Regression To Invest And Become A Billionaire

Chapter 1: Dying Like a Dog

Click.

The faint sound of a key slipping into the lock broke the still air of that early afternoon. The click was sharp yet strangely gentle, like the sigh of a hinge that had opened a thousand times before. The door eased open and a man stepped inside, shoulders slumped as if the world itself sat heavy on his back.

Nathan Cole☠︎ 𓃵.

In his hands was a cardboard box filled with the remnants of a life that had just crumbled. Pens, a couple of framed photos, an old coffee mug with a fading print that read World’s Okayest Employee. The mug rattled softly against the frame as he carried it, like the sound of bones shaking in a coffin. His face was drawn, lips pressed tight, eyes dull. He wasn’t just tired. He was empty.

He had been fired.

Hours earlier, he’d walked out of Voss Financial Corp, the place where he had spent years running numbers, analyzing portfolios, and grinding away to prove his worth. They had stripped him of everything with a single meeting, with words that cut colder than winter steel.

And the man who had shoved him out of that building wasn’t some faceless executive. It was Victor Voss. His boss. The titan of the company. But more than that. The father of his girlfriend. The man who had always looked at Nathan like he was nothing more than gum stuck under a shoe.

Now here Nathan was, standing in the penthouse apartment he shared with Sierra Voss, clutching a box that weighed more than it should have, dragging in a silence that pressed against his ears.

He set the box down beside the table in the living room and adjusted a vase that leaned slightly out of place. A pointless little habit, the kind you did when you were trying not to collapse. He turned his eyes to the couch. Sierra wasn’t there. No N*****x humming in the background, no wine glass half-finished on the table.

Nathan swallowed hard. He had hoped—prayed—that by now Sierra would already know. Maybe her father would have called her, or a colleague would have told her. That way, Nathan wouldn’t have to say the words himself. He could just collapse into her arms, feel her fingers comb through his hair while she whispered that it didn’t matter, that they’d figure it out.

But the room was silent. Too silent.

Something about it felt wrong.

Nathan glanced up the stairs, his heart beating faster for no reason he could name. That was when he heard it. A sound that made his chest seize. Laughter.

Faint. Soft. From upstairs.

It wasn’t the laughter of a stranger. It was familiar. It was Sierra’s.

“Sierra?” Nathan called, his voice hoarse as he tugged the old office ID badge off his neck and tossed it into the box like an afterthought.

No reply.

He climbed the stairs two at a time, each step making the sound clearer. It wasn’t just laughter. It was Sierra laughing in that unguarded way she only did when she felt safe, when she felt cherished.

But who was she laughing with?

Nathan’s stomach tightened. His brain whispered a hundred excuses. Maybe she was on a video call with a friend. Maybe she was watching something funny on her phone. Maybe—

No. Something felt wrong.

His chest hammered. His breath came shallow. The closer he got to the bedroom, the more he felt like the world was pulling him into a nightmare. The door at the end of the hallway was ajar, cracked open just enough. His hand shook as he pushed it wider.

And then his whole body froze.

The air was stolen from his lungs.

There she was. Sierra Voss. His Sierra. Draped across the chest of another man. Her golden hair spilling over his skin. Her body tangled with his like she belonged there.

And the man wasn’t just anyone.

It was Brandon Mercer.

The name alone made Nathan’s skin crawl. Brandon Mercer, son of Archibald Mercer, CEO of Nova Holdings. The same smug bastard who had made his school years a living hell. The same spoiled prince who had mocked him in college, always reminding Nathan that he was poor, that he was nobody, that he didn’t belong.

And now, that same man was lying half-naked in Nathan’s bed, holding Sierra like she was a trophy he had just claimed.

Brandon lifted his head and smirked, his eyes locking onto Nathan’s like he had been waiting for this exact moment. His voice dripped with mockery.

“Well, well. Look who finally crawled home. The dog.”

Sierra’s eyes went wide. She pulled the sheet over herself as if that would hide the betrayal already written all over her. “Nathan!” she gasped, panic rising in her throat.

Nathan’s knees felt weak. His brain refused to work. His heart screamed, but his lips could only stumble out words. “Wha… what were you just… what the hell are you doing?”

Brandon leaned back, laughing. It was the kind of laugh that stabbed at your pride. “What do you think, dog? I’ll give you a hint. It ain’t PG.” He let out a slow sigh, stretching like he owned the room. “Man, this sucks for you. You walked in at the worst possible time.”

Nathan ignored him, his eyes fixed on Sierra. “Sierra…” His voice cracked. “Your father just fired me. I came home… I came to you and…” His throat closed. “What are you doing with him?”

She pulled the sheets tighter, avoiding his eyes like a coward. Her lips trembled, but when she finally spoke, her words were cold. “Nathan. Let’s not make this harder than it has to be.”

Nathan blinked. His heart dropped lower. “What?”

“I’m saying it’s over.” Her voice grew steadier, sharper. “This. Us. It isn’t working.”

The words didn’t land softly. They crashed into him like glass shattering.

“It’s not working?” Nathan’s voice rose with disbelief, his chest burning. “You’re cheating on me. In our bed. And you’re telling me it’s not working?”

