2026-02-12 15:43:49"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 pause on the other end. Aiden could almost hear Lewis taking a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. "Fine. Just... make sure it doesn't happen during the live trade tomorrow. Gina is expecting a big win to show off at the gala."
"Understood," Aiden said, and cut the connection.
The moment the line went dead, Aiden’s screen flickered. The "calibration error" Lewis was seeing wasn't a glitch at all. It was Zhara, sitting in the damp darkness of District 13, manually throttling Lewis’s connection to siphon bits of encrypted metadata.
Aiden tapped a command on his keyboard. A secure video feed opened. Zhara’s face appeared, illuminated by the harsh blue glow of the Sovereign core. She looked tired, but her eyes were sharper than they had been in years.
"He’s biting the bait, Aiden," Zhara said, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "He’s so obsessed with the speed that he didn't even notice I’ve mirrored his private communication logs. You were right—he’s using the company’s 'black budget' to fund Gina’s father’s offshore accounts."
"How much?" Aiden asked.
"Six hundred million so far. And he’s moving more tonight," Zhara reported. "But there’s something else. Lewis just sent an encrypted file to an external security firm. A firm called 'Cerberus Solutions.' They specialize in... liquidations."
Aiden’s grip on his glass tightened. In his previous life, he had never heard of Cerberus. But then again, in his previous life, he was a blind fool who didn't see the knife until it was already in his back.
"They’re prepping the 'accidental' overdose," Aiden whispered. "They want to make sure that even if the poison fails, there’s a cleanup crew ready."
"What do we do? If they start tailing you, they’ll find the warehouse," Zhara’s voice was tinged with a flicker of the old fear.
"They won't find anything because I’m going to give them a different target," Aiden said, his eyes turning toward the door as he heard Gina’s soft footsteps approaching. "Zhara, cut the feed. Now."
The screen went black just as the door handle turned.
Gina walked in, wearing a silk robe, a small tray in her hands. She looked the picture of a doting wife, worried about her husband’s late-night work habits.
"Still working, darling? You really shouldn't overexert yourself," she said, placing a fresh glass of "vitamin-infused" juice on his desk. "Lewis told me the system had a small hiccup. Is everything okay?"
Aiden looked at the juice, then at Gina. The moonlight caught the diamonds on her neck—diamonds he had bought her. "Just some fine-tuning, Gina. The more powerful the tool, the harder it is to control."
"Well, don't worry about the control part. Lewis is handling the pressure well," she said, leaning down to kiss his shoulder. "He’s even talking about hiring extra security for the mansion. He says with the new AI, we’re becoming targets for corporate espionage."
Aiden smiled. It was a perfect move. They weren't hiring security to protect him; they were hiring Cerberus to watch him—and eventually, to kill him.
"That’s very thoughtful of him," Aiden said, standing up and taking the glass of juice. He walked toward the window, pretending to take a sip, but instead, he expertly poured the liquid into the soil of a large potted plant near the curtain. "I’m lucky to have a partner like him. And a wife like you."
Gina smiled, her eyes reflecting the cold moonlight. "We’re a team, Aiden. Always."
As she led him toward the bedroom, Aiden felt the weight of the digital key in his pocket—the key that Zhara had just sent him. It was the master override for the mansion’s new security system. Lewis thought he was surrounding Aiden with wolves, but Aiden was the one who had already built the cage.
"Tomorrow's gala will be the talk of the city," Gina whispered as she turned off the lights.
"Oh, I'm sure of it," Aiden replied in the dark. "It will be a night no one ever forgets."
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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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