vagabond_love1999

Aaron San Agustin was never meant to be noticed. Born in the rural city of Crestfall, where secrets weigh heavier than the soil, he grew up under the shadow of poverty, fractured loyalties, and a family bound by silence. Burdened by the emotional wreckage of a complicated upbringing, Aaron made a quiet decision: to walk away from his past and build a life of quiet endurance in Velmont City—a place that promised opportunity, but offered only relentless struggle.

By day, he worked tirelessly to make ends meet, sending money back home to his aunt, Coleen, who kept what little remained of his family afloat. By night, he fought the quiet war of loneliness, rejection, and humiliation—particularly from Elena Layne Fonte’s affluent family, who saw him as nothing more than a poor farm boy clinging to their daughter’s light. But through it all, Elena believed in him. Where others saw nothing, she saw purpose. Her love became his only sanctuary.

Then, fate intervened.

In a moment of distracted frustration, Aaron mistakenly invested $10,000—nearly all he had—into an obscure digital currency on his outdated smartphone. Ridiculed for his recklessness, he braced for collapse. But the currency was BITX, and within years, its meteoric rise transformed him from invisible to invaluable. Not only did Aaron become one of its largest shareholders, but he was also selected—by means unknown—to receive the Black Diamond Card: a mysterious, elite pass granting him unlimited access to networks of influence, power, and wealth few could imagine.

With quiet precision and the same humility that once made him forgettable, Aaron began to reshape his life—and the world around him. But power brings new shadows, and not everyone welcomes his rise. Old secrets from Crestfall stir, dangerous eyes begin to watch, and the quiet farm boy no one believed in becomes a force that neither the elite nor the corrupt can ignore.

From forgotten to formidable, Aaron San Agustin is a story of quiet rebellion, impossible odds, and the uncanny twist of destiny that turns broken beginnings into legacies.

"Ashes of Crestfall: The Rise of Aaron San Agustin"

Inside the interrogation room, silence no longer existed.

Ghost knelt before the Great Nestlè commander, fingers dancing across his portable nerve induction kit. Thin wired probes glimmered under the flickering overhead bulb as he pressed two nodes along the man's exposed forearm. The commander's entire body tensed, veins bulging against strained skin.

"Question one," Ghost said calmly, his voice as clinical as a surgeon's. "Number of operatives remaining in your hidden satellite camps."

"F…fuck you…" the man spat through clenched teeth, tears streaking down his dust-caked face.

Ghost sighed faintly, adjusted a dial, and flicked a switch. The man convulsed violently, a strangled cry tearing from his throat before Ghost deactivated the current.

The commander gasped, choking on his own saliva. "F…forty-three… plus… plus rotating militia… in the southern shaft…"

"Sector… sector 17 Delta… underground… water mine tunnels…"

Ghost's eyes flickered behind his glasses as he typed the data into his wrist tablet without breaking eye contact.

On the other side of the room, Hawk worked the Black Bettle officer with silent, efficient brutality. His thick fingers wrapped around the man's wrist, snapping it sideways with a dull crunch. The officer screamed, tears spraying from his eyes.

"How many are guarding your ammunition reserves?"

"Five… no… six permanent… plus two drone operators… please… please—"

Hawk twisted his thumb into the shattered wrist joint, and the man howled again.

"Where is your drone command uplink?"

"In…in the comms tent… northern perimeter… hidden under… under supply crates… please… gods… please stop…"

Hawk's eyes narrowed faintly. "God isn't here," he muttered.

Across the room, Ghost inserted another microprobe into the Nestlè commander's neck, sending a faint electric tremor along his spinal nerves. The man shuddered violently, sobbing.

"Who funds you?" Ghost asked softly.

"I… I don't… only names… encrypted relays… monthly code switches… all funds routed through… through M.E.T. Holdings… offshore Seychelles accounts… please… no more… please…"

"Who is your direct contract handler?"

"Codename only… 'Viper'… never saw his face… Middle Eastern accent… used Russian satellite numbers for relay calls…"

Ghost deactivated the probe and slowly stood, his pale face impassive. Hawk released his grip on the other officer's mangled wrist, letting the man slump forward, gasping and trembling with silent tears.

"Enough for today," Ghost said, removing his gloves. Hawk nodded silently, wiping blood from his knuckles with a tattered cloth.

The two prisoners hung limply in their restraints, broken and empty-eyed, the floor beneath them streaked with tears, sweat, and faint drips of blood. Overhead, the single bulb flickered against cracked walls as the rising sun poured molten gold through slits in the steel shutter, illuminating the aftermath of shadows at work.

Outside, construction tractors rumbled on, forging steel foundations deeper into the earth – a silent promise that nothing built by mercy alone would ever stand under this sun.

CHAPTER 58: Extraction