Brandon swung his legs over the bed, grinning like he’d won. “Relax, champ. She’s just upgrading. Can you blame her?” He spread his arms in a smug display.

“Upgrading?” Nathan’s fists shook at his sides. He turned back to Sierra, his voice raw. “Is that what this is? You’re leaving me for this piece of garbage?”

Brandon’s smile faltered for a second. “Who the hell are you calling garbage, dog?”

He made a move toward Nathan, but Sierra leapt between them, pressing a hand against Nathan’s chest. “Nathan, don’t!” she cried. The sheet slipped from her shoulders, baring her, but no one cared anymore. The betrayal had already stripped her naked.

Nathan’s eyes were wet and red, his jaw trembling. “Sierra… why?”

Her answer cut deeper than a blade. “Because Brandon can give me the life I want. He’s the son of Archibald Mercer. Do you know what that means for my father’s company? For me? He’s everything you’re not, Nathan. He’s powerful. He’s ambitious. He’s worth something.”

The words sliced into him. He staggered back as if her voice itself had struck him. His mind spun. He had loved her. Trusted her. Everything he had done, every late night, every sacrifice, was for her.

And now this.

Nathan let out a bitter laugh. It was broken, ugly, the sound of a man with nothing left. “Everything I’m not, huh? That’s one way to put it. Another way is to just admit the truth. You’re a slut.”

“Bastard!” Brandon lunged, but Sierra held him back.

Nathan’s voice was harsh, his chest heaving. “This is Victor’s doing, isn’t it? He’s hated me from the start. Fired me, humiliated me, and now he’s parading this spoiled brat in front of you like some perfect little suitor.”

Brandon’s eyes darkened. His lips twisted into a snarl. “Call me spoiled again. Call me garbage again. I dare you.”

Nathan’s eyes burned with madness. “Garbage. Jack. Ass.”

Brandon’s fury exploded. He shoved Sierra aside and swung at Nathan. His fist cracked against Nathan’s jaw, but Nathan’s punch came back harder, fueled by rage and heartbreak. Brandon stumbled back, cursing.

Nathan stepped forward, ready to keep fighting, but a shadow moved fast. A burly man, broad as a wall, appeared from nowhere. A security guard. He seized Nathan, slammed him against the wall with bone-crushing force.

“Urkkhh!” Nathan gasped, clutching his stomach as he collapsed to the floor.

Sierra stared, her face a storm of guilt and fear. Brandon crouched down, rubbing his jaw with a smirk. “You don’t get it, do you? Power. That’s all that matters. Money buys power, and I’ve got more than enough. You? You’re nothing. No job. No girlfriend. Nothing.” He sneered. “A sad little nobody with some pathetic obsession with crypto.”

Nathan’s teeth clenched. His eyes blazed with hate. He wanted to spit blood in Brandon’s face.

Brandon leaned closer, his grin wicked. “This is what happens when you reach too far. Know your place, dog.”

Nathan groaned, still finding the strength to snarl. “Surprised you can still smile after the punch I gave you.”

Brandon chuckled, nodding. Then he drove his fist into Nathan’s gut again. Nathan wheezed, the air ripped from his lungs.

“You really don’t know when to shut up,” Brandon hissed.

Nathan slumped, but his voice came weak, defiant. “To hell with you. To hell with all of you.”

“Get him out,” Brandon ordered the guard.

The guard dragged Nathan down the stairs, Sierra and Brandon following. At the door, Sierra’s voice broke through the chaos. “Nathan… you can come back later to pack your things.”

Nathan didn’t even look at her. He wanted nothing. Nothing but to prove that she had just made the biggest mistake of her life.

“Yeah, Omar,” Brandon barked to the guard. “Send the dog to the streets where he belongs.” His laughter echoed, cruel and loud. He even raised his middle finger at Nathan as the guard shoved him outside.

Nathan stumbled, flipping him off in return.

The guard’s face twisted with anger. He shoved harder. Too hard.

Nathan stumbled into the street.

The blare of a horn screamed. His head snapped left. A bus roared forward, unstoppable, its metal frame shining under the sun.

Sierra screamed. “No!”

Bang.

The world shattered.

Pain. White-hot pain tore through every part of Nathan’s body. He flew, weightless for a sick second, then crashed onto the pavement. His head rang with a metallic roar. Blood spread under him like ink spilling across paper.

His vision dimmed.

He heard voices. Sierra’s panicked cries. Brandon’s laugh, sharp and cruel. “That was insane!” he shouted.

“Nathan!” Sierra screamed again. “Oh my God! Somebody call an ambulance!”

Nathan’s eyes fluttered. His heart slowed.

So this was it. This was the end. After everything. He was going to die like this? Thrown away. Cheated on. Crushed under wheels he never saw coming.

Life wasn’t fair. It never had been.

Brandon’s face swam into view, leaning over him with a smirk. “Don’t bother,” he told Sierra coldly. “The idiot’s already dead.”

He bent closer, his voice dripping poison. “And just like a dog, you die in the street. Goodbye, loser.”

Nathan’s chest rattled. His last breath left him. Hatred and rage were the last fires in his heart, and Brandon Mercer’s face was the last thing he saw.

Until…

His eyes opened again.