Bitcoin Billionaire: I Regressed to Invest in the First Bitcoin!-Chapter 277: Climbing the Forbes List

Victory was usually a satisfying feeling, and this one was no different. With his plans perfectly followed like everyone involved were oblivious pawns in his chess board, Darren felt nothing else but true satisfaction.

His face glowed purple. It was the reflection of the Investor System, finishing his sell order.

┏Sell Order Executed: 285,714.2857 BTC - Liquidation in Progress┛

That was how much Darren had gotten from that Bitcoin purchase two weeks ago. The two million dollars he had spent while Lilian suffered under the possible complications of Caldridge's betrayal.

At that time, Bitcoin was worth $7 after multiple fluctuations. But now, the product of his cunning testified for him. Bitcoin was worth $250! And the business world had not shut up ever since.

Over 200 million dollars. That was the entirety of what he had made from this crazy endeavor.

But even more than that, he'd created an assurance that Bitcoin was going to become successful. And he would follow on to be wealthier.

He was going to climb up that Forbes list. Not only as the youngest billionaires, but overall as the richest in the state. In the country.

Why not even in the wall.

Ding!

His phone chimed.

Darren didn't bother. He knew what it was about. It chimed again, making the office echo. Then another came. And another. His secondary monitor lit up with notifications flooding in from CryptoTracker:

@CryptoProphet: HOLY FUCKING SATOSHI! @Mr. Duckling just liquidated a legendary stack. The Oracle of LA strikes again! Profit estimates? Astronomical. #DucklingDominance #BTCKing

@BlockchainBetty: ....

@HandsomeDuckling:...

@WallStreetWolf: ...

Ding. His laptop joined the chorus – emails cascading into his inbox. Interview requests from Bloomberg, CNBC. Overtures from venture capital titans smelling blood in the water.

A formal notification: 'Forbes: Preliminary Inquiry Regarding Net Worth Verification.' His phone began to vibrate, the screen flashing with names that commanded respect in traditional finance.

Darren Steele didn't move. He leaned back in the sculpted embrace of his chair, the symphony of his ascension playing around him – the digital pings, the vibrating phone, the hum of the city below.

He stared at an unremarkable point on the far wall, ignoring the noise like they were flashes of cameras. As he stared, a small smile of realization spread on his face.

"I almost forgot," he murmured, the sound barely disturbing the charged air, "what it's like to just… laugh and hang out." He let the silence reclaim the space after his words. "Maybe it's time I did it for a while, huh. I deserve it."

Knock. Knock.

Darren blinked awake and looked at the door.

"Come in."

It opened smoothly, revealing Sandy, standing framed in the doorway.

Darren admired her for a moment. At thirty-one, Sandy still possessed that quiet beauty that belied her age, and it was accentuated this morning by a tailored heather-grey skirt suit and a crisp ivory blouse.

Her brown hair was pulled back in a neat, no-nonsense chignon, revealing pearl studs – elegant, understated. There were faint lines beginning to show at the corners of her eyes, lines earned not just by time, but by years of navigating the world before Darren exploded onto the scene.

Their gaze held their memories for a while, before she spoke first.

"Morning, sir," she said, stepping inside and closing the door. She approached the desk and placed a file precisely before him. "The consolidated financial report for Q2. I thought I'd bring it up myself."

Darren raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Sandy? You brought this up? Where's Rachel? Isn't she the one who usually does this?"

Sandy met his gaze, a hint of dry amusement in her own. She smoothed an invisible crease on her skirt. "It is ultimately my job, sir. Overseeing the flow. She only borrowed it for a while because of an issue." She smiled anxiously. "But it's fine now. I better get straight to it... especially on mornings like this."

Darren went through the files, but got bored halfway and sighed, dropping it on the table to start a conversation.

"You know," he said, losing some of his CEO edge, "I asked you to prepare something else a while back. That table reservation?" He watched her closely, searching for the memory. "Did you?"

Sandy didn't hesitate. A small, nervous smile touched her lips. "I did. It's confirmed."

"Where?" Darren asked, though he suspected he knew.

"Castle Cottage," she replied softly, the name conjuring images of stone walls, intimate lighting, and a past chapter of their complex dynamic.

Their eyes locked.

Darren's smile widened, genuine and warm this time, reaching his eyes and momentarily erasing the calculated intensity of the billionaire. It was the smile of the young man she remembered before the weight of empires settled on his shoulders.

"Castle Cottage," he echoed, the words sounding like a sigh of relief. "It's been... too long since we were there. Feels like another lifetime."

He sat back though his gaze still held hers, steady, expectant, the question hanging in the suddenly intimate quiet of the vast office. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"You free tonight?"