Divorced on Monday, Bought the City on Tuesday: The Infinite

The Genesis of Vance Corp

Chapter 19

Morning sunlight broke across Valmont City, reflecting off the glass high-rises like scattered diamonds. From the balcony of the Apex Estate, the city looked small. Manageable.

Arthur stood by the glass railing. He held a ceramic mug of black coffee, watching the steam curl into the crisp air. He didn't feel tired. The Leviathan Marrow Serum humming through his veins had completely eradicated his need for normal sleep. He felt entirely calibrated. Lethal. Alive.

The sliding glass door hummed open behind him.

"I still can't believe it."

Serena walked onto the balcony. She wore a sharp white blazer, though the dark circles under her eyes betrayed her exhaustion. She gripped a tablet to her chest like a shield.

Arthur didn't turn around. He took a sip of his coffee. "Can't believe what?"

"The news." Serena stepped up beside him, staring down at the sprawling metropolis. "Marcus Thorne was arrested at 4:00 AM by a joint FBI task force. His assets are frozen. His offshore accounts are empty. The media is calling it the largest syndicate collapse in American history."

She finally turned to look at him, her voice dropping to a whisper. "You did that. In one night. Who are you, Arthur?"

"I'm the guy who owns fifty-one percent of your company," Arthur replied flatly. He set his mug on the patio table. "Thorne was a parasite. I just introduced him to a pesticide. Don't overthink it, Serena. We have real work to do."

He walked back into the living room. The massive space had been converted into a makeshift command center overnight. Nyx sat cross-legged on a three-hundred-thousand-dollar Persian rug, surrounded by empty energy drink cans. Her neon-green eyes were darting rapidly as she stared at nothing, interfacing directly with the global web. Vera stood motionless by the front door, a perfect, terrifying statue in her new tailored charcoal suit.

Arthur grabbed his phone and mirrored the screen to the massive television on the wall.

"Valmont City is officially ours," Arthur announced, his voice carrying the heavy, commanding weight of the System's aura. "But playing in the shadows isn't enough. People need a monolith to fear. They need a name."

The television flashed. A digital deed appeared on the screen.

Serena gasped. "The Valmont Spire? Arthur, that's the tallest commercial building in the state. It houses five Fortune 500 companies."

"Not anymore. I bought it twenty minutes ago," Arthur said, tossing his phone onto the couch. "I terminated their leases. They have thirty days to vacate. We are moving Horizon Neural Tech into the top fifty floors. The rest of the building will serve as the headquarters for Vance Corp."

Serena’s jaw dropped. The sheer scale of the capital he was throwing around was impossible to comprehend. "Vance Corp? What do we even produce?"

"Everything," Arthur said. "We buy failing assets, we restructure them, and we crush the competition. You handle the tech. I handle the hostile takeovers."

Nyx popped a massive pink bubblegum bubble. The sharp snap echoed in the quiet room.

"Boss," Nyx chimed in, her voice laced with electronic static. She didn't look away from the invisible data streams she was processing. "You might want to hold off on ordering the company letterhead."

Arthur frowned. "Why?"

"Because someone just bypassed my secondary firewall." Nyx finally blinked, turning her head to look at Arthur. The playful smirk vanished from her face. "Nobody bypasses my firewalls. It’s physically impossible with modern human tech. But they didn't just bypass it. They shredded it."

Arthur’s muscles tensed. The casual morning atmosphere evaporated. "Who?"

"Tracing the digital footprint now," Nyx said, her fingers flying across a phantom keyboard in the air. "It's heavily encrypted. Military grade. Wait. No. Black-ops grade. They aren't trying to steal our money, boss. They’re tracking a physical location."

"Whose location?" Vera asked, stepping away from the door, her hand resting on the hilt of her combat blade.

Nyx’s green eyes widened slightly. "Elias Vance. They pinged his cell phone. He’s currently at The Obsidian Club."

Arthur’s phone vibrated violently on the couch.

He snatched it up. The caller ID read Elias.

Arthur answered it, pressing the phone to his ear. "Elias."

There was no answer. Just the wet, sickening sound of someone coughing up blood, followed by a heavy thud.

A new voice came over the line. It was raspy, synthetic, and completely devoid of humanity.

"Arthur Vance," the voice crackled. "You stole something that belongs to the Capital City. Come to the club. Come alone. Or we start sending your manager to you in pieces."

The line went dead.

Arthur stared at the phone. He didn't yell. He didn't throw the device. A terrifying, absolute stillness washed over him.

"Vera," Arthur said, his voice dropping to a whisper that made the temperature in the room plummet. "Get the car."