Dumped Then Claimed By A Billionaire (Nerissa and Owen) novel Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Chapter 72

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He was reduced to driving for a dog?

No doubt about it.

Tom was straight-up disrespecting Clive.

And it was downright brutal.

And as for where he got all that nerve?

Well, with the Calloway Group backing him, no wonder he felt invincible.

To Tom, Clive was nobody.

Just a big loser.

Ivan slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet. “Tom, don’t go too far!”

That was way out of line.

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“Too far? Mr. Arkwright, you’re using the wrong word. Letting Clive, that good-for-nothing mutt, drive for my dog is actually doing him a favor! If it weren’t for all those years we’ve known each other, he wouldn’t even be worthy of that job!” Tom sneered.

Grant backed Tom up, “He’s got a point. We’re not the kind to kick a guy when he’s already down. If Mr. Beaumont isn’t interested in chauffeuring a dog, I could use a doorman at my place. With your height and age, you’d fit the bill perfectly.”

Grant couldn’t help but crack up, laughing loud and proud at his own jab.

Tom joined in, both of them laughing their heads off.

Clive’s face showed a look of barely restrained patience and anger.

He wanted nothing more than to jump up and beat the crap out of both Grant and Tom.

But his rational side reminded him.

All he could do now was grit his teeth and take it.

Ivan pointed at Grant and Tom. “Grant, Tom! Listen up, Kinsbeat Game isn’t the same as before. Now we’ve got Ms. Jamison, and she’s making AAA Games. You two love to kick people when they’re down? Just wait, you’ll regret it!”

Ms. Jamison?

Grant laughed even louder. “Just a rookie girl, and she thinks she can outdo Mr. Calloway and make an AAA Game? What a joke! Kinsbeat Game is already dead. Even if you gave that girl a chance, she still wouldn’t

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come up with anything! The only winner in Aosthorne is Mr. Calloway!”

Even if they gave that stupid another ten years,

she still wouldn’t catch up to Owen.

Let alone ten years.

Even if they gave her a hundred years, or a thousand, she’d never be in Owen’s league.

“What the hell are you talking about?!” Ivan snapped, his anger boiling over.

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Tom was about to say something else, but Grant grabbed his arm. “Let it go, Tom. They’re just being stubborn, refusing to admit they’ve lost, Why waste your breath on them?”

“Just wait, they’ll come crawling back to us soon!” Grant said with a smug grin.

Tom straightened his collar, acting all high and mighty as he looked down at Clive. “Clive, I’ll be waiting for you to come crawling back, begging to be my dog’s driver!”

With that, Tom turned to Grant. “Grant, let’s go!”

“Let’s go!” Grant echoed, following Tom out.

Grant fell in step right behind Tom.

Watching them walk away, Ivan snapped, “Traitors never end well! Grant, Tom, just wait, when Kinsbeat Game actually makes an AAA Game, you’ll be eating your words!”

Grant and Tom shot each other a look, both smirking with open mockery.

To them, this was the biggest joke they’d heard all year.

They laughed out loud, totally unrestrained.

Grant turned back to Ivan and Clive, sneering, “Go home and keep dreaming! In your dreams, anything’s possible!”

Ivan looked over at Clive, unsure how to comfort him, so he just gave his back a supportive pat. “Clive, don’t let those two bastards get under your skin. Trust me, they’re going to regret this.”

Clive nodded, his gaze firm and full of resolve.

‘Yes!’ Owen thought, certain of it.

“They’re definitely going to regret it.’

*****

Everyone was busy at the Calloway Group.

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Chapter 72

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Yale burst into the room, practically bouncing with excitement. “Owen! We’ve hit thirty million! We’re about to blow past the thirty-million mark in pre-orders!”

This was absolutely unprecedented in gaming history.

Just imagine.

The biggest hit in the country barely scraped together ten million pre-orders the day before launch.

And the Calloway Group was about to smash through the thirty-million mark!

Yale was totally floored.

Owen narrowed his eyes. “It’s 11:50 PM. We’ve got ten minutes left, and we’re definitely going to blow past thirty million pre-orders today.” He paused, then asked, “How’s Kinsbeat Game doing?”

Yale chuckled, “Kinsbeat Game? They’re barely sitting at two hundred thousand.”

The reason the Calloway Group’s new game was racking up nearly thirty million pre-orders wasn’t just because they had a bunch of celebrities backing it. A huge part of the hype came from Owen himself.

He was the financial world’s once-in-a-decade dark horse.

With a dark horse like Owen leading the charge, people just knew the game wouldn’t disappoint.

Kinsbeat Game, on the other hand, had nothing, no resources, no support, nothing at all.

So,

Everyone was looking to the Calloway Group.

A look of disdain crossed Owen’s face.

Only two hundred thousand? Pathetic!

‘Compared to me? That’s nothing.’ he thought.

He knew it. Nerissa was nothing without him.

Nerissa had only ever stood out at the Calloway Group because she was head over heels for him.

Love could overcome anything.

Seriously, what did Kinsbeat Game even have?

Just wait.

‘She’ll be begging me to take her back soon,’ Owen thought smugly.

‘And when that happens, I won’t forgive her so easily!

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At midnight,

both companies dropped their games right on the dot, each on their own official site.

The Calloway Group’s site couldn’t handle the flood of traffic, and it crashed almost instantly.

Meanwhile, over at Kinsbeat Game, it was a whole different story.

Just a few hundred people actually downloaded their game.

Owen kept a close watch on Kinsbeat Game’s page. When he saw those pathetic numbers, he smirked, full of self-satisfaction.

