2026-01-01 00:26:46Nathan’s hand went deeper into his pocket, and when he pulled it out, it wasn’t a fist.
It was cash.
A thick bundle of clean, crisp bills—about one thousand dollars.
The club went quiet.
Nathan raised the money slowly, his voice calm but sharp enough to cut through the music.
“I’ll give this to anyone who punches that stupid boyfriend of hers in the face.”For a split second, everyone thought it was a joke.
Then Nathan walked to the bartender’s desk and dropped the cash on it.
The sound of money hitting wood echoed louder than the bass.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
“Is he serious?”“At Club9?”Zea’s boyfriend burst into laughter, holding his stomach. “You think money can buy you help here?” he sneered. “Just watch and see how—”
His words died in his mouth.
A huge guy stepped out of the crowd.
No warning. No hesitation.
BAM!
A clean punch landed squarely on Zea’s boyfriend’s chin.
The man stumbled back, eyes wide, mouth hanging open.
The puncher calmly picked up the money from the desk and stuffed it into his pocket.
Silence.
Then—
Explosion.
“What the hell?!” Zea screamed.
People stared at Nathan now with completely different eyes.
“Is that all?” someone shouted.
Nathan reached back into his pocket again.
This time, he brought out ten thousand dollars.
The bills fanned out like a promise.
He dropped them on the table.
“If anyone wants more,” Nathan said coldly, “come collect.”
The club went mad.
People rushed forward like wolves scenting blood.
Zea’s boyfriend tried to back away, fear finally flashing across his face. “Hey—wait—”
Too late.
Fists came from everywhere.
Punches. Elbows. Knees.
Someone hit his ribs. Another smashed his jaw. Someone kicked his legs out from under him.
Nathan’s voice cut through the chaos.
“I’ll double it if he coughs out blood and teeth.”That was the trigger.
The mob descended fully.
Zea’s boyfriend screamed as he fell to the ground, curling up, trying to shield himself—but hands dragged him out.
Punches rained down like a storm.
Crack.
Blood sprayed.
A tooth flew across the floor.
He began coughing violently, blood bubbling from his mouth.
The crowd roared.
Nearby, the waitress and a few women turned toward Nathan.
“What about us?” one of them asked eagerly. “We want a share too.”
Nathan looked at them. “What do you want to do?”
They grinned. “We want to slap a bitch.”
Zea’s face drained of color.
She dropped to her knees instantly, grabbing Nathan’s trouser leg. “I’m sorry! Please! I was foolish—I didn’t mean it!”
Tears streamed down her face.
Nathan pulled out another ten thousand dollars and handed it to the women.
“But don’t touch her,” he said calmly. “She’s already begging.”
Zea sobbed in relief. “Thank you! Thank you—”
Nathan cut her off.
“I’m forgiving what you did to me,” he said coldly. “Not what you did to her.”
He turned to the waitress.
“Take your revenge.”
The waitress froze for half a second.
Then her face hardened.
She jumped on Zea like a storm.
Slaps echoed.
Hair was pulled.
Zea screamed, covering her face, begging now—not Nathan, but the waitress.
Nathan let it go on for a few seconds.
Then he pulled the waitress back gently. “That’s enough.”
Zea collapsed on the floor, sobbing, broken.
Nathan paid everyone their money.
The crowd erupted, chanting his name.
“NATHAN! NATHAN! NATHAN!”
Even the DJ caught on, hyping him over the speakers.
Nathan didn’t smile.
He checked the time.
Two minutes left.
He turned to leave—
—but the waitress ran after him.
“Thank you,” she said breathlessly. “For defending me.”
She hesitated. “What can I do for you?”
Nathan didn’t waste time. “I need to find the Zohran Gang. Fast.”
The waitress laughed softly. “Good thing you met me.”
She lowered her voice. “There’s a pattern. If you don’t know it, you can search all day and never find them.”
