2024-09-10 08:19:08After walking aimlessly for what felt like hours, Tedmond finally stopped to rest on a park bench. He clutched his bag on his lap while scrolling through his phone.
Though he had boldly told them they’d regret their actions, he had no idea how that would happen.
The first thing he did was check his account balance, hoping he had enough money for some food. The remaining $1 glared back at him.
“Damn it,” he muttered, digging into his wallet, only to find it empty as well. “I’m really broke.”
The more he stared at his account, the more it mocked him. He was about to shut off his phone when a message notification chimed. Expecting it to be from Lisa, he frowned but checked it anyway.
As he opened the message, his jaw dropped. It was a bank alert, notifying him of a credit to his account.
"Your account has been credited with $10,000,000,000," the message read.
He rubbed his eyes and counted the digits one by one.
“Ten billion dollars!” he screamed, shocked. But noticing people on the street staring at him, he quickly composed himself. “Oh, ten billion dollars... in the game. Such a fun game,” he added hastily.
The people who had turned to him quickly looked away, unimpressed.
Tedmond checked his account balance again, and indeed, the numbers stared back at him: $10,000,000,001.
As he was trying to wrap his head around it, his phone rang, startling him. Seeing an unknown number, he answered it in a hurry.
“Hello,” Tedmond said.
“Hello, Mr. Tedmond Griffin. It’s a pleasure to speak with you. You’ve been selected as the heir to the fortune of the Washington family.”
Tedmond’s jaw nearly hit the ground.
“Since you’ve passed the test, you can come over now. Meet us at Finsall’s Hospital. You don’t have much time.”
“Wait!” Tedmond half-yelled. “What are you talking about? How am I the heir to the Washington family fortune? Who are they?”
“You’ll find out soon enough, young master,” the man on the phone replied. “Finsall’s Hospital, room 509. You have twenty minutes. We’ll be waiting.”
“I don’t—” Beep! Beep!
The call ended before Tedmond could say anything more. Confused and curious, he bolted toward the street, hailed a taxi, and got in as quickly as he could.
“Finsall’s Hospital!”
Soon after, he was dashing out of the taxi, glancing at his account balance, now reduced to $9,999,999,981 after paying the fare. They wouldn’t mind, right?
Entering the hospital, he rushed past the front desk, already knowing the room number. Several women nearby turned to look at him immediately.
“Hey!” one of the women called, eyeing his appearance. “Why are you here?” she asked. “This hospital doesn’t treat people like you. Only the wealthy can afford it.”
Tedmond paused and glanced back at her. The women scowled, making him glance at his worn-out shoes.
“I’m here to see someone,” he replied. “I don’t see why I shouldn’t be.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you know you have to check in before going upstairs?”
“Why? I already know the room number. Why bother with trivial formalities?”
“How dare you!” she yelled, her brows twitching in anger. “With your appearance, there’s no way anyone from your family is here! You’re lying! If you're telling the truth, what’s the room number?”
The other women nodded in agreement.
“That’s right,” one of them said. “You must be here to steal from the sick.”
“Room 509,” Tedmond replied without hesitation.
“Hah!” the first woman sneered, a smirk playing on her lips. “The hospital rooms stop at 508! I knew you were lying! You son of a bitch!”
Before Tedmond could respond, the second woman shouted, “Security! Security!”
Tedmond blinked in confusion. Had he heard the room number wrong? He was sure the man on the phone had said room 509.
Security guards arrived, and the first woman pointed at Tedmond.
“Get him out of here! He’s here to cause trouble. A poor brat like him thinks he can sneak in and steal from the patients. Throw him out!”
The guards grabbed Tedmond, ready to drag him away.
“I’m not a thief!” Tedmond protested. “I’m here to meet someone in ward 509.”
“What’s going on here?” a loud voice demanded, stopping everyone in their tracks.
The guards froze and turned around. Tedmond saw a thin man with a long nose and blond hair that looked like a wig approaching. The women’s faces lit up.
“Oh, Mr. Gregory!” one of the women said, fluttering her eyelashes. “This boy is trying to sneak into the hospital under false pretenses! He claims he’s visiting someone in a non-existent room!”
Mr. Gregory was the hospital’s Chief Operating Officer, in charge of overseeing operations and managing departments.
“A non-existent room?” Mr. Gregory repeated. “What room?”
Tedmond freed himself from the guards' grip. “Room 509,” he said, glancing at the clock and seeing he only had five minutes left.
At the mention of room 509, Mr. Gregory’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Room 509?” Gregory asked. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that Mr. Washington’s room?” Gregory muttered, then glared at Tedmond. “How dare someone like you claim to be connected to the Washington family?!”
Everyone chuckled upon hearing "Washington."
Realizing he was running out of time, Tedmond quickly dialed the number that had called him earlier. The person picked up immediately.
“Yes, young master. Are you here?”
“I’m at the front desk, but a man named Gregory won’t let me in,” Tedmond said, staring directly at Gregory.
“How dare he?!” the man on the phone growled. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything.”
The call ended, and the people around Tedmond looked at him with disdain.
“Do you think your fake call will scare me?” Gregory sneered. “What makes you think you could get in here?”
Just then, Gregory’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID, hesitating. It was his boss.
