Chapter 3

I swallowed hard in excitement.

Amelia was offering me 500 thousand dollars in cash! Even if I worked my butt off nonstop without spending a single cent, it would still take me five years to earn that much. With this money, I'd have a pretty decent startup capital.

"I'll do it!" I agreed without any hesitation.

"Good. You have three days," Amelia said.

What a small world it was. Who would've thought that I would end up with leverage I could use against a wealthy scion like Tristan? After recalling how arrogant he'd been today, I knew there was no way I was letting him off.

"The Finch family's cash flow has been pretty tight lately, but Tristan is someone who cares a lot about his pride, especially when it comes to you…" Amelia said meaningfully. "The opportunity has been presented to you. It now comes down to whether you can make the most of it."

She flashed me a knowing smile before walking off without looking back.

500 thousand dollars, a company, and the chance to be Amelia's fake boyfriend.

Each of these offers was irresistibly tempting to me, especially the last one. It was exhilarating just to think about. I even wondered if Tristan would burst a vein once he found out.

…

The next morning, I showed up at Finch Group, my former workplace. When I arrived at the office, Bill Abernathy, the HR manager, snapped in displeasure, "What are you doing here, Nathan? Didn't you get the notice yesterday? You've officially been terminated by the company."

Bill was one of Tristan's lackeys. I couldn't be bothered to deal with him, so I marched straight to the vice president's office to look for Tristan.

"Don't cause problems for me, Nathan! You've already been fired. What reason do you have to come looking for Mr. Finch? Are you trying to throw me under the bus somehow? Stop. I'm telling you to stop! Are you listening to me?" Bill hollered.

Grabbing my shirt, he declared, "You're no longer an employee of this company!"

"I've come to collect a debt from Tristan," I snapped back angrily.

"What debt? The company doesn't owe you anything!"

"But Tristan does—five million dollars, in fact!" I said while waving the written IOU from Tristan.

Bill didn't believe it, but when he saw the photo of Tristan holding the very same IOU, he froze in shock.

"Get lost, you fool who simply rides on someone else's coattails," I spat out before barging right into Tristan's office.

Tristan had his feet propped up on his desk as he chatted animatedly on his phone. When he saw I'd come in, his expression immediately changed.

"How dare you show your face in front of me, Nathan? What's the matter? You liked the beating you got so much yesterday that you came back for more?"

I was Tristan's creditor now. I wasn't afraid of him at all. After closing the door, I marched straight over and sat down in front of him, calm and unhurried, as if this were my territory.

"Are you deaf, Nathan? You've been fired. Get the hell out of here!" Tristan slammed his hand on the desk to shoo me off after seeing how nonchalant I was about being in his office.

"I couldn't care less that you fired me, but you're going to give me the 120 thousand dollars in commission that I'm owed!"

"Not happening. I'd rather throw that money down the drain than give it to you!" Tristan sneered.

I'd expected him to take that attitude with me. It wouldn't be in his nature to give me that money. Nevertheless, I was about to humiliate him.

Without feeling the least bit ruffled, I placed the written IOU in front of him.

The moment he saw it, his eyes narrowed, but he simply scoffed. "Here I was, wondering what this could be. Yeah, I owe the nightclub money. What about it? Have you started working as a debt collector? Well, since you're useless, I guess that's not surprising."

Tristan was trying to antagonize me, but his plan wasn't going to work.

"Since the IOU is now in my hands, that means I am now, in effect, your creditor. I've come here today to collect the five million dollars you owe."

Leveling an icy stare at Tristan, I questioned, "Are you going to make the transfer now, or do I have to take this to court and get the authorities' help to enforce this IOU? Do you want the entire business industry to find out that the heir of Finch Group not only is in debt but even refuses to pay it off?"

"Who the hell do you think you can scare with that, huh?" Tristan slammed his hand against his desk in fury. "Five million dollars? I'd rather throw that money into the ocean than give a beggar like you anything.

"You want to sue me? Go right ahead! We'll see which happens first—you dying, or me receiving the court summons."

He picked up the landline and made a call. "Get a few people over here now. Someone's causing trouble in my office."

Less than a minute after the call ended, the security guards came charging into the office.

