Rise to Power: The Miraculous Liam Regan.

Chapter 17

At once, Liam felt the violent pounding in his chest begin to settle.

A moment ago, it had seemed as though the ground had vanished beneath him, as though his entire world had collapsed in one merciless blow. But now..now there was something to hold onto again. Something solid. Something real.

The money was back.

He could still fight, he could still drag City Hall to court. He could still go after Benjamin. He could still make Victoria answer for everything she had done. Maybe it wasn’t over after all. Maybe this was the first crack of light after a night that had seemed endless.

He exhaled shakily, trying to steady himself, then stepped back toward the counter.

“Thank goodness,” he said, relief still lingering in his voice. “If the money is back, then I want to withdraw all of it.”

The attendant didn’t respond immediately.

She only stared at him.

There was something strange in her expression now something beyond surprise. She looked almost unsettled, as if what she was seeing on the screen made no sense even to her.

Liam noticed it at once, and the thin thread of relief inside him tightened.

A new thought crept into his mind, what if Victoria hadn’t returned everything?

What if she had only sent part of it back? Half, maybe. Or some random amount. Enough to confuse him, but not enough to save him. That would be like her cruel even in correction, deliberate even in mercy.

The possibility made his stomach twist.

He looked at the woman more carefully now, searching her face for an answer she had not yet spoken. Then, with cautious urgency, he asked,

“I’m sorry, but… how much entered the account? How much was transferred into it?”

Hearing Liam’s question, the attendant still said nothing.

She remained frozen behind the counter, her eyes fixed on the screen as though she no longer trusted what she was seeing.

The arrogance that had filled her voice moments ago was gone. In its place was naked disbelief.

Liam stood still, watching her.

Seconds passed, she still did not speak.

A knot tightened in his chest. He didn’t know whether to repeat himself or keep quiet.

People like her were dangerous when irritated. With B-level citizens, one wrong tone, one repeated question, one sign of impatience could be enough for them to throw you out or refuse service entirely. And Liam could not afford that now. Not after everything that had just happened.

So he waited, another few seconds crawled by.

Still, the woman only stared, the silence became unbearable.

Finally, with a much lower voice, careful and almost hesitant, Liam asked again, “How much was transferred into the account?”

This time, the attendant answered.

“Your account,” she said slowly, as if even she could hardly believe the words leaving her mouth, “has just been credited with

“five hundred million dollars.”

The words struck Liam like thunder.

For a moment, he simply stood there, unable to move, unable even to breathe properly. His mind rejected what it had just heard before he could even begin to process it.

“Five… five hundred million dollars?” he asked, his voice shaking so badly the words nearly broke apart. “How? That no. No, you must be kidding. You have to be kidding.”

Yet even as he said it, he knew how absurd that sounded.

This woman had spent the better part of the morning insulting him, looking down on him, and tearing at whatever dignity he had left but joking with him about something like this? No. That was not possible. Not in this way. Not with the look on her face.

And that was what unsettled him most.

She didn’t look amused. She didn’t look cruel. She didn’t even look irritated. She looked stunned.

As if she herself had been dragged into something beyond her understanding.

Liam’s thoughts spiraled.

"What is happening?"

"Where was this money coming from? "

"Who could possibly send such an amount into my account?

And why me?"

Nothing made sense anymore. One moment he had been ruined beyond repair, stripped down to nothing. The next, a fortune beyond imagination had landed in his bank. It was too sudden, too impossible, too unreal.

The attendant blinked at him as though offended by the question.

“Kidding you?” she said. “How exactly would I be kidding you?”

Then, without another word, she quickly printed the account statement and thrust it toward him.

Liam took the paper with trembling fingers.

His eyes dropped to the balance.

And in that instant, his knees nearly buckled beneath him, because there it was in undeniable black and white five hundred million dollars had truly been transferred into his account.