Suddenly, I Am Rich

When the weekend arrived, Gray did some work even though it was a rest day.

After working continuously for 3 weeks, his body had already adjusted to waking up early. He had no alarms, but he still stirred a little before seven, rolled to one side, and stared blankly at the ceiling for a few quiet minutes.

He was already thinking about that list again.

With a sigh, Gray finally sat up and swung his legs over the bed.

It’s time for him to get up.

By eight-thirty, he was already in the living room, sitting in front of his open laptop.

On the other hand, Lily was on the couch, coloring some books for her pastime. He glanced at her for a moment before his eyes drifted back to the screen. The notepad sat beside his coffee mug. Its pages were already creased and a little bent from how many times he’d flipped through it.

He opened it again and scanned the list one more time.

He clicked into a spreadsheet and started organizing the list.

He also opened up a few vendor sites, cross-checking prices while flipping between tabs. Most of the stuff fell into the mid-range price points. A decent microwave costs around two hundred dollars. A fridge could go up to seven hundred.

The air-conditioning unit, obviously, would be the biggest expense. However, it was non-negotiable, especially since he wanted that room to feel more livable.

Gray messaged Marcus and asked for the latest internal supply accounts and the quarterly discretionary budget. Within ten minutes, Marcus had replied with everything.

He made a mental note to thank him later. Then, with the files now on-screen, Gray adjusted the numbers and plugged in what he could.

One by one, he added columns on the sheet. There was an estimated cost and arrangement of priorities.

He didn’t want to pay out of pocket, even if he technically could. It wasn’t about showing off generosity.

If he wanted this to be sustainable, it had to come from the business itself. Otherwise, no one would be accountable. The business’s system wouldn’t change.

Outside, the late morning sun had started to warm the windows. Light pooled gently across the floor, casting long shadows across the rug of their condo. Gray leaned back slightly in his chair, his fingers pausing over the keyboard of his laptop.

His eyes traced the lines on the spreadsheet, silently measuring where they could stretch the budget without overstepping it.

For now, based on their records, they could afford to spend $5000 or $6000 at max.

The AC, the microwave, new lockers, and chairs were the first things he thought were better to buy. It wasn’t much, but he knew that even something as simple as a good chair could ease someone’s fatigue after a long day of standing up.

Across the room, Lily let out a small sigh. She was chewing on the cap of her colored pencil. Her book was flipped open on her lap. When she noticed how busy Gray looked she pouted and tilted her head to the side.

”Brother, are you doing some work?” Lily asked. There was a genuine curiosity in her voice as she questioned it.

”Yes, Lily. I’m just finishing something,” Gray replied without looking up.

”For the store?”

”Yes,” Gray nodded slowly, eyes still on the screen. He didn’t explain much more than that.

Lily smiled and chuckled.

”You’re kinda cool sometimes, Brother...”

Gray blinked at her words. Slowly, he looked up.

”...Only sometimes?” he raised a brow.

Lily grinned and turned another page in her coloring book.

”Yes brother. Only sometimes.

”Tsk. No more treats for Lily.” Gray snorted.

Lily giggled to herself. She smiled teasingly at Gray.

”You can’t do that, brother. I’m the best!”

”Best at eating? I know, Lily. You could finish a plate of food and not get full, little pig.”

”Brotherrrrr!”

Gray laughed out loud when he heard the irritation in her voice.

Lily huffed and crossed her arms dramatically, puffing her cheeks in protest.

”You’re the worst,” she muttered, though there was no bite in her tone.

Gray leaned back in his chair. A grin was still tugging at his lips as he glanced over at her. She was glaring at him now, her pencil held like a weapon between her fingers.

”You mean, I’m the best?”

Lily stuck her tongue out at him, then turned her attention back to her coloring book with an exaggerated sigh.

”Whatever, Brother. I’m ignoring you now.”

”Thank you,” Gray muttered, sipping from his mug. ”I can have peace at last.”

”Hmp!”

The rage-baiting worked.

Even as they returned to their separate tasks, the playful energy in the room stayed.

The day moved quickly for the two of them.

At one point, Gray lost track of time as he fine-tuned the sheet, adjusting totals, weighing which vendors were more reliable, and cross-referencing delivery windows.

He also emailed a few supplier contacts, inquiring about discounts, and even flagged a few items for Marcus to review later.

By evening, he was finally done.

He hit save on the spreadsheet and backed it up in the shared company drive.

He just did a neat copy of the full proposal, with all the cost breakdowns, vendor suggestions, and the estimated timeline for delivery.

Even he was surprised that he could do that work as fast as that.

Gray picked up his phone and typed out a quick message to Marcus.

[Gray:] Hey.! Sorry for messaging late. I finalized the staff room improvement plan. Should I forward this to HR first for approval? Or can I go ahead with it directly since it’s under discretionary?

The reply didn’t take long.

[Marcus:] If it’s below the cap and fits within the budget, then you can go ahead. Just forward the document to HR for transparency, for them to know. You’re the CEO, Gray.

”That’s good then,” Gray nodded to himself, a small sigh escaping as he leaned back again.

Hopefully, he could order everything by tomorrow so that by next week, the staff room would already be better.