Fifty minutes.Abel watched the dashboard clock tick over as he pulled into the EasyWay Logistics lot. He left the Corolla crooked across two spaces and took the stairs two at a time.Anderson Morning, his boss, rarely left his office during working hours. He tracked his riders on the company app and let the packages do the walking. So when Abel knocked in the middle of a shift, Anderson looked up in surprise.“Mr. Kane? Come in. Sit.”“Thank you, sir.” Abel gave a small bow and took the chair across the desk.“Is something wrong with the bike?”“No, sir.” Abel cleared his throat. In four years, he had never asked this man for a day off or an advance. But pride was cheap, and his mother’s life wasn’t. “Sir, I need a favor.”“A favor?”“It’s my mother.” His voice cracked, and he swallowed hard. “She needs emergency surgery. The deposit has to be paid before they can begin.”“How much?”“Two hundred thousand. But anything you can spare, sir. I’ll find the rest.”Anderson leaned back an

“Where the fuck are you?!”“I’m starving, you bastard!!”“Come home right away or I’ll report you to my dad?!”Abel read every message that popped up on his phone screen. He furrowed his brows.His hands were steady, but his heart was still heavy.He sat in the waiting room, his eyes looking up at intervals toward the surgical room. Everything that concerned him right now was seeing the doctor come through the hallway and tell him his mother’s surgery was successful.“I will come whenever I am ready to.” He punched his phone screen and hit his hand on the send button.***On the other side of the city, Adora’s jaw dropped.“This bastard. He is snubbing me now because I won’t lend him the money?!”She scoffed.Instantly, she breathed heavily. She fumbled with her hands and dug into the grilled fillet mignon right in front of her.Three hours ago, she’d ordered her private chefs to cook since Abel was not around to do it.Nevertheless, she’d always wanted Abel to do her cooking. Not beca

Adora knocked once and didn’t wait.Tyler opened the door with a slow smile. “That was fast.”“I wouldn’t have to come at all if my husband were home doing what he’s told.” She pushed past him and shut the door behind her. “He switched off his phone. He didn’t come home last night. Can you believe that?”“Maybe he finally got tired.”“He doesn’t get to be tired.”Tyler laughed softly and walked to his private cellar. Eight years ago, Adora had walked up to him at a gala and asked him out herself. Tyler, a scientist, developer, and CEO of Tyler & Co., hadn’t needed to be asked twice.Then her father had come home one evening with news. Adora was to marry the man named in her grandfather’s will.She had fought it. She had lost. She had married Abel out of obedience, and she had never forgiven him for it. Tyler had never gone away.“Drink?” he asked, lifting a glass.“No.” Adora crossed the room and took the glass out of his hand, setting it down. “I want something else. Something only yo

“I asked you a question,” Abel said quietly.Grant’s smile twitched. “And what are you going to do about it? Hit me?”He jabbed a finger into Abel’s chest, once, then again. Then he grabbed Abel’s shirt and pulled him close enough that Abel could smell the coffee on his breath.“You’re a nobody,” Grant whispered. “People like you don’t get inside a building like this. Leave now, while I’m still being kind, or I’ll make an example of you.”“No.”The word came out calm. Grant blinked.Ten days ago, a bookkeeper had wandered into the lobby with an offer to sell the company a stack of technical manuals. Grant had grabbed him by the collar just like this, and the man had bolted before the door closed behind him. That was how it always went. Men like this man—worn suit, rusty car—begged or ran.This one had said no. And he had said it as if he meant it.Grant smirked to cover his unease and released Abel’s shirt.“Maria.”“Yes, sir.” The receptionist stood straighter.“Call the police. Tell

The boardroom doors opened.The HR manager stepped in first and bowed. “Chairman, they’re here.”Behind him came Grant, Maria, and Michael, in a line, their eyes fixed on the carpet. The moment they saw who sat at the head of the table, all three dropped to their knees.“We were fools, sir,” they said, almost together. “We didn’t know who you were. Please forgive us.”Abel let the silence stretch. He folded his hands on the mahogany and looked at each of them in turn. Maria was already crying. Michael was staring at the floor. Grant’s face was the color of paper.“You didn’t know who I was,” Abel said. “That isn’t the problem. You didn’t care who I was.”Nobody answered.“CEO. Who approved these three?”Adriano turned to the HR manager, who turned to the assistant manager standing against the wall. The assistant manager found something interesting to look at on the ceiling.“Bring me their files,” Abel said.They arrived in under a minute. Abel slid Grant’s across the table. “Mr. Kelvi