All Chapters of I BUILT THE UNDERWORLD WHILE YOU CALLED ME USELESS : Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
10 chapters
Chapter 1
"The richest man in this city owes me ten dollars." Lucian’s voice was a low, steady rasp against the torrential rain. He didn't blink. "By midnight, that ten dollars will cost him his life.""Who the hell are you talking to?" the burly security guard snapped, stepping out from the opulent, gold-trimmed awning of the Grand Hotel."Myself," Lucian replied. His gaze remained fixed on the revolving glass doors."Well, talk to yourself on the next block. Move it, trash. You’re blocking the VIP drop-off.""I'm waiting for someone.""People who look like you don't wait for people inside here," the guard sneered, eyeing Lucian’s faded denim jacket and scuffed boots. "Scram before I make you."Before the guard could reach for his baton, the glass doors slid open. Seraphina Vale stepped out, flanked by two more men in tailored suits."What is the delay, Marcus?" Seraphina asked. Her tone was sharp, her posture rigid inside a pristine, custom-tailored designer dress."Just clearing the curb, Mi
Chapter 2
The heavy scent of ozone and rusted iron filled the narrow alleyway as Lucian knelt over a discarded server rack. He wasn't looking for scrap metal; he was looking for the gold-plated processors that held the keys to the city’s digital vaults."Drop the bag, trash."Lucian didn't look up. He kept his fingers steady, unscrewing a heat sink with a precision that didn't match his ragged clothes. "You’re late, Boxer. Usually, you hit this alley at 10:00 PM. It’s 10:15."A massive, scarred hand gripped Lucian’s shoulder and spun him around. Boxer stood there, six-foot-four of muscle and bad intentions, flanked by two lean, hungry-looking street thugs."I don't care about the time," Boxer growled, nodding toward the black bag at Lucian's feet. "I care about what's in there. High-grade tech? Copper? Give it over and maybe I won't break your fingers.""It's just trash to you, Boxer. To me, it's data.""Data don't pay the rent," one of the lackeys piped up, flicking a switchblade. "The bag. No
Chapter 3
Thorne stood, but his head remained slightly lowered. He ignored Boxer, who was still standing like a coiled spring beside Lucian. "The board doesn't know I’m here, sir. I came the moment the short-sell hit the wires. They think it was a localized glitch. I knew better.""You knew it was me," Lucian stated. It wasn't a question."Only one person could navigate the sub-layers of the Vale architecture that quickly," Thorne replied. He gestured toward the black bag Lucian held. "And I suspect the hardware in that bag is how you did it. Is it the 'Ghost' protocol? Did you actually stabilize it?""Why do you care, Julian? You work for Apex now. You’re supposed to be celebrating the Vales’ funeral."Thorne stepped closer, his eyes darting to the guards by the SUVs to ensure they were out of earshot. "Apex is a sinking ship of a different variety, and you know it. They’ve over-leveraged themselves trying to swallow Arthur Vale’s commercial debt. If you have the data harvested from those serv
Chapter 4
Across the city, in a penthouse overlooking the rain-slicked skyline, Arthur Vale sat in a leather chair that felt more like a cage. The room smelled of expensive scotch and the ozone of cooling servers. His phone had been ringing for three hours; his empire was hemorrhaging, and the board was already drafting his resignation."Sir?" his butler whispered from the door. "A courier dropped this off. He said it was about the night at the hospital."Arthur’s head snapped up, eyes bloodshot. "Give it here."He ripped open the cream-colored envelope. Inside, a single sheet of paper held two lines of sharp, elegant script:October 14th. 2:41 AM. The heart monitor flatlined.Arthur’s breath hitched. He had told the world—and his daughter—that his wife died at 4:00 AM. Only he and a heavily bribed physician knew the truth. Then he read the second line, and his glass of scotch shattered on the floor.I was the one who watched you turn off the oxygen, Arthur. And now, I’m the one who’s going to
Chapter 5
The crystal chandeliers of the Grand Palace Ballroom hummed with a low-frequency vibration that matched the frantic thudding in Arthur Vale’s chest. He adjusted his silk tie in the green room mirror, his hands finally steadying after the morning’s systemic collapse."You look like a king, Father," Seraphina said, stepping into the room. Her voice was brittle. She had traded her mud-stained rags for a gown of midnight blue, but the diamonds at her throat felt like a noose."I look like a survivor," Arthur corrected, turning to face her. "The short-sell? A temporary tremor. Tonight, we announce 'Aethelgard.' By tomorrow, the stock won't just recover—it will transcend.""Father, that man... Lucian. He knew about the Caymans. He knew about the oxygen.""He’s a ghost, Seraphina! A ghost with a laptop and a grudge!" Arthur snapped, his face reddening. "Ghosts don't win wars. Capital wins wars. Now, fix your face. The Governor is waiting, and the investors need to see a dynasty, not a funera