He was convinced those few hundred downloads only happened because the Calloway Group’s app crashed, and people just wandered over to Kinsbeat Game’s site since his was down.

Yeah, that was definitely it.

No doubt about it.

Now, it was time to let the numbers do the talking.

Owen shut down his computer, ready to get cleaned up and finally crash for the night. He’d been running on fumes for days, all for this big launch.

James Horrace was a game streamer.

He was trying to download the Calloway Group’s new game, but the app kept freezing up. His viewers started spamming the live chat, telling him to just try out Kinsbeat Game’s new release instead.

James, mic on, looked totally speechless. “Splendor Peak? From Kinsbeat Game? Seriously, what kind of decent game could they even make? Downloading their game is just not worth the bandwidth.”

[Yeah, it’s a total waste of bandwidth!]

[Even if it’s a waste, I still kinda wanna see what it’s like.]

[Count me in! Kinsbeat Game even dropped fake AAA trailers just for clout. James, stream Splendor Peak and let’s watch them get embarrassed live!]

Seeing that most of his viewers wanted him to stream downloading Splendor Peak, James moved his mouse and clicked over to Kinsbeat Game’s official page. “Alright, alright, since you all want to see it, I’ll check out Kinsbeat Game and see if it’s a flop. Not like I’ve got anything better to do anyway.”

After all, he was the kind of streamer who always spoiled his fans.

Splendor Peak’s game file downloaded in a flash.

Other big games usually took at least ten minutes to download because of their crazy graphics and massive

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content, but Splendor Peak was ready in just sixty seconds.

‘Anything that downloads in just one minute? No way it’s any good, James scoffed to himself.

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As he clicked to launch the game, he muttered, “That was way too fast. Seriously, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out Kinsbeat Game must’ve churned out a pile of crap. Honestly, if you guys weren’t all dying to see this, I wouldn’t waste my time on such junk.”

As soon as the game loaded up, an insanely impressive, star-studded lineup flashed across the screen.

[Welcome to Splendor Peak!]

Even without any VR gear or fancy tech, the visuals hit him like a truck, absolutely jaw-dropping.

And right below, in tiny letters, it said,

[Game Developer: Ms. Jamison.]

James blinked, and then sneered, “Alright, I’ll give it to them, the intro for Kinsbeat Game actually looks kinda AAA. But come on, it’s all hype at the start and then just fizzles out. Who cares about a flashy opening if the gameplay’s trash? No one’s gonna stick around for that. And Ms. Jamison? She’s just a poser, not even in the same league as Mr. Calloway.”

James registered an account and followed the tutorial, step by step, diving into the actual game. As he played, his initial scorn melted away, replaced by shock, and then total disbelief.

“Holy crap! Holy crap! Not gonna lie. Kinsbeat Game’s got something here! Did they seriously make a real AAA Game?!”

Splendor Peak was a mashup of survival gameplay and all-out shootouts.

The player could hunt wild animals, sure, but that was just the beginning. There were tons of things he could build and customize himself. No fixed storyline, totally open-ended, nothing like the usual games out there. And with AAA-level graphics that blew everything else away, the gameplay was off the charts!

James started playing and just couldn’t stop.

James got so hooked on the game that he totally spaced out and forgot he was even streaming. It wasn’t until his assistant snapped him out of it that he remembered to talk to his fans. “Sorry, guys! This game is absolutely insane. I take back everything I said. Ms. Jamison and Kinsbeat Game, you’re the real MVPS! From now on, I’m officially a fanboy. You two are the GOATS!”

“Guys, you all need to go download Splendor Peak right now!”

[Damn! Ms. Jamison is an absolute badass!]

[I’m downloading Splendor Peak right now!]

[I’m freaking out! Remember when people overseas said we’d never make a real AAA game? Well, we did it! I’m so proud right now!]

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[Ms. Jamison is the GOAT!]

Who is Ms. Jamison anyway? She’s even crazier than that once-in-a-decade prodigy!]

[Can’t wait for the Celestial Dome Awards! Are we finally gonna see Ms. Jamison in person?]

The tables turned in a heartbeat.

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Gamers who’d been waiting for the Calloway Group’s release ditched it and flooded Kinsbeat Game’s official site, scrambling to download Splendor Peak.

And all this happened in just one hour.

Splendor Peak went from barely a few hundred downloads to blowing past a million, just like that!

Positive reviews were pouring in like crazy.

Kinsbeat Game, Ms. Jamison, and Splendor Peak all shot straight to the top of Twitter’s trending list!

Meanwhile, over at the Calloway Group, their game was barely scraping by with a hundred thousand downloads. All that hype, and now with Kinsbeat Game dropping a total banger, Calloway’s release looked like garbage in comparison.

Their game’s rating plummeted from a solid 10 to a sad 3.

The next morning, Owen had just rolled out of bed and hadn’t even glanced at his phone when Yale burst into the room.

“Owen! Kinsbeat Game, Nerissa, the whole team, they’re blowing up on Twitter!” Yale stammered, practically shouting in excitement.

“Trending? For real?’ Owen blinked, totally floored.

‘Kinsbeat Game?’

How could Kinsbeat Game possibly be trending?’

‘And Nerissa? That nobody from the sticks? No freaking way!’

So,

There was only one explanation.

It had to be him, the once-in-a-decade dark horse, and the Calloway Group trending.

Yale probably just didn’t say it right.

Owen jumped up from the couch, excitement in his voice, “Is it me and our game blowing up online?!”