Forging America: My Campaign Manager is Roosevelt

Chapter 390: Chapter 183: Slave of Capital

It was a sleepless night for the core team at Pittsburgh City Hall.

Ethan Hawke was glued to his computer, refreshing the system’s backend data every five minutes.

Sarah Jenkins and her PR team worked through the night, drafting two completely different press releases.

One was titled "Victory: Capital Pool Vulnerability Repaired, Alliance Welcomes New Opportunities."

The other, "State of Emergency: Pittsburgh Suspends Note Redemptions Due to Systemic Risk."

Everyone’s nerves were stretched taut as they awaited the moment of judgment.

Time ticked by, second by agonizing second.

The eastern sky began to lighten.

Morning light pierced the thin mist, illuminating Grant Street.

「8:50 AM.」

Leo walked into the office.

He had changed into a fresh suit and shaved, looking sharp and full of energy.

But the bloodshot veins in his eyes betrayed him.

"How is it?"

Leo asked directly.

Ethan shook his head, his face pale.

"There hasn’t been any movement from Saint Claude."

Leo glanced at the clock on the wall.

Ten minutes left.

"Maybe they’re waiting for the last second," Leo said, a hint of self-reassurance in his voice. "This is psychological warfare. She wants to see me break first. She wants me to be the one to pick up the phone out of fear in these final few hundred seconds."

「8:55 AM.」

The internal line on the desk suddenly rang.

Leo’s heart seized, and he instinctively looked at the phone.

Ethan picked it up, listened for a moment, then covered the mouthpiece and looked at Leo.

"Alina Rodriguez is here," Ethan said with a frown. "You had a nine o’clock meeting scheduled with her to discuss community rent."

Leo froze for a second.

He’d almost forgotten about it.

"Have her wait."

Leo waved his hand. "Tell her I have something more important right now, that I might be a few minutes late."

Ethan spoke a few words into the phone and then hung up.

"She’s waiting outside."

「8:58 AM.」

Leo could feel his palms slick with cold sweat.

He was waiting for that woman to yield.

He was waiting for the ring that would signify her surrender.

If the phone didn’t ring before nine, it would mean all-out war.

「8:59 AM.」

The second hand ticked forward, one space at a time.

Each second felt as long as a century.

He counted down silently in his head.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

...

Three.

Two.

One.

「9:00 AM sharp.」

The minute and hour hands overlapped.

Ethan stared at the screen, his fingers stiff.

"Nothing."

"Nothing’s happening."

Just then, a sharp alert chimed from Sarah’s computer.

It was the custom alert for news keyword monitoring.

"Leo... look at this."

Sarah turned her computer screen toward Leo.

On the screen was a press release that had just been published on the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg terminals.

"Risk Advisory Notice Regarding the Suspension of the Pennsylvania Industry Alliance Trust Note Redemption Services."

"’In light of recent unforeseeable liquidity fluctuations in the regional financial system, and out of a responsible commitment to the security of investor assets, Saint Claude Capital has decided to immediately suspend redemption services for said notes through all its channels. Service will resume pending the risk control measures implemented by the Pittsburgh City authorities.’"

This was Evelyn Saint Cloud’s response.

Previously, Saint Claude Capital had acted as the capital pool for this note system.

Whenever a city needed cash, Evelyn’s capital pool would act like a giant sponge, absorbing those notes and squeezing out US Dollars.

But now, the sponge was dry.

If anyone wanted to redeem their notes, the pressure was now entirely on Leo.

He would have to use the Pittsburgh City Government’s meager fiscal surplus to cover the redemption demands of the entire alliance.

But that was an astronomical figure.

When everyone realized the pool was about to run dry, there was only one instinctive reaction: grab what you could.

Get ahead of everyone else and trade their notes for cold, hard cash.

Panic erupted instantly.

The phone on the desk suddenly rang.

Then a second, and a third.

The shrill, urgent rings rose and fell, echoing through the small office like an air-raid siren.

"It’s Mayor Smith," Ethan said, glancing at the caller ID. "And Byers from Scranton. They’re all calling."

"Don’t answer."

Leo commanded.

The panic was already spreading.

His allies were surely roaring on the other end of the line, their cities on the brink of financial collapse.

He had lost the psychological game to that woman.

He had overestimated the hold money had on her and underestimated her cruelty and her hunger for power as an apex predator.

Now, she held the knife by the hilt.

"Should I answer?" Ethan asked again, the incessant ringing fraying his nerves.

"No."

Leo stood up.

He walked to the window and looked out at the bustling street below.

The sunlight was beautiful, casting golden patches on the asphalt of Grant Street. Pedestrians hurried along, none of them aware that the heart of their city was about to stop beating.

He was facing his final choice.

Just then, Leo’s cell phone rang.

It was an unsaved number, but Leo knew who it was.

Leo stared at the light pulsing on his phone screen as if staring into a black hole.

’Answer it, Leo.’

Roosevelt’s voice echoed in his mind.

’This is your only chance.’

’Absolutely not.’

Leo responded in his mind, gritting his teeth.

’I will never bow to her. If I take this call, if I beg for mercy now, I become her slave, and Pittsburgh becomes her colony.’