My father, Benjamin Ward, was bedridden, paralyzed, and unable to move.

The AI model he spent his entire life developing—a model powerful enough to cure terminal diseases—had been stolen and published under someone else's name.

Humiliated beyond endurance, he suffered a stroke and collapsed.

He couldn't speak. He couldn't even write.

I swore I'd find the thief who destroyed him. My girlfriend, Maris Dawn, wept and promised to help me uncover the truth.

But at a dinner party, when her first love proudly announced that he'd been specially recruited by a national research lab thanks to that very model, she immediately grabbed my arm, whispering, "Don't make a scene. Grayson just wants a good future. Don't ruin his life."

Grayson Vale smirked with disdain. "The old man was about to retire anyway. Think of it as recycling waste."

My vision went red. I charged at him, ready to make him pay for what he'd done to my father.

Maris tripped me before I could reach him.

She threw a check for ten million in my face. "Here's for your dad's medical care. Don't be shameless, alright? Grayson is a rising star. You're just a broke grad student. You should learn your place."

I tore the check apart, piece by piece.

That check could never buy the Dawn family a future in the world of science.

What Can't Be Bought

"Are you out of your mind? That's ten million."

Grayson Vale kicked the chair beside me aside and jabbed a finger at my nose. Around the table, his friends looked at me like I was trash.

"It's just the research of a bedridden man." Grayson sneered. "If it weren't for Maris, we wouldn't give a single penny."

He said it as if it were obvious, arrogance plastered across his face. "Lucen, don't say I didn't warn you. I'll be at a national lab before long. What chance do you have against me? Your dad's model only really shines in my hands, understand?"

Maris Dawn gave Grayson a reproving shove, then turned to me with a familiar, bored impatience. "Grayson's right. Don't be so stubborn. It's just a model. I'll find a way to help your father. Stop making a scene, okay?"

I ground my teeth until my jaw ached. The hatred in my eyes felt like something that could be grabbed and held.

"A scene?" I spat. "I'm not asking for anything else. Return my father's AI model, and apologize to him publicly."

My stare made Maris take a step back, but she straightened her shoulders quickly. "Use some sense. Do you know how rare this opportunity is for Grayson? Your dad's situation is tragic, but do you want to ruin Grayson's future? Can't you think about me, about our future?"

I snapped. My palm connected with Maris' cheek in a hard, clean strike. The crack of it silenced the room.

"For you? You and the rest of you who climb over other people's lives to get ahead—" I didn't finish. The slap had already lit a fuse.

They swarmed me and shoved me to the floor.

Grayson planted his boot on the back of my hand and ground down. From above, he pulled Maris into his arms and, feigning tenderness, blew against her reddening cheek.

"I told you," he said, looking down at me. "You're not in the same world as him. He's an ungrateful dog."

Maris covered her face; fury and contempt in her eyes almost drowned me. "Lucen, do you really want to degrade yourself like this? And throw away what we've had for years?"

Because I loved her, I'd put up with her occasional spoiled fits and her family's snubs. But I could not swallow watching them shove my father into ruin for the sake of Grayson's career.

My father's dignity and life's work were priceless.

I fought to get up, but several hands pinned me down. Grayson grabbed an unopened bottle of wine from the table and smashed it down toward my head.

"If you so much as touch Maris," he hissed, "I'll make sure your father never wakes up in the hospital."

The Papers

Everything went black, and a warm trickle ran down my forehead.

Maris screamed, not because of me, but because she feared my blood would stain the carpet. "Grayson, stop. This could turn deadly."

Hands grabbed for Grayson to pull him back.

"Forget it," another voice said. "Not worth it over some trash like him."

"Come on, we still have a celebration. Don't ruin it."

At last, Grayson backed off and, with a look of disgust, wiped his hands on a napkin. "Throw him out," he ordered.

They hauled me from the private room like a bag of trash and dumped me on the cold hallway floor.

Maris followed, her voice completely flat. "Lucen, you made your choice. Grayson's right. We're not from the same world. Let's break up."

I braced myself against the wall and staggered to my feet. Blood blurred my sight; her face warped in the haze.

"Maris, your father is a scholar. You should know that a researcher's work and reputation are worth more than a life. You stole half of my father's life!" I shouted.

Maris took a step back and her eyes slid away.

"It was an accident. Who knew your father would be so fragile? Grayson said if you keep quiet, he'll pay five hundred thousand a year in support until your father dies.

"He'll also get you a decent job after graduation. Isn't that better than struggling on your own?"

I shook with rage and tore the words from my throat. "Maris, my father once praised you as smart, kind, and full of spark. If you have any decency left, expose Grayson!"

From inside the room, Grayson's voice came, thick with mockery. "Maris, why waste your breath on that idiot? He probably doesn't even know his father's research papers—the ones we tossed—are being sold online as junk. Someone said they want to buy them as toilet paper, just to wipe off a bit of a genius' bad luck."

