“Hahaha — I see a lot of country bumpkins, and you paying twenty million? I bet you’d struggle to come up with two thousand,” he jeered.

“Think you can bribe us to let you go? No chance,” he continued. “Today you either leave the money here, or you watch your old man die on that transport.”

Hearing him call my grandfather an “old man” — as if he were worthless — snapped something inside me. I stepped forward and stared straight into Frank’s eyes.

“The Neal family?” I repeated, letting the incredulity be plain in my voice. “Go find out what happens when you cross the Shaw family.”

A woman’s voice cut in, flat and superior. A woman climbed gracefully out of the Maybach and walked over. She tossed her hair and looked at me with pure disdain.

“So you want the Neal family to detour for you?” she asked, voice silk over steel. “Maybe Frank’s a little blunt, but he’s not wrong. In Los Angeles, nobody dares make way for the Neal Corporation.”

Frank preened. “See? What do you want to do about it, kid? This car is our heiress’s custom ride. Two million is cheap for you.”

My fists tightened until my knuckles ached. “I already said: if the police determine I’m at fault, I’ll pay. Two million, twenty million — name it. But you move this car now. A life is at stake.”

Frank barked a derisive laugh. “A life at stake? Let me tell you, in this city, the Neal family is the sky itself.”

The woman’s smile grew cruel. “You probably don’t even know who I am. I’m Victoria Neal, sole heir to the Neal fortune.”

“Today is my grandfather’s Birthday Gala,” she added, voice dripping with entitlement. “If you, some backwater bumpkin, ruin it, you won’t be able to bear the consequences. I think—”

I cut her off with a cold laugh. “Whoever you are, if someone on that transport dies because of your stunt, you’ll be the one who can’t bear the consequences.”

“Maybe call your grandfather,” I said. “Ask him if he knows a Michael Shaw.”

Victoria’s smile froze for a heartbeat — an expression so quick it might have been missed if you weren’t watching closely.

“What an attitude!” she cried. “No one has had the gall to talk like this to the Neals in years. That ambulance is carrying your grandfather? Some old coot from the sticks dares put himself on the same level as my family?”

“I’ll make sure that old coot dies on that ambulance today and see what you do about it,” she hissed.

Rush-hour traffic on the elevated freeway was already a mess; the rear-end crash turned everything into a complete standstill. Cars piled up for miles, and a few drivers stepped out to gawk.

“This kid really doomed himself,” someone murmured. “You can’t go against the Neal family. Now the heiress said no one will move — his grandfather’s done for.”

“Too bad, he should’ve known better. An ambulance using the emergency lane is natural; private cars have no right to be there.”

“You don’t get it. That’s the Neal family — they could fly if they wanted. What can we do?”

Their whispers fed Frank’s arrogance. He leaned in, grin wide. “So? What are you going to do now, kid?”

“Are you going to pay up like a good boy, or just stand there and watch your grandfather die?”

I was about to respond when my phone suddenly rang.

It was a call from Chief Logan Reed, the Chief of the LAPD.

I answered immediately.

“Chief Reed.”

His anxious voice burst through the speaker.

“Michael, the I-405 is completely jammed. Our units can’t get through at all!”

My heart dropped instantly.

Across from me, Frank Wood let out a roaring laugh—delighted by my reaction.

“Chief Reed? Who the hell are you pretending to be?”

“If you’re so capable, why don’t you call that Chief over here right now?”

“A redneck like you? Please. Stop acting.”

His smug face made bile rise in my throat.

Frank shot a glance at the completely empty lane ahead of his luxury car.

“This whole freeway is blocked—except right in front of us. If I don’t move, you’ll never make it to the hospital.”

“So, hurry up and compensate us, and maaaaybe your wrinkled old grandpa can crawl back from death’s door.”

My thoughts flashed to my grandfather in the back of the Federal-Grade Armored Medical Transport.

He was running out of time.

There was no more room to argue.

“Two hundred thousand dollars? I’ll pay.”

“Give me your bank account. I’ll transfer it now.

Get out of my way!”

Frank grinned, unlocking his phone and thrusting it toward me while still laughing loudly.

“Hahaha! Look at you pretending so hard. Come on then! Transfer it!

