Chapter 3

My heart lurched.

The old voice chimed in too, clearly enjoying my predicament. "This bastard's pretty perceptive. Could he have figured out there's gold stashed in the walls?"

I stepped forward, pointing at the old-fashioned carved wooden bed in the bedroom.

"I'll be honest with you. I'm interested in this bed since it's an antique."

I acted like I knew what I was doing and patted the bed frame. "If it really is the real deal, it's worth more than the apartment itself."

The corner of Owen's mouth twitched. "Buddy, are you certain?"

"The contract says I get everything inside the house, right? That means the bed is mine too. Don't even think about taking it from me."

Owen's eyes flickered as he walked over to examine the bed. He reached out and ran his fingers across the carvings on the bed rail. His brows knitted as he looked at me again.

I didn't give Owen another chance to pry and pushed him and Peter out the door. "Alright. I have to go. We'll handle the paperwork tomorrow morning."

I rode my scooter two blocks away before stopping by the roadside to give Julie a call. I called her seven times before she finally answered.

"Did you sign the contract?"

"Yeah."

She fell silent for a moment before letting out a chuckle. "Milo, it's over between us."

"Julie, hear me out! I had a dream last night. I dreamed that my grandpa told me this apartment has something stashed away in the walls…"

Before I could even finish speaking, Julie hung up on me right away.

I sighed.

It was fine if she didn't believe me. Once I dug the gold out and showed her the money, she would have no choice but to believe me.

It was 11:00 pm, but I couldn't sleep. I climbed in through the balcony and slipped into the old, run-down apartment in the dark.

I turned on my flashlight and fished out a metal detector from my bag. I crouched in front of that wall and pressed the sensor against it.

The metal detector started beeping.

My hand trembled slightly as I scanned the wall again in a few different spots. The metal detector showed no response at the upper section of the wall. In the middle, it started giving off a faint signal. The lower it went, the sharper the beeping became.

I slumped to the floor, my back drenched in sweat. I couldn't stop myself from smiling.

There was really something stashed inside the wall.

My head was spinning. I sat alone in the dark living room, grinning like an idiot. With that kind of money, I could just relax and enjoy life.

It didn't matter if Julie broke up with me. By then, I could just put the money right in front of her. I would have enough to buy several high-end apartments.

My smile quickly faded. I had raised my offer to a million dollars just to sign the contract for the apartment. I had to pay the full amount within three days.

I had 500 thousand dollars in my account, but I was still short another 500 thousand dollars.

The gold was hidden in the walls, and the cash was stashed in the ceiling. Without the keys, I couldn't tear down the walls.

Where was I supposed to get another 500 thousand dollars? I stared at my contacts list in a daze.

I scrolled through my contacts until I came across Thomas Nash, a high school classmate. The guy was a private lender.

After we talked for a while, Thomas went silent for a few seconds. "Milo, have you been scammed? Could a dump at Rosewood Apartments be even worth more than a million dollars?"

"Just help me out. You can set the interest rate."

Normally, I wouldn't dare do something like this, but things were different this time.

In three days, I would get the keys to the apartment. On the same night, I could start breaking through the wall.

By then, I would have several million dollars in my hands. What was a high-interest loan compared to that amount?

On the day I received the money, Dad called me. "Milo, are you nuts? Thomas told me that you took out a high-interest loan to buy a house.

"Are you trying to get into real estate speculation just like everyone else? Your mom was so worried that she couldn't sleep all night. For generations, our family has always worked hard and lived within our means.

"I think you've been taken in by that agent. Quickly return that money to Thomas. Don't buy that house anymore. Do you hear me?"

I held my phone and said nothing. Dad cursed me out a few more times before ending the call.

The three-day deadline was up. I transferred the one million dollars I had scraped together to Peter.

After receiving the property deed and the keys, the first thing I did was change the locks. I then shut the door and drew the curtains.

Tonight, I was going to tear down the walls.