Chapter 309: Detective Chuck: You Think It's Over? No, This Is Just the Beginning!
"Why are we stopping here?"
Even though Ross had taken so many sleeping pills and was in a daze, he subconsciously sensed something was wrong. Instead of answering, he looked around and asked with a silly grin.
"You'll find out in seven minutes."
Mrs. Geller's second wife, Vicky, raised her hand to check the time: "Drink up!"
Ross subconsciously obeyed the command.
There was no other way.
In such a short time, their meeting and quickie marriage were all orchestrated by Vicky. In fact, to completely sever his connection with the outside world, she used various methods to keep him occupied in bed for two whole days.
As a result, he was completely exhausted and submissive.
All his usual stubbornness had no chance to surface.
Obedience, and more obedience!
"I really love you."
Ross took another sip of champagne, still clueless, and sweet-talked his new wife with his hazy eyes.
"Yes, everyone makes mistakes."
Vicky didn't pretend at all and just responded honestly, then reached for Ross's wallet in his pocket.
This snapped Ross back to reality somewhat, and he grabbed his wallet. "What are you doing?"
"I knew my choice was right. Even now, you're still thinking about your money."
Vicky's expression was mocking as she shoved Ross's hand away, took the wallet, and pulled out a lottery ticket.
"What's this?"
Ross stared at it, his eyes glazed.
"It's my inheritance."
Vicky looked at the numbers, her eyes burning as if she were looking at the most beautiful thing in the world, a chilling smile playing on her lips as she spoke the most unsettling words.
"My husband died in an accident. He was drunk and passed out on the train tracks."
"Your husband?"
Ross chuckled weakly, then shook his head. "You have another husband?"
"No, this is my first marriage. You're the lucky one!"
Vicky smiled and leaned closer, locking his car door from the inside.
"Thank you."
The newly remarried Ross thanked her groggily, then muttered, "Your husband was drunk and passed out on the tracks, haha, that's just like me right now..."
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The red crossing lights flashed, bells ringing in constant warning, as a train rapidly approached in the distance.
"Something's wrong."
Ross grabbed his new wife, who was preparing to exit the vehicle. "You're trying to kill me?"
Vicky pried his hand away, sneering, "You're only realizing it now?"
"Why?"
Ross was both shocked and frightened, but under the influence of alcohol and drugs, he had lost control of his body and could only struggle weakly as his wife opened her door.
"Why? You cheapskate! You're such a stereotypical penny-pincher!"
Vicky yelled as she got out of the car. "I originally just wanted to marry you and split the lottery prize, but after just two days together, I've realized that you won't give me a single penny, let alone half. You probably won't even reimburse me for the money I spent on us these past two days! In that case, you might as well die. I'll inherit everything and start fresh as a young widow."
"What lottery prize? I won the lottery?"
Ross, upon hearing this, seemed to jolt awake as if given a shot of adrenaline, suddenly alert despite still being unable to control his limbs or summon any strength.
"It's my lottery prize now!"
Vicky played with the lottery ticket representing $2.04 billion, her face beaming with triumph.
"This won't work."
Ross tried desperately to unbuckle his seatbelt and escape, but his limbs wouldn't obey him. In desperation, his supposedly brilliant mind—the paleontologist doctorate—finally kicked in, and he cried out, "Vicky, stop playing around! I can pretend none of this happened, and we can still be a loving couple.
Otherwise, think about it: I just won the lottery, we had a shotgun wedding, and now I've been drugged and run over on train tracks? Do you really think the police won't suspect you?"
"Suspect what?"
Vicky laughed. "Didn't the police themselves forget a prisoner in a patrol car on the tracks and let him get run over? Everyone thought that was perfectly reasonable."
"..."
Ross broke out in a cold sweat.
He had completely forgotten about that bizarre news story from a few months ago.
He'd found it darkly amusing at the time, but now it was his worst nightmare!
"My sister's boyfriend is Detective Chuck. He won't let you get away with this,"
Ross shouted desperately.
"Oh, please!"
Vicky scoffed. "How many times have you insulted him these past two days? I don't think he'll be lifting a finger to help you.
Even if he finds out the truth, I'll tell him everything you've said about him, and then offer to split the inheritance with him fifty-fifty.
Hell, I'll throw myself at him completely. What do you think he'll choose then?"
"Damn it!"
Even as death drew ever closer, Ross's face flushed with humiliation and rage. He was terrified!
If it were him in Chuck's position, he absolutely would have accepted Vicky's terms, watching his insulting rival lose everything.
How satisfying that would have been!
Unfortunately, the situation was reversed; he was the one getting screwed.
As the train's whistle grew louder and the ground began to shake, Ross remained trapped, only able to cry out in despair, "You're not good enough! He wouldn't even look twice at someone like you!"
"Guess we'll have to see about that."
Vicky remained unmoved, smiling and waving goodbye mockingly before quickly leaving the tracks.
"No!!!"
