NOVPUBAfter Ryan Anders disappeared into the ethos, the madness slowly came to an end, but the city of Los Alverez had not stopped trembling since.
The world had shifted. Alliances had broken. Empires started to fall.
For Darren Steele, once a silent investor operating in the shadows of his small bedroom and investing in crypto, now stood beneath the scorching spotlight of global wealth and power.
At first, the Golden Hay purge began.
Grant Hayes made a monumental return to Golden Hay Headquarters. But he was not alone.
At his sides were Argent Security operatives and representatives from Sagomoto Wealth Offices— a declaration of the side he had taken and a public reckoning.
He marched through the grand glass doors, past the stunned receptionists and frozen board executives. His name had been removed from the walls. His passcode had been revoked. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
But power was no longer locked in keycards and titles. It was in what he carried— a court mandate, a federal injunction, and allies with guns and global capital behind him.
Grant reclaimed the Chairman's seat that same day.
He realized that he'd let himself be a pushover. Something his father had not been, and so, with a heart of steel and a refusal to mercy, he executed judgment.
Vector Callahan, Maria Gentry, and all the rest of the lawyers were all fired on the spot and escorted out in handcuffs.
Decades of manipulation and betrayal had finally met the unforgiving blade of public justice. Within 72 hours, the remaining complicit board members were indicted.
Gillian Henderson and his father, Donald Henderson, were charged with fraud, executive kidnapping, and financial conspiracy.
Of course Gillian refused to go down without a fight, despite his own lawyer's warnings. After a brutal court battle, they lost.
Vance and Daisy were both all too happy to send them to jail.
The younger Henderson was sentenced to 14 years, while Donald, weak and aging, only lasted one month in a detention home before he was found dead— his heart finally giving out.
Gillian had not even been able to attend the burial.
Whilst others faced punishment, Ryan Anders, unfortunately, escaped his.
However, because of how important he was, his vanishing triggered a financial quake.
Ryan was the CEO for the biggest wealth management company in the state. He managed the elite, controlling wealth structures, estate trusts, shell entities, and tax havens for half the business elite in Calivernia.
Some clients abandoned MWMO, fearing scandal. But many remained, seduced by the prestige and protected by the web Ryan had built.
In the fallout, Archibald Mooney's son, Tyler Mooney, was named CEO of MWMO, consolidating more power than ever.
He had Darren Steele to thank for the position. But that didn't mean he owed the fucker anything.
But Tyler had to be smarter than Ryan, he didn't want to end up like him. But at least now, with Jaxon and Amir, his plan to end Steele was still on. Now more than ever.
However, the same person they were trying to end was experiencing a meteoric rise.
Everywhere, every channel, every paper, Darren's name soared, giving him more popularity than ever.
Grant Hayes, in a live televised board session, declared,
"I owe my life— and this company— to Darren Steele. He is no longer just a partner. He is family."
That speech alone set media and investor circles ablaze.
Just a few months ago this guy had launched a startup company and now he secured partnerships with multiple elite companies. To the extent that the owner of the biggest hotels and casino chains in the state was calling him family!
A $300 million partnership deal was signed between Darren and Golden Hay's newly restructured executive committee. It came with 10% equity in the very casinos he helped save— giving Darren passive returns that rivaled small countries' GDPs.
But Darren didn't stop there.
With the blockage destroyed and the sabotage unraveled, Trendteller's true potential exploded. The next update, codenamed "VISTA-5", changed everything.
It allowed real-time consumer behavior simulation using anonymized neural behavior clusters.
Small businesses could now simulate growth paths, adjust pricing based on psychological buying patterns, and build marketing campaigns in seconds.
Franchise chains began embedding Trendteller into their entire expansion models.
Within six weeks, Trendteller was considered essential.
Retail, real estate, e-commerce, hospitality— everyone needed it. Rival companies emerged— SimuSense, SparkCart, BlueSpan— but they were all catching up to something they couldn't recreate.
Darren also closed out his debt with Tamara Johnstone. He ensured that she was instated as official CEO of Horizon Strategies, using his Command Aura passive skill to tilt the decisions of the board to her favor.
He had held her to her promise. With Ryan gone, he reminded her of their deal, and claimed every concession owed.
And she gave it all; position, control, and money.
Darren's wealth began to expand massively, entering half a billion.
He acquired two new homes— one on Blackridge Crescent, the most exclusive street in Los Alverez, where the street had its own private security guard paid by the government, and another on Vermillion Hill, overlooking the ocean, where only three other houses existed.
But his crown jewel?
A Tuscan villa estate in northern Italy, complete with vineyards. He had purchased this for visiting plans, eco-farming, and of course, future value.
For his mother, he had gifted something special.
With her constant worrying and idle time, Darren set her up with a boutique antique and cultural collection shop, called "Heirloom Whisper", located in the art district of San Robera, Los Alverez.
The shop featured rare artifacts, repurposed heritage pieces, and local art, many of which Darren acquired through international contacts. It quickly grew in popularity, featured in magazines like Sophie's and museum circles.
Darren helped expand it, creating a logistics system, online curation, and gallery sponsorships.
Pamela Steele heard all the money she needed so this wasn't about profit at all. Darren just knew that now he could take care of himself, his mother needed something else to wake up for.
When it came to his empire, Darren realized how fast it was growing and turned inward.
He tightened security around not only the Steele Complex, but also the businesses of his allies and the homes of his friends.
His data team ran penetration audits every four days. Any sign of espionage would trigger a digital lockdown.
This was necessary because everything was growing fast and desperately needed to be secured.
Everything, including the Bitcoin Operation.
The mining rigs had hit record output.
In that month alone, they had mined 47 blocks which was 2,350 BTC, leaving them with a total holdings of: 19,800 BTC.
Kara led an expanded team of forty-two engineers, and a new offshore cold vault was being built under Darren's private holdings.
On CryptoTracker, Darren's following exploded.
He had three times more followers than Adam Scotland, the second most-followed investor influencer.
His name became synonymous with the term investor and winning.
Fans gave him nicknames, women flooded his messages, YouTube videos were made about him with topics like; How Darren Steele made it and how you can too.
The Investor System itself was proud of his achievements, it granted more Character Bonuses and one new feature.
But—
When it came to Darren himself, something had changed.
He no longer laughed easily. He no longer wandered the lounge or cracked open a beer with the team at midnight.
He stayed in his office, sometimes for entire weekends. Silent. Working. Watching.
Because despite everything, all Darren could think about was how many times he had come too close to defeat.
Despite all his preparation, intelligence, and foresight, he realized just how fragile victory had been. Ryan had almost broken him. Gillian had almost buried him. Grant had almost vanished forever.
Because of this, Darren Steele made a quiet, internal vow:
He would never come that close again.
He would never lose.
He became colder. Sharper. Focused to the point of isolation.
If his first few months with wealth was like this, he knew the coming years would be tougher. The enemies would only get stronger.
And he had to be stronger than every single one of them.
