2025-12-09 06:27:46Ryan blinked twice as if his eyes were lying to him. But Benjamin didn’t disappear. He kept walking along the stone path like this was his nightly routine.
Rose clung to Ryan’s arm. “What the hell is he doing here?”
Ryan’s mouth twisted. “He probably wandered in by accident. You know how he is. No shame.”
They stepped out of the elevator, their irritation rising with each step toward the courtyard. Benjamin was about to pass under an arch covered in white lanterns when Ryan’s voice snapped through the quiet air.
“Hey! Storage Boy!"
Benjamin stopped. He turned in a calm, almost bored way, as if he had been expecting this confrontation.
"Now, what the hell do you think you’re doing here, hmm?”
Benjamin tilted his head slightly.
Rose frowned. “Don’t try to act casual. We both know you don’t belong here.”
“I’m a guest.”
Ryan laughed sharply. “At Golden Front Hotel? Please. You’re sleep in a storage room because you can’t afford to switch to a bigger one. Why are you lying, huh?”
Benjamin didn’t flinch.
"Now, something tells me you sneaked in here. I mean," Ryan scoffed. "No one enjoys sleeping in a storage room but that isn't enough reason for you to sneak in here."
“I didn’t sneak in. I checked in legally.”
Rose scowled like the claim offended her. “Legally? One night here costs more than three Dior bags. You—you can’t even afford one!”
Ryan nodded, righteous anger building. “You had to save for three months, Benjamin! Three fucking months!!"
Benjamin didn’t respond. His silence only fueled them.
“I'm calling security." Rose announced, irritated. "Security!"
A pair of guards at the garden entrance turned their heads. Rose and Ryan waved wildly at them, urging them closer with dramatic gestures that made Benjamin look like the world’s most wanted criminal.
The guards approached at a steady, practiced pace.
"This man," Ryan started. "He doesn't belong here."
One of them sized up Benjamin quietly, then gave Ryan and Rose an unimpressed look.
“Sir, ma’am,” the guard said, “we cannot determine if this guest belongs here or not, simply based on how he looks.”
Ryan sputtered. “Are you kidding me? Take a fucking look at him!”
The guard didn’t blink. “Most reputable and highly respected people often prefers understated clothing. Only middle-class people likes to flash logos.”
That hit Ryan like a slap. His shirt tonight was printed with a brand so bold it nearly glowed under the garden lights. Rose tugged at her Dior bag self-consciously.
“What are you even saying? That he is some billionaire??” she snapped.
“I’m saying appearances aren’t evidence,” the guard replied, voice steady.
Ryan’s face reddened. He stepped forward. “Call your manager. Right now.”
Rose raised her chin. “Yes. Bring the manager. We’ll settle this properly.”
The guard’s expression tightened a little, then he nodded. “Very well. I will inform him.”
They watched him walk away. Ryan’s confidence ballooned again.
“This is perfect,” he muttered. "I'm sure you have no idea how fucked you are or who owns this place.
Rose smiled sweetly. “Of course he doesn't."
Ryan smirked. "Once the manager sees you here, you'll be blacklisted from all Mercury Corporation properties. You’ll be stuck working at Walmart for the rest of life.”
“While, we will be at our internships, headed for Wall Street before graduation.” Rose sighed happily, already enjoying the scene in her imagination.
Benjamin stood still. He didn’t defend himself. He didn’t explain. He simply let them talk.
Minutes later, the manager arrived. He walked briskly, tie crisp, posture disciplined. His presence carried authority the way a storm carried rain.
“Good evening,” he said, looking at Ryan and Rose. “I was informed there was an issue.”
“Yes,” Ryan said, puffing out his chest. “It pains me to say, but here is a serious breach of security at your organisation. Look at him.” He gestured at Benjamin like pointing out a stain. “How is someone like that walking around a six-star hotel?”
The manager turned toward Benjamin.
And froze.
The change in him was instant. His face drained of color. His breath hitched. His eyes widened with something close to dread.
