The Billionaire’s Secrets

Everyone knew who Aiden Locke was.

Billionaire tech genius. Founder of Etheron Corp. Tabloid favorite. Mysteriously privacy

But no one really knew him.

Except, maybe, me.

I met Aiden long before the world called him a visionary. Before the Fortune 500 features and glossy magazine spreads. Back then, he was just the quiet guy who sat at the corner table of the café where I worked, tapping away on his laptop every Thursday night.

No bodyguards. No million-dollar suit. Just a hoodie, black coffee, and silence.

I was 25, broke, and barely scraping by. College dropout. Dead-end job. A closet full of unpaid rent notices and dreams I couldn’t afford to dream anymore.

And yet, every week, he showed up. Same table. Same coffee. Same glance up when I brought it over.

“Thanks, Emily,” he’d say. Soft voice. Always my name.

The first time I asked what he was working on, he blinked at me like I’d broken some invisible wall.

But he smiled.

“Trying to change the world,” he said, like it wasn’t a big deal.

I laughed. “Good luck with that.”

---

Chapter 1: The Booth

What started as passing conversation grew into something I didn’t expect. He started asking about my art. I had once mentioned I used to paint—just once. Two weeks later, he brought me a sketchpad.

“No pressure,” he said. “But maybe... start again.”

Who does that?

Who remembers a stranger’s forgotten dream?

I didn’t know how to explain it, but Aiden had a way of seeing you—not just who you were, but who you could be.

Over time, the café booth became our place. I didn’t even realize how much I looked forward to Thursdays until one week, he didn’t show up.

Then two.

Then three.

I told myself I didn’t care. He wasn’t mine to miss.

But I did.

---

Chapter 2: Vanishing Act

A full month later, he reappeared. Same booth. Same hoodie. But something in his eyes was... off.

“Sorry,” he muttered, eyes flickering. “Had to disappear for a while.”

“I figured you were off inventing teleportation,” I joked.

He didn’t smile.

That night, I found out the truth. Or at least, the part he was willing to share.

Etheron Corp had secured its first major investor. His AI design had been picked up by a military contract—something he’d been fiercely against. He walked away from millions. Blew the deal. And now, powerful people were angry.

That was the first time he told me about the secrets.

“I don’t want to build machines that control people,” he said. “But others do. I said no. Now I’m the problem.”

I sat across from him, my hands wrapped around a chipped ceramic mug, feeling the edges of a world I didn’t belong to.

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

He looked at me then—really looked at me.

“Hide what they want. Keep it buried. Protect the ones who still believe.”

And then, like an idiot, I asked: “Why tell me all this?”

He smiled again. Small. Tired.

“Because I trust you, Emily. And I don’t trust anyone.”

---

Chapter 3: The Secrets Unravel

Weeks turned into months. He became bigger. Famous. Untouchable.

And I faded into the background.

Calls slowed. Messages came at odd hours. Until they stopped.

The booth at the café stayed empty. So did a part of me I didn’t want to admit existed.

Then, one night, almost a year later, I came home to find a small package at my door. No name. No return address. Just a silver USB drive and a note:

“If you’re reading this, I’m gone. Keep it safe. Trust no one.”

My chest went cold.

I turned on the TV. Aiden Locke had been reported missing. Presumed dead. Plane crash. Private jet lost off the coast of Iceland.

The world mourned the genius billionaire.

But I knew better.

---

Chapter 4: What He Left Behind

I didn’t open the USB for weeks. I was scared. Paranoid. Convinced someone was watching.

But I had to know.

When I finally plugged it in, the screen blinked. Then came the files. Dozens. Encrypted memos. Blueprints. Conversations—proof of everything he said.

A program. Something he’d been building in secret. A failsafe.

One folder was labeled “For Emily.”

Inside was a single file: a voice recording.

> “Hey, Em. If you’re hearing this... then I didn’t make it. Or I had to disappear. Either way, I need you to be strong. Stronger than I was.”

> “They wanted control. Over minds. Over lives. And they were willing to burn the world to get it. I stopped them—barely. But it’s not over.”

> “You always believed in the little things. In people. That’s why I trusted you. I need you to keep this safe. Or destroy it. Whatever your heart says is right.”

> “You were never just the girl at the coffee shop. You were my anchor. My truth. My only real thing.”

> “I hope you’ll forgive me for leaving.”

---

Chapter 5: A New Booth

That was two years ago.

I never told anyone about the files. Never gave them to the media. Never tried to sell the story.

I just kept the promise.

I moved to a new city. Got a job at an art center. I paint again. I breathe.

But some nights, I still walk to the café near my apartment. I sit at a booth in the corner with a sketchpad and black coffee.

And I wonder...

Is he still out there?

Hiding.

Watching.

Waiting.

Or maybe—just maybe—he left behind a little more than secrets.

Maybe he left behind a piece of himself in the only place he ever felt safe.

With me.

---

Author’s Note

Some secrets aren’t meant to be buried.

Some love stories don’t need a name.

And some people change your life—even if they never meant to stay.

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