I Dominated After Prison

CHAPTER 4

Lucas slowly raised one hand, not in surrender, but in dismissal.

“For people who talk so much,” he said calmly, “you seem to have forgotten how to solve simple digital problems.”

The tech experts fell silent for a moment, surprised by his tone.

Lucas let out a short breath and continued. “Since you all believe I am useless here,” he added, “maybe I should wish you good luck in losing all your money.”

A faint, careless smirk crossed his face, one that surprised everyone. Without waiting for a response, he turned his back on them.

Rain tapped softly against the pavement as Lucas took a step forward, ready to walk away and leave the humiliation behind him.

“Wait!” the wealthy man suddenly shouted.

Lucas stopped walking, but he did not turn around.

“Prisoner!” the man called out again, his voice filled with panic.

Lucas clenched his jaw slightly. “I am not a prisoner,” he said evenly, without looking back.

The man coughed and tried to steady himself. “I don’t know your name,” he said quickly. “That’s why I called you that.”

Lucas remained silent.

“Please,” the man continued, his voice trembling. “If you can help me, then help me.”

Lucas shook his head slowly. “You already made your choice,” he replied. “You listened to them.”

He took another step forward.

“Please,” the man begged again, his voice cracking as desperation took over. “Just give it a second thought.”

Before Lucas could respond, the man’s daughter stepped forward, her expression was too defensive that it shocked even Lucas.

“Father, stop begging him,” she said sharply. “He has no chance of getting your money back.”

Lucas exhaled slowly. “How can you be so sure?” He said calmly.

He turned around.

For the first time, he faced them fully.

“For the unnecessary delay,” Lucas said calmly, “and for the doubt you showed, what exactly would be my compensation if I recover your money?”

The wealthy man did not hesitate. “Anything,” he said immediately. “Name it.”

Lucas shook his head slightly. “I don’t want promises,” he replied. “I want money.”

The man blinked. “Money?”

“Yes,” Lucas said simply. “I am hungry, and I have nowhere to sleep tonight.”

The man swallowed hard. “That won’t be a problem,” he said quickly. “I will give you twenty percent of whatever is in my bitcoin balance if you can recover it.”

Lucas frowned faintly. He did not understand bitcoin. He did not know its value. All he knew was hunger, and the empty weight in his stomach. If he could get even 50 dollars, he would be grateful.

“That’s fine,” Lucas said quietly.

One of the tech experts scoffed loudly. “This is a mistake.”

“Give him the laptop,” the wealthy man ordered.

The tech experts hesitated.

“I said give him the laptop,” the man repeated, his voice sharp now.

Reluctantly, one of them stepped forward and handed it to Lucas.

Lucas took the laptop and sat down slowly on the bench. His posture changed as soon as his fingers touched the keyboard.  His eyes sharpened.

The world around him faded.

In his mind, he was no longer in the park.

He was back in prison.

Back in the cell, listening to the older hacker speak in a low voice.

“Never rush,” the man had said. “Panic is your greatest enemy in hacking.”

Lucas’s fingers moved steadily across the keyboard, not fast, but precise. He bypassed the surface systems first, ignoring the obvious paths that amateurs would try. His eyes scanned lines of code like a second language.

One of the tech experts laughed nervously. “He’s pretending. He doesn’t even know what he is doing,”

Lucas blocked out the sound.

“Hackers always leave a door,” the old man’s voice echoed in Lucas’s mind. “They just don’t expect anyone to be patient enough to find it.”

Lucas’s fingers hovered over the keyboard for a brief second before moving again with purpose.

An alert appeared on the screen, blinking steadily.

[ ACCESS GRANTED ]

He rerouted the permissions, carefully blocking the external connection, and severed the hacker’s control completely, leaving the system entirely under his command.

Two minutes had passed.

Lucas closed the laptop and stood, pressing it firmly into the young woman’s hands. “It’s done,” he said calmly.

She stared at him, disbelief written across her face. “This is a joke,” she snapped sharply. “You barely touched it.”

She lowered her gaze to the screen and shock seized her breath.

The numbers were there. Every last bitcoin her father owned.

Her hands trembled as they hovered over the laptop, and her mouth slowly fell open in shock.

Behind her, the so-called tech experts pushed forward, whispering and murmuring among themselves, unable to hide their astonishment.

The wealthy man forced his way to the screen, his eyes widening as he stared at the numbers.

A heavy and suffocating silence fell over them.

Everyone turned to look at Lucas, searching for some explanation.

“How did you do that?” the man stammered, his voice barely audible as disbelief and awe kept him frozen.

Lucas said nothing. He didn’t need to.

The man let out a sudden laugh, broken and relieved, that escaped from deep in his chest. Tears began to fill his eyes, joy replacing the panic that had consumed him moments before.

“Five million bitcoin,” he declared, his voice shaking with emotion. “That will be your reward.”

Lucas blinked slowly, trying to process the words. “Five million bitcoin?” he asked cautiously as he did not even know the worth of it in dollars. “What does that even mean? Can I at least get a decent meal with that tonight?”

The young woman swallowed hard, still staring at him, her lips trembling slightly. “It means,” she said softly, “your life has just changed forever.”

Lucas frowned, confusion and disbelief  across his face. “How?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

She hesitated, taking a deep breath before speaking again. “Five million bitcoin is worth Three hundred thirty-five billion, eight hundred thirty-one million, six hundred fifty thousand dollars. ”

Lucas froze completely. The world spun beneath him.

His vision blurred. 

335, 831, 650, 000.00 dollars??

The sound of rain outside disappeared, all he could hear was the sound of the figure echoing in his ear.