System: From Trash Son-in-Law to Billionaire

Chapter 1

"Sign this, Daniel. Don't make yourself look even more pathetic in my eyes."

That clear yet ice-cold voice shattered the silence inside the VIP area of Blue Horizon Cafe. On top of the luxurious marble table lay a thick document bearing a title so piercing to the eyes—Divorce Agreement.

Daniel Leonard stared at the document without blinking. Slowly, he shifted his gaze to the woman sitting across from him.

Seraphina Monroe. The woman who had been his wife for the past two years. Tonight, Seraphina looked stunning in a designer formal blazer that accentuated her figure, radiating the aura of a rising female CEO in New York. Yet within her beautiful eyes, there was no warmth left. There was only a vast expanse of disgust and cold satisfaction.

"Two years, Seraphina," Daniel said. His tone was calm, far too calm for a man whose marriage was being destroyed. "For two years, I cooked for you, took care of your home, and even waited for you to come back every night while you were busy building Monroe Consulting Enterprises. Do all my sacrifices mean nothing in your eyes?"

Before Seraphina could open her mouth, a mocking laugh erupted from the man sitting beside her.

Evan Vanguard, the heir to the throne of the financial giant Vanguard Group, leaned back against the leather chair arrogantly. His fingers adorned with a gold ring tapped rhythmically against the surface of the table.

"Daniel, Daniel... are you stupid or just too naive?" Evan sneered, looking Daniel up and down with contempt. "In Manhattan, the domestic sincerity of a poor cafe waiter like you can't be used to pay building rent or raise stock prices. Your existence by Seraphina's side is nothing but an embarrassing black stain on the Monroe family."

Seraphina did not refute Evan's words. She merely let out a long sigh and looked at Daniel with the superior gaze of a ruler toward a subordinate.

"Evan is right, Daniel. Our worlds are already far apart," Seraphina said lightly, as though their two-year marriage had been nothing more than a minor mistake. "Two years ago, I accepted you only because Grandpa's will insisted that you were the right man for me. But Grandpa is gone now, and my company needs hundreds of millions of dollars in capital and the Vanguard Group's network to break into Wall Street. You... can't give me any of that."

Daniel clenched his fists beneath the table, yet his face remained as expressionless as a blank board.

Neither of them ever knew. For the past two years, Daniel had deliberately concealed his true identity and lived as a poor, oppressed man. It was part of the "Soul and Poverty Seal Trial" mandated by the laws of the ancient Leonard Clan—a shadow financial clan that controlled one-third of the world's underground cash flow. And because of the sincere promise he had made to Grandpa Monroe before the old man's death, Daniel willingly endured every insult and worked as a cafe waiter to protect Seraphina from behind the scenes.

Today marked exactly two years since the trial had begun. And on this very day, the woman he had protected with all his soul chose to throw him away like trash for another man.

"So, you're choosing to throw me away for Evan Vanguard's money and power?" Daniel looked straight into Seraphina's eyes, searching for even the slightest trace of guilt.

But there was none. Only blind ambition.

"This is for my business and my future, Daniel. Don't be childish," Seraphina replied, her voice as flat as a concrete wall. "Sign the papers. I've included one hundred thousand dollars in compensation. That's enough for you to open a small coffee shop on the outskirts of the city. Consider it payment from the Monroe family for your services in cleaning my house for the past two years."

Payment?

She regarded their marriage as nothing more than a relationship between employer and servant.

Evan Vanguard chuckled mockingly. He opened his crocodile-leather wallet, took out a one-hundred-dollar bill, and tossed it onto the dirty floor right near the tip of Daniel's old shoe.

Plak.

"And here's an extra tip from me, waiter," Evan said in an extremely demeaning tone. "Pick that money up from the floor, sign the papers, and get out of this luxury cafe before I tell security to drag you out like a mangy dog."

Daniel glanced at the bill on the floor before turning his gaze toward Seraphina. The woman merely turned her face toward the window, showing absolutely no intention of stopping Evan from trampling all over her husband's dignity.

At that moment, the final thread of patience inside Daniel's chest snapped completely. His respect and devotion toward Grandpa Monroe had been fully repaid by this disgusting betrayal. His love for Seraphina evaporated, replaced by a cold emptiness.

"Fine," Daniel said, his voice suddenly becoming heavy and authoritative.

He picked up the pen on the table. With a movement that was both elegant and decisive, he signed the divorce document without the slightest hesitation.

Sret!

Seraphina secretly let out a sigh of relief. Quickly, she pulled the document toward herself and slipped it into her Hermes bag as though afraid Daniel might change his mind.

Daniel rose from his seat. His upright figure now stood firm, exuding such an overwhelming aura of dominance that the atmosphere inside the VIP room suddenly became suffocating. He refused to touch the one-hundred-dollar bill on the floor. His gaze fixed directly on Seraphina and Evan, gleaming like a pair of newly sharpened swords.

"Seraphina Monroe, Evan Vanguard," Daniel said, his voice low yet trembling with oppressive power. "You said sincerity has no value without financial strength? Remember your words tonight. Because from this moment onward, I will personally show you... what it feels like to be destroyed by money."

Without waiting for a reply, Daniel turned around and strode out of the VIP area with the steps of a king.

"Tch, bluffing while poor. What a low-class loser who doesn't know his place," Evan sneered after Daniel's retreating figure, trying to dispel the strange chill that had briefly crawled up the back of his neck.

Seraphina remained silent, but for some reason, her chest suddenly felt unbearably tight as she watched the way Daniel walked away. Something had been lost, something enormous, yet her ambition quickly erased the feeling.

Daniel stepped out of Blue Horizon Cafe just as a violent Manhattan storm poured down from the sky. Lightning split the dark night above. Standing beneath the building's canopy, Daniel looked up at the heavens, allowing the cold night wind to strike his face.

At exactly ten o'clock at night, the old watch on his wrist emitted a soft chime. The two years of his poverty trial had ended at this very second.

Bzzzztttt!

Suddenly, the air before Daniel's eyes vibrated violently. A wave of invisible energy swept through every nerve in his body, and a magnificent transparent neon-blue virtual screen lit up in the empty air.

[Ding! Trial Period Complete! Financial Reversal System Officially Activated!]

"The Dragon has awakened from its slumber. All legal authority, hidden assets, and global financial networks are now under the absolute control of the Host."

[Beginner Mission Activated: Deliver your first 'Financial Slap' to those who trampled on your dignity. Purchase the entire Blue Horizon Cafe building and business network within 30 minutes!]

[Failure Penalty: Complete freezing of all Leonard Clan assets and erasure of the Host's existence.]

[Time Remaining: 29 Minutes 59 Seconds...]

Sret.

From within the glowing virtual screen, a thin pitch-black card made of pure titanium slid out and landed perfectly between Daniel's index and middle fingers.

The card was a Centurion Black Card, bearing a faintly engraved golden dragon emblem in one corner.

At the same time, a notification arrived on his old phone with god-tier encryption that could not be traced by either the United States tax authorities or the FBI:

'System Alert: Access to the Leonard Clan's Unlimited International Liquidity Fund has been legally unlocked. Status: Active.'

Daniel stared at the black card in his hand, and then a cold, terrifying smile slowly formed on his handsome face.

"Buying this place in thirty minutes?" Daniel turned around and looked at the gleaming glass doors of Blue Horizon Cafe through the curtain of rain. His eyes burned with the flames of vengeance. "Seraphina, Evan... let's see just how high the status you take such pride in really stands in front of my money."

With steady and authoritative footsteps, Daniel pushed open the cafe's glass door once again.