Chapter 2

Ellery sat cross-legged on her unmade bed. She opened the app store on her phone and typed "Crypto Portfolio Simulator" into the search bar.

She downloaded the highest-rated app, the one designed to let users practice day-trading with fake money. Once it installed, she opened the interface and navigated to the custom coin settings.

She typed in a fake ticker symbol: NovaCoin.

She inputted her real bank balance-thirty thousand dollars-as the initial investment. Then, her fingers flew across the screen, adjusting the backend algorithms. She manipulated the line graph, forcing it into a steep, aggressive upward spike. She made it look like NovaCoin had surged five hundred percent in the last twelve hours.

The fake portfolio balance updated instantly. One hundred and fifty-two thousand dollars.

She took a screenshot, making sure the massive green numbers were front and center.

She opened her text messages and clicked on the group chat labeled Burch Family.

She attached the screenshot and began typing rapidly.

Mom, I am so, so sorry. I tried to wire the thirty thousand for your surgery, but I can't access the funds. A client at my firm gave me an inside tip on a private liquidity pool for a new token. I put all my savings in to try and double it so I could pay for your post-op care too. It exploded overnight, but the funds are hard-locked for a twenty-four-hour vesting period. I can't withdraw anything until tomorrow.

She hit send.

She tossed the phone onto the mattress, stood up, and walked into the tiny kitchen to pour herself a glass of water.

Less than thirty seconds later, the phone began to vibrate violently against the bedsheets. The screen lit up with an incoming call.

Ellery leaned against the kitchen doorframe, sipping her water. She stared at the caller ID. Earl Burch. Her adoptive father.

She let it ring. She let it ring until it almost went to voicemail.

On the fourth consecutive call, she finally set her glass down, walked over, and picked it up. She took a deep breath, forcing a slight pant into her voice as she swiped the green button.

"Hello?" she answered, sounding breathless.

"Is that screenshot real?!" Earl's gruff, frantic voice exploded through the speaker. He didn't even ask about his wife's supposed emergency surgery.

Ellery lowered her voice to a dramatic whisper. "Dad, keep it down. Yes, it's real. It's a closed-door tip from a Wall Street whale my boss works with."

"Oh my god!" Sharon's voice shrieked in the background. Her fake, sickly wheeze was completely gone. She sounded like she had just won the lottery.

There was a scuffle on the other end of the line.

"Ellery!" Kendal's shrill voice pierced the speaker. Her younger sister had snatched the phone. "Can you put my trust fund in there? If it's doing a five-x return, I could buy that condo in Malibu!"

Ellery paused. She counted to five in her head, letting the silence build the desperation.

"I don't know, Kendal," Ellery said, her tone heavy with reluctance. "This pool is strictly for institutional investors. They don't take retail money. I barely got in because of my client."

"Bullshit!" Cody, her younger brother, yelled from somewhere in the room. "You better get us in, Ellery! If you hold out on us, I swear to god I'll come over there and smash your car windows!"

Ellery let out a long, heavy sigh directly into the microphone. She made it sound like she was carrying the weight of the world, forced into a corner by her demanding family.

"Fine," Ellery said quietly. "But the only way it works is if the money comes from my account. I'm already registered as a VIP node. You'll have to wire everything to my primary checking account, and I'll inject it into the pool as a single lump sum."

She kept her eyes dead and emotionless as she recited her bank routing and account numbers.

"I'm going to the bank right now," Earl barked into the phone. "I'm pulling the early withdrawal on my 401K. Don't you dare lock that pool until my money is in!"

The call disconnected.

Ellery dropped the phone. She walked over to her small desk, opened her laptop, and logged into her online banking portal.

Then came the waiting. Ellery knew an early 401K withdrawal required manager approval and heavy paperwork. The rest of the day was an agonizing wait. She paced the apartment, her eyes darting to the screen every few minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, the first deposit hit. Fifty thousand dollars. Kendal's education trust fund.

Ten minutes after that, a wire transfer for twenty thousand dollars appeared. Cody's emergency savings.

Finally, the screen refreshed.

A massive wire transfer cleared. Eight hundred thousand dollars. She couldn't believe Earl had managed to pull it off so quickly. He must have paid an exorbitant price in fees and penalties, or called in a serious favor at his bank's executive branch just to expedite the wire.

Along with a few smaller savings transfers, the total balance sat at a staggering one point one million dollars.

Ellery didn't hesitate for a single second.

She navigated to the transfer tab. She selected the entire balance and routed it directly to an obscure, high-yield checking account she had opened at a completely different credit union across the state.

She watched the primary account balance drop to zero point zero zero.

She picked up her phone, opened the family group chat, and typed one final message.

Funds received and injected into the pool. Waiting for the payout.

She went to the chat settings and toggled the Mute Notifications switch. She didn't care about the frantic messages they were sending about buying yachts and mansions. She had their money. Now, she needed to survive.