The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 64
William’s method was a peculiar one. Until Jorgreman had a clear, affirmative target in mind, he would not reveal this matter to anyone.
Speaking carelessly would only let people who had no business knowing learn of something that could fairly be called a scandal, even a malpractice case. First, he himself had to keep silent, then watch the people and circumstances around him. Even after he finally settled on a target, he might still not dare face it directly.
But in his heart he would have one choice he was certain of, and he would firmly believe it was the correct one.
Among the people connected to him in recent days who might reasonably receive thirty thousand dollars as a “fee,” there was only one, William. There was no doubt that William had sent it. Jorgreman could not speak of it, which meant he could not return it. The money would simply sink into his pocket and become a fact of another kind.
As a Credit Department Manager, he had his own ways of handling money like this. Whether by depositing it into an overseas account, or channeling it back lawfully into his own account through investments or funds, all of that was simple for a man like him.
He flicked the check with a finger and placed it in the drawer. At the same time, he understood that this was not the first time, and would not be the last. For reasons he could not quite explain, he found himself beginning to look forward to further cooperation with William, that interesting young man. It would certainly be something worth seeing.
In matters like this, the most important thing was tacit silence.
A few days passed quickly. Early that morning, William drove a car he had borrowed from elsewhere into the bank’s internal parking lot. The money would be loaded onto the car there.
By the time he parked, the three Account Managers who were handling the transaction with him had already been waiting for quite some time. Their faces all carried an excited look. One million six hundred thousand dollars in cash, that was one hundred and sixty bundles of large-denomination bills, and when stacked together, the sight was overwhelming.
Many people, no, the overwhelming majority of people, would go their entire lives without ever seeing what that much money looked like piled together. At most, they could only imagine the scene with a faintly yearning sigh, it must have been astonishing.
But the shock and stimulation produced by facing that kind of money in the flesh was far beyond what they imagined.
Even the three Account Managers, men who worked in a bank and were accustomed to money passing through their hands, were briefly dazed when they first saw that much cash.
They were eager, even expectant, to see William’s reaction. Most people, when faced with such money, behaved badly. Seeing that would ease the slight dissatisfaction they felt over their own ugly reaction just moments before, and at the same time satisfy their desire to laugh at someone else.
Only they were doomed to disappointment, because the man standing before them had not merely seen one million six hundred thousand dollars. He had seen sixteen million dollars in cash, one hundred and sixty million dollars in cash. This amount was little more than a light drizzle to him.
“You ... don’t find it shocking?” One of the Account Managers finally could not resist asking. He wanted to probe whether William’s calm expression was an act or genuine, so he stressed the point. “There’s one million six hundred thousand dollars here. One million six hundred thousand dollars!”
Looking at that Account Manager’s slightly feverish expression, William merely nodded with calm indifference. He walked to the steps, looked at the money stacked there, and casually picked up one bundle.
The bills had not been rolled up the way people out on the street so often preferred, but were strapped neatly together in standard paper bands.
He thumbed through the notes. They made a steady rustling sound. The air squeezed out between them carried a heavy scent of printing ink. Ten thousand dollars, just like that, in a single bundle.
He smiled faintly and tossed the money back. “One million six hundred thousand dollars, sixteen thousand notes. Altogether there’s probably about twenty kilograms here...” He turned to look at that Account Manager, his expression and gaze seeming to ask, what else do you want me to say?
Faced with William’s composure and ease, the Account Manager gave a dry laugh, then immediately felt rather foolish. After hearing William put it that way, even he felt that one million six hundred thousand dollars was only this much after all, nothing all that extraordinary.
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