Chapter 1: Prologue
The room was too cold, its dim lighting cast long shadows on the walls. A single computer screen illuminated the space, and the glow of its faint light bounced off the eyes of Alexander Stone. He gripped the desk with his finger, nails scratching on the wood, a thin layer of sweat forming on his brow. The silence in the room was broken by the buzz of a low television channel playing in the corner.
Alex's chest rose and fell rapidly, his breath shallow as he leaned forward, eyes fixed on the screen. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
On the screen, a live news broadcast flashed with headlines that were quite alarming:
"Global Market Crash Linked to the Secrets of the Sovereign Circle – Investigations Currently Ongoing."
The world outside was falling apart, and Alex felt every inch of it in his bones. His fingers hovered over the keyboard as if the words on the screen were a bad dream, too real to be true.
But they were.
And in the midst of it, an unexpected name appeared in the broadcast. Raymond Carter.
Raymond, the father figure, the man who had been there when Alex's own father was no more. The mentor who had promised to help him understand all about wealth and life. And now, Raymond's name was being dragged through the mud. He's accused of being at the center of a financial collapse that was shaking the world.
Alex's heart pounded in his chest. The man he had once trusted, his mentor, his savior, was now being portrayed as the mastermind of a conspiracy that stretched far beyond anything Alex had ever imagined.
Before he could process the full weight of it, his phone buzzed.
One unread message.