Rose saw it and smiled in triumph. “See? Even you can’t believe this. Your security is a joke if he can get in.”
Ryan added, “We demand you escort him out. And comp our bill. This whole night was ruined. Your negligence is unbelievable.”
The manager swallowed hard. “It is… my mistake,” he murmured. “I truly let anyone walk in tonight.”
Ryan grinned. “Exactly. Now fix it.”
The manager nodded slowly, then stepped closer to them with deliberate calm.
And then, his hand whipped across Ryan’s face.
The slap cracked across the garden like a gunshot.
Ryan staggered. Rose shrieked.
“You—” Ryan gasped. “Are you insane?”
“You… you hit him?” Rose asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” the manager said. “And I will do worse if necessary.”
The manager’s expression didn’t change. “The Golden Front Hotel does not welcome guests like you.”
Ryan stood frozen, palm pressed to his cheek as if trying to confirm the pain was real. Rose stared at the manager like he’d lost his mind.
Ryan sputtered. “You’re making a mistake. A huge one. How can you prefer him?” He pointed at Benjamin with shaking fury.
The manager turned to Benjamin and bowed his head slightly. “Sir. I sincerely apologize for the disturbance.”
Rose’s jaw dropped. “What? Why are you apologizing to him? He doesn't even belong here!!”
The manager straightened. “Oh, yes. He does.”
Her voice cracked. “How?”
Benjamin shrugged lightly. “I came to the hotel, met with the manager, and got in without paying.”
“Oh!" Rose let out a sharp, incredulous laugh. "I get it now. You’re here to work security. Right? That’s the only explanation.”
Ryan nodded vigorously, seizing the idea. “Makes sense. You hired him. That’s why you’re defending him.”
The manager stiffened. “He is not security.”
Ryan jabbed a finger at him. “I cannot believe you’d put a staff member above paying guests. This is insane. You know what? I’m not staying in a hotel that treats us like this.”
Just then, his phone rang sharply, slicing through his outrage. Ryan yanked it out of his pocket, ready to snap at whoever was calling, but the moment he saw the caller ID his face shifted.
He answered. “Dad?”
His father’s furious voice exploded through the speaker loud enough for Rose to hear.
“Ryan! He sent people to attack us! Do you hear me? That boy sent people to beat us up in our own home!”
Ryan staggered back. “What? When?”
“Tonight! They stormed in like they owned the place. You come home right now!”
The call cut off.
Ryan stood frozen, color draining from his face. “He… you sent people to attack my parents?”
Benjamin stayed silent, his expression unreadable.
Ryan’s anger surged back in an instant. “You’ll regret this. I swear, I’ll make sure your life at school turns to hell. You think you can mess with my family and walk around like nothing happened?”
“Let’s go,” Rose said quickly, grabbing his arm. “This place is beneath us anyway.”
Ryan shot Benjamin one last venomous glare. “Watch your back.”
