Cloudhaven City, Cloudtop Design Company.

"Ethan Carter, you're fired!"

"Late 108 times, left early 109, slacked off on the job—you're a parasite. Our company doesn't tolerate freeloaders like you. Cloudtop's top of the industry. You? You're just dragging us down."

David Morgan bellowed across the office, pointing at Ethan with heavy contempt. His loud voice cut through the silence, full of fake righteousness.

Everyone else didn't say a word, but the sneers and thinly disguised amusement in their eyes said it all. They knew Ethan wasn't the loser David painted him to be. Actually, he was the best among them. That's why they couldn't wait to watch him fall.

"You…"

Ethan's fists clenched by his side, eyes burning with rage.

This mess? All because of what he saw yesterday. He'd been working overtime to finish a proposal and walked in on David and his secretary, Sophie Parker, in a not-so-professional situation. David, who only got his position thanks to family ties, never expected to be caught. Holding a grudge, he decided to destroy Ethan's career.

"Still glaring at me? Go ahead—won't change a damn thing," David snapped, tossing a document straight at Ethan's chest. "I've already filed your ‘performance issues' with HQ. That's your termination notice. Fair warning—nobody in the industry will hire you now. Your name's mud out there."

"You've got five minutes. Either you walk out, or I'll call security to drag you out."

Ethan stood so quickly his chair rattled backward.

"David, how can you stoop this low?"

His voice trembled with fury. He'd tolerated a lot, but David hadn't just fired him—he'd cut off every path forward. This wasn't punishment… this was annihilation.

"What are you trying to do?"

David took an instinctive step back. Despite his weight, he fumbled backward toward his two subordinates.

Feeling them behind him, David gathered some false confidence. "What? You want to hit me now? You nuts?" he shouted. "Ryan Cooper, Paul Edwards—get him out of here!"

Ryan and Paul stood immediately, stepping in front of David like loyal guards.

Their eyes gleamed with ambition. Kicking Ethan out meant a chance to climb the ladder. And they'd been waiting.

"You know, you brought this on yourself," Ryan sneered. "You were too good. No one else could catch a break."

Paul added coldly, "We've had enough of living in your shadow."

Ethan's glare burned into them.

He scanned their faces—David, his so-called mentor, hiding like a coward. Ryan and Paul, who he'd worked with for years, now ready to tear him down without hesitation.

Backstabbers. All of them.

"Still standing there for what? Make it easy on yourself and walk out, or we'll toss you like yesterday's trash," Paul warned.

"You've lost your edge, Ethan. You're not who you used to be. Try anything, and we won't hold back."

Ethan gritted his teeth. Every word from them was a knife.

"You'll regret this. All of you. One day, I'll make sure of it."Ethan shouted and grabbed his black leather bag, striding out with heavy steps.

"Alright, show's over."

Seeing Ethan walk away, David finally let out a sigh of relief. He'd really worried that Ethan might cause a full-blown scene.

He clapped Ryan and Paul on the shoulders before quickly heading back into his office. He needed to strengthen ties with the higher-ups and bury this incident completely, leaving no traces behind.

Ethan? Just some country boy, no power, no backing—nothing worth stressing over.

Ryan and Paul looked pleased. With Ethan out of the picture, the promotion and outstanding employee award were practically in the bag. As for Ethan, he was nothing but a broke village kid—how could he possibly be a threat?

And if he did try to cause trouble? They'd be more than happy to teach him a lesson he wouldn't forget.

"Ugh."

Sitting on a park bench, Ethan let out a long breath after finishing his last cigarette. Watching the crowds go by, he suddenly felt lost.

He'd graduated from Cloudhaven University, top of his class, student leader, even landed a job at the top design firm—Cloudtop Designs. Everything should've gone uphill from there.

But then came this mess, and just like that, his life spiraled into hell.

Now he was flat broke. Even his last bit of cash went to a lottery ticket yesterday.

After thinking it over, he figured he'd better return to his rental and figure things out. Maybe the industry really had blacklisted him like David claimed, but even so, with his skills—there had to be a comeback someday.

"Hey, Dad! Your phone's ringing!"

Pulled back to reality, his personalized ringtone chimed. He glanced at the screen—landlord calling.

He instinctively wanted to ignore it, but hesitated and picked up anyway.

"Ethan, it's time to move out. I already sorted through your stuff—it's worthless. It just about covers what you owe in rent. So that's that. Bye." *Click.*

He barely got the phone to his ear when Michael Morgan's rapid-fire voice cut through, and before Ethan could even respond, the line went dead.

"David, this is just too much!"

Ethan clenched his fists so tight that his knuckles turned pale from the pressure, fury boiling inside him.

Michael was David's relative. The apartment had been arranged through David, and out of deference to his boss, he hadn't dared refuse. Now it had become a weapon against him.

The sun was going down, and with no cash to his name, he was truly one step away from ending up on the streets. Just thinking about that pathetic scene made his hatred for David reach a new peak.

"David, Michael Morgan, you just wait. I'll make sure you regret this! I'm not staying down. I'll climb back—no, I'll rise to the very top and become the richest man in the world!"

"And when that day comes, I'll make damn sure you realize just how stupid you were. You'll pay for every bit of this."

Ethan roared, flipping the bird in the direction of Cloudtop Designs.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you've activated the World's Richest System!]

Just as his angry shout startled a few couples nearby, a strange yet clear system alert echoed in his ears.