Mia’s mother remained near the hospital entrance for a few moments, still staring at the line of Rolls-Royces as they slowly began to move away.The vehicles were polished so perfectly that the afternoon sunlight reflected from their surfaces like flashes of silver. One after another, they pulled away from the entrance, surrounded by the security guards who had arrived with Marcus. The guards entered the vehicles with the same discipline with which they had emerged, and within a short time, the entire convoy disappeared down the hospital road.But even after Marcus had left, the excitement he created did not disappear.The enormous arrangement of roses remained behind.The nurses were still whispering.The patients were still recording videos.Visitors were still standing around, discussing the identity of the man who had arrived with such a grand display. Some were asking who Mia was, while others were trying to understand what kind of relationship she had with Marcus.Mia’s mother w

The man standing before Derek listened carefully, his expression changing the moment he heard the promise of double payment.Derek had made the offer clearly.There would be no delay.There would be no argument over the amount.Whatever the original payment had been, he was willing to double it. He wanted the matter handled quickly, and he wanted Ethan removed from the situation before Marcus could become an even greater problem.The man considered Derek for a few seconds before nodding.“If you are truly paying double,” he said, “then there will be no problem at all.”Derek remained silent, watching him.“Money speaks,” the man continued. “And when someone is willing to pay twice the usual amount, people are always ready to listen. Since you are paying double, we will gladly deal with this good-for-nothing bastard for you.”Derek’s expression softened into a satisfied smile.“Good,” he replied. “Very, very good.”The man turned slightly and gestured toward the others waiting nearby.

The tension in the street grew heavier.Derek could hear the murmurs of the onlookers. The men behind him had become restless, and their irritation was no longer directed only at Ethan. They were beginning to resent the way Derek’s plan was unfolding.He had promised them an easy assignment.He had promised that Ethan would be frightened and cooperative.Instead, Ethan had greeted them with contempt and was now provoking them openly.Derek needed to regain control.He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.“I am not here to exchange words with you,” he said.Ethan’s expression remained unchanged.Derek pointed toward the shop.“I am not here to argue with you, and I am not here to listen to your tantrums. I came here because I want something from you, and you are going to give it to me.”Ethan’s eyes became more focused.“What do you want?”Derek smiled.“There it is.”“What?”“You finally asked the right question.”Ethan waited.Derek stepped closer to the doorway, his voi

He had not even begun to breathe heavily.The eleventh attacker looked toward Derek.“Sir,” he said, his voice strained, “we need to leave.”Derek turned toward him with fury.“You are afraid of one man?”The attacker looked back at Ethan.“Yes,” he thought, though he did not dare say it aloud. “I am afraid because one man has just defeated almost everyone who came with me, and because he is looking at us as if he has not yet decided whether we deserve to live.”Derek’s order had been clear, but the man no longer felt obligated to obey it. Money was valuable, yet money could not make him ignore the evidence before his eyes. His companions had attacked Ethan together, and Ethan had treated them as though they were inexperienced children.The twelfth man attacked from the side, hoping that Ethan’s attention would remain fixed on the others.Ethan turned before the man reached him.He intercepted the attack, drove his elbow into the man’s chest, and then struck him across the temple with

Derek stopped in the middle of his movement, one foot still slightly ahead of the other, and slowly turned his head toward Ethan with an expression that tried to suggest irritation but could not completely conceal the uneasiness spreading through him, because Ethan’s voice had not sounded like the voice of a man who was asking a question, and there was something in the quiet certainty of those words that made Derek understand he might have made an even greater mistake by assuming the confrontation had ended simply because he had decided to leave.“Where do I end up going?” Derek asked, forcing a small laugh as he turned around to face Ethan more fully. “Home, of course. Where else would I be going? Do you think I should remain here, standing in this miserable street and staring at your face as though I have nothing else to do with my time?”Ethan remained near the entrance of the shop, watching him with the same cold patience that had unsettled the men before they attacked, and he did