Chapter 24
While the social hierarchy of the college was being rewritten in dramatic confrontations and viral videos, Remy's financial shadow was growing into an eclipse that few outside his inner circle fully understood.
Using his Foresight to navigate the volatile crypto and forex markets with supernatural precision, he had amassed a fortune that surpassed even the wealthiest families on campus.
Only a few families like the Castellanes who'd built their wealth over generations were wealthier than him.
He sat in the back of his Audi R8 in the executive parking lot of the Grandview Tower, the same building that housed Le Bernardin, though he was here for different reasons today.
His laptop was open on his knees, displaying a series of real estate acquisition papers, legal documents, and financial projections that would have made most investment bankers salivate.
He wasn't just playing the markets anymore. He was building an empire.
The screen showed his current portfolio: $47.3 million in liquid assets, spread across multiple accounts and investment vehicles.
Another $23 million in real estate holdings, three commercial properties downtown, a small apartment complex on the north side, and the penthouse condo he actually lived in.
Cryptocurrency holdings that fluctuated but averaged around $15 million. Stock positions in seventeen companies, all chosen through Foresight, all performing spectacularly.
At twenty years old, Remy Beaumont was worth approximately $85 million. And growing.
But the documents on his screen weren't about his own wealth. They were about Castellane Real Estate Group, specifically a restructuring proposal that would inject $20 million of Remy's capital into the company in exchange for a 35% ownership stake and a seat on the Board of Directors.
"You're thinking about Lyra's family, aren't you?" Silas appeared in the passenger seat without warning, his translucent form settling into the leather with the ease of someone who'd been doing this for months.
His 1850s waistcoat shimmered in the afternoon light filtering through the tinted windows.
"The Parstons almost destroyed them," Remy replied without looking up, his fingers flying across the keys as he adjusted numbers in the proposal.
"Even with the evidence I provided, even with Victor facing criminal charges, the damage was done.
The Castellanes' credit is damaged. Their loans are being called in. Their partners are nervous. They survived the immediate crisis, but they're still vulnerable."
He pulled up another document, a comprehensive business plan for expanding Castellane Real Estate into new markets, diversifying their holdings, and modernising their operations.
"I'm going to turn her father's company into a real estate giant," Remy continued, his golden eyes scanning the projections with satisfaction.
"I'll take a significant share, I'm not a charity, but they'll be more powerful than they ever dreamed.
More importantly, they'll be insulated from the kind of attack the Parstons tried. Untouchable."
"Noble," Silas observed, leaning back in his seat with a knowing smile. "But you're not just doing this for Lyra, are you?
You're doing this because it's a good investment. Because your Foresight shows you that real estate in this city is about to boom.
Because helping the Castellanes happen to align perfectly with enriching yourself."
"Is there something wrong with that?" Remy asked, finally looking at his great-great-granduncle's ghost.
"Doing well by doing good? Making money while helping people I care about?"
"Not at all," Silas said warmly. "That's the mark of true wisdom, finding the paths where multiple good outcomes align.
I'm just making sure you understand your own motivations. Self-deception is more dangerous than any external enemy."
Remy closed the laptop and leaned back, staring out at the city skyline visible from the elevated parking lot.
"I understand my motivations perfectly. I want Lyra's family to be secure so she never has to feel that terror again, that helplessness.
I want to build something that lasts instead of just accumulating numbers in accounts.
And yes, I want to make more money because money is freedom and power and the ability to protect the people I care about."
"And the others?" Silas asked, his voice gentle. "What are your plans for Nyx and Indigo?"
Remy was quiet for a moment, his mind turning over the complications of his increasingly complex life.
"Nyx needs the freedom to pursue her brilliance without the weight of her parents' expectations," he said finally, thinking of the "Iron Lady" who had finally started to smile, who'd begun painting in the art class she'd signed up for despite her mother's disapproval.
"I've already set up a trust fund for her education, full tuition through graduate school if she wants it, living expenses, everything. She doesn't know yet. I'm going to tell her tonight."
"She'll refuse it," Silas predicted. "Her pride won't let her accept that much help."
"Then I'll convince her it's an investment," Remy said with a slight smile.
"A loan against her future earning potential. Nyx thinks in numbers and logic. If I frame it correctly, she'll accept."
"And Indigo?" Silas pressed.
Remy's expression softened. "Indigo needs to see that she's more than just a face on a magazine.
More than her body or her beauty or her ability to manipulate people.
She has intelligence, creativity, and emotional depth that she's never been allowed to develop because everyone, including herself, reduced her to just being hot."
He pulled up another document on his laptop, a business plan for a fashion and lifestyle company, ethical and body-positive, that would give Indigo a platform to use her modelling experience and connections for something meaningful.
"I'm going to offer her the seed funding to start her own brand. Not modelling for other people's vision, but creating her own.
Showing that she can be beautiful and substantive. That she doesn't have to choose."
"You're trying to save them all," Silas observed. "Lyra from financial ruin, Nyx from academic imprisonment, Indigo from superficial emptiness. Very heroic. Very noble. And very dangerous."
"Why dangerous?" Remy asked, though he suspected he knew the answer.
"Because they need to save themselves," Silas said quietly. "You can provide resources, opportunities, and support.
But if you solve all their problems for them, you're not loving them. You're making them dependent.
You're building a cage made of golden bars. And eventually, they'll resent you for it."
Remy absorbed that wisdom in silence, recognising the truth in it.
He'd been so focused on using his wealth and Foresight to fix things, to protect and provide, that he hadn't considered whether that help might become its own kind of prison.