ONE MONTH LATER
"The screen doesn't love you back, Dray. At some point, the code has to turn into real money."
I didn't turn around. If I broke my focus now, the logic gate I was constructing in the Aegis core would collapse.
My eyes were bloodshot, reflecting the lines of neon-green text that represented our future.
"Just ten more minutes, Lina," I whispered, my voice hoarse from lack of sleep.
"If I can stabilize the high-frequency trade algorithm, this software won't just analyze the financial market—it will predict it. We're talking about a tool that will make every hedge fund in New York obsolete."
I heard the bedsheets rustle behind me. We were in a one-bedroom apartment where the heater rattled and the view was of a brick wall, a far cry from the marble halls of the Darkson estate.
A week after our wedding, I'd rented the place and on the day I told Lina we'd be moving, Rico suddenly called to say he was taking the pent house he'd paid for.
Well, I wasn't going to live there any longer than that week, and that'd been for Lina's comfort.
But this is what I could afford now.
"You've been saying 'ten more minutes' since we got married, Dray," she said. There was a new edge to her voice, a sharpness that hadn't been there when we were planning our life on the college quad.
I finally turned my chair. Lina was sitting on the edge of the bed, the glow of her smartphone illuminating.
"Look at this," she said, holding the phone out.
I leaned in. It was an Instagram story from Rico. He was standing on the deck of a yacht in the Mediterranean, a glass of crystal-clear liquid in one hand and a stunning view of the Amalfi Coast behind him. The caption was a jagged spear: 'Missing the one who should have been here. Three continents in three weeks. Some people choose the dirt; some choose the world.'
"He sent me a private message too," Lina said, her thumb scrolling.
"He said he's heading to Tokyo next, then a private safari in Kenya. He told me... he told me it could have been my itinerary."
I felt a cold knot form in my stomach.
"Lina, he's doing that on purpose. He's trying to make you regret us. It's a game to him."
"Is it a game?" she asked, her voice rising slightly. "Because when I look at that, I see sunlight and ocean. When I look here, I see a pile of unpaid bills and a husband who hasn't changed out of his sweatshirt in three days. I'm not saying I want Rico, Dray. I'm saying I want a life where I don't have to check my bank balance before I buy a coffee."
Her parents had cut her off from her monthly allowance after she married me and now things were more difficult.
I stood up, my joints popping. I walked over and knelt in front of her, taking her hands. They felt cold.
"I know it's hard. I know you sacrificed everything to be with me. But Aegis is the key. Once this goes live, I won't just be a millionaire. I'll be the man who owns the market. I'll buy you a continent if that's what you want."
Lina looked at me, and for a second, I saw the girl from high school—the one who believed I was a genius. But then, her phone buzzed again.
"It's my mother," she sighed, answering it before I could say another word. She put it on speaker, a habit she'd picked up lately, almost as if she wanted me to hear the poison.
"Lina, darling," Eleanor's voice crackled through the tiny speakers, sounding like expensive silk rubbing together.
"I'm looking at the guest list for the Summer Gala. It's so embarrassing to tell people my daughter is living in a... what did you call it? A 'cozy' apartment? It sounds like a euphemism for a closet."
"Mom, please. Not tonight," Lina said, but she didn't hang up.
"I'm only saying this because I love you, sweetheart. Your father and I have kept your room exactly the same. The Egyptian cotton sheets, the view of the park. You don't have to live like a martyr for a man who plays with computers all day. If the loser can't provide, you always have a home here. Don't let your pride ruin your youth."
"I'll think about it, Mom. Bye."
Lina ended the call and the silence that followed was heavier than the words.
"You'll think about it?" I asked, the words tasting like lead.
"It's just a way to get her off the phone, Dray," she snapped, standing up and walking toward the small kitchenette. She picked up a stack of mail from the counter.
"But look at this. The electricity bill is overdue. The water company sent a final notice. I can't keep calling my parents to ask for 'birthday gifts' just to keep the lights on while you build your dream."
"I took a shift at the warehouse starting tomorrow," I said quietly.
"It's manual labor, but it'll cover the bills."
"A warehouse?" Lina turned, her eyes wide with frustration.
"Dray, you're a genius. You shouldn't be moving boxes. But you also shouldn't be sitting here staring at code that doesn't pay. Maybe... you should just get a real job. An actual corporate position. My father said he could get you an entry-level spot in the mailroom at Darkson Corp. At least there's a salary."
"The mailroom?" I laughed, but there was no humor in it.
"Lina, my software is worth billions. You want me to go sort envelopes for the man who calls me dirt?"
"I want you to be a man who provides!" she shouted, the frustration finally breaking through.
"I love you, Dray, I do. But I'm a Darkson. I wasn't built for this. I wasn't built for cracked ceilings and generic-brand cereal. I'm starting to feel like I'm drowning, and every time I look at you, you're just telling me to hold my breath a little longer."
She walked past me into the bathroom and slammed the door.
I stood in the center of our cramped living room, the blue light of my monitors casting long, distorted shadows on the walls. My faith was crumbling. Not in my work—I knew Aegis was perfect—but in us.
I had promised her a better life, but I hadn't realized how quickly her patience would evaporate when faced with the glitter of her old world.
I sat back down at the computer. I had to finish. I had to make it work. If I didn't, I wouldn't just lose my dream; I would lose the woman I loved.
I worked until the sun began to peek through the window. My head throbbed, and my hands were shaking. I had just finished the final encryption layer when I heard Lina's phone chime from the bedside table. She was still asleep.
I shouldn't have looked. I knew I shouldn't have. But the screen stayed lit.
It was a text from Rico.
'I booked the penthouse at the Pierre for the night of the Gala. I told the concierge to keep a key under your name, just in case you decide you've had enough of playing house in the slums. Don't be late for your own life, Lina.'
I looked at my wife, her face peaceful in the morning light. She hadn't deleted the message. She hadn't blocked the man her entire family wanted her to marry.
And as I looked back at my screen, at the software that was supposed to save us, I saw a notification I hadn't noticed before. An error message in the core kernel.
The software wasn't running. It had crashed.
Just like everything else.