Mark had worked at the bank for five years before he noticed something alarming.
It happened accidentally when his boss was standing beside his desk reviewing a document when his phone lit up. Mark glanced down without thinking.
A crypto wallet, with the balance filling the screen. Mark squinted as he caught sight of the number.
At first his brain simply rejected it. Too many digits – it looked like a glitch.
He leaned closer, then counted again, and again.
That was trillions of dollars worth of crypto.
Not millions, or even billions.
Trillions.
Then his boss turned around.
Mark blinked and quickly looked away, pretending he hadn’t noticed anything. For the rest of the day he convinced himself it was a mistake – maybe it was a demo wallet, or he counted wrong, even after doing a quadruple take.
After all, there was no way his boss was ten times richer than the richest man on the planet.
But over the next few weeks, he started paying closer attention.
Mark arrived early most mornings, but the his boss’ office door would already be closed, the inside dim behind the blinds as he heard muffled calls from within. When he left late in the evening, the door was still closed, the sound of his voice on the phone ever present.
No one had ever seen his boss commute.
Mark also realized something else. In five years, he had never once seen his boss eat. No coffee breaks, lunch or snacks. Just long hours inside the office with the occasional appearance in the break room for ‘mandatory HR fun Fridays.’
It certainly was strange, but by no means alarming. His boss was otherwise modest, low key and a helpful guy. Mark always assumed he was just a hard worker who kept to himself.
Then he noticed the interviews.
Part of Mark’s job was reviewing applicant records. Every hiring cycle, several candidates would go into the boss’s office for a final interview. The successful ones always came back out beaming.
But the unsuccessful ones… as he skimmed down the list of names, it dawned that he couldn’t remember seeing them leave.
At first he thought it was coincidence – maybe they exited through another corridor. But when he checked the security logs, their visitor badge scans simply stopped. No exit time.
Nothing.
It was as if they’d just vanished inside the office. The thought gnawed at him for days before he finally did something about it. One Friday afternoon he knocked cautiously on his boss’s door and took a deep breath.
“Come in,” a calm voice called.
The office was dim, the blinds firmly closed as always. His boss looked up from his desk.
“What can I do for you, Mark?”
Mark sat down, pretending to be casual.
“I wanted to ask you for some… financial advice. Nothing too personal, if you wouldn’t mind.”
His boss raised his eyebrows, but gestured for him to go ahead.
“Crypto,” Mark said, then paused and cleared his throat. “I meant… investing. Any tips for a beginner?”
His boss grinned and leaned back slightly.
“Well,” he said, folding his hands, “there’s a famous rule with that kind of stuff. Time in the market beats timing the market. I’m sure you’ve heard that before.”
He paused and added thoughtfully,
“But you might not know… that I said it first.”
Then his boss smiled.
Two sharp fangs gleamed in the dim light.
Mark sat frozen in the chair. For a moment, nothing made sense. Then everything did – never leaving the office, eating, or going outside. Hundreds of disappearing applicants.
Centuries of compound interest.
Mark stood up slowly and backed out of the office, his mouth dry.
“See you Monday,” chuckled his boss, the richest man alive… or dead.
submitted by /u/TwistedUrbanTales
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