Chapter 5
Author: Tessy Ben
last update2026-07-24 13:37:32

Marcus barely remembered how he made it through the rest of the night.

By the time the first rays of sunlight crept over the city, he was sitting alone beneath a bus shelter, staring blankly at the business card Richard Lawson had given him. His clothes were still damp from the storm, his muscles ached from the lightning strike, and every time he closed his eyes, he saw the same scene.

Skyline Microsystems.

Shock merger.

Shares up 247%.

It wasn't fading.

The vision was as clear now as it had been in the park.

Marcus rubbed his temples and laughed bitterly.

"Either I've lost my mind..."

"...or fate finally decided to apologize."

His stomach growled loudly enough to interrupt his thoughts.

He reached into his pocket and counted what he had.

Seven dollars and forty-three cents.

The hundred-dollar bill Richard had forced him to accept.

A total of one hundred and seven dollars and forty-three cents.

It was laughable.

Twenty-four hours ago, he could have spent that much without checking the price.

Now...

It was everything he owned.

Marcus stood and looked across the street.

A giant television inside an electronics store was broadcasting the morning financial news.

The smiling anchor adjusted her papers before speaking.

"Today promises to be another quiet day on the market as investors continue reacting to yesterday's dramatic leadership change at Hale Capital."

Marcus's expression darkened.

His own face appeared on the screen.

The headline beneath it read:

FALL OF A BILLIONAIRE.

The customers inside the store began whispering.

"That's him."

"The fraud."

"They say he stole almost a billion dollars."

Marcus smiled faintly.

Yesterday, those same channels had called him a financial genius.

People were strange.

They never waited for the truth.

They only followed the loudest voice.

He turned to leave when another headline flashed across the screen.

SKYLINE MICROSYSTEMS TO HOLD EMERGENCY PRESS CONFERENCE AT 10 A.M.

Marcus stopped walking.

His heartbeat quickened.

The vision.

It was starting.

He looked at the time.

Nine twenty-three.

Thirty-seven minutes.

The merger announcement hadn't happened yet.

Which meant...

He still had time.

Marcus hurried toward the financial district, weaving through the crowded sidewalks.

Every few minutes he glanced at the electronic billboards displaying live market prices.

Skyline Microsystems.

$12.91

Almost exactly what he'd seen.

His breathing became heavier.

"This has to work."

Then reality hit him.

Even if he was right...

What could one hundred dollars possibly become?

He clenched his jaw.

No.

That wasn't how successful people thought.

His old mentor had once told him something he never forgot.

"The size of your first investment doesn't determine your future. The courage to make it does."

Marcus smiled.

"I guess today's the test."

Inside a busy brokerage office, dozens of investors watched giant monitors as traders shouted orders across the room.

Marcus walked toward the reception desk.

The young receptionist looked up with a practiced smile.

"Good morning, sir. How can I help you?"

"I'd like to open a trading account."

"Of course."

She pushed a tablet toward him.

"Your identification, please."

Marcus handed over his driver's license.

The smile on her face disappeared almost immediately.

She looked back at him.

Then at the computer.

Then at the television mounted in the corner.

Marcus's face was still dominating every business channel.

Recognition filled her eyes.

"I'm... sorry."

Marcus already knew what was coming.

"Our compliance department has flagged your name."

"I can't open an account for you."

Marcus sighed.

"Because of the news?"

She nodded awkwardly.

"I'm afraid so."

Before Marcus could respond, another employee walked over.

Unlike the receptionist, this man didn't bother hiding his disgust.

"So this is Marcus Hale."

He folded his arms.

"I never thought billionaires begged for trading accounts."

Several customers turned to look.

Marcus remained calm.

"I only want to invest."

The employee laughed.

"With what?"

"Stolen money?"

The room burst into quiet laughter.

Marcus looked at the man for several seconds before speaking.

"If you enjoy laughing..."

"I suggest you laugh a little harder."

The employee frowned.

"Why?"

"Because life has a habit of making people cry right after."

The man's smile disappeared.

"Security."

Two guards immediately approached.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Marcus looked around the room.

Every face reflected the same thing.

Disgust.

Suspicion.

Contempt.

Not one person believed him.

He nodded once.

"I'll leave."

As Marcus turned toward the exit, a woman standing near the trading screens lowered the report she had been reading.

She had watched the entire exchange without saying a word.

Her name was Evelyn Carter.

Senior Financial Analyst.

She wasn't interested in Marcus because of the news.

She was interested because of something else.

When Marcus had entered the building...

He hadn't looked around in confusion like most first-time investors.

His eyes had gone straight to Skyline Microsystems.

Almost as if...

He already knew what was about to happen.

Evelyn frowned.

"Who are you?"

Marcus stepped back onto the street.

Another door had closed in his face.

He looked up at the sky.

"Fine."

"If nobody will let me invest..."

"I'll find someone who will."

Just then, a familiar voice called his name.

"Marcus!"

He turned.

Richard Lawson's black SUV pulled to the curb.

The rear window rolled down.

Richard smiled.

"You look like you could use some breakfast."

Marcus hesitated.

"I'm not looking for charity."

Richard laughed.

"Good."

"Because I wasn't offering charity."

"I was offering a conversation."

Marcus looked at the luxury SUV.

Then at the crowded financial district.

His instincts told him this wasn't a coincidence.

Slowly, he opened the door and climbed inside.

As the SUV pulled away, Evelyn Carter watched from the brokerage window.

Her eyes narrowed.

The license plate.

She recognized it immediately.

Impossible...

