Chapter 196: A Major Milestone

Day after day passed, and soon enough, an entire week slipped by. Eric and the six girls remained hospitalized, still recovering. Caleb and Katie helped Eric run company operations, handling everything from the grand opening to establishing department structures alongside an HR team recruited from Caleb’s previous firm with Layla’s approval. They kept Eric updated on a daily basis. A week later, Eric was able to walk around, albeit with a cane. He often slipped out of bed to sit beside Monica or Heidi, who were also finally able to get out of bed.

Chloe had already been cleared to go home, but she refused to leave and chose to stay in the room with Eric, Monica, and Heidi instead. Meanwhile, Emma was busy preparing, training with Ruby, Tania, and Jade at the office. Priya and Laura shuttled back and forth between home and the hospital every day. All six girls took a temporary leave from school to heal up, supported by their parents, who happened to be the school’s biggest donors. Naturally, the parents of Emma, Priya, Monica, and Heidi occasionally dropped by the room to visit Eric and the others.

While the room was quiet, "ding," a text arrived on Eric’s smartphone. He saw a message from Caleb and another from Anthony, both delivering the exact same news: The Empress’s new track had been released and instantly turned into a massive hit. It propelled their label straight to the top, officially marking their entry into the music industry as it went viral right away. Not only that, but all of The Empress’s previous tracks along with all of Eric’s solo songs had been re-released and bundled into a single debut album produced by Elliot’s Production.

Eric smiled as he read through the updates. Then, "vwoooong," a holographic screen expanded right in front of him.

[Quest: Compose three songs for The Empress (2/3), Compose a song for solo (1/1).]

[Quest completed.]

[Completion Reward Received: $1,750,000.00 and a one-time use superyacht miniature to summon a superyacht.]

Next, Eric’s system inventory opened up. Inside, he saw an icon of a miniature superyacht that could be summoned whenever he was at a harbor or beach. Moments later, "ding," another notification popped up on his phone. Checking it, he saw a message from his bank confirming that $1,750,000.00 had just been deposited directly into his personal account. Eric stared at his total account balance, which had now swelled into eight figures. His hands trembled, and an incredulous look washed over his face as he stared at the staggering total.

"It’s been so long since I had a quest, and now that one’s finally done... I completely forgot to check my account... turns out I actually have a crazy amount of money, way beyond what I expected," Eric thought.

"Um... why are you zoning out like that?"

"Whoaaaah," Eric gasped, startled. He snapped his head toward Chloe, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching him closely. He hurriedly turned off his phone screen and placed it on the nightstand, then took in Chloe’s anxious expression.

"It’s nothing, you just startled me," Eric answered, gently patting Chloe’s head.

"Who texted you? Did something bad happen again?" Chloe asked nervously.

"No... quite the opposite, actually. We just released the first album for both The Empress and Eric Reed... all our previous tracks that were played and uploaded separately have now been bundled into a single album along with your new song, bringing everything together," Eric answered with a warm smile.

Hearing Eric’s words, Chloe was stunned this time. "Really?" Heidi and Monica chimed in instantly from nearby. Both of them stared wide-eyed at Eric from beside and across the room. Their faces showed a mix of shock and pure joy as their eyes sparkled. Eric smiled back at them and nodded.

"Yay!" Heidi and Monica cheered.

Eric got out of bed, grabbed his cane, and walked over toward Monica. He sat on the side of Monica’s bed—which was prop up—and held her hand. Guided by Chloe, Heidi joined them and sat on the other side of Monica’s bed. Eric opened his arms wide and pulled all three of them into a tight embrace.

"You girls are incredible. I’m so proud of you," Eric said.

"You’re the incredible one. I’m proud of you too," Chloe said.

"Yeah... we only made it this far because of you," Heidi added with a smile.

"I agree. Everything is thanks to you, so thank you. A tiny school group like us could never have become like this on our own," Monica said, smiling warmly.

Eric kissed Chloe, Heidi, and Monica on the cheek one after another, and all three returned the gesture, kissing his cheeks and then his lips. "Ding," a notification chimed on Chloe’s smartphone. She checked it and saw two new messages in their private group chat.

