The Shadow Billionaire

CRACK!

Bones snapping echoed sharply across Suryanegara Building's underground parking lot. It was a horrifying crunch, drowning out a generator humming in a dark corner.

Kaelen did not scream because air was violently punched from his lungs. He stared wide-eyed at a dusty concrete ceiling. His surrounding world instantly flashed white before dimming as agonizing pain exploded from his left calf, sending massive shocks through his nerves that made his stomach heave.

"Ughh..." Kaelen gagged painfully while vomiting blood and stomach acid onto cold asphalt.

Two heavily built men wearing black suits released their grip on his shoulders, letting his body collapse completely onto the floor.

Standing right in front of him, a young man casually swung an aluminum baseball bat he just used to shatter Kaelen's shin.

Bastian Suryanegara, a crown prince who returned from a long European vacation just two weeks ago, wore a crisp light gray three-piece suit contrasting sharply against this grimy basement reeking of stale oil.

"Does it hurt, Kael?" Bastian mocked with a cruel smirk while squatting down until his polished leather shoe almost touched pooling blood. "It should not hurt nearly as much as trillions of rupiah you cost my father's company."

Kaelen tried pulling his shattered leg back, but even a slightest scrape against rough asphalt sent violent spasms through his muscles. His white shirt collar was already torn and soaked with cold sweat mixing with blood dripping from his temple.

"You are the one who signed those fraudulent stock trades," Kaelen hissed with a ragged breath while glaring furiously at Bastian. "Not me."

Bastian chuckled softly, letting his laughter echo across empty basement walls.

"Spot on," Bastian whispered with a sinister tone while leaning his face closer. "But on paper, you are our Investment Director, so it is your digital signature resting on those documents. In the eyes of our board of directors ten minutes ago, you are merely a rat committing insider trading to enrich yourself."

Kaelen's memory flashed back to a boardroom on floor forty.

Just ten minutes ago, Herman Suryanegara—an adoptive father who raised him for over a decade—threw a forged forensic audit file right into his face. There was no trial or chance to defend himself because Herman knew perfectly well Bastian ruined corporate funds partying in Europe. However, Herman desperately needed a scapegoat so his biological heir would not rot inside a prison cell.

And Kaelen, an adopted son who spent seven years cleaning corporate sins from the shadows, served as a perfect sacrificial lamb.

"Father said you are far too smart, Kael," Bastian continued with an arrogant tone while standing up and handing his baseball bat to a bodyguard. "If you were simply fired, you would definitely run overseas or sell corporate secrets to competitors, so he ordered me to ensure your wings are permanently clipped tonight."

Bastian stomped down heavily onto Kaelen's freshly crushed ankle.

"AAARRGH!" Kaelen screamed in pure agony while his back arched upward, displaying bulging neck veins as pain pierced straight into his bone marrow.

"Oops, my bad," Bastian apologized with a fake, mocking tone while pulling his foot back. "Start learning how to walk using crutches from now on, Kael, because you are no longer part of our Suryanegara family."

Bastian reached into his jacket pocket to pull out a silk handkerchief, wiping hands that were not even dirty. He tossed that fabric directly onto Kaelen's face before turning around and walking toward an exclusive elevator, followed by two bodyguards who spat on the ground.

Elevator chimes rang out as metal doors closed shut, leaving Kaelen completely alone in dark isolation.

Kaelen lay paralyzed on the floor for several minutes while his head pounded violently and freezing underground air bit into his skin. He had to escape immediately, as patrolling security guards would definitely dump him in some outskirts landfill under Herman's orders if they found him.

Using whatever strength remained, Kaelen rolled his body over, gripping a concrete pillar marked 'B2-04'. His fingernails scratched painted surfaces until they bled as he forced himself into a half-sitting position with his left leg bent at an unnatural angle.

Screeeech...

Luxury tires squealing softly broke that basement's silence as blinding white headlights pierced through gloom, forcing Kaelen to squint.

A pitch-black Mercedes-Benz S-Class stopped exactly five meters from where Kaelen rested, its engine purring smoothly.

A rear passenger door swung open, allowing a pair of blood-red high heels to step out, instantly followed by Baccarat Rouge perfume driving away musty basement odors.

Valerie.

This dark-haired woman wore a tight black cocktail dress, always looking flawless as an only daughter belonging to this country's largest media mogul. Kaelen and Valerie had been engaged for three long years, forming a strategic alliance to maintain Herman's corporate stability rather than a mere romantic affair.

Seeing his fiancée, a naive flicker of hope crossed Kaelen's mind.

"Val..." Kaelen called out with a raspy voice while reaching his trembling hand toward her.

Valerie walked closer without showing any panic or tears on her beautiful face. Her calm, rhythmic steps displayed absolutely no urgency expected from someone seeing their partner covered in blood.

She stopped just outside his blood pool, looking him up and down as if inspecting worthless trash at a flea market.

