1 Moment of clarity

Two seconds… Two seconds is all it took for Gerald to go from exiting the shady establishment in exuberance from his big win to lying in a puddle of his own blood staring at the dirty asphalt of the dark alleyway. He couldn't help but marvel at how amazing modern technology truly is. A couple pieces of lead, a few loud pops, and a hand sized chunk of steel. That's all it took to leave a man in the hopelessly pitiful state he currently found himself in. He didn't even have a chance to see the gunman's face. It doesn't matter though, he knew he'd likely never get the chance to do anything with the information anyways. Still he couldn't help but wonder about his killer. Was it one of the many enemies he'd made by doing shady business over the years? Was it the loan sharks finally making good on their many threats or was it one of his former partners getting revenge for the betrayals he committed whilst using them as stepping stones during his corporate ascension? Perhaps it was simply an opportunistic thug who'd seen him leave what most locals knew to be an illegal gambling establishment with a huge smile plastered on his drunken face, announcing his wins.

It matters not.

Although he was drunk moments ago there's nothing that will sober you up quicker than immense pain, massive blood loss, and the looming threat of death. With the sudden soberness came a moment of clarity. He realized that regardless of who'd shot him his inevitable death was ultimately his own damn fault! He was the one that arrogantly believed because of his immense wealth, he couldn't be affected by "A little harmless gambling" thus participating in it regularly, slowly becoming addicted. He's the one who treated his allies and loyal employees as consumables leaving his corporation vulnerable to sabotage. He believed himself to be completely untouchable both legally and physically do to his shark tank of lawyers and 24/7 private security, never once stopping to consider he might not be able to afford such luxuries one day. Most damning of all he's the idiot who foolishly thought he could solve his problems with a pair of dice, triggering the events that lead to the loss of the rest of his wealth, lead to loan sharks, and finally underground gambling rings.

As blood and heat both raced to be the first out of his body, as the pain faded, he started to recall a particular day from a few months ago. The day he took his situation from bad to hopeless. The day he lost all the remaining money in one fell swoop.

Two seconds… Its funny how it only took two seconds to lose what was left of the massive wealth his family had been accumulating for generations. 10 million. A split bet on the roulette wheel, picking 2 adjoining numbers made the odds 17 to 1 against him. He tried to recall what he'd been thinking. Was it the rush to led to such foolishness? Was it the dime on his arm whispering into his ear that made him act so recklessly? Perhaps it was the fact the casino owner personally came over and removed the betting cap offering him the once in a lifetime chance to make such a massive bet. He knew he had only been focused on getting the massive sum, the unlikely prospect of him winning clouding his judgement. The 170 million he stood to win would have surely been enough to pull his corporation off its deathbed.

The little ball spun quickly around the roulette, making little dins as it bounced. He couldn't hear it. The complete silence of crowd was deafening, the effect lasted throughout the aftermath because he couldn't hear the collective gasp when the ball landed on the wrong space and the rest of his money evaporated. He hadn't been able to hear the boastful laughter of the Casio owner. Two breaths after the ball landed and sealed his fate, He'd blacked out.

He felt impending doom creeping up on him, it was close, much closer to him than the vehicle that had just pulled into the alley and abruptly stopped in front of him. The flashing lights that he knew should've been illuminating the whole alleyway and stinging his eyes were like distant stars in his vision. He noticed either their sirens or his hearing wasn't working.

It amused him how his thoughts could be so calm and lucid in this situation.

