Dark Lord Seduction System: Taming Wives, Daughters, Aunts, and CEOs novel Chapter 67

Chapter 67: Hope & First Trading Profits

"What am I looking at?" Mom asked, squinting at the screen, her reading glasses perched on her nose.

"Those are his trades," Madison explained softly. "He’s making money in real time."

"How much money?" Sarah asked, leaning forward with curiosity.

"Ethereum is up $50,000," I said, trying to keep my voice calm but failing completely. "BNB is up $5,000. I went heavy on Ethereum because it’s got major updates coming next week—the market’s pricing in the upgrades early."

The table went completely silent. I could hear the refrigerator humming, the clock ticking on the wall, my own heartbeat in my ears.

"Fifty thousand dollars?" Mom said slowly, like she was testing whether the words were real. "In one day?"

"More like three hours," I corrected, watching her face go pale.

"Peter," Emma said, staring at my phone like it was displaying alien technology, "that’s more than Mom makes in a year."

The weight of that statement settled over the table like a heavy blanket. Mom made $45,000 a year killing herself with double shifts, and I’d just made more than that in three hours sitting in my bedroom.

"Wait," Mom said, and I could see the wheels turning in her head. "Where did you get the money to invest in the first place?"

Madison and I locked eyes. That look you share when you both know the lie you built is about to get grilled.

"I’ve been freelancing," I said. Smooth. Deadpan. Like tossing a dollar store tarp over a volcano. "Coding gigs. Websites. Saved up."

"How much did you save?" Sarah asked like a detective who’d smelled something off ten minutes ago and finally had the warrant.

"Enough to get started," I deflected, sipping water like it could drown the tension.

"Peter," Mom said—and this time, it wasn’t gentle. It was her real voice. The one she saves for when she’s terrified. "How much money are we talking about here?"

Deep breath. No way around it now.

"I started with $300,000."

Boom.

The silence that followed? It wasn’t awkward. It was nuclear.

Madison froze that I gave the accurate number. Sarah’s jaw dropped. Emma’s eyebrows vanished into her hairline. And Mom—

"Three hundred thousand dollars?" she whispered like each syllable cost her something.

"Yeah."

Her chair screeched back as she stood, like even it couldn’t handle this plot twist.

"Peter Carter. Where the hell did you get three hundred thousand dollars?"

She was shaking—arms, voice, soul. Not from rage. From fear. That deep, old fear—the kind that follows people who’ve lost everything before and just started trusting the floor beneath them again.

"Mom, I swear—"

"No teenager makes that kind of money building websites!" she barked, voice splintering. "Are you dealing drugs? Did you steal it? Are you in some kind of gang? Tell me the truth, now!"

"Mrs. Carter," Madison stepped in, trying to defuse the bomb, "I can explain—"

"Madison, no, stay out of this," Mom said, eyes flaring for a second before softening. "But—Peter, please..."

Her eyes were glass now. Not anger. Not disappointment.

Fear.

Real, raw, stomach-punch fear.

"Mom," I said gently, reaching across the broken silence, "it’s not illegal. I promise. I’ve been working on something for months—crypto-based. It finally paid off."

"What kind of crypto project?" she asked, her hand shaking in mine. Her voice barely holding on.

And that’s the question, isn’t it?

What kind of project turns a broke sixteen-year-old into a ghost millionaire overnight?

I didn’t answer her yet.

Because the truth?

The truth would nuke the dinner table.

And everything that came after.

I scrambled fast, like I hadn’t rehearsed it a thousand times in my head. "I created some trading algorithms," I said, heart hammering. "They run automatically, make money while I sleep. Crypto markets never close—so, 24/7 grind, constant openings."

Mom didn’t respond. She just stared at me. That locked-on, mom-level stare that cuts through bullshit like it’s her superpower. My stomach twisted, not from guilt—no, that ship sailed—but from the sheer suspense of whether she was gonna buy it or crack it all open.

Numbers don’t lie. Or at least, she thought they didn’t. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Mom never swore.

And yet here we were.h

"This is just the beginning," I said. "By Christmas, we’re living like people again. No more survival mode. No more pretending we’re okay. We’re done with that Chapter."

Madison was dead silent beside me, just watching. Taking it in. This kind of love? This kind of raw, ugly, beautiful breakdown of everything you’ve carried for too long? This was new to her. Probably hit her harder than the money.

Mom turned to her, eyes rimmed red. "Thank you for standing by him. For believing in him when no one else did."

Madison nodded, her voice cracked and barely there. "He’s going to change the world. I’m just lucky to watch it happen."

No one touched their food after that. Everyone just kept circling back to the money, to the possibilities. It was like hope had walked in, kicked despair out of its chair, and parked itself right at the table.

"So what happens tomorrow?" Emma asked, wiping her eyes.

"Tomorrow?" I looked at Madison, and something in my smile must’ve said it all. "We start building the empire."

The weight of that hit me hard. I’d promised them a new life. A future. I couldn’t mess this up.

"You ready for the show?" Madison whispered, her fingers finding mine under the table.

"Always," I said, giving her hand a squeeze.

As we cleared the plates and wrapped up dinner, I caught Mom watching me with a look I’d never seen before. Not just love. Not just pride.

Hope.

And I swore right there—whatever it took, whatever I had to burn down or build up—I was going to make sure that hope never died.

As dinner wrapped up, I caught Mom looking at me again. Different this time. Not just with love or pride—but something bigger.

Hope.

The kind that felt real. Dangerous, even.

And I’d be damned if I let that look fade.

I was going to burn the fucking world down before I let it die.