‘Why is the boss calling me?’ Gregory wondered, eyeing Tedmond warily. ‘Could he really be involved?’
Gregory answered in his most polite tone. “Hello...”
“How dare you?!” a harsh voice bellowed, loud enough for everyone to hear. “How dare you deny entrance to the guest of the Washington family?! Are you tired of living?!”
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CHAPTER 886
Seeing that there were no other options, Tedmond's eyes darted across the area. He slowly turned toward the steel security door, his eyes narrowing into two icy slits."Good," Tedmond said softly, stepping in front of Rony to completely block him from the catwalk above. "Now we don't have to knock."The heavy steel maintenance door burst open with a loud metallic bang, and four heavily armed contractors poured into the narrow alleyway. Rain glinted off the sleek black barrels of their rifles as they fanned out, their flashlights cutting bright white beams through the dark fog."Hands up! Don't move!" the lead contractor barked, his accent thick and sharp as he raised his rifle. "Who the hell are you? State your names and why you're on private property!"The blinding spotlight from the catwalk pinned the two intruders against the damp concrete wall.Rony’s heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. He raised his hands high into the air, holding his briefcase tightly i
CHAPTER 885
He put the phone in his pocket and looked out the tinted window. The heavy rain had started up again, drumming steadily against the glass. The dark silhouettes of giant cargo cranes and rusted warehouse roofs began to appear through the mist as the SUV crossed into the North Side dock district.Rony set his terminal down, looking over at Tedmond with a mix of awe and nervous tension."Mr. Washington," Rony spoke up, clearing his throat quietly. "Henderson's security isn't just basic port guards. He uses former foreign military contractors to guard that plant. They carry automatic weapons and run tight perimeter shifts."Tedmond didn't even blink. He reached down, calmly adjusting his silver cufflinks, his posture completely relaxed as if he were simply arriving for an afternoon executive meeting."Rony," Tedmond said flatly, his voice echoing through the quiet vehicle like heavy iron. "When we get out of this car, you stay two steps behind me and hold the briefcase. You don't need
CHAPTER 884
Samuel’s hand shook uncontrollably as he reached for a hidden burner phone inside his bottom desk drawer. He wiped the sweat from his eyes, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped animal. He didn't care about Arthur Meriwether anymore, nor did he care about corporate board seats. He was fighting for his life.He quickly dialed an unlisted, end-to-end encrypted line."Pick up, pick up..." Samuel whispered frantically under his breath, staring out his floor-to-ceiling windows toward the distant, frozen harbor lines.The line connected on the fourth ring, answering with a cold, static buzz."You're calling an open burner, Samuel," a harsh, raspy voice growled over the speaker. "You know the protocol. What the hell is going on at the eastern harbor?""Henderson!" Samuel hissed into the receiver, pressing his forehead against the cool window glass. "Washington just locked down the North Side terminals! He pulled an emergency audit maneuver! The incoming shipment from the easte
CHAPTER 883
Persis set her teacup down, her sharp green eyes locking onto her husband. She knew that look in his eyes. It was the look he got right before he destroyed an entire corporate dynasty, but this time, the fire behind it was far more personal."Tell me," Persis said quietly. "How do we hit them without setting off their alarms?""We don't hit the top first," Tedmond said, his deep voice calm and calculated. "We cut off their supply line. Thomas, who is the main buyer listed on the North Side trade ministry account?"Thomas tapped the screen, bringing up a detailed profile. "Director Samuel. He oversees maritime customs approvals for the entire eastern harbor. Every uninspected container ship that entered the North Side docks over the past three years went through his desk.""Samuel," Persis murmured, a cold smile touching her lips. "He was at the charity dinner last night. He was one of the men who tried to talk to you before I stepped in.""He was," Tedmond confirmed. "He thinks Art
CHAPTER 882
The rest of the night turned into a quiet battle against time.Tedmond sat alone in his private library with only a desk lamp on. The light from his monitor lit up his sharp face as he read through hundreds of pages of logistics files. Vessel names, customs dates, and coded notes filled the screen. Every file meant real human lives being bought, sold, and moved like hidden cargo.As the hours passed, memories of his past returned with painful clarity. He remembered the cold fear of his childhood, the day his mother was taken, and the empty years he spent wondering where she was. Looking at the screen, he realized the same monsters had simply changed their clothes and moved into higher offices.He didn't sleep at all. He stayed in that chair until the heavy rain slowed to a drizzle and the gray light of early morning began to peek through the windows.By noon the next day, the rain had cleared completely.In the sunlit dining room of the estate, the long table was set with fresh b
CHAPTER 881
Rony took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He knew that helping Tedmond meant going to war against some of the most dangerous people in the city, but he had no choice now."I can't just give you a password for the first two layers," Rony said, keeping his voice quiet and careful. "I built the system so it can only be unlocked from my main computer at the port office. I have to run the code myself."Tedmond kept his eyes locked on him. "And where is Henderson hiding his main server?""In an old meatpacking plant near the North Side docks," Rony answered directly. "It has heavy security and runs on its own power grid. That server gets all the live shipping data. If you want to save the victims before they delete everything, you have to capture that server first."From the corner of the room, Arthur let out a weak groan, clutching his swollen jaw. "You are crazy, Washington... Both of you are out of your minds! If Henderson knows you're coming, he will delete all the files and burn t
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