Nathan’s heart jumped. “Show me.”
She nodded. “My name’s Rhea. Come.”
Rhea led him through twisting corridors, narrow stairs, hidden hallways that didn’t even seem real. Left. Right. Down. Up. Through a staff-only passage.
Nathan’s head spun trying to memorize it.
Finally, they stopped at a steel door.
Rhea knocked.
Three short taps.
Two slow taps.One sharp knock.Nathan checked the time.
Twenty seconds.
The door opened slightly.
A man peered out. “Who dey?” he asked casually.
Rhea replied smoothly, “Night dey hungry, but fire still dey cook.”
The man grinned and opened the door.
Inside—
Nathan’s breath caught.
His grandmother.
Tied to a chair.
Bruised. Pale. Breathing shallowly.
Rage exploded inside him.
The room was filled with armed men.
At the center sat Don Cluster, boss of the Zohran Gang.
Rhea stepped forward easily. “Cluster.”
The men nodded at her with respect.
Too much respect.
Nathan noticed it immediately.
He stepped forward. “Release my grandmother.”
The room burst into laughter.
“Put your money where your mouth is,” Don Cluster said lazily.
“I’ll pay,” Nathan replied without hesitation. “Six hundred thousand. Right now.”
Cluster raised a brow. “It’s gone up.”
Nathan didn’t blink.
“One million,” Cluster said. “Movement costs. Trouble fees.”
“Give me the account,” Nathan said.
Stunned silence followed.
Someone scoffed. “Is this boy mad?”
“If he had money, why suffer this long?”
Nathan turned to Rhea. “Guarantee?”
She nodded. “Cluster keeps his word.”
Nathan nodded.
Fear gripped him as he opened his phone.
‘Please be real.’
He typed.
Facial verification.
Confirmed.
$1,000,000 debited.
Alert received.
Cluster stared at his phone.
Shock flickered across his face.
“…Release them.”
The ropes were cut.
Nathan held his grandmother tightly.
“Thank you,” he whispered to Rhea.
As they left—
Cluster spoke quietly. “Who is that boy?”
“I don’t know,” Rhea replied. “He defended me.”
A man added, “He threw cash like water.”
Cluster smiled slowly. “Maybe we work with him.”
“That’s stupid,” a female voice said.
From the shadows stepped Angela. Don Cluster's wife and a distant cousin of Roland Acuds.
Elegant. Cold. Dangerous.
“Kidnap him,” she said. “If one million is nothing to him, imagine the rest.”
Rhea snapped. “That’s dishonorable!”
Cluster hesitated—his baby sister might not see it as honourable but he didn't care, all he cared about was the money they could make.
Then nodded.
“Prepare.” He instructed his men.
Rhea stormed out.
And the hunt for Nathan began.
