Los Angeles, California

Daniel Conley leaned back in his office chair, the afternoon sun spilling through the glass wall behind him.

From up here, he could see most of Century City, the endless streams of traffic below.

The sky was clear and it had the kind of calm blue that made even the most chaotic workday feel deceptively peaceful.

It was a good day. A blessed day, even.

The Bellemere Family Office was running smoothly.

Daniel sipped his coffee and exhaled slowly, the faint aroma mixing with the smell of polished wood and paperwork.

The monitors on his desk displayed the usual—market tickers, transaction summaries, trust holdings—all perfectly balanced.

His thoughts drifted briefly to Dubai, picturing Liam and his friends there, laughing, exploring, enjoying the kind of life that money couldn't really buy—because it was built from something beyond wealth.

Daniel smiled proudly. The thought of Liam, still so young yet so impossibly composed, always amused him.

The soft vibration of his phone broke the silence..He glanced at the screen—and froze.

Incoming call: Liam Scott.

"Speak of the devil." A small chuckle escaped his lips.

He swiped to answer. "Good morning, Liam. Or is it afternoon for you already?"

"Afternoon for you, morning for me," Liam's calm voice replied through the line.

"You must be enjoying Dubai. I'm sure you saw the news about Lucid's continuing rollout. The world's still buzzing," Daniel smiled.

"It's going well," Liam said simply. "But I'm calling about something else."

That caught Daniel's attention because he knew that Liam rarely called unless it was serious.

"Go on," Daniel said, sitting up slightly.

"I want to arrange a meeting with the CEO of J.P. Morgan," Liam said, his tone as steady as ever.

For a moment, Daniel thought he'd misheard. "Sorry, did you just say—with the CEO?"

"Yes."

Daniel blinked, the words sinking in. "You mean Marianne's boss? Whitlock himself?"

"Yes," Liam repeated, still calm.

There was a short pause as Daniel processed it. It wasn't impossible—nothing ever was with Liam—but the implications of such a meeting were staggering. J.P. Morgan's CEO didn't just meet clients. He met heads of state, policy architects, and world-shifting capital.

"I can arrange it," Daniel said finally. "But that's going to require some preparation. He's… well, he's not exactly an easy man to get a hold of."

"I know," Liam said. "But you'll manage. Set the meeting for a week from now."

Daniel scribbled the note automatically, though his mind was already calculating logistics, time zones, security channels, and internal approvals.

"Alright. I'll reach out to Marianne first. She'll coordinate the internal request. You'll get the date and time once it's confirmed."

"Perfect."

"Anything else you need me to take care of?" Daniel asked, trying to sound casual.

"No," Liam said. "That's all for now."

The line clicked off and the call ended.

Daniel lowered the phone slowly, staring at the blank screen for a few seconds. Then he laughed quietly under his breath and leaned back again.

"Well, there goes my peace."

He could already feel the storm coming. A meeting with J.P. Morgan's top brass meant one thing: a new project. And not just any project—a massive one.

Whenever Liam called for something personally, it wasn't about small numbers. It was always something bigger, something that left entire departments scrambling for days.

Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed tiredly. "One of these days, he's going to give me a heart attack."

Still, beneath the exasperation was a flicker of excitement.

He couldn't deny it—that Liam always comes up with something that changes the game. Especially with Lucid rollout that had turned the tech world upside down.

Daniel smiled faintly. "Whatever you're planning this time, boss, it's going to be big, isn't it?"

He leaned forward, elbows on the desk, staring out the window.

What could he possibly want with J.P. Morgan's CEO?

He had his guesses. Maybe Liam wanted to establish an investment consortium, or a financial network.

Daniel chuckled at the absurd thought. With Liam, nothing was off the table.

He opened his laptop and began composing a message to Marianne, Head of Investor Relations.

Subject: Urgent Request – Private Client Strategic Meeting

Body: Marianne, I need a priority scheduling window with your CEO for a high-level private client discussion. Timeline: one week. Full confidentiality applies.

Daniel Conley, Managing Director, Bellemere Family Office

He hit send, then leaned back again, exhaling deeply. "And now, we wait."

The room fell silent except for the muted sounds of the office outside his door.

Daniel's expression softened as his thoughts wandered to that day—the day he met Lucy.

Even now, the memory felt surreal.

He remembered sitting in the study of Bellemere Mansion. The air had rippled like heat distortion, and then, out of nowhere, she stepped out—Lucy.

She wasn't human, but she looked so human that it unsettled him.

He was one heartbeat away from falling for her if Liam hadn't told him that she was actually an AGI.

He had caught himself at the perfect moment. But Lucy had shown him the scope of what Liam was capable of. The way she had appeared—from thin air, through a literal dimensional ripple—was something no human technology could replicate.

It had changed the way Daniel saw everything. It made him realise that Liam wasn't just rich. He wasn't just powerful. He was something else.

And whatever "something else" meant, Daniel wanted to understand it.

It made Daniel curious. Terribly curious.

He turned his chair slightly and looked at the empty corner of the room. He had questions—so many questions—but he doubted he'd get answers anytime soon.

"If I ever see her again, I'm going to ask her about that dimension. And hope my heart can take it," he smiled.

The thought made him chuckle. Then he rubbed his face and groaned softly. "Alright. Enough daydreaming. Back to work, Conley."

He pulled up a list of tasks on his monitor, tapped the desk once, exhaled, and got to work.

***

Burj Khalifa, Dubai

After ending the call, Liam left his room to go join his friends in the game.

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