The next morning, after Devin has had breakfast, Tyler was about to take him to school but his mom stopped him, telling him to stay home and focus on his work.
"Mom...," Tyler sighed.
"Tell me the truth. You're going to my school, right?" He asked, looking at her intently.
Even though his mother was trying to hide it from him, he could already guess from the look on her face that she wasn't going to just let things go like that.
Helena sighed internally when she saw that Tyler had caught on to her intention. She understood that he doesn't want her to go because of Travis' family, but she was also aware that he knew that she just can't let things go.
What sort of mother would she be if she does that? No matter their financial situation, it doesn't give anyone the right to walk all over her children.
If they want to do so, they can do it to her instead.
Helena looked at Tyler, ruffled his hair and hugged him tightly, with a small smile on her face.
"You don't need to worry, baby. Mom is going to cause trouble. I just need some explanations and I will be off," she said, with a low, assuring voice.
Tyler could do nothing but sigh internally. He knew that there was no changing his mother's mind after it has been made up.
"Be safe, mom. And if anyone does anything or say anything to you, let me know," he said, with a low, dangerous voice.
Helena chuckled when she heard Tyler's words. She could sense the emotions underneath it and it brought a smile to her face.
'My baby is protective of his mom,' she smiled inwardly.
"Don't worry. Mom will be careful. And you don't need to worry, as I can take care of myself," she ruffled his hair.
"Focus on your work and don't do anything dangerous, okay?" she smiled, before leaving with Devin.
"Goodbye, brother," Devin waved, before running off to catch up with Helena.
"Goodbye," Tyler waved back.
With his mom and brother gone, Tyler was now free to begin his day. He quickly went upstairs and put on his sneakers before leaving the house to complete his daily mission.
A couple of hours later, a sweat-drenched and drained Tyler walked back into the house, making his way up to his room to freshen up.
After he was done, he went downstairs for breakfast. He hadn't eaten earlier with his mom and Devin because he was yet to complete his daily mission.
Today marked the fourth day since his regression—and the fourth consecutive day of completing his daily mission.
So far, he had earned a total of 4 Stat Points as rewards, but he had yet to allocate any of them. There had also been no natural increase in his stats.
Tyler was hopeful that by the seventh day he'd see an increase, but he couldn't help feeling like it wouldn't happen.
As he ate, he thought of how he was going to convince David to help him. He understood that what he was going to ask of him was something quite difficult.
It would had been easier for Tyler if he could had his mom do these things for him. But he can't have her getting worried.
He can have her open a bank account and trading account under her name for him, as that was easy but that wasn't the hard part.
The hard part was when money starts flowing into the account. How does he explain to her the job he does when $10,000 start flooding into the account almost daily?
Also, due to the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Act, she would definitely be summoned by the bank to explain the source of her income.
Even though the money he'd be making was completely legit, the thought of dragging his poor, sweet mother into that kind of situation was something he just couldn't bring himself to do.
Also, when he wants to start creating the trusts and LLCs, he can't have his mother do it for him, as it's extremely stressful. And the last thing that Tyler ever wants to do is to stress his mother who has gone through so much for him and his brother. Never.
And this was why he needed David's help. But the problem was convincing him to help.
"I can't use my mom against him. That won't work," he muttered, swallowing the food in his mouth.
Tyler thought about it for a moment but no matter how he thought about it, no convincing idea came up.
Without any idea of what to use, he decided to just wing it. He would use a mix of lies and truth—and a bit of gaslighting. He felt it should work.
It wasn't that nothing exactly came to mind but the idea that came up—using the illness—but that was something he can't do.
He can't let anyone know about it and he can't have anyone worrying about it but him.
Tyler quickly finished his breakfast, did the dishes, then left the house and headed to David's place.
Also, now that Tyler thought about it, from what he knew of David from his past life, he was someone who was familiar with the financial market, familiar with the lingo and logic, as he had a broker for a father.
"This should be easy," he smiled to himself.
...
A few minutes later, Tyler knocked on David's door. It opened almost immediately, and there stood David, looking at him with a strange mix of disbelief and disappointment.
*You didn't go to school yet again today?" He asked, with a solemn expression on his face.
"I retaliated against my bully and was suspended," Tyler replied in a simple manner.
"I see...," David said slowly, observing him quietly.
"So, is your mom aware?" He asked.
"Yes. I also told her about the lottery," Tyler replied.
"I see... So, why are you here?" David asked, wearing an expression that said he already knew the answer.
"Aren't you going to let me in first?" Tyler asked, with a sly smile.
David looked at the kid in front of him intently for a short moment, before sighing and stepping aside from the door.
"Come on in," he said, and walked to a couch.
"Thank you," Tyler said, following behind him.
"So, what do you want?" David asked after they have settled down.
"I need your help."
"No," David said, with a firm tone.
"But you haven't heard what I need help with," Tyler said, with feigned shock on his face, hiding the sly smile underneath.
"I have a bad feeling about accepting to help you. So, I'm not going to accept," David said firmly.
Tyler saw his firm David was in his rejection but he wasn't going to give up that easily.
"I understand your reason but please hear me out first. You can refuse aftet hearing what I have to say," he said.
Tyler started explaining to David that he needs a bank account and trading account but can't get them due to his underage status.
David naturally asked him why a kid like him wants to trade and if he was aware that trading was about losing, and winning.
Tyler answered his question, telling him that he understood what trading entails and the risks involved.
He also made mentioned of some terms and stuffs that only someone very familiar with trading and the financial market would understand.
David was naturally doubtfully when Tyler told him that he understood what trading means and the risks involved. And he was slightly taken aback when he mentioned those terms.
"Where'd you learn all this?" He asked curiously, with a small frown.
"Books," Tyler smiled.
"You sure you're sixteen?" David muttered.
"Do I not look sixteen?" Tyler asked, with a well hidden sly smile.
David couldn't help but take another good look at the kid in front of him. He felt that he had misjudged him and that there was a lot of things that he still doesn't know about him.
He thought about Tyler's request of helping him to open a bank account and trading account under his name.
It wasn't that he couldn't do it. The request was actually simple to fulfill but there was the risk of it being used for something illegal.
This would have been different for other kids, but when he thought about who he was opening them for, he felt there was nothing that could go wrong.
But he couldn't quite shake off that nagging feeling at the back of his mind.
"Fine...," David sighed.
"I will help you with them but you must promise me not to do anything illegal with it. I don't want the feds to come knocking on my door," he said.
"I promise," Tyler nodded.
"Good. When do you need it?"
"Today."
"...I hope you don't become the death of me," David sighed heavily, massaging his temple.
Meanwhile, Tyler was smiling happily in satisfaction at his success.