The kitchen reeked of burnt toast and cheap cooking oil. His in-laws were already at the chipped table. Cassandra sat upright like she was royalty, even though her expensive perfume couldn't quite cover the sour smell of last night's wine.Douglas had a newspaper spread out, though everyone knew he barely understood half the words in the business section. And across from them sat Alina.She looked perfect.Brown hair in those effortless waves rich girls always managed. Lips curved just right. But those eyes—God, those calculating, ice-cold eyes—he knew what they hid now."Finally awake," Cassandra sneered. "Do you think this is a hotel? The food's getting cold."Douglas grunted without looking up. "Grown man eating for free should at least wake up on time."Alina glanced at him, smile perfectly in place. "Don't scold him too much, Mother. He's... trying."The hypocrisy almost made him laugh. In his old life, he would've lowered his head, mumbled sorry, and eaten while they tore into h

The Carver estate was draped in evening calm that felt almost staged. Expensive curtains swayed gently in late-night breeze, and jasmine incense floated faintly through the hall.Inside the living room, the family had gathered around a polished oak table. Laptop screen glowing, illuminating eager faces.Mark sat at the head, fingers dancing across keys like he was conducting an orchestra.Hair slicked back. Sharp angles. Confidence worn like a cloak. On screen, rows of numbers pulsed. Charts blinked. A digital heartbeat preparing to surge.Cassandra leaned in close, wine glass in hand, lips already curling with smugness. "Mark, your skills are truly wasted in Japan. I keep telling Douglas we should've brought you here sooner. Look at you. Our family finally has a real asset."Douglas grunted approval, arms crossed but eyes locked greedily on the screen. "Noam never could even set up a printer properly, let alone this. And here you are, controlling digital markets like a—what do they c

He scrolled through recent threads. Most of it was noise—people bragging, people panicking, people posting memes about coins that had just crashed.But buried in the noise...There.A thread about upcoming market movements. Posted by someone with the username OracleEye. Their track record was insane—fifteen predictions in the last month, fourteen of them accurate.Neo clicked it open."SilverChain will pump 300% within 72 hours. TerraCoin follows 24 hours later. Source: private beta access to exchange listing announcements."Neo's pulse quickened.He remembered this. In his first life, SilverChain was said to exploded out of proportion. He'd watched it grow, too scared to buy in, convinced he'd somehow lose money on a sure thing.TerraCoin had followed right after. Another massive pump that had minted overnight millionaires.'This is it. This is the starting capital I need.'He checked the current prices.SilverChain: $0.03TerraCoin: $0.12Both dirt cheap unlike bytegold. Both about

Twenty-four hours.Neo stared at his laptop screen, watching the numbers tick upward. TerraCoin had hit $0.36—exactly triple what he'd paid.His $25,000 investment was now worth $75,000.'Holy shit. It actually worked.'He'd known it would. Remembered it from his first life. But seeing it happen in real-time? Different feeling entirely.His fingers hovered over the sell button.'Not yet. Wait for the peak. Another hour, maybe two.'He refreshed. $0.37.His leg bounced. Couldn't help it.TerraCoin was the warm-up. The proof of concept. SilverChain was the real play—the one that would turn fifty grand into millions.Two more days. Just two more days.Neo leaned back in the creaky motel chair, allowing himself a moment of satisfaction.'Step one complete. Now let's see about step two.'–––––––––––Across town, Lyra Chen walked into the Herald offices with her shoulders hunched, red hair pulled back in a messy bun that hadn't been washed in—what, three days? Her white button-up was wrinkl

The monitoring software ran smoothly. Feeds updating every second. Audio clear. Video sharp.Neo added modules. Facial recognition to track who came and went. Voice analysis to detect stress patterns. Behavioral algorithms to predict their next moves.The system learned. Adapted. Became smarter with every hour.By week's end, Neo had a complete profile of the Carver family's routines.Cassandra woke at 7 AM. Coffee, newspaper, yoga.Douglas left for his office at 9 AM. Came home at 6 PM. Drank heavily most evenings.Mark worked from home. Spent hours online. Still searching for the missing coins.And Alina—Alina was the wildcard.She left the house at odd hours. Met with people Neo couldn't identify. Had conversations she thought were private.But Neo heard everything.Recorded everything.Saved everything.'Soon,' he thought, watching her leave the estate again. 'Very soon, all of this comes crashing down on you.'–––––––––––His phone buzzed. Alert from his trading account.Bytegol