2026-02-12 15:42:27The boardroom on the 50th floor of Crowne Tech was a magnificent glass box, but to Aiden, it felt like a snake pit.
Ten of the country’s most influential investors sat around a marble table. At the head of the table, Lewis stood with his chin tilted high, acting as if he were the mastermind behind it all. Gina stood near the door, wearing a supportive smile that, in Aiden’s eyes, now looked like a deathly leer.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Lewis began, his voice heavy with a false sense of authority. "Today, Aiden will show you the future of global trade. Neural-Wealth is not just an AI. It is an oracle that is never wrong."
Aiden stepped forward. His hands were steady as he connected his specialized laptop to the giant projector screen.
"Let’s get straight to the point," Aiden said curtly. "This system operates based on collective neural patterns and market anomalies. In the next ten seconds, Neural-Wealth will predict the crash of the Tengri Group before their official announcement is even made."
The screen displayed rapidly moving graphs. A red line suddenly dived sharply, exactly three seconds before the breaking news appeared on the television ticker in the corner of the room: CEO of Tengri Group Resigns, Shares Plunge 15%!
The room fell into immediate silence. Then, a wave of astonished whispers erupted.
"Incredible..." one silver-haired investor stood up. "How can it be that accurate?"
"The algorithm learns from human errors before humans even realize they’ve made them," Aiden answered flatly. He glanced at Lewis. "Lewis, you have full access rights to run a trade simulation today. Go ahead."
Lewis looked surprised, but his eyes immediately flared with greed. "Of course, Aiden. Buddy, you truly are the best."
Aiden stepped aside, letting Lewis take his seat and begin pressing execution buttons. Behind Lewis, Gina stared at the screen with shimmering eyes. Aiden knew what they were thinking: Money. Power. And Aiden is just the key that can be discarded once the door is open.
Aiden slowly backed toward the corner of the room. He pulled out his phone and sent a short message to Marcus.
A: Transaction started. Ensure Sovereign is ready to receive the 'waste' from the main warehouse.
His phone vibrated within seconds.
M: Done, Sir. Sector C-4 warehouse is under our surveillance.
"Aiden!" Lewis shouted, his face flushed with euphoria. "In just five minutes, this simulation generated ten million dollars! This is insane!"
"That’s just the beginning, Lewis," Aiden replied as he walked toward the door. "Use it as you wish. I need to head back to the lab to ensure there are no glitches on the main server."
"Yes, yes, go! Leave these numbers to me and these honorable gentlemen here!" Lewis waved him off without looking back.
Aiden stepped out of the boardroom. The moment the door closed, the smile vanished from his face. He walked briskly toward a private elevator accessible only to him. Inside, he opened another small laptop.
His fingers moved with precision. He didn’t shut down the system Lewis was using. Instead, he activated the Ghost Protocol.
Every transaction Lewis made in that room indeed generated real money, but every cent from "admin fees" and "system spreads" was automatically funneled into the Sovereign account in District 13.
The elevator chimed at the ground floor. Aiden didn’t head for his car. He walked toward the emergency stairs, where a black backpack had been hidden behind a fire pipe.
He swapped his expensive suit for a plain black hoodie. He tucked his Patek Philippe watch into his pocket.
"Mr. Aiden?"
Aiden turned. Marcus was waiting at the back exit with an ordinary black SUV, not the usual Rolls-Royce.
"The equipment in the lab?" Aiden asked briefly.
"Half of it is already in the truck. The rest will be moved tonight while Gina hosts the celebration party," Marcus reported.
"Good. Leave no trace. Let them feel like they own everything in this building, when all that remains are glass walls without a brain."
Aiden climbed into the car. He stared at the Crowne Tech building through the tinted window.
"To District 13, Marcus. I want to see my new 'palace'."
The car surged through the city traffic, leaving the hollow luxury behind for the cold reality of the dark. Inside his jacket pocket, Aiden felt the bottle of vitamins Gina had given him that morning. He would keep the poison as a reminder: in this world, no love is stronger than the hunger for power.
