Rebirth Of The European Billionaire

The Bourbon Family Panic

The morning sun rising over the Paris sky no longer brought warmth to the Bourbon family. For them, today's dawn was the beginning of their deepest nightmare. The pre-dawn silence of the La Défense business district was shattered by mass panic as the Paris stock exchange, Euronext, opened trading.

The monitor screens in the trading room of 'Pendelton Capital' glow a soothing blue, in contrast to the Bourbon Group (EPA: BBON) stock chart which looks like a steep cliff collapsing without a bottom.

Arthur stood by the large window of his new office, sipping warm black coffee from a thin porcelain cup. Behind him, the System's virtual panel flickered softly, displaying calculations that continued to climb at an exponential rate.

[Market Update: The news of the 'Riviera Auction Scandal and the Saint-Tropez Land Law Flaws' has been verified by the financial authorities.]

[Market Sentiment: Mass Panic. Institutional investors are panic selling.]

[Bourbon Group Stock Status: Plummeted 20% in the first 60 minutes of trading. Auto-reject below near suspension limit.]

Arthur smiled faintly. A twenty percent drop for a giant conglomerate like the Bourbon Group meant the instant loss of billions of euros in market value. And most crucially, the massive short position he had established—with €50,000,000 capital and 20x maximum leverage—was now drawing blood from Julian's family's wounds.

[Ding! Calculating the profit of the Host's short-sell position.]

[Effective Position Value: €1,000,000,000.]

[Underlying Asset Decrease: 20%.]

[Net Realized Gain: +€200,000,000. Adding the Riviera auction penalty deducted from Bourbon Group's liquidity, total instant net gain: €400,000,000.]

"Four hundred million Euros overnight," Arthur murmured, his voice sounding remarkably calm for someone who had just multiplied his wealth to an unfathomable level. "The System's money truly knows no bounds."

The system not only brought him wealth, but also gave him the instant gratification of seeing his enemies crawling in the ground they dug themselves.

Meanwhile, at the Bourbon Group headquarters, located not far from Arthur's office, the atmosphere resembled a losing battlefield. The marble-floored main meeting room was filled with thick clouds of cigar smoke and the ominous scent of fear.

A loud slap echoed, cutting off the muffled sobs in the room.

Julian collapsed onto the expensive wool carpet, the corner of his lip split and bleeding. He clutched his burning, numb cheek, staring wide-eyed with fear at the old man standing before him, breathing heavily.

The man was Charles Bourbon, the aging tycoon, founder of the Bourbon Group, and Julian's father. Charles's usually dignified face was now flushed red, the veins on his forehead bulging horribly, and the hand that had just slapped his son still trembled with uncontrollable rage.

"Useless son!" Charles roared, his voice booming so much that the board of directors sitting at the conference table bowed their heads, not a single one daring to breathe loudly. "One billion euros! You spent one billion euros of company cash on a piece of trash that can't even grow grass?! Where are your brains, Julian?!"

"F-Father... this is a trap. Arthur, that bastard, deliberately provoked me at the auction table!" Julian stammered, trying to crawl to his feet with a trembling body. The arrogant man who had shouted arrogantly at the Riviera the night before now looked like a drenched sewer rat.

"A trap?!" Charles kicked a nearby chair, knocking it over. "You're the sole heir to this business, yet you let your emotions be manipulated by a stranger! Because of your stupidity, our stock dropped twenty percent this morning! Major banks are calling in their credit lines, and a mysterious law firm called Pendelton Capital is draining our liquidity through the derivatives market!"

Charles grabbed Julian by the collar of his shirt and lifted him roughly. "If you don't sort this mess out within forty-eight hours, I will personally expel you from the Bourbon family tree and leave you to rot in prison for corporate negligence!"

In the corner of the room, hidden behind a large pillar, Chloe stood frozen, her body constantly shivering. Watching the man she had always worshipped as a "rich prince" being slapped and abused like an animal in public brought her entire world crashing down.

The luxurious romance Julian had promised suddenly evaporated, replaced by the dreadful shadow of bankruptcy.

Chloe felt her pounding chest. Her thoughts suddenly drifted back to the auction hall last night—to Arthur.

She remembered Arthur standing in his Savile Row tuxedo, staring at them with a look so cold, indifferent, yet deadly. The Arthur of today was no longer the warm man who had always given in for her smile. The Arthur of today had transformed into something far more terrifying—a financial predator who could destroy a business dynasty with the flick of a finger on the auction table.

A feeling of utter anxiety began to creep into Chloe's heart. A selfish yet realistic question began to arise in her mind. Had I chosen the wrong ship?

***

That afternoon, news of the Bourbon family's internal breakdown raged wildly on social media and national television. Amidst the frenzy, Arthur stepped out of his new Rolls-Royce Phantom, parked right in front of Plaza Athena, where he had reserved the finest Presidential Suite.

As he walked through the lobby, a familiar figure suddenly appeared from behind the sofa, blocking his footsteps.

That's Chloe. His clothes were no longer as neat as usual, and his eyes looked puffy from lack of sleep. As soon as he saw Arthur, he immediately put on the most pathetic facial expression - a tactic that had always succeeded in getting Arthur to do whatever he wanted.

"Arthur..." Chloe called out in a trembling voice, her eyes welling with tears. "C-Can we talk? Please, just for a moment."

Arthur stopped in his tracks, but he didn't even take off his sunglasses. He stared at Chloe as if the woman in front of him were just a passing wind. "We have nothing to talk about, Chloe."

"Arthur, I know you're doing all this because you're still mad at me, right?" Chloe stepped forward, trying to grab Arthur's jacket sleeve with her trembling fingers. "You destroyed Julian because you were jealous, you wanted to prove to me that you were rich. Arthur, I admit I was wrong. I was blinded by my mother's pressure back then. But looking at you now, I know deep down, you're still my old Arthur, right?"

Arthur pulled his arm away before Chloe's fingers could touch the fabric of his suit. The action was so cold it made Chloe feel as if she had just touched a block of ice.

Arthur slowly lowered his sunglasses, revealing a pair of pitch-black, piercing eyes, completely devoid of any trace of past emotion. There was no love, no hate, not even anger. There was only absolute emptiness.

"The old Arthur?" Arthur chuckled lowly, a sound that sent a shiver down Chloe's spine.

"The old Arthur was dead the day you threw him away for a few bills of Julian's. The man standing before you now is the owner of Pendelton Capital."

Arthur took a step closer, making Chloe subconsciously step back due to the pressure of the aura being so suffocating.

"And one more thing, Chloe," Arthur whispered right in her ear, his voice as cold as the winter wind.

"Don't be too confident. I destroyed the Bourbon Group not because I was jealous of you. They were too small to make me jealous. I destroyed them only because they were in the way of my mission, and because seeing you crawling for mercy gave me a little bit of a pleasant amusement."

Chloe was stunned, the tears she had been holding back finally spilling over from the intense fear. The Arthur before her was a complete stranger and a thousand times more terrifying than she had ever imagined in her nightmares.

Arthur put his sunglasses back on, then walked past Chloe without looking back, leaving her sobbing in the grandeur of the hotel lobby.

Above Arthur's head, the System's virtual screen lit up again, providing confirmation of the instant gratification he had just enjoyed.

[Ding! Target (Chloe)'s Psychological Assessment has completely collapsed. Face Slap Satisfaction: Maximum!]

[Prepare for the next phase of the mission: Total Acquisition of the remaining assets of the Bourbon Group.]