The industrial stretch of the city looked exactly like the kind of place a man with nowhere to go would ended up.It had broken streetlights, shuttered warehouses with padlocks thick as fists and roads wide enough for trucks that had not come through in years. The whole area was quiet as Ethan walked through it with his duffel bag over one shoulder and the ring warm against his palm. His ribs screamed at him with every step, yet he forced himself to keep moving. He did not know what he was looking for, all he knew was the pull in his chest dragging him here and the distant hum of a city that had never once noticed him.Then he heard her.A woman's voice, sharp and frightened, cutting through the silence from somewhere ahead. Then a crash followed by laughter and male voices.Ethan stopped.Fifty meters ahead he could see a black luxury car surrounded by four men surrounded it. One of them opened the driver's door and dragged a woman by the arm while she fought him with everything sh

"My son had you thirty-three years ago." Solomon did not let go of his hand. "And this ring in your finger was personally given to your father by me. It is an Ancient heirloom of the Drake family.” He paused, cleaning more tears.“The night you were born, the very first thing your father did before anything else was to take this ring from his own finger and put it on yours. He did not wait until you were old enough. He didn’t wait for you to understand what it really meant. He just put it on your little newborn fingers like he knew something that we didn’t all know. You were just three hours old." Something shifted in his voice and he held it steady with visible effort. "He wanted you to have it from the very first moment of your life."Ethan looked down at the ring. The serpent coiled around the scepter. The same crest he had stared at for eighteen years without being able to explain."He knew something was wrong two days after your birth," Solomon continued. "The child they placed i

"Excuse me." A sales attendant appeared at his elbow. Young. Carefully polished. "Is there something I can help you with?""This piece," Ethan said. "And a full suit. I have an event tonight.""Of course." The attendant reached for his notepad."Ethan."He heard the voice and before he turned, he already knew.Vivian's mother, Mara stood six meters away with her younger daughter beside her. They looked like people who had been in the store for some time with multiple hopping bags sitting near their feet. The staff nearest to looked totally accustomed to them like she was just another regular customer who they have probably attended to a couple of times.Her face moved from surprise to contempt so fast that the surprise barely registered. He turned back to the display case. 'Of course it is her.'"Is that not the Cole family's pool boy?" her daughter said and there was nothing quiet about it. Two other customers turned their heads and that was Mara’s clue.Her voice came out loud and

Outside, Vivian's mother was on the phone before her car door fully closed and Vivian picked up on the second ring."He is alive," her mother said without any introduction. "And he’s not just alive. He has money behind him, real money, and he just humiliated us in front of half the store. That card he is carrying is not standard. The manager fell over himself the moment he saw it."Vivian was quiet for a moment. "Who is he with?""The president's daughter walked in personally."Another pause. Longer this time. “Aria?”“Yes.” Mara answered angrily. “Are you coming or you’re just going to keep asking me questions?”"Where are you?" Vivian asked."In the car outside Harrington's. He is still in there buying things.""What things?""A suit and something from the display case which was the most expensive piece in the store and he bought it like it was nothing." Her mother's voice tightened. "He bought the watch I wanted, Vivian. The one I came in specifically wanted to get."The silence ha