2026-07-30 10:02:18The moment Whitmore accepted the bank card, he handed it to one of his assistants without a word.
"Verify the transfer," he instructed.
The assistant nodded and hurried behind the reception counter, where Aurora Hospitality's secure banking terminal was connected to the company's corporate account. His fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard as he logged into the system, the soft clicking of the keys echoing through the unusually quiet lobby.
No one spoke.
The laughter that had filled the room moments earlier had vanished completely.
Even Collins, who had been wearing a smug smile since Raiden first walked into the hotel, found himself staring at the monitor. Although he refused to admit it, a tiny voice in the back of his mind urged the assistant to hurry and expose Raiden's bluff once and for all.
Whitmore checked his watch. His investors had already been waiting far longer than they should have. If this turned out to be another empty performance, he intended to throw Raiden out of his hotel.
The assistant suddenly stopped typing.
His eyes widened almost imperceptibly before he refreshed the page and checked the transaction history again.
Whitmore noticed the change in his expression.
"Well?"
"The transfer has been completed."
Collins laughed.
"There must be a mistake."
The assistant didn't respond. Instead, he silently stepped aside, allowing Whitmore to see the screen for himself.
Displayed at the top of the transaction history was a single incoming payment.
Incoming Transfer
Amount: $2,000,000.00
Status: Completed
The money had already arrived. For the first time since Raiden entered Aurora Hotel, Whitmore looked at him with genuine surprise.
"You actually transferred the money."
"I said I would," Raiden answered with calm.
Whitmore studied him for several seconds before turning toward his assistant.
"Inform the investors that the meeting will be delayed."
The assistant hesitated.
"Chairman... they've already been waiting for over twenty minutes."
"I know."
Whitmore's tone left no room for discussion.
"Tell them they'll have to wait another thirty. Give them free meal or whatever."
"Yes, Chairman."
The assistant left immediately.
Whitmore turned back to Raiden and gestured toward a conference room located only a short distance from the reception desk.
"We'll talk in there."
Raiden nodded and started walking. As he passed Collins, he slowed his pace just enough to stop beside him.
Collins looked at him with an exaggerated smirk.
"What?"
A faint smile appeared on Raiden's face.
"You should begin packing your belongings."
Collins blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me," Raiden said.
Raiden's gaze shifted to the receptionist.
"The same advice applies to you."
The young woman forced a laugh.
"What do you mean?"
Raiden's smile never faded.
"In about thirty minutes, neither of you will be working here anymore."
Without waiting for either of them to respond, he continued toward the conference room. The door closed quietly behind him.
Then Collins let out a loud laugh.
"I've met delusional people before. But this is on another level."
The receptionist nodded eagerly, though her smile looked noticeably less convincing than before.
"Exactly. He transferred two million dollars. So what? That doesn't mean Chairman Whitmore is going to sell him the hotel."
Collins folded his arms.
"The chairman is probably explaining how acquisitions actually work. He'll ask where the remaining millions are. And when Raiden can't answer, he'll come back out looking even more pathetic."
The receptionist laughed along, but her eyes drifted toward the closed conference room.
"What if..."
She stopped herself.
"What if what?"
"What if he really has the money?" she asked.
Collins immediately dismissed the thought with a wave of his hand.
"Don't be ridiculous. If he had eight or nine million dollars sitting in his account, do you think he'd have walked in here looking like that?"
She didn't answer. Because, deep down, she couldn't explain the two-million-dollar transfer either.
***
Inside the conference room, Whitmore closed the door before taking a seat at the head of the table.
He didn't offer Raiden coffee. He didn't waste time on pleasantries.
"My investors have been waiting upstairs for nearly half an hour," he said, resting both hands on the polished wooden table. "Every minute I spend in this room costs me money, so let's not waste each other's time."
Raiden took the seat opposite him.
"You've earned thirty minutes. No more. Convince me why I should sell Aurora Hotel to you instead of the investors already waiting in my conference room."
Raiden met his gaze steadily.
"Because none of them came here intending to save Aurora Hospitality."
Whitmore's eyes narrowed slightly.
"They came here because they know you're running out of options."
He didn't interrupt.
"So they'll spend the next several hours pretending they're doing you a favor while pushing your price lower with every offer."
Raiden leaned forward just enough to emphasize his next words.
"I came here to close the deal today."
Whitmore remained silent for several moments, his fingers lightly tapping the table.
"I'll admit you've surprised me," he finally said. "Most people in your position wouldn't have been able to produce two million dollars on such short notice."
His expression, however, remained unreadable.
"But a deposit doesn't buy a hotel. It only proves you have enough money for a deposit."
Raiden nodded.
"I agree."
Whitmore folded his hands.
"Then we're back to where we started. You've made an offer. But I still have no reason to believe you can pay the remaining balance. My investors upstairs may be driving a hard bargain, but at least I know they're backed by real capital."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"I don't know where your money came from, Mr. Bolt. And frankly, I don't care. What I care about is whether you can actually complete this acquisition."
Raiden met his gaze without the slightest hesitation.
"I can transfer the remaining balance right now."
One of Whitmore's assistants couldn't help exchanging glances with the others.
