Marcus Winters was sprawled across his ridiculous VIP dorm couch, controller in hand, eyes glued to a massive flat-screen like he didn’t have a single responsibility in life. Same room, same stupid neon lights, same spot where he’d humiliated Harry… and hit him… like Harry was furniture.But tonight? Marcus wasn’t enjoying his game at all. He kept dying in the same spot. Respawn. Die. Respawn. Die. He was twitchy as hell.Jeremy, lounging beside him with chips on his chest, finally noticed.“Bro… you’re still thinking about that Harry thing, aren’t you?”Marcus’s jaw tightened. “Of course I am. Tell me how it makes sense that a church rat suddenly has money. And not small money — enough to buy what he bought at that boutique. It just makes no damn sense.”Jeremy shrugged. “Maybe he inherited something. Or won a lottery. Stuff happens.”Marcus scoffed. “Sure, that would explain it. But people like him shouldn’t be rich. No class. No taste. They don’t know what to do with money.” He sno

Good news seemed to be spreading everywhere, but Harry was buried in deep sleep. He’d never been fond of sleeping, for him, rest had always been a stranger. His old job and studying at night forced him to stay alert most nights, so the habit of being awake had stuck with him. Still, he knew that rest was one of the few priorities he couldn’t ignore anymore.But this time, something strange happened.Harry found himself dreaming, though the details were hazy. He stood in what looked like an abandoned playground, no older than seven years old. The place was silent, no children’s laughter, no passing cars, not even the sound of wind. Rusted swings creaked softly as if they’d been left behind by time itself.He glanced around, his small hands trembling slightly. The odd thing was, even in this child’s body, Harry’s mind remained the same, the adult him was fully conscious, aware that something about this dream wasn’t right.“Hello?” his young voice echoed across the empty park, fading int

Harry had a darkness in him most people would never recognize unless he wanted them to. Not the cartoon-villain kind, but the cold, calculating streak that surfaced whenever he planned something brutal. And right now? He was planning something brutal.Alicia’s future, her bright sparkly top model future? Yeah, that was tied directly to him. Her rise, her fall, everything. And the funniest, cruelest part was that she didn’t know it yet. Only Harry knew how this story ended. Only he knew where he was steering things. But he wasn’t thinking about Alicia right this second. His mind drifted somewhere else.He checked the balance on his account again, and it was roughly around $208,000,000.Most people would faint just seeing that number. Harry didn’t flinch. He wasn’t worried about running out of money; if anything, he could double that number whenever he wanted. But doubling it wasn’t the smart move right now. Not yet. Not until he laid down the foundation, the pillars, the “this makes se

Harry placed the call immediately after he left the university, and although appointments were usually scheduled days in advance, the urgency on the other end was obvious, so they agreed to meet him immediately. Their desperation worked in his favor. They arranged to meet at a construction site, though Harry couldn’t shake the idea that it might be a setup, maybe someone would jump him from behind a truck. Still, the likelihood was low. To be safe, he left his car at home and arrived by Taxiplus instead, a decision he didn’t regret in the slightest. The ride took less than twenty minutes. When Harry stepped out, he immediately noticed all sorts of heavy-duty construction vehicles scattered around the lot. If these people were trying to prove they were legitimate, the display worked. There were no buildings yet, nothing close to finished construction, just an RV parked right in the center like a command post. Harry paused outside for a moment. Even the Taxiplus driver lingered l

The moment Melissa hung up, Harry was already sprinting out to the curb. There was no time to double back home for his car keys, every second felt urgent. He flagged down the first cab he saw and practically dove inside, rattling off the hospital address before the door even closed behind him.Melissa had already called an ambulance. Rhianon was on her way to the ER before Harry even left the construction site. He didn’t have a clear picture of what had happened, only fragments, broken sobs on the phone, but her trembling voice alone had been enough to twist something tight in his chest.He hadn’t felt like this when Alicia cried.This was… different.Maybe because he sensed the severity of the situation. Maybe because Melissa wasn’t crying out of frustration, she was crying out of fear.The cab jerked to a stop in front of the hospital, and Harry tossed a wad of cash at the driver before rushing through the sliding doors. He scanned the waiting room until his eyes landed on Melissa.