Chapter 1 Jericho's POVThe night started out like every other miserable night in Jericho Matthew’s life—tired, hungry, and surrounded by problems. He stood at the corner of the city’s quiet streets, waiting for the last bus that almost never came. His old backpack hung from one shoulder, half-zipped and stuffed with his cracked laptop, a few cheap clothes, and an empty lunch box.The streetlights flickered, throwing dim light on the puddles scattered across the road. The smell of rain and dust mixed in the air. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear the hum of fancy cars heading toward the richer part of the city—the kind of world Jericho didn’t belong to.He sighed, pulling his worn jacket closer around him. “Another day, another slap in the face,” he muttered.Jericho was twenty-seven, a quiet man with big dreams buried under years of disappointment. He’d studied computer engineering, graduated with high hopes, and landed in a company that paid him just enough to survive. But su

Chapter 3Jericho's POV I used to think pain was something you got used to.Turns out, some memories never stop burning.The day my wife left me is one I’ll never forget.Her name was Clara but very beautiful, proud, and colder than winter when she wanted to be. We’d been married for three years, though it felt like I was the only one trying. She was the daughter of wealthy parents, people who measured human worth by the size of a bank account. To them, I was nothing more than a mistake their daughter had made out of pity.Her father, Mr. Calvin, once said right to my face, “A man who can’t afford his own house shouldn’t marry. You should’ve known your place, Jericho.”Her mother never called me by name. To her, I was always that poor boy.And Clara… well, she didn’t defend me that day. She just stood there in her diamond necklace and said, “I can’t keep living like this, Jericho. I want more out of life.”When she packed her bags and left, I begged her to stay—just long enough for m

Chapter 5 Jericho's POV The office was quiet, almost eerily so. I sat behind my massive oak desk, staring at the glowing city skyline through the floor-to-ceiling windows. It was late, but sleep had abandoned me. Something in the pit of my stomach told me tonight wouldn’t be ordinary.I didn’t have to wait long to confirm it. The sound of heels clicking sharply across the polished floor made my pulse quicken. Clara. She didn’t knock. She just walked in, eyes flicking toward me, a slow smile curling on her lips.I stood, instinctively straightening my jacket. “Clara,” I said calmly, though my voice carried a sharp edge. “I thought I told you to leave when you failed to prove your usefulness.”Her smile didn’t falter. If anything, it widened. “I did prove it, Jericho. But I came to… celebrate our progress. Together.” Her voice was honey-sweet, but I recognized the underlying poison.I gestured toward the chair across from me. “Sit. Speak quickly.”She moved, deliberately slow, each st

Chapter 7 Jericho's POV I had faced challenges before. Investors, rivals, government scrutiny, even Clara’s manipulations—but nothing prepared me for the chaos that hit that night.It started with a ping from my AI system. Normally, alerts were trivial—transactions, stock movements, small anomalies. But this one wasn’t trivial. It was catastrophic.“Significant loss detected. Estimated: $600 billion.”I froze. Six hundred billion dollars. Gone. Just like that. The numbers blinked on my screen, impossible yet undeniable. My stomach tightened. I double-checked the accounts. Triple-checked. Every calculation, every report confirmed it.I had lost $600 billion in a single night.I paced the office, phone in hand, trying to make sense of it. “This… this can’t be real,” I muttered. “Show me the source. Explain this immediately.”The AI system responded calmly, voice mechanical but unnerving:“Jericho Matthew, this loss is not caused by your actions. It originates from an external rival. T