Tycoon's counter strike
1067 Words
The city was still buzzing from the chaos Aiden Cross had ignited at Tina’s birthday party.
Every news outlet, social feed, and gossip column couldn’t stop talking about the mysterious footage that had played across the grand LED screen. Tina and Rico tangled in betrayal. For the elite who had laughed at Aiden, it was a jarring reminder that the man they once called “useless” had just flipped the script.
Rico Vale, young, arrogant, and now publicly humiliated struck back with all the power money could buy.
The morning after the scandal, headlines were ablaze,
“Ex-Boyfriend Hacks Birthday Party: Jealous Outburst or Cybercrime?”
“Rico Vale Denounces Blackmail: Files Suit Against Former Friend of Ex.”
Aiden’s name was dragged through the mud.
Rico’s legal team painted him as a bitter stalker. Troll farms pushed fake narratives. Forums and comment sections were flooded with bots repeating the same lines,
“Aiden Cross is obsessed!”
“Broke men stay bitter.”
“This is why Tina left him.”
But while Rico was busy playing the media game, Aiden wasn’t idle.
He was watching, calculating and preparing his next line of action.
And the System was feeding him everything he needed.
The system buzzed, “System Notification!!!
Mission Generated: Collapse the Golden Tower.
Target: Rico Vale
Objective: Attack his real power and his hidden investments.
Reward: $750,000, 2× Influence Boost and +3 Business Strategy.”
Aiden stood before his cracked bathroom mirror in his tiny rental, the glow of the system’s interface reflected faintly behind his eyes.
“Let them talk,” he whispered coldly. “I’m not here for their approval. I’m here for revenge.”
The system displayed a real-time portfolio of Rico Vale’s business interests which most of them were public and traceable. But there was one that was buried deep under shell corporations and nominee directors which caught Aiden’s attention, Solar Vista Towers.
Solar Visitor Tower is a real estate project in the city’s new tech district. It was marketed as the next high-rise luxury marvel. The tower had already drawn early investment from venture capitalists, foreign billionaires, and celebrity influencers.
But it wasn’t licensed yet.
The building permits were stuck in legal limbo.
Environmental approvals were still under review.
And yet Rico was already collecting millions.
“Classic fraud wrapped in confidence,” Aiden muttered, scanning the system’s flagged financial reports.
This was the crack in Rico’s empire and that’s where Aiden would strike.
………….
Using the system’s Network Acquisition Tool, Aiden traced Rico’s dummy corporation and, within forty-eight hours, coordinated dummy investors to purchase 5% equity. Just enough for him to gain limited access to internal records.
From that point forward, Aiden became a ghost inside Rico’s empire.
He saw the numbers he had fabricated.
He saw the permits unsigned and the kickbacks of cryptocurrency bribes to safety inspectors and city planning officials.
The emails Aiden had access to detailed secret meetings where engineers discussed a massive sinkhole under the building site. It was one that Rico ignored to avoid construction delays.
‘System Update: New Function Unlocked: Market Timing Prediction Tool
Accuracy: 93%
Forecast: Stock crash in 36 hours
Suggested Action: SHORT RICO-ASSOCIATED STOCK.’
Aiden’s pulse quickened.
……..
Later that night, Aiden uploaded a trove of encrypted documents to a whistleblower site operated by rogue investigative journalists. The file dump included falsified geological surveys, permit irregularities, and confidential emails Rico never thought would see the light of day.
The next morning, the news had gone wild.
“Solar Vista Towers a Deathtrap? Internal Documents Leak Shocking Truth”
“Regulators Launch Emergency Investigation Into Billionaire’s Project”
“Sinkhole Scandal: Vale Empire Under Siege”
The city turned on Rico overnight.
Early investors in Solar Vista panicked. Some tried pulling out, only to realize their capital was already buried in a project now under investigation.
Shares in Rico’s tech-adjacent startups, HelixNet, ValeTech, and GreenGrid Solutions plummeted. These companies had used Solar Vista as leverage for their valuations.
Panic spread through the stock exchange market.
Inside his penthouse office, Rico Vale hit his hand intensely on the marble desk as he glared at the six monitors flashing red graphs.
“What the hell is happening?!” he shouted.
His assistant’s face had become pale as he sweated profusely. He stumbled into the room. “Sir, we have bad news. Multiple banks are freezing funding. Environmental groups are filing class-action lawsuits. And there are rumors of federal involvement.”
Rico’s breath hitched. “That’s not possible. We cleaned everything….”
The assistant shook his head. “Sir, they found the sinkhole reports. And... there's a memo with your signature approving a fake inspection.”
Rico’s eyes widened. “No. No one was supposed to see that. How did they…”
Before he finished speaking, his eyes widened in realization that this wasn’t just an accident.
………
Back in his dim apartment, Aiden clicked “confirm” on his final trade.
He had shorted Rico’s associated companies just hours before the exposé went live.
Now, as their stock values nosedived, his system wallet surged.
‘System Update!!! Mission “Collapse the Golden Tower” Completed
Funds Earned: $1.1M
Influence: +2×
Business Strategy: +3
Total Debt Reduced: 38%.’
He didn’t smile, nor did he celebrate.
He simply walked to the window as he stared at the skyline where Solar Vista Towers was supposed to rise.
The system chimed in, ‘Incoming Mission! Tina’s Turn: Scandal in the Fashion World”
His eyes sharpened.
Rico had stolen the woman he once trusted.
Tina had stood beside him, laughing while he fell.
They had treated him like a joke. A broken man with a broken background character in their story.
And now, she's next to feel his wrath.
…………..
The internet was still echoing from the collapse of Rico Vale’s empire when a new headline hijacked the spotlight.
“Fashion Darling Tina Graye in Plagiarism Scandal?” “Anonymous Tip Alleges Fraud in Graye’s Latest Line”
It started with a single thread that was buried in a niche design forum and posted by an unknown user with a compelling claim, Tina’s latest fashion collection, “Reign,” wasn’t hers.
Several screenshot evidence followed. Sketches from a smaller and now-defunct label showed some striking similarities. Seam placements, the fabric choices and even the marketing aesthetic. The accusations spread like wildfire.
- Writer
