There was a brief pause on the other end of the line—subtle, but noticeable. Then Francine’s voice came, clipped and defensive.

“Russ Donovan? Who’s that? I don’t know anyone by that name.”

She didn’t give me a chance to respond before continuing sharply, “Jim, unlike you, I don’t have the luxury of sitting around all day doing nothing. Do you have any idea how busy I am? Don’t waste my time with these ridiculous questions again.”

Click. The line went dead.

I stared at the screen for a long moment, phone still pressed to my ear.

By all logic, I should’ve felt relieved. She denied it. That should’ve been enough.

But it wasn’t.

Her tone had been too forced. Her words rushed, almost rehearsed. And that pause—long enough to think, to calculate—spoke louder than anything else. It didn’t sound like innocent confusion. It sounded like someone caught off guard and scrambling to cover her tracks.

Before I could process further, my earpiece crackled with the voice of the floor foreman.

“Table 7, private room. They want wine service—specifically asked for you.”

That was strange. Normally, as a low-level temp waiter, I wouldn't be personally requested.

The foreman added, more urgently this time, “Get yourself together and be careful in there. We cannot afford to mess this up.”

As I retrieved the wine from the counter—a bottle of Château Lafite worth over 15,000 dollars—I couldn’t help but wonder who exactly was waiting behind that door.

Who had the kind of clout to make even the management tread lightly?

I reached the private room and knocked. A voice from inside called out, “Come in!”

The room was buzzing. Laughter and clinking glasses filled the air. Seven or eight men sat around the table, deep in celebration.

And there he was—Russ Donovan—seated at the head of the table like a king on his throne.

Beside him, as expected, sat Rich, grinning like a sycophant.

The others were all familiar faces—heirs, rich kids, the usual second-generation elites of Sundown City. All of them raised their glasses, eager to toast, to flatter, to impress.

I narrowed my eyes.

Now it made sense why I had been summoned. This wasn’t about wine service—it was a setup.

Yet strangely, neither Russ Donovan nor Rich acknowledged me when I walked in. They kept chatting among themselves, as if I didn’t exist.

Had I imagined their attention earlier?

“Why are you just standing there?” someone near the door snapped, frowning at me. “Bring it in already.”

I moved forward, placed the wine bottle carefully on the table, and bowed slightly. “Enjoy your evening, gentlemen.”

Just as I turned to leave, a voice cut through the room like a blade.

“Stop right there.”

It was Rich. He hadn’t looked my way once until now—but suddenly, his voice rang with malicious glee.

He leaned back in his seat, a sneer curling on his lips.

“You really think we called you in here just to serve and walk out?”

I turned back with a polite, practiced smile, hiding the tension crawling under my skin. “Is there something else I can help with?”

Rich didn’t answer. Instead, he reached for a wine glass—though not the one filled with the red wine I had just delivered.

He held it up, the liquid inside a strange, murky yellow.

“This,” he said mockingly, “is a reward. Mr. Donovan is in a good mood tonight. Don’t say we never gave you a taste of the high life.”

“I’m sure you’ve never had wine this expensive before,” he added, his tone dripping with condescension. “Shouldn’t you be thanking Mr. Donovan?”

I didn’t miss the glint in his eye, or the expectant amusement on the faces around the table. They were all watching, waiting—like spectators at a circus, eager to see the monkey dance.

My gaze shifted to the glass again.

That wasn’t wine. Not even close.

A chill crept down my spine.

I knew that look Rich had given me before. I’d seen it in schoolyard bullies and boardroom predators. This wasn’t generosity—it was humiliation dressed up as a joke.

I saw through their little act, but I didn’t call it out.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, I simply bowed slightly and said with a calm smile,

“Thank you, Mr. Donovan.”

Russ curled his lips in smug satisfaction.

“Then drink it.”

I kept my polite smile.

“I’m on duty, sir. I’m not allowed to drink while working. I appreciate your generosity, but you should enjoy this wine yourself.”

Rich’s face instantly darkened.

“Mr. Donovan is showing you respect, and you’re turning it down?”

He leaned forward, his tone sharp with menace.

“Do you even know what it means to not give Mr. Donovan face?”

Russ' expression chilled. His smile faded into something darker, colder.

“So I don’t have enough face now?” he sneered.

“A lowly bar waiter dares to look down on me, Russel?”

Only then did I learn his full name—Russel.

The atmosphere in the private room shifted in an instant.

All the chatter and laughter died, and the room fell so silent you could hear the ice settle in the glasses. One by one, their gazes turned toward me—curious, gleeful, hostile. Like spectators circling prey.

