Chapter 2

Kathryn followed the direction of his finger, and the instant she saw it was me, a flash of panic crossed her face.

But that panic lasted less than three seconds before it turned into cold disgust and rage.

"Oliver? You lowlife! Are you stalking me?"

I was shaking all over, my chest heaving.

"Stalking you?"

"I'm out here breaking my back to make money, to fill the hole of the couple hundred million you sank us into!"

"Ha."

Kathryn scoffed, contempt all over her eyes.

"And whose fault is that but yours? You're useless."

"All muscle, no brain. Besides throwing punches, what else can you do?"

My blood shot straight to my head, my temples pounding.

"Weren't you the one who said you liked a man with some grit to him?"

"I gave up my whole family for you, fought my way to a world championship, and now you go and find something like this?"

I pointed at Rufus's greasy, gleaming bald head, practically roaring it.

Kathryn acted like she'd heard the funniest thing in the world.

She turned, and right in front of me, rose up on her toes and planted a hard kiss on Rufus's bald crown.

"Oliver, are you stupid?"

"Grit? A man's man? That's the kind of thing little girls go for."

Kathryn looped her arm through Rufus's and looked at me with pure scorn.

"We're all adults here, so let me be honest with you!"

"Right now, the only thing I like is money."

"Look at yourself, this pathetic broke mess. Retired, gambled all the money away, buried in debt!"

"What are you going to support me with from now on? Dangling outside windows wiping glass?"

"Kathryn, don't say it like that."

Rufus, who had been wearing the smile of a man enjoying a show, chuckled and slid his hand around Kathryn's waist.

"Business is a battlefield. You win some, you lose some. It happens."

He put on a show of thinking it over, then let his gaze settle on me, full of condescension.

"Tell you what, Champ James. You're not going to earn much doing this."

"I happen to need someone to fetch tea and water. I'll pay you two hundred grand a month."

He paused, his smile turning more amused.

"I'll even set you up with staff housing, so you and Kathryn can live close to me. Easier to look after you both."

Kathryn's eyes lit up. Instead of a shred of guilt, she started pushing him.

"You hear that, Oliver?"

"You stubborn idiot, no wonder you'll be broke your whole life. Hurry up and thank Mr. Rodriguez!"

The more she talked, the bolder she got. "Mr. Rodriguez is bending the rules to give you a chance, and you're still not satisfied?"

"Bending the rules, my ass!"

I listened until my eyes nearly split open, wanting nothing more than to charge in there and rip the smug faces off the two of them.

The smile vanished from Rufus's face in an instant, replaced by a cold, sneering mockery.

"Quite the temper on you, Champ James."

He pulled out his phone and waved it in front of me.

"What good are hard fists? You're still just a lowlife wiping my windows."

Rufus casually dialed a number and put it on speaker.

"Hello, is this the foreman running the high-rise work on our building's exterior today?"

"You've got a guy named Oliver, right? He gets on my nerves!"

"Get him off there right now. I don't want to see him for another minute, or… you can forget about ever getting another job here!"

The foreman's groveling voice came through the other end.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Rodriguez, I'll get him down right away!"

Staring at the disgust on Kathryn's face, the fury in my chest was about to blow.

"Kathryn, do you really think I'm just a boxer?"

Rufus and Kathryn traded a glance, then burst out laughing.

"What else would you be? Don't tell me you're some war god? A dragon king?"

"Or the heir to some corporation? Hahaha."

Curled against him, Kathryn joined in the mockery: "Oliver, have you watched too many of those short dramas and started dreaming with your eyes open?"

"Hurry up and get lost. Don't fall to your death and blame us for it later!"

I drew in a deep breath and unclipped the safety line straight off my body.

My coworker jumped, scrambling to ask:

"Ollie, what are you doing?! Don't do anything crazy!"

I didn't look back. I hauled myself up hard.

"It's fine. I'm just going to go pay them…"

"A little visit!"