That vehicle belonged to one of the most influential men in the country.

Why would someone like Richard Lawson personally pick up a homeless man accused of financial fraud?

She quickly grabbed her handbag.

"Cancel my meetings."

Her assistant looked confused.

"What?"

"I'm following them."

Without waiting for a reply, Evelyn hurried toward the elevators.

She had no idea that the answer she was chasing would soon shake the entire financial world.

Continue to read this book for free
Scan the code to download the app

Latest Chapter

  • Chapter 23

    Marcus stared at the photograph as though it had suddenly become impossible to understand.The man standing beside him was younger, but there was no mistaking the face. The same sharp jaw. The same dark eyes. The same faint smile Marcus had seen in the few photographs his mother had kept hidden after his father's supposed death.His father.The man Marcus had spent his entire childhood believing was buried six feet beneath the ground."You expect me to believe this?" Marcus asked.The woman's expression remained calm. "I don't expect you to believe anything. I expected you to ask questions."Marcus threw the photograph onto the table."My father died when I was eight.""No.""My mother attended his funeral.""No.""I saw his coffin."The woman lowered her eyes."An empty coffin."Marcus went completely still.Richard slowly stood. "Who are you?"The woman looked at him."My name is Elena Hale."Marcus's face changed."Hale?"She nodded."I am your father's younger sister."The room se

  • Chapter 22

    By seven the next morning, Marcus was already awake.He stood in front of the kitchen window with a cup of coffee in his hand, watching the city slowly come alive. Cars filled the roads, people hurried toward offices, and delivery trucks moved between buildings as another ordinary day began.For Marcus, it was anything but ordinary.On the dining table sat three things: his laptop, a folder containing Sterling Retail Group's financial records, and the envelope from the previous night.He had barely slept.Not because of the attack.Because of the stranger Damien had met.The man who made sure Marcus survived the storm.Marcus couldn't get the sentence out of his head.Someone had known.Someone had watched.And somehow, that person had known what would happen to him before Marcus himself did."You're up early."Marcus turned.Evelyn stood in the doorway wearing a loose cream sweater and jeans. Her hair was tied carelessly behind her head, and she looked nothing like the polished finan

  • Chapter 21

    Marcus read the message again.We saw you survive.The words shouldn't have frightened him. After everything that had happened, after losing his company, his fiancée, his reputation, and nearly his life, he had learned how to live with fear.But this was different.Someone had been watching him before he even knew there was anything worth watching.He turned the photograph over in his hand, studying the image of himself sleeping beneath the bridge. His clothes were filthy, his face was hidden beneath the hood of an old jacket, and there was a cardboard box beside him.It was humiliating.It was also strangely painful.That had been Marcus at his lowest.A man nobody wanted to see.A man people stepped around.A man who could disappear for days without anyone asking where he was.Now someone had kept a photograph of that moment.Why?"Marcus."Evelyn's voice was gentle.He looked up.She was standing in front of him, concern written all over her face."Are you okay?"Marcus slipped the

  • Chapter 20

    Evelyn stared at Marcus as though she wasn't sure she had heard him correctly. The music from the ballroom continued behind them, laughter and conversation filling the luxurious hotel, but all she could hear was the strange certainty in his voice."I just saw you die."She swallowed. "What exactly does that mean?"Marcus glanced toward the elevator, then toward the crowded ballroom. His mind was already racing through the vision. The parking garage. Two men. A gun. Evelyn falling. The terrifying part wasn't that he had seen her in danger. It was that he had seen himself arriving too late."I can't explain it here.""Then explain it somewhere else."Marcus caught her wrist gently before she could step into the elevator. "You're staying with me."Evelyn looked down at his hand, then back at him. "You're acting very strange.""Good. Then take me seriously."She studied his face and realized he wasn't joking. Whatever had happened, Marcus was genuinely frightened for her."Fine," she said

  • Chapter 19

    Damien stepped away from the crowd with his phone pressed tightly against his ear. His face had gone pale, and for a man who had spent the entire evening pretending nothing could shake him, the change was impossible to miss."What do you mean the payment can't be processed?" he demanded.The bank manager on the other end sounded nervous. "Mr. Cross, the account has been temporarily restricted because of an irregular transaction pattern. Our compliance department is reviewing it.""Then tell your compliance department to release it.""We can't."Damien's jaw tightened. "Do you know who you're talking to?""Yes, sir.""Then you know that Hale Capital has never had an account frozen."The manager hesitated."Apparently, it isn't Hale Capital's account that's the problem."Damien frowned."Then what is?""The account was opened under a private investment company called Meridian Holdings."Damien's expression changed.Meridian Holdings.He knew that name.It was one of the small companies

  • Chapter 18

    The ballroom quieted as the painting was carried onto the stage. It was an enormous oil portrait of a woman standing beside a lake at sunset, and the gold frame alone looked more expensive than most people's houses. Marcus stared at it for a moment, not because he cared about art, but because the strange pressure behind his eyes had returned. A vision was coming.He blinked once.The ballroom disappeared.He saw the auctioneer announcing the opening price. He saw Damien raising his paddle. He saw a famous investor bidding against him. Then he saw Victoria whispering something into Damien's ear, followed by a furious argument near the private elevators.The vision shifted.A red folder.A signature.A bank account.Then one sentence appeared in his mind with terrifying clarity.The painting is not the real prize.Marcus's eyes opened.The vision was gone."Mr. Hale?"Evelyn's voice pulled him back.She was standing beside him, studying his face."You disappeared for a second."Marcus s

More Chapter
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on MegaNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
Scan code to read on App