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Author: OREAL
last update publish date: 2026-03-29 02:22:29

"You’re going to sit there and watch me burn, aren't you?"

Jonathan’s father, Arthur Hayes, didn't look at the sixteen men and women flanking the mahogany table. He looked at the 80-inch screen behind them. It was a still frame of the "Rehab Tapes." My face. Jonathan’s hands. The blue pills scattered like candy.

"I’m going to watch you be replaced, Father." Jonathan adjusted his tie. His fingers didn't shake. "The board has seen enough. Predatory instability. Misuse of company surveillance. You
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  • THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE   64

    "Light it up."The match hissed. A tiny, flickering spark in the damp darkness of the loading dock. I didn't wait for a response. I flicked the stick into the river of gasoline.The warehouse didn't just burn. It exhaled. A roar of blue and orange heat that slammed into my chest. I didn't move back. The sweat on my forehead turned cold in the wind of the blast."Mr. Clarke, the perimeter is clear." Miller stepped beside me. He was wearing a tactical vest over a three-thousand-dollar suit. He looked ridiculous. He looked terrified. "But we need to go. The fire department is five minutes out.""Let them come." I watched the flames lick the side of a crate marked PROPERTY OF PRICE LOGISTICS. "Did you find the central stash?""The pills? Yes." Miller held up a small, reinforced silver briefcase. "Every dose of the Loyalty batch. Nathaniel was planning to move them to the docks tonight.""Hand it over." I took the case. It was heavy. It felt like holding a dozen lives in my hand. "And the

  • THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE   63

    "You’re in the wrong room, Natalie."Natalie Collins froze. She was mid-reach for a plastic bottle of lukewarm gin on the motel dresser. The flickering neon sign outside the window—a cracked 'M' in MOTEL—cast a rhythmic, sickly pink light over her face. She didn't turn. Her hand hovered. Shaking."Benjamin." She finally pulled her hand back. She didn't grab the gin. She gripped the edge of the laminate wood. "How did you find this place?""Jonathan’s father has a very predictable taste in cheap hiding spots." I stepped out of the shadows by the bathroom door. The air in the room was thick. Cale, sweat, and the sharp, chemical tang of bleach. "And you have a very predictable way of spending his money. Three star ratings. Cash only. No cameras.""I had to leave." Natalie turned. Her hair was a bird's nest. A dark bruise, the color of a rotting plum, blossomed across her cheekbone. "Arthur... he was going to kill me, Ben. I saw the ledger. I saw what they did to the boys at the orchard."

  • THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE   62

    "You look like a king, puppy."Jonathan’s voice crackled through the intercom, thin and metallic. He leaned against the reinforced stool on the other side of the six-inch glass. The orange jumpsuit was three sizes too big. It made his shoulders look sharp. Bony. He hadn't shaved in weeks. A dark, messy scruff covered his jaw."I look like a man who hasn't slept in four days." I didn't sit. I couldn't. I stood in the cramped visitation booth, my hands shoved deep into the pockets of a tailored wool coat. I stared at the smudge of grease on his side of the glass. "They’re treating you okay?""They’re treating me like a Hayes." Jonathan tilted his head. A slow, mocking grin pulled at his cracked lips. "Separate wing. Private shower. No one touches the Prince, Ben. Not even the guards. They’re too afraid of what you’ll do to their bank accounts.""They should be." I stepped closer. The light in the high-security wing was a flat, dead white. It sucked the color out of everything. Except hi

  • THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE   61

    "Which one of you wants to stay?"The boardroom fell silent. Twelve men in charcoal suits stared at me. I stood at the head of the mahogany table, my knuckles white as I leaned against the polished wood. I didn't sit. Jonathan’s signet ring felt heavy on my pinky. Too big. I tucked my hand into the pocket of a suit that cost more than my father’s farm."Mr. Clarke, you can't just—" The lead counsel, a man with a face like crumpled parchment, started to rise."Sit down, Miller." I didn't look at him. I looked at the city through the glass. "I just did. Your retainer was terminated five minutes ago. Your access cards are dead. Your firm’s server has been wiped of every Hayes Tech file. You're a private citizen again. Congratulations.""This is illegal." Miller’s voice went up an octave. "Arthur Hayes is the Chairman. You are a scholarship student with a temporary power of attorney. You have no standing to—""Arthur Hayes is currently in a holding cell being processed for a laundry list

  • THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE   60

    "You aren't leaving."Jonathan’s voice scraped against the reinforced glass of the transport van. He pressed his forehead to the cold, scratched surface. His skin looked like grey parchment under the station's floodlights. The cuffs around his wrists clinked. A rhythmic, metallic taunt."I’m staying right here." I stepped closer. The exhaust from the idling van curled around my ankles. It smelled like burnt oil and failure. "I’m not moving until they tell me where they're taking you.""They'll take me to the hole, puppy." Jonathan’s breath fogged the glass. He didn't look like the Prince of London anymore. He looked like a man who had finally met the bottom of the pit. "My father. Price. They won't let me talk. You know that.""Let them try." I gripped the metal handle of the door. An officer in tactical gear stepped forward, his hand hovering over his holster. I didn't let go. "I have the ledger. I have the keys to the kingdom. If they touch you, I’ll leak every single name in that b

  • THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE   59

    "Check the door, Arthur."The Chairman’s office smelled like expensive scotch and the fear of a man who just lost his grip on the world. Arthur Hayes didn't move from behind his mahogany desk. He gripped his glass. His knuckles were white. "You're trespassing, boy. Get out before I have security throw you off the roof.""Security isn't coming." I stepped into the room. Mud from the pitch smeared the cream-colored carpet. My jersey was torn at the shoulder, dried blood matted into the fabric. I didn't care. I held up the digital key. The blue light pulsed against my thumb. "I just revoked your admin access. Every biometric lock, every server, every elevator in this building answers to me now.""You... you're delusional." Arthur’s hand went for the desk phone. He pressed a button. Silence. He pressed another. He slammed the receiver down. "What did you do?""I took your crown." I walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. London looked small from up here. "Jonathan gave me the codes at the

  • THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE   CHAPTER 12

    The deadbolt gave way with a muffled click. Jonathan stepped into the apartment, the door swinging shut behind him. No one was there. The air was stale, trapped. It carried a hint of cheap laundry detergent and something else. Something sharp. Benjamin.Jonathan stood in the entryway. He didn't tur

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-19
  • THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE   CHAPTER 7

    "Get the hell off my field!"Coach Miller’s voice tore through the heavy, humid air of Northwood High. He didn't look like the pampered coaches at St. Jude’s. He looked like he’d been carved out of a granite block and left in the rain.Benjamin didn't stop. He didn't even flinch. His cleats hammere

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-17
  • THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE   CHAPTER 26

    "Don't touch that. It’s not for you."Jonathan’s voice cracked through the silence of the penthouse like a whip. Benjamin jerked his hand back, the small velvet box nearly slipping from his damp palm. The air in the room was stagnant, smelling of expensive cologne and the metallic tang of the build

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-04-01
  • THE THIRTY-DAY GAMBLE   CHAPTER 25

    "Who the hell is that guy, Ben? The one in the leather jacket by the gate?"Olivia's voice crackled through the phone, high and thin. Benjamin froze in the middle of the school corridor. He gripped the plastic casing of his phone until his knuckles went numb. The air in the hallway felt suddenly th

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-31
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