"The security guard will show you out, Dray. Try not to trip on your way back to the gutter."
Arthur Darkson didn't even look up from his mahogany desk as he spoke. I stood in the center of the Darkson Corporation boardroom, my laptop still open, the Aegis interface glowing with the most sophisticated financial architecture the world had ever seen.
I had come here as a final act of loyalty—to give Lina's family the first opportunity to be a part of the life I've worked for all these years, now that I had an offer sitting pretty in my computer.
I had swallowed every ounce of my pride, ignored the sneers of the receptionists, and begged for fifteen minutes of their time.
"Dad is being generous, Dray," Lina said, standing by the window. She was wearing a dress that cost three months of our rent, looking at me with a mixture of pity and raw embarrassment.
"He's letting you leave on your own feet. You shouldn't have come here. You're a disgrace to me, standing there in that cheap suit, peddling your little 'science project' like a street solicitor. I look at you now and I honestly wonder what I was thinking in college. I never should have married a man with such small horizons."
"Lina, this isn't a project," I said, my voice cracking. "This software is going to stabilize global markets. If your father invests now, Darkson Corp becomes the center of the world. I'm doing this for us."
"For us?" She laughed, a sharp, bitter sound.
"No, Dray. You're doing this because you're desperate. You're trying to play with the big boys, but you don't even have a seat at the table. Just go. Please. Before I have to tell everyone in the office that you're actually my husband."
I closed my laptop slowly. The silence in the room was deafening. Arthur finally looked up, his eyes cold and predatory.
"My daughter deserves a titan, Hudson. Not a dreamer who smells like a public bus. Get out."
I walked out of that building with my head down, the weight of their rejection feeling like a physical bruise on my soul. I felt hollow. I felt like the "loser" they claimed I was.
I took the subway back to our apartment, sitting in a daze as the train rattled through the dark tunnels. I walked up the stairs to our unit, the smell of damp wood and old cooking oil greeting me. I sat at my small desk and put my head in my hands.
Then, my phone rang.
It was an international number. I didn't recognize the country code. I answered it with a shaky, "Hello?"
"Is this Mr. Dray Hudson? Creator of the Aegis protocol?" The voice was deep, commanding, and accented.
"Yes. Who is this?"
"I am the Chairman of the Global Sovereign Fund. We have seen the leaked data from your final beta test. We don't want to negotiate, Mr. Hudson. We want to secure your future. We are prepared to offer an initial investment of hundred trillion dollars for a five percent stake in your holding company."
I stopped breathing. "Hundred... trillion?"
"That is correct. And if you accept, we will move the funds into a private escrow within the hour. Do we have a deal?"
"Yes," I whispered. "Yes, we have a deal."
I hung up, my heart hammering so hard I thought it would burst. More of the world were seeing my work and were reaching out, trying to own a share of what I'd built.
Before I could even process the number, the phone rang again. It was a firm from London.
Nine hundred billion. Then a bank from Zurich. Two trillion. By the time three o'clock rolled around, my phone was a constant vibration of voices from every corner of the globe.
Total commitments: 900 trillion dollars.
I stared at my bank app. I watched the numbers flicker. I watched the balance jump from forty dollars to a figure that required me to scroll the screen. I was no longer the man who couldn't pay the light bill. I was the richest man in New York. I was the richest man in the country.
A loud honk sounded from the street below. I walked to the window and pulled back the grime-stained curtain.
Two cars were parked at the curb, blocking traffic. One was a matte-black Bugatti La Voiture Noire, and the other was a custom Rolls-Royce Phantom. They looked like alien spacecraft in our neighborhood. Men in black suits stood beside them, looking up at my window.
A knock came at my door. Not a loud, aggressive knock, but a respectful, measured one.
I opened it. A man in a sharp grey suit bowed slightly.
"Mr. Hudson? I am Marcus. I represent the primary investment group. We have the official contracts here for your signature. The cars are a gift to celebrate our partnership. They are yours, along with a security detail that is currently being deployed to this block."
He handed me a leather-bound folder. I signed the papers with a hand that didn't feel like mine.
"Is there anything else you require, My Lord?" Marcus asked.
"My Lord?" I repeated.
"The registry is complete, sir. As the primary holder of the city's largest private asset, you are the Lord of New York. The title is official as of five minutes ago when you confirmed all your contracts virtually."
"I... I need a moment," I said.
"Of course. We will be waiting downstairs. Your security is on the perimeter."
He bowed again and closed the door.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the luxury cars through the window. My mind was spinning. How do I tell Lina? How do I tell the woman who called me a disgrace an hour ago that I now owned the very ground she walked on? Would she believe me? Or would she think it was another science project hallucination?
I looked around the room. It looked so small now. The cracked ceiling, the old rug, the smell of poverty—it all felt like a dream I had just woken up from.
I checked the time. Lina would be home any minute. I stood up, smoothing my hair, trying to find the words to explain that our life was over—and a new one had begun.
I was rehearsing the sentence.
'....Lina, we never have to worry again…' when suddenly, the door of our room burst open.
It didn't just open; it hit the wall with a violent crash that made me jump.