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 210
Spring arrived at Memoville without announcement.Not suddenly. Not dramatically. It didn’t behave like an event. It behaved like a correction that had taken its time to arrive, as if the campus had been slightly misaligned for months and had finally eased back into place without anyone agreeing it should.The air changed first. Movement through the campus no longer felt like pushing against something invisible. Conversations started earlier, ended later. People lingered in doorways instead of passing through them quickly.Benjamin noticed it from the window of the Golden Front.He had been standing there longer than usual, coffee in hand, watching the city wake up in layers.He realized, without emphasis, that nothing in him was rushing.That was new.Not peace.The Mercury Corporation board call began at nine.Martha Matthews appeared on screen precisely on time, as she always did, with a calm expression on her face.The agenda moved quickly. Reports were delivered. Questions were
Chapter 209
Two weeks after the clause execution, Terence Lin attempted to contest the revocation through external legal channels.The filing arrived on a Monday morning.Martha Matthews brought the notice into Benjamin’s office at Mercury Corporation with a calm expression on her face and was annoyed only by the paperwork it created.“They filed in commercial court,” she said, dropping the documents on his desk. “Improper execution claim. Abuse of discretionary authority. Procedural unfairness.” A pause. “None of it is strong.”Benjamin skimmed the filing once.The argument was carefully written, but the problem remained obvious: the clause was airtight. Every procedural step had been followed precisely. Every notification had been documented.The challenge had nowhere stable to stand.“How long?” Benjamin asked.“Not long,” Martha said. “They’re testing whether pressure creates hesitation.”Benjamin closed the file.“It won’t.”And it didn’t.Four days later the challenge was withdrawn quietly,
Chapter 208
Terence Lin’s reply did not arrive through the formal channel.That alone was enough to tell Benjamin what kind of response it would be.The Mercury Corporation legal inbox remained untouched that morning. No acknowledgment of the clause. Instead, Martha received a call through a secondary contact, an associate of the Lin family requesting “clarification” and, more importantly, a meeting.Benjamin read the summary once and set the page down.“He’s trying to create a conversation where none exists,” Martha said.“It’s delay,” Benjamin replied.“Or leverage.”He glanced at the message again. “There is no leverage in a closed clause.”Martha waited a moment before saying, “Or he’s used to clauses that behave like suggestions.”Benjamin leaned back slightly, gaze drifting toward the city beyond the window.“Decline the meeting,” he said. “Formal notice only. Restate that the clause is non-negotiable.”Martha nodded. “And Lin?”“He’ll escalate.”“Then we stay aligned.”She gathered the pap
Chapter 207
Thursday arrived with the feeling of something already decided.At 8:17 a.m., Martha Matthews sent a single message:Countersignature complete.Benjamin read it once in silence.Then replied:Proceed.He didn’t linger on the screen afterward. The phone was placed face down beside his notebook, as if it had already finished its job for the morning.The notifications went out at 9:03 a.m.Two recipients.Two systems receiving the reality at the exact same moment.Terence Lin. Ryan Lawson.The Mercury Corporation dispatch protocol didn’t make it to the delivery. It didn’t announce the importance. It simply ensured receipt, verification, and acknowledgment.Each file contained the same architecture:Clause reference: Primary Ownership Governance Provision (Section 3)Declaration of ownership authorityFormal review summaryEvidence index (transactional, behavioral, structural)Seven-day acknowledgment window prior to executionAnd beneath it all, a signature:Benjamin Wayne, Primary Owner
Chapter 206
The document arrived at eight the following morning, but the office had already been awake for an hour.Mercury Corporation didn’t really “start” its day so much as tighten into it. Systems came online in layers. Reports updated. Screens refreshed.Benjamin was already at his desk when Martha Matthews entered.She didn’t speak immediately. That alone told him this wasn’t routine.She placed a thick folder on the desk and sat across from him with the stillness of someone who had already read it twice and was now waiting for him to do the same.“Legal framework for clause activation,” she said.Benjamin nodded once and opened it.The first pages were procedural architecture: definitions of authority, confirmation of ownership, jurisdictional grounding. Clean corporate language. The kind that existed so no one could later claim confusion.He read quickly until he didn’t.The third section slowed him.Not because it was unclear.Because it wasn’t.He read it once.Then again, more deliber
Chapter 205
The document arrived on Benjamin’s desk at Mercury Corporation on a Tuesday morning.That was usually how important things arrived.No announcement. No ceremony. Just paper.Martha Matthews placed the folder in front of him without a word. Cream-colored. Heavy stock. The Mercury Corporation letterhead printed at the top like a declaration on paper.She didn’t sit immediately. She waited.That alone made Benjamin look up.Martha only did that when something does not sit right.“Read the third section,” she said.Benjamin opened the folder.The first pages were standard corporate language—structure definitions, ownership clarifications, boilerplate clauses designed to make lawyers comfortable and auditors bored. He skimmed them with practiced efficiency, eyes moving faster as the material proved unremarkable.Then he slowed.Third section.His gaze stopped there.He read it once.Then again.Not because he didn’t understand it—but because he did.The words didn’t change on the second re
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