Chapter 24 – Time Skip: Rise of the Young Mogul
Three months later, Jake Harper wasn't just making waves—he was rewriting the rules.
FaceWorld had gone from a locally hosted prototype to one of the fastest-growing websites in the country. What started with a few hundred users had grown beyond anything Jake could've imagined.
User count: 582,000 and climbing.
College students, high schoolers, young professionals—anyone with internet access was jumping on board.
FaceWorld wasn't just a site anymore. It was a movement.
Jake had rolled out constant updates—taggable photos, profile walls, status updates, friend suggestions, and direct messaging. People loved it. Users were sticking around. Engagement was off the charts.
And now, advertisers were calling.
Banner ads. Campus promos. Sponsorship deals. The site was finally making money—and Jake was just getting started.
While FaceWorld exploded, Jake had been playing another game in the background—and winning.
In just three months, he'd taken his initial $10,000 and turned it into over $670,000 through precision trading.
He didn't waste money on hype stocks. He studied fundamentals, earnings reports, and long-term tech trends. He made smart bets on underpriced post-dot-com survivors, caught the rebound on undervalued infrastructure plays, and used options to multiply returns.
His timing was uncanny.
He hadn't touched Apple, Amazon, or Nvidia—yet. But now, he finally had the capital. He was ready to build a real portfolio. The kind that turned millionaires into moguls.
Meanwhile… Back at the Sitcom
The adults in Jake's life? Still a mess.
• Alan was still mooching off Charlie, somehow managing to act both helpless and self-righteous at the same time.
• Judith finally filed for divorce, though she called Alan frequently to argue about everything from Jake's clothes to her "emotional exhaustion."
• Evelyn kept popping in and out, offering "advice" no one asked for and insults no one could dodge.
• Berta remained Jake's favorite adult in the whole world. She didn't care how smart he was—just that he didn't leave dishes in the sink.
• And Charlie? Still living the bachelor dream/nightmare. Women came and went. So did his sobriety. So did his memory of half their names.
And then there was Rose.
Still creepy. Still obsessed. Jake had caught her peeking through windows, lurking behind hedges, and once—once—hiding in the laundry room.
He hadn't said anything.
Not yet.
But he was keeping track.
Jake watched it all like a writer behind the scenes of a show only he knew was scripted. He laughed, he rolled his eyes, but most of all?
He built.
Because while the rest of the world played catch-up…
Jake Harper was building the future.