Trading Yesterday Shattered Novels & Stories

Hazel's name flashed on the screen, and I swiped to read her message. Hazel: OMG GUESS WHO'S A FINANCIAL GENIUS NOW??? ME!!! I frowned at my phone, confused. Another message popped up before I could reply. Hazel: I bought Knight Industries stock yesterday morning when all that drama hit! Then, I sold some shares at close. I made a $340 profit in ONE DAY!!! My fork clattered against my plate. What the hell? Hazel had never shown any interest in the stock market before. I quickly typed back.

“Yeah. At least you made up for some of the sleep you lost yesterday.” “Did you go home yesterday?” “I did. I came back after dinner.” A pleased smile appeared on his face. “Good girl.” His fingers brushed gently over my cheek. I smiled, but the question I’d been holding back finally slipped out. “Did everything go okay yesterday?” I’d followed the news and some financial commentary online, but the opinions were all over the place. Some people were betting against Vanderbilt Dominion, while others were clearly positioning themselves to profit from the dip. I couldn’t tell how well the company’s public-relations team could contain it.

On the trading platform, the red numbers kept refreshing, each downward tick signaling the evaporation of countless people's money. I couldn't be bothered to keep monitoring the situation, so I closed the phone app. Ten minutes later, Ivy gave me an update. The trading channels were overloaded with a flood of sell orders. Nathan's order was stuck behind thousands upon thousands of others. By the time his sell order was processed, the price had fallen by 40%. He probably only had about 300 thousand dollars left from his initial investment of 500 thousand dollars, and that amount was still shrinking. Meanwhile, the interest on his high-interest loans kept growing by the day.

Despite having a lot of things that were preventing me from functioning well, I don’t know how I was able to come to the company without any scratches. There are a lot of things in my mind lately. Even though I wanted to talk to my only friend about the situation I’m into, I couldn’t tell her at all. Cassandra had once suffered from a miscarriage and I was there when it happened. It was a pity but more importantly a lot more painful for my friend as she had expected her baby to live. After that incident, I had vowed myself to always buying her whatever she wanted; probably also because of the trauma I sustained from that time.

My cloud was broken when a strong, smooth voice commanded, "Stop!" My eyes flit open and my heart stutters. My God, did I mess up? London stares at the both of us, an unreadable expression on his face. I messed up, didn't I? "What's the matter?" Jackie sasses, a brow raised in his direction. "I don't need to hear anymore," he replied with a shrug, "You both made the cut." "That means?" I ask unsurely, narrowing my eyes. It means you're both in," he answered with a small smile, "Welcome to Crash Course Rebellion."

The world I had known, the one I thought I understood, was beginning to crumble, piece by piece. We pulled up to the cabin, the headlights cutting through the rain and the darkness. Carter killed the engine, and for a long moment, neither of us moved. Finally, he exhaled sharply. "I don’t know what to think right now, Winnie." I turned to look at him. He looked... broken. He always had this unshakable confidence, this calm under pressure, but now, it was like something inside him had cracked. "You don’t trust Langford anymore, do you?"

Arthur walked over to her, his steps uneven, his voice rising to a frantic, erratic pitch that made her ears ring. He reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders. His hands were ice cold, his fingers digging uncomfortably into the structured fabric of her blazer. "The regulatory boards have already initiated an emergency freeze on our secondary trading accounts. By 8:00 AM tomorrow morning, the short-sellers will drive our stock price into the fractions of pennies. We won't just be facing a standard corporate bankruptcy, Grace. We will be held criminally liable! Do you understand the weight of that word? Criminal."

“Sophia, there's no house without issue, there's no perfect family, we just need courage to overcome the challenges and pass through the phase, stop overreacting” Sophia's tears continued to fall, her voice trembling with a mix of sorrow and anger. “I thought I could trust James. I thought we had something real. But now, looking back, I see that everything was built on lies and betrayal. It’s about the fact that he took everything I believed in and tore it apart.”

By morning, #Jareth Out of Business# #Financial Fraud Confirmed# was trending. His empire was crashing down, following my falling trajectory.

"What are you talking about? When did I touch you last night?" I looked up at him, wide-eyed, full of dependence. Rising onto my toes, I leaned in close, my voice dropping so only he could hear. "Why are you denying it? After you took me away last night, you were like a different person. The way you had complete control over me last night… I really liked it. It's just… You were too rough. It still hurts a little." As I shifted slightly, something slipped from my pocket. With a soft clink, it rolled right to his feet.