Tycoon Actor C540 (Patreon)

By early February, Lucas and Jennifer had plans to fly out to New York — Lucas to meet with Brady, and Jennifer tagging along to visit Daciana at the LK Foundation's branch there. It worked out cleanly for both of them, and Lucas was quietly looking forward to seeing how Daciana was settling in.

They brought Seraphina along, of course. At fourteen months, she wasn't going anywhere without Jennifer, so that was never really a question. Martha came to look after her. After the trip to Qatar, Sera had gotten comfortable enough on the jet that she no longer fussed, but they kept a medical team on the manifest all the same — just in case.

At the private terminal, they moved through the usual channels, and Jennifer assumed they were heading to their regular jet as always. It was only when Lucas veered toward the far end of the apron — where their usual pilot and ground crew were already stationed, preparing the stairs on something considerably larger — that she finally looked up and registered what she was actually walking toward.

"Did you buy a private jet without telling me?"

Lucas didn't deny it. "We needed more space. Our old one fits fourteen, but that's not enough anymore — not with Sera, Martha, the medical team, and the extra security. So I picked up a Boeing 747-8 VIP. Fits fifty, no problem."

Jennifer's jaw dropped. Even Jack and Simon, who prided themselves on being unreadable, exchanged a glance. They knew exactly what that aircraft cost — and it wasn't a number that sat comfortably in the head.

"You actually spent that kind of money on a jet?"

"I had my finance guys liquidate part of the Bitcoin position," Lucas said. "Took some coordinating, but they sourced the aircraft and closed it out for around four hundred and twelve million."

Jennifer stared at him. "Four hundred— Lucas, that's more than everything I've ever made. My entire net worth."

Lucas chuckled. True enough — she was somewhere around $170 million, give or take. "Net worth isn't the measure of a person. You're worth more than any plane I could buy."

She looked at him like he'd just said something deeply unhelpful. "You can't just say something sweet and expect me to stop being horrified by that number."

"Are you genuinely okay spending that much?" she pressed.

"I bought that Bitcoin back in 2011," Lucas said. "Cost me practically nothing per coin. I'm just reaping what I sowed."

Want me to repost the full passage with that fixed?

The stairs were ready. They started up, and Jennifer cast one last look back at the aircraft as she climbed.

"It's still kind of insane, though. You buy something for practically nothing back then, and now each coin is worth thousands. The whole system is broken."

"It is," Lucas agreed. "But that's just the reality of it. All we can do is work with it."

Jennifer nodded slowly. Broken or not, there wasn't much point dwelling on it. They had a flight to catch.

---

They arrived in New York not long after. At Teterboro, Jack and Simon moved first — sweeping the tarmac before anyone else stepped off. Lucas wasn't taking chances.

A few years ago, he and Jennifer had been in a car together in this city when it ended in gunfire — and it was only because Jack and Simon were there that they'd made it out. He hadn't forgotten, and he wasn't going to give the city a second chance at it.

The convoy waiting on the tarmac showed it. A Mercedes-Maybach S 680 Guard in the center, flanked by two armored Cadillac Escalades — bulletproof glass, reinforced chassis, the works. They loaded up and moved out.

The drive from Teterboro to Park Avenue took just under an hour. Seraphina slept through all of it, bundled against Jennifer's side, dead to the world until the convoy finally slowed to a stop outside the LK Foundation's New York branch. She stirred then, blinking up at Jennifer with drowsy confusion.

They took the private entrance to avoid drawing attention. Margaret, the director of the child welfare program, was already waiting inside — warm, composed, clearly anticipating the visit.

Jennifer had brought gifts for the children, and the staff ferried the bags in while the kids gathered around with uncomplicated excitement. They had no idea who was standing in the room with them, and that was exactly how it should be.

Jennifer watched them for a moment, then turned to Margaret. "Where is Daciana?"

"In her room. She's been there most of the morning, playing by herself."

Jennifer frowned. Lucas did too.

"Why is she on her own?" Jennifer asked.

"She's always been that way," Margaret said, choosing her words carefully. "A withdrawn personality. She doesn't cause trouble — occasionally she'll join the others if something catches her eye. But she prefers her own company. Drawing, mostly."

Lucas and Jennifer exchanged a look, then asked Margaret to take them to her.

The room was nicer than most people would expect from a welfare facility — a proper bed with a real frame, soft linens, a desk, a small shelf of books and toys. Years of Lucas's funding had made a visible difference, and it showed in every detail.

Daciana had made herself a little world in the corner. She'd draped her blanket over the bedpost and pinned the edges down with a few books, forming a low, slanted canopy just big enough for one small girl to sit under. She was cross-legged inside it, a crayon in hand, fully absorbed in whatever was on the paper in front of her.

"Daciana?" Jennifer called.

Nothing. The crayon kept moving.

It was only when their footsteps got closer that Daciana finally looked up — and her face immediately lit up.

"Lucas!" She scrambled out from under her blanket fort and ran straight to him.

Lucas laughed softly and put a hand on her head. Jennifer, standing right beside him, got nothing. She pressed her lips together in a mild pout.

"Why don't you say hello to your mama?" Lucas said, nodding toward Jennifer.

Daciana tilted her head and seemed to notice Jennifer for the first time. She studied her for a moment with the careful look of someone trying to match a face to a memory — she'd only seen her over a video call before.

Then, slowly, recognition settled. "Mama!"

