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Billionaire Gave His Gardener $8,000 as a Joke — A Year Later, He Couldn't Believe His Eyes

Billionaire Gave His Gardener $8,000 as a Joke — A Year Later, He Couldn't Believe His Eyes

Chapter 23

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"He was wrong!"Silence again. The teenager's frustration grew. "He didn't even ask questions!"Finally, Elijah spoke. "No."The simple answer somehow made everything worse. Marcus kicked a loose bucket; it rolled across the greenhouse floor, the sound echoing loudly."I hate this!" The words slipped out before he could stop them. Immediately, regret appeared on his face—not because he didn't mean them, but because he did.Elijah walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You hate what happened."Marcus looked away. "Same thing.""No." The older man shook his head. "It isn't."The distinction mattered: maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday. Life had taught Elijah that bitterness and pain often arrived wearing the same clothes; if you confused them, they could ruin everything.Marcus lowered his head. For a long moment, neither spoke. Then the teenager quietly asked, "What do we do now?"That question lingered in the air, because losing the job changed everything. The Whitmore estate had provided stability, predictability, income. Now, the nursery carried the entire burden, and the nursery was far from secure.Elijah looked around: the greenhouse, the plants, the equipment, the dream. Then he answered, "We keep going."Marcus laughed bitterly. "That's always your answer.""Because it's usually the right one."The teenager wanted to argue. Instead, he sat heavily on an overturned bucket. For the first time since the nursery began, fear settled visibly across his face: not fear for himself, but fear for Elijah, fear for their future, fear that all the progress they had made could disappear.That afternoon brought another setback—a major one. When Elijah inspected the irrigation system, he discovered damage from the storm had been worse than expected: a pressure line near the rear section had ruptured, and water had flooded part of the growing area overnight. Several rare specimens were struggling; one tray of specialty cuttings appeared almost beyond recovery.Marcus stared at the damage. "Tell me this isn't happening."Elijah crouched beside the plants. His expression tightened—not panic, but pain. These weren't just plants; they were months of effort, months of hope, months of investment: carefully built, easily lost. The repair estimate consumed nearly all remaining emergency funds.For the first time since receiving the envelope, Elijah opened the business ledger and felt genuine concern. The numbers weren't good: not terrible, but not good. Income remained inconsistent; expenses remained relentless. The margin for error had disappeared.That evening, they drove home in silence. Outside the truck windows, Los Angeles glowed beneath wet streets and neon reflections: people hurried along sidewalks carrying umbrellas, restaurants filled with customers, traffic crawled through intersections. Life continued as if nothing had happened.Inside the apartment, reality waited: bills, rent, insurance. Marcus's college application paperwork sat stacked on the table; one envelope rested on top: University of California.
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Billionaire Gave His Gardener $8,000 as a Joke — A Year Later, He Couldn't Believe His Eyes

35 Part