Too Late to Hold Me Back novel Chapter 180

The monthly quota would shrink to simply replacing damaged inventory.

If he overextended now, he'd be left with millions in idle, rusting equipment when the gold rush ended.

Mira had made this painfully clear to Mr. Blake before they even signed the contract.

At school, Mira couldn't walk down a hallway without being cornered by classmates asking about the new bikes. As the face of the brand, she was the ultimate insider.

Naturally, there was still widespread skepticism. A tech startup asking for upfront cash? People were terrified it was a massive Ponzi scheme. What if the app vanished one day and took everyone's deposits with it?

"You can trust it," Mira promised the crowd around her desk. "Green Ride is aggressively scaling to four hundred thousand units. We have a dedicated maintenance fleet repairing and replacing them constantly.

If you ever decide you're done, just hit the 'Refund Deposit' button on the homepage, and the money drops right back into your account.

I give you my personal guarantee—if they ever freeze your deposits, you can come to me, and I'll pay you out of my own pocket."

That bold promise instantly shattered the tension in the senior homeroom.

Word spread like wildfire through the other classrooms, and with Mira's reputation backing it, the student body eagerly downloaded the app.

Watching everyone fawn over Mira triggered a sickeningly familiar burn of jealousy in Mara's chest.

She was still frail and gaunt following her recent medical crisis. Usually, she could mask it with makeup, but when her features twisted in pure hatred, she looked genuinely demonic.

The lackeys hovering around her flinched, an instinctual urge to back away rippling through them.

But they quickly suppressed it, realizing this was a prime opportunity to score points with the mean girl.

After all, that was the only reason they hung around her—to leach off her family's wealth.

The sharpest of the group shot a dirty look at Mira and sneered.

"She's just a spokesperson. Big deal."

"Right? Why is she acting like she owns the place? Her little modeling check isn't even half of Mara's weekly allowance. Isn't that right, Mara?"

...

The shameless flattery instantly soothed Mara's fractured ego.

She offered a stiff, condescending smile. "I'll bring you guys some imported liqueur chocolates tomorrow."

"Thanks, Mara!"

Right after lunch, she called the operations center. "Divert a truck and saturate the main gates of Melvion Central High School immediately."

Mira had a massive cult following at the school, and she was going to weaponize them into a walking, pedaling billboard for the brand.

Simultaneously, she had the marketing team tweak their television spots running across the city network:

*Green Ride and Solflare Entertainment operate under the unified banner of the Solflare Group. Solflare Entertainment provides full financial backing and assumes absolute liability for all user deposits.*

*Ride with confidence. The Green Ride fleet will continue expanding until total market coverage is achieved.*

It was one thing for a high schooler to trust Mira's word in a cafeteria.

But for the millions of cynical adults in Melvion City? They would take one look at a teenage pop star and ask: *Can a kid really cover millions in liabilities?*

That was when you brought out the big guns. Solflare Entertainment was a rapidly rising juggernaut, and tying its prestigious reputation to the bikes provided the ultimate corporate guarantee.

As far as the public knew, Mira was just a hugely successful recording artist. Her true identity as the ruthless mastermind behind the entire Solflare Group would remain buried for as long as possible.

On the walk back to class from the cafeteria, Elara nudged her shoulder and whispered, "Hey, Mira, since you're the official ambassador and everything, is there any way you can get me a promo code to waive the deposit?"