The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 169: The Company Behind the Curtain
The brief exchange had essentially confirmed that the next issue would be only a matter of ratio. The businessmen from Currilan City began investigating William and his Interstellar Trading Company overnight.
A company that could be valued at seventy million dollars even during an economic recession was something any capitalist would find extremely interesting.
After several rounds of financing, it could apply to go public. By then, it might become another legend of wealth.
Soon, more detailed information appeared before the Currilan City capitalists. It even included where William had been born and who had delivered him at birth. Nothing had been missed.
That was the great power of money. As long as enough money was spent, there were no secrets in this world.
Because of that, these people realized where the value of Interstellar Trading Company truly lay.
But their “understanding” was not entirely the same thing as William’s “understanding.” To these capitalists, the value of this business lay in how easily it could obtain loans from banks.
That alone could make the company’s books look very attractive. Even if the company lost ten million dollars in a year, as long as it borrowed twenty million, the financial report could show a conclusion of ten million dollars in pure profit. Then the stock would surge, and the wealth in their hands would rapidly inflate.
Conscience, morality, ethics, those things had long since ceased to exist for capitalists. What they pursued was only profit, and every form of valuable return that came with it.
Eleanor, William’s suspected girlfriend, was also drawn into certain people’s line of sight. On a few “hero lists,” two more names were added: William, and Eleanor.
The power of money really was magnificent.
The next day, William took Eleanor to find an apartment for her, right beside the state university. If she did not want to live on campus, she could live outside instead. He also prepared all the daily necessities she might need.
Seeing that some students had already arrived at the university early, and that school would begin next Wednesday, Eleanor suddenly grew a little sentimental.
At the end of the day, William stood outside the newly purchased apartment. Eleanor held both his hands in hers, just as she had several years ago. “I don’t know what I should say. This is strange, you know?”
Her voice was a little low. “I thought I was unlucky enough already. I didn’t expect you to play a joke on me like this. But I still have to say it. Thank you, William.”
The girl’s gemlike eyes looked straight at William. There was curiosity in them, some reluctance, and a slowly kindling excitement. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I’ll work hard to finish my studies, so you’ll know all the money you spent was worth it.”
William sighed and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her on the forehead. “I have one piece of advice for you. No matter what choices or difficulties you face in the future, don’t forget the dream you started with.”
He put a little distance between them. In his mind appeared the person he had been at the beginning. He had struggled desperately, but all he had really wanted was to have a little money left in his pocket at the end of the month, to afford the down payment on a small apartment, to pass through life quietly and ordinarily.
He had never wanted to ride the tide.
He had been forced into it.
The girl did not quite understand, but that did not stop her from remembering those words.
The two of them looked at each other for a while. William smiled, took a step back, and waved. “Time to say goodbye. I’m leaving first. Call me anytime if something comes up. You know my number.”
The girl leaned against the doorframe and nodded.
They looked at each other for another moment. Then William turned and left. Soon, his car disappeared into the night.
Perhaps this was the best choice for now. Everyone had returned to their own track. If possible, if both of them worked hard enough, then one day those two tracks would intersect again.
But if one of them failed to try, they would remain parallel lines forever.
After settling the girl’s affairs, William poured all his energy into negotiations with the two groups. He now had a major advantage: he could use the competition between the two sides to make them raise their offers against each other.
And on the day before William returned to Sabine City, the matter changed again. Dawn Asset Management, a newly established firm, announced that it wanted to invest in William’s Interstellar Trading Company and demanded a stake of no less than five percent.
The sudden entry of a third party turned the previously orderly competition chaotic. It also made William’s attitude even harder to read.
After the meeting ended, the thin, tall man called the Sabine City Department of Social Services with a grim face. They wanted to look into Dawn Asset Management’s registration information.
It was a firm from Sabine City. There was no doubt about that. On the business card they had received, the name Dawn Asset Management was followed by an abbreviation for Sabine City. Of course, William’s own business card did not have that abbreviation. He believed he belonged to the entire world, so he did not need it.
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