Up at five.
At the office by six for the analysts' meeting, issuing trade orders.
Seven o'clock, Singapore opens.
Eight, Tokyo.
Nine, still watching the screens, mostly locked in on the day's trend, mind free to skim the analysts' reports.
After months, the rhythm had hardened into routine.
Summer would have been fine, but late June in Melbourne was deep winter. She hated the cold and loved sleeping in on frosty mornings and couldn't help a flicker of resentment toward a certain someone.
Her father and older brother knew her habits well; they'd even suggested moving to Singapore if she couldn't stand it.
No way.
What if he showed up in Australia and she wasn't here?
She loved that she could still entertain such girlish, naive thoughts and it only made her dig in harder.
But if the prince never came for his princess, she'd just have to turn into the dragon and fly over to devour the guy herself.
Not all of him.
Couldn't bear that.
At least leave him alive.
In the Johnston Holdings headquarters on Elizabeth Street in central Melbourne, Janet stood at her office window, cradling the latest balance sheet from Columbia Savings and Loan. The earlier thoughts flashed through her mind; she gave a soft, private laugh and turned back to the document.
On May 22, after more than two years of rock-bottom rates, the Bank of Japan had finally raised its benchmark from 2.5% to 3.5% in one go.
Many called it a major inflection point for Japanese stocks and it did trigger a month of volatility in both equities and real estate.
Yet amid the turbulence, the market kept climbing.
As of yesterday's close, the Nikkei 225 stood at 36,723 only 277 points from the 37,000 exit threshold Cersei Capital had set. Barring surprises, they'd begin unwinding positions by early July at the latest.
Financial-market turbulence had intensified; risk was soaring.
Under joint pressure from Simon and Anthony, Janet could no longer indulge her wild impulses. Cersei's strategy had shifted toward caution.
Conveniently, the post-hike chaos had drawn in heavy short interest. Cersei seized the moment to rebuild massive long positions in Nikkei 225 futures. Over the past month, across Singapore and Osaka exchanges at 10x leverage, Cersei's long contracts now totaled $13.6 billion in notional value.
That meant every 1% move in the index translated to $136 million in profit or loss for Cersei.
On May 22, the day of the hike announcement, the index hovered around 36,100.
From that base, a climb to Cersei's absolute ceiling of 38,000 would yield another 5%. Even starting the unwind at 37,000, Cersei projected at least another $500 million in gains.
Half the capital was tied up in those futures; the other half sat in diversified products expected to deliver solid returns as well.
Last week's valuation pegged Cersei's net assets at $2.51 billion. Adding the coming profits, after completing this first phase in Japan and starting from the original $1.57 billion principal. Cersei would have doubled its money.
All of it, of course, rested on Simon's judgment proving correct.
Cersei's nearly billion-dollar haul over recent months stemmed directly from following his calls. Without Simon's unwavering bullishness on Japan, Cersei would never have pursued what outsiders saw as recklessly aggressive positioning.
Right now, with consensus calling Japanese stocks precarious, most hedge funds even those still expecting upside kept long exposure below 30% of capital, often 10–20%. And almost all hedged with offsetting shorts.
That approach minimized risk but capped upside.
Cersei, by contrast, had over 50% of capital in pure long futures, $13.6 billion notional.
"Conservative" was purely relative to Janet's earlier mania.
Few funds in the industry would adopt Cersei's stance without ironclad conviction.
And that conviction came straight from Simon.
The miracle of 1987 in U.S. index futures, plus Cersei's recent billion-dollar run, had cemented near-blind loyalty among the partners.
With Phase One nearing its end, Janet was already planning the pivot to North America.
Columbia Savings and Loan was one of Michael Milken's biggest junk-bond clients. Total outstanding junk in the U.S. hovered around $200 billion; Columbia alone held over $6 billion and recent probes suggested the risk far exceeded the ratings.
If the junk market imploded, Columbia would take the first hit.
Cersei had uncovered several similar cases.
Two hundred billion in junk, plus institutions like Columbia plenty of juicy targets for Cersei's next feast.
Lost in these calculations, she sensed the office door open and turned.
A certain man she dreamed of endlessly was smiling as he walked toward her.
Hallucination?
