The taxi dropped Liam outside a small office building on the south side of the city. His company was on the third floor. He took the stairs.
The door was unlocked. Inside, the receptionist was packing her things into a cardboard box. Her name was Mei. She had been with the company for two years.
"Mr. Lin." She saw him and froze. Her hands tightened around the box. "I..."
"Leaving?"
"Pay is two months behind..." She looked down at the box. There was a small cactus on her desk. She hadn't packed it yet. "I can't keep waiting. My landlord is threatening to evict me."
Liam nodded. "Go ahead. I'll transfer your salary tomorrow."
She looked up, confused. "Mr. Lin... where's the money coming from?"
"I'll have it."
She stared at him for a long moment. Then she picked up the cactus and put it in the box.
"Good luck, Mr. Lin." she said.
She left.
The door closed behind her. The office was empty. Fifteen workstations. One person left.
Liam sat in his office. His desk was clear except for a laptop and a framed photo of his mother. She was smiling in the photo. Standing in front of this same office the day she opened it.
He opened the laptop and checked the company account.
Balance: $3,421.
Debt: $327,000.
He leaned back and closed his eyes.
The system panel appeared.
[EMOTION VALUE BALANCE: 532]
[REDEEMABLE FOR: STRENGTH, SPEED, INSIGHT, RECOVERY]
[CURRENT STRONGEST EMOTION SOURCE: LIN HAO (JEALOUSY VALUE INCREASING)]
Liam opened his eyes.
Lin Hao ran the investment division of the Lin Group. He managed over three million dollars. His favorite thing was manipulating stock prices. Pump and dump. Take from small investors. Make them bag holders while he walked away with profits.
Liam had watched him do it for years.
He opened his trading app. He found the stock Lin Hao had been playing with recently — SkyTech Industries.
Up 40% in the last week. Volume was abnormal. Five times the average. Lin Hao was pumping it up to dump his shares. Liam had seen this pattern before. A spike, then a crash. Always the same.
He checked the time. 2:30 PM. Two hours until market close.
He needed capital.
He scrolled through his contacts. College friends. Old clients. People his mother knew. He started making calls.
"Hey, it's Liam. I need a loan. Short term. I'll pay you back in a week."
"Liam? I heard about the engagement. Man, I'm sorry."
"Thanks. Can you help me out?"
"How much?"
"Two thousand."
"Two thousand? What for?"
"I'll explain later. Can you do it?"
"...Yeah, okay. Send me your account details."
Call after call. Some said yes. Some said no. Some said maybe and never called back.
Twenty calls. He borrowed $8,000.
Eight thousand dollars. Not even pocket change for Lin Hao. But it was enough.
Liam stared at the trading app. His finger hovered over the buy button.
If he was wrong, he'd lose everything. The company would be gone. His mother's legacy would be gone. He'd have nothing left but debt.
If he was right—
He pressed buy.
All of it. Put options on SkyTech. Betting against Lin Hao's play.
He watched the screen. The price held steady for the first fifteen minutes. His heart pounded. The system panel flickered in the corner of his vision.
[EMOTION VALUE -50. ANXIETY DETECTED.]
Great. The system was eating his own emotions now.
3:00 PM. SkyTech started dropping.
Down 3%. Then 5%. Then 8%.
Liam's hands gripped the edge of his desk. His $8,000 became $15,000. Then $23,000.
He didn't sell.
His college friend's voice echoed in his head. "What for?" What for? For this. For a chance to hit back.
3:30 PM. The drop accelerated.
Down 12%. Down 15%. The sell orders were flooding in. Lin Hao was dumping everything. Panic was spreading.
Liam's $23,000 became $41,000. Then $58,000.
His breathing was shallow. His palms were sweaty. The system panel glowed.
[EMOTION VALUE +150. DETECTING EXTERNAL ANGER SOURCE.]
Lin Hao. Lin Hao was losing it somewhere across the city.
4:00 PM. Market closed.
SkyTech hit the limit down. 20% drop from the peak.
Liam's account showed $112,000.
He stared at the number for a full ten seconds. Then he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. His back was soaked with sweat. His hands were shaking.
[EMOTION VALUE +200. LIN HAO EMOTION DETECTED: ANGER, PANIC.]
Liam smiled. A real smile this time.
Lin Hao had figured it out. Someone was trading against his play. Someone had taken his money.
And that someone was the cousin he had just crushed into the dirt.
His phone rang.
Lin Hao's number.
Liam let it ring twice. Then he picked up.
"It was you." Lin Hao's voice was low. Controlled. But Liam could hear the crack underneath. The same crack he'd heard in Lin Hao's voice when they were kids and Liam had won a race he wasn't supposed to win.
"Yeah."
"You're insane. You know that? You touch my trades, I'll—"
"You'll what?" Liam cut him off. "That was retail money. Small investors. People you stole from. I just gave some of it back."
The line went silent.
Liam could hear Lin Hao breathing. Fast. Shallow.
"That stock," Liam continued, "you pumped it for three weeks. You knew it was going to crash. You just didn't expect someone to ride it down with you."
"You think this is over?" Lin Hao's voice cracked. "You think you've won?"
"I think you lost half a million today. I think your investors are going to ask questions. I think you have bigger problems than a security company with three hundred thousand in debt."
Glass shattered on the other end. A mug. Or a phone. Liam couldn't tell.
"Liam. I swear to God—"
"Save it." Liam said. "You wanted me gone. You wanted my company. You wanted to prove you were better than my mother's son. You got your engagement party. You got your signature. Now you have to live with what's left."
He hung up.
The phone buzzed twice more. He didn't answer.
[EMOTION HARVEST SUCCESSFUL. LIN HAO ANGER VALUE +350.]
[EMOTION VALUE BALANCE: 882.]
Liam looked at his account. $112,000.
Enough to pay down some debt. Enough to keep the lights on for another month.
But he wasn't going to do that.
He was going to build something. Something his mother would be proud of. Something Lin Hao couldn't touch.
He pulled up the trading app again. The market was closed, but he could prepare for tomorrow.
He had a plan.