The Love Of Money - S02 E176

Story 2 months ago

The Love Of Money - S02 E176

Read Story: SEASON 2 EPISODE 176

Friday, September 20th, 2:31 pm

The global economy was on fire, and it was my fault.

And I stood next to the window, surrounded by possessions and collectibles that could have fed and housed a family of four for at least a year, sipping coffee that probably cost as much as a high-priced meal. All while feeling sorry for myself.

“Is there anything you can do?” Emily asked.

“I don’t know,” I said into my coffee cup as I took a sip.

“Perhaps you can buy all the banks and—”

The sound of shattering glass cut Natashya’s words off as I sent the mug hurling across the room, where it crashed into one of the bookcases lining the walls. Coffee splattered across books that cost more than some vehicles. “I said, ‘I don’t know!’”

Whirling around, I glared at the dancer, who appeared to be in complete shock at my tone. She glanced at Emily, who also looked equally troubled.

It was understandable. I never acted this way… not around them.

I sighed and pressed my fingers to my eyelids.

“Marcus…” Emily's voice was full of cautious concern.

“Fuck,” I said. “I’m sorry, guys. That was uncalled for.”

“It is okay,” Natashya said in her light accent. “Is it really that bad?”

“Yeah,” I said, my throat thick with emotion. I finally looked back up at them and leaned against the window. Part of me wanted the bulletproof glass to just shatter and introduce me to death by defenestration.

“The stock market hit a historical low today. Basically, all of Europe can’t use money right now.”

“And this is your fault?”

I shrugged at Natashya’s question, not really wanting to answer that question.

“You can’t know that,” Emily said, full of conviction.

“Em,” I sighed.

“You can’t know that!” my sister insisted. “No one person can be at fault for something like this.”

“This is Hiro,” I said. “He did this in retaliation for what I just did to him.”

My phone buzzed on the desk. I ignored it, assuming it was yet another call to check up on me, ask me questions, or… anything else. My phone number was kept extremely private—Erin made sure of that, but in this day and age, nothing stayed that way for long. Journalists had begun trying to call me directly. I would need to get a new number soon.

Emily scowled at the phone, then said, “You couldn’t know what they would do!”

I hit the back of my head against the glass several times and groaned in frustration. “I was warned! Amber was in here earlier, telling me that she could give me the information to get a jump on whatever Hiro was planning!”

“Amber?” Natashya, who was looking at her nails, snapped her gaze up to me. “As in that bitch who kidnapped us?”

“Yeah.” I winced, temporarily forgetting that she had shared my fate. No… something worse than my fate. Natashya bore some scars from that event that wouldn’t heal for a long time.

“She was in here!?” Natashya jumped to her feet. Emily did the same but grabbed her girlfriend by the wrist and pulled her in for a hug.

“No,” I sighed, shoving off the window and walking toward my office chair. “She was in one of the conference rooms downstairs.”

“You let her go?” Emily asked. It wasn’t meant to be accusatory, but I was so raw that it felt that way.

“Yeah. I did. Holding her against her will is called kidnapping.”

Natashya narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you have Ryo locked in a room?”

I paused mid-sit and instead planted my hands against the surface of the desk, staring at Natashya.

“Touche…”

The exotic entertainer opened her mouth to say something else, but I cut her off.

“Tash, if you’re about to give me shit about not taking the bitch who kidnapped us prisoner, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I’m not in the fucking mood.”

Despite looking like she wanted to say something, she shut her mouth.

“Thank you,” I said.

The doors opened and in walked Helen, followed by Erin and Charity—the three Weird Sisters who had stormed the kitchen a few hours ago to deliver terrifying news.

Judging by their faces, it looked like our day hadn’t improved since then.

Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and caldron bubble…

“Marcus,” Helen said. “We’ve got some updates.”

“Where’s the cauldron?”

All three of them stopped short and blinked.

“What?” Helen said.

Emily tittered—trust the theater geek to get it.

“It’s not important,” I waved a hand dismissively as I plopped into my seat. “What is it?”

Erin stepped up to the front of my desk and tapped a handful of manila folders against the wood.

“It’s bad. It wasn’t just one company or one bank. Tanaka orchestrated a multi-layered derivatives collapse using a series of offshore shell corporations—each loaded with toxic, high-leverage instruments. It’s like he built a house of cards out of credit swaps and then yanked the bottom card.