One Man Band System

A few moments later at school, Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura walked out through the second gate and were surprised to see a massive crowd of students gathering in the parking lot. From a distance, they could spot a giant vehicle peaking over the crowd due to its tall roof.

"What’s going on over there?" Laura asked.

"No idea... let’s check it out," Emma replied.

The six girls immediately ran over to the crowd, pushing their way to the front, and their eyes instantly went wide. There was Eric, still looking sharp in his custom black suit, white-striped black tie, dress pants, and leather loafers. He was leaning casually against a massive Class A motorhome, looking down at the smartphone in his hand.

"Wait... Eric?!" Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura yelled in unison, completely shocked.

Eric looked up and his face instantly lit up. He waved and slipped his smartphone into his pocket.

"Hey... what do you guys think?" Eric asked, showing off his new RV.

"Wow... this is... incredible," Priya stammered, completely stunned.

"Yeah... it’s absolutely massive," Heidi added, equally dazed.

"This is... for camping and cross-country road trips, right?" Chloe added, completely stunned.

"You bought this thing?" Monica asked in disbelief.

"This... didn’t come cheap, did it?" Emma questioned.

Meanwhile, Laura just stood there in silence, slowly pulling the earplugs from her ears, her jaw hanging wide open.

"Yup... come on in and take a look around," Eric invited, cheerfully opening up the side door and waving the six girls inside.

"Awesome," the six girls cheered excitedly.

They piled into the vehicle one by one, and Eric climbed in behind them, shutting the door. The watching students began to disperse, leaving only one girl behind, Ruby, who stood there completely frozen and lost in thought.

"Eric... bought... a vehicle like this... he’s amazing... ugh... and here I am, just asking my dad for a BMW, which is still being processed," Ruby thought in her head.

***

Once inside, "Whoa!" the six girls gasped in unison, completely awed. They immediately started exploring the place like they owned it, completely skipping the pleasantries. Emma pulled out the dining table, set it up, sat down, and tapped the surface appreciatively.

Heidi and Priya inspected the kitchen, Laura checked out the bathroom, and Monica headed straight for the bedroom in the back. Eric looked at the girl next to him.

"Aren’t you going to look around?" Eric asked, confused to see Chloe just standing quietly by his side.

"How did the meeting go?" Chloe countered.

"Oh right, let me tell you all about it," Eric replied.

Eric led Chloe to the front and had her sit in the driver’s seat. He then sat down on the steps right next to her and broke everything down in detail from start to finish. He paid special attention to the moment Paul and Mason were arrested with all the evidence laid bare, and how Bryan was currently restructuring the company alongside the other directors.

As for the 7% company shares held by Paul, they were squeezed out and temporarily frozen until the investigation wrapped up. The moment it concluded, Katie would have the corporate lawsuits ready to file against Paul and Mason. On top of that, the police were officially reopening Brandon and Owen’s cases, the ones their fathers had previously managed to wipe clean using company’s fund.

After Eric finished his story, a quiet calm settled over the space. He turned his head to look at Chloe, who sat right next to him, looking down thoughtfully as she absorbed everything he had just told her.

"They won’t ever bother you again," Eric said, smiling up at Chloe.

Chloe fell silent, but a wave of pure relief washed over her face. She smiled and placed a hand on Eric’s shoulder as he sat below her.

"Thank you, Eric," Chloe said softly.

"Hey... Bryan and Katie did all the heavy lifting. I was basically just there to fill a seat," Eric replied.

"Haha... even so, your presence there was the wild card that made the whole meeting work," Chloe shot back with a smile.

"Hmm... maybe," Eric said casually.

They fell silent again, watching Emma, Priya, Heidi, and Laura hang out in the bedroom with Monica, completely taking over the place as they started rolling around on the modular bed they had just pulled out and set up. Then, Chloe looked down at Eric, who was still sitting below her, watching the others in the back with a faint smile on his face.

"By the way, how is Melissa doing?" Chloe asked.

"Just like Avery said, she’s been moved to the specialized intensive care unit for comatose patients. I actually stopped by there earlier to talk to the hospital administration. I told them straight up that I don’t actually know Melissa and asked them to change her emergency contact info. Even though they can’t officially update it until she wakes up, at least I’ve given them fair warning," Eric explained.

"Did you ever find out why she listed your number as her emergency contact in the first place?" Chloe asked.