Even after witnessing the two-million-dollar deposit, they found it difficult to believe anyone could casually transfer another several million dollars within minutes.
Whitmore slowly leaned back in his chair.
"Very well. If you're truly able to complete the payment immediately, I'll sell Aurora Hotel to you. But there's one condition. The price is no longer eight and a half million."
Whitmore's eyes never left Raiden.
"You've delayed my meeting, kept my investors waiting, and forced me to spend the last half hour reconsidering a deal I thought was already decided."
His voice remained calm, but carried the unmistakable firmness of a seasoned negotiator.
"The price is now eight point seven million dollars. If you can transfer the full amount today... The hotel is yours. But if you can't..."
Whitmore's tone hardened.
"I'll return your two-million-dollar deposit in full. Our conversation ends here. And you'll never bring up this acquisition again."
"Deal," Raiden said.
Raiden took out his phone and logged into his banking application.
A few seconds later, one of Whitmore's assistants' receive the notification for the Hotel account. He frowned as he looked at the notification.
"Chairman, the transfer has been received."
Whitmore stood up at once.
"Let me see."
The assistant handed him the tablet connected to Aurora Hospitality's corporate account. Whitmore refreshed the transaction history himself.
Incoming Transfer
$6,700,000.00
Status: Completed
Combined with the earlier deposit, the total amount received was exactly $8,700,000.00.
"I've spent thirty-five years in business," he said quietly. “I've learned that a man's word means nothing unless he can honor it."
He looked directly at Raiden.
"You honored yours."
Whitmore rose from his chair and extended his hand across the table.
"A deal is a deal. Congratulations, Mr. Bolt. As of this moment, Aurora Hotel belongs to you."
Raiden stood and shook his hand.
"Thank you."
Whitmore gave a small nod before turning toward his assistants.
"Notify the investors upstairs that today's meeting has been canceled."
One assistant hesitated.
"Chairman..."
Whitmore smiled faintly.
"Correction. I'm no longer the chairman of Aurora Hotel."
He glanced at Raiden.
"The hotel has a new owner."
Previous Chapter
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The Hidden Breach
Johny had spent most of the afternoon going through the reports from the failed operation, but the more he read, the less satisfied he became with the explanations available to him. Raiden had been captured, transported to the facility, and placed under the control of people who were far better equipped to contain him than Johny's own men. Yet somehow, he had still managed to escape.The incident itself had been reported to Johny only in fragments. There had been confusion inside the facility, several security systems had been compromised, and by the time the situation was brought under control, Raiden was already gone.Johny could not accept that as a coincidence. If he wanted any chance of capturing Raiden again, he needed to understand what had happened.The problem was that he could not simply ask the people behind the facility. After everything that had happened, revealing his curiosity would only create another problem, particularly when they had already begun taking control of
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The atmosphere at Aurora was noticeably lighter that morning.For the first time in weeks, there was no urgent meeting about a supplier withdrawing, no unexpected call from a corporate client, and no report of another problem created by the pressure surrounding the hotel. Instead, Mileena stood in Raiden's office with an official letter in her hands and a restrained smile that she had been unable to hide since receiving it.“Mr. Bolt, we received the official notification this morning.”She placed the document on his desk.“Aurora has been selected as the preferred corporate hospitality partner.”Raiden looked down at the letter and read through the details without immediately reacting. The result was significant. The tender had attracted several established hotel groups, and Aurora had entered the process while dealing with public criticism, the loss of corporate accounts, and the disruption surrounding Elena's event. Yet the committee had still chosen Aurora after reviewing the fina
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The Price of Failure
Johny sat alone in his private office with a special phone resting in his hand, staring at its dark screen as though he could force it to ring simply by watching it. The device had never been used for ordinary business. There was only one number stored in it, and that number belonged to the people who had changed his life after he acquired Bolt Group, providing him with resources and connections that had allowed him to move far beyond what his own position could have achieved.He pressed the call button again. The line remained silent.Johny waited several seconds before ending the call and trying again, his fingers becoming increasingly impatient against the screen. Nothing changed. There was no response, no automated message, not even an indication that the call had been rejected.He tried a third time. Then a fourth. The silence was beginning to frighten him.Johny had known for days that Raiden had escaped, and he had already understood what that meant. The first failure had been
A Necessary Decision
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Marcus arrived at Johny's office late in the afternoon, his expression noticeably darker than usual. The failure at the warehouse had left him with more than a bruised reputation. Mileena had been rescued, Raiden had escaped yet again, and everything Marcus had arranged to finally put himself in a position of control had collapsed within hours.Johny was standing near the floor-to-ceiling windows when Marcus entered. The city stretched beneath them, its towers glowing beneath the fading sunlight.“You look like you've had a difficult few days,” Johny remarked without turning around.Marcus gave a humorless smile. “So have you.”Johny finally turned. “Raiden survived. Mileena was rescued. I am aware of what happened.”“Then you know the situation has become more complicated.”“It has become inconvenient,” Johny corrected. “Nothing more.”Marcus walked toward the seating area and took a chair. “You still think you can deal with him?”“I will.”There was no hesitation in Johny's answer,
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