Ring of Power: The Billionaire's Secret

Jake stood outside the apartment door, his phone still warm in his hand. The text from Maya had been short. Simple. "Come over. Need to talk."

His heart did that stupid flutter thing it always did when she messaged him. Even after two years together, she still made him feel like some lovesick kid. He reached for the doorknob, already planning what he'd say. Maybe she wanted to plan their anniversary dinner or…

A sound stopped him cold.

It came from inside. Low and rhythmic. A woman's voice, but not talking. Not exactly.

Jake froze. His hand hovered over the door.

No way. That couldn't be what it sounded like. Maya wouldn't. She was probably watching a movie or something. Yeah, that made sense. Just a movie with the volume up too loud like she always did because—

Another sound. Deeper this time. A man's voice mixed with hers.

The phone almost slipped from his fingers. His chest felt tight, like someone had wrapped a rubber band around his ribs and kept pulling. Tighter. Tighter.

'This isn't real,' he thought. 'I'm hearing things. I need to knock. She'll open the door and laugh at me for being paranoid and—'

But his hand was already turning the knob. The door wasn't locked. It swung open with a soft creak that sounded way too loud in his ears.

The living room was empty. Clean. Normal. Maya's jacket hung on the coat rack by the door. Her shoes were lined up neatly underneath. Everything looked exactly like it should except for the sounds coming from the bedroom down the hall.

Jake's legs moved on their own. Each step felt heavy, like walking through wet cement. The bedroom door was cracked open just enough. Just enough to see.

His brain tried to process what his eyes were showing him but it felt like looking at one of those optical illusions where the stairs go up and down at the same time. Maya. His Maya. The girl he'd met at the hospital two years ago when she was sick and scared. The girl he'd held while she cried about her diagnosis. The girl he'd literally given part of himself to save.

She was there. With someone else.

The guy was bigger than Jake. Broader shoulders. Expensive watch catching the afternoon light. Jake knew that face. Knew the name attached to it.

Derek Mitchell.

Rich kid. Trust fund baby. The guy who threw parties that made the local news because the neighbors complained. The guy who'd gotten kicked out of three different colleges for "disciplinary issues" that his dad's lawyers made disappear.

Jake stood in the doorway. Neither of them had noticed him yet.

His mouth opened but nothing came out. Like someone had reached down his throat and stolen his voice.

Then Derek's eyes met his. There was this pause. This split second where time felt stretchy and weird. And then Derek smiled.

Actually smiled.

"Oh shit," Derek said, not moving. Not bothering to look embarrassed or guilty or anything human. "Looks like your boy toy showed up early, babe."

Maya turned. Her face went pale for maybe half a second. Then something shifted. Her expression smoothed out. Became calm. Too calm.

"Jake," she said. Like she was greeting him at a coffee shop. Like this was normal. "I thought you'd take longer."

"What—" His voice cracked. He cleared his throat. Tried again. "What the hell is this?"

Derek laughed. Actually laughed. He sat up, completely unbothered by Jake standing there. "Dude, come on. You can't be this dumb."

"Get out," Jake said. His hands were shaking. He shoved them in his pockets so they wouldn't see. "Get the hell out right now."

"Jake." Maya's voice was different now. Harder. She got up, grabbed a robe from the chair. Tied it around herself with movements that looked practiced. Casual. "Derek, give us a minute."

"Nah, I'm good here." Derek stretched his arms over his head. Yawned like he was bored. "This is better than N*****x."

Jake's vision blurred at the edges. Not tears. He refused to let it be tears. Just anger. Pure, hot anger burning behind his eyes. "You're really doing this? After everything?"

"After everything?" Maya raised an eyebrow. "What everything, Jake? You mean the bone marrow thing?"

"The bone marrow thing?" His voice got louder. He couldn't help it. "I donated bone marrow to save your life! I went through all those tests and the procedure and the recovery because you needed me!"

"Yeah, about that." Maya sat on the edge of the bed. Crossed her legs. "That's actually why I dated you in the first place."

The words didn't make sense. Like she was speaking another language or something. Jake stared at her.

"What?"

"The bone marrow," she said slowly, like explaining something to a child. "I knew you were a match. That's why I started dating you. I needed someone who could donate and you were, like, perfect for it. Desperate for attention. Easy to manipulate. Plus you had the right blood type or whatever."

Derek laughed again. That same ugly sound. "Bro, she played you so hard. That's actually kind of impressive."

"You're lying." Jake took a step into the room. His legs felt weird. Unsteady. "You loved me. You said you loved me."

"I said a lot of things," Maya said. She examined her nails. "People say all kinds of things when they need something. That's just how the world works, Jake. Grow up."

"I almost died in that hospital! The doctors said the recovery was brutal and I still did it because I thought—" His voice broke. He hated himself for it. "I thought we had something real."

