CHAPTER 9: HACKER GODDESS

CORA'S POV

I stared at the number on my screen for the hundredth time that day.

$100,000,000.

One hundred million dollars….all mine.

Well, technically it was the payment Diamond had offered me for helping investigate the people hunting him.

A payment I still wasn't sure was real.

"You're staring again."

I looked up.

Diamond stood in the doorway of the tech center.

Coffee in one hand.

Amusement in his silver eyes.

I pointed at the screen.

"There's a hundred million dollars in my account."

"I know."

"You say that like it's normal."

"It is for me."

I rolled my eyes.

"Rich people are ridiculous."

His lips twitched.

"Fair but we both know you could make so much more money if you wanted to."

I looked back at the monitor.

The number still looked unreal.

For years, I'd worried about a low household budget.

I remembered secretly selling some of my jewelry to pay for Tobias's birthday party when Daniel claimed he was "too busy" to handle it.

I remembered skipping meals because money was tight.

Now I had more money than I could spend in ten lifetimes.

The difference was rather dizzying.

"What are you going to do with it?"

I looked at Diamond.

"I don't know."

That wasn't entirely true.

Part of me wanted to lock the money away and never touch it.

The larger part wanted to prove something to myself.

Diamond pulled out a chair.

"Then let me ask a different question."

I waited.

"What would nineteen-year-old Cora do with it?"

The answer came instantly.

"Invest it."

His eyebrow lifted.

"You answered that quickly."

"Because nineteen-year-old Cora was smarter than twenty-nine-year-old Cora."

"No. She was simply not scared to be ambitious but you're so cautious now."

The words made me completely silent because truly I had been so bold and sure of myself back then, not the timid woman I became as an adult.

I wanted to build things, somewhere along the way, I'd traded those dreams for survival.

I slowly closed the banking app.

"What kind of investment?"

Diamond smiled.

"Now we're asking the right questions."

Three days later, I found myself sitting in a conference room overlooking Manhattan.

I still couldn't believe I was in New York.

Or that I was wearing a tailored navy-blue dress that hugged every curve I possessed without feeling ashamed.

The old Cora would have spent hours trying to make herself look smaller.

Today's Cora cares absolutely about no one's opinion of her.

I loved my curves.

My hips, my thighs, and my soft stomach.

The parts Daniel spent years criticizing.

The realization made me smile.

"You look nervous."

I looked across the table.

Diamond sat opposite me.

Perfectly composed.

As usual.

"I am nervous."

"Good."

"Good?"

"That means you're still human."

I snorted.

"That's one way of looking at it."

The conference room doors opened.

Five executives entered.

I straightened instinctively.

The meeting began.

For the next two hours, numbers filled the screen.

Revenue projections.

Growth forecasts.

Market opportunities.

Most people would have been bored.

I was fascinated.

By the time the presentation ended, my decision was already made.

I knew exactly what I wanted.

The lead executive smiled.

"Do you have any questions, Miss Bane?"

I leaned forward.

"Three."

His smile widened.

"Go ahead."

By the time I finished asking them, the room had gone silent.

The executive stared at me.

Then at Diamond.

Then back at me.

"You have a technology background?"

"A little."

Diamond coughed suspiciously.

I ignored him.

The executive slowly smiled.

"I see."

Twenty minutes later, I signed my first investment agreement.

Twenty million dollars.

Gone.

Just like that.

My pulse jumped.

"Congratulations."

I looked up.

The executive extended his hand.

"You've just become one of the largest shareholders in the company."

I shook it.

Trying not to panic.

The moment the meeting ended, I turned toward Diamond.

"Oh Goddess."

"What?"

"I just spent twenty million dollars."

"You invested twenty million dollars."

"Same thing."

"No."

His smile widened.

"Very different."

The investment wasn't glamorous but it was smart.

A cybersecurity company.

One that developed security systems for governments and major corporations.

A company growing rapidly.

A company everyone had somehow overlooked.

Including its competitors.

Including Wall Street.

Including almost everyone except me and apparently Diamond.

"How did you find them?"

I asked as we left the building.

Diamond glanced at me.

"I didn't."

"What?"

"You did."

I frowned.

"I've never even heard of them."

"No."

He smiled.

"But you identified their weakness, growth potential and market position in under fifteen minutes."

I blinked.

"Oh."

"Exactly."

For a moment, pride warmed my chest.

A feeling I wasn't used to. I had been criticised at every angle by Daniel and my parents and the feeling felt wonderful.

Six months later.

The twenty million dollars had become thirty-four million.

Then forty-two.

Then fifty-seven.

I stared at the report.

Twice.

Then three times.

Then a fourth.

"This can't be right."

Across the desk, Diamond laughed.

"It is."

I looked at him.

"I made thirty-seven million dollars."

"Yes."

"By doing nothing."

"You did something."

I frowned.

"What?"

"You made a good decision."

I looked back at the screen.

The numbers still felt surreal.

For years, I'd believed wealth belonged to other people yet here I was at the table of the rich ones. Even my other investments had performed so well I got much more than I bargained for.

By the end of the year, my investment portfolio had expanded.

Technology.

Cybersecurity.

Software development.

Artificial intelligence.

Data infrastructure.

Every opportunity was carefully researched.

David started calling me "Money Goddess."

I threatened to throw a laptop at him.

He continued calling me that anyway.

The nickname spread through the pack.

Soon everyone was using it.

Even the children.

One afternoon, Sophie ran into the tech center carrying a drawing.

"Look!"

I examined it.

Then burst out laughing.

The picture showed me sitting on a mountain of money.

Wearing a crown.

Holding a laptop.

The words underneath read:

THE BILLIONAIRE GODDESS.

I laughed so hard tears filled my eyes.

"Is this really how you see me?"

She nodded seriously.

"You're rich."

"Fair."

"You're smart."

"Sometimes."

"And everybody listens when you talk."

I blinked.

That last one surprised me because it was true.

People listened now because I had something valuable to contribute.

The realization was strangely emotional.

For years, I thought being beautiful enough would earn respect but now I knew only results fetched respect. 

Two years later.

I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of my Manhattan office.

My office.

The city glittered below.

Millions of lights stretching endlessly into the distance.

Behind me, a large screen displayed the latest valuation of my holdings.

I stared at the figure.

$14.4 Billion.

My breath caught.

Katiana purred inside my head.

(We did it.)

It was only the beginning.

My phone suddenly buzzed.

I glanced at the screen.

The smile disappeared.

The message contained only one sentence.

Daniel Bane has arrived in New York and is seeking an audience with The Hacker Goddess.