Chapter 14

“Drive your car!” Jamison snapped, stung by embarrassment.

But Naylor wasn’t fazed. He kept teasing, “Nobody’s perfect, huh? You’ve always been the star student, top of the class since we were kids, then you went to med school and became the prodigy. My dad still talks about you – says you’re the most talented and hardworking student he’s seen in forty years!”

After his praise, Naylor shot his best friend a sideways grin. “But I guess even you have your blind spots. Your sense for finance is a total black hole. Honestly, is your entire annual salary just a donation to Wall Street?”

“I make money sometimes too, you know. I’ve just been too busy lately to keep up with the market,” Jamison protested, half-heartedly defending himself.

Naylor scoffed. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

Jamison ignored him, scrolling through a stock forum on his phone, not in the mood for more banter.

Suddenly, his phone chimed with a new message. He tapped it open. It was from a fellow investor who had once asked him for help:

[Dr. Ludwig, did you hear? Mrs. Smith is back! Everyone’s chatting in the WhatsApp group, but you’re not there. Guess you’re busy, so just letting you know.]

Jamison’s expression didn’t change as he replied: [Yeah, just got off work.]

He exited the chat without opening WhatsApp, and instead did a quick search for “Mrs. Smith” on the stock forum.

Sure enough, the account that had been silent for three years had just posted again.

Just four words: Back from the brink.

Jamison figured she must have been seriously ill – after three years of treatment and recovery, she was finally able to say something like that.

They’d never met, were essentially strangers, but he still felt a quiet sense of gladness.

As a doctor, he wanted people to survive – didn’t matter if they were close or complete strangers.

A faint smile tugged at his lips as he finally opened WhatsApp.

Naylor noticed the smile and shot him a questioning look. “You lose money and you’re smiling?” Jamison replied coolly, “Because I feel like it.”

Naylor just rolled his eyes.

Inside the “StonksOnlyGoUp” group, the chat was buzzing.

The group was an odd collection – six people from all over, most of whom had never met in real life. They’d bonded over trading stocks and chatting on forums, and eventually someone had pulled them together into a WhatsApp group.

Three of them lived in Neo Haven, the other three were scattered elsewhere.

No one ever pried into anyone’s private life. They only used their forum handles, never their real names, and only talked about the market.

Jamison’s handle was “Dr.Handsome” – it wasn’t hard to guess he was a doctor.

About a year ago, one of the locals had messaged him privately. His family had been in a terrible car accident and was in critical condition. He asked if Jamison could help find a top specialist.

Jamison took the case himself and managed to save the person’s life.

After that, they met up in person, but the man respected Jamison’s privacy, never mentioning any details in the group. All he told the others was that Dr. Handsome had saved his family.

Now, in the group chat, that same friend – Dale – typed: Just talked to Dr. Handsome. He just got off work, probably too busy to join.

Bob: Dr. Handsome is so aloof. He barely ever chats. Took Jay ages to convince him to join the group in the first place.

Jay: He says he’s too busy to chat much.

Dale: I can vouch for that! The guy is seriously busy.

CoachMurphy: Mrs. Smith shows up, drops one message, then disappears again? I’ve been losing a ton lately – Mrs. Smith, throw us a bone!

Mrs.Smith: I’m here. Haven’t touched my account in three years, but turns out I’ve made quite a bit.

Bob: Mrs. Smith, what happened these past three years? Were you sick? We were really worried about you.

Mrs.Smith: Thanks for caring. It’s been a rough few years, but I made it through.

Jamison scrolled through the messages, then tapped out a reply: Glad you made it back safe.