“You're dying, Victor. You'll not be alive for long.”These were the words of Dr. Hensley, his voice, calm with practice, but not without weight. "The scans confirm it. Stage four pancreatic cancer. It’s... aggressive."The white light above hummed faintly in the sterile hospital room. The walls felt too clean to harbour such sad news.Victor Langston blinked once. Then twice. As though trying to restart a system that had just crashed."How long?"Dr. Hensley folded his hands. “If we don’t act fast—two months, maybe less. But there's a procedure. It's experimental, but promising. The problem is... it’s very expensive. The cost runs around three hundred thousand dollars.”His savings account showed less than $4,000. Not even enough to cover the tests, let alone the surgery. Victor was as silent as death, but something in him cracked silently. The kind of crack that doesn’t echo, but sinks.He nodded, slowly, then rose. “Thanks, Doc.”"Victor, don’t wait too long. We can still try.”Vi

"Officer, I've already told you, those are my papers!”Victor shifted beneath the blanket. He peeked up and spotted a lone young woman beside a red sedan at the far end of the checkpoint. A stocky cop stood too close, gripping her ID and vehicle papers while leering at her blouse.They were three cars away from clearance and the growl of the stocky officer was irritatingly loud."Step aside, ma’am," the officer said. "We might need to search your vehicle.""My documents are complete, please, let me go!" the woman insisted, her voice cracking.Victor sat up, he had smeared dirt on his face, pulled an old, tattered blanket over himself to appear elderly and gravely ill. “Stay down!” Lily whispered, tugging his shoulder. “You’re a wanted man!”“She’s being harassed,” Victor muttered, eyes narrowing; and with raw determination, he wiped his grimed face and grabbed a torn faded jacket nearby, his face was shadowed by a scarf and his posture hunched like Odyssey returning to Ithaca; he wal

“Yo!...he's awake!”And the duo rushed to his bedside, two familiar shadows stared down at him like a man watching his funeral. Tape, holding a portable scanner, and Lily, gnawing at a banana with excitement.Lily leaned over dramatically. “Don’t freak out, but you’ve been so unconscious that we began planning your funeral.”“What happened to me?” Victor muttered.“You passed out in the van,” Lily said. “And then this strange woman, the one we saw at Julius' estate, showed up. Said her name was Isabella and just walked past security like she owned the place.”Tape nodded. “She put her hand on your chest, whispered something like she was speaking to God or herself. Next thing we know, machines went haywire, and you started stabilizing.”Victor sat up, there was no pain or burn of cancer eating him from the inside. His injuries had miraculously disappeared, and even his skin looked like Zeus’ baldness; smooth and sleek. He felt healed, like the blind Bartimeus.All around him, hospital

The next day in the boardroom upstairs, Vera, her father Hartwell and her lover Lincoln were seated before a panel of Argon Crest executives. They were pitching the final phase of their luxury project, unaware of what the silent king of the empire had cooked.“We’ve brought in a design team from Milan,” Lord Hartwell explained smugly, flipping through slides. “And our PR campaign is ready to launch by the weekend.”Vera added with a perfect, rehearsed smile, “We’re offering the Argon Crest brand an exclusive opportunity to invest before this becomes the next big thing in urban real estate.”The executives looked unimpressed. One of them, a quiet older man with a sharp nose, cleared his throat. “Interesting presentation. However, we were recently informed that the board has undergone a shift in management.”Lincoln blinked. “What kind of shift?”“New CEO,” the man replied. “Takes effect today.”Vera and Hartwell scoffed. “And who’s that? Some Dubai investor we’ve never met?”Before the

“Julius!” “Everything in place?”“Yes, as it should be.”“How about the consignment?”“It is ready. We are patiently waiting for our dealer who should be here any minute. Senator Greek is ready for the exchange.”“Good, this deal must go smoothly. I’ve risked too much to secure the senator. Make sure he’s handed over without any hitch. Your loyalty will be generously rewarded.”Julius smirked. “Of course, sir. You have my word.”Julius’ voice came through, smooth and calculated like a politician campaigning for long life and prosperity.Victor stood at the entrance listening to the con-man talk intently into the phone. At the other end was his inlaw, Lord Hartwell. The hoarse voice sounded like something out of a failed song concert.He watched as Julius dropped the call and scoffed. “Your word,” he repeated under his breath. “As if that means anything anymore.”The day before, he had reached out to Julius — as a rich and powerful politician called Damon — with an offer too good to r