I wiped the last wet spot off the Westbridge University basketball court and stood up. My back hurt. My hands smelled like old soap and floor cleaner. In three hours I would turn eighteen, but nobody here cared.Ryan Black walked in with two of his friends. He was the team captain, tall, loud, and always looking for someone to step on. Today that someone was me.“Still cleaning floors, Carter?” Ryan laughed. He kicked a wet mop bucket so hard the dirty water spilled across the court I had just finished. “You missed a spot, servant boy.”I clenched my jaw and said nothing. Fighting him would only get me fired. This job paid for my mother’s medicine and the small rent on our tiny apartment in Grandville. I needed every dollar.Ryan stepped closer. “Say something. Or are you too scared?”I kept my eyes on the floor. “I’ll clean it again.”“That’s right. Stay in your place.” He shoved my shoulder hard enough to make me take two steps back. His friends laughed.Elena Rose walked in right t

I finished my cleaning shift in silence. The black card sat in my pocket the whole time. Every time my hand touched it, my heart jumped.I didn’t tell anyone. Not Leo, the quiet guy who sometimes helped me carry the mops. Not Elena when she waved from across the court. I just kept my head down and worked.When the last class of the day ended, I took the bus home. Our apartment was on the edge of Grandville, in a building that always smelled like old cooking oil and damp walls. I climbed the three flights of stairs slowly.Mom opened the door before I could knock. Her eyes were red, like she had been crying, but she forced a smile.“Happy birthday, Damon,” she said and pulled me into a tight hug. She smelled like the cheap soap she always used. “Come inside. Your father is waiting.”Dad sat at the small kitchen table. Two cups of tea steamed in front of him. He looked older than he had last week. The lines around his eyes were deeper.I sat down. The black card felt heavy in my pocke

The next morning felt different. I still wore the same old clothes and still cleaned the court, but something inside me had shifted. Ryan’s friends stayed quieter when I walked past. They still smirked, but they didn’t push as hard.I finished the early cleaning and headed to the library. I needed a quiet place to read the files Dad had sent. The numbers in those documents still didn’t feel real. Carter Global Holdings owned ports, power plants, and even a share of Crownstone Bank. My name was listed as the sole heir once I turned eighteen.I sat in a corner table and opened the first file on my phone.“Damon?”I looked up. Elena stood there with a stack of books in her arms. She wore a simple white shirt and jeans. No heavy makeup. She always looked like that — clean and real.“Hey,” I said.She glanced at the empty chairs. “Mind if I sit? The other tables are full.”“Sure.”She sat across from me and set her books down. For a few seconds neither of us spoke. Then she tilted her he

The next morning the campus was full of talk about the warehouse fire. Some students said it was an accident. Others whispered about rivals and dirty business. No one connected it to me. That was how Dad wanted it for now.I cleaned the court early and skipped my first class. I needed to do something I had never done before.I took a bus to the center of Grandville and walked into Elysian Mall. It was the most expensive shopping place in the city. Glass walls, bright lights, and stores with names I used to see only on billboards. Two weeks ago the security guards would have watched me like a thief. Today I walked in with the black card in my pocket.I went straight to a men’s clothing store on the second floor. The clothes inside cost more than I used to earn in a month.A saleswoman looked at my old jeans and worn shoes. Her smile was polite but cold.“Can I help you?” she asked, already sounding sure I couldn’t afford anything.“I need a full set of clothes,” I said. “Shirts, pa

I spent most of the night staring at the white card. The Oak Room. Tomorrow night. Come alone.Dad called early in the morning.“Do not go,” he said the moment I answered. “Kane does not want a conversation. He wants to measure you. Or remove you.”“If I ignore him, he burns something else.”“We can protect the company assets. We cannot protect you if you walk into his trap.”I looked out the window of the temporary apartment. “I need to see his face. I need to know what I’m fighting.”Dad was quiet for a long time. “Then you take a tracker. And you leave the second something feels wrong. Promise me.”“I promise.”After the call I went to campus. The court was already clean from the early morning shift I had done before sunrise. I had started arriving earlier so I could finish fast and have time to read the new files.At midday I sat in the student café with my laptop. Gregory Hale’s money trail was getting clearer. Large payments moved through three different companies, all linked