The security guards had iron grips. My arms burned where they pinned me.

"I'd suggest you let go of me. You'll regret it if you don't."

My voice came out cold, like something dredged from the bottom of a frozen lake.

Toby, though, threw his head back and laughed as if he'd just heard the funniest joke of his life.

"Regret?"

"Who do you think you're threatening?"

"This isn't five years ago, pal. You're a broke ex-con. You're nothing to me. Less than nothing. An insect."

"Forget hitting you. I could put you in the ground and there wouldn't be a damn thing you could do about it."

I narrowed my eyes, watching him close the distance between us.

He stopped one step away and looked down at me, savoring the angle.

A long, deliberate pause.

Then he bent slowly at the waist, seized my chin between his fingers, and tilted my face up. His eyes glittered with provocation.

"Duke Gilbert, you're pathetic."

"I called you a cuckold and you still can't accept it!"

Pathetic.

Cuckold.

His words echoed over and over in my ears, and the restaurant dissolved around me. I was back. Five years ago.

That day was my engagement banquet with Fay.

The ceremony had reached the cake-cutting when Toby stepped forward, cradling an ornate gift box in both hands.

The lid came off. Nestled inside was a cake, and perched on top of it, molded in vivid fondant, sat a bright green tortoise.

The thing was emerald from head to tail, disturbingly lifelike.

Two glossy black eyes stared straight at me, mocking me without a sound.

Laughter erupted around the room.

Every guest was pointing, whispering, sneering. Nobody even tried to hide it.

They were all waiting to see what I'd do. Waiting for the show.

But Toby wasn't done.

He leaned in close, dropping his voice to a murmur only the two of us could hear.

"So what if you run a company? You're still marrying a tramp I already had my fun with!"

"You're pathetic. A cuckold. That's all you'll ever be."

Before the last syllable left his mouth, he flipped his phone around. Fay's photo filled the screen.

She was draped in sheer black lingerie, her gaze heavy-lidded and seductive.

A completely different woman from the cold, untouchable image she showed the world.

Toby's lips curled into a slow, satisfied smirk. His expression was thick with the pleasure of someone reliving a private memory.

My pupils contracted.

Every drop of blood in my body felt like it had reached a boil.

In that moment, composure was no longer an option. Rage incinerated every last shred of reason I had left.

I swung. My fist connected with his face.

That single punch cost me two years in prison.

"Ha ha ha—"

The memory shattered. I was back in the restaurant, and Toby was still laughing, still gloating.

The rest of the diners joined in, their laughter bouncing off the walls.

Every single one of them was enjoying the spectacle of my humiliation.

My gaze went ice-cold. I whipped my head sideways, wrenching free of the hand still gripping my chin.

In the split second of stunned silence that followed, I threw my weight forward and broke loose from both guards.

"You never learn, do you."

"Seems like enough time has passed that you've forgotten what it felt like when I shattered your nose. Let me refresh your memory."

My stare was razor-sharp, my voice cold enough to freeze hell over.

For one instant, the sheer force rolling off me locked every person in the room in place. The laughter died.

Toby met my eyes and the color drained from his face.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"You want to go back to prison?!"

A cold smile tugged at my lips. "Try me."

I ignored his threat. Under the horrified, disbelieving stares of everyone in the room, I drove my fist straight into Toby's face.

"AAGH—"

He staggered back two steps, both hands flying to his nose, a shrill howl tearing from his throat.

Two streams of blood surged through the gaps between his fingers.

"You dare hit me?!"

Toby was equal parts stunned and furious.

He never imagined that after everything I'd been through in prison, I'd still have the nerve to lay a hand on him.

The restaurant manager rushed over, letting out a cold scoff:

"Open your damn eyes and take a look at where you are. You think you can start trouble here? You must have a death wish."

Toby had been injured in his restaurant.

If Fay Galloway came asking questions, he'd have no way to explain himself.

"You hit Assistant Weiss? You're begging to die!"

The others snapped out of their daze, staring in horror at the blood streaming down Toby's face.

"He's lost it. Completely lost it!"

"This ex-convict's got a death wish. Hitting Assistant Weiss? Is he insane?"

Every pair of eyes in the room looked at me like I was already a dead man.

I remained calm, my expression unchanged.