"Break his legs. Make him crawl out of the building!" Tristan commanded.

The guards closed in on me at once. I knew these were Tristan's henchmen, who were professional fighters.

The old me wouldn't have been able to take them down. But now that I'd been fed with all that combat knowledge, their movements started looking slow and sluggish to me. I could easily find their vulnerabilities.

The first guard reached out and grabbed my collar forcefully. Moving at incredible speed, I used my left hand to clamp down on his wrist and twist it downward.

The crisp sound of a bone breaking rang out at the same time as the guard's piercing scream.

Another guard immediately came at me, throwing a heavy punch aimed right at my face. I swiftly dodged to the side, his fist simply whizzing past my ear. Then, I attacked him with my right hand, striking him in the neck. He stumbled and collapsed to the floor, his eyes glazed over. I'd pretty much knocked him out.

The entire process took less than two minutes. The remaining guards exchanged looks, all too scared to step forward now.

"What the hell? You're all useless! I'll do it myself!"

Tristan stepped onto the desk and launched a flying kick at me. He was pretty fast, but in my eyes, it looked like he was moving in slow motion. I grabbed his right leg with both hands. With the strength surging through my body, I did a quick yank and a swing, hurling him into the office door.

There was a loud thump when he crashed against the door, followed by a second thump when he fell to the floor.

Everyone in the office was stupefied. They couldn't believe I'd just thrown a 165-pound man in the air like that.

"Bloody hell! When did you get this strong, Nathan?" Tristan cursed as he rubbed his head and climbed back onto his feet.

"You're just too weak," I retorted.

Step by step, I started approaching Tristan. Now that I'd roughed him up a little, he no longer ran his mouth in front of me. Terrified, he opened the door in an attempt to escape.

I kicked him right in the abdomen, doing it so hard that he immediately began to heave.

"I'm warning you! This is Finch Group. If you dare lay your hands on me, you're screwed!" Tristan howled.

I stepped on his arm and pressed down hard. "Are you giving me the five million dollars or not? If you don't, I'll just have to break your arm!"

Tristan was sweating profusely from the pain. Looking into my frosty eyes, he had no doubt I would really cripple him.

"I'll pay! I'll pay!" he screamed almost hysterically.

He scrambled to the desk, grabbed the landline, and said in a shaky voice, "Tell the finance department to prepare a five-million-dollar check for me at once!"

Five minutes later, I pocketed the check written out for five million dollars. After handing the written IOU back to Tristan, I questioned, "Don't forget about the 120 thousand dollars you owe me—and not a single cent less!"

Still drenched in sweat, Tristan swiftly opened up the safe and brought out 12 bundles of cash.

"I've given you everything you asked for, Nathan. I'll even return Elaine to you if you want, so stop hitting me."

"You can keep that slut for yourself. I'm not a trash collector," I retorted.

I'd just collected both debts, the ones Tristan owed to the nightclub and to me. It finally hit me that talk was meaningless. Real power came from strength.

When dealing with a bully, the only option was to be the bigger bully.

I got back on my feet. After stuffing the money into my bag, I left Tristan's office with the check.

"Oops!"

As soon as I opened the door, Bill crashed into me. It seemed as though he'd been eavesdropping.

"Oh, hey… I was just passing by… Well, I won't keep you, Nathan. If you need anything, just call me! I'm more than happy to help in any way I can!" Bill declared.

Snorting, I said to him, "Like hell I'd ever call you!"

Under the shocked gazes of everyone around, I walked out of Finch Group with the bag of cash in one hand and the check in the other.

From that moment onward, the trajectory of my life changed. I was going to see to it that I got both a successful career and a beautiful woman in my arms!

Amelia had given me three days, but I'd completed the task in just a single day. Feeling on cloud nine, I couldn't contain my joy. I eagerly went looking for her with the check in hand.

When I gently set down that check for five million dollars on Amelia's desk, she began to look at me in a completely different light. There was no scrutiny or amusement in them, only respect and even a hint of admiration.

"Five million dollars in a single day, Nathan? You really surprised me," Amelia remarked happily.

"So, Ms. Shaw, will you be giving me a company now?"