"Please, Clara. I'm begging you. Forty-seven thousand. My mother will die without it."Arthur's knees slammed into the hardwood. He grabbed the hem of Clara's blazer, fingers shaking so hard he could barely hold the fabric.Two days without sleep. His eyes were red, swollen and sunken.Clara looked down at him ."Let go of my clothes.""Clara, please—""I said let it go," she said, tugging the fabric loose and smoothing it out with her hand, her eyes getting smaller. "You're going to mess it up. This jacket is really expensive, more than you've ever earned in a whole year. And that's not surprising, since you've never had a real job anyway."Across the room, Julian Thorne sat sprawled on the leather couch, legs crossed, swirling a glass of red wine.He watched Arthur as he adjusted his Cartier gold-rimmed glasses — two thousand five hundred dollars, a price he'd mentioned once, casually, like it was pocket change — and tilted his head."Man," Julian said, taking a slow sip of his drin

He paused mid-step. Frowned. Pulled it out. Glanced at the screen. His eyebrows shot up. He answered."Yes? ... What? ... Are you certain? ... I see."He listened. Nodded slowly. His face went pale. Then paler."Understood. Immediately. Yes. Of course."He slammed the phone down, froze in place for a moment, and then slowly turned to face the other way.Walked back to Arthur.Stopped.Bowed.It was a really bizarre scene - he just dropped down into this super deep bow, like a perfect ninety degrees, right there in the emergency ward where all the nurses and patients were rushing around.Everything just came to a standstill as people stopped what they were doing and stared at him."I'm sorry, boss."Patricia's jaw dropped. The younger nurse's gum fell out of her mouth and landed on the counter. Neither of them moved. Neither of them breathed.Dr. Whitmore stood up, his face tense, and wiped the sweat from his forehead."I had no idea it was this bad," he said, his voice laced with conc

"What are you doing here?" Clara asked again, her voice cold and sharp. It was like she could cut through the air with her words. Lila moved forward, her arms folded across her chest, the gold bracelets on her wrists making a soft clinking sound. She gave Arthur a once-over, her eyes scanning him from head to toe, her expression suggesting she wasn't impressed, like he was something unpleasant that had been spilled on the floor. "Clara, sweetie, just ignore him. This is VÉLORÉ, and to be honest, the least expensive item in this store is worth more than everything he owns. “ She then turned to Arthur, giving him a gentle smile. "Hey, darling, you're headed in the wrong direction - the beggar’s junction is actually three blocks east from here, you must have taken a wrong turn somewhere." The third woman burst out laughing, covering her mouth with her hand. But she couldn't contain herself and laughed even harder. "Oh my goodness, Lila, look at his shoes!" she exclaimed. "Are tho

The music was so loud that the bass thumped against the walls, making the chandeliers quiver and shake violently.Julian's penthouse was packed. Two hundred guests. Champagne towers.A live DJ spinning tracks from a glass booth overlooking the city skyline. Women in sequin dresses. Men in tailored suits. All of them laughing, drinking, toasting.The day of reckoning was finally here. Julian's father, the patriarch of the Thorne family and a seasoned politician, lay frail and helpless in a hospital bed on the other side of town, his voice barely above a whisper.But despite his father's fragile state, Julian was about to take a huge leap into the political arena, preparing to throw his hat into the ring as the family's candidate for the city council - a move that would make him the youngest candidate in the district's history.He was the chosen one, the golden boy, destined to follow in his father's footsteps and claim the family's political legacy.The weight of expectation rested squ