My chest felt like it was splitting open.

Those papers were my father's life—every line, every mark written through countless sleepless nights, carved from his very soul.

Grayson came out grinning and shoved his phone in my face.

On the screen was a resale site—photos of my father's familiar manuscripts lined up under the title, 'Down-and-out Professor's Papers—Just for Laughs'.

The comments below were vile.

'Didn't this old guy have a stroke? Can he even still write?'

"Haha, I heard Grayson the genius took his research. Serves him right.'

'I'll pay ten bucks for it. My dog could use some new bedding. Maybe it'll turn him into a genius too.'

I lunged for the phone, and Grayson kicked me in the chest.

"See?" He sneered. "Everyone knows I'm a genius. Your dad was just a stepping stone."

He turned to Maris with a smirk. "Maris, didn't you always say this kid looked decent? Let's make it more entertaining today. Watch how low he'll sink for his father."

Grayson gave the other rich kids a look. "Tie him up. Take him to the hospital. Make him confess, in front of his father, that his dad is a fraud and stole all his work. The son should know best what his father really is."

My eyes burned, and I pleaded with Maris. "Maris, please. Don't do this."

My voice was raw with despair.

Maris didn't flinch; she simply turned away and avoided my gaze. They hauled me roughly into a car.

The Weight of the Night

The ropes were ice-cold against my skin, biting into my wrists and ankles. Someone had shoved a filthy sock into my mouth. It reeked of sweat and humiliation.

I struggled, choking out muffled cries, only to hear laughter that was sharp, cruel, and gleeful.

"Behave yourself when we get there. If Grayson's feeling nice, he might throw you a bone."

The car sped through the darkness, and my heart sank deeper into the pit inside me.

…

They dragged me into my father's hospital room. The place was silent except for the steady beeping of the monitors. The sterile air felt suffocating.

My father lay there, motionless, a breathing tube keeping him alive.

Grayson ordered them to tie me to the foot of the bed. My knees hit the cold floor. Then, he pulled out his phone and switched to video mode.

"Come on," he said. "Look into the camera and tell everyone your father, Benjamin Ward, is a fraud."

I clenched my jaw so hard it hurt. Not a word came out.

Grayson clicked his tongue in irritation, grabbed my chin, and forced my head up.

"Forgot to mention," he said, his tone casual and cruel. "This fancy VIP room, the advanced equipment—all of it costs a fortune. If you don't cooperate, I'll move him to the general ward right now. He can spend his last days packed in with the dying. Maybe one day, a nurse gets tired and unplugs his oxygen tube. Who'd ever know?"

Each word sliced straight through me.

Maris stood nearby, her expression detached, arms folded.

"Grayson, that's enough. Don't blow this out of proportion," she said in a calm, almost careless tone.

He gave a low laugh.

"What, feeling sorry for him now? Maris, get real. Your future is with me, not with this loser who can't even save his own father."

Then, his hand slid under her blouse, right in front of me.

Maris pushed weakly at his chest, then melted against him, her cheeks burning. "Don't… Lucen's watching."

"So what if he is?" Grayson said. "You'll get used to it."

He pressed her down onto the couch beside the hospital bed. "You've been with him for too long. Now, it's my turn."

The other rich kids started whistling and cheering, phones out, recording everything.

"Grayson, you're savage—doing it in front of her ex!"

"Maris' body's insane, man. You're one lucky guy."

The chaos before me made it feel like my whole world was coming apart. A wave of nausea rose from my gut, and I doubled over, gagging. I shut my eyes, unable to watch that sickening scene any longer.

I had no idea how much time passed before their twisted spectacle finally ended.

Grayson straightened his clothes, satisfied, then kicked me hard in the ribs.

"Now," he said, "ready to speak?"

I spat out the blood pooling in my mouth, staring at Grayson—then at Maris, her hair tangled, her clothes in disarray.

"Grayson, Maris, you'll pay for this."

Maris snapped the moment my words hit her. She stormed over and snatched a phone from one of the rich brats nearby.

"Pay for this? I'll show you what payback really looks like!"

Her fingers flew across the screen. In seconds, the obscene videos they'd just filmed—and the screenshots of my father's stolen manuscripts being sold—were all online, wrapped in carefully fabricated captions.

'Renowned scholar Benjamin Ward exposed as a thief—his own son kneels to confess for money.'

"Lucen," she spat, "you forced me to do this!"

I thrashed against the ropes, desperate to stop her, but they pinned me down again.

Grayson stomped on my wrist until I heard the sickening crack. "It's your own damn fault for not knowing your place. Don't blame us for being ruthless!"

I stared straight at Maris, forcing out each word. "Maris, my father's new research partner is the world-renowned Professor Adrian Locke."