In the Langford mansion, Victor was holed up in his bedroom, not eating and not even going to the office. The heavy curtains remained drawn against the afternoon light, turning the once-glamorous space into a dim cave of stale air and silence.Empty plates of food sat untouched on the nightstand. He lay sprawled across the unmade bed in the same soiled shirt he had worn for two days, staring at the ceiling as if it might offer him answers. Victor was broken.Felicity pushed the door open gently, her heels clicking softly. She carried a tray with fresh coffee and a plate of his favorite pastries.Her voice was warm and coaxing as she stepped inside. "My love, you can't keep shutting yourself away like this. Come on, I brought you something to eat."Victor didn't even turn his head. "Fuck off, Felicity."She clenched her jaw at his words. Sighing, she set the tray down on the dresser and moved closer, perching on the edge of the bed."Baby, please. I know things have been rough, but we'

Leonard raised an eyebrow, his gaze steady on the rough marble resting between them on the counter. "Don't you think five hundred thousand dollars is a bit much for this marble?" he asked.500 grand was spare change for the Gambino heir, but the merchant was obviously trying to scam him.Betelgeuse was momentarily taken aback. His practiced smile froze for half a second while his mind raced.Is this young man an expert? Could he actually expose my scam right here in front of all these customers?But then the merchant recovered, reminding himself that young people often acted smart defensively just to haggle. He leaned forward, adopting the warm, grandfatherly tone he reserved for the biggest marks."Ah, my young friend, you wound me," Betelgeuse began, placing a hand dramatically over his heart. "This is no ordinary marble. My grandfather, God rest his soul, heroically procured it himself during one of his final expeditions to Greece back in the thirties.""He risked his life sneaking

Leonard sighed in pity. He looked at the oversized merchant, trembling with fury, behind the counter, the glowing red stone sitting between them like evidence at a crime scene.Betelgeuse could have walked away happy with his clean five-hundred-thousand-dollar scam on a worthless block of marble. Instead, the man had reached for something that never belonged to him and, worse, had dared to threaten the woman standing at Leonard's side.One thing Leonard could never forgive was an attack on his ward's dignity.This is how it always ends for men like Betelgeuse, Leonard thought, the reflection quiet and detached. Their own greed writes the final line. They push too far, and the world they built on lies and deceit collapses under its own weight.Betelgeuse's men rushed forward without waiting for another word. Some swung barbed metal baseball bats, others drew short swords with rusted edges, and a few spun nunchaku with menace.They fanned out in a loose circle, their boots scraping acro

Elias and his followers erupted into tumultuous laughter the moment Orlando pointed at Leonard and Jamie and asked them to get out."Rejected without even sitting down!" Elias crowed, slapping his knee as if it was the funniest thing he had heard all week."Look at that. The construction worker got shown the door before he could even open his mouth!""Go back to your loser lives, both of you. This isn't a charity for hard hats and dreamers."The female candidates sitting with Elias giggled right along with him, one of them covering her mouth dramatically."Seriously, some people have zero self-awareness," she said, loud enough for the whole room to hear. "Showing up here like that after we told them off in the corridor. So pathetic."Even some members of the panel sniggered behind their notepads. A middle-aged woman in a crisp blazer shook her head. "This is a waste of everyone's time."Jamie's shoulders slumped. He clutched his résumé tighter, his knuckles white. "Let's just leave,"

The security guards poured into the interview room in a coordinated manner. Six of them entered first, followed by two more pushing through the doorway behind them.Orlando Davenport had planned this exact moment in advance. He always kept a small team of loyal guards waiting just outside during every elite interview session, ready in case things went south.It was his favorite way of reminding candidates from humble backgrounds exactly where they belonged in the world. A quick show of force, a little public humiliation, and his ego stayed nicely inflated. At the same time, the rest of the company's real efficiency slowly rotted away under his leadership.Jamie's face lost all color in an instant. He started shaking like a leaf, his hands trembling as he clutched his résumé like a shield. His eyes darted frantically between the advancing guards and Leonard.'This is it,' he thought, his stomach twisting into painful knots. 'They're going to drag us out, beat us down in the corridor, a