Rise to Power: The Miraculous Liam Regan.

Chapter 16

At that moment remained where he stood, frozen in the wreckage of the moment.

Shock held him so completely that he could neither speak nor think. It was as if the world had split open beneath his feet, and he was still standing only because he had not yet realized he was falling.

The attendant, however, had no interest in mercy.

“Well?” she said coldly. “I think it’s time you got your poor, disgusting-looking face out of my sight before I call security to drag you away.”

Her words struck him, but they barely registered. Compared to what had just happened, even her cruelty felt distant. Faint. Almost meaningless.

Because his life his entire life had just been stripped bare.

He had nothing now.

No house, no savings, no safety, no certainty.

Nothing.

Even his job was gone. After what had happened the previous day, there was no going back. He knew that much. Whatever bridge had existed between him and his old life had already burned to ash.

So what now? How was he supposed to survive?

How was he supposed to raise the money to sue Victoria? To take on Benjamin? To challenge City Hall itself? How was he supposed to fight anyone when he no longer had even the means to stand?

The questions came one after another, merciless and unanswered, each one crushing what little remained of his composure.

Slowly, as if every movement hurt, Liam turned around.

His body felt heavy, hollowed out by despair.

The old woman looked at him then, and whatever words she might have spoken died before they reached her lips. The devastation on his face was too raw, too visible, too complete. She could only stand there and watch him, her own sorrow forgotten for a moment as she saw just how thoroughly broken he had become.

And Liam, looking utterly destroyed, began to move forward one slow step at a time.

Liam was just about to take another step when the attendant’s voice cut through the silence.

“Hold on a minute.....”

He stopped at once.

A tired dread settled over him. For a brief moment, he thought he had somehow landed himself in even more trouble. Perhaps she had found another reason to humiliate him. Perhaps she wanted to call security after all. That was how people like her behaved if cruelty had not already gone far enough, they simply found a new way to stretch it.

Slowly, sluggishly, Liam turned back to face her.

He was prepared for another insult. Another sneer. Another cruel dismissal.

But what he saw made him pause.

The look on the woman’s face had changed.

It was no longer sharp with mockery or twisted with irritation. Instead, there was something else there something closer to surprise. No, not surprise. Shock. The kind of stunned expression someone wore after seeing something they did not expect, something they could not immediately explain.

Liam frowned faintly.

Before he could ask, the attendant spoke again, this time in a much lower voice.

“A transfer just entered your account,” she said. “Money just came in right now.”

For a moment, Liam simply stared at her.

He was too drained to react properly. The words reached him, but slowly, as though they had to push through layers of numbness before making any sense.

“Money?” he repeated, caught off guard. “How?”

Then a thought hit him. Sudden and sharp.

"Did Victoria return the money she transferred out of my account?"

The possibility flashed through his mind, and despite himself, he clung to it for one fragile second. Yes… perhaps that was it. Perhaps she had sent it back.