Ross was stuck in the driver's seat, forced to watch helplessly as the train barreled closer and closer.
CRASH!
Just then, a car suddenly appeared and slammed into the SUV, tires screeching as it pushed the vehicle off the tracks with only seconds to spare.
"You bitch, don't you dare run!"
Chuck and Monica arrived just in time. As soon as Monica jumped out of the car, she saw Vicky standing just beyond the tracks. Feeling righteous fury for her brother, she charged forward.
Vicky hesitated for a split second, then her eyes hardened with desperation, and she rushed forward as well.
If Ross wasn't dead, all her carefully laid plans would have been for nothing. But there was still a chance—if she could take everyone down with her.
That was $2.04 billion!
She felt an overwhelming surge of desperate fighting spirit.
Then, in a single exchange, she was completely defeated by Monica.
There was no way around it.
The fear of life imprisonment and the adrenaline rush fueled by $2.04 billion were absolutely no match for the formidable physical prowess passively developed by Monica through her daily... research sessions with Chuck.
After all, Monica frequently pushed herself to her absolute limits!
Now, compared to an ordinary woman like Vicky, Monica had no physical weaknesses whatsoever!
"Chuck, is Ross alright?"
Monica, having subdued Vicky with embarrassing ease, was surprised by her own strength. After a moment of stunned silence, she shouted at Chuck while still pinning Vicky to the ground.
"He's fine,"
Chuck replied, glancing at the disoriented Ross in the vehicle.
"Detective Chuck, you have no idea what Ross Geller has been saying about you behind your back these past few days! Just ignore this for now, push his car back onto the tracks, and let him ride it out too. We'll split the $2.04 billion fifty-fifty!"
Vicky, pinned to the ground, immediately shouted upon hearing Chuck's name, "I'll come with you too! Don't you want to experience what it's like to be with Mrs. Geller?"
"Shameless!"
Monica tightened her grip, making Vicky gasp.
Ross, hearing his psychotic wife actually make this proposition, looked at Chuck's expressionless face and broke out in a cold sweat.
"Chuck, don't listen to her! I didn't say anything bad... I'm Monica's brother, we're family!"
"We'll only be family after I go home with him!"
Vicky yelled defiantly.
Chuck stared at Ross silently for a long, uncomfortable moment, filling him with extreme terror. Only after the train finally passed, its whistle fading into the distance, did Ross breathe a slight sigh of relief.
"Why?"
As Chuck walked toward her, Vicky called out desperately, "We could have had everything!"
"You're not worth it!"
Chuck retorted bluntly.
Vicky looked at Monica, who was smiling victoriously, and retorted with bitter defiance, "What does she have that I don't? Besides, I'm about to inherit $2.04 billion!"
"I'm not interested in money,"
Chuck said calmly.
"Ross, are you okay?"
Monica asked, rushing to check on her brother after Chuck took over restraining Vicky.
"Lottery ticket, my lottery ticket!"
Ross, weak and trembling, was helped out of the vehicle, pointing frantically at Vicky and repeatedly calling out.
"Don't worry, I've got it back."
Monica smiled and pulled the $2.04 billion lottery ticket from her pocket.
Ross snatched it immediately, clutching it tightly in his hand, a look of extreme relief and satisfaction on his face, muttering, "This is mine, my precious~"
At that moment, the police arrived and took Vicky into custody.
Chuck and Monica took Ross to the hospital for a gastric lavage. During the entire process, Ross refused to let go of the lottery ticket, desperately begging Chuck to help him immediately annul his marriage registration with Vicky.
Early Morning Hours
A group of old friends drove from New York to the hospital.
"Ross, are you alright?"
"Oh, my dearest friend, I'm so relieved to see you're okay. You have no idea how worried I was about you."
The friends expressed their concern, but their excessive enthusiasm only made Ross's eye twitch as he gripped the lottery ticket even tighter.
"This must be the new Mrs. Ross Geller, right?"
Chandler, as always, looked at the lottery ticket in Ross's death grip and mocked, "She's really beautiful. No wonder you were so infatuated with her, willing to become a divorce legend!"
"Chandler!"
Rachel glared at him reproachfully.
However, after Chandler's joke, the friends' excessive enthusiasm finally returned to something resembling normal. Although they were still clearly envious and fascinated by Ross's massive win, the thought that he'd almost died because of it helped them regain some perspective.
"Ross, what are you going to do?"
Rachel's eyes sparkled intensely as she stared at the lottery ticket in Ross's hand.
"What do you mean, what am I going to do?"
Ross, noticing the expression on his once unattainable crush's face, instantly adopted a smug, self-important demeanor.
"I mean about claiming the prize,"
Rachel said enthusiastically. "This $2.04 billion—are you going to take the lump sum, or are you going to take the annuity payments?"
"Rachel, look at you being all informed,"
Monica exclaimed, looking at her best friend in surprise.