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Chapter 78
It was early evening, and Victor Moody was sat in a high-backed leather chair in his study, the room was dimly lit by a single desk lamp right in front of him, and the blue glow of his phone screen. The mansion was silent, all the staff bad longed been dismissed for the evening, only the faint tick of the grandfather clock in the hallway broke the silence.He held the phone to his ear with one hand, while his other hand held a glass of some red wine. The voice on the line was cautious, and even almost apologetic.“…the app’s metrics are clean, sir, but it’s not an app built for profit. It’s a platform for matching underprivileged kids with mentors, scholarships, and for finding small gigs to help them pull through. There are no premium tiers, and there are no ads, and even no data resale. At best it is doing to breaks after three years. At worst… it’s a money pit. I recommend pulling out now, before the PR shine wears off.”Victor took a slow sip of the wine. “I know,” he said, his
Chapter 77
The townhouse had felt too quiet after three days of Nathan avoiding the world. Aaron and John being there were the only new things to have happened in the last three days.Aaron spoke first. “Look, man, we get it. You’re hurting. But sitting in here letting the internet eat you alive isn’t fixing anything. And that's why I think we should take you out for sometime. You know, to get your mind off things.".Nathan leaned against the stair railing, his arms crossed. “I’m not in the mood.”John held up a pair of beat-up roller skates. He had carried it in his bag for quite sometime ever since he left his dorm's to come. "Exactly why you need to come. We’re going skating. No it's not a fancy restaurant, and there would be no bodyguards. It will just be us, some pavements, and zero phones. You need to get your head out of the loop for a couple hours.”Nathan looked at the skates, then at their faces. They were really serious about this."He sighed. “Fine. But if anyone recognizes me—”“W
Chapter 76
Aaron and John felt strangely hollow without Nathan’s presence. Three days had passed since the Larry incident at the beach restaurant, and the campus buzz on the issue had shifted from admiration, to confusion, and then to concern. Whispers followed Aaron and John everywhere they walked. People were looking at them, looking for Nathan, looking for signs of him wherever he was.“Have you seen him?” a freshman asked, clutching her phone like evidence, eyes darting from side to side. “He hasn’t been to class. I haven't seen him in even one lecture. Not even the gym.”Aaron shook his head. “No, we haven't seen him too. We don't even know where he is right now. We’ve been calling and it's just been going straight to voicemail.John kicked a stray pebble across the path. “He has not been answering his texts either. Theast message he sent was ‘Need space.’ That was really three days ago.”The girl looked disappointed. She had just gotten an admission into the school and really wanted to se
Chapter 75
Nathan sat at the head of a long conference table in Cloven Tower, his were sleeves rolled to his elbows, with the morning light reflecting on his brown eyes, cutting his vision.David Brune sat to his right as calm and composed as he usually was. Matthew Steel occupied the chair opposite. He was still visibly uneasy as he had been ever since he found out the truth about Nathan. His tie was too tight around his neck, while his fingers were drumming on the table before he caught himself and stopped.Nathan was the first to break the silence. “There’s a boy,” he said. “His name is Larry and he is just Seventeen. He approached me at the restaurant last night and aid he built an app that could scout for mentorship, scholarships, side gigs for kids like him who had nothing. But before I could respond, the security security dragged him away. They called him a thief and a pickpocket. I want to invest in him and give him a chance."David Brune leaned forward slightly, brow creasing. “Is th
Chapter 74
It was another date at the beachfront restaurant. The place glowed warm Edison bulbs all connected by strings dangling over the customer's heads, with the waves of water from a few feet away rolling in what seemed like whispers just beyond the open terrace.Nathan sat across from Golden, one of the seven women, at a corner table draped in yellow linen. Her golden-blond hair caught the light from the bulbs above her head, while her deep brown eyes reflected the candle flame between her and Nathan. She was mid-sentence, laughing softly about a ridiculous modeling gig, when a commotion erupted near the hostess stand. A boy who seemed to be no older than seventeen, broke through the velvet rope, his trainers skidding on the polished stone floor. He sprinted straight toward their table and dropped to his knees in right in front of Nathan and his date's table with a heaving chest and his palms flat on the ground.Nathan froze, would his fork halfway to his mouth. The boy looked up with w
Chapter 73
David Brune stood alone on one of the highest floor terrace of Cloven Tower. His hands were clasped behind his back, as he staring out into the city as the dusk bled into night. The wind carried a faint salt taste from the bay that was around the corner.There was no one but him and the distant hum of traffic far below in the city. He had sent the staff home early. The office was now empty, apart from some servers and an unblinking office, with a light that never died.He exhaled slowly. This is what being one of the most powerful men in the world, feels like, be thought to himself. He felt like nothing.The apology video from Matthew Steel had bought them some breathing room, and it was even barely. The internet had turned on Matthew almost overnight, but David knew better than to mistake public opinion for victory. Public opinion was fickle. It could flip again tomorrow if the right lever was pulled.His mind drifted to Nathan. The boy, who was now becoming a man now right in fron
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