Chapter 3

By 11 PM, unable to sleep, I snuck back into the dark apartment through the fire escape.

I clicked on my flashlight and pulled a metal detector out of my backpack.

Crouching in front of the thick wall, I pressed the sensor against the plaster.

"Beep. Beep. Beep."

My hand trembled. I moved the sensor to different spots.

The top of the wall was silent. The middle gave a weak signal. But the lower I went, the sharper and louder the beeping became.

I collapsed onto the floor, my back drenched in sweat, a manic grin spreading across my face.

There really was something in the wall.

I sat in the pitch-black living room, laughing like a lunatic.

With this money, I’d never have to work another day in my life.

Who cared about a breakup? Once I showed Chloe the money, we could buy ten luxury penthouses.

But my smile quickly faded.

I had signed a contract for a million dollars. I had to pay it in full within three days.

I had fifty thousand. I was still short by nine hundred and fifty thousand.

The gold was in the wall, and the cash was in the ceiling. But without the keys and ownership, I couldn't start demolishing the place.

Where the hell was I going to get nearly a million dollars in three days?

I stared at my contacts on my phone.

I stopped at the name Zach—a high school classmate who now ran a high-interest payday loan business.

When the call connected, Zach stayed silent for a few seconds. "Bro, are you getting scammed? That run-down apartment complex is barely worth half a million."

"Just help me out with this. You set the interest rate."

Normally, I would never dare touch hard money lenders, but this was different.

In three days, the keys would be mine, and I’d tear that wall down the very same night.

With millions of dollars waiting for me, what was a high-interest loan?

The day the funds cleared, my dad called me, furious. "Ethan, have you lost your mind?! Zach called and said you took out a massive loan to buy a property? Since when do you flip houses?"

"Your mother hasn't slept a wink! Our family has always lived honestly, step-by-step.

You’ve been brainwashed by some slick agent! Cancel the deal and get our money back right now, do you hear me?!"

I gripped my phone tightly and said nothing.

My dad cursed a few more times before slamming the phone down.

Finally, the three-day deadline arrived.

I wired the million dollars to Marcus, received the deed and the keys, and immediately changed the locks.

I shut the door, pulled the curtains tight, and prepared to dig.