opened the app store on her phone and typed "

ers practice day-trading with fake money. Once it installed, she

fake ticker s

cross the screen, adjusting the backend algorithms. She manipulated the line graph, forcing it into a steep, a

dated instantly. One hundred

ng sure the massive green n

es and clicked on the grou

screenshot and be

inside tip on a private liquidity pool for a new token. I put all my savings in to try and double it so I could pay for your post-op care

hit

, stood up, and walked into the tiny k

gan to vibrate violently against the bedshee

me, sipping her water. She stared at the

et it ring until it al

, walked over, and picked it up. She took a deep breath, forci

nswered, sound

voice exploded through the speaker. He didn't ev

ad, keep it down. Yes, it's real. It's a closed-do

round. Her fake, sickly wheeze was completely gon

fle on the other

ister had snatched the phone. "Can you put my trust fund in there?

five in her head, letting the

ance. "This pool is strictly for institutional investors. They

the room. "You better get us in, Ellery! If you hold out on us,

hone. She made it sound like she was carrying the weight o

my account. I'm already registered as a VIP node. You'll have to wire everything to

tionless as she recited her ba

he phone. "I'm pulling the early withdrawal on my 401

l disco

r to her small desk, opened her laptop,

er approval and heavy paperwork. The rest of the day was an agonizing wait

deposit hit. Fifty thousand dolla

nsfer for twenty thousand dollars

he screen

ad managed to pull it off so quickly. He must have paid an exorbitant price in fees and pena

sfers, the total balance sat at a sta

hesitate for a

nd routed it directly to an obscure, high-yield checking account she

account balance drop t

ened the family group chat,

ected into the pool. W

She didn't care about the frantic messages they were sending about buyi