"I have to say, you've been a sneaky little rat, hiding perfectly all this time.But as they always say, 99 days for the thief and one day for the owner. Your body should have some good old cash!" Their vicious laughter filled the air.Ethan was struck to the floor, and laughter cracked through the arena. Everyone passed by like nothing was happening. No one was going to risk their lives for a peasant."You can't do this. The agreement doesn't say I'm overdue yet!" Ethan protested.Liege stepped forward, slamming Ethan's hands as pain erupted through the whole of his body."Sadly, we make the rules here and not you. And we can wait for you to get a shitty little life together and give us our money. We want it now.Besides, getting rid of trash like you would be doing the world a big favour. One less bulldog taking up the space real humans should be!"Ethan tried to break free from their circle. Run away. But he was surrounded from every side and outnumbered.Ethan crashed backwards, h

"What do you mean?" Ethan’s voice cracked. He was still lost, trying to make sense of the reality before him.Nobody had ever called him master. Not once in his life. He had been born into an ordinary family, his father and mother had worked really hard to send him to business school. And then, they lost their lives right after his first year, leaving Ethan alone with his sister in the brutish world.Ethan had carried that burden ever since, protecting her, working night and day to make sure that they were fed properly.And after his graduation, he started a tech business, found the love of his life and everything seemed to be going just fine until his sister came down with cancer, the medical bills became too heavy, his debts stumbling on each other and eventually, everything collapsed.Now this woman, Eva, stood before him, bowing as though he were someone powerful. Definitely, he had been mistaken for someone else. There was no way in the world that he could be someone powerful."

The oment the family meeting ended, Emma stormed up to Ethan. Her voice was cold and running with a whirlwind of emotions."I know you’re under pressure, but you don’t need to challenge anyone.""You’ve already endured so much for this family. If you want, we can live together. We don’t need them."Her hands gripped his arm trying to force him to Lady Theresa's room. "You know you won’t even be allowed past the company gates. Let’s just go to Grandmother, admit it was a mistake, and take back your words before this gets out of control.""I will not appreciate being called a widow at such a young age. Not when!" She paused suddenly.She tugged at him, but Ethan didn’t move. Instead, he placed his hands firmly on her shoulders.For a moment, he nearly laughed at the irony. His wife begged him not to embarrass himself before a company that already belonged to him. But he caught himself, masking the humor behind a calm, neutral expression.Emma still didn’t know. She couldn’t imagine that

They groveled even harder. Some cried openly, others smashing their heads against the floor until their foreheads slit."Please, forgive us master Ethan!""We were blind. Foolish." The same man that they had spat moments ago held their lives dangling on his clenched fist Terror strangled their cries as they waited for their fate.Ethan shifted slightly. The Arena froze. Even the air felt heavy and no one dared to move."Mercy?" His voice rolled through the hall like thunder, sending cold shivers down the spine of the guards."Did you also spare me that when you dragged my name in the mud?" He repeated the words. Their throats locked with bitter regrets, no words came out."How many others have you trampled on just because you thought you could?"Ethan recalled all the humiliations that he had suffered from the Sinclairs, the daily pain, a whirlwind of emotions flashed through his eyes.Then, he schooled his looks back into neutrality."But I will not sink to your level. My grudges