Rise to Power: The Miraculous Liam Regan.

Chapter 14

Her threat snapped something inside him.

Liam blinked, as though waking from a deep fog. The ringing in his head faded, replaced by the harsh reality in front of him. He had his own battles to fight. His own war to win. He couldn’t afford to lose focus not now.

For a brief second, he almost opened his mouth to plead on the old woman’s behalf. The words rose to his throat. "Please, just attend to her. It’s urgent."

But they died there.

Confidence failed him. The weight of his own problems crushed the courage before it could form.

Instead, he stepped forward.

The attendant looked at him lazily. “What is your problem?” she asked, irritation still dripping from her voice.

Immediately Liam swallowed.

“I… I want to withdraw the remaining money in my account. All of it.”

She leaned back in her chair and slowly looked him up and down from his worn shoes to his faded shirt. Her lips curved into a mocking smile.

“Well,” she said dryly, “this should be interesting. Just to satisfy my curiosity who would have thought you people even keep thousands in your accounts?”

Her tone turned sharper.

“The moment an E‑level citizen earns a little bit, they start feeling important. They start feeling like they matter. It’s amusing.”

She clicked her tongue.

“You know, poor people like you always try to cover up your situation with kindness. As if being polite and helping each other will change your status. But in places like this, kindness doesn’t work.”

She tapped her keyboard impatiently. “Account number.”

Immediately Liam recited it quietly.

Her fingers moved across the keys. The screen reflected faintly in her glasses as she processed the information.

“Fingerprint,” she said, gesturing toward the scanner. Then she added with a smirk, “Make sure there’s no dirt on it. Clean it properly before you place it there. Don’t spoil our machine.”

Her eyes flicked back to him with open disdain.

“Though I doubt whatever money you have in that account would even be enough to replace it.”

The moment the attendant finished speaking, Liam’s jaw locked so tightly that a pulse throbbed in his temple.

He could hardly believe things had sunk this far. B‑level citizens didn’t even bother to hide their disgust anymore.

They didn’t pretend to be decent. They didn’t even preserve the smallest trace of humanity when dealing with E‑level people. They spoke however they pleased, mocked however they wished, and stained the dignity of lower citizens without consequence.

It was cruel, It was disgusting.

And in this city, it was normal.

Liam hated it with everything in him.

But hatred solved nothing. Not here. Not now. Too much was already pressing on his shoulders. His stolen land. His ruined house. His betrayal. His mother. And now, somehow, this old woman and the desperate tremor in her voice had become part of his burden too.

He had no room left to care.

And yet, he did.

If he withdrew the money, maybe he could still spare the old woman a little just enough to help her begin treatment for her granddaughter. Leaving her in this condition, with that terror in her eyes and that urgency in her plea, felt like condemning the child himself.

So without another word, Liam wiped his finger against his shirt and pressed it onto the scanner.

The machine began to process.

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He stared at the screen, waiting.

In his mind, he was already bracing himself for the next step for the woman to ask whether he truly wanted to withdraw everything. Maybe it would be the full amount. Maybe not forty thousand exactly, but something close. Something enough to change the direction of this day.

But then the attendant suddenly laughed.

It wasn't a soft laugh, not a surprised one either. A sharp, ugly laugh that split across the room and turned heads.

She looked at the screen, then at Liam, amusement glittering cruelly in her eyes.

“Would you look at that,” she said between laughs. “Our little good Samaritan. Our noble angel.”

Her smile widened.

“You too have nothing in your account. Your balance is zero. Zero. You don’t even have a dime in it.”