This time it wasn't a Rolls Royce limousine, but a black Escalade humming smoothly through the city, its tainted windows reflecting the sunlight. Nathan sat in the back between Aaron and John, phone in hand, half-listening to their excited chatter, while Stacey drove, a black beret perched on her brunette hair.“Look at this, man,” Aaron said, shoving his screen toward Nathan. The chart showed a jagged green line spiking upward—DodgerCoin’s price had jumped more than 100% in the last four hours. “We’re talking seven figures now. Seven. Figures. Each.”John leaned over, grinning like a kid who just found a winning lottery ticket in his pocket. “Bro, you changed our lives. Seriously. We were just with our parents money, and now… this? Thank you doesn’t even cover it.”Nathan glanced at the numbers, nodded once. “You listened when I told you to. That’s all you did. The coin did the rest.”Aaron laughed. “Nah, nah. You gave us the money to invest with. You trusted us with it. That’s huge

There were no more customers in the hall. It had all been left empty for Nathan and his date. The soft golden lighting of Glasgow Diner emitting from chandeliers that hung from the ceiling cast long shadows across the tables that had now been left empty. The entire restaurant had been cleared for them. No other customers, no one else except the new manager Mia and her staff who hovered discreetly near the kitchen. The only sounds were the faint echoes of silverware and the low hum of the city outside the windows.Amelia stood right there a few feet away from the table where Nathan was seated across his beautiful date.Her hair was wild, mascara streaked down her cheeks, jacket half-buttoned like she’d thrown it on in a hurry. Her eyes locked on Nathan and Chloe immediately, burning with a mix of rage, pain, and something dangerously close to obsession.The new manager, Mia, stepped forward nervously. “Miss, I’m sorry, but the restaurant is closed for a private—”Amelia didn’t even gl

Nathan sat across from David Brune in the top-floor conference room of Cloven's headquarters. Floor to ceiling windows framed the city's sky line behind them, making the older man look from a perspective like he was hovering about the city. The table between them was bare except for two tablets and a single folder.Brune tapped the folder once. “The Moody family,” he said, voice low," is a real estate empire. They are ruthless, old money, and greedy. They have been nipping at us for quite sometime now, trying to stop us from expanding any further. They’re the ones who’ve been fighting us tooth and nail for the Bay Area waterfront.”Nathan leaned back in the chair, fingers steepled. The name Moody tugged at something real in his memorie. It was faint, like a half-remembered conversation, but it wouldn’t click no matter how much he tried to remember where he heard it from."“Moody,” he repeated slowly. “Why does that sound familiar?”Brune gave a small shrug. “You’ve probably heard it i

The Maybach car glided through the gates of the Upper East Side townhouse just as the sun was below the horizon for the evening.Nathan stepped out, loosening his tie with one hand. The house lights were already on, spilling golden beams of light from the rooms. He could already smell something familiar drifting from the kitchen even before he reached the front door: stew. Grandma’s stew. The one she never got tired of.He pushed the door open, with Stacey behind him. “Grandma?” he called.Charity appeared from the hallway, apron tied around her waist, wooden spoon still in hand. Her face lit up underneath the strands of silver hair when she saw him. “My boy!” She hurried over, arms wide and hugged him. “Two days! Two whole days without seeing your face. I was starting to think you forgot where home was.”Nathan bent down so she could hug him properly. She smelled like onions, thyme, and one lavender soap she always used.“I missed you too,” he said, voice muffled against her shoulder

The theatre lights rose slowly, casting a soft amber light over the empty seats around the only two viewers in the place. Nathan and Rene. The credits of Love Under The Moonlight rolled in silence. Rene leaned her head against Nathan’s shoulder, eyes still glistening from the final scene. It seemed the movie did set the mood for her as as he said it would. She turned to Nathan with lips parted, and closed the distance with a kiss.Nathan felt her breath before her lips met his. He pulled back gently, just barely an inch, but enough to expand the distance between them. Rene froze, eyes searching his face.“I’m sorry,” Nathan said quietly. “I’m trying not to take it so fast with you.”She blinked, hurt flickering across her face before she masked it with a small, forced smile. “Do you… not like me?” she asked. “I do,” he said without hesitation. “More than I expected. But I’m giving myself time. I have too much I want to do right now. You should know about it already. I want to build t