Free Web NovelChapter 136: 136 | Tech Support
Chloe stared at the computer taking shape on her coffee table, but her mind kept drifting to darker places. Jordan’s fingers worked through cable management with the kind of steady confidence that made her stomach flutter, the same hands that had made her see stars last night, the same hands that bought her things without expecting anything in return, the same hands that would eventually touch other girls because of some stupid inheritance clause his grandfather wrote.
The thought made her want to throw something.
She didn’t want to share him. Not his time, not his attention, not his body, not the way he looked at her like she was the only person in the room who mattered. She definitely didn’t want to share the way he made coffee exactly how she liked it without being asked, or how he remembered she hated the crusts on sandwiches, or how he sang in the shower when he thought no one was listening.
And she absolutely, completely, violently did not want to share the way he fucked her until her brain stopped working entirely, then held her afterward like she was something precious instead of rolling over and going to sleep.
But Jordan needed three girls for the inheritance. He’d been clear about that during their inheritance conversation, even if something in his eyes suggested there was more to the story than he was telling her. And if she had to watch him with other women, if she had to smile and pretend it didn’t make her want to commit actual murder, then at least Kumiko and Alexis were better options than random strangers.
At least she knew them. At least she could predict their moves. At least they were her friends first, which meant they owed her some loyalty even if they ended up in Jordan’s bed.
The rational part of her brain understood the logic. The rest of her wanted to lock Jordan in her apartment and never let him out where other girls could see how his shoulders filled out that black t-shirt.
"Earth to Chloe."
Jordan’s voice cut through her increasingly violent fantasies about chaining him to her radiator. He was looking at her with concern, head tilted slightly to one side, and she realized she’d been staring at nothing for several minutes while Kumiko chattered about thermal paste application.
"Sorry. Just thinking."
"About what?"
About how I want to tattoo ’Property of Chloe Kim’ across your chest.
"Nothing important."
Jordan’s expression suggested he didn’t buy that for a second, but before he could press further, Kumiko clapped her hands together with renewed enthusiasm.
"Alright! Let’s test this baby out!"
The sudden shift in energy snapped Chloe back to the present. Kumiko was practically vibrating with excitement as she gestured toward the completed build, cables neatly routed and components properly seated. Even Alexis looked mildly interested, though she maintained her characteristic air of detached superiority.
"Someone grab an extension cord," Jordan said, pushing himself up from the floor. "We’ll need to plug this into the wall."
Chloe retrieved the heavy-duty extension cord from her closet, the one she used for her ring light setup during content creation. Jordan connected the power supply cable to the extension cord with a satisfying click, then positioned his finger over the power button on the front of the case.
"Moment of truth."
He pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
The case remained dark and silent, no LED lights, no fan noise, no reassuring hum of electronics coming to life. Jordan frowned and pressed the button again, holding it longer this time. Still nothing.
"Uh." Jordan looked toward Kumiko with growing alarm. "Is it supposed to do something?" freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
"Oh dear."
Kumiko’s face went pale as she scrambled closer to the case, checking connections with increasingly frantic movements. Her usual confidence evaporated into barely contained panic.
"The RAM light isn’t even on. That’s. That’s not good. The motherboard should at least be getting power, even if something else is wrong."
"Did we break it?" Chloe asked, though she was already mentally calculating how much money they’d just wasted on expensive components that apparently didn’t work.
"I don’t think so." Kumiko’s voice climbed toward genuine distress. "All the connections look correct. The power supply switch is on. The cables are seated properly. I don’t understand why."
Jordan ran his hands through his hair, leaving it slightly mussed in a way that would have been distracting under different circumstances. "Maybe we need to check the motherboard manual again? See if there’s some step we missed?"
"I followed the instructions exactly." Kumiko was now pulling cables and reseating them with trembling fingers. "CPU power, motherboard power, GPU power, everything’s connected correctly. This should work."
Alexis, who had been watching the proceedings with her typical air of aloof amusement, suddenly stood up from the couch. "Let me check something."
Without further explanation, she dropped to her hands and knees next to the coffee table and leaned forward to examine the back of the case. The position put her ass directly in the air, her expensive athleisure pants stretched tight across curves that had launched a thousand Instagram thirst comments.
Chloe automatically glanced toward Jordan to see if he was staring.
He wasn’t. His eyes were fixed determinedly on her kitchen backsplash, jaw set in a way that suggested active effort was required to maintain the appropriate direction of his gaze.
Good boy.
"You dumbasses didn’t plug in the extension cord."
Alexis’s voice was muffled by her proximity to the floor, but the exasperation came through clearly. She straightened up and pointed toward the wall outlet with the kind of expression usually reserved for particularly slow children.
"The extension cord isn’t plugged into the wall. The computer has no power because there’s literally no electricity reaching it."
Jordan stared at the unplugged extension cord for several seconds, his expression cycling through confusion, realization, and embarrassment in rapid succession. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, a gesture that had become familiar over the past week.
"Yeah, I forgot. Let me do that."
The admission hung in the air for a moment before Kumiko burst into giggles that rapidly escalated into full laughter. Even Alexis cracked a smile, though she tried to hide it behind her hand.
"Oh my god," Kumiko gasped between laughs. "We almost spent twenty minutes troubleshooting a power issue when the computer wasn’t even plugged in. That’s like calling tech support because your TV doesn’t work when it’s not connected to electricity."
Jordan plugged the extension cord into the wall outlet, his ears slightly red. "In my defense, I was distracted."
"Sure you were," Chloe said, though she was fighting her own smile. The momentary panic had actually been a welcome distraction from her earlier dark thoughts about sharing Jordan with other women.
Jordan pressed the power button again.
This time, the case erupted with light and sound. LED strips blazed to life in rainbow colors, case fans spun up with a satisfying whoosh, and the RGB RAM modules began their hypnotic cycling through the entire spectrum. The graphics card’s cooling fans kicked in with a deeper, more substantial sound that spoke of serious processing power.
"There we go," Jordan said with obvious relief. "I told you it would work."
