“I don’t know how you did it but you were right. Nobody saw it coming! All my professors went on about how blindsided they all were and they’ve been studying the market for years. I’m in,” Cameron said into the phone in awe.

Aaron smiled a bit smugly to himself. He knew it was an offer no one could refuse.

“Excellent. I’ll start you out small; you’ll be playing against professionals after all, not college students. Prove to me that you can at least double your gains and I’ll give you more.”

“That’s a long drive and I don’t think my old rust bucket is going to make it…” Cameron hedged, clearly wanting something from him.

Aaron sighed internally. This guy was a cheapskate.

“I’ll pay for your plane ticket and hotel; it’s less than a two hour flight. This weekend will be a test run for you. If it goes well, I’ll have you go down once a month for the foreseeable future.”

“Right!”

“And know this,” he warned dangerously. “I have eyes everywhere. If you try to cheat me out of a single cent, not only will the deal be off but I will make sure you never find work in the financial sector.”

Cameron’s panicky voice shook.

“No way! You’re giving me a great opportunity here; why would I do something like that? Don’t you worry about a thing. I’ll show you what I can do! I look forward to our partnership.”

“I’ll send you the flight details. Be ready.” Aaron hung up without saying goodbye.

He had roughly half a million of his own money stashed away in liquid assets and currently received $10,000 a month from his parents to ‘have a little fun.’

They most likely expected him to blow it all on booze, women, and going out with other rich kids but Aaron hadn’t spent a single cent (aside from buying Aiden video games, which was a drop in the bucket) since before graduation.

He planned to give Cameron one month’s allowance for his test run and see how well he did.

Aaron left it to Cameron’s discretion what he would do with it as long as he didn’t pick something random like slot machines. He had to play actual games of skill.

If he more than doubled the money, he was hired. Cameron was fairly cocky; he claimed he could triple it on the first go.

While Cameron dealt with the flashing lights and constant ‘dings’ in the casino the following weekend, Aaron studied for his Intro to Econ test and wondered what how things were going in Atlantic City and what Keeley was doing right now.

He couldn’t disturb his gambler and break his concentration so he sent a message to Anomaly with a picture attached.

‘Check the cameras in Bally’s in Atlantic City and find this man. See what he’s up to and report back. While you’re at it, give me an update on Keeley.’

Two different video feeds showed up not long afterwards. One was of a bunch of potbellied middle aged men and one out-of-place nerd sitting around a poker table.

Cameron’s face was completely blank and he sat perfectly still. Everyone else looked at him nervously and folded one by one.

He laid down his cards—a single pair—and everyone groaned as he raked in the hefty pile of chips in the middle of the table with a satisfied expression.

The second video was of Keeley dozing off on a table in the library with a bunch of books and reference materials scattered around her. It looked like she was in the middle of writing a paper when she fell asleep.

She had dark circles under her eyes and an empty paper coffee cup lay knocked over behind her head.

He glanced at the clock. It was nearly 1 AM; somebody had been working hard. Aaron yawned. He shouldn’t be awake this late either.

Aiden apparently only slept during class like the delinquent he secretly was so it was no surprise that he was still up. Cameron would probably be going to bed now that his poker game had been won. He needed to go to bed too.

He left his study materials on his desk and crawled into bed, wishing Keeley were there. It had been so long since they shared a bed and even longer since they actually held each other while falling asleep. Someday…

===

Cameron reported in tiredly but proudly on Sunday night as he waited for boarding to be announced for his flight.

“You gave me $10,000 and I came back with $32,600. Do I pass?”

“Well done. Wire me the money back. I’ll double your initial amount next month and see how you do from there. When would work best for you?”

“Well, a month from now I’ll mostly be dealing with finals…I’m actually from Philadelphia and plan on going home for Christmas break. It’s an hour’s drive to Atlantic City so I can spend at least a few hours in the casinos every day until I come back for the new semester. If you’re willing to wait a few extra weeks…” he trailed off.

“That’s fine. I’ll contact you again during finals week.”

Aaron checked his bank account and was pleased to see the balance go up. This could actually work.

Right now, one share in his family’s company was worth about $1,300 and there were 1,500 shares available total. With his 10% for turning eighteen, he held 150 of them. His father had 630 so to get rid of him completely he needed 481 shares.

It most likely would not be possible to acquire that many in such a short time but he would need $625,300 on hand in case they became available.

Cameron could make that possible in less than a year if he kept up his streak.

He was a first year MBA student so he still had a year and a half to go. Working for Aaron that entire time would vastly expand his personal assets, separate from Alistair’s family money.

This was no short-term game. Aaron had a little over three and a half years left before he would rejoin the company officially.

In that time he needed to become the second highest shareholder and get the majority of the board on his side so his father wouldn’t be able to oppress him anymore.

Only then would he and Keeley be able to live freely. Alistair Hale needed to lose all of his influence, no matter the cost.