"Janet."
He reached her, spoke her name. His scent confirmed reality.
She tossed the file aside and wrapped herself around him.
Time blurred. Janet still nibbled at his face and neck like a mischievous mouse when Anthony Johnston, alerted, arrived from his own office.
Simon scooped her up and headed out, calling over his shoulder, "Tony, you're in charge."
Anthony smiled warmly relieved Simon had come for his sister, pleased by their obvious devotion and walked them through the outer office. "I'll have the driver take you. Dinner at home tonight?"
Simon nuzzled Janet's cheek as she pressed closer. "We'll see. Give us some alone time first."
Anthony had no objections. "Whenever you're ready."
They took the private elevator to the underground garage.
Anthony handed his keys to Neil Bennett, who'd arrived with Simon, and watched the couple leave before returning upstairs.
Raymond Johnston was in Western Australia closing a deal; Anthony called Perth to share the news, then rang the family estate before sliding into Janet's chair to monitor the screens.
He'd originally handled European operations but had stayed in Melbourne months now to help with Cersei, absorbing a crash course in finance.
He only watched not issuing orders like Janet. His main role, at Simon's explicit request, was financial oversight to prevent rogue-trader disasters like the Barings collapse in memory.
Watching the usual "she-devil" boss clinging koala-like as Simon carried her out, staff whispered gossip about the bosses before returning to work though some slipped away to spread word, through various channels, that Simon Westeros had suddenly arrived in Australia.
Within an hour, the news rippled through well-connected capital circles.
Thanks to Simon's 1987 futures legend, Cersei had been a prime shadowing target for months despite his absence from Melbourne.
Exact trades stayed secret under Anthony's ironclad controls, but weekly partner updates made performance impossible to hide.
From February to now four months Cersei's return exceeded 60%, a feat most funds struggled to hit annually. Simon hadn't repeated 1987's insanity, but no one dismissed the numbers.
After months of relentless climb, post-hike volatility had the industry hunting for the true collapse signal.
Simon's abrupt return strongly suggested Cersei was about to move big.
Obviously tied to Japan.
Was the real turning point here?
Simon and Janet retreated to their Yarra River villa in the northern suburbs and stayed sequestered but on June 23, the remaining trading sessions saw volume spike across Japan and Singapore exchanges, driving wild intraday swings.
Unwitting capital got dragged in; panic trading amplified the volatility.
By close, massive new short buying and stock sell orders hammered the Nikkei nearly 200 points lower from yesterday's 36,723 to 36,537.
Cersei took the hit too.
With the boss suddenly gone and frontline traders lacking authority to react, a seemingly mild 0.5% daily drop translated to over $70 million in paper losses.
Fortunately, it was Friday.
Otherwise, the market might have spurred by the coincidental news of Simon in Australia, crashed Japanese stocks outright.
Cersei's positions weren't perfectly secret; shadow capital now totaled tens of billions. Most weren't as bold as Cersei but remained net long.
Today's scare rattled plenty.
Unable to reach Simon directly, the Johnstons, Amy in L.A., James Rebold in New York ll fielded inquiries. Some callers openly admitted tailing Cersei.
The question: Was Cersei really exiting?
If yes everyone would run on Monday.
If no, measures were needed to steady the ship.
Simon had no idea his impulsive trip had shaken markets so violently. Back at the villa, he and Janet hibernated like wintering mice, tangled together in bed all day.
Even dinner was sent over by Janet's worried mother from the family estate.
Holding her close, the restlessness Simon had felt in Los Angeles gradually ebbed. He realized again: this woman was truly where his heart rested. Despite two lifetimes, he wasn't as strong as he liked to think; the bone-deep alienation and insecurity about the world had never fully vanished.
By late the next evening, with the pair showing no signs of emerging, Anthony finally came in person.
He was delighted by their closeness but the $70 million one-day paper loss stung. That equaled many corporations' annual profit. And though he knew the broad strategy from Simon, this sudden visit, did it mean a change of plan, an early cash-out?
They had to talk.
Janet would have happily spent the entire winter in bed with Simon and grumbled at her brother's interruption. Simon soothed her gently, they tidied up, and the three headed to the family estate for dinner and to discuss Cersei.