Jayden dragged his feet inside his room and slumped on the bed. His body felt like it had been run over by a train. He closed his eyes, resting for a while before forcing himself up to go to the bathroom.After dressing in clean clothes, he walked over to the nightstand and grabbed the medicinal clay jar his master gave him. He opened it, the pungent, sharp smell filling the room.‘Is this stuff really going to work?’He stared at the jar for a while, doubting for a second, then scooped out the contents and rubbed them thoroughly into the dark, angry bruises covering his forearms and torso. He laid back in the bed, the clay burning hot against his skin before turning into a deep, numbing cold.‘I just hope this works,’ he thought, his eyelids growing heavy.The next morning, his eyes snapped open. He sat up quickly, expecting the agonizing muscle fatigue from Master Wang's brutal session, but he felt nothing. The fatigue was gon

Jayden barely slept that night. Each time he managed to close his eyes, Amanda’s warning replayed in his mind like a broken record, eventually twisting into a nightmare where Ashley was running through unfamiliar, dark streets while men in tailored, expensive suits closed in on her from every direction. By dawn, he gave up on sleep entirely. He sat on the edge of his bed, elbows resting on his knees, staring blankly at the floor. His muscles still ached from the brutal training Master Wang had put him through, but physical pain was nothing compared to the weight crushing his chest. Three days. That was all the time they had left before everything blew up in their faces. At exactly eight o’clock, Cedric arrived, and the villa’s quiet study was instantly transformed into a war room. Empty coffee mugs on one corner of the desk while financial statements covered the mahogany desk; shipping schedules, maintenance reports, supplier contracts, and audit files were spread across every availa

*** Jayden paced across his room, his chest tightening with every step. 'How could they pull off something this massive?' he thought, his mind spinning. This wasn't just about getting rich anymore; this was a ruthless, high-stakes power struggle. He tapped the side of his head in frustration and slumped onto the edge of his bed. A day left. Just one day until the emergency proxy meeting. He lifted his gaze to the ceiling, trying to ground himself by recalling his former life. Wake up, go to the bakery, grind through the shift, head back home, and meet up with his friends. Thinking about his friends now made his chest ache. He hadn't gotten in touch with them since this nightmare began. "That's okay. For now, I can't expose them to this," he muttered, forcing himself to stand up. 'Maybe training will help me forget all of this for a minute,' he thought.

The board secretary adjusted the microphone, the soft screech of feedback cutting through the heavy silence."Gentlemen and ladies of the board," he announced, glancing around the room. "Thank you for responding on such short notice. This emergency meeting has been summoned following a formal proxy request submitted by several major shareholders."A few executives shifted uneasily in their leather chairs.No one needed to ask who had submitted it."The first item on today's agenda concerns the temporary administration of the Chairman's inheritance fund pending further review."The secretary looked toward Darren."You have the floor, Mr. Valdez."Darren rose without a hint of urgency. He buttoned his tailored suit jacket before speaking, his expression calm enough to pass for genuine concern."Thank you."His voice carried effortlessly across the room."First, allow me to make something perfectly clear. This proposal is not personal."Jayden almost scoffed aloud.‘Not personal?’Everyt