That morning, London looked like a watercolor painting blurred by a persistent drizzle. Arthur stood by the window, observing the street below. He saw Hugo engaged in a brief conversation with a newspaper delivery man, though Hugo's eyes remained alert, scanning every car that slowed down.
The message from Julian was an alarm Arthur had long anticipated. In his past life, trade secrets were a commodity bloodier than conflict diamonds. If someone was already trying to hack Julian's server, it meant their existence had been picked up by a radar far larger than that of a local loan shark.
"Are you leaving again?" Elena's voice drifted from the bedroom doorway. She had just woken up, her hair slightly tousled, wearing an old, oversized knit sweater.
Arthur turned, his gaze softening. "Technical business at Julian's. But before that, I have a promise to keep."
"What promise?"
"The promise to erase the shadow of the man you hate," Arthur replied calmly.
Arthur's first stop that day was not a bank, but a dingy basement in the outskirts of Bermondsey. It was an illegal gambling den he used to frequent—the place where he had once bet their flat's rent money and returned home smelling of cheap gin, his knuckles bruised from punching walls in defeat.
Arthur entered with a steady stride. The stench of stale cigar smoke and desperation greeted him. At a corner table, he spotted his old 'friends': Barney, a slippery bookie, and several other gambling addicts.
"Oho! Look who's here! Poor old Arthur," Barney jeered with a smirk, flashing yellowed teeth. "I heard you won big at the races? Or did you just rob some granny in Chelsea?"
Arthur didn't smile. He tossed an envelope onto the beer-stained green felt table. "There's 2,000 pounds in there."
The room fell silent. Barney's eyes glinted with greed. "What's this for? Want to settle last month's losses?"
"That money is to shut your mouth and the mouths of your friends," Arthur said, his voice low but heavy with intent. "As of today, my name no longer exists on this club's roster. If I see any of you near my home, or if I hear you mention my name to my wife... you won't be dealing with me. You'll be dealing with him."
Arthur pointed toward the door. Hugo stood there, his massive frame filling the entire doorway. The light from outside cast Hugo's silhouette like a grim reaper waiting for a command.
Barney swallowed hard, his trembling hand reaching for the envelope. "Right, Arthur... I mean, Mr. Valeska. We don't know you. You were never here."
"Good," Arthur said. He turned and walked out, leaving his filthy past on that gambling table. He didn't need the money; he needed a clean reputation to protect his business maneuvers.
Destination Two: Julian's Garage.
When Arthur entered, he found Julian in a state of panic, his fingers dancing wildly across the keyboard. His face was ghostly pale under the flickering blue light of the monitors.
"They're almost through the second firewall, Arthur! They're using a highly organized DDoS attack. These aren't amateur hackers. They have the resources to rent a massive botnet!" Julian shouted without looking back.
Arthur placed a hand on Julian's shoulder, providing the stability the young man lacked. "Calm down, Julian. Let them in."
Julian's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "What? Are you crazy? They'll steal our entire cloud architecture!"
"No," Arthur gave a thin smile, the smirk of a veteran CEO. "Plant a 'Trojan Horse' inside the encryption module they're targeting. Let them download code that looks like gold, but is actually a tracking virus. I want to know who is paying for this. Whether it's Victor Thorne, or one of Lady Beatrice's rivals."
Julian hesitated for a moment, but seeing the absolute certainty in Arthur's eyes, he began typing new commands. "You're truly devious, you know that?"
"In business, Julian, there is no such thing as fair play. There is only who is left standing at the end."
While waiting for Julian to work, Arthur stepped outside to speak with Hugo.
"Hugo, I want you to recruit two more men. I need people who can be trusted, not thugs. Look for ex-military or police with clean records who need a second chance. People like you," Arthur ordered.
"I know a few, sir. Old squad-mates who are currently just guarding warehouses," Hugo replied.
"Bring them to me tomorrow. I'm moving us to a proper office in the city center. And one more thing..." Arthur paused, thinking of Elena. "From tomorrow, ensure there is one person watching Elena and Leo discreetly. I don't want Elena to feel stifled by bodyguards, but I want to know they are safe 24/7."
Hugo nodded obediently.
Arthur returned to look at Julian's monitor. A red dot appeared on a digital map. The attack originated from an IP address registered to a luxury office building in the financial district of Zurich, Switzerland.
"Zurich?" Arthur muttered. "It's not Victor Thorne. This is bigger."
In his past life, Baron Von Stein from Germany was the one who had tried to bring him down when he first expanded into mainland Europe. It seemed that in this timeline, the Baron had caught the scent of Arthur's threat much earlier.
"Julian, get your passport ready," Arthur said suddenly.
"Where are we going?"
"To the place where money never sleeps. We're taking our 'cloud' directly to their doorstep before they have a chance to steal it."
That night, Arthur returned home with mixed emotions. He had erased the tracks of the cruel man at the gambling club, yet he was inviting even greater dangers into his life.
As he entered the apartment, he saw Elena teaching Leo to read. The sight was so peaceful, so starkly contrasted with the digital war he had just fought. Arthur stood in the doorway, watching them for a long time, realizing that every aggressive step he took was to preserve the peace in this small room.
"You're home late again," Elena said, but this time her tone wasn't full of suspicion; there was a faint note of concern.
"I have news," Arthur said, sitting beside them. "We're moving out of here next week. To a safer place. And maybe... we'll take a short trip to Zurich."
Elena stopped reading to Leo. She looked at Arthur for a long time, searching for traces of the harsh man she once knew, but all she found was a man building a fortress for his family.
"As long as the three of us stay together," Elena whispered softly.
"The four of us," Arthur corrected, gently stroking Elena's still-flat stomach.
Elena gave a thin smile, a smile that became Arthur's greatest victory that day.