The banquet hall of the whitmore family burned with golden light.Three hundred rich people filled the big room. Women in long bright dresses laughed behind their hands. Men in dark suits held wine glasses high and talked about money and power. The air smelled of heavy perfume and roasted meat. Soft music played from speakers near the ceiling. Crystal chandeliers hung above the tables and threw light across polished floors. Everything looked perfect on the outside.Ethan Cross stood near the back wall. He wore a cheap black suit that did not fit him well. The sleeves were a little short. The collar felt tight around his neck. His black hair was neat, but his face looked tired. Dark circles sat under his eyes. No one spoke to him. No one offered him a drink. No one looked at him with respect. A waiter passed close by and did not even glance at him.This was his third wedding anniversary.He had cleaned the floors of this house for three years. He had taken every insult without fighting

Morning light cut through the dirty hotel window like a knife.Ethan stood in front of the small cracked mirror. The swelling on his face was almost gone. Only a thin red line remained on his lip. He washed his face with cold water from the sink. The water felt good on his skin. He looked at himself for a long time. The man in the mirror was the same, but something behind the eyes had changed.He put on the same black suit. It was still damp in places and smelled of rain. He had no other clothes. It would have to do.He left the hotel and walked toward the financial district with steady steps. The morning air was cool. His body still felt the power from last night. It sat quiet under his skin, waiting.The city was already busy. Cars filled the roads and honked at each other. People in clean suits rushed past him with coffee cups in their hands. A woman in high heels almost bumped into him and did not say sorry. No one looked at the man in the cheap wet clothes. No one cared who he wa

The boardroom of Whitmore Group sat on the highest floor of the building. Long glass windows showed the whole city below. A long table of dark polished wood filled the center of the room. Twelve leather chairs stood around it. Soft light came from the ceiling. The air was cool and quiet.Ethan sat at the head of the table in the chairman's seat. The seat that had never been meant for him. His wet suit still clung to his body, but he sat straight. His hands rested on the arms of the chair. His face showed nothing.Twelve board members sat along the sides of the table. Most of them looked angry. Some looked afraid. None of them looked at Ethan with respect yet. Papers and pens sat in front of them. No one touched anything.Victor stood near the door with his arms crossed tight. His face was still red from the lobby. "This is a joke. Father is on his way right now. He will fix this mess. You will not sit in that chair for long."Ethan did not answer. He simply looked at Victor until the

Damien Kane sat in his private office on the thirtieth floor of Kane Tower.The walls were covered with awards and large photos of him shaking hands with important people. A bottle of expensive red wine stood open on his wide desk. The glass in his hand was half full. He was laughing into his phone with pure joy. The city stretched out below the wide windows like it belonged to him."Yes, yes, the Whitmore girl is mine now," he said into the phone. "That useless husband is gone for good. Everything is perfect. We will be the strongest couple in the city. No one can touch us. The future is already written."He took a sip of wine and smiled at his own reflection in the glass window. He looked strong. He felt strong. For the first time in days, everything seemed under control.The office door burst open with force.His secretary ran in without knocking. Her face was white as paper. Her hands held a thick stack of official papers. She was breathing hard. Her heels clicked fast on the floo

Morning came slowly over the city.Ethan stood at the broken hotel window and watched the sky turn from black to gray. The room still smelled of sweat and old blood. A hotel manager had come at midnight with a pale face and a long speech about safety. He had offered a free suite on the top floor and a full refund. Ethan had refused both. He had slept two hours on a chair near the window with his back to the wall. It was enough. The System had already filled his body with strength again.He picked up his phone from the table. Seventeen missed calls. All of them came from numbers he did not know. He ignored them and opened the news page instead.The first headline made him stop.KANE CONGLOMERATE FAILS TO MEET LOAN DEADLINE. BANKS BEGIN ASSET SEIZURE.Ethan read the article slowly. At five o'clock yesterday, the banks had waited in the lobby of Kane Tower with a team of lawyers. Damien Kane never came down with the money. At five minutes past five, the first notice was placed on the fro