The three debt collectors did not waste another second inside the cheap motel room. The leader turned his back on Chloe and Beatrice, his heavy leather coat swinging as he marched out into the cold night rain. The other two thugs followed him closely, their heavy boots thudding down the concrete steps of the motel. They jumped into a rusty black van, the engine roaring to life with a loud, smoky cough. They were driving straight toward the central city hospital, their hearts full of greedy excitement. They truly believed they were about to steal a multi million dollar prize.Behind them in the tiny room, Chloe collapsed against the stained mattress, her chest heaving as she let out a long, shaky breath. She had just sold out a sick, innocent girl to a pack of brutal monsters just to save her own skin. She did not feel any guilt or regret. In her mind, everything was Ethan’s fault. If he had just stayed a humble servant and given her the money she wanted, she would never have been f

The white hallway was completely silent now, except for the heavy, painful breathing of the beaten men on the floor. The bright fluorescent lights shone down on the long red streaks of blood that covered the clean tiles. The four tactical guards stood like frozen stone statues around the mess, their black boots pressed firmly against the backs of the defeated criminals.Ethan Vance walked slowly through the blood, his expensive leather shoes clicking softly against the floor. He stopped right in front of the scarred thug, who was clutching his broken wrist and weeping into the floor tiles. Ethan looked down at him with a face that had zero warmth or human kindness left in it.Ethan slowly bent down, squatting right in front of the bleeding man. He reached out and grabbed a handful of the thug's messy hair, pulling his head back brutally so they were looking eye to eye. The scarred thug let out a small whine of pain, his body shaking uncontrollably."I am going to ask you one question

The thick, rusted iron chain hit the cold concrete floor with a deafening, metallic crash right at Chloe’s feet. The sharp sound echoed loudly off the high walls of the abandoned warehouse, making her jump and let out a frantic squeak of terror. She stared down at the heavy links of metal, then looked up at Ethan’s completely frozen face. The absolute lack of pity in his dark eyes made her chest tighten so hard she could barely breathe."Ethan, no!" Chloe screamed, dropping heavily onto her knees right into the thick dust of the floor. She crawled forward as far as the guards would let her, her hands reaching out desperately toward his leather shoes. "It is not what you think! I swear to you, it was not my fault! I did not want to do it!"Ethan did not move a single muscle. He sat perfectly straight on the lone wooden chair beneath the harsh yellow light, watching her throw herself into the dirt. His face looked like it was carved out of solid mountain stone."The debt collectors alr

The Governor stood in the cold, damp warehouse with his red face puffed up like an angry toad. He held his shiny gold walking stick high in the air, pointed right at Ethan Vance’s chest. The ten state guards around him gripped their military rifles tightly, their dark boot soles resting firmly on the dusty concrete. Every single guard was ready to pull their trigger at his command."Did you hear me, boy?" the Governor barked, his loud voice booming off the old rusted walls. "I said I will declare martial law on your entire company! I will send my troops to seal your glass towers before the sun rises! I will seize every dollar in your accounts and throw you into a dark cell where nobody will ever hear your name again!"Over in the dusty corner, Chloe Miller let out a desperate, wheezing breath. She tried to wipe the dirt from her face, her eyes wide with a sudden spark of evil hope. She believed the Governor’s grand threats. He was the most powerful official in the state, after all.

The Governor froze, his mouth hanging open in complete shock. The cold words from Ethan’s mouth hit him like a bucket of freezing ocean water. He stared up into Ethan's pitch black eyes, his knees shaking so hard under his wool coat that he almost lost his balance on the dusty floor."What did you just say?" the Governor whispered, his voice cracking with pure panic. "You are lying! The state treasury is protected by the highest government laws! You cannot touch the public money! You are just a regular citizen!"Ethan did not raise his voice. He reached into his dark jacket, pulled out a crisp sheet of official white paper, and held it right in front of the Governor's pale face. The paper had three official red stamps at the bottom, signed by the central bank director at dawn."At six o'clock this morning, your state government defaulted on a massive forty billion dollar loan," Ethan said smoothly. His low voice echoed off the rusted walls of the warehouse. "Your offices were so busy