The Plan – Chapter 1
The Spark
“Most people wait for the right moment.
Valentine learned that the moment never comes—
you build it.”
It’s 2 a.m.
The city outside hums with the low electric rhythm of late-night taxis and neon reflections.
Inside a narrow apartment, one faint light burns—a screen glow bouncing off tired eyes.
Valentine van Valen sits hunched over his laptop, hoodie pulled tight, a half-empty coffee mug beside the keyboard.
The cursor blinks on a trading chart like a heartbeat.
He scrolls through numbers that mean nothing to most people—but to him, they whisper possibility.
He grew up with nothing certain. His childhood was a pattern of bills, repairs, and promises that never held.
Money wasn’t evil—it was escape.
And tonight, for the first time, the plan felt real.
“Illustrations created with AI. Story written and produced for Steemit Originals.”
A Quiet Beginning
Valentine isn’t a genius trader.
He’s not some hacker or prodigy.
He’s just a man who decided that ignorance is more expensive than risk.
Every evening after work, he reads. Every weekend, he experiments.
Small wins. Painful losses. But each mistake is another clue in the code of freedom.
“Knowledge,” he mutters, “is the cheapest investment—if you pay attention.”
Outside, dawn begins to draw a pale line over the skyline.
He saves his watchlist, closes the laptop, and leans back.
For the first time in years, he smiles—not because he’s rich,
but because he finally knows where to start.
Some dreams die in daylight.
Others are born at 2 a.m., under the hum of an old screen and the sound of your own heartbeat.
Valentine van Valen has made his choice.
Tomorrow, he makes his first trade.