The heavy, gray concrete of the underground parking garage was cold and wet. Only a few cheap lights flickered on the ceiling. The air smelled strongly of engine oil and dirty water.Julian parked his rented car in the darkest corner of the bottom floor. He sat quietly behind the steering wheel, his right hand gripping a heavy, locked steel briefcase.He checked his mirror for the tenth time. His heart was beating fast, but he was not scared. He was filled with a dark, twisted excitement.The Sterling family was completely finished. Victoria had returned from the bank looking like a walking ghost, crying hysterically about frozen accounts and demolition crews.Creditors were already swarming the front gates of the villa like hungry vultures. Charlotte was still lying in a coma in the back of the van, completely useless.They are all pathetic, weak fools, Julian thought, a nasty sneer twisting his handsome face. But I am not like them. I will not let Ethan Vance destroy me.Headlights s

The grand Sterling villa was completely dead, stripped of its former loud and happy voices. The huge house was now a silent, scary tomb filled with nothing but heavy shadows and cold air. Upstairs in the main bedroom, Charlotte lay completely frozen on her big silk bed while a breathing machine pushed air into her ruined lungs.Down in the main office, Victoria and Beatrice sat surrounded by a huge mountain of angry red letters. Their phones rang non-stop with calls from angry banks, but the sisters were too terrified to answer them anymore. The power company was cutting their lights tomorrow, and the water would be shut off by Friday, leaving them with absolutely nothing.Beatrice just stared at the blank wall, her eyes completely empty and hollow like a sad ghost haunting her own house. Harper stood quietly in the hallway, watching her older sisters slowly fall apart under the heavy weight of their ruined lives. Her young heart ached with heavy sadness, but a dark, scary suspicion wa

Chloe did not hesitate to help; she quickly pulled Harper fully inside and slammed the heavy door shut against the howling storm. She wrapped the thick, warm towel tightly around Harper’s trembling shoulders, gently pulling the wet hair out of the young girl's pale face. Grandfather Joseph walked out of the living room, his kind, old eyes filling with deep pity at the sight of the battered, bleeding child on his floor.Ethan stepped calmly out from the hallway, wearing a simple dark sweater that made his broad shoulders look incredibly strong. His handsome face was perfectly calm as he looked down at the youngest Sterling sister shivering weakly on his wooden floor. The very moment Harper saw Ethan’s familiar face, the heavy guilt and terror inside her completely broke her spirit.She pushed the warm towel away and forced herself up onto her bleeding, bruised knees. She pressed her wet forehead completely flat against the wooden floorboards, bowing before him in absolute, total surrend

The morning sun shined brightly over the giant glass dome of the Grand Royal Exhibition Center in the middle of the city. Today was the opening day of the Centennial Oakhaven Medical and Enterprise Summit, the biggest corporate event of the entire year. More than twelve hundred wealthy businessmen, international investors, and powerful government leaders had gathered to buy and sell the newest medical inventions.Expensive luxury cars lined the wide driveway, dropping off rich executives wearing perfectly tailored suits and bright, confident smiles. Inside the massive building, the air buzzed loudly with the sound of money changing hands and huge business deals being made. Huge digital screens flashed brightly on the walls, showing the faces of the most powerful people in the entire province.In a dark, quiet corner of the secondary hallway, far away from the bright main stage, the remains of the proud Sterling family sat completely forgotten. Victoria Sterling pushed a heavy silver w

Charlotte’s tired, sunken eyes went completely wide, staring blindly at the small glass box resting on the bright stage. Even through the thick, foggy pain ruining her dying brain, she recognized the glowing, green plant instantly. It was the legendary Nine-Sun Neuro-Restorative Root, something she had only ever seen in old, dusty medical books from a hundred years ago.It was the only medicine in the entire world that could heal broken brain cells and stop the terrible pain squeezing her head. Charlotte knew that if she could just eat a tiny piece of that glowing root, her brain would completely heal in minutes. She would not end up paralyzed in a bed; she would be the proud, powerful Chairwoman of the Sterling family once again."Victoria! You have to bid on it!" Charlotte whispered hoarsely, grabbing her sister’s dark sleeve with weak, shaking fingers. "Use the last emergency credit line we have left! I do not care how much it costs, Victoria, we absolutely must buy that root!""Bu