The slap was so hard my head snapped to the side. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as I stumbled back into the freezing mud.
"Sign it and get out of my sight, Ethan," Elara Hawthorne hissed, flinging the damp divorce papers at my chest. "You’re a parasite. A nobody. My father was a fool to let a beggar like you marry into a family of our class".
I looked up from the ground. Rainwater mixed with the blood on my lip. Behind her, a gold-plated Lamborghini idled, its engine purring like a predator. A man stepped out—Gerald, the supposed heir to the Kaelen family. He wore a suit that cost more than my life, leaning back against the car with a smirk that told me he’d already won.
"Is this him, Elara?" Gerald laughed, his voice dripping with disdain. "This is the husband I was worried about? He looks like a stray dog waiting for a scrap of meat".
"He’s nothing, Gerald," Elara said, tucking her hair behind her ear to show off a massive diamond ring. "He’s a mistake I’m finally erasing. He actually waited at City Hall for three hours today, thinking I’d show up to renew our vows".
The crowd of students at the university gate erupted into mocking laughter. I felt every pair of eyes on me—judging my cheap sneakers, my faded jacket, and my poverty. For three years, I had lived as a commoner, enduring their insults and their filth, all to honor my grandfather’s trial. I had wanted to see if Elara loved the man or the money.
Now, I had my answer.
"The jade bracelet, Elara," I said, my voice low. "It was a gift for my wife. Since you’re not her anymore, give it back".
Elara looked at the emerald-green bracelet on her wrist and sneered. "This? This is a treasure. A loser like you probably stole it from a museum. You don't deserve to touch it, let alone own it".
In that moment, a coldness washed over me. The three-year seal on my identity hadn't just broken; it had shattered. The fire in my chest was gone, replaced by a calculated, predatory chill. I stood up, wiping the mud from my face. I wasn't the poor student Ethan anymore. I was the King of the Kaelens.
"Last chance, Elara," I said, stepping forward. My voice wasn't shaking anymore. It was heavy with the weight of billions. "Give me the ring and the bracelet, or you’ll lose everything the Hawthorne family owns by sunset".
"You’re delusional!" Gerald stepped toward me, raising a fist. "I’m the heir to the Kaelen dynasty. I’ll have you buried in the mud you belong in!".
I didn't blink. I saw his move before he even made it. I caught his wrist mid-air. The sound of his bones groaning under my grip was the most satisfying thing I’d heard in years.
"You?" I whispered, leaning into his ear. "You're a fraud in a rented suit. I am the reason your dynasty even exists".
I twisted his arm, and the billionaire heir screamed, falling to his knees in the same mud I had just occupied.
At that exact moment, the screech of tires tore through the air. Five black, armored SUVs roared onto the campus, stopping in a perfect line. Twelve men in tactical gear stepped out, forming a path as an elderly man in a flawless tuxedo walked toward us.
It was my butler.
The crowd went silent. Elara’s mouth hung open as the old man ignored her completely, stopped in front of me, and bowed until his head was level with my waist.
"Young Master Ethan," he boomed. "The Board of Directors is waiting. Your first order of business is the acquisition of the Hawthorne Group. Shall we begin the liquidation?".
I looked at Elara. Her face was ashen, her body trembling as she looked from the SUVs to the man she had just called a stray dog.
"Ethan... what is this?" she stammered.
I didn't answer her. I didn't even look at her as I stepped into the lead vehicle.
"Butler," I said, looking straight ahead. "Cancel her family's credit lines. I want her to feel what it's like to be hungry by dinner".
As the door closed, the butler leaned in and whispered, "Master, we've found the girl who really saved your life that night... and she's in grave danger."