The Prisoner Son Returns as the Medical Saint

Chapter 1: The Price of a Criminal

Hell Prison smelled like rust and regret.

The long hallway was dimly lit, and the silence inside was the kind that pressed against your chest. Hundreds of men stood in perfect stillness, their eyes locked forward, their breathing controlled. Not one of them dared to make a sound.

At the center of it all, an old man sat with the calmness of someone who had already seen everything the world had to offer.

His hands were steady as he held out a ring, placing it gently into the palm of a younger man standing before him.

"From today," the old man spoke quietly, his eyes carrying the weight of a thousand unspoken things. "You are the new leader of Apex of the Stars. Codenamed Zeus."

Edward Cole accepted the ring without a word. His face was carved from stone, jaw set, eyes steady and unreadable.

It was the face of a man who had long learned to carry weight without letting it show. Behind him, hundreds of people lowered their heads in unison, a silent wave of respect that filled the hollow prison walls like a tide.

The ceremony ended as quietly as it had begun.

A man appeared at Edward's side almost immediately, his smile stretched wide and eager, the kind that politicians and businessmen spent years perfecting.

It was John Stanton, the richest man in the city, a name that made boardrooms go quiet and knees go weak.

"Boss," John tilted his head with practiced flattery, his eyes warm and almost desperate. "Shall I arrange my car to take you back? It is already waiting outside."

Edward glanced at him briefly, his expression unmoved. "No need. My wife is coming."

John nodded quickly, stepping closer with the energy of someone desperate to be useful. "Of course, of course. Speaking of your wife, Eliza Norton, right?" His smile widened slightly, proud of himself. "As per your instructions, I have been quietly helping her company secure several major deals over the past few months. Everything was handled discreetly. She has no idea it came from you."

Something shifted in Edward's face then. Just a slight curve at the corner of his mouth, so brief that if you blinked you would miss it entirely.

"Thank you," Edward murmured simply.

John felt a warmth rise in his chest that no business deal had ever given him.

He straightened his jacket, his eyes glowing with quiet honor as he watched Edward pick up his small bag and walk toward the exit.

The prison gates opened.

Outside, a sleek luxury car sat parked along the curb, its black surface catching the afternoon light like a mirror.

Edward had barely taken two steps toward it when a woman stepped directly into his path.

He recognized her immediately. Cathy Lin. His wife's cousin and personal assistant.

She was holding a folder in both hands, and her expression was the kind that people wore when they had rehearsed something carefully in front of a mirror.

Her chin was lifted slightly, her lips pressed thin with the confidence of someone delivering news they had been looking forward to.

Edward's eyes narrowed slightly, a quiet tension crossing his brow. "Cathy. What are you doing here?"

She did not waste time. She opened the folder and thrust it toward him without ceremony. "Sign this."

He looked down. Divorce agreement. His name was already printed at the bottom, waiting for his signature like it had been expecting him for a long time.

Edward almost laughed. Almost. He raised his eyes to Cathy slowly, his expression flat and unreadable. "Is this a joke?"

"Does it look like one?" she shot back, her eyes cool and dismissive, the way someone looks when they have already decided the person in front of them does not matter.

A quiet anger settled into Edward's stomach, slow and controlled.

Three years. Three years locked inside that prison for something he had not done, and his wife could not even be bothered to come deliver this herself.

She sent her cousin. Her cousin with a divorce paper and no apology.

Then the rear door of the car opened.

Eliza Norton stepped out.

She was dressed impeccably, her posture the kind that came from years of walking into rooms full of people who wanted something from her.

Her face was a perfect mask, composed and unbothered.

Her eyes barely touched his before sliding away again, as though looking at him for too long might cost her something she was not willing to spend.

"Edward." Her voice was even, deliberate, carrying just a trace of something buried underneath. Guilt, perhaps. But it vanished almost before it fully formed, swallowed back behind the cool wall of her expression. 

"This is not a joke. We are no longer on the same level. My company is about to go public and if it comes out that my husband is a convicted criminal, the entire listing will collapse."