"Real?" Derek stood up now. Started getting dressed like this was just another Tuesday. "Nothing about you is real, man. You're broke. You're nobody. You work at that crappy restaurant washing dishes and barely making rent. What exactly did you think was gonna happen here? Happy ever after?"

"Shut up," Jake said. "This has nothing to do with you."

"Sure it does." Derek buttoned his shirt. Each button felt like a countdown to something. "See, Maya here, she's got standards now that she's not dying. And those standards don't include some orphan kid with no family, no money, and no future."

The room went silent.

Jake's ears were ringing. That word. Orphan. The one thing he never talked about. Never mentioned. The thing that kept him up at night sometimes, wondering who his parents were and why they didn't want him.

He'd only told one person that story. Only trusted one person with the truth about growing up in foster homes and group homes and never really belonging anywhere.

Maya.

"How does he know that?" Jake's voice came out quiet. Dangerous. "How the hell does he know about my parents?"

Maya shrugged. "I tell Derek everything. We don't have secrets."

"Unlike you and your pathetic life story," Derek added. He walked closer to Jake. Too close. Invading his space on purpose. "Left at a fire station when you were two weeks old. No note. No explanation. Your parents literally looked at you and decided they'd rather have nothing. That's gotta sting, huh?"

Something inside Jake snapped.

He'd never been a violent person. Never gotten in fights at school or even raised his voice much. But hearing this asshole, this rich piece of garbage, talk about his parents like it was a joke—

His fist connected with Derek's jaw before he even realized he'd moved.

Derek stumbled back. Hit the dresser. For a second he looked genuinely surprised. Then his face twisted into something ugly.

"Oh, you're gonna regret that."

What happened next was fast and blurry. Derek came at him. They crashed into the wall. Jake got in one more hit before Derek's fist slammed into his stomach.

The air left his lungs in a rush. He doubled over.

'Fight back,' he told himself. 'Get up and fight back.'

But his body wouldn't listen. The bone marrow donation had been only three weeks ago. The doctors said it would take months to fully recover. His body was still weak. Still healing. He'd been taking it easy at work, struggling through shifts because the pain in his bones hadn't fully gone away yet.

Derek hit him again. And again.

Jake tasted blood. The floor came up to meet him. Hard.

"Derek, stop!" Maya's voice sounded far away. "You're gonna kill him!"

"So what?" Another kick to Jake's ribs. "Trash like him? Nobody would even notice he's gone."

'Get up,' Jake thought. 'Please, just get up.'

But everything hurt. Everything was spinning. The edges of his vision were going dark and fuzzy, like someone was slowly turning off the lights.

He heard Maya and Derek talking. Panicked whispers he couldn't quite make out.

Then hands grabbing him. Dragging him. The hallway carpet rough against his back.

"Is he breathing?"

"I don't know. I think maybe we killed him."

"Shit. Shit shit shit. What do we do?"

"The dogs. My dad's guard dogs in the back. We can—"

"Are you insane?"

"You got a better idea? If he's dead and someone finds out, we're screwed. But if the dogs get to him, it'll look like an accident. Like he broke in or something."

Jake tried to move. Tried to open his mouth and tell them he wasn't dead, he was right here, he could hear everything. But his body wouldn't respond. It was like being trapped inside a broken machine.

Cold air hit his face. Outside. They'd brought him outside.

The sound of a metal gate opening. Chain link rattling.

Then growling. Deep and vicious and getting closer.

His body hit something hard. Concrete. He was inside something. A cage maybe. A pen.

The gate slammed shut.

"Let's go," Derek said. "Before someone sees us."

Footsteps running away.

Jake lay there. The growling was louder now. Multiple dogs. Big ones from the sound of it. He could smell them. That animal smell mixed with dirt and something rotten.

'This is it,' he thought. 'This is how I die. Killed by the girl I loved and fed to dogs like garbage.'

His hand was under him. Twisted at a weird angle. There was something digging into his palm. The ring. His grandmother's ring. The only thing he had from his real family. The social worker had given it to him when he turned eighteen. Said it was left with him at the fire station.

He'd worn it every day since.

Now he could feel it pressing into his skin. Getting warmer. Almost hot. His blood from the cuts on his hand was soaking into it. Spreading across the old silver.

The ring pulsed.

It was subtle at first. Like a heartbeat he could feel but not hear. Then stronger. Heat spread from his hand up his arm. Into his chest. Through his whole body.

The pain started to fade. Not gone. Just distant. Like it was happening to someone else.

Energy flooded through him. Pure and electric and completely wrong. This wasn't normal. Nothing about this was normal.

The dogs were right there now. He could hear them panting. Smell their breath.

Jake opened his eyes.