The rain had started as a drizzle when Jason Luther clocked in for his evening shift at QuickBite Delivery Services. By the time he strapped his third order of the day onto the back of his beaten-up motorcycle, the drizzle had become a steady downpour that soaked through his thin jacket.Jason didn't complain. He never complained. He checked the delivery address on his phone, and his stomach dropped.It was Silverwood Heights, the most exclusive neighborhood in the city, where houses started at twenty million dollars and went up from there. Where people like Jason only entered through service gates and weren't allowed to make eye contact with residents.The order was for Richard Blackwell, a name that made Jason's jaw tighten. Everyone in the city knew Richard Blackwell. Real estate mogul, venture capitalist, the kind of man whose net worth had so many zeros that regular people couldn't comprehend it. Jason had seen him on magazine covers at grocery store checkouts, always photographe

Jason forced himself upright, his whole body screaming in protest as pain shot through his ribs and down his legs. Rainwater dripped from his hair into his eyes, but he ignored it as he staggered toward his motorcycle.One way or another, he needed to get the money for his mother's surgery within an hour. And there was only one place he could go: The Rotterdam mansion.The thought burned in his mind like a final, desperate hope.Tonight was Melissa’s grandmother’s seventy-fifth birthday. The entire Rotterdam family would be there. They were all wealthy, powerful, and surrounded by luxury that people like Jason could barely imagine.Surely… surely they wouldn’t let his mother die.They had money. Endless money.All he needed was eighty thousand dollars.Jason climbed onto the motorcycle with shaking hands and started the engine. The machine coughed and sputtered, but it finally roared to life as he gripped the handlebars tightly.“Please, God,” he muttered under his breath, his voice h

Jason pushed himself up onto his knees, his palms sinking into the soaked grass as rain hammered down on his back. Mud clung to his clothes, and cold water ran down his face like endless tears. He slowly lifted his head and stared into the dark sky above the mansion.Thunder rolled across the clouds like a distant roar.“What did I do?” Jason screamed into the storm, his voice raw and shaking with pain. “What did I do to deserve this?” His fists clenched as rain poured over him. “I worked hard!” he shouted hoarsely, his voice cracking with desperation. “I was kind! I tried to be a good person!”Lightning flashed across the sky.“What did I do wrong?” he cried, his voice breaking as the words tore from his throat.The storm answered with nothing but more rain.Jason’s shoulders trembled as grief crushed down on him. “I hate you!” he sobbed suddenly, his voice breaking into pieces as rage mixed with heartbreak. “I hate all of you!”He looked up at the sky again, his eyes wild and desper

Jason's fingers moved slowly as he scrolled down the bank app.More accounts appeared.Private savings accounts across multiple currencies.Investment portfolios worth tens of billions.Ownership stakes in multinational corporations.Real estate holdings spanning continents.Luxury properties in major cities.Entire commercial districts.Art collections valued at billions.A private equity fund.A sovereign-level investment trust.Each section revealed numbers so large they felt unreal.Jason shook his head slowly. “This… this can’t be real,” he murmured in disbelief.“It is real,” the stranger replied calmly.Jason opened his contacts list.His heart skipped a beat.The list had exploded.Where there had once been barely twenty numbers, there were now thousands.He scrolled slowly, his eyes widening.Names he had only ever seen in headlines.Global leaders.Corporate titans.Political powerhouses.Mark Sullivan — CEO of the world’s largest technology corporation.Catherine Zhou — Fou

Jason let his gaze sweep across the room, taking in each laughing face, each contemptuous expression, each person who thought they were better than him. Then his eyes found Claire in the corner, still standing in the shadows, the only person in the room who wasn't laughing. The only person who looked uncomfortable with the mockery.Their eyes met for a brief moment, and something passed between them. Understanding, perhaps. Or recognition. Then Jason looked away, turning his attention back to Melissa."I'm here to sign the divorce papers," he said calmly, as if the last two minutes of ridicule hadn't happened. "Shall we proceed?"Melissa's laughter died in her throat. She blinked, seeming to remember why Jason was actually there. "Oh. Right. The divorce." She arched one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "So what's stopping you? I gave you the papers earlier, remember?""The papers you gave me earlier were destroyed," Jason said evenly. "In the rain. After your security guards threw me out o