SON-IN-LAW BY DAY, UNDERGROUND KING BY NIGHT

4

The City Prosecution Office interrogation room was small and suffocating. Mikael felt the sheer, crushing power of the Elston Group’s influence closing in around him. Mrs. Vivian Cole, the prosecutor, presented the evidence with cold, surgical precision. Every piece of data bank transfers, email authorizations, meeting minutes—had been expertly manipulated to point directly, irrevocably at Mikael Dray.

“Your defense is that you were stealing from the company that owned you. The jury will see that as an act of calculated greed and final spite, Mr. Dray,” Mrs. Cole finished, stacking her documents neatly. “The case against you is overwhelming.”

Before Mikael could mount a further, desperate defense, the door opened, and a bailiff escorted a woman into the room.

Aria.

Mikael’s ex-wife looked stunning, dressed in a black suit that seemed to mourn his situation while perfectly celebrating her freedom from him. Her expression was meticulously composed, showing only a slight, trembling sorrow—a performance designed for the record, not for him.

“Aria, what are you doing here?” Mikael asked, his voice rough.

Aria didn’t look at him directly. She addressed the prosecutor, her voice thin but perfectly audible. “I am here to ensure that justice is served, Mrs. Cole. I have a statement to provide regarding the financial irregularities my father first discovered.”

She turned slightly, and for the first time, her eyes flickered over Mikael. The look she gave him was not hatred, but a chilling indifference, as if he were a failed experiment.

“I only wish I had recognized the signs sooner,” Aria said, injecting a fake tremor into her voice. “Mikael always handled the deep accounting. He swore he was saving us, but looking back now, I see the deception. He manipulated my trust. He had a secret life, hidden accounts. He was planning to leave me for months and take as much money as possible. I trusted him with everything, and he betrayed not only me, but my family and our shareholders.”

“Betrayed you?” Mikael scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping him. “You were the one who slid the annulment papers across the table after I secured your future! You are a terrible liar, Aria. This entire marriage was a tool for your father!”

Mrs. Cole slammed her hand on the table, silencing the outburst. “Your personal disputes are irrelevant, Mr. Dray. Your ex-wife’s testimony, supported by the bank statements, provides motive and context for your criminal actions. She confirmed that your personal and financial behavior grew reckless and deceptive in the months leading up to the annulment.”

Mikael leaned back, the last reserves of his fight draining away. Aria was selling him out for her father’s approval and her own comfort. She was the final, devastating witness against him.

“I have nothing else to say,” Mikael stated, his voice flat. He looked at Aria one last time. “Enjoy your wedding, Aria. You’re trading one cage for a slightly shinier one.”

Aria ignored the comment, turning to Mrs. Cole with a look of relieved finality. She was escorted out, leaving Mikael alone to face the consequences.

After three more grueling hours of paperwork and processing, the verdict was sealed. The judge, swayed by the overwhelming, expertly crafted documentation and the tearful testimony of the CEO’s daughter, denied bail.

Mikael was officially committed to the state prison system.

The steel door clanged shut behind him. The sound echoed the definitive end of his previous life. He was Mikael Dray, convicted felon.

******

Four years had crawled by, each day in the small, grey cell indistinguishable from the last. Mikael Dray, now thirty-one, sat staring at the concrete floor when the heavy lock on his cell door rattled violently.

“Dray! On your feet. Visitor,” the duty officer commanded, his voice muffled by the thick steel.

Mikael slowly rose, stretching the stiffness from his shoulders. “Which visitor? No one has bothered to visit me in nearly a year now.”

The officer paused, looking impatient, but before he could respond, another, younger officer rushed up and whispered urgently in his ear. The first officer’s expression changed instantly, shifting from bored authority to open shock. He looked at Mikael as if he were seeing a dangerous ghost.

“You’ve been granted bail, Dray,” the officer said, lowering his voice conspiratorially. “But listen to me closely. You are going to have to act like a dead man from this moment on. Do you understand?”

Mikael was stunned. The news hit him like a physical blow. “Dead man? Bail? How is that even possible? Why?”

The officer ignored his frantic questions, grabbing his arm and dragging him roughly toward the main exit corridor. “No questions. Move!”

When he was hauled out into the brightly lit administration lobby, a woman stood waiting. She was tall, exquisitely glamorous, and radiated an aura of effortless power. At first glance, Mikael’s heart stuttered; he thought for a terrifying second it was Aria, his cold ex-wife. As he was pulled closer, he realized this woman was not only far more beautiful, but she was entirely different. This was Helen Charles, the daughter of the billionaire Charles, the heiress and CEO of Charles Electronics, the number one tech company in the entire country. Her face was constantly plastered across every business magazine cover.

His mouth fell open in utter astonishment as she gracefully stretched a perfectly manicured hand out toward him, offering a firm handshake.

Helen Charles gave him a sharp, knowing look. “Are you just going to let my hand hang awkwardly in the air, or are you going to say your thank you for your newfound freedom?” she prompted.

Mikael immediately snapped out of his shock and quickly took her hand, his prison-roughened palm meeting her smooth one. “I am so sorry for that terrible lapse. Thank you, thank you immensely. But I don’t understand what is happening. Do you know who I am? And why are you here? I can’t place this at all.”

“I guess you must have received the news already, but regardless, I am Helen Charles,” she said, her voice smooth and confident. She gestured toward the door leading outside. “Come along now. We’ll get into the vehicle, and I will fill you in with all the latest updates of the world you missed.”

“But—” Mikael began, trying to process the impossibility of the situation.

“Shhh,” she commanded softly, cutting him off with a subtle, powerful gesture.

At that moment, the door to the office adjacent to the lobby opened, and a familiar face stepped out. It was Mr. Thompson, Mikael’s loyal old connection, the one person he truly trusted.

“Thompson!” Mikael exclaimed, his voice filled with overwhelming disbelief. “How? What in the world is going on?”

Thompson, looking calm and perfectly composed in his tailored suit, simply gave Mikael a meaningful look. “Sir, I strongly advise you to follow Miss Charles’s lead right now. Everything is under control.”

Mikael, taking his friend’s quiet counsel, followed Helen out the door. He was ushered into the back of a black, armored luxury sedan, and a convoy of identical vehicles immediately started moving, slicing through the city traffic with impressive speed.

Mikael turned to Helen, unable to believe his eyes that he was sitting right next to the most powerful young heiress in the nation, freed from a life sentence.

“I am sorry to disrupt your peace, Miss Charles, but you still haven’t answered my most important question as to why you bailed me out of jail, which, again, I am truly thankful for,” Mikael pressed, needing to understand the cost of this freedom.

Helen leaned back against the plush leather seat, her expression composed. “You are thankful? I don’t think so. Well, to correct your terminology, I didn’t just bail you out, Mr. Dray. I essentially bought you out. You are not only free from prison, but you are literally dead to the whole world now.”

“What?!” Mikael practically shouted, the realization hitting him hard.

“Yes, that was the only way to get you out without Arthur Elston’s network spotting the maneuver,” Helen explained, her voice steady. “You are dead. And you are no longer Mikael Dray in the eyes of any official record.” She handed him her sleek tablet, which was open to a breaking news site.