Chapter 148: Zero

I left the room with Charlotte and we headed downstairs, stepping back into the main area where the music had now slowed.I pulled Charlotte close, and soon we were swaying to the music. Her arms wrapped around my neck, and my hands rested on her slender waist.

As we danced, I looked around the room.

Emily Heart was dancing with Ryan Bloomberg. They were pressed tightly together. Then, right in front of everyone, they kissed—long and deep.

Before long, they disappeared into one of the side rooms together.

I was starting to think that Emily was a nymphomaniac. Searᴄh the NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

What amused me the most was when I saw Tom King walking out from one of the private rooms, his shirt untucked and his hair messy.

He had been in there for about four hours with that supermodel—the kind of woman you see on every magazine cover.

He missed the dinner and the auction.

His expression was smug, like a man who had just conquered something—or someone.

This place was crawling with degenerates, because once you've got money and power, regular thrills become boring. They need more—something more messed up, something sick and twisted.

Just to feel the spark.

I thought about whether I was going to be the same.

The meeting ended with a whimper, not a bang. I half-expected that strange scientist to give a finishing speech, but nothing came.

Instead, one by one, helicopters began descending onto the yacht, picking up guests.

Charlotte and I boarded our helicopter, watching as the yacht shrank beneath us. In no time, we were landing at the airport in New York.

From there, we got on a private jet going to Gainesville.

Four hours later, we were back home, and I decided to relax a bit by checking my brokerage account.

Over the last two months, I've made some significant moves in my portfolio.

First, I sold off my entire position in Anika Therapeutics.

It had been six months since they announced their successful Phase 3 trial for a drug targeting osteoarthritis, and the stock had surged after that. But I knew the excitement was starting to fade, so I took my profits before the market settled back down.

Axon Enterprises was another one I cashed out on. The buzz around their defense contracts had spiked when the U.S. went to war in Iraq, but, as with most wars that don't directly impact the average American, the hype faded fast.

It was time to lock in gains before interest completely dried up.

[Charles Schwab]

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[Total Balance: $813,526,255.31]

[Available Balance: $275,750,715.62]

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[Market Value of Holdings: $654,674,910.59]

[Borrowed Margin: $116,899,370.90]

[Buying Power: $1,000,000,000.00] (4x Leverage: Futures Trading)

[ALERT] Your buying power has reached a limit.

For more information, please call your Charles Schwab advisor.

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Portfolio:

[Single-Stock Futures ($APA)] [$98.32] {[ 3,389,172 shares ]}

[Single-Stock Futures ($TK)] [$50.89] {[ 6,316,595 ]}

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Recent Transactions:

[Withdrawal: $1,000,000]

[Futures Sell: $ANIK, Amount: 11,300,645 , Average Sell: $16.22, -$2.87/future Margin]

[Futures Sell: $AXON, Amount: 5,491,704 , Average Sell: $34.19, -$11.26/future Margin]

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Charles Schwab had upped my leverage for futures trading. They trusted me, but even they wouldn't let me borrow more than $750 million.

No brokerage wants to let go of too many liquid assets, even for their best clients.

The situation with Immortal Investments was something I could feel proud of.

Tesla was still in its infancy, so I wasn't expecting huge returns from that any time soon. But Skype—Skype was a different story.

People couldn't get enough of it.

It was slowly revolutionizing communication, and the valuation was now sitting at $200 million.

What gave me peace of mind was the 'Zero' guy, is what I call him, didn't seem to know that Immortal Investment was under my control because he never targeted Skype in his attacks, letting it grow.

As for other assets, Insteel Industries had surged over 70% in the last two months, thanks to the rising price of steel wire.

This and a few overseas investments had pushed Immortal Investments' total assets to an estimated $640 million.

Thankfully, I have kicked out Philippe from the branch in France and put Jasmine in the team leader position.

With a $50 million starting point, she has made over $15 million in the last few months.

From my point of view, Philippe was a psychopath. He had connections. He could convince someone that he was the best person to hire. But the truth was that he was using others and then making it seem like he had done the job.

He was good at talking, but only about inconsequential matters. Not about real financial analysis.

Immortal Investments was doing great, PlayTube, on the other hand, was a bit of a sore spot. The cyberattacks had stalled its growth for nearly two months, and I had to pump some serious cash into advertisements to help regain some of its lost momentum.

Meanwhile, Google was holding its own. It had been attacked too, but their massive team and superior cybersecurity infrastructure had helped them weather the storm better than most.

All in all. The un-leveraged assets under my control were reaching $1.5 billion

And with Google going public in June, that number could rise exponentially.

I leaned back in my chair, 'Now that I think about it, it's been a while since I checked on Sam's investments.'

That's when Charlotte walked into the room, holding a sandwich in one hand and a letter in the other. She waved the letter in front of my face. "This was on the ground at the door. Looks like security must've dropped it in."

I took it from her hand. 'Another letter?' I thought.

I was getting tired of this. I was already expecting something cryptic or threatening.

I quickly tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter.

The handwriting was scrawled, casual.

"Hi Jack.

I'm writing to you 'cause I gave it some more thought, and, well, maybe all this aggression from me towards you… it might've been a little rude.

Not that I care too much about someone whose ideology is so different from mine, but, in the process, I might've gone against my own ideology.

So, what do you think about us working together instead of against each other?

Let me know.

Zero ( Not my real nickname, but I think you get it )

"