"Priya and Laura are on their way here. They went to school today and just got dismissed," Chloe said.

"Oh... they went to school?" Heidi asked.

"Yep! Just ask them when they get here. Look at this, they’re already going wild because Emma gave them the news that our album dropped... they’re bringing food over," Chloe said, showing her chat history to Eric, Heidi, and Monica.

"Yeah... and they were causing a whole scene at school," Monica said, scrolling through her chat history.

"It’s going to be such a headache when we all go back to school together. Total nightmare," Heidi added.

"Don’t sweat it. Sooner or later, you guys were bound to cause a stir at school anyway," Eric said.

"True. Plus, once Emma hits it big with Nobelia, it’s going to be even bigger... but speaking of which, did she and Ruby ditch school today?" Heidi asked.

"Looks like it. There’s zero mention of them going to school in the chat. Besides, if she didn’t ditch, how could Emma have tipped off Priya and Laura? She’s definitely still at practice right now," Chloe answered.

"She’s obsessed with practicing... just let her be," Monica chimed in.

As they chatted, "click," the door to their room opened. Since all the privacy curtains inside were pulled back, the four of them turned toward the door. Their faces lit up instantly when they saw Avery walk in carrying Abby. Abby was dressed up in a neat little outfit like she was ready to head out, while Avery just wore a casual house dress.

"Hey... how’s everyone doing?" Avery asked, shutting the door behind her.

"Doing good... are you getting ready to head home?" Eric asked.

"Yeah. Caleb’s picking me up in about two hours. Hope you don’t mind if I hang out here until then. My room is already all packed up and cleaned, so I’d feel bad lingering and bugging the nurses," Avery answered.

"Giggle,"

Eric, Chloe, Heidi, and Monica immediately shifted their attention to Abby, who was staring at them with a confused expression while making the most adorable little noises. Chloe stood up, walked over to Abby, and leaned down to get a closer look at her face.

"Aww... her cheeks are so chubby... she’s so freaking cute," Chloe gushed.

"Haha... yeah, she’s definitely going to be plump and sturdy when she grows up," Avery replied, cradling Abby and gazing down at the baby in her arms.

"How are you feeling, sis? Do your stitches still hurt?" Heidi asked.

"A little, but that’s just part of healing. The important thing is the incision hasn’t reopened and it’s drying up nicely," Avery answered, slowly lowering herself into a chair.

Avery then looked over at Monica, whose neck was still held in a brace, forcing her to turn slightly just to look back.

"How about you? Any other issues pop up?" Avery asked.

"Nope, all clear on my end. But man... it’s super annoying. I still can’t move around much, and it feels like recovery’s going to take forever," Monica answered.

"That’s completely normal. As long as there aren’t any complications, just take it easy. Most importantly, don’t overthink things so you can heal faster. Stress really slows down your recovery, so you’ll just take longer to get better," Avery replied.

"Don’t worry about that, sis. I never let anything weigh too heavily on my mind, hehe," Monica answered casually.

"She never thinks about anything anyway, so she’s totally safe. She’ll heal super fast because her brain is completely empty," Heidi teased, darting a mischievous glance at Monica with a sly smile.

"Just wait until I can move again, you’re so dead," Monica fired back, glaring sharply at Heidi.

They all burst out laughing. Suddenly, "ring," Eric’s smartphone on the table started buzzing. Eric stood up and limped over using his cane, coming to a stop in front of the table to check the screen. His eyes narrowed and his face turned dead serious, an unknown number was calling him.

Eric reached out to pick up his smartphone, hesitating for a moment because his gut told him not to answer, but curiosity ultimately got the better of his instincts. On the fifth ring, he picked up.

"Hello," Eric said.

A wave of loud background noise echoed from the other end of the line, but nobody spoke; Eric could only hear the sound of heavy breathing. Just as he was about to hang up, assuming it was a wrong number or a prank, a voice cut through.

"Eric... we need to talk."

It was a raspy, trembling male voice, and above all, painfully familiar. "Grip," Eric squeezed the phone tightly in his hand. Listening closer to the background noise, he realized the call was coming from the federal prison as someone shouted in the distance.

"What do you want, Jason? How did you even get my number?" Eric demanded in a low, heavy voice.