Jennifer's face broke into a full smile. She crouched down and opened her arms.

The reunion was easy and warm. After a moment, Jennifer glanced at the paper still sitting under the blanket fort. "Can I see what you were drawing?"

Daciana retrieved it and held it out proudly. It was a family — stick figures, crayon-simple but deliberate. One figure with yellow scribbled hair that was clearly Jennifer. A taller one beside her that was clearly Lucas. And off to one side, a smaller figure — a girl with long dark hair.

Jennifer looked at it for a quiet moment. Her sister, most likely.

Lucas caught it too. He gave Jennifer's shoulder a brief touch, then stepped back and crossed to where Margaret was waiting by the door.

"She doesn't mix with the other children much," he said, keeping his voice low. "Is there something going on? Bullying?"

Margaret shook her head. "Nothing like that. The other children aren't unkind to her. She simply prefers to be alone — it's just how she is. She'll join a group occasionally if she feels like it, but she never stays long." She paused. "Honestly, seeing her run to you like that — that's not something I see every day. She's warming up to you and Jennifer in a way she hasn't with anyone else here."

Lucas glanced back at Daciana, who was now sitting beside Jennifer on the edge of the bed, chattering in a mix of Romanian and English while Jennifer listened with full attention.

He said nothing, just watched them for a moment.

Just then, the door opened and Martha walked in with Seraphina toddling beside her. Lucas smiled and crouched slightly. "Look, Daciana — this is Seraphina. She's going to be your little sister."

Daciana's eyes went wide. She knelt down to Sera's level, voice dropping to something almost reverent. "She is so small..."

She reached out carefully. Sera looked at her hand, then at her face, and didn't pull away.

Within minutes they were on the floor together, Daciana showing Sera something with complete seriousness while Sera watched with the focused attention only babies and very old people manage. They looked, already, like exactly what they were going to be.

Lucas and Jennifer caught each other's eyes briefly. Neither said anything.

Two hours passed without anyone quite noticing. Lucas eventually touched Jennifer's arm. "I have to head out. The meeting with Brady."

"Go," she said. "These two aren't going anywhere."

He nodded and left them to it.

---

Andrew Lauren Productions kept a New York office in Midtown — about forty minutes from the hotel by car, give or take traffic. Lucas came in casual: dark jeans, plain jacket, NYC cap pulled low. Enough to pass at a glance.

He walked through the lobby at a steady pace, Jack and Simon flanking him. The receptionist at the front desk looked up.

"Can I help you?"

"I have a meeting. Brady Corbet's session — should be on the schedule."

She pulled up the calendar, eyes on the screen, and nodded routinely. "Room 4, third floor." She gestured toward the elevator without looking up.

They moved. But as Lucas passed the desk, the receptionist glanced up one more time — something snagging at the back of her mind. That jaw. That height. The way the two men beside him moved.

She looked back at her screen. Then back toward the elevator.

The doors had already closed.

'...No. That can't be right.'

...

Third floor. Room 4. Lucas knocked.

"Come in," Andrew called, not looking up from whatever he was reading.

Lucas pushed the door open.

The moment Andrew looked up, the words died in his mouth. Brady turned from where he was standing by the window. Mona glanced over from the table.

Nobody said anything for a second.

"Lucas." Brady crossed the room first, hand extended. "It's — sorry, we should've met you downstairs. We didn't even think—"

"It's fine," Lucas said, shaking his hand. "Easier this way, honestly."

Andrew stepped forward. "Andrew Lauren. It's genuinely an honor." He caught himself. "We've been looking forward to this for a while."

Mona offered a quieter smile — more composed than the other two, though the relief in her eyes was unmistakable. After everything it had taken to get this film to this point, the man standing in their office was not someone any of them had dared count on for long.

'So this is the team.' Lucas read the room in a glance. Brady looked younger in person — and tired in that specific way that had nothing to do with sleep.

After some brief greetings, Lucas pulled out a chair and sat.

"So — let's talk about the project."

Brady and the others nodded, still carrying that slight tension of people not yet sure what they were dealing with.

Lucas caught it and smiled. "Relax. I'm just an actor who wanted a good role. Nothing changes on set just because I'm involved on the money side."

The tension in the room dropped visibly. Brady let out a quiet breath.

"Yeah," Brady said. "Let's talk about it."

"And like we agreed — the funding is the funding. The creative is yours. I can suggest things, but what you do with that is entirely up to you."

Brady nodded, and the last of the lingering worry left his face. He'd been carrying that particular concern since the deal was signed — Lucas Knight could pull out at any moment if something displeased him. Hearing it said plainly, directly, from the man himself, was something else entirely.

He thanked Lucas, then began walking him through László — his vision for the character, the interior life he imagined underneath the architecture and the silence, what he needed from whoever inhabited that role for the length of this film.

Lucas listened carefully. Then said, "I've actually been sitting with the character already. Before this meeting." He paused. "I can switch into him now if you want to see where I am."

Brady and the others looked at him.

'As expected,' Brady thought. 'Of course he came prepared.' He'd known Lucas was talented — everyone knew that — but there was a difference between knowing it and sitting across a table from it.

Andrew chose his words carefully. "Would you be willing to show us? Right now?"

Brady said nothing, but leaned forward slightly. Mona went very still.

Lucas looked at the three of them for a moment. Then he took a slow breath, closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again —

László Tóth was sitting in that chair.