The biggest fools on earth had to be high school kids.Lombard had watched them for years—kids who spoke like they had life mapped out, who argued with teachers like they were seasoned scholars, quoting half-baked “research” they barely understood. They talked down on grown men who had lived twice their lives, survived things those kids wouldn’t last a week in.He had already sorted them into categories.The first set would get lucky—secure some government job, settle into routine, and stay there until life quietly buried their dreams. The other half would end up like him. Twenty-eight. A girlfriend. No grand ambitions anymore. Just the desperate desire for stability. A home. A family. Peace.“God!”Lombard slammed the brakes.The car screeched to a halt inches away from a child who had darted into the road. The boy’s mother yanked him back so hard he nearly fell, clutching him to her chest as if Lombard had aimed the car at him on purpose.She shot Lombard a look—sharp, judgmental, f

Everything in Lombard’s brain shut down. Every cells. One hundred million.“I—I…”God. He was stuttering now? Really? “I just… I just have to stay with him?” Lombard asked, like the words themselves might explode.“Yeah, man. I’m really sorry for breaking into your schedule like this,” the voice said quickly. “But don’t worry—I got you someone. A woman. She’s twenty-seven. I already gave her your number.”Lombard frowned.He almost asked what a woman was supposed to do when all he needed was to stay with a kid for one night—but hey. Pride. Composure. Whatever scraps of dignity he still had left.“Okay,” he said, forcing his voice into something flippant. “Thank you so much, Lomb. My son’s gonna be really happy to have you. I told you about him already.”“Alright.”Lombard hung up first.Then he checked again.Credit Alert: $100,000,000For one night.That was insane.Four years ago, he wouldn’t have accepted this kind of interruption even if the money had been doubled. Back then, hi

“Finn said you have a lot of connections in the Ivy League? All of them?” the girl asked Lombard, eyes wide.Girls were… still easy to deal with at this age. That’s why he tolerated her question with a lazy smile.“Not really,” Lombard said simply.“What? Finn said that!” she protested, like he was hiding some enormous secret.“Yeah. I graduated from one of them, got my master’s at another, then my PhD at a third. So… been to three of them,” Lombard explained casually, like he was talking about a grocery list.Her jaw practically hit the floor.“How did you do it? Did you have connections? Your parents are rich, right?”“Huh. Not really. Went on scholarship,” Lombard dropped, like it was nothing. Boom. Mind blown.“Oh. My. God!” she cried. “Did you… also know people there?”“Go to any of their offices and you’ll see my name on the lists of professors they’d recruit if given the chance. Plus, I’ve held businesses and academic seminars at all of them. They were all making a fuss.”Her e

Cassian rose from his seat.“A joke seems to be happening tonight,” he said lightly, already walking toward Abigail’s table. His eyes never left the man beside her. “Lombard August?”Lombard lifted his head mid-drink and looked at him.That look.It irritated Cassian more than Lombard’s presence itself. The audacity of him being here was one thing—but the calm? The familiarity in his eyes, like they were… equals?“You’re going to tell me what you’re doing here,” Cassian said, carefully schooling his face into something pleasant. Abigail was watching.“Your sister’s pregnant,” Lombard replied. “Three months.”Cassian blinked. “Yeah. So?”Lombard let out a short, humorless scoff. “So I was the only fucking idiot who didn’t know?”Cassian’s lips curved. “So you agree—you’re a fucking idiot?”Their eyes locked.Abigail shifted in her seat. She had no idea what history sat between these two men, but the air between them was tight, volatile—like one wrong word would shatter the room.“I fou

Now, Cassian walked out of the hall, straight toward the car waiting outside.He spotted the man’s PA and lifted a hand casually. “Longest time, man.”They hugged like old friends.“It’s been crazy,” the PA said. “But I’m surviving. You? And Mireya—man, I wish I could see her again. I still can’t thank her enough. My father would’ve been dead ten years ago if she hadn’t noticed he was sick and forced him to get checked. Even now, he still says he doesn't know what made her know he was sick. He was perfectly fine.”Cassian smiled faintly. “My kid sister’s always been good at what she does.”But the smile froze halfway. He saw Lombard walking toward the same car.Cassian’s eyes narrowed. “That man,” he asked quietly, “does your boss know him?”The PA followed his gaze, then waved it off easily. “Nah. Don’t worry about it. Probably someone from the team I sent to get him water. He wants to be alone before the next round.”Cassian scoffed.Oh, Lombard.The biggest disgrace a man could ev