I gotta see how long you can keep this act up.”

“You’ve probably never even seen that kind of money in your entire—”

Before he could finish, a notification chimed loudly from his phone.

Transfer received: $200,000.00

His face froze—words dying in his throat.

I stared him down coldly.

“Now, will you move?”

People around us gasped.

“Holy—this kid didn’t look rich at all… and he really had the money!”

“Frank’s face is priceless! Serves him right. Acting all high and mighty—now look at him!”

“But what if that was their family’s last lifeline? If they already paid… how will they afford treatment now?”

Frank’s stunned silence cracked, replaced by a vicious snarl.

“Don’t get cocky, punk.

Two hundred thousand? That’s just our Miss Neal’s daily pocket money.”

“But for you?

That money probably cost you your LIFE.”

“Even if you make it to the hospital, your old man’s as good as dead. Maybe you should just give up now.”

At that moment, Dr. Leonard Hayes’s voice came from inside the medical vehicle.

“Michael, hurry. I can keep him stable for maybe thirty minutes—no longer.”

“After that… not even a god could save him.”

My chest tightened.

If Dr. Hayes, the best in the country, said that…

then it was the truth.

Thirty minutes…

Under normal traffic, we’d reach Cedars-Sinai Hospital in ten minutes.

But Frank had already wasted so much time.

If we delayed any longer…

my grandfather would really die.

I looked straight past Frank and locked eyes with Victoria Neal, who stood behind him—smug and untouchable.

“There’s a high-ranking figure inside this transport.”

“The Chief Commander of the Federal Intelligence Division.”

“Samuel Shaw.”

The moment I said my grandfather’s name, both Victoria Neal and Frank Wood turned ghost-pale.

Few in Los Angeles had ever seen Samuel Shaw,

but everyone knew his name.

If something happened to him here—

they would never survive the consequences.

Frank’s courage faltered. He scrambled to move the Maybach,

but Victoria grabbed his arm sharply.

“Are you insane? Samuel Shaw? In a medical transport?”

“He’s guarded by entire medical teams! There’s no way he’d be in this thing!”

Frank’s expression shifted again—fear replaced by arrogance.

“Right! Someone like Samuel Shaw wouldn’t be anywhere near you!”

“You little bastard, you dared lie to me?”

I was beyond tired of talking to them.

“Move.

Or don’t.”

Frank thought he had me scared.

He burst out laughing.

“Did you forget already?

Two hundred thousand was just step one.”

“You still owe me three—”

“Driver,” I barked, turning away.

“RAM THEM.”

“In ten minutes, my grandfather must reach that hospital alive!”

Before Frank could register what I’d said, I jumped into the medical truck and slammed the door.

Frank pounded against the metal, shrieking:

“You crazy bastard!

If you crash into my car, I’ll erase your entire family from Los Angeles!”

“Get out here—”

His threats were drowned out by the roar of the engine.

CRASH!

I held my grandfather tightly as the armored vehicle rammed the Maybach aside, crumpling metal and sending the luxury car grinding against the guardrail.

Victoria and Frank stared in terror, horrified that I truly dared to ram them.

I no longer cared about them.

With the emergency lane cleared, we sped forward—sirens howling.

The road ahead opened.

Every second counted.

Ten minutes later, we reached the hospital.

As the surgical team rushed my grandfather into the OR, Dr. Hayes squeezed my shoulder.

“Don’t worry. With me here, he’ll make it.”

“But listen—under no circumstances may the operation be interrupted.

He’s your responsibility now.”

I nodded hard.

But just as the doors swung shut—

Victoria Neal and Frank Wood barged into the corridor with more than a dozen bodyguards.

“Well, well. You actually made it to the OR.”

“Let’s see if this surgery still happens with me here.”

Frank flicked his wrist.

“Beat the hell out of him.”

“And when you’re done—drag that dying bag of bones out of the OR too!”

The bodyguards stepped forward in unison.

I looked up at the glowing surgical light above the door—Dr. Hayes’s words echoing in my head.

I raised a hand to stop them—anger burning inside me.

“My grandfather is fighting for his life right now.”

“So tell me… what do you want?”

Frank nearly burst with excitement.

“Hahaha! Now you’re scared?”