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10
"I’m the one who almost died on that stage, Gina. Not you. So tell me again—why the hell are you sitting in my chair?"Lewis’s voice was a jagged rasp, transmitted through a secure video link from the private clinic. His face, usually tanned and arrogant, was now a sickly shade of gray, his eyes bloodshot and twitching. He looked like a man who had spent the night fighting demons, and he was losing.Gina didn't even look up from the tablet she was holding. She sat in the massive leather chair behind the CEO’s desk, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the mahogany surface. "You’re in that chair because you’re a liability, Lewis. You had a manic episode in front of the entire Ministry of Finance. If I hadn't stepped in and signed the emergency proxy, the board would have liquidated our holdings by midnight.""You used me," Lewis spat, his hand trembling as he reached for a glass of water off-screen. "You saw me seize up and you saw an opportunity. Where’s Aiden? He’s the only one who ca
9
Aiden sat on the edge of the plush mattress, his eyes fixed on a single loose thread in the rug. Downstairs, the frantic shouts of paramedics had finally been replaced by the low, retreating hum of an ambulance.Lewis was sedated, strapped to a gurney, but very much alive. The doctors called it a "hypertensive crisis" brought on by acute stress, but Aiden knew better.It was the first time Lewis's brain had tried to process a thousand years of market data in a single second. It wouldn't be the last.The room smelled of Gina’s lilies, a heavy, cloying scent that made Aiden’s stomach turn. He pulled off his tie, dropping it like a discarded noose. He was exhausted, but not from the gala. He was tired of the skin he was wearing, tired of the submissive tilt he had to keep in his head whenever Gina entered a room.The door swung open, hitting the stopper with a dull thud. Gina didn’t knock. She stood in the doorway, the emerald silk of her dress unzipped halfway down her back. She wasn't
8
The Grand Golden’s ballroom was a temple of refined elegance, a place where the scent of five-thousand-dollar perfume usually masked the stench of corporate greed. But tonight, the air had changed. It was thick with the ozone of overheating electronics and the sudden, sharp tang of panic.Lewis continued to laugh on stage, a high-pitched, manic sound that echoed off the gilded ceilings. His pupils were blown so wide they looked like drops of spilled ink, swallowing the irises completely. The billionaire elite—the men and women who thought they ran the world—watched in frozen, silent horror. Their financial savior was unraveling right before their eyes."Look at the screen!" a woman screamed, her voice cracking as she pointed a trembling finger toward the stage.The massive LED display behind Lewis, which had been showcasing the steady, comforting 20% growth of the Neural-Wealth Global Fund, was no longer showing numbers. The gold and white interface had vanished. In its place was a wa
7
"Do I look like a billionaire's wife, or the queen of an empire?"Gina stood before the floor-to-ceiling mirror, adjusting a diamond necklace that cost more than a District 13 tenement block. The deep emerald silk of her dress shimmered like serpent scales under the vanity lights.Aiden stood behind her, fastening his cufflinks. "You look like someone who is about to own the city, Gina.""We, Aiden. We are about to own the city," she corrected, turning to press a lingering, cold kiss to his cheek. "The car is waiting. Lewis is already at the Grand Hyatt. He says the Secretary of Finance is eager to meet the man behind the miracle."As they stepped into the armored limousine, Aiden felt the subtle shift in the atmosphere. Two black SUVs followed them—men in charcoal suits with earpieces and cold, predatory gazes."New security?" Aiden asked, nodding toward the rearview mirror."Cerberus Solutions," Gina replied, her voice smooth. "Lewis insisted. With the launch of the Neural-Wealth Gl
6
"Why is the latency increasing, Aiden? I thought you said this system was flawless."Lewis’s voice crackled through the intercom of Aiden’s home office, sounding more like a demand than a question. Aiden leaned back in his leather chair, a glass of plain water in his hand, watching a miniature holographic mirror of Lewis’s screen on his own private terminal."It’s a synchronization phase, Lewis," Aiden replied, his voice devoid of emotion. "The more data Neural-Wealth ingests, the more it needs to recalibrate its neural anchors. It’s like a brain learning to walk. Be patient.""Patient? I have forty-eight billion dollars in open positions for the Tokyo opening!" Lewis barked. "If this thing lags for even a millisecond, we lose the spread advantage.""Then don't push it beyond the 80% threshold," Aiden warned, though he knew Lewis wouldn't listen. "The Sympathetic Resonance module is sensitive to the user's stress levels. If you’re panicking, the AI will mirror that chaos."There was a
5
The crystal chandeliers in the main dining hall of the Crowne mansion glowed brilliantly, reflecting a sickening level of opulence. The aroma of Wagyu steak and expensive red wine filled the room. At the head of the table, Aiden sat with a forced, thin smile, wearing the mask of the submissive husband they had always known.On his right, Gina looked breathtaking in a blood-red evening gown. On his left, Lewis sat comfortably, laughing loudly while swirling a crystal glass filled with a 1945 vintage wine."Aiden, buddy! You’re a goddamn genius!" Lewis raised his glass high. "Our stock jumped twenty percent in just a few hours after that demo. The ministers who were here earlier were practically tripping over each other to invest.""I only did my part, Lewis," Aiden replied calmly, cutting the meat on his plate with the precision of a surgeon. "This success is also thanks to your ability to convince the investors."Gina gently stroked Aiden’s arm—a touch that made Aiden want to recoil i
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