Suddenly, I Am Rich

Gray walked toward his own office through the back door. He stared at his reflection in the mirror for a moment before sighing. After a minute of silence, he decided to change his clothes into a more presentable and formal one.

He also combed his hair and fixed his collar. When he finally looked at himself again, he looked more presentable.

’This should be good enough.’ He stepped out of his office and returned to the store floor.

When he came out, the lights were already all set. The camera operators were testing their angles. There was also another cameraman who was shooting the store’s front. They were taking the opportunity that there was still no one.

They had to take some clear footage of the store, as it will be included in the broadcast.

On the side, a few passersby on the street couldn’t help but spare a few curious glances at their store’s direction.

”Sir, everyone is already in position.” Joel greeted him as soon as he came out.

Gray nodded. When he looked around, the employees were indeed already in their positions. They were trying to act as normal as possible, as if no cameras were around.

”Good,” Gray muttered. He gave Joel a small nod before proceeding to walk again. He hadn’t even taken a few steps yet when Mara approached him.

”There you are,” Mara suddenly uttered, appearing beside him with her arms crossed. Her gaze immediately flew over to his clothes.

”Not bad. You actually look ready.”

”I am ready.” Gray let out a short breath.

”Good,” she teasingly muttered. ”Anyway, they want you near the entrance for the opening shot. The store’s about to open anyway, so we need to clear the entryway first.”

As if on cue, one of the crew members called out, ”We’ll start letting people in soon! Please keep the doors clear!”

Employees scrambled with that announcement. They adjusted their uniforms and swallowed hard. One of the cameramen near the front repositioned closer to the glass doors to film as an employee turned the ”OPEN” sign.

Mara lightly tapped his arm. ”Go outside now. They’re waiting for you already.”

”Alright.” He nodded.

Gray stepped out. The sun was already fully up, and the bright studio lights positioned outside the store made everything feel strangely awake. The whole GNN team was already standing nearby while talking quietly among themselves.

Gray approached them with a polite nod.

”Good morning,” he greeted them.

A few of the crew members looked up.

”Good morning, Mr. Gray,” one of them replied with a friendly smile. Another gave him a thumbs-up as he checked the focus on his camera lens.

In silence, Gray also patiently stood with them. They were waiting for people to enter the store so they could start the interview.

It took a while.

There were a few people who passed by on the sidewalk but didn’t enter. There were some who glanced at the cameras, realized something was happening, then walked faster like they didn’t want to accidentally end up on national TV.

Mara stepped out next to him after a few minutes.

”This is taking a while,” she muttered under her breath.

Gray sighed. ”Yeah.”

He thought that with the cameras, they would be able to gather more customers. But that didn’t happen.

They waited patiently at the door. Finally, after half an hour, the first customer walked in. A woman in her thirties approached the entrance cautiously, peering inside. She hesitated, but one of the crew members smiled reassuringly and gestured that she could go in.

Because of it, the woman stepped in. Following the woman after a few minutes were two teenagers. And soon after? More customers started pouring in!

”Alright, that’s enough!” one crew called. In an instant, the cameramen stood up. The interviewer also took a microphone and became serious.

”Positions, everyone!” another shouted softly.

Gray straightened instinctively at that.

The interviewer, Karina, quickly stepped into place. She smoothed her blazer, adjusted her earpiece, and offered Gray a professional smile as she approached.

”Mr. Gray?” she said quietly, just for him to hear.

”Yes.” Gray nodded once.

”We’ll be rolling in a moment.” She glanced toward the cameramen, signaling they were ready. ”Just relax and say your answers as you like.”

Gray let out a slow breath. ”Got it.”

A cameraman lifted his hand.

”Standby… !”

Karina shifted her stance, her expression transforming instantly into her on-air persona.

”Alright,” Karina murmured just before the cue, ”here we go.”

The red light on the camera blinked on.

”3… 2… 1…”

The interview had officially begun.

”Rolling!”

Karina’s smile turned bright and polished for TV.

”Good morning, everyone. This is Karina Miks from GNN, and today we are here at Riverside Grocery Store, a humble market that has recently gone viral since it’s opening day.” She turned to the side slightly, angling her body toward him.

”And standing beside me is the man behind that—Mr. Gray.”

Gray nodded lightly, offering a small, calm smile to the camera. ”Good morning.”

Karina raised her mic. ”Mr. Gray, first of all, thank you for having us. I understand this store has been through quite a journey these past few days as it only opened recently. Was it hard managing the store?”

Gray glanced at the store behind him for a brief second before answering. ”It has. Managing this store was no easy feat, but everything we did was for the customers. And for the people working here.”

Karina nodded as if she expected that answer but still found it meaningful. The cameraman silently adjusted the zoom, tightening the shot.

”And now,” she continued, ”people across the country are curious. What exactly pushed you to start these?”

”I guess… I wanted to serve the people.” His voice lowered a bit. ”I wanted people to have a grocery store that would serve them well and provide them with what they need

A few crew members exchanged looks, impressed at it.

Karina nodded thoughtfully. ”That’s a rare answer to hear from a business owner nowadays.”

Gray just smiled.

”Mr. Gray,” she began carefully, ”aside from the store’s opening, there’s another reason why your store has suddenly gained national attention.”

Gray slowly nodded.

”Several days ago, a video circulated online. It showed an incident between you and a customer. That clip has now reached millions of views.” She angled the mic toward him. ”What can you say about that?”

Gray’s jaw tightened for a moment before he exhaled slowly.

”That incident… shouldn’t have happened,” he said quietly but clearly. ”What the customer went through was unacceptable, and we can’t just sit around and be quiet about it.”

”Many people online also praised your response. They said you stepped in personally. That you protected the customer.”

”I didn’t do anything special,” Gray muttered. ”I just did what any decent person should do.”

Karina let out a short laugh. ”I think the public disagrees on that. Many said that if it were any other store, the outcome might have been very different.”

”Oh well…” Gray just showed a simple smile.

”May we ask… what went through your mind during that incident?”

Gray hesitated for a moment. He sighed, ”I just thought…” He paused, searching for the right words. ”If no one helped him, who would?”

Karina’s brows rose.

”And,” he added, glancing down briefly, ”I’ve seen people being mistreated before. I didn’t want it happening. I hope that with this publicity, we remind people to stop mistreating and abusing other people, especially our partners.”