Eric turned to glance at Chloe, then looked back toward the rear of the motorhome, watching the other girls who were now hanging out, sitting and lying around as they chatted.

"She dug up your profile in the company database using Mason’s credentials, saw that you had me listed as your emergency contact, and just copied it... that’s all it was," Eric said.

Hearing Eric’s words, Chloe instantly froze. She tried to keep her face completely expressionless, but her ears and the back of her neck flushed a deep, bright crimson. Meanwhile, Eric sneaked a glance, noticing how hard Chloe was trying to act natural, even though she couldn’t hide her massive blush.

"Um... sorry, since I’m an orphan and only have Bryan, I didn’t want to be a burden to him because he has his own family to worry about... so I made you my emergency contact. You don’t mind, right?" Chloe asked in a soft, slightly trembling voice.

"Not at all... I don’t mind one bit. But when exactly did you change it?" Eric asked, turning his head to look up at her.

"Um... since we got back from Emma’s house... to be exact, right around the time everyone else’s parents gave them permission to move in with you," Chloe replied, keeping her eyes down.

"Hmm... so since back then. That means you didn’t even know I owned E-R Holdings yet?" Eric asked.

"Not until a few hours before you officially came clean to me, haha," Chloe replied, forcing out a little laugh.

"Fair enough. I was just curious, don’t overthink it," Eric said casually.

They fell silent once more. Chloe sneaked a glance, looking down at Eric without him noticing as he kept his eyes fixed ahead. She looked incredibly flustered. She parted her lips to say something, but then quickly shook her head, instantly thinking better of it.

Meanwhile, Eric also sneaked a glance at Chloe every now and then, as if waiting to hear what she would say next. But before Chloe could get a word out,

"Chloe,"

Both Eric and Chloe looked up to see Heidi and Emma walking over. The two girls immediately grabbed Chloe’s arm and dragged her toward the back, where they all piled onto the bed to lounge around. Eric just watched them go with a smile, but then suddenly, "boom," his face flushed bright red out of nowhere. He instantly buried his face in his hands.

"Holy shit... thank God I held it together... if I had actually asked her why she saved my number under the name ’my husband Eric,’ things would have gotten incredibly awkward fast... this whole situation is seriously giving me a headache," Eric thought in his head.

Meanwhile, Chloe, who was now lying down between Monica and Priya, stared up at the sky through the high sunroof right above her. She let out a sigh of pure relief and smiled.

"Thank goodness Eric didn’t ask and I didn’t tell him... if he had asked, I would have died of embarrassment... but in my heart... you really are my husband already, Eric, hehehe... safe and sound," Chloe thought in her head.

Just as Chloe was breathing a sigh of relief, "Hey Laura, why did you save Eric’s number under ’Hubby’?" Monica asked, snatching Laura’s smartphone away.

"Hey... give it back!" Laura barked, trying to grab her phone, but Monica held her hand high out of reach.

"Wait... Hubby? Don’t even play like that, Laura," Priya yelled.

"I learned it from you, okay! You literally saved Eric’s name in your phone as ’Soulmate’!" Laura snapped right back.

Getting called out like that made Priya’s mouth twitch, but her face was so bright red she couldn’t even form words. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Hey... change it back. The only one allowed to use ’Husband’ for Eric is me," Emma said, getting angry.

"Uh... says who? I literally named him ’My Eternal Love’... what are you gonna do about it?" Heidi shot back.

"Change it right now... hand over your phone! I was the first one to meet Eric, so he’s mine," Emma said, immediately lunging at Heidi to snatch her smartphone away.

"Hey... what the hell? Don’t even try it," Heidi said, fighting back.

"Can you guys shut up for one second?!" Priya yelled, completely annoyed.

"Done. I already changed the name in Laura’s phone. The only one who gets to call Eric ’Hubby’ is me," Monica announced.

"Hey... change it back right now!" Laura screamed.

Hearing all of this, Chloe’s face, which was already a little flushed, turned completely crimson. But this time, it wasn’t out of embarrassment; it was pure fury. She immediately jumped into the fray and started arguing with the other five girls.

Meanwhile, Eric, who was too far away to hear anything clearly over the girls’ loud bickering, just smiled.

"What are they even talking about back there? They seem to be having a blast. Whatever, I’ll just stay up here for now," Eric thought in his head, completely oblivious to the chaos and just thankful that the new bed in his brand-new motorhome was sturdy enough to handle all the rolling and wrestling without any issues.