Chapter 6
The smoke didn't rise from the slums; it choked them. Three black armored transport vans screeched into the heart of the district, their tires churning up the oily sludge of the narrow streets. The "Cleaners" stepped out—twelve men in matte-black tactical gear, carrying high-grade incendiary launchers and silenced submachine guns. These weren't corporate security; they were the shadows Arthur Vale used when he wanted a zip code erased from the map."Burn it," the lead mercenary, a man named Kael with a jagged scar running through his eyebrow, commanded. "Every shack, every basement, every crawlspace. If it breathes and it’s seen the face of Lucian Croft, it dies.""Boss, what about the data?" one of the men asked, hefting a flamethrower. "The old man said the boy has a drive.""If he's in the fire, the drive melts with him. Arthur wants the leak plugged, not the water saved. Start with that tenement on the corner.""Wait."The voice came from the mouth of a dark, narrow alleyway betwe
Chapter 7
"You’re all shaking. Stop it," Lucian’s voice sliced through the humid air of the cramped basement beneath 'The Rusty Bolt.'The dozen shopkeepers and residents huddled there looked at him like he was a ticking bomb. Old Man Miller, who ran the corner pharmacy, stepped forward, his hands trembling. "They burned the tenement, Lucian. The 'Cleaners'… they’ll come back. They’ll kill us all just to get to you.""They won't be back for a long time," Lucian said, tossing a handful of crumpled papers onto the center table."What’s this?" Miller asked, squinting."The deed to your pharmacy. The title to Mrs. Gable’s diner. The payday loan contracts for every family on this block."A collective gasp rippled through the room. Mrs. Gable reached out, her fingers hovering over the paper. "How? The bank sold these to a collection firm months ago.""I am the collection firm," Lucian said. "I bought the debt web of this entire district three hours ago for pennies on the dollar. Arthur Vale was liqui
Chapter 8
The concrete floor of the "Pit" was slick with a cocktail of sweat, cheap beer, and fresh blood. In the center of the ring, Jax—a mountain of a man with a shaved head and knuckles scarred into ivory—was finally on his knees. Five debt collectors, dressed in heavy leather jackets and brandishing steel pipes, circled him like hyenas around a wounded lion."Stay down, Jax!" the lead collector, a man known as 'The Hammer,' spat. "You’ve lost. The house always wins, and your tab at the Golden Cage is six figures deep."Jax wiped blood from his lip, his eyes still burning. "I don't... pay... for fixed fights.""The boss doesn't care about your pride," Hammer sneered, raising his pipe. "He cares about the vig. Since you can't pay with cash, we’ll start taking it out in bone density. Break his ribs.""I wouldn't do that," a voice rang out from the entrance.The collectors turned. Lucian stood there, framed by the flickering neon of the basement. He looked out of place in the grime, yet he wal
Chapter 9
The mahogany doors of the Vale study didn't just close; they slammed with the finality of a casket. Seraphina stood in the hallway, her breath hitching in her throat."You’re stripping my access?" she whispered, staring at the closed door. "Father! I did exactly what you asked!""You let a vagrant dismantle our reputation in front of the entire city!" Arthur’s muffled roar vibrated through the wood. "You’re off the board, Seraphina. Effective immediately. Your accounts are capped. Your security detail is reassigned to the shipyard. You are a liability I can no longer afford.""It was a setup! He had the files before I even got there!""Then you should have been faster! Get out of my sight!"Seraphina turned, her face a mask of cold, vibrating fury. She didn't go to her penthouse. She didn't call a lawyer. She walked straight to the garage, bypassed the remaining guards, and took the keys to a nondescript sedan.She had the coordinates. She had been tracking the digital ghost that haun
Chapter 10
The screech of rusted metal echoed through the cavernous depths of the abandoned 4th Street Station. Water dripped from cracked tiles, but the air hummed with a different kind of energy—a low, rhythmic throb of high-voltage power."You’re tapping the main transit line?" Boxer asked, his voice echoing off the grime-covered pillars. He stared at a massive wall of monitors, their screens glowing with stolen data. "If the city engineers see this surge, they’ll send a SWAT team, not a repair crew.""The city engineers see what I want them to see," Lucian replied. He didn't look up from a console wired together with copper scraps and industrial glass. "I’ve looped the grid. To the municipal scanners, this station is still a dead zone. To us, it’s the brain of Oakhaven.""It’s a tomb with Wi-Fi," Jax grunted, leaning against a pillar, his scarred knuckles itching for a fight. "How does this help us sink the gunship at the docks? We should be moving, not playing with screens.""Patience, Jax,