Toby's eyes were bloodshot, his face twisted into something savage. The look he gave me could have flayed me alive.

"Duke Gilbert, either you get on your knees and apologize, or you die!"

"Your choice!"

I let out a dry laugh.

"An apology? You're not worth one."

"Good. Good! Good!"

Toby spat the word three times, then yanked several thick bundles of cash from his wallet.

He slammed them onto the table with a sharp crack and turned to the security guards behind him:

"All of you, together. Beat him within an inch of his life. I'll triple this when it's done."

Their eyes lit up, every one of them itching to move.

Fists were already swinging toward me.

Then a woman's voice cut through the air from behind, laced with surprise and uncertainty:

"Duke?!"

I turned slowly, following the sound.

Fay Galloway stood there, watching me with an unreadable expression.

"Where have you been all these years? Why didn't you come find me after you got out?"

Compared to Fay's agitation,

my face was perfectly still. Not a flicker of emotion in my eyes.

Looking at the woman I'd once loved with every fiber of my being, I felt nothing. My heart was as flat and quiet as a dead lake.

"Where I've been is none of your concern, Ms. Galloway."

Ms. Galloway. Distant. Unfamiliar.

Fay's composure crumbled in an instant, her eyes rimming red.

A flash of jealous hatred darted through Toby's gaze.

"Ugh..."

Toby let out a pained groan.

"What's wrong?"

Fay snapped back to the present, turning to Toby with alarm.

The moment she saw the blood on his face, her expression shifted:

"How did you get hurt? Who did this?"

Toby immediately put on a wounded, pitiful look.

"Babe, thank God you're here. I hadn't seen Duke in years, so I invited him to dinner out of the goodness of my heart. He didn't just refuse my kindness, he punched me."

His eyes reddened, brimming with the performance of a man deeply wronged.

A complete transformation from the swaggering bully he'd been seconds ago.

The restaurant manager scrambled forward:

"That's right, that's right! This ex-con barged in here looking for trouble and hurled insults at Assistant Weiss. We were just about to teach him a lesson!"

Fay froze for a beat, then frowned. The excitement that had been in her eyes moments ago was gone, replaced by something cold:

"Did you really hit him?"

I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. I did."

My frank admission only made Fay angrier.

"Duke Gilbert, I truly underestimated you."

"Two years in prison, and you didn't learn to rein in that violent temper of yours? If anything, you've gotten worse."

"Toby is practically the little brother you raised. How could you bring yourself to do this to him?"

Toby chimed in with a show of false concern:

"Fay, don't be upset. I think Duke is probably still holding a grudge about us sending him to prison back then..."

Fay scoffed:

"Holding a grudge?!"

"When someone does something wrong, they deserve to be punished. Otherwise, everyone would go around committing murder and arson, and the whole world would descend into chaos."

"If you ask me, two years was far too lenient."

With that, Fay pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

"Chief Wang? It's Fay Galloway. There's an ex-convict causing trouble here at The Amethyst Grand. Would you mind sending a few officers over?"

Toby stared at me, gloating.

"Duke, you don't have to go back to prison. There is a way out."

"All you have to do is get on your knees, knock your head on the floor three times, and say 'I was wrong.' Then I'll forgive you."

Sending me back to prison wasn't enough for Toby. What he really craved was the thrill of grinding me into the dirt beneath his heel.

Fay let out a sigh, as if helpless against his kindness.

"You're always so soft-hearted."

Then her gaze cut to me, ice-cold.

"Did you hear that?"

"Kneel and apologize to Toby, and I'll let this go."

Toby was convinced he'd already won. The smugness radiated off him in waves.

"I'd hurry if I were you, Duke. The police will be here any minute."

"Unless you're looking forward to another stint making license plates behind bars."

I smiled. Cold and thin.

"You want me to kneel? Keep dreaming."

Fay's brows shot up, and a sharp scoff escaped her lips.

"You really do have a death wish."

"I gave you a chance. You chose not to take it."

"When the police drag you out of here, don't blame anyone but yourself."

The words had barely left her mouth when the screech of brakes erupted from the restaurant entrance.

Dozens of black Rolls-Royces rolled in from the distance, forming a single gleaming line along the front of the building.

The license plate on the center car ended in "88888."