Chapter One

"But I don't know exactly what's wrong with the network. I have been trying this since yesterday night, and I'm fed up already. I don't know what else I can do to this laptop," Isabella yelled as she angrily shut down her laptop and turned it back on.

"Hmm... Since yesterday? Do you think that it's the network?" Charles said as he put his hand on her laptop.

"Then what? What else can it be if it's not the network? Just refresh it again; maybe it's going to work," she shot back.

Angrily, Isabella got up and started going around her office.

"Madam... Can you please come and check this out?" Charles called to her attention.

"hat's this? This is zero balance!! We have over one billion dollars in this account," she yelled.

Pressing the refresh button again, Charles replied, "But this is the fifth time that I'm going to refresh this thing, and it's showing me the same thing. I don't know what else I can do.

"Then you must be crazy to say that. It seems that you are ready to be sacked, right? Just keep refreshing it until it shows me the real balance," she yelled back.

Charles began sweating. He adjusted his polo and took off his glasses. Then, he put them on.

"I'm now wearing my glasses. Maybe I should just refresh it again and be sure of what I'm seeing," he said.

Angrily, Isabella shouted at him, "Better do that now before I sack you. As my secretary, you don't know that you are supposed to do everything to make your work perfect, right? This is going to be your last warning."

"I am sorry to say this, madam. I think we have been scammed," Charles said, with his voice breaking.

"Scammed? What do you mean, dude? Are you saying that we have lost one billion dollars? How? Why?" Isabella asked angrily.

She sat down on the edge of the table.

"What's wrong with this, Matthew?" She said as she called the computer expert from their company.

"Yes, ma'am, I'm on my way," Matthew replied as he hurried to meet her.

Pointing at Charles, Isabella said, "This dude is saying rubbish. Can you please tell me why the balance is showing zero? Quickly find a solution to it and tell me when it is done."

"Okay, madam," Matthew said as he held the cursor.

After some minutes, he said, "It looks like that's your real balance, ma'am. There's nothing in the account, ma'am."

"There's nothing there? Are you sure? The balance is supposed to be more than one billion dollars," Isabella said.

She couldn't believe what she had just heard.

She turned to Matthew and said, "But I didn't do anything strange on this computer yesterday. Someone sent me a link, and I clicked on it. After that, I didn't do anything strange. And the person even invented over two million dollars yesterday ".

Matthew sighed.

"Maybe that's where the error lies," he said.

"I can't believe that I'm going bankrupt. Is this happening to me?" Isabella said as she gazed at her balance, hoping it was going to be the amount she left it last night.

Suddenly and angrily, Arthur entered her office with rage.

"What exactly is your problem, Isabella? Why haven't I received my money since this morning? This is my first time investing here, and you have already messed up. Where's my money?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know what's wrong with it. You are going to receive your money," Isabella responded.

"And what's that? Is that not a zero balance? Where's my money?" Arthur said as he pointed at the balance on her laptop.

"I'm going to do something about it," Isabella said, her eyes turning red.

"This is your last chance, Isabella. Do you think that I invested in your company just for my money to disappear like air?" Arthur shouted.

"I'm sorry, Arthur. I'm going to find something to do with it. You are all going to be given your money," Isabella replied as her voice began to break.

Arthur shouted back, "I am giving you just today. If you don't return my money today, I am going to sue you. I'm sure that you are going to spend at least fifteen years in prison with the money we all invested."

"I understand, Arthur. I'm going to try my best to refund your money," she replied.

She couldn't believe that she had just fallen victim to fraud, and the person who sent her the link had invested in her company.

She had been running her investment company since her husband's death some years ago. Yes, everything has been going smoothly since then.

But why? Why would someone do such a thing to her? Going to jail would only worsen the situation. Fifteen years in prison is not a small thing.

She took a deep breath and let out a sigh. Tears rolled down her face as she gazed at the ceiling as if hoping to find a solution there.

"In just ten hours, my entire investment is gone," she said as she bit her lips.

She took out her phone and clicked on the caller app . Bankruptcy wasn't an option, and going to jail would make things worse.

" There's no other choice," she said.

She dialed William's contact and pressed the call button. Fortunately, he picked it.

"Are you in your office, Billionaire William?" she asked.

"Long time no see. I'm in my office. Hope there's no problem?" William asked.

"Can I meet you there right now?" she asked.

William responded, "Yes, of course. You can."

She ended the call, went downstairs, got into her car, and drove to the billionaire's company.

She entered his office and explained what had happened.

"One billion dollars? That's a huge amount of money," William said as he sat down on his office chair.

Isabella replied, "Yes, William. I'm going to repay you as soon as I recover."

With a smile on his face, William said, "Recover? Do you think it's easy to recover from such a huge amount of money?"

"Yes, of course. It will only take me maybe four or five years to return your money. Please help me, William. I'm not ready to go to jail," she responded.

"Jail? Those investors threatened you with jail? This is somewhat serious," William replied as he lit a cigarette.

"Are you interested?" William asked as he extended his hand to offer her a cigarette.

"Not at all. I'm here for the money, William. Can you please make it snappy?" she said.

"I do question myself about the reason why you left my squad. Now, you have stopped smoking," William said.

Isabella put a smile on her worried face and said, "Can you please make this quick, William?"

"Sure, Isabella. I have agreed to lend you the money," William said.

With a smiling face, Isabella looked at him and said, "Thanks so much, dear. I appreciate it."

Just as Isabella was about to get up, William said, "I heard that you have a beautiful daughter. Are you ready to marry her off to me? Or do you want to taste the breeze of prison?"

Shocked, Isabella sat back down.

"Emilia is my only daughter. I don't want her to marry someone like you," Isabella said.

"Am I that bad?" William asked. "Then I'm sure you prefer going to jail. Your daughter or jail? Which one do you prefer? The ball is in your court."