Chapter 3: The Beautiful Stranger
811 Words
The next morning, Barry woke up early like always. His bedroom was small and cold. The mattress was thin. The walls were bare. It was the kind of room you give to a servant, not a husband.
He checked his phone immediately.
His hands went numb.
The balance had grown to forty-two trillion dollars overnight.
While he slept, the trades had kept executing. Billions had turned into trillions. Trillions had multiplied again and again.
Forty-two trillion dollars.
Barry couldn't breathe for a moment. The number was so big his brain couldn't really understand it.
He got up and went through his morning routine like nothing had changed. He showered in cold water. He put on his servant's clothes. He went downstairs and started making breakfast.
Jonathan came into the kitchen around seven in the morning, already dressed for work. He looked at Barry with disgust, as if the slap from last night had reminded him how much he hated his son-in-law.
"Make my eggs sunny-side up," Jonathan said, not even greeting him. "And don't burn them like last time."
"Yes, sir," Barry said.
He made the eggs perfectly. Jonathan didn't thank him. He just took his plate and left.
This was Barry's life. He cooked. He cleaned. He worked. He was invisible.
But not anymore.
He was trying to figure out what to do with his information when the doorbell rang.
Barry wasn't supposed to answer the door, but everyone else was busy. He opened it anyway.
A woman stood on the porch.
She was beautiful in a way that made Barry forget to breathe. She had long dark hair that fell past her shoulders. Her eyes were bright and intelligent. She wore a simple white dress that looked more expensive than everything Barry owned combined.
"Yes?" Barry said, suddenly aware of how bad he must look.
"I'm looking for Jonathan Raven," the woman said. Her voice was smooth like honey.
"He just left for the office," Barry said. "Can I take a message?"
The woman smiled. It was a smile that could break a thousand hearts.
"My name is Isabella Chen," she said. "I'm a business associate. Tell him I stopped by about the merger."
She handed Barry a business card. Their fingers touched for just a moment, and Barry felt electricity run through his body.
"I'll make sure he gets it," Barry said.
"Thank you," Isabella said. She looked at him more carefully. "What's your name?"
"Barry. I work for the family."
"Nice to meet you, Barry," Isabella said. Her smile got bigger. "Tell Jonathan that I'll be in town for the next two weeks. He knows how to reach me."
She turned to leave, and Barry found himself staring.
"Wait," he said without thinking.
Isabella turned back. "Yes?"
Barry didn't know what to say. His brain wasn't working properly.
"Would you... would you like some coffee?" he asked. "Or tea?"
Isabella's eyes sparkled with amusement. "That's very kind of you, Barry. But I have another appointment. Maybe another time."
She walked back to her expensive car and drove away, leaving Barry standing in the doorway, holding her business card.
He looked at it. It said "Isabella Chen, CEO, Chen International Holdings."
She was important. She was rich. She was beautiful.
And she had been nice to him.
Barry went back inside and put the card on Jonathan's desk. He felt strange. He felt like something in the world had shifted.
That afternoon, Laura came home from spending time with her friends. She looked tired and bored.
"Was anyone here today?" she asked while changing her clothes.
"A business associate of your father's," Barry said. "Isabella Chen. She said something about a merger."
Laura's eyes went wide. "Isabella Chen was here? What did she want?"
"She left a message on his desk."
Laura hurried to Jonathan's office and read the card. When she came back, she looked worried.
"That woman is serious business," Laura said more to herself than to Barry. "If she's talking about a merger, something big is happening."
Barry didn't respond. He was still thinking about Isabella's smile.
That night, he checked his phone again.
His balance had reached seventy-eight trillion dollars.
Seventy-eight trillion.
More than twice what it had been that morning.
Barry lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about two things: the impossible money in his account, and the beautiful woman named Isabella Chen.
He had no idea that she would change his life forever.
He had no idea that in just a few weeks, he would be standing in a room with her, and she would be looking at him like he was the most important person in the world.
But that was still ahead of him.
For now, he just lay in the dark, holding his phone, watching the numbers grow, and wondering how long he could keep this secret.
- Writer
