Golden Eye Tycoon: Rise of the Billionaire Trader-Chapter 69: Weird Behaviour

.The drive back to his apartment felt different this time. As Jake pulled into his usual spot, the familiar cracks in the pavement and the dim flicker of the hallway lights seemed smaller, like a suit he’d outgrown.

He stood in the center of his living room, looking at the modest furniture and the stacks of financial journals. This place had been a sanctuary during his leanest months, a place of convenience for a student with a dream. Now, it was just four walls holding him back from the skyline.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Aliya. "I’m home. You can come grab that book whenever."

"I’ll be there in thirty," she clipped, hanging up before he could say anything else.

True to her word, the knock came exactly half an hour later. When Jake opened the door, Aliya stepped in with a strange, nervous energy, her eyes darting toward the coffee table where her novel sat.

"Found it," she said, snatching it up.

Jake leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms. "You know, I’ve been meaning to ask—why the big production about me being home? You have your own key. You’ve let yourself in a dozen times to ’borrow’ my snacks or use the high-speed Wi-Fi when I wasn’t around."

Aliya stiffened, her back to him as she tucked the book under her arm. "What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly that. Usually, I come home to find a half-empty bag of chips and a missing hoodie. Why the sudden need for an official invitation today?"

She turned around, her expression flaring into a defensive pout. "Why are you suddenly interrogating me? I just couldn’t find my keys, okay? I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you’d get all worked up and give me the ’responsibility’ lecture. God, Jake, take a breath."

Jake studied her for a moment. Her explanation was plausible, but the way she wouldn’t meet his eyes told a different story. He decided to let it slide for now; he had bigger news to break.

"Whatever. Just find them soon," Jake said, walking toward the kitchen. "Anyway, you should know—I’m moving out soon. Probably within the next few days or so."

Aliya’s eyebrows shot up. "Moving? To where? Is this about that house you mentioned?"

"I’ve graduated, Aliya. This place was about being close to campus, but I need something that fits the work I’m doing now. I’ve actually found a place in Sky-Gardens." He paused, looking at the small space. "I was thinking of extending the lease here for a year. I’ve already paid it up. If you want, you could stay here. It’s closer to your internship than the house."

A flash of genuine excitement crossed her face, followed immediately by a groan. "You know Mom would never agree to that. She still thinks if I’m left alone for more than six hours, I’ll ’go astray’ and end up joined a nomadic circus or something."

Jake chuckled, a mischievous glint in his eye. "To be fair, you didn’t exactly help your case when you vanished to that graduation party after high school without telling anyone. Dad almost called a national state of emergency."

"It was ’one time’!" Aliya shouted, throwing a decorative pillow at his head. "And I’m still suffering for it! That was years ago, and I still have a curfew when I stay at home."

"Look," Jake said, catching the pillow. "Find a roommate. Someone Mom trusts. If you do that, I’ll talk to her. I’ll tell her I’m keeping the place for ’investment reasons’ and that I need you here to look after it. She listens to me lately."

Aliya froze, her eyes wide. "Wait, really? You’d do that?" She lunged forward, nearly knocking him over as she wrapped him in a fierce hug. "You’re the best! Seriously, thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah," Jake grunted, patting her shoulder awkwardly. "Get off me before I change my mind and turn the place into a storage unit for my old textbooks."

She pulled back, beaming, but as the excitement settled, her expression shifted again to that guarded, curious look from earlier. "So... you saw Alex for lunch? How is he? What did you guys even talk about?"

Her body language shifted. She started fidgeting with the corner of her book, her shoulders hunched slightly—the universal sign of Aliya having a secret she was terrified of letting out.

"Just catching up," Jake said simply. "It’s been a while since we sat down properly."

"Did he say where he’s been?" she pressed, her voice a bit too casual. "He’s been pretty quiet on social media lately."

"He said he was still dealing with his family’s drama. The usual stuff with his dad and the business." Jake narrowed his eyes slightly. "Why are you so interested in Alex’s whereabouts all of a sudden?"

Aliya let out a long, audible breath, her shoulders dropping in a visible wave of relief. "Oh. Just curious. Like I said, I haven’t seen him in a while and he usually pops up in my feed. Anyway, I gotta go! I promised Mom I’d be back for tea. Thanks for the apartment talk, big brother!"

She vanished out the door before he could ask anything else. Jake stood in the silence of the hallway, a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. Alex’s terror and Aliya’s relief were two pieces of a puzzle that didn’t quite fit yet.

---

By 19:00, the apartment felt too quiet. Jake didn’t feel like cooking, and he certainly didn’t feel like another high-end meal with heavy silver and forced politeness. He grabbed his keys and walked two blocks over to *The Corner Grill*, a local spot that specialized in *Seswaa* and charcoal-grilled T-bones.

The air inside was thick with the scent of woodsmoke and savory spices. There were no white tablecloths here, just sturdy wooden benches and the roar of a football match on an old TV in the corner.

"The usual, Jake?" a woman called out from behind the counter. It was Thato, the owner, who had seen him through many late-night study sessions when he could only afford a side of chips.

"You know it, Thato. T-bone, medium-rare, with a double side of pap and chakalaka," Jake said, sliding into a booth.

"Coming right up. You look like you’ve had a long day, sugar. You been working too hard?"

"Something like that," Jake smiled. "Just navigating some new territory."

"Well, the meat doesn’t care about your territory. It just cares about the flame," she joked, disappearing into the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, she returned with a steaming plate. The steak was charred perfectly, the fat rendered down into a salty, delicious crust. The *chakalaka* was spicy enough to make his eyes water, and the *pap* was the perfect, comforting weight to ground him. He ate slowly, savoring the simple, honest flavors. It was a reminder that no matter how many millions were in the bank, a good meal was still the best reward for a hard day’s work.

---

At 20:00, Jake was back on his sofa, the lights dimmed as he dialed Catharine. She picked up instantly.

"Hey," she said, her voice sounding a bit tired but happy. "I just got back. My feet are killing me, but I think I’m officially ready to conquer the civil service."

"I saw the photos," Jake said, a smile in his voice. "The charcoal grey one is definitely the ’I’m here to fix everything’ look. You looked incredible, Cath."

"I felt incredible! Even if Sofia tried to convince me that I needed a three-thousand-mark handbag to match. I had to practically drag her out of the store. How was your lunch with Alex?"

"Heavy," Jake admitted, staring up at the ceiling. "He’s going through a lot with his family. It reminded me how lucky I am that my biggest problem is figuring out which billionaire is trying to screw me over this week."

"He’s lucky to have you to talk to. Did you find anything about the house you want?"

"I did. Alice—remember the girl from the tech store?—she’s in real estate now. She showed me a place called The Zenith. Cath, it has a waterfall on the terrace. A waterfall on the fortieth floor."

"A waterfall? Jake, that sounds like something out of a movie. Are you really going to buy it?"

"I’m thinking about it. It’s a lot of money, but... it feels right. It feels like the place where the next version of me lives. But I want you to see it before I sign anything. It’s a lot of space for one person."

"I’d love to see it," she whispered. "Tell me more about the terrace..."

They talked for hours, the conversation drifting from the details of the apartment to her excitement about the internship, and eventually to the quiet, mundane things that made them laugh. By the time they finally said their goodnights, the moon was high over the city, and Jake felt a profound sense of peace.

The world was changing fast, but as he closed his eyes, he felt ready for whatever the 10:30 AM board meeting had in store.

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