Chapter One
The brilliant, hot globe of the sun was just rising in the east, sending out fingers of warmth across the fading colors of the autumn landscape. Sitting on his glass‑and‑chrome patio balcony, overlooking the best view that the city of Houston had to offer, surrounded by all the richness that money could buy, Leo Vance was miserable.
And it was all because of money. It wasn’t that he didn’t have enough, as seemed to be the problem for so many others. No, it was that recently he had acquired too much. And he’d also acquired a host of problems that seemed to go with the money.
He sipped rich espresso that he’d made with the expensive Electa Belle machine out of a platinum‑rimmed Bernardaud Limoges cup—both gifts that had been foisted upon him by satisfied CEOs—and squinted against the glare of the rising sun, trying once again to determine exactly how his life had taken such a bad turn.
He now had truckloads of money. Boatloads, even. He had so much money that he didn’t know what he’d ever do with it all. And, getting it has been incredibly easy—but only recently, in the last three months. Before that, he’d had to struggle to make ends meet just like everyone else he knew. It wasn’t that he was lucky lately—no, it almost seemed to be more than that. It was almost as if he could not fail at making money now.
But he didn’t seem to be having that same success with everything else. Conversely, it now seemed as if he was failing at every other aspect of his life. His longtime girlfriend had recently dumped him for another man. A man she’d said was better‑looking and wasn’t such a stick in the mud. Apparently, her other man was a lot more fun than Leo was. But Leo knew that what she’d really meant was that this other man didn’t mind wasting money on foolish, unnecessary things like plastic surgery and trips to Vegas. She’d been angry with him for giving so much to charity, yet neglecting her need for bigger breasts and a smaller nose.
And, strangely, Leo’s friends now seemed to only like him for the things that he and his new enormous amounts of money could provide for them—and when he tried to tell them that maybe those things they wanted weren’t so good for them and that he wasn’t going to help them waste their lives or become addicted to the newest drugs on the street, they became angry and their relationships with him became strained. So much so that now he didn’t feel like he had a single real friend left.
But these strained relationships didn’t make him change his mind about providing his friends with things that weren’t good for them. He didn’t believe in throwing crazy, wild parties so that his friends could get “wasted” and have fun, or buying sports cars just so his buds could pick up women. It just wasn’t right, not when others needed that money for basic needs. Still, he missed the camaraderie that he used to have with his friends before he’d started making money hand over fist.
Even his acquaintances had started hitting him up for money lately. He didn’t mind, as long as it was to help them out—after all, he now had more money than he could ever spend in a lifetime—but when they started coming to him for gambling debt payments or to buy drugs or booze, he had to turn them away. And this, of course, did not endear him to them at all.
Before he’d become a seemingly infallible financial guru, he’d thought that what people said about money was wrong. He’d heard time and again that money was the root of all evil, and he hadn’t believed it. But now, after dealing with the flood of money for a while he was starting to believe it.
Though he’d tried not to let it happen, his money had corrupted all of his friends, and, he had to admit, he was starting to feel its deleterious effects as well. For the first time in his life, he was glad that he had no family and had been an orphan for all of his formative years. It would have been too painful to see his money corrupt a beloved mother or father, sister, or brother. That, he could not have borne.
Lately, he could feel the pull of the money upon his own thoughts and actions. He could easily quit his job as a consultant. He had no real need for an income anymore. He could buy anything he wanted, go anyplace he pleased. Money equaled power, and he had it in spades. But he fought against the corruption of ease and plenty. Instead, he donated massive amounts to deserving charities and those in need. He believed that he could still do good in the world, and so he tried desperately to funnel his time, energy, and money into that. The problem was, he just kept making more money. No matter how much he donated, it seemed like he always received it back tenfold.
And, he hadn’t quite figured out why.
When the sun’s creeping rays reached where he sat on his massive patio balcony, he finished the rest of his espresso and went inside to prepare for his day. He had an important meeting with the head of Green International that he didn’t want to be late for.
Green International was a multi‑billion‑dollar company. It was also the biggest donor to charity organizations in Houston—other than Leo, of course. But, since he always insisted on being an anonymous donor, no one, other than his ex‑girlfriend, knew that he donated so much to worthy causes. His anonymous status made it seem that, instead, Green International was the biggest philanthropic organization around.
Lately, Green International had come into a bit of financial trouble, and with his status as the best financial advisor around, he’d been called in to consult. Leo was eager to help so that their charity donations could continue. Though Green International’s donations had already dropped a great deal in the previous few months, Leo was confident that he could help them recoup their losses and commence the donations again. After all, those in need in the city of Houston could use all of the help that they could get, and Leo was determined to do all that he could to help them get the help that they needed.