I knock three times, just how he prefers, two short knocks followed by a long third, then wait for him to say I can enter. It’s such a small, strange demand and one of the countless ways he asserts control over everyone. Things like this seemed harmless before, but now they feel ridiculous. I hear the short click of the door unlocking, something I know he can control from his desk, and I step inside.
“Come on in, Cody. I’m so glad that you suggested this meeting today,” Viktor says, sounding so genuine.I’m sure that’s how he’s conned so many people. “You wanted to talk about a business opportunity?” he asks, motioning for me to sit in the chair opposite his desk.
It’s smaller than his. Everything about this place, the size of the giant office, the mini bar on one wall, the full conference table set up, and a sitting area with plush couches, supports the image of how important he is.
“Yeah, Beck mentioned it to me,” I reply, trying to sound casual and like my usual cheery self without overdoing it. “He has so much money that other people handle it for him, but I’d told him about the money I have from my parents and that it’s just been sitting in my account, not doing anything,” I say, starting the speech I rehearsed with Beck. “I’ve been thinking I’d like to use it to help people somehow.”
“That’s a great idea, Cody,” Viktor nods, squinting his eyes a little as he meets my gaze like he’s really concentrating on what I’m saying. “And it couldn’t have come at a better time, I’ve been thinking about ways to help even more people learn about Kyla’s programming. I know there are so many people out there who could improve their lives with our courses, but they don’t know about them yet. That money can be used to spread our knowledge, can help so many people,” he says, as though we’ve already agreed to usemymoney this way.
“Really?” I ask, perking up, trying to make it seem like we’re on the same page.
“Of course, I’ve had so many great marketing ideas that we’ve had to postpone due to limited funds,” he explains.
“Well, when I mentioned it to Beck, he suggested that I invest it first so that I can have even more to help people with,” I add hesitantly, like I’m waiting to hear Viktor’s opinion.
“Investments can take a long time to see results,” he warns.
“That’s what I thought, too,” I enthusiastically agree. “But, he told me about this business he’d planned to invest in and said that I could do it instead if I wanted to use the money for good,” I continue with our script.
“There’s this small business that went viral on social media,” I explain as I pull out my phone to the fake webpage Adrian made for us. Beck and I told him everything, and he immediately offered to create an online presence for the company we’d made up for this scheme.
“Apparently, they’ve designed an at-home frozen yogurt machine that sells out every time they post about it, but it’s just two guys making them, and they don’t have the money to buy the supplies to make more than a few machines at a time.”
I show him some pictures of “the guys” and “the product” as I talk. In reality, it’s actually just pictures of Adrian and Parker posing as the business owners on the fake social media page Adrian set up for Froyo-yo-yo.
The website and social media page have a lot of aesthetically pleasing frozen yogurt photos that I'm sure they purchased at a shop and then transferred into pretty bowls to place in front of the countertop machine. The machine he actually bought from a frozen yogurt place near his house after paying them three times what it was worth, then covered in the fake company’s logo.
He did a great job of making it look like a home appliance instead of one you’d see in a store. I’m kind of convinced that Adrian can do anything at this point.
“Beck had already reached out to them to find out if they’d be interested in an investor to split the profits with if he paid for the supplies they needed to create more. They said that making them is super easy, and there’s a large profit margin; they just don’t have the money to buy enough supplies to meet demand. They’ve agreed to split the profits evenly if someone funds them,” I say, hoping to convince Viktor to sign off on the “investment” so that I’ll have his approval to transfer a bunch of money out of my bank account into a new one he can’t access.
“So you want to give these random guys on the internet a bunch of money and hope they’ll use it to make more of their product, sell it, and actually pay you back?” he asks skeptically.
We’d anticipated Viktor questioning the idea, so I stick to the plan. “Beck was going to do a trial run with a smaller amount, and then if it worked out, invest more heavily. His lawyers had already vetted them and drawn up a contract, so he’ll do it if I don’t.” We’d talked about using an excuse to need a much larger amount of money and only doing one transfer, then running. But, we ultimately determined that this plan would allow us the best chance of him agreeing, while also giving us time to gather intel.
I’m worried my practiced responses sound too eager, so I try to tone it down a bit as I remind him about the potential for more money. “Beck just saw how excited I was about the idea of helping people, so he wanted me to be able to do as much as possible,” I say with a shrug.
At the mention of me reinvesting the profits—profits Viktor no doubt assumes will go to Kyla—he perks back up. “I think that the smaller initial investment sounds like a solid plan,” he agrees, and a huge weight lifts from my shoulders.He agreed! I won’t need to rely on Beck’s money.I literally pinch myself under the table where he can’t see, hoping the sting will distract me enough to keep a smile off of my face. “How much were you hoping to initially invest?” he asks.
“Fifteen thousand.” I found out that the bank allows transfers of up to ten thousand dollars before alerting Viktor. We want it to need his authorization so that we can test the process, but not be so large that it would seem unrealistic to quickly spend.
Viktor nods, “I’ll be sure to approve the transfer when the bank calls. Is that all then?” he asks, turning back to his computer in a dismissal.
“That’s it,” I answer with a big smile. “Thanks, Viktor. See you at dinner.”
I wait until I’m all the way back in my own office before breathing a sigh of relief. We checked pretty thoroughly, and the only security camera in my office is pointed at the door from behind my desk. Viktor could potentially see what I’m working on, but he’ll just see me with my emails open. The desk that Beck has been working at is perpendicular to mine, so what he’s doing isn’t visible. I know none of the security cameras have audio because Viktor has complained about it to me before, so we’re free to talk in here.
“He bought it,” I say as I shut my door behind me.
Beck perks up. “Really?”
“Yeah, he was too excited about potentially having more of my money to ask any tough questions,” I explain with a laugh.
I head straight to my computer and log in to Village Bank’s website. I enter the details to transfer the funds into the new online account we set up on Beck’s laptop, and as I hit “confirm,” a sense of relief washes over me, leaving me feeling lighter than I have in days.
* * *
“I still can’t believethat the grocery stores don’t have any actual food,” Beck complains as we get ready for bed.
