"Sign the papers right now. Do it before I pull his life support."The harsh voice of Evelyn Lin cut through the quiet dining hall. She slammed a thick stack of divorce documents onto the table.Chloe Lin stared at the blank signature line. Her hand trembled around a heavy metal pen.She looked down at the man in the wheelchair beside her. Ryker Zhao sat completely motionless. His eyes were vacant and hollow.For three years he had been trapped in his own body. A vegetative state brought on by a catastrophic injury on the northern battlefields.Grandpa Lin had forced this marriage just days before he died. He entrusted his favorite granddaughter to a lowly soldier with no background and no wealth. Grandpa Lin had seen something in Ryker that no one else did.When Ryker returned from his final deployment in a coma the entire family rejoiced. They called him a piece of trash. They saw him as a broken puppet they could easily discard to claim the family inheritance.But Chloe never aband

"Step away from the suspect right now or we will open fire."The harsh voice boomed through a heavy bullhorn from the front courtyard.The shattered dining room doors were kicked completely off their hinges. Nash Jung marched into the room with his service weapon drawn and leveled.Nash was the supreme commander of the City Tactical Unit. A dozen heavily armed SWAT officers filed into the room right behind him.Nash swept his gun across the dining hall. He completely ignored the kneeling Vanguard mercenaries. He locked his sights directly on Ryker."You have exactly five seconds to put your hands on your head," Nash barked loudly. "I will not repeat myself."Evelyn Lin peeked out from under the table. Her eyes lit up with joy when she recognized the city commander."Commander Jung," Evelyn screamed frantically. She crawled out from under the table and pointed a shaking finger at Ryker. "Shoot him right now. He is a terrorist."Evelyn ran toward the heavily armed officers. She felt com

"Open the doors right now."Chloe Lin slammed her open palm against the thick glass of the main entrance. The electronic card reader on the wall flashed a bright red error code.Two heavy corporate security guards stood on the other side of the glass. They crossed their muscular arms over their chests and completely ignored her desperate shouting."My access is revoked," Chloe said. Her voice shook with rising panic. "This is my building. I am the chief executive officer."Ryker Zhao stood right behind her on the concrete steps. He placed a calm warm hand on her trembling shoulder. He did not say a single word yet.The heavy glass doors finally slid open with a soft mechanical hiss.Flint Lin walked out into the spacious lobby. He looked incredibly smug."You are trespassing on private property," Flint stated coldly. He adjusted his tie. "Take your hands off my doors.""You locked me out of my own company," Chloe demanded angrily. She stepped right past the security guards. "Grandpa b

"I do not care how much the black market broker wants. Pay the three million dollars for the banquet invitations right now."Evelyn Lin screamed into her gold plated cell phone. She paced violently back and forth across her extravagant living room.Her wrists were still deeply bruised from the heavy police handcuffs. She had just spent the last twenty four hours locked in a filthy holding cell. It cost her a massive percentage of her remaining cash to bribe the police chief for an early release.Flint Lin sat slumped on the expensive leather sofa. He held a bag of frozen peas over his swollen black eye."We have to get inside that banquet tonight," Flint groaned in pain. "The new supreme billionaire who bought my company will be there. We need to fall on our knees and beg him to give our assets back.""We will do exactly that," Evelyn sneered. She finally disconnected the call. "I will offer him whatever he wants. I will offer him our total obedience."“You don't think it is Ryker, do

Mayor Jett Ishii held his hand high in the air. The armed riot police stepped forward and gripped their steel batons. They waited for the final signal to strike Ryker down.Then the Mayor saw it.The bright light from the crystal chandeliers caught a tiny piece of dark metal on Ryker's tuxedo lapel. It was a subtle solid black titanium pin. A nine clawed dragon coiled tightly around a globe.The Mayor felt his heart completely stop beating. He forgot how to breathe.He had attended highly classified federal intelligence briefings about that exact crest. It belonged to the World Bank Sovereign. This was the man who had effortlessly bankrupted the billionaire Wu family this afternoon.Mayor Ishii dropped his hand immediately. The angry flush of political power completely vanished from his face. His pale knees began to shake violently against his tailored trousers.Mayor Ishii took a frantic stumbling step forward.He bent his body precisely at the waist. He dropped into a deep tremblin