Revenge is sweetest with $2 billion in Bitcoin

Chapter three

Christopher drove away from the school and headed back toward the old house.

He had already made his decision. Before he confronted Mary, he needed proof. That meant getting a DNA sample from the boy without either of them noticing.

He spent the rest of the evening making arrangements and did not return home that night.

The next morning, he walked back into the house. Mary and the boy had just returned. They found him in the bedroom with an open travel bag on the bed, quietly packing.

Mary stopped in the doorway. “Why aren’t you at work?”

“I resigned,” Christopher said without looking up.

A mocking smile crossed her face. “So you’ve finally given up?”

“I don’t need the job anymore.”

Mary folded her arms. “Of course you don’t. What’s the plan then? Sit at home and feel sorry for yourself?”

He kept packing. Mary gave a short laugh. “You’ve always been so dramatic.” She picked up a shirt, glanced at it, then tossed it back.

“We’re getting divorced. You’re losing your wife, your son, and the house. Life goes on. You should get used to it.”

Christopher gave a quiet scoff. Mary’s voice softened into thin mock sympathy. “Five years of marriage and now you’re going to be alone. Don’t embarrass yourself over it.”

As he reached for another shirt, Christopher’s hand paused near the bedside table. He picked up the boy’s comb, still holding several strands of hair, and slipped it into the inner pocket of his bag. Mary didn’t notice.

She turned toward the door. Then the boy’s voice came from the hallway, loud and demanding.

“Bring me water right now!”

Christopher stopped and looked at him. The boy stood in the doorway with his arms crossed with a face that showed he was irritated.

For years Christopher had treated him like his own son..paid his school fees, bought his clothes, stayed up with him when he was sick. Yet there was no affection in those eyes. Only the clear expectation that Christopher existed to serve him.

“Get it yourself,” Christopher said.

The boy’s face immediately crumpled. He stomped his foot hard on the floor.

“No! You get it! I want water now!” His voice rose into a full tantrum. “Why do I have to do it? You’re supposed to bring it! Just go get it!”

“I said get your own water.”

For a brief second, Christopher felt the sharp urge to grab the boy and spank him. The disrespect was so complete it almost made his hand twitch. But he forced the feeling down. Whatever anger he carried, he would not pour it out on a child.

Christopher picked up his bag, walked past them, and left the house. Mary stared after him. She had expected him to keep enduring everything quietly. She had no idea the man walking out that door no longer cared what she thought.

In the car, Christopher sat for a moment with his hands on the steering wheel. The boy’s voice still echoed in his head.

'Bring me water right now'

Not “please.” Not even “Dad.” Just an order.

He let out a quiet, bitter laugh. He had spent years trying to be a good father. Maybe he had been the only one who believed it.

He started the engine and drove straight to the forensic testing center. At the reception desk he handed over the samples.

“I need a paternity test. Expedited, please.”

The receptionist glanced at the form. “For you and the child?”

“Yes.”

The extra f*e was $850. Christopher paid at once. The receptionist glanced at him. She had seen this look before men who came alone, desperate for a paternity result, already half-afraid of the answer. In cases like this, the child almost never turned out to be theirs. She said nothing and handed him the receipt.

“Your result will be processed as quickly as possible.”

“Thank you.” His phone rang as he reached the car. It was Ryan.

Ryan had been his closest friend since childhood. Even after Christopher’s family went bankrupt years earlier, Ryan had never turned away. When the debts were at their worst, he had offered a three-million-dollar loan. Christopher had refused, but he had never forgotten the offer.

“Ryan, I need that lawyer you mentioned.”

“What happened?”

“I’ll explain later. Can you arrange a meeting for today?”

“She’s free this afternoon. I’ll send you the address.”

“Thanks.”

Christopher drove to the law firm in the central business district. A few minutes later he was shown into Lora Morgan’s office. She was in her forties, dressed in a dark suit, with the calm, sharp look of someone who had handled difficult cases for years.

“Mr. Norton?”

“Yes.”

“Lora Morgan. Please sit.”

Christopher took the seat across from her and placed a folder on the desk. “I need to liquidate approximately two billion dollars in Bitcoin.”

Lora’s hand froze. She looked up, studying him for a moment.

“Two billion?” Her eyes moved over his plain clothes and simple watch. “You don’t exactly look like someone who has that kind of money.”

Without a word, Christopher unlocked his phone, opened his Bitcoin wallet, and turned the screen toward her.

Lora’s expression changed the moment she saw the balance.

Ryan had told her Christopher was dealing with debt and a divorce. She had expected an indebted man trying to protect the little he had left. But this… In all her years of practice, she had never handled a case involving this kind of money.

Two billion dollars sitting in a Bitcoin wallet was something she had only ever read about, never seen across her desk.

If Ryan hadn’t referred him, she probably wouldn’t have taken the meeting. Now she opened the documents and examined the ownership records, transaction history, and original acquisition papers. Her expression turned serious.

“These assets were acquired before your marriage?”

“Yes. I have full documentation.”

Lora took a slow breath. “I can help you cash out these premarital assets into your personal holdings. I’ll register a shell company for you in Switzerland and use my connections to bring in professional tax strategists to manage the entire operation. My retainer is three percent of the total assets—sixty million dollars.”

“Agreed,” Christopher said.

Lora raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to negotiate?”

“No. I care more about keeping this confidential than saving a few million.”

“Understood. No one outside the people directly involved will know about these assets.”

They reviewed the contract and signed. Lora closed the file. “The first batch of funds should reach your personal holdings within five days. You’ll need to travel to Switzerland tomorrow. The initial Bitcoin liquidation requires your personal authorization.”

“I’ll go tomorrow.”

“I’ll have everything prepared.”

They shook hands. Christopher left the office. In the elevator his phone vibrated with a message from the forensic center:

'Your paternity test has been registered.'

He put the phone away. The money was being secured. The paternity test was underway. Now he needed to know who Mary’s lover was.

He got into his car and searched for a private investigation agency. A moment later the address for Hale & Associates Private Investigations appeared on the screen. He started the engine.

An hour later, he walked into the agency and sat across from the investigator. “I want you to find out everything about a man.”

The investigator raised an eyebrow.

“Who?” Christopher took out his phone and showed him a picture.

“Find out who he is, how long he's known my wife, and everything they've been hiding from me.”