Normally, Rachel couldn't even be bothered to properly serve coffee at her waitressing job, but now she knew all this insider information—she'd clearly done her homework.
"Of course,"
Rachel laughed. "When a good friend wins the lottery, of course I have to help research the details. I can't let my good friend get ripped off, right?
I found out that the lump-sum payout is relatively small, and you'll lose a ton of money.
After deducting federal taxes, state taxes, and everything else, you can only receive a little over $900 million, which is more than half gone.
Wow.
It's like losing an entire billionaire's worth!
No wonder all the wealthy people are desperately trying every tax loophole they can find.
It's highway robbery!"
"Are you sure you want to say this in front of a senior consultant to the IRS?"
Chandler reminded her with a knowing smirk.
"What's wrong with what I said?"
Rachel glanced at Chuck and laughed. "It's not like I have the means to dodge taxes anyway."
"Stop daydreaming about all the good stuff, and start thinking about the deadly problems first!"
Monica said irritably. "If it weren't for Chuck's abilities and quick thinking, there wouldn't be a billionaire Ross anymore—only a billionaire widow named Vicky Geller!
Are you sure this psycho Vicky will be the only threat in the future?"
"Of course not!"
Chandler interjected with dark humor. "That's $2.04 billion, enough to make someone who had absolutely nothing become one of the world's wealthiest people, able to do whatever they want. And Ross had nothing before this. Anyone would want to take his place.
Actually, it's not just Ross who's in danger—we are too."
"We're actually probably okay."
Monica couldn't help but complain, looking at her brother who was clutching the lottery ticket so tightly that he wouldn't even let her, his own sister, touch it.
"Because everyone knows Ross is so cheap he wouldn't spend extra money on us. Even if we were kidnapped to threaten him, it wouldn't work."
"The key is that others don't know that,"
Chuck reminded her.
"Shit!"
Chandler scoffed. "Looks like we all need to go on my show and publicly announce we're cutting ties with Ross."
"Chuck, what do you think?"
Monica, after her initial complaints, couldn't help but worry about her brother. "How can we guarantee Ross's safety?"
"Once he claims the money, he should immediately announce a $100 million donation to the National Rifle Association, then move to Texas and donate another $100 million there to establish local goodwill.
Hire the absolute best private security money can buy, learn comprehensive self-defense techniques including firearms training and hand-to-hand combat, keep various weapons at home for protection, maybe get a mounted machine gun, armored vehicles..."
"Wait, wait, what the hell is all this?"
Rachel interrupted Chuck, her head spinning as he spoke so matter-of-factly.
"The National Rifle Association—the NRA—the most powerful pro-gun lobbying organization in America. Donating to join as a major benefactor provides serious deterrent effect,"
Chuck calmly explained. "Move to Texas, where gun culture is strongest and people take their Second Amendment rights very seriously. For the honor of the Lone Star State, they won't allow outside criminal organizations to run rampant in Texas.
Plus, if you donate generously to win over the Texans around you, they'll automatically provide you with grassroots armed protection. Everyone becomes a potential bodyguard—the deterrent effect is even greater than the NRA connection alone.
That's the real strongest protection."
"I understand the logic,"
Ross complained. "But I don't agree with the plan. Why can't I just hire a professional security team? Two hundred million is enough to protect me for life, and I don't have to train myself or turn into some kind of gun nut!"
"Whether you donate to the NRA or move to Texas and establish local connections, it's all about deterring large-scale organized crime. Otherwise, the gun culture doesn't help you."
Chuck said calmly, "As for professional security teams, they're only effective at preventing attacks from small groups, but that's not enough to completely guarantee your safety.
It's essential to train yourself and possess sufficient personal firepower. Only then can you protect yourself from lone wolf attacks, and from any security team member who might be bribed or turn disloyal, potentially eliminating you from the inside."
"Isn't that a bit extreme?"
Rachel said incredulously, "I don't see other billionaires going through all that trouble."
"Which billionaire doesn't have extensive connections to ensure their safety and wealth?"
Chuck looked at her. "Even your father, as a successful cardiologist worth millions, has built relationships with all sorts of influential people through his work. He has a solid professional network. Attacking him would be too risky for too little reward.
But Ross has zero connections; he used to be a complete nobody working at a museum. Taking him down is extremely low-risk, but the potential reward is billions of dollars.
Forget small-time criminals looking to get rich quick—even established wealthy and powerful people are probably already strategizing about how to squeeze money out of Ross, who has nothing but sudden wealth.
If they're civilized, they'll give him the illusion of dignity and choice. If they're ruthless, they'll just take what they want.
Ross Geller's name is currently the number one trending target on every dark web criminal forum."
He looked directly at Ross. "Now, are you still happy about winning?"
"...Chuck, aren't you one of my connections now?"
Ross looked at Chuck with a desperate, fawning smile, his face filled with fear.
"I'm not,"
Chuck said bluntly.
Ross: "..."
(End of Chapter)
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