Alexander Kane Is Not a Poor Bastard!

Chapter Three The Bank Loan

Alexander spent the night slumped in a stiff hospital chair, his body aching and his mind refusing rest. He stared at the tiled floor, the hum of hospital machines filling the quiet around him. Even as the clock ticked past midnight, his thoughts raced. He wasn’t welcome back at the house; Jeruel had made that clear with her actions. But he couldn’t focus on that humiliation now.

His daughter, Zoe, was the reason he stayed. The thought of her small body fighting for breath haunted him. He had failed her, and the guilt pressed down on him like a weight.

But beneath the guilt, something stirred. A spark of determination. He wasn’t going to let Jeruel and her family take Zoe from him. He had lost everything once before—his business, his pride—but this? This was a battle he couldn’t afford to lose.

At the break of dawn, Alexander stood, his back stiff and his face drawn. He decided his first step: he needed a way to fight back. Money was power in Jeruel’s world, and it was the only weapon he had left to wield.

The bank was a stark, cold building that mirrored the pit in Alexander’s stomach. He sat across from the loan officer, his hands tightly clasped as the man reviewed his application with a dispassionate eye.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Kane,” the officer said, pushing the papers back across the desk. “Without collateral, we can’t approve this loan.”

Alexander leaned forward, his voice rising in desperation. “Please, you don’t understand. I have a daughter—she’s all I have. If I don’t get this loan, I’ll lose her. I’ll lose everything.”

The officer shook his head. “I understand your plight, but policy is policy. Perhaps you could secure a co-signer?”

Alexander’s chest tightened. “There’s no one left for me to ask,” he murmured, his voice breaking.

The officer stood, signaling the end of the meeting. “I’m truly sorry. Good luck, Mr. Kane.”

Defeated, Alexander stepped outside, the sunlight too bright for his mood. He sat on the steps of the bank, staring into the distance as his mind churned. There had to be a way. Somewhere in this mess of a world, there had to be a path forward.

Back at Jeruel’s family home, the morning was starkly different. Jeruel woke with a contented sigh, stretching languidly in her bed. Jack lay beside her, his arm draped over her waist. She turned to him with a smirk, brushing his hair from his face.

“Good morning,” she said, her voice soft but teasing.

Jack smiled back, pulling her close. “Morning,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

They had spent the night indulging themselves, freed by the knowledge that Zoe was safe and that Alexander’s presence no longer loomed over them. Jeruel laughed as she got out of bed, slipping on a silk robe.

“You need to leave,” she said playfully, tossing Jack his shirt. “I have a busy day, and we wouldn’t want the neighbors to talk, would we?”

Jack grinned, catching the shirt. “Tonight, then?”

“Tonight,” she confirmed, disappearing into the bathroom.

***

At the lawyer’s office, Jeruel’s voice was firm and unyielding. “I want this done quickly,” she said, signing the papers with a flourish. “I’m tired of dragging this out.”

Her lawyer nodded, taking the documents. “You’ll have the final draft ready for Alexander’s signature by the end of the day.”

***

Later, as Alexander sat on the bank steps, his phone buzzed. He fished it from his pocket and stared at the screen. The email subject line hit him like a slap: Divorce Papers: Please Sign Immediately.

A second buzz followed—a text message from Jeruel.

"Sign the papers, Alexander. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be."

He sighed, letting the phone slip from his hand onto his lap. “So, it’s really happening,” he muttered to himself, the weight of the finality settling in.

But just as he slid the phone back into his pocket, it buzzed again. Another notification. He groaned, expecting another venomous message from Jeruel. But the sender was unfamiliar: Crypto Wallet Update.

Frowning, he opened the notification, and the numbers on the screen stopped him cold.

Balance: 1,000 Sheet Coins. Current Value: $9.8 Billion.

He blinked, his mind refusing to process the digits. “What?” he whispered, scrolling through the app to confirm. The valuation was real.

The Sheet Coins he had written off as a failure had skyrocketed in value overnight. His heart pounded, his breathing shallow.

“Billion?” he repeated aloud, the word foreign in his mouth.

A memory surfaced of Jeruel’s mocking laughter years ago when he had told her about his investment. “Throwing away our savings,” she had said. “Wasting money on a dream.”

His shock turned into a grin, then into laughter—wild and unrestrained. The people who had scorned him, humiliated him, and left him to rot were about to see a very different Alexander Kane.

He stood, his back straight, his eyes blazing with a new resolve. For the first time in years, he felt like the man he used to be.

“They’re going to regret this,” he murmured to himself. “Every single one of them.”