Kai woke up to someone shaking his shoulder."Dude, you alive?"He opened his eyes. His roommate Trevor stood over him, looking worried. The basement room was dark except for the glow of a laptop screen."What time is it?" Kai's voice came out rough."Three AM." Trevor held up his phone. "Kai, you need to see this."Kai took the phone. The video was everywhere. "Silvercrest's Dog Janitor" was trending on every platform. The footage showed everything. Him on his knees. Barking. Chase kicking him. Rebecca laughing so hard she had to wipe her eyes.The comments were worse than the video."This is the saddest thing I've ever seen.""Put this animal down already.""His girlfriend is way too hot for him. She upgraded to a real man.""Three jobs to pay for her and she still cheated. What a pathetic loser."Kai handed the phone back. He felt nothing. The humiliation was so complete it had circled back to emptiness. He stared at the ceiling, wondering if this was rock bottom.Then something im

Everyone froze.The laughter died in their throats. Brett stopped mid-chuckle, his mouth hanging open. The receptionist blinked like she'd misheard. Even the security guard looked confused.Then the laughter exploded back, louder than before."Double!" Brett slapped the reception desk, his whole body shaking with laughter. "Did he just say DOUBLE? Six thousand dollars? Is this dog having actual delusions?"The staff joined in. The nurse was wiping tears from her eyes. The orderly had to lean against the wall.Dr. Walsh smiled, but it wasn't quite as confident as before. His eyes had changed. Something calculating flickered behind them."Six thousand dollars?" he repeated slowly. "For a simple medical checkup?"Brett was still laughing. "Doc, come on. Look at him. He probably doesn't even have six dollars. This is sad. Actually sad."But Dr. Walsh was quiet now. Staring at Kai. Doing math in his head. Six thousand dollars for maybe an hour of work. That was a lot of money. Even for him

The hospital waiting room had gone silent after Kai's card went through. Six thousand dollars, approved just like that.The receipt printed slowly, each mechanical whir sounding louder than it should have.Brett Harrison stood frozen near the administrator's desk, his phone still in his hand. He had been recording the whole thing, expecting Kai to be dragged out by security. Instead, everyone was staring at the receipt like it was some kind of miracle.Dr. Walsh cleared his throat and straightened his white coat. He looked at the receipt, then at Kai, then back at the receipt. His expression had changed completely. The smugness was gone. Now there was confusion and something else. Nervousness."Well," Dr. Walsh said with a forced laugh. "I suppose we can proceed with the examination after all."Brett's jaw tightened. He stepped forward and waved his hand dismissively at the whole situation. "Six thousand dollars? That's nothing." He pulled out his own card, a black credit card with go

Derek circled Kai like a predator sizing up prey. His phone was out, recording. Brandon and Justin flanked him, their expensive shoes crunching on broken glass from the taxi's shattered mirror.The crowd had grown larger. At least twenty people now, all of them with phones pointed at the scene. Someone in the back whispered loud enough for everyone to hear."Isn't that the guy from the video? The one who barked?""Oh shit, it is. This is about to go viral again."Brandon heard it and grinned wider. He held his phone up higher, making sure to capture everything. "The dog found his bark again, guys! This is going to be even better than last time! Make sure you all follow me for part two!"Justin stepped closer to Kai. Close enough that Kai could smell his cologne. Expensive and suffocating. He leaned in, his voice low and mocking."You remember what happened last time you talked back, right? Should we make you bark again? Right here in the street? I bet the views would be even higher th

CHAPTER TENDerek scoffed, turning to his cohorts who were still speechless after Kai’s words.“Did you guys hear that?” He asked, and even without getting a response, he already had one.“The fool just asked us to take a break!” He sniggered, shaking his head in utmost ridicule.But soon, the amusement on his face vanished, quickly replaced by a lingering scowl that was obviously targeted at Kai.“You should be on your knees, Kai…” He snarled, eyes burning with contempt.“You should be on your knees. Begging for mercy. You do not know what we are capable of doing to you…” He took a deep breath, turning to Justin who instantly understood what that look meant even though he didn’t seem to understand it at first.Kai scoffed, causing the three young men to return their gazes to him at once.They clearly couldn’t understand what that meant, but they were eager to figure out what given him the courage to make such a sound.“You must be joking, Derek…” Kai stood his ground against their ra