase to Machiavelli in his work The Prince, but he never used—”
“Never mind!” Benji laughed. “I take it back.”

Reggie sighed. “The ends justifying the means is something a ruthless dictator might say, not a philosopher.”
“Really?” Benji asked. “I thought it sounded philosophical.”
“Well, some attribute the phrase to Machiavelli in his work The Prince, but he never used—”
“Never mind!” Benji laughed. “I take it back.”

Reggie sighed. “The ends justifying the means is something a ruthless dictator might say, not a philosopher.”
“Really?” Benji asked. “I thought it sounded philosophical.”
“Well, some attribute the phrase to Machiavelli in his work The Prince, but he never used—”
“Never mind!” Benji laughed. “I take it back.”