Bitcoin Billionaire: I Regressed to Invest in the First Bitcoin!-Chapter 126: Forgiving is Weakness

The tension was as thick as a tree's bark.

Inside the small room beside the Operations Room, it clinged to the walls. Bristling.

In the center of the two men, Kara had her expressive eyes wide open, worried, looking at one after the other.

To her right, Darren stood rigid, his jaw clenched, his dark eyes boring into Rico Evans.

Then to her left, Rico's lanky figure stood shakily, his gray beanie slightly askew as he shifted nervously. He had a boyish grin on his face which was already faltering under the weight of Darren's silent fury.

Kara knew that if she didn't say something now, she would probably get to see a side of Darren that she'd never seen before.

She quickly stepped in.

"Darren, sir, please just hear me out," Kara said, her voice steady but urgent, cutting through the quiet hum of the air conditioner.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Darren muttered from the depths of his throat.

"No. No. I know how this looks but I actually know Rico. We're acquaintances. We ran some gigs together back when I used to hack for people. We can really use his skills here. He's good. Really good. Like, top-tier. I wouldn't be saying that if he hasn't beaten me in some firewall destabilizing competitions."

Darren's gaze didn't waver from Rico, his lips a tight line. "I know exactly how good he is," he said, his tone low, each word edged with ice. "And I don't care. He betrayed me."

Rico raised his hands, palms out, his voice slipping into that familiar, friendly cadence that once felt like brotherhood. "Come on, man, let me explain."

"You broke into my house. You stalked me and then you gave my information to an enemy."

"An enemy?!" Rico's eyes widened. "Darren, it wasn't like that at all. It wasn't personal. Moon Wealth — they had me by the throat, man. Said they'd wipe my debt, drop the charges against me and keep me out of prison for hacking their systems a while ago. Prison, bro. I was looking at years. I did what I had to, to survive."

Darren's eyes narrowed, but he stayed silent, his fingers clenched at his sides.

"I didn't think it'd hurt you," Rico pressed, his words tumbling faster now. "MWMO just wanted to know who FuglyDuckling was. They talked about partnership, not… not what you're saying. They didn't want any trouble at all, they just wanted you to sign a deal with them. From where I stood, it looked like a win-win. Even for you. I didn't see anything wrong with it, man."

Darren exhaled sharply through his nose, his anger still smoldering but cracking at the edges.

In his mind, he admitted it. 'Well, his reasoning is fair. Desperate men made desperate choices. But there wasn't anything technically wrong with what he did, except lying to me and breaking into my house. He wasn't giving my identity to Moon Wealth to hurt me. Probably just thought that I would want to partner with a wealth management company too.'

'Still, he was stupid. And he broke into my house.'

Rico's voice softened, his shoulders slumping. "Things are rough for me, Darren. Real rough. No steady gig, no cash, just scraping by. I met Kara a few weeks ago and she told me what you're building here — Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, the whole deal. I told her the issue between you and I and she just said she'll ask you first."

He began to beg. "Please, man! I have nothing else."

Ding!

┏This person is being honest to you.┛

"You're the only one that could help me. What you're doing here. It's big, man. I want in. I need this. I swear, I'll be loyal. No games, no lies. I'll prove it. I'll—"

"Alright! Alright!" Darren muttered, cutting Rico off mid-ples as he rubbed his throbbing forehead with a grimace.

Rico's face lit up, his eyes wide with hope. "Really, bro?"

"Yeah," Darren said, his voice flat, exhaustion creeping in. "Whatever. Welcome to the team."

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He turned to Kara, keeping his expression clear, letting her know that he'll speak with her later, and the results of this would be on her head. "Update him on everything I told the team. Get him started on mining."

"Heh... okay," Kara said nervously.

Rico blinked, scratching his beanie. "Mining? What's mining?"

Darren sighed, a long, weary sound, and Kara stepped in, her half-exasperated. "Move along, bean head. I'll show you." She folded her hands and pointed toward the door.

They both left the room, joining the rest in the OR and leaving Darren alone in the quiet.

"Being lenient stings," he said to himself. "I don't know why it feels like weakness to me. Forgiving someone who wronged me in some way in the past."

Was it because of... her?

Was she the one turning him into his steel hearted egomaniac?

Darren stood still for a second. Then... Fuck. He let it out, and headed to the door.

He retraced his steps through the maze of keycard-locked doors, the hiss of each one closing behind him like a punctuation mark on his thoughts.

Having a former Judas now in his company still somehow gnawed at him, but Rico's desperation echoed something Darren knew too well: Survival wasn't pretty.

Maybe loyalty could be rebuilt. Maybe.

Back on his floor, the bustle of Steele Investments greeted him once again — phones ringing, screens flickering with market data, employees darting between desks.

As he walked, he wondered what could be the function of his day. He was the Head of Operations but the Bitcoin Mining Operation basically didn't need his presence at all times.

Since work load hasn't arrived yet, Darren decided to summon the system. 'Might as well get a jump on the weekly quest.'

A soft ding sounded in his head, and the system's interface materialized in his vision, crisp and glowing.

┏Weekly Quest:

— Strong Start: Begin your first week strong by finding a hidden gem in poor startups and investing in them. Reward for this quest is high tier.┛