Chapter 1

Six years ago, an M&A deal I led for a publicly traded company imploded, and eight hundred million dollars vanished overnight.

Bankrupt investors threw buckets of red paint at my front door for an entire year. My father suffered a fatal stroke from the stress, and my mother lost her mind, wandering off into the streets until she disappeared completely.

I took the fall for corporate embezzlement and spent six brutal years behind federal prison bars.

After my release, I buried my real identity and worked as a food delivery courier in the busy downtown core, running myself ragged just to chase three-dollar tips.

Then my ex-wife showed up, bringing the entire delivery hub to a screeching halt.

She had long since become a ruthless titan in the private equity world, a regular face on the cover of Forbes.

Reporters immediately swarmed my electric scooter, aggressively shoving microphones in my face. “Mr. Mercer! Ms. Cross has stayed single for six years and cleared all your remaining debt. She has been waiting for you to come home!”

I stared at the woman standing before me, impeccably styled and looking at me with eyes full of fake devotion. I found the whole scene sickeningly absurd.

Back then, she forged corporate seals and siphoned the firm's capital just to help her kept boy-toy short the stock market.

The devoted ex-wife everyone praised was the very same monster who framed me and threw me to the wolves.

1

Reporters packed the street corner so tightly that not even the wind could slip through. A bunch of other delivery drivers gathered around, eager for the drama.

“Is that a custom Rolls-Royce Phantom? What is a billionaire heiress doing in a dump like this?”

Following their gazes, I saw Gwendolyn Cross staring at me with deep, practiced affection.

She looked as dazzling as ever, her makeup flawless down to the last pore.

For a split second, my vision blurred.

Memories of her perjury on the witness stand, the stench of red paint splashed across my family home, and my father's wide, unblinking eyes at his moment of death flashed through my mind like a horror movie.

Yet it only lasted an instant.

To the man I was today, an eight-hundred-million-dollar ghost story mattered far less than the five-dollar penalty I would get if this current delivery was late.

Without a shred of emotion, I looked away, twisted the throttle of my scooter, and addressed the multi-billionaire CEO.

“Good dogs don't block the road. Move aside, I'm on the clock.”

Reporters thrust their microphones against my lips, and one of them even grabbed my handlebar.

“Mr. Mercer! Ms. Cross waited six long years for your release. Don't you think your cold reaction is ungrateful?”

“Are you running away because you feel guilty facing the woman who paid off your debts?”

“Enough!”

Gwen stepped forward, her eyes brimming with tears as her voice trembled with emotion.

“Ethan, I'm here to take you home.”

My knuckles turned white around the grips, the veins on the back of my hands bulging.

The couriers nearby stopped their work and started whispering among themselves, their eyes burning with envy.

“Ethan's always so quiet. Who knew his ex-wife was a powerhouse?”

“She's not an ex-wife, she's a saint. I heard she cleared tens of millions in debt for him.”

“Man, he hit the jackpot. Living off a rich woman is a skill too.”

I didn't move. I simply looked down at my worn-out sneakers, where the soles were peeling away.

I placed the customer's takeout bag carefully on the concrete curb, then turned back to my scooter.

“Get out of my way. I have an order to drop off,” I said, my voice raspy and dry.

Did she really miss me?

No. She just came to see if I was truly broken.

Six years ago, when she sobbed in court and swore I embezzled company funds to support a mistress, she wore this exact same tragic expression.

I took a deep breath and looked directly into her eyes.

“Ms. Cross, when you overplay your role, the cracks always show.”