The soft warmth of afternoon sunlight fell across Ethan's face as he blinked awake. The hotel ceiling came into focus, followed by the blurry shapes of two familiar figures sitting close to the bed.
His mother, Eliza Iver, sat with her legs crossed, arms folded gently, her eyes full of that mixture of worry and love only a mother could have. Beside her half draped across Ethan's leg was his little sister, Anna, who was vigorously trying to climb onto him like a tiny playful monkey.
"Big bro! You're awake! You're awake!" Anna shouted with sparkly eyes and a wide grin.
Ethan groaned playfully and rubbed her head.
"Hey… give me a second to breathe, okay?"
Anna giggled and climbed onto his lap anyway.
Meanwhile, Eliza finally relaxed, the tension in her shoulders melting a little.
"Ethan, dear… I'm glad you're up. You scared me when the hotel told us you came while we were out."
Ethan sat up slowly, still feeling a bit stiff but overall much better than the previous day.
"Sorry, Mom. Just tired."
Eliza reached out and touched his cheek gently.
"You always work too hard… whether you admit it or not."
Ethan chuckled softly.
"Speaking of work," Eliza continued while adjusting Anna's hair, "school resumes in a week. Then it's your final term before the university entrance exams. You need to rest and prepare."
He nodded slowly.
She wasn't wrong.
"Yeah… I'll handle it. Actually," he said casually, "my workplace gave me a bonus recently. A big one."
Her eyebrows rose slightly, a mixture of pride and suspicion flickering through her eyes.
"And…?" she asked.
"And I'm planning to use it to get a house," Ethan finished, patting Anna's head as she leaned into him. "For you and Anna. Something safe. Something permanent. I'll let you know once I settle everything."
Eliza blinked.
Then smiled.
It was a warm, proud, motherly smile that somehow made Ethan feel both lighter and more guilty.
"That's wonderful, Ethan," she said softly. "You've always been responsible."
Responsible was one word.
Terrified and desperate was another.
But he just nodded and stood up from the bed.
"I'll step out for a bit."
"Alright," his mother said, fixing Anna's small shirt. "Be careful."
Ethan headed for the door with steady steps.
When he closed the door behind him, Eliza watched silently.
Then, slowly, she walked to her travel bag sitting in the corner of the room.
She knelt down, unzipped the small side-pocket, and reached inside.
Her fingers brushed something smooth.
She pulled out a deck of cards ordinary at first glance, old and worn on the edges, with a faint shimmer underneath the surface.
She flipped through the deck until she reached a single glowing card.
Its surface lit with faint golden letters:
[New Player Has Been Added]
Eliza's eyes narrowed slightly not in anger, but in quiet recognition.
"So… it's starting again."
She sighed deeply and slipped the deck back into the pocket of her.
Ethan walked down the steps and stood in the lot.
And then another realization hit him.
He had no car.
He covered his face with both hands.
"Of course I don't."
His villa exploded.
His car was likely in pieces.
His bank app was refusing to let him access large sums.
It was ridiculous.
He exhaled sharply and booked a ride through Cber. When the car rolled up, the driver gave Ethan a slow once-over. His clothes were old torn jeans, a faded T-shirt, scuffed sneakers. He looked like someone who needed charity, not someone who would be going to.
"Sir, destination is… uh… a car showroom?"
The driver sounded confused.
Ethan simply nodded.
"Yes."
The driver blinked.
Then blinked again.
He looked like he wanted to ask:
"Why is a guy who looks like that going to buy a car?"
But he swallowed his curiosity and drove off.
Ethan sank back in the seat, lifting his phone again.
The world kept moving.
People kept living.
And he was stuck figuring out everything at once.
***
Meanwhile Highest Floor of French Group Tower
The atmosphere inside the executive conference room was heavy, the air thick with tension and cold metallic light. Two women stood before a massive, wall-sized holographic screen replaying security footage.
Mary
and
Lena.
The footage showed the night of the explosion in horrifying detail.
Men infiltrating Ethan's villa.
Three bombs being planted at separate points.
A sniper positioned on a distant rooftop, aiming through Ethan's window.
Timed detonation calculations.
Escape routes.
Professional movements.
Then,
Ethan collapsing in his car before reaching the villa.
And Mary and Lena appearing like shadows from nowhere.
Mary's jaw tightened as she paused the footage.
The image froze on Ethan's collapsed figure.
"Three bombs inside his villa," Mary muttered. "And a sniper ready to shoot him through his living room window."
Lena's fists clenched.
"If he hadn't fainted early… he would've walked straight into a death trap."
Her voice cracked slightly at the end. She masked it quickly, but Mary noticed.
Mary tapped the screen again, showing the digital trace of the hit order.
"It was posted on the dark web," she said. "Hidden behind layers of proxy."
The provenance identifier flashed:
Vale Family – Second Branch
Lena narrowed her eyes.
"Adam Vale."
Mary nodded once.
"But that's not the strange part," she said. "The stranger part is this look."
She tapped again.
A secondary digital signature appeared.
Assistance Confirmed – Main Branch Vale
Lena froze.
"Why would the main branch help Adam?" she whispered. "He's from the second branch. They don't care about him. They don't even support him."
Mary crossed her arms.
"It doesn't make sense."
The Peterson Group should have interfered after the explosion. But they didn't. They only sent money compensation, nothing else. No investigation. No public statement. No anger.
Just money.
And that itself was suspicious.
Mary replayed the part where Ethan was dragged away.
Lena's eyes softened, full of quiet pain and relief watching him being carried out of danger by Mary's guards.
Mary didn't look at the screen this time.
She looked at Lena.
Lena stood there, hand pressed lightly against her lips, cheeks tinted pink, staring at Ethan's unconscious image with a soft expression.
Mary raised an eyebrow.
"So…" she said casually, "let me guess."
Lena blinked and looked at her.
"You and Ethan… are together again, right?"
The question hung between them.
Lena's blush deepened so intensely Mary almost laughed.
Lena stared down at her shoes, twisting a strand of her hair between her fingers.
"W-We just… we talked… and"
"And kissed?" Mary asked dryly.
Lena swallowed hard.
Mary smirked.
"I knew it. You've been smiling like an idiot all day."
Lena puffed her cheeks.
"I-I was not!"
"You're doing it right now," Mary said, pointing at her face.
Lena's blush erupted again, but this time her eyes were bright and warm.
Mary watched her for a moment.
Then her expression softened just a little.
A hint of warmth leaked through.
"I'm glad," she said quietly. "He needs someone by his side."
Lena lifted her eyes.
"And… what about you?" she asked softly.
Mary looked out the window where the sky was brightening.
"Two days left," she murmured.
"For what?" Lena asked.
Mary's smile thinned.
"My birthday."
Lena blinked.
"I didn't know…"
Mary shrugged.
"You didn't need to. Birthdays don't matter much to me."
But Lena noticed something subtle.
A faint loneliness behind Mary's eyes.
A loneliness she tried to hide under confidence, beauty, and iron control.
Lena's heart tightened a bit.
She made a note in her mind.