World Domination: My Rise To The Top

James spent the rest of the day on the betting platform, boosting the balance in his betting account.

He had nothing else to do anyways, and the betting platform is the only way he has for acquiring rebate-eligible money, so he put all of his attention into it.

He had no idea how much had passed until he finally achieved his goal of flipping his $2k to $5k. He actually achieved more than that, as his betting account balance was now at $8k.

$8k!

James laughed heartily when he saw this. Just thinking of how much it will be after the rebate has been applied on it, made him feel like he was floating.

"Life is good!" He laughed, sinking into the sofa.

He raised his head and looked out the window and he saw that the sun was already setting.

He decided to check the time, as he tapped on his phone screen and it lit up.

"4:20 pm. Almost time for dinner. Also, Patty and Leslie will soon be back," James murmured, as he stood up from his sleeping position, and sat on the sofa.

"I think I should make tonight's dinner," James said to himself, and nodded in agreement to his own words.

"Yes, I should. Though my cooking isn't half of Patty's, it's miles ahead of Leslie's," he laughed.

He quickly stood up from the sofa and made his way to the kitchen to start preparing dinner.

Before he started, he decided to call Patty and tell her that he would be the one making dinner. He dialled her number and the call was picked on the second ring.

"Hey, honey," Patty said from the other side of the phone.

"Hi, Patty. Um, I just want to tell you that I will be making dinner for tonight. So, you don't need to worry about it," James said, with a smile on his face.

He has no idea but he can't help but smile every time he's talking to Patty. He just can't help it.

"Oh, you're making dinner?" Patty asked, wanting to confirm what she heard.

"Yeah," James replied.

"Um, okay. If you really want to do it, I won't stop. I will be looking forward to what you're going to make," Patty said, giggling.

"You're teasing me right now. But don't worry. I'm not trying to make it as good as yours. That's impossible. Instead, I will do my best to make something delicious," James smiled.

"You don't need to worry about your cooking, honey. I trust that you will make something wonderful. I would had already been contemplating on what to order if it was Leslie that wanted to cook."

"Pfft." James burst out into laughter when he heard what Patty said.

"So, do you need money to buy any grocery material?" Patty asked.

The reason she asked this is because she has no idea what James wants to cook and she doesn't know if all the ingredients he will need are available.

"No. No, I don't need any money." James replied, with a smile.

"Ok, honey. I will see you at home then. I look forward to dinner." She giggled, and hung up.

James shook his head, smiling. He knew that Patty was teasing him about him making dinner with her giggle, but he's going to make sure that he makes something wonderful.

He dropped his phone on the kitchen countertop and immediately got to work. He started taking out the ingredients he will be needing. He did all the necessary things and when he was done, he started cooking.

What James was making for dinner is Greek salad with fried chicken.

The kitchen started blazing hot as James got cooking. Time passed and everything were starting to come together.

The sizzling sound of chicken hitting hot oil filled the kitchen, blending with the sharp aroma of spices.

This was coupled with the fresh scent of chopped vegetables for the Greek salad added a refreshing contrast to the rich smell of frying chicken.

James was still in the kitchen when he heard a knock on the door. He put down what he was doing and went to open the door, as he previously locked it and hasn't unlocked it.

As he walked towards the door, he picked up his phone to check the time.

*5:20 pm*

"About time."

When he got to the door, he peeped through the peephole to check who it was, and he saw that it was Leslie. And he immediately opened the door.

"Hey. You look busy," Leslie said, as she walked into the house.

"Yeah, I am. I'm making dinner." James replied, as he went back to the kitchen.

"Ohhh... You're making dinner? It's been a while since you made dinner. I will finally get to taste your poisonous and deadly delicacy again. What an honour." Leslie said, smiling mischievously.

"Well, at least one can still be treated when they eat my food. As for yours, whoever eats it has less than ten seconds to live," James said, smiling.

Leslie closed her eyes briefly as she felt a sharp arrow pierce her heart, hearing what James said.

"Don't worry, one day I will get good at cooking. Just you wait and see." She said, stumping her feet and going up to her room.

"Get good fast or you will be the one to kill your future husband." James said, making sure to not let her go free.

As expected, he got the response he was expecting from her.

"Die!"

He chuckled at her reaction, but he quickly turned his attention back to what he was cooking. He doesn't want to make any mistake and have Leslie using it against him.

Few minutes later, he was finally done with making dinner. And at the same time,he heard a knock on the door and a sound of it opening.

James already knew who the person that walked in was. He walked to the dining table and started setting it.

"Welcome home, Patty. How was work today?" He asked, when he saw Patty walking up to him.

"Work was fine. Just the usual stress but besides that, everything was perfect." Patty replied, as she caressed his cheek.

"It seems like you're done with dinner. Let me go and freshen up first, then I will be back." She said, and started walking up the stairs.

"Ok. Don't take long though. You don't want it to be cold." James smiled.

"Don't worry, I won't take long." Patty smiled. "Is Leslie back."

"Yeah, she's in her room."

"Ok, I will be back down soon. Just give me a minute," Patty said, and disappeared into her room.

James countinued setting up the dining table, and after he was done, he took his seat and started waiting for the two ladies to come down.

While he waited, he decided to withdraw the money on his betting account.

"I now have $6k in rebate-eligible funds. This should be enough to take care of some minor issues at home. And I should also probably pay a quarter of my student loan," he said to himself.

He was still on his phone and thinking of his plan for the next day when he saw Leslie coming down the stairs, followed behind by Patty.

The two of them walked to the dining table and took their seat. And James served their plates.

After that, the three of them started eating, having a wholesome family dinner.