CHAPTER 289: CHAPTER 288: THE ULTIMATE CHEAT

After a few more slow sips, he flopped back into the leather armchair, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he caught his own reflection in the glass. He took a deep breath, letting it all sink in. That’s the thing about information... it’s like food. Take in more than you can chew, and it’ll choke you. Too much, too soon, and sanity starts to slip.

Pushing himself up, he crossed to the window, yanked the curtain open, and closed his eyes. The midday sunlight poured over him, warm and cleansing. For a moment, he let it work its magic, burning away the weight in his chest.

Feeling lighter, he caught a faint trace of wine on his breath and grimaced. A quick detour to the bathroom later, he’d brushed his teeth and rinsed with mouthwash until the alcohol smell was gone. Then he stepped into the hallway and called for Victor.

A few minutes later, a knock came. Rex opened the door to find Victor and kaelan standing there.

Still feeling a bit about the alcohol’s smell,"Got any chewing gum?" Rex asked.

Victor shook his head, but Kaelan, silent as ever, produced a pack without a word.

Back inside, Rex waved them toward the chairs and sat down himself. "Alright," he said, leaning forward, "what happened last night? How did I end up here?"

Victor exchanged a look with Kaelan... one of those quick, loaded glances that said where do we even start?

Victor shifted his weight from one foot to the other, still standing near the coffee table, as if sitting down might kill the momentum of the story.

"We were waiting just outside the mansion," he began, "you know, the one hosting that exclusive Hollywood party. Everything was quiet... security doing their rounds, music muffled behind those big iron gates... when suddenly..."

He stopped, glancing at Rex with a deliberate pause, letting the silence hang like a baited hook.

Rex’s eyebrow twitched. "What next?"

Victor coughed into his fist, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Well... we saw you, boss—stumbling out with a beauty in your arms." He gave Rex a quick, sideways glance, trying and failing to hide the grin tugging at his lips.

Rex’s face didn’t change.

"And before we could even ask or say anything," Victor continued, "you told us to head straight for the most luxurious hotel in the city. Naturally, we complied... who are we to argue?"

Kaelan gave the faintest smirk.

Victor’s grin widened. "As you got in, still carrying her, you two started... ahem... kissing. Of course, we didn’t dare peek. We immediately activated the peek-proof system... hey, we’ve got to admit, for how expensive that car is, it really lives up to—"

"I don’t want to talk about the car," Rex cut in, his tone flat. "What happened next?"

"But just as we got to Main Street," Victor continued, "we noticed several cars trailing behind us. At first, nothing serious—probably just the usual attention you’d get leaving a party like that—but Kaelan clocked them in the mirrors right away. We slipped through traffic, took a couple of turns, and easily shook the first few thanks to his... anti-tracking skills."

Victor’s voice dipped lower, his earlier casualness gone. "Those first ones were most likely paparazzi. But there were still two, maybe three cars hanging back, keeping their distance. Not pushing too close, not backing off too far. From the way they moved, it was clear...they weren’t amateurs. They were professionals."

Rex’s gaze sharpened slightly, but he stayed silent.

"That’s when Kaelan pulled his anti-tracking routine," Victor said, a trace of pride in his voice. "He ran them through a maze. Tight U-turns, sudden lane switches, slipping into parking structures and out the other side before they could react. At one point, he even used a delivery truck as moving cover. By the time we hit the business district, they were gone. Completely gone. They can keep dreaming if they think they can match him."

Rex listened without much change in expression. If anything, he seemed almost indifferent. He wasn’t surprised. If anything, it would have been concerning if no one had been following, because that would mean the other party was even more skilled than them. And he had a good idea who had sent them. That so-called gentleman.

He knew that the bastard wouldn’t back off easily, not after last night. Especially now, after what the system had shown him... truths so heavy they felt like stone in his skull. The real face of the world, stripped bare. How the so-called royals, scattered across different nations and centuries of history, weren’t separate powers at all, but branches of the same old root, bound together by blood, marriage, and money. How their reach ran through boardrooms, parliaments, armies, even the media people thought was free. And how every major upheaval in the last hundred years had been less "history" and more "family business."

It was mind-blowing, yes...but at least now the shadows had a shape. Better to know you’re walking into a lion’s den than stroll in thinking it’s empty.

Still, Rex wasn’t too worried. Because he had something that even with all their wealth, power, and connections, they could never have, his system. The ultimate cheat. An anomaly in the world, which made him an anomaly too. He didn’t have to claw his way up the usual routes of power and wealth, stepping over bodies and wasting decades. What took them lifetimes to gain, he could get in weeks. In fact, he already had. His net worth was in the hundreds of millions now, and how long had it been? Barely a few weeks since he started.

So yes, he was shocked, and yes, a faint thread of fear curled in his chest, but beneath it was solid confidence. As long as he didn’t lose his mind and play recklessly, he knew he would surpass them all. And when that day came, his goal would be simple and unapologetic: to live free, to never bow to anyone, and to have his life exactly the way he wanted... beautiful women in his arms, laughter in the air, and not a care in the world.

(End of Chapter)