Bitcoin Billionaire: I Regressed to Invest in the First Bitcoin!-Chapter 330: Return to the Complex

Meanwhile, across the city at the business end, the bright morning sun reflected off the curved, titanic structure of the Steele Complex.

The dome looked stunning and imposing as always. But more importantly, down in the shadowed privacy of the parking bay, inside his glorious Aston Martin, there was tension in the air.

Darren Steele sat on the plush leather seat, his legs crossed. He wore dark glasses today as the sun was the harshest it had been in a while.

Beside him, Mr. Caldwell looked like a man who had aged ten years in a single night. His usually ruddy face was pale, his hands trembling slightly as they rested on his knees.

"So..." Darren spoke, going through his early morning messages with Ava Monroe. "What do you have for me, Caldwell?"

"I... I did exactly as you said, Mr. Steele," Caldwell stammered, fear messing up his words. "I met with Scotland late last night. I played the part. I told him you were asking questions, that you were sniffing around the unauthorized sale attempt."

Darren didn’t look at him. He maintained his focus on his blackberry, his voice calm and terrifyingly even. "And? Did he buy it?"

"Yes. He did. Hook, line, and sinker," Caldwell breathed out, wiping sweat from his upper lip. "He thinks you suspect me exclusively. He thinks I’m the loose end. In fact... he implied that if the heat gets too high, I should be the one to take the fall. To protect the ’greater plan.’"

"Of course he did," Darren murmured. "People like Adam Scotland and Morrison never play a game without a sacrificial pawn. What about the next move? You said they gave you instructions."

Caldwell nodded frantically. "Yes. Since the bot attack failed to crash the price fully—thanks to your buy wall—they’re switching tactics. They want access to your internal transaction ledger.

"They asked me to install a ’patch’ on the server node I have access to. They said it’s to help mask their next short position, but... honestly, Mr Steele, it looks like a backdoor. They want to route their own trades through Steele Investments’ IP address."

Darren’s lips curled into a cold smile.

To be fair, it was a smart plan. Maybe he should give Adam Scotland some applause for his genius.

If the market manipulation was traced back to Steele Investments’ own servers, the SEC wouldn’t investigate Adam Scotland. They would investigate Darren.

Adam was trying to frame him for his own destruction.

"They want a backdoor?" Darren asked softly.

"Yes. They gave me the drive. They want it installed by noon today."

Darren finally turned his head, looking at Caldwell over the rim of his glasses. The older man flinched under his gaze.

"You’re going to tell them it’s done," Darren commanded. "I’ll have Kara cook up a dummy server environment. You’ll send them the confirmation logs from that. It will look like they’re inside our system, but they’ll basically be shouting into a void."

"O-okay," Caldwell stuttered. "But... what if they check? What if Richard knows?"

"Richard doesn’t know a server from a toaster," Darren cut him off. "And Adam is too arrogant to double-check a man he thinks he owns. You just keep acting terrified, Caldwell. That shouldn’t be hard for you."

"I... I will. I swear."

"Good. Now get out of my car. And don’t make me regret letting you keep your knees."

"Yes! Thank you, sir! Thank you!"

Caldwell scrambled for the door handle, practically falling out onto the pavement in his haste to escape the suffocating aura of the young billionaire. He scurried away toward the elevators, looking like a rat seeking a hole.

Darren watched him go, exhaling a long breath. He shook his head at Ava’s recent text, sunk his phone in his pocket, adjusted his suit jacket, composed himself, and stepped out into the morning light.

Fuck. The sun really was hot today.

A female worker showed up with an umbrella and handed it to his security. They placed the umbrella on top of him as he walked through the automated glass doors of the lobby.

For some reason, it felt like he hadn’t been inside the building for months. Nevertheless, the Steele Complex was just as it had always been; a plaza of business and enterprise.

From the hexagonal panels, sunlight streamed through in a more filtered form, illuminating the silver floors and the massive digital ticker that wrapped around the central pillar. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

As Darren walked, everyone reacted.

Conversations paused. Heads turned. Employees—analysts, brokers, interns—stopped in their tracks to nod or murmur greetings.

There was respect in their eyes, bordering on reverence. He wasn’t just their boss; he was the man who had predicted the impossible, the man who was turning them all into part of a legend.

"Good morning, Mr. Steele."

"Mr. Steele."

"Morning, sir."

Darren nodded in return, never stopping as he neared the elevator.

Waiting for him by the security turnstiles, as reliable as the sunrise, was Rachel.

She was already in motion the moment she saw him, falling into step beside him as she always did. She held a file in one hand and a pen in the other, scribbling without looking up.

"Good morning, sir," she said.

"Rachel. How are you doing?"

"Good to be back," she beamed.

Darren nodded. "Let’s get to it then."

"Yes sir. So I’ve finalized the shareholder meeting for Friday at 10:00 AM. The NDAs have been digitally signed by all parties except Mr. Thorne, who prefers wet ink. I have the papers on your desk."

"Mr. Thorne is going to get used to the digital world. We can’t be sending paper mails in one of the fastest growing companies in the world."

"I’ll let him know that," Rachel smiled. "Also, the legal team sent over the discovery packets for the lawsuits; Vance wants your eyes on the ’Intent’ section before filing."

"Good work, Rachel," Darren said, checking his watch. "Push the Thorne signing to lunch. I want to handle the internal audit first."

"Noted. Also, Cheyenne called twice. She didn’t leave a message, but she sounded... impatient."

Darren suppressed a smirk. "She’ll live. Anything else?"

"Just the—"

Rachel stopped. Darren had stopped.

They were passing the main reception desk, a silver curved slab that served as the complex’s first line of defense.

Sitting behind it, typing diligently, was a young woman with a blonde ponytail.

She looked up as the shadow fell over her desk, her eyes widening when she realized who was standing there.

"Mr. Steele!" she gasped, straightening up so fast her laptop nearly slipped off. "Good morning, sir!"

Darren looked at her. If he remembered clearly, this was the woman who had been the only one with the courage to make a phone call that saved his company.

She had stood against Caldwell and the agents in his absence. If not for her, half of his company would have belonged to his enemies at this moment.

"You’re Beth, yes?" Darren asked quietly.

The receptionist blinked, looking stunned that the CEO even knew her name. A flush of color touched her cheeks. "Y-yes, sir. Beth. Elizabeth."

Darren nodded slowly. "Beth. Who is covering your break?"

"I... I don’t have a break until eleven, sir. Is something wrong? Did I miss a call?" Panic started to creep into her voice.

"No," Darren said. "Call someone. Tell them to take the desk."

Beth looked confused, her eyes darting between Darren and Rachel. Rachel looked equally surprised, her pen hovering over her file, but she remained silent.

"Sir?" Beth asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"Drop everything you’re doing," Darren said, his tone leaving no room for argument, though it wasn’t unkind. "And follow me to my office."

The command was clear.

Beth swallowed hard. ’To... to his office? Me?’ she panicked in her mind.

"Hurry up."

Darren turned on his heel and continued walking toward the executive elevators, Rachel falling back into step a half-second later, though she cast a curious glance back.

Beth sat frozen for a heartbeat. Then, scrambling, she waved at a fellow worker some distance away. "Sarah? Sarah, take over for a while. The boss is calling me."

She ripped off her headset, her hands shaking.

Why was he calling her? Was she fired? Did she let the wrong person in? Or was it about the other day?

She stood up, smoothing her skirt with nervous palms, and hurried out from behind the desk.

She practically jogged to catch up, trailing a respectful distance behind the billionaire and his beautiful secretary, her heart pounding relentlessly as the silver doors of the elevator slid open to swallow them whole.