Chapter 3 - The Undefeated Fighter Woke Up in the Hospital and Learned the Waiter He Had Humiliated Was the Only Man Who Could Save His LifeJace was furious.
Even injured, he was furious.
His left shoulder was dislocated.
Two ribs were bruised.
A cut ran across his forehead.
The attacker had escaped.
But Jace remembered the face.
“Tell the police.”
He refused.
“They don't know who did this.”
Victor entered the room.
Jace looked at him.
“You knew.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why did you tell me to stay away from Mason?”
Silence.
Jace's eyes narrowed.
“You know him.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Victor looked toward the window.
“He saved my life once.”
Jace laughed.
“The waiter?”
“Yes.”
Jace stopped laughing.
“What?”
Victor turned.
“Mason Hale was never a waiter.”
Jace stared.
“Who was he?”
Victor sat down.
“He was called the Ghost.”
The name meant something.
Jace had heard it.
Old fighters talked about him.
Men who vanished.
Dealers who disappeared.
A man who had stopped a port war without firing a shot.
Someone who had supposedly walked away from organized crime at twenty-six.
No photograph.
No confirmed identity.
No body.
“You're saying that's him?”
Victor nodded.
Jace looked sick.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he wanted a normal life.”
“You let me humiliate him.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“I tried to stop you.”
Jace remembered.
At the restaurant, Mason had said:
You asked the wrong man to kneel.
Jace finally understood.
He had been warning him.
Not threatening.
Warning.
Jace asked:
“Why was he at a restaurant?”
“Because he's a father.”
“A father?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Victor looked at him.
“His daughter.”
Jace was silent.
“What does she have to do with this?”
Victor shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Jace looked down.
He remembered the moment he grabbed Mason.
The man's eyes.
There had been no fear.
Only calculation.
And something else.
Pity.
That made Jace angrier.
Then the hospital lights flickered.
Mason entered.
He wasn't wearing a suit.
Just a dark jacket.
Sophie stood behind him.
Jace looked at him.
For the first time in his life, he was afraid.
Mason approached.
“Who attacked you?”
Jace frowned.
“Why do you care?”
“Because they attacked my family next.”
Jace's expression changed.
“What?”
Mason placed a photograph on the bed.
Sophie at school.
Taken that morning.
Someone had followed her.
Jace stared.
“Who?”
“We're finding out.”
Jace looked at Mason.
“I know you.”
“No.”
“I heard stories.”
“Stories aren't useful.”
Jace swallowed.
“What do you want from me?”
“Nothing.”
Mason stepped back.
“I want you alive.”
“Why?”
“Because if they wanted you dead, they wouldn't have left you breathing.”
Jace understood.
“He was a message.”
“Yes.”
“To you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Mason looked at the photograph.
“Because they can't reach the man I used to be.”
He looked at Jace.
“So they're using people around me.”
Jace was silent.
Then:
“I'm sorry.”
Mason studied him.
“I believe you.”
Jace blinked.
“You do?”
“You're arrogant.”
“That's fair.”
“But you're not stupid.”
Jace almost smiled.
“That is the nicest thing anyone has said to me today.”
Mason nodded.
“Then help me.”
“What do you need?”
“Tell me who has been asking questions about me.”
Jace thought.
“One of my sponsors.”
“Name?”
“Blackwell.”
Mason froze.
“Blackwell Holdings?”
“Yes.”
Victor stepped forward.
“That's impossible.”
Mason looked at him.
“No.”
“What?”
“They've been buying property near the old ports.”
Victor stared.
“Someone is rebuilding.”
Mason nodded.
“Exactly.”
Sophie asked:
“What does that mean?”
Mason looked at her.
“It means the people who tried to destroy my life are trying again.”
Jace sat up despite the pain.
“I'll help.”
Mason looked at him.
“You don't know what you're offering.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Jace looked down.
“Because you could have hurt me last night.”
Mason said nothing.
“You didn't.”
Jace continued.
“You walked away.”
Mason nodded.
“That means something.”
The investigation began.
They followed Blackwell Holdings.
The company belonged to Julian Black.
A billionaire developer.
Former associate.
Former rival.
And the only man Mason had never beaten.
Julian had been presumed dead.
He wasn't.
He had rebuilt.
Quietly.
Patiently.
Now he wanted one thing.
Revenge.
But why target Sophie?
They found the answer in an old file.
Sophie's mother, Claire Hale, had been investigating Julian before her death.
She had discovered his plan.
She had hidden evidence.
Mason never knew.
He had believed Claire died from an ordinary accident.
Now he learned the accident was staged.
She had been killed.
And Julian had ordered it.
Mason stared at the file.
Sophie stood beside him.
“You loved Mom.”
“Yes.”
“And someone killed her.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you hide the truth?”
“Because I thought it would protect you.”
Sophie stared.
“I don't want protection built on lies.”
Mason lowered his head.
“You're right.”
Jace watched silently.
For the first time, he understood why Mason had walked away.
May you like
The man hadn't become weak.
He had become a father.
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