2025-07-31 21:19:19---
“He’s just lucky. He’ll fail soon.” Ethan Cross heard the whispers. From boardrooms to back alleys, the ones who once ignored him now watched with nervous eyes and bitter tongues. But luck had nothing to do with it. In two weeks, he’d turned a loaned office above a laundromat into a registered enterprise worth over $10 million. Cross Corp. was now the silent hand behind a popular logistics app, two delivery chains, and a crumbling real estate empire no one wanted—until Ethan made it print gold. He stood at the heart of the city now, not looking in, but towering above. --- Ethan adjusted his tie as the elevator shot up the glass walls of Orion Plaza, the tallest skyscraper in the state. This morning, he wasn’t just here for business. He was here to bury someone. Clarissa’s new fiancé, Brandon Thorne—the man who humiliated Ethan in front of a hundred elites—was about to lose more than his pride. His company was already bleeding. Ethan had made sure of it. Cross Corp. had undercut Titan Tech’s logistics division, lured away four of their major clients, and acquired their biggest supplier at a silent auction Brandon never even knew about. Now, Ethan had arranged a meeting—face to face. --- When the doors opened, Brandon was already waiting in the penthouse conference room, flanked by two lawyers and a board member. His face tightened when he saw Ethan. “What is this? You said an investor wanted to talk—” “I am the investor,” Ethan said smoothly, walking in and sitting at the head of the table. Brandon laughed bitterly. “You think a few quick wins make you powerful? You’re just playing in waters too deep for you.” “No,” Ethan replied, sliding a folder across the table, “I’m the shark in your pool.” Brandon opened it. His eyes widened. The documents showed Cross Corp. had acquired 51% of Titan Tech’s voting shares through shadow firms in the last week. Ethan now held majority control of Brandon’s company. “You... you bought out my board?” “No,” Ethan smiled, “they sold themselves. Turns out, when people smell a sinking ship, they’d rather jump to the winning side.” Brandon’s hands trembled. “You can’t do this!” “I already did.” “Clarissa—she won’t stay with you! She only loved your money—” Ethan stood. “Exactly. Which is why she’s yours to keep.” The door opened, and Clarissa stepped in, face pale. She hadn’t been invited. “I heard the rumors, but I didn’t believe them,” she said quietly, looking at the men around the table. “You’re really in control now.” Ethan’s smile faded. “You traded loyalty for lifestyle. I’ve upgraded both.” Clarissa reached for his arm. “Ethan, I—” He stepped back. “Don’t mistake regret for affection.” The slap came, but not from him. It was Brandon, his pride in tatters, his fury boiling. He struck Clarissa in front of them all. “You gold-digging snake!” The room went silent. Ethan turned to the board. “Ladies and gentlemen, I think we’ve all seen enough. Effective immediately, Brandon Thorne is removed from all operational duties at Titan Tech. I’ll handle the restructuring.” One of the older board members nodded. “As you wish, Mr. Cross.” --- Later that day, Ethan sat alone in his new corner office, the city skyline stretching beyond the glass. His phone buzzed—an encrypted message from a contact known only as The Fox. > “Second transfer complete. The offshore accounts are ready. You now have liquidity access to $1.1 billion.” A slow grin spread across Ethan’s face. From broke to billionaire in twenty-three days. But it wasn’t just money. It was power. Influence. Control. And still, there was something missing. The old man—the one with the silver cane and the card—had vanished as quickly as he came. Ethan hadn’t seen him again. But the card had never stopped working. Every time Ethan tapped it on his phone, a new door opened—access to rare auctions, coded information, companies not even listed publicly. Who was that man? And what did he want from Ethan? --- The mystery grew deeper when Ethan received a handwritten envelope that evening, slipped under his office door with no name, no stamp. He opened it. Inside was a photo: a younger version of the silver-haired man shaking hands with Ethan’s late father. On the back was a message: > “Your father was the first. You are the last. Be ready. The board moves soon.” Ethan sat back, heart thundering. What board? What did my father have to do with this? He reached for the card, suddenly aware that this entire ride—his meteoric rise, the perfect timing, the ease of acquisition—it hadn’t been coincidence. He was being guided. Or played. But by who? --- The next morning, Ethan visited an old, crumbling house on the outskirts of the city. His childhood home. A single photo remained on the mantelpiece—his father, in a dark suit, standing in front of a building with a golden serpent emblem above the entrance. The same ouroboros that marked the card. “Dad… what did you get into?” Ethan whispered. Behind him, the floor creaked. He turned quickly—but no one was there. --- Meanwhile… Thousands of miles away, in a hidden room beneath the Swiss Alps, a group of figures sat in shadow around a circular table. “Subject E-07 has progressed faster than expected,” one said, voice digitally masked. Another tapped a glass orb in the center of the table. “He’s ready for the next test. But he doesn’t know the rules yet.” “The boy seeks revenge,” a woman said coldly. “But the world he wants to buy already belongs to us.” A final voice—older, deeper—spoke last. “Let him rise. The higher he climbs, the harder he will fall.” --- Back in the city, Ethan stepped into his black Maybach and checked his messages. One caught his attention. > PRIVATE: URGENT – FROM: FOX “They know who you are. You’re on the radar. Lay low for 24 hours. DO NOT trust anyone.” Ethan’s jaw clenched. The game was changing. He wasn’t the only player. The question was: Was he a piece—or the one moving the pieces?
