True Tycoon Her Empire, Her Rules

The bet between them barely registered on anyone’s radar, except for Springer. Even Hobson himself had swiftly forgotten about it after turning away. 

That evening, Hobson headed back to his room to take a shower. 

The master bedrooms in the Bryant family mansion each came with an en–suite bathroom, and Hobson had his own as well. 

He stepped into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and started to lather up his hair. Suddenly. the water stopped. 

With his head full of shampoo and his eyes stinging, he blindly fumbled for the shower controls but to no avail. 

His face darkened with irritation. Then he grabbed a towel to hastily wipe his eyes and marched to the bathroom door, bellowing, “Butler! Abdul! Why’s the water cut off in my room?!” 

His voice was loud, but there was no response from outside. Assuming the door muffled his shouts, he raised his voice even higher, “Abdul! Zoe! I’ve got no water here! Send someone up, pronto!” 

He thought he had shouted loud enough. Normally, even if someone was downstairs, they should’ve heard and come running. But now, the silence was unnerving. 

It wasn’t just that no one seemed to hear the commotion from his room. The place was eerily quiet, without even the occasional chirping of crickets or the hum of night insects. 

For some reason, his mind raced back to the warning tonight given by Winnie and her penchant for dabbling in supernatural activities. 

Hobson swallowed hard, feeling the hairs on his arms stand on end. He didn’t have time to ponder, wrapping the towel around his waist and still topped with a frothy head of shampoo. He then dashed out of the bathroom and bolted to his room door. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“Mom! Abdul!” His voice cracked with panic as he flung the door open and charged out. 

As the door swung open, Hobson thought he caught the faint sounds of the outside world, and his cry of alarm drew the attention of others in the villa. 

Springer, whose room was next to Hobson’s, was the first to emerge upon hearing the commotion. 

“What’s the matter? What’s going on?” He turned his head and his eyes bulged at the sight. 

“OMG!” 

Terrell was just ascending the stairs with Leonie and Abdul when they caught sight of Hobson, his head foamy and his body barely covered with a damp towel. They both widened their eyes. in shock. 

1/4 

Leonie instinctively covered Nadine’s eyes and ushered her downstairs. 

Middleton also emerged from his room and frowned deeply at the sight of uncollected Hobson. “What on earth do you look like?! Get back inside this instant!” 

Hobson was on the verge of tears. Did he not want to go back? There was something strange in 

his room! 

“Dad, mom, my room…” He wanted to say that his room felt demonic, but knowing Terrell’s skepticism about such matters, he managed a pained look and said. “There’s… suddenly no water in my room.” 

It was the butler, Abdul’s responsibility to deal with such issues, so he sprang into action. 

“How can that be?” He muttered as he walked into the bathroom, finding the idea implausible. This villa complex had never experienced a water outage, and the mansion’s water supply system was state–of–the–art, complete with automatic alerts and shutoffs for leaks. 

Abdul, still puzzled, entered the bathroom and turned on the shower. Water sprayed out immediately, warm mist rising, nearly soaking him. 

There was water, and the temperature was just right. 

Abdul was stumped. Yet knowing Hobson wouldn’t lie, he tested it a few more times, turning it off and on. With the bathroom and room doors open, everyone could hear the sound of running. water, turning their gazes towards Hobson. 

Hobson was dumbfounded. 

“Just now… there was no water when I turned it on.” he explained. 

“Enough, get back in there and wash that foam out of your hair,” Middleton said, his patience wearing thin. 

Leonie chimed in, “Yes, hurry up and clean yourself up, and put on some clothes. Don’t catch a cold.” 

Even though it was summer, standing with a wet head was still a recipe for getting chilled. 

But Hobson felt a chill of a different kind, recalling how his earlier calls went unanswered. He didn’t dare go back alone. 

“I… I’ll use Springer’s shower.” 

Without waiting for approval, he strode into Springer’s en–suite bathroom. 

Springer didn’t even have time to object and could only stamp his feet in frustration outside. 

Middleton shook his head and returned to his room with Leonle. 

Meanwhile, Hobson, still rattled by the incident, showered quickly and changed before stepping out of the room. 

Upon exiting, he saw two people sitting in Springer’s room. 

12:13 

One was Springer, and the other was Winnie. 

Hobson jumped, then glared at Winnie and shouted, “Did you pull some trick just now?!” 

It made sense. The water had stopped abruptly, and then Abdul found everything working fine. 

Plus, no one responded to his calls earlier. He didn’t believe it was an accident, especially considering Winnie’s earlier bet. He was sure she was behind it, though he had no clue how 

she did it. 

Springer, sitting nearby, was equally curious but had assumed Winnie used some high–tech gadgetry. 

He never expected her to pull out a charm. 

“This is a Silence Charm. Stick it on the door, and no matter how loud it gets inside, the outside won’t hear a thing. You just experienced it yourself,” Winnie explained casually, showing off her modification of a Shield Charm that only blocked sound. 

Springer’s eyes were wide–opened, unsure what to make of it, while Springer himself was fascinated. 

“A charm like that exists? Winnie, I want one! Sell it to me!” 

With this charm, he could game all night without fear of being caught by his parents! 

Even the need for headphones had become a thing of the past for him! 

Winnie was blunt with Springer, and she didn’t mince words. She turned her head, saying, “Two grand a pop.” 

Springer didn’t hesitate for a second, he nodded, grabbed his phone, and made the transfer. 

Hobson stood there. Ais jaw practically hitting the floor. 

“You… you really do magic, huh?” 

The very foundations of Hobson’s world were shaking. 

Winnie glanced at Hobson, too indifferent to bother explaining. She said, “I worl the bet.” 

Hobson twitched the corner of his mouth. 

He had thought about throwing the game on purpose to make her lose, but after witnessing what had just happened, even having his family see it all go down, denial wasn’t an option. 

Suddenly, another thought struck him. He looked at Winnie with a grimace, “Hold on, even if you used a charm, what about the water in my house? How do you explain that?” 

Hobson’s imagination ran wild with the idea that Winnie might have sent a gremlin to mess with his plumbing, cutting off his water mid–shower. 

How else could it be so perfectly timed…. 

The thought that a gremlin might have been watching him shower sent shivers down Hobson’s 

spine, and he looked at Winnie as one might gaze upon a monster. 

Winnie saw his expression but revealed a different truth. “The house’s water control system can monitor the use in each room in real–time.” 

Hobson was flabbergasted. 

Winnie sighed, as if explaining to a child, “I just watched your water usage and timed it to shut off the valve to your room, that’s all.” 

Upon hearing that, Hobson contorted his face with a mix of irritation and disbelief. 

That’s all? No, that’s too much!