Bitcoin Billionaire: I Regressed to Invest in the First Bitcoin!-Chapter 197: Emotional Anchor

When Penelope had called, Darren knew what it meant. She must have heard about Archibald's return, or maybe she just missed him.

Maybe she knew he was having a hard time and wanted to talk with someone..

Penelope had a way of knowing these things. It was so easy for her to read him that he never even bothered lying.

So when she asked him how he was, he told her the truth.

And she told him... that she would be waiting in the park.

After work, without speaking to anyone, Darren left the Complex, entered his Royce and drove to see her.

Now, the park was quiet again.

Not the still silence of absence, but the deep, resting quiet of something sacred— preserved.

Lavender bushes swayed softly along the path, lampposts hummed their warm golden light, and the evening breeze carried the faint scent of rosemary and pine.

It was that brief window before sundown where the world stopped pretending and just... exhaled.

And that's where Darren Steele was.

Not at his desk. Not flanked by security or shadowed by staff. But here— beneath the crooked lamp by the bench with the chipped armrest— with her.

Penelope Castle lay across the length of the bench, her head resting gently on his lap, golden hair tumbling like soft ribbons across his thigh.

She wore a knit cream cardigan over a faded blue sundress, her pale legs curled up under her, bare feet swinging slightly. Her fingers idly played with the hem of his coat, and her eyes gazed up at him— not with awe or fear, but with affection, love and even reference.

It was the most genuine affection Darren had ever felt. And he knew it because he could literally feel it emanating out of her each time she gazed at it.

It was so strong that many times — like now — he would look away just because he had no idea how to react to it.

Darren leaned back, one arm slung across the bench, his other hand resting lightly on her waist. He was in full black again— tie loosened, shirt open at the collar, coat draped over the back of the bench. His expression was unreadable to most.

But Penelope wasn't most.

To the world, Darren had become ice— sharper than his rivals, colder than his friends, more calculated than anyone had the right to be at twenty-one.

But not here.

Not with her.

Here, in this park where she first brought him a celebratory launch cake and hope, where she fed him dinner after work, where her soft teasing pulled his smile out of hiding like a secret— here, he was still Darren before Ryan Anders and Gillian Henderson broke him.

And even now, when his cold edge had thickened, he still came.

Still answered her call.

They hadn't spoken for a while after he arrived. Penelope had just laid down and rested her head on him, content with the quiet. Darren hadn't moved. Hadn't needed to.

This wasn't the first time they had done this. Darren and Penelope had met here numerous times after work, and she was the one he told everything to. The only one who knew what was really happening with him.

Penelope was his anchor.

His balance.

The reminder that he wasn't born cold. He had become cold.

Because he had to.

But she reminded him what warmth felt like.

Their relationship had deepened in that gentle, secret way most real things do. That night— weeks ago— they had gone shopping for suits and then she'd ask to go home with him.

She'd given herself to him, and he hadn't known what to say afterward, only that he felt like he didn't deserve it.

They hadn't talked much about it since. But to Darren's surprise, Penelope hadn't asked for more.

It was like she understood.

She knew how busy he was. She didn't want to tie a ribbon around his neck when the world was already trying to put him in chains.

But Darren felt the guilt sometimes.

He felt it when he didn't call her for days.

He felt it when he barely replied to her messages.

He felt it when he saw Harper Bell undress in his office and didn't tell her to stop.

He felt it when he wanted to escape to her arms, but never had the courage to ask her to wait for him.

Because he wasn't sure who he was asking her to wait for anymore.

Her voice drifted up through the air.

"Archibald Mooney is back."

He looked down at her. Her face was tilted up, glowing softly under the amber light.

"Yes. I just heard this morning."

Penelope smiled at his reserved reaction. "How are you holding up?"

"I engross myself in meetings and work," he said. "What do I care about Archibald Mooney?"

She giggled.

> "You don't have to pretend when I'm around, you know right?" she said, her fingers still tracing the edge of his sleeve.

Darren looked at her but didn't say anything. "Okay. Let's change the topic. How's Rachel? Are you still giving her the same serious face?"

"Rachel's fine."

"Not what I asked, but okay. What of Amelia?"

"She's fine too. She's been surprisingly effective. Running operations. And she's smarter than most execs twice her age."

"Kara?"

He smiled faintly. "Still swearing at the cooling units."

> "That's good," she said with a giggle. "You like Kara a lot. I've noticed she makes you smile."

Darren frowned slightly. "She just reminds me about me when I just started. I remember her reaction when I got my first car."

Penny grinned and sighed, her cheek pressing closer to his thigh. "They all care about you, Mister. You know that right? They're willing to sacrifice a lot for your company too. You've built something incredible."

He didn't reply.

She felt it— the way his body tensed just a little, the way his breath shifted.

"You don't believe that anymore?" she asked.

He was quiet for a long time. Then he said:

"I'm not sure what I've built anymore. All I know is that it's growing. And that the people I'm going up against are older, richer, more powerful… more dangerous."

He looked past the trees. The city was out there... watching. Always watching.

"To survive, I might have to cross lines I won't come back from. Things I might do… might erase the person I am. Or was."

She was still. Then, softly:

"Then come here."

He blinked.

Penny placed her hand on his cheek. "Come here. If you ever lose yourself, Mister Steele… come back to this park. To me. And I'll help you find your way again."

He looked down at her, but she didn't look away.

Her fingers lowered from his face and found his, intertwining.

"You don't have to be soft with the world," she said. "Be as ruthless as you need to be. Tear them down. Break the rules. Build your empire. Just…" she swallowed, "be soft when you're with me. That's all I want."

For the first time in days, Darren smiled— not the cold smirk he gave to rivals. A real smile.

"You'd accept me like that?"

"Are you kidding? I already do."

He didn't say anything else.

He just leaned down, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and held her hand tighter as the wind whispered through the trees again.

"Alright then. Just promise not to be missing when I need you the most."

...

...

"I promise."