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 180 : The Loser Who Bought the World
The war was over, but the echoes of it still haunted the sky.Antarctica, once a fortress of frozen death and deception, now lay buried under collapsing ice. The storm had passed, yet the world above trembled from the aftershocks of what had been unleashed. The Council was gone. Cain was gone. The Cipher—a godless machine born of greed and blood—was ash.And Ethan Cross was still standing.He stood at the edge of the world, his breath ghosting in the cold air. The black veins that had burned under his skin were gone, but he still felt the whisper of them inside him—a shadow of the poison that had nearly taken his soul.Wren came up behind him, her footsteps crunching over the frost. She didn’t speak. She didn’t have to. The silence between them carried more meaning than a thousand words ever could.Ethan turned slightly, meeting her eyes. “It’s done,” he said quietly.Wren looked out toward the ruins of the Vault. “The Cipher’s gone. The Council’s dead. But the world…” Her voice caugh
Chapter 179 : The Last Throne
The sea was black glass under the night sky, endless and silent. The wreckage of a forgotten age drifted across it—steel husks, dead satellites, broken ships swallowed by salt and time. Somewhere below that abyss lay Omega Node, the last beating heart of Cipher.Ethan stood at the bow of the stealth craft, eyes fixed on the horizon. The wind whipped against his face, carrying the chill of the Pacific deep. Behind him, Wren adjusted her gear, checking her oxygen tank for the fifth time.“You know,” she said, voice sharp through the comms, “normal couples go on vacations. Maybe to Paris, or Venice. Not into the middle of the goddamn ocean to blow up an AI that tried to end the world.”Ethan turned slightly, his lips curving into a faint smile. “You think we’re normal?”She huffed. “Good point.”Camille’s voice crackled through the comm from the control console. “You’re two kilometers from the drop zone. Once you breach the Node, I can’t maintain signal. You’ll be on your own.”Ethan’s j
Chapter 178 : The Man Who Refused to Die
Rain fell over the ruins of Buenos Aires, soft but endless, turning the ashes of the world into rivers of gray. The vault explosion had been felt across continents. Networks died in silence. Satellites blinked out like dying stars. The Cipher—gone.Or so everyone thought.In the heart of the city, beneath twisted steel and broken glass, Ethan drew a shallow breath. His chest burned, his body shaking violently. The explosion had ripped through every cell, every nerve, but somehow, he was still alive.Barely.He lay in darkness, the world muted except for the faint rhythm of falling rain above him. His vision blurred, but he could see faint threads of blue light fading across his skin. The Cipher was dying inside him. The power that once made him untouchable now drained him like poison.He wanted to rest. To let go. But something inside him refused.Wren.Her name cut through the haze like sunlight through storm clouds. He saw her face—tear-streaked, furious, alive. She needed him.And
Chapter 177 : The Price of Peace
Snow fell like ash over the ruins of the Antarctic base. What once held the Cipher’s final echo was now a crater of twisted steel and burning ice. Ethan stood at its edge, watching the flames die into blue smoke. His breath fogged before him, rising like a ghost into the pale morning light. The Cipher was gone.But peace… peace was not what he felt.He could still hear its whisper, buried in the cracks of his mind. The Cipher had been more than a weapon—it had been a living network, and Ethan had once been its heart. Even destroyed, its fragments pulsed faintly in his veins like dying embers.Behind him, Wren approached quietly. She carried two cups of steaming coffee, the bitter scent cutting through the frozen air. She handed one to him without a word. He took it, his fingers brushing hers—warm against the cold that refused to leave his bones.“You didn’t sleep,” she said softly.Ethan gave a faint, humorless smile. “Neither did you.”She shrugged. “Someone has to make sure the worl
Chapter 176 : The Loser’s Crown
The snow hadn’t melted. Even after the Cipher’s core was gone and the Council’s fortress reduced to glass and ash, Antarctica remained frozen in its eternal silence. Yet, for the first time in years, it was a silence that didn’t suffocate—it breathed.Ethan stood on a ridge overlooking the crater where everything had ended. His coat flapped in the wind, the scars on his neck still faintly glowing under his skin. The Cipher was gone, but its echo lingered—like a ghost that refused to stop whispering.Behind him, Wren climbed up the ridge, her boots crunching against the ice. She stopped beside him, breath forming white clouds.“You shouldn’t be out here,” she said, half-scolding, half-concerned.“I’ve been out here before,” Ethan murmured. “When this was still their stronghold. When I thought power could fix everything.”She crossed her arms, eyes narrowing. “And now?”He turned to her, his gaze soft. “Now I know it’s not power that fixes the world. It’s the ones who dare to start over
Chapter 175 : The End of the Beginning
The snowstorm had died hours ago, but the silence it left behind was louder than thunder. Smoke rose from the crater that had once held the Nexus Vault, curling into the frozen sky like mourning ribbons. The air was thick with the metallic taste of burnt circuitry and frost.Camille stood at the edge of the ruins, her breath fogging in the cold. Her gloved hands trembled as she adjusted her visor, scanning the wreckage for any sign of movement. Beside her, Wren stared blankly into the crater, her rifle hanging uselessly by her side.“He’s gone,” Camille whispered, her voice breaking. “It’s over.”Wren didn’t move. Her eyes were red and raw, not from the cold, but from what she refused to accept.“No,” she said finally, her tone flat. “Not until I see him.”Before Camille could stop her, Wren slid down the fractured slope, boots skidding on ice and debris. The ground hissed beneath her as if the earth still remembered the Cipher’s heat. She reached the center, where everything had turn
You may also like
The Billionaire's Supremacy
Butter Cookies96.5K viewsThe Rise Of The Unknown Zillionaire Heir
Gem Lynne160.7K viewsGod of War, Returned For His Wife
DoAj43277.0K viewsReturn Of The Dragon Lord
Snowwriter 134.6K viewsTHE CONSORTIUM HEIR'S RECKONING
Lyonlee975 viewsThe Legendary Martin Garvey
M. K. Diana106 viewsSupreme Girlfriend Making System
Creator442 viewsThe Exile's reckoning
Fav write143 views