Drifting even further back in time he reminisced about when he was at the top of the industry and perhaps the world. He thought about the sabotage that deeply wounded his company and the intense government investigation that proceeded it. The investigation that unwittingly uncovered many of his dirty deeds resulting in the massive fines and heavy sanctions which crippled his already wounded company. He and his legal team were scrambling to mitigate the damage. He'd tried everything from bribing public officials, passing blame onto other companies, and sacrificing board members as scapegoats, to manipulating public opinion and staging protests in hopes of weaponizing public outrage. Meanwhile the legal team dragged their feet in court and stalled for as long as they could in hopes that the government would give up or with the expectation someone would eventually take a goddamn bribe and let them off the hook. The government's efforts remained unrelenting. Still, his lawyers weren't the best of the best for no reason. Even with the mountains of evidence against him, enough to ensure his loss at trial, his legal team had plenty of excuses they were prepared to drag the trial out for over a decade or more if it came to that. The deadlock had been exhausting for all the parties involved, worse there was no clear end in sight. After both sides struggled viciously they'd finally managed to come to a deal, the settlement cut off an arm and a leg of the corporation but didn't decapitate it. Gerald was also required to give over 90% of his wealth as restitution.

They'd danced with death and lived! It was a pyrrhic victory that left the company a shell of what it once was but a victory all the same. Even now they were still an industry force to be reckoned with. Combined with Gerald's leadership and business savvy it wasn't impossible for the Corp to eventually climb back up to the pinnacle of the world. There was hope, at least at first. Everyone saw the near mortal wounds that had been inflicted on the Corp, they smelled the blood in the water and his countless enemies rushed in to deliver the coup de gras. Only 2 hours after the news that they'd settled with the government aired Gerald got a phone call from head legal counsel stating there were thousands of new lawsuits suddenly filed against the Corp, there had been innumerable hack attempts on the servers leaving a virus infestation and key personnel doxxed, several of their most important buildings around the world were broken into, looted, and left ablaze. After divulging everything going wrong lastly Gerald's legal counsel informed him, he quit.

The rest of the legal team soon followed him out, along with most staff, and upper level management. The killing blow had been dealt to the Corp but at least Gerald was still a free man with a little bit of his fortune still afloat. The roughly 10 million dollars he'd had in the bank was nothing to someone as greedy and ambitious him but he still acknowledged it was much more than the common man would ever see. It wouldve been enough for him to live on comfortably if not luxuriously had he managed it well, he hadnt.

Gerald's world continued to shrink as his senses failed him, there were no more lights, no alley, no pain, nothing was left to him but his thoughts and the massive sense of impending doom that felt ever closer. Meanwhile he started speculating on all the paths he'd left untraveled and where they might've lead him. What if he'd just cut his losses and ran with the 10 million instead of desperately gambling it away in a feeble attempt to save his doomed corporation? As his lungs failed the regrets the flowed, still he couldn't bring himself to regret what he'd done over the years to his enemies. He still firmly believed that sometimes pawns were necessary and collateral damage wasn't always avoidable. But he wondered how different things would've been if he'd drawn a line instead of screwing over his own employees and allies. Surely at least some of them knew of the elaborate conspiracy to sabotage the Corp, yet no one blew the whistle.

'I guess they'd figured since I didn't give a shit about them why would they help me? They'd probably got a kick out of seeing my downfall, I know my enemies did. Hell, as a gambling man I'd bet they'll be no lack of people showing up to my funeral just to split on the grave.' He bitterly thought

He vowed, 'If I somehow get another chance things will be different next time. I'll make sure all my allies are benefiting almost as much as myself. I'll treat all my workers well and gain their undying loyalty no matter how insignificant they might be. I'll thoroughly crush each of my enemies into dust the second I have the chance rather than arrogantly sitting around convincing myself I'm too big to bother with them.' Yes I'll learn from mistakes I've made and build a company that has immeasurable wealth, power, and influence! A company that can't be stopped by anyone, governments included! Next time I'll heel the world!!!'

Gerald sighed to himself. Unfortunately this is real life not some fantasy where'd he'd wake up as an overpowered MC, in a magical world, with a system at his disposal. No, you only get one chance in life and he'd squandered his because he couldn't put his pride and arrogance to the side, squandered it because it took him too damn long to learn from his mistakes. The realizations he's come to in this moment of clarity don't matter because nothing can change the fact he lies on the cold ground of some alley, dying a dog's death. None of the experiences he's had or things he's learned can help him now, none of the skills or vast knowledge he possesses, nothing… Nothing can save him. Now that he's dug his own grave, he knows he will lie in it no matter how unwilling…