The rays of the evening sun spilled through a thick layer of clouds hanging over Whitewood City, one of the largest cities on the Eastern Coast. Among the crowds, a young man with unremarkable dark hair walked quietly down the street. Around him, skyscrapers loomed, and holographic ads flickered in the air above bustling sidewalks.He wore a sleek black jumpsuit that hugged his athletic frame and a pair of black sneakers with soft soles that silenced every step.His dark hair was an anomaly, a detail that made sense only when you knew the truth about him. His name was Michael Grey, grandson of Walter Grey, the powerful patriarch of one of the most influential corporations in the world. But his father had been cast out of the family decades ago for reasons never made public. The Grey family was known for its distinctive blond hair color, a trait Michael didn’t share—something that helped him blend in without drawing attention.As he wove through the moving crowds, Michael glanced up at

By the time Michael’s father returned home from work, the house had already gone quiet. Michael had retreated to his room, shutting the door behind him without a word.William Grey stepped inside and exhaled slowly as he set down his tool belt beside the window. He was a tall man, still handsome in that timeless Grey family way, but his face bore the signs of decades spent working too hard and carrying too much. Exhaustion had carved soft shadows beneath his eyes, and his once-dark hair was now flecked with silver.He didn’t expect to hear much noise. The only people who lived here besides him were Michael and Ariana, and neither of them had much to say these days.Climbing the stairs, he paused when he heard a door open at the end of the hallway. Michael appeared, his expression as unreadable as ever. William had stopped trying to change that years ago.“Hey, Mike. How’s it going?”“Well enough,” Michael replied. “How’s the site? Any progress?”William gave a tired shrug. “Some. The

It took far longer than Michael had expected to track Victor down. With the clock ticking toward ten, he had started combing through the known criminal hotspots in the area, hoping to catch even a glimpse of his cousin.Just as he was beginning to think the search would turn up nothing, he spotted it parked around the corner of a rusted-out warehouse at the edge of an abandoned harbor.That limousine.His pulse quickened.The harbor had been on his mental list from the start, but he'd avoided it for a reason. The area was known territory for one of the city’s most violent gangs. Going in there without a plan or backup was basically asking for trouble.But the moment he saw that car, his caution gave way to adrenaline.Michael slowed down and stuck to the shadows as he approached the massive warehouse. Light spilled from the inside, a clear sign that something was happening. He pressed his back to the corrugated steel wall and slipped through one of the side entrances, staying low and

The first thing Michael felt when he came to was the sensation of being dragged and soft, wet sand beneath him, the ocean breeze on his skin.He gasped and sat up abruptly, heart pounding like a war drum. His lungs screamed as he inhaled sharply, and he doubled over to cough out a lungful of seawater, retching violently.Then the memories hit him all at once.Victor. The gunshots. The suitcase. The plunge into the ocean.'That bastard really tried to kill me…'It wasn’t often that Michael got angry, but now he felt a sensation that was so cold and seething, deeper than anything he’d ever known. Still, he pushed the emotion aside and focused on something more pressing.He should be dead.He remembered the bullets, the blood, the pain. And yet, when he examined his body, there wasn’t a single wound. No blood. No torn flesh. His shirt was still damp with holes and some red stains, but his skin beneath it was whole.Then he realized that there was something still clutched tightly in his h

“You!” Victor snarled, his carefully curated composure crumbling completely. “You don’t know how to do anything right, do you? You’re so useless, you couldn’t even die properly!”Michael tilted his head, calm as ever. “Maybe you’re right. Or maybe someone as weak as you simply can’t kill me.”Victor’s finger hovered dangerously close to the trigger.Michael didn’t flinch. Instead, he gestured subtly toward the crowd gathering around them where dozens of curious onlookers, phones recording, eyes locked on the two men.Victor noticed. His anger wavered just enough for Michael to feel it.'That’s right', he thought. 'You’re cornered, and you know it.'“The two of us are Grey family members,” Michael said loudly enough for everyone to hear. “So why don’t we settle this fairly?”Victor gritted his teeth. As much as he wanted to shoot Michael in the face, he couldn’t. Killing a fellow heir—especially in public—would be a scandal the Grey family couldn’t contain.He motioned to one of his gu