My name is Leon Bckwood.

  I’m just an ordinary man, pretending to be okay in a world that’s anything but.

  My family?

  We were royalty — the kind that doesn't wear crowns, but owns them.

  My father was a titan in the business world, my mother a force in the city council.

  They wanted me to carry the torch, to continue the empire they bled to build. But I chose a different path. Instead of boardrooms and politics, I chose the badge.

  At seventeen, straight out of high school, I joined the Police Force.

  Not out of patriotism — but to run. Run from the legacy I was never sure I deserved.

  Two years ago, my parents died. A car crash. A thousand expnations.

  None of them mattered. I joined the force to escape them. I stayed in it to honour them.

  Somewhere along the way, I accepted that maybe I'd die alone — just another ghost in the machine.

  At least, that’s what I thought.

  Until I met her.

  Li Saunders.

  My light. My anchor. My whole damn world.

  Even when I dragged myself home bruised and bloody from battles, I picked myself, she never flinched. She never left. She loved.

  Li — A small-town girl with nothing but hope packed in her suitcase.

  The kind of woman you’d meet working at a diner, or filing papers in some downtown office — but you’d know, the second you saw her, she was meant for something more.

  She was the type who forgave people before they even thought to apologize, who cared about your wounds before you realized you were bleeding, who believed in people who had long since stopped believing in themselves.

  She loved me, completely.

  Unapologetically.

  We’d been together for almost a year, living together for three months, but it felt like a lifetime — like she’d been stitched into my soul long before I ever knew her name.

  I couldn’t imagine a life without her.

  I didn’t want to try.

  Tonight, we had an invitation — A ga hosted by her company. A party for the rich, the powerful, the untouchable.

  A night that was supposed to be just another step forward.

  A night that would change everything.

  ??

  The Rich and Powerful

  The marble floors gleamed with a cruel kind of opulence beneath our feet. Li was at my side, her presence a warm counterpoint to the hostile grandeur that surrounded us.

  She wore her smile like armor as she wove us through the tapestry of wealth and pretense.

  The air was thick with old money and new intentions, champagne bubbles suffused with unspoken malice. I had never felt more like a spy among predators.

  It was only a matter of time before one of them took a bite. And then I saw her, a specter from my past. Sabrina Greensky, in all her ruthless splendor, stood before me, and her eyes told me she remembered everything.

  Sabrina is what you called a cssic queen bee, she was my high school bully, not that I ever let her treated me wrong though.

  I always retaliated for every insult she threw at me, which maybe making our retion so much worse.

  "Try to look like you're having fun," Li whispered, tugging my arm.

  Her green eyes sparkled with mischief, contrasting the tension coiling in my gut. I forced a smile, more baring of teeth than anything else, as she ughed softly, drawing a few gnces from the crowd.

  The men wore their power in tailored suits; the women clung to their arms like designer accessories. as for us, we wore our best cheap suit that we can found.

  I wore my te father business suit, while Li wore a dress she recently bought with her small paycheck as a secretary.

  We were here as a necessary maneuver, a step in the dance orchestrated by Dunham's empire.

  Every face I saw was an echo of greed, and the walls were mirrors reflecting lies back at themselves.

  “I’m sorry Li, I can’t some nicer dress” I said, my smile tight with guilt.

  “It’s perfect. Being over-dressed would feel... dishonest. Besides, you need to save your money for our long-awaited vacation, remember?”

  Her smile was gentle. Forgiving. More beautiful than any diamond the people in this room could wear.

  I allowed Li to lead, the grace in her movement a stark defiance against the cynicism of the evening. "And this," she introduced with unwavering poise, "is Leon Bckwood." Her voice, both melodic and confident, lent me an air of sophistication I had never quite managed on my own.

  A man with the aura of inherited wealth assessed me through narrowed eyes. "From the Agency, right?"

  "Just starting actually," I replied.

  They ughed, a calcuted chorus that seemed rehearsed for effect. Their questions were probes, seeking weaknesses beneath the surface of our polished facades.

  I deflected with practiced ease, more comfortable with the subtext than the spoken word. Li charmed them effortlessly, an elegant diplomat in a den of sharks.

  It was a game we knew how to py, even as the pieces shifted beneath us. I sipped my drink, already yearning for escape. It wasn't paranoia if they really were out to get you, and in this world, everyone had a target painted on their back.

  Sabrina would be here; I was certain of it. Her husband had organized the event, after all, and she never missed a chance to shine.