"Bastian called me five minutes ago," Valerie spoke with a melodic yet freezing voice while looking down at him. "He told me to come down here if I wanted my investment back."

"Investment?" Kaelen asked in a confused whisper while holding his breath.

Valerie opened her Yves Saint Laurent clutch, using slender fingers to pull out a small red velvet box. She did not bother opening it, choosing instead to toss it onto the concrete where it bounced once before stopping right next to Kaelen's hand.

"Our wedding is off, Kael," Valerie stated with an extremely casual tone while treating this breakup like a canceled dinner reservation.

Kaelen stared at that ring box before looking up at a woman he fiercely protected from paparazzi scandals for years.

"Do you actually believe I embezzled those funds?" Kaelen asked with a betrayed tone while locking eyes with her.

"It does not matter what I believe," Valerie replied sharply without a single ounce of pity while maintaining eye contact. "What matters is what will be printed on my company's front pages tomorrow morning, stating a former Suryanegara Director is caught in a trillion-rupiah corruption scandal. My father will never let our family name get dragged into your filthy mess."

"I did everything to protect our alliance, Val," Kaelen pleaded with a desperate tone while gripping his bleeding leg.

"And you failed miserably," Valerie interrupted with a vicious tone while glaring at him. "Your value solely lied in your position as Herman's shadow executor, but now you lack any title or money. By tomorrow morning, prosecutors will freeze your accounts, meaning you are no longer a reliable lion. You are just a dog with a broken leg."

Valerie pulled her fur wrap tightly around her shoulders, stepping backward away from him.

"Do not ever try contacting me again," Valerie warned with a disgusted tone while turning her back on him. "If you still possess a shred of dignity, disappear from this city tonight."

Without bothering to wait for a response, Valerie climbed back inside her warm Mercedes-Benz. Car doors shut firmly as her personal driver stepped on the gas, sending that luxury vehicle speeding out of the basement, leaving Kaelen behind in freezing isolation.

Kaelen sat in silence, staring blankly at red taillights disappearing around a corner.

His leg still throbbed violently, but a sudden calmness crept into his mind, born from an absolute realization that loyalty never pays off in this world. Loyalty merely turns someone into a disposable tool easily thrown away once broken.

Kaelen did not shed a single tear, knowing he had zero time to mourn his fate.

For seven years, he blindly thought Suryanegara family was his only home, but tonight he finally realized that home never truly belonged to him.

He reached into his torn inner shirt pocket using a trembling right hand to pull out a bulky black encrypted phone untraceable by any national servers. This device was his sole hidden asset completely unknown to Herman or Bastian.

Operating as a Cleaner for seven years, Kaelen was never stupid enough to work without a safety net. He secretly diverted a tiny fraction of intelligence resources to build his own underground data firm from the shadows.

Obsidian.

Initially built as an insurance policy in case of betrayal, he never expected this exact night would arrive so soon.

Using a bloodied thumb, Kaelen pressed a fingerprint scanner on his screen.

A screen flared to life, displaying a sharp crystal logo against black backgrounds. He dialed a single number, hearing two rings before a deep, rigid voice answered.

"Protocol active, do you need something, Boss?" Leon answered with a professional tone while waiting for commands.

"Herman cut his leash tonight, Leon," Kaelen reported with a deadpan voice while burying his pain deep down, replacing it with lethal mathematical calculations. "Bastian completely shattered my left leg because they made me a scapegoat for this quarter's forensic audit."

A long exhale echoed through his speaker, immediately followed by rapid keyboard typing sounds.

"Just as we predicted. What are your orders?" Leon asked with a serious tone while preparing logistics.

"Prepare an operating room at our North District safe house, and send an extraction team to the east basement exit within five minutes," Kaelen commanded firmly while tearing his shirt sleeve to tie a tourniquet around his left thigh, slowing down severe swelling.

"Understood perfectly. What should we do about Suryanegara Capital?" Leon asked with a questioning tone while awaiting further targets.

Kaelen stared sharply at his own blood splattered across concrete floors, while Herman's face, Bastian's sneer, and Valerie's cold gaze replayed in his mind.

"Do not destroy them tonight," Kaelen instructed with a calculating tone while formulating his revenge. "Just open one single door, letting evidence we kept hidden flow toward right parties."

Leon paused for a brief second.

"Do you want them to know we did it?" Leon asked with a cautious tone while confirming his boss's intent.

"I want them to feel completely safe first," Kaelen answered with a hardening gaze while gritting his teeth. "Let them enjoy their victory tonight, because tomorrow we start taking everything away from them one piece at a time."

He disconnected the call.

Kaelen clamped his phone between his teeth, dragging his broken body toward an exit and leaving a long trail of blood across rough asphalt.

Somewhere upstairs, Suryanegara family members were likely celebrating their success in discarding an adopted son, completely unaware that this discarded man held master keys unlocking their darkest secrets.

Tonight, Kaelen made no promises to destroy them instantly.

He only promised they would deeply regret giving him a reason to fight back.