Chapter 2

Listening to him, I wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face.

I was not bragging. Only a handful of people in the country could do what I did.

Those wealthy car enthusiasts chose our small shop over the big‑name garages because of my skills. Gilbert wanted to hire me because of my skills.

I could build exactly what my clients wanted while saving them a fortune. Some of those cars would have needed to be shipped overseas if they had not come to me. Without me, Draven could have spent every night drinking with those rich kids, and they still would not have trusted him with a supercar worth millions.

When Draven saw the look on my face, he stood up from his chair and patted my shoulder.

“Elias, I know you are upset, but you have to understand my position. You are not the only mechanic in this shop anymore. We have several guys who worked in the trade longer than you and put in just as much effort. None of them get a share of the profits. If you are the only one who does, people will complain.”

He smiled as if he were doing me a favor. “I will raise your monthly salary by another thousand, and I will guarantee you a hundred‑thousand‑dollar bonus every year. That is a generous deal.”

I laughed, not because it was funny, but because I was furious.

When I first came to this shop three years earlier, there were only three apprentice mechanics and not a single experienced mechanic to guide them. Most days, all we handled were tire repairs and oil changes. The shop brought in less than twenty thousand dollars a month.

I paid my own way to spend six months overseas studying performance tuning. During that time, I did not take a paycheck from the shop. I covered every cent of my tuition and living expenses myself.

When I came back, I pulled every favor I could to convince one wealthy customer to give me a chance.

I customized his BMW M4.

The next day, he returned with a group of friends. That was when the shop came to life.

For the next year, I arrived first every morning, unlocking the shop at seven. I was also the last to leave, often staying until eleven at night.

Three hundred and sixty‑five days, I did not take a day off because I was afraid of delaying a customer’s project.

Then I injured my back so badly that I ended up in the hospital for surgery. The doctor warned me that I would never handle heavy physical work the same way again, so Draven hired a young apprentice to help me.

Even after I left the hospital, I was still the last person to go home every night. When I could not bend over, I crouched instead. When crouching became too painful, I dropped to my knees. Whenever I could not lift a part on my own, my apprentice held it in place while I finished the job.

As for those experienced mechanics Draven mentioned, every one of them joined after the business took off. Some had been mechanics longer than I had, but every single one learned our methods from me. I trained them with my own hands.

By then, my heart had gone icy.

“Draven,” I said quietly, “if you do not want to honor our agreement, then say so. If you want me gone, say that too. Do not hide behind excuses about what everyone else might think. Do you really think I am that stupid?”

Draven waved a hand with a helpless smile.

“Elias, you misunderstood me. We are friends. Why would I want you gone? However, friendship is friendship, and business is business. If you expect that much profit sharing, you should be able to prove you are worth it.”

I almost laughed again.

Prove my worth?

The shelves in the workshop were filled with custom performance parts that I personally negotiated with suppliers overseas. The walls were covered with photos of completed builds. Every car hanging there was my work.

Yet with a few casual words, Draven erased all of it and claimed I had no value.

For a moment, I wanted to sue him. Then reality hit me. Back then, I trusted him completely, so everything had been sealed with a handshake. Nothing had been put in writing. I had no contract, no recording, and no evidence to support my claim. Even if I took him to court, I would not have enough proof to move the case forward.

“Fine, Draven.” I took several deep breaths before forcing the words out. “If that is how you want to play it, then I am done. I quit.”

I thought resigning would make him panic. Instead, he calmly opened a drawer and pulled out a prepared resignation form.

“Elias.” He slid it across the desk. “I will not stop you. Go see accounting and collect your final paycheck.”

As I stared at the paper, everything became clear.

He planned that from the beginning.

With an icy laugh, I picked up the bank card containing the hundred thousand dollars and walked out.