Infinite Wealth System: Crazy Tasks, Insane Rewards! - Chapter 201

Chapter 201: The Questioning
The questioning room was silent, the kind of silence that pressed down on the chest and made every breath feel heavier than it should.

Jayden stood still for a moment before sitting across the steel table. His eyes didn’t leave the man handcuffed to the chair…

Liam Thompson, once the President of Icelandia, now nothing more than a prisoner.

The light above flickered faintly, the hum of electricity filling the space. Liam’s eyes were sunken, and his once-proud shoulders slumped forward like a man carrying the weight of mountains.

Jayden leaned forward, his eyes calm but sharp. After being carried by the weights of the incoming threats, he had finally created a time to deal with the prisoners.

These people who had almost caused utter chaos for this nation. He would be joking if he says he didn’t have the urge to bash his skull right at that moment, but what good would that bring?

At least, maybe they deserve could be given a chance to say some things before they face his wrath.

“Tell me, Liam. What pushed you this far? What drove you to do the things you did?” Jayden asked, his eyes right at the middle-aged man’s face.

Liam exhaled slowly. His wrists rattled against the cuffs as he lifted his hands halfway, then let them drop back onto the cold table.

At this point he wasn’t even looking like the old Liam Thompson anymore. He had shrunken like bubbles under sunlight.

“It wasn’t politics. It wasn’t power. At least, not at first.” His voice was low, trembling. “It was loss.”

Jayden said nothing, waiting to hear what he wanted to say.

Liam’s eyes grew distant, lost in a memory he had fought to bury.

“My daughter. She was the only light I had. The kind of child who could make you laugh just by walking into the room. She… She had cancer.” His throat tightened. “We fought it for years, Jayden. Every treatment, every drug, every hope. But one morning she just… didn’t wake up.”

His voice cracked, and for a long moment, he sat in silence, staring at the table as if the answer to all his sins lay hidden in the metal.

“I loved her more than I loved myself,” Liam whispered. “When she died, I couldn’t look at my wife without seeing her absence. I couldn’t stand the house, the family, the world. So I left. I divorced her. I buried myself in work, in control, in cruelty, and I didn’t even notice when it became who I was.”

Jayden flinched and nodded slightly, giving a face of sharp realisation.

“So you knew you were cruel?” Jayden asked, his voice cutting through the heaviness.

Liam gave a weak laugh, though it sounded more like a sob. “Sometimes… I just can’t keep lying to myself. I became something I once hated. And by the time I realized it, I had already gone too far.”

Jayden’s jaw tightened. His voice carried the weight of every citizen who had lost a loved one to Liam’s bombs.

“Do you understand that everyone in Nortasia wants you dead? Do you understand the blood on your hands?”

Liam lifted his head slowly. There was no denial in his eyes, no excuses. Only despair.

“I know,” he said simply.

Jayden leaned back in his chair, exhaling deeply. “I’m considering their wish. But I’ll let time decide. What my mind tells me in the next few days will determine what happens to you.”

Liam didn’t spare a look as he had his face on the floor, but he looked almost grateful for the uncertainty.

Jayden stood, his chair scraping against the floor. He turned to the guard by the door.

“Bring Sofia in next.”

While Sofia was being brought in, Liam was being carried out, and they both exchanged looks for a moment quite not up to a second as they brushed shoulders.

Jayden sighed, watching her walk over with the dark, faint look on her face.

…

The next questioning began differently.

Sofia didn’t look exactly broken like Liam.

She looked restless, her hands trembling as she sat across from Jayden. Her eyes darted to him, then down to the table, then back again.

Jayden didn’t waste words. His voice was firm, almost cold.

“I don’t need to ask you much. I know exactly why you became what you are. You were a young woman with an unquenchable thirst for money. That was manageable… Until you crossed a line. You became more than greedy. You became unmanageable.”

Sofia’s lips trembled. “Jayden, please…”

“You killed your own mother,” Jayden said, cutting her off at once. His voice didn’t rise, but the weight of his words was heavier than any shout. “And you tried to kill me. You betrayed your own country, Sofia… Do you realize what you’ve become?”

Her eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t mean… I lost myself, Jayden. I thought if I kept climbing, kept getting more, I’d finally feel safe. But I…” Her voice broke as she covered her face with her hands. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Jayden shook his head slowly. “Sorry doesn’t erase blood. Sorry doesn’t bring back the dead.” He stood, his gaze fixed on her but his heart heavy. “You will face the weight of every deed you committed.”

“Please, Jayden,” she begged. “I never wanted it to be like this. I was blinded.”

But Jayden was already walking toward the door. He didn’t look back. Remembering how many people lost their life after the Western Spring blast, he couldn’t just hold it.

Before he left the room, he let out some words that hung like judgement itself, too deep that he could hit to the bones.

“You were manageable once, Sofia. Not anymore.”

The door shut behind him, leaving her sobbing alone.

There was no way… No way he would let things slide after all she had done.

He would have to get justice for Vena. For Teresa. For Tom. And for the rest of the citizens who lost their lives to her cruel stupidity.

******

(Monarch Café, Cloudbridge City).

Melinda adjusted the collar of her jacket as she walked through the bustling café. The nationwide chain had become not just one of the most recognized brands, but literally the most recognised brand in Nortasia, and she, once a struggling woman with nothing but a dream, was now its proud CEO.

The aroma of roasted coffee beans filled the air, mingling with the sound of chatter and clinking cups.

“Welcome, boss. Umm, we have some reports,” Reece, who had still been loyally working for the company for the last months approached her and said.

“Oh. I’ll invite you in a moment. Just hold on for the time being, okay?” Melinda said.

“All right, boss.”

“Thank you, Reece,” she responded with a smile.

The other workers greeted her with respect as she passed, and even some customers whispered her name when they noticed her.

Success had changed her life, but she carried it with grace, surely.

In her office, she sat behind a polished desk stacked with reports and proposals. She was reviewing a new menu idea when a knock sounded on the door.

“Come in,” she said without looking up.

The door opened, and footsteps entered. She raised her head and froze.

A tall man in a black suit stood before her. His face was stern, his posture rigid. A pair of glasses framed his sharp eyes. He looked like someone who belonged in the military more than a bodyguard or perhaps something else.

“Can I… Help you?” Her heart skipped at once as she asked.

The man didn’t sit. He stepped forward and placed an envelope on her desk. His voice was deep, steady.

“I was sent to deliver this.”

That was all he said before turning on his heel and walking out. The door closed, leaving Melinda staring at the envelope, her hands trembling slightly.

For a long moment, she didn’t move. The room felt colder and quieter, but then, she finally reached for the envelope.

Written on it, in bold letters, were two words…

“From His Excellency.”

Her breath caught. She tore it open carefully, pulling out the letter inside.

“Hey, Mel… It’s been a while. It would be such a joy to see you again. Come over to the villa anytime tomorrow. I’ll be waiting.”

The words weren’t entirely formal, but the meaning was clear. It was an invitation.

She was being asked to visit the villa.

Her lips trembled as she read it again, just to be sure. Then a smile broke across her face, a smile so wide and genuine that it surprised even her.

Tears gathered in her eyes, unbidden but unstoppable.

“It’s him…” she whispered.

She pressed the letter to her chest, her heart racing with a mixture of joy, relief, and disbelief.

Jayden had remembered her.

He wanted to see her!

A single tear rolled down her cheek and landed on the paper. She didn’t wipe it away. She just sat there, smiling through the tears, her heart overflowing in a way she hadn’t felt in years.

For the first time in a long time, Melinda felt like life was opening a door she thought had been closed forever.