Then came the crash of a wine glass shattering against the floor.

Rich stood up, pointing at me, face flushed with anger.

“Damn it, you really don’t know your place!”

“You’re drinking this wine today, whether you like it or not!”

I almost laughed. So this is what it had come to.

I’d kept my head down for so long, played the role of the humble nobody, that even trash like Rich thought he could bark orders at me.

Enough.

I slowly straightened, letting the subservient mask fall away. My posture shifted. Calm, composed. Controlled.

I met their eyes, one by one. They were filled with amusement, anticipation. Waiting for me to grovel, to panic. Waiting to be entertained.

Second-generation parasites. This was their playground.

I raised an eyebrow and looked Rich dead in the eye.

“And what if I refuse to drink?”

His face contorted with rage.

“Ha! You really think you're something? You’re just a spineless son-in-law! You don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as us!”

Son-in-law.

The word hit differently.

So that’s what this was about. He’d recognized me. This wasn’t random. It was a calculated move—a chance for Rich to show off in front of Russ, maybe earn some points by humiliating me.

“What?” someone in the room whispered, catching the word.

“Son-in-law? Wait… you mean that son-in-law?”

“The one from the Hanson Family?”

Now the murmurs began in earnest, eyes darting between me and each other in realization.

“There’s only one man in Sundown City everyone calls the son-in-law…”

“The Hanson Family’s useless live-in son-in-law… Jim.”

And just like that, the mockery reached new heights.

Three years ago, Francine Hanson—the so-called most beautiful woman in Sundown City—married me, a nobody with no money, no influence, no prospects. A complete joke.

The city laughed. Her friends vanished. She locked herself in our house for months out of shame.

That was the beginning of the ice between us.

Now, in this room, the laughter wasn’t just cruel—it was dismissive. These men weren’t just mocking me. They were sure I was beneath them.

But I didn’t flinch. I stood as still as a mountain.

Let them laugh.

They didn’t know the truth. Not one of them had any idea that the Hanson Family's rise from obscurity to the pinnacle of Sundown City’s electronics industry had nothing to do with luck—and everything to do with me.

I had built their empire quietly, piece by piece, using the power and connections I brought with me when I left Westford City.

Even now, those connections hadn’t vanished. My influence hadn’t faded.

But no one knew.

And that was just how I wanted it—for now.

Russ' cold voice interrupted my thoughts.

“If you don’t drink the toast, you’ll drink a punishment.”

He flicked his fingers.

Two towering bodyguards moved toward me without hesitation. They reached out and seized my arms, gripping them tightly from either side, preparing to force the glass to my lips.

Their grip was firm. Painful. But not unfamiliar.

I didn’t resist.

Not yet.

Because as I stood there, caught in the grip of two men who had no idea what they were dealing with, a smile began to curl at the edge of my lips.The bodyguards' grips were brutal—iron clamps digging into my arms, sharp pain radiating from my joints.

But my expression remained calm, unshaken.

“I suggest you let go,” I said evenly. “Or you’ll regret it.”

Russ let out a mocking laugh, as if I’d just told the funniest joke he’d heard all night.

“Regret?” He scoffed, rising from the sofa, swirling the glass in his hand. “There’s no such word in my dictionary.”

Step by step, he approached, savoring the moment like a predator toying with its prey.

As he came closer, I caught a whiff of something foul—acrid, pungent.

Urine.

I narrowed my eyes at the wine glass in his hand, a sneer curling at my lips.

Just as I thought. It wasn’t wine at all. It was humiliation.

He stopped just shy of me, leaning in until his breath was hot against my ear. His tone was low, mocking, intimate.

“You’re nothing but a coward. Still pretending to be a man?”

“Three years of marriage, and Francine never even let you touch her.”

He chuckled cruelly.

“Must be torture—spending night after night alone in an empty bed.”

My fists clenched involuntarily, the sound of my knuckles cracking cutting through the silence.

Around us, the others began to laugh—low, derisive snickers that quickly turned into raucous jeers. All eyes were on me, eating up the spectacle.

But Russ wasn’t finished.

He leaned in even closer, his voice gleeful with venom.

“Honestly, I should thank you. Your pathetic restraint gave me the chance to enjoy what you couldn’t.”

“You have no idea how wild your wife is in bed.”

He smacked his lips, as if reliving a fond memory.

That was it.

The rage I had held back for three long years surged forward like a dam breaking. My blood roared in my ears.

I didn’t think—I moved.