  The thought of seeing her again sent a visceral thrill through me, a potent blend of dread and anticipation.

  I scanned the room, looking for the trademark fsh of venom disguised as a smile.

  Li squeezed my hand, sensing my distraction. "She can't hurt you, you know. Not anymore."

  "You underestimate her," I replied, unable to keep the edge from my voice.

  "Maybe." Her smile was a comforting lie, and I clung to it for a moment longer than I should have.

  Then she was there, an apparition conjured by thought alone.

  Sabrina Greensky. Her entrance was as dramatic as I remembered—an orchestrated spectacle of designer couture and gcial beauty.

  Our eyes met, and I saw the surprise flit across her face, quickly repced by recognition and something like amusement.

  She closed the distance with feline grace. "Leon," she excimed, feigning astonishment. "It really is you. I thought I'd never see the day you'd emerge from the shadows."

  I felt the words like a sh but maintained my composure. "I could say the same. The st I heard, you were ruling the Dunham kingdom with your consort."

  Her ugh was a silver bde, elegant and dangerous. "And yet here you are, pying in our little sandbox."

  The insinuation hung in the air like the final note of a requiem.

  She gnced at Li, dismissing her with the flick of her eyes, as if appraising a lesser species.

  Her presence, once so commanding, now appeared shallow against Li's genuine warmth.

  "This must be—" Sabrina started.

  "Li Saunders," Li interrupted with a confident smile. "It's a pleasure."

  Sabrina raised an eyebrow, her amusement growing. "The secretary. Of course. How quaint."

  Li's smile didn't waver, but I could feel the tension tightening in her grip. "I've heard so much about you, Sabrina," she said, sweet as poison.

  "I'm sure you have; everyone has heard about me."

  Sabrina's eyes sparkled with malicious glee as she turned back to me.

  "And, Leon, look at you. Still the chubby little boy I remember. All grown up and pying spy."

  I felt the anger fre, sudden and hot, a wildfire barely contained.

  She was pushing all the old buttons with expert precision, reminding me of every humiliation she had ever dealt.

  I wouldn't let her see the impact. Not this time.

  "Perhaps," I replied, with more calm than I felt, "but at least I have my dignity."

  Her ughter rang out, drawing eyes from across the room. She was always skilled at making a scene.

  I wanted to throttle her, to take her down with words as brutal as her own.

  Li's presence was a lifeline. Her hand on my arm steadied me, reminded me who I was. Who I wanted to be.

  Sabrina was undeterred. She leaned in, voice dripping with insincerity. "And here I thought you'd come to beg for a job, considering your test... failures."

  "No begging necessary," I shot back, a new confidence bolstering my words. "Unlike you I don't need to spread my leg, or use my family to get a job."

  Her eyes narrowed, and I saw a fsh of rage beneath her icy exterior. It was a victory, small and fleeting, but enough to give me hope.

  She smirked, recovering quickly. "Always dreaming, aren't you, Leon?"

  "Someone in this room should," I replied, locking eyes with her.

  “You know, your little girlfriend here works for my husband, right?” Sabrina said to Leon, she then turns her attention to Li “and you, you can do so much better than this chubby spy” Li didn't flinch.

  "I think I'll trust my own instincts," she replied, her voice unwavering.

  Sabrina's smile turned venomous. "Instincts can be dangerous, especially in this city. let me guess still a virgin? Leon is not man enough to touch you?"

  I felt Li stiffen next to me, the barb finding its mark, but her expression remained composed.

  "You'd be surprised what he's capable of, but yes we are saving ourselves for the future" she retorted, her voice steady despite the crackling tension.

  Sabrina's smile faltered, a hairline fracture in her impervious facade.

  "I doubt that," she replied, her tone less certain. seeing the innocent in Li making Sabrina jealous.

  She straightened, drawing the attention of a passing crowd. "Enjoy your night," she said with a saccharine smile, before melting back into the throng.

  Li exhaled, her relief mirroring mine. "That went well," she said with forced optimism.

  "Too well," I replied, watching Sabrina's retreating figure. I knew this wasn't over. The battlefield had been set, and the war was just beginning.

  Sabrina was already plotting, her need for vengeance simmering just below the surface. And now, I had Li to lose.

  Sabrina exits the party with dark thought on her mind. “It seems the happy couple needs a little punishment”

  Sabrina said to her servant “call Mr. Wick he’s got job to do”

  ??