The metal felt colder than it should have.
Adrian Hayes stared down at the cuffs on his wrists, the polished steel catching the courtroom lights like they were mocking him. Everything about the room was silent, sterile, wrong.
His custom suit, creased.
His tie, loosened.
His pride, shattered.
Behind him, camera shutters clicked like gunfire, and in front, the judge's lips moved. Adrian barely heard the words. Fraud. Embezzlement. Sentencing.
Seven years.
Seven years of his life, ripped away by a lie and the people he trusted most. His fiancée, Naomi, sat calmly in the front row, pearl earrings swaying with every slight tilt of her head. Her expression was unreadable, her eyes dry. Not even a flinch when the verdict was read. Her hands folded neatly in her lap, like she was waiting for a dinner reservation, not watching the man she once claimed to love get sent to prison. Next to her sat Marcus.
Adrian's best friend since childhood. Best man-to-be at his now-cancelled wedding. The one person he'd once said he'd trust with his life.
And now?
Marcus had his hand casually draped over the back of Naomi's seat. Smiling. Relaxed. Like this was the plan all along. Adrian's heart pounded so hard it hurt. Not from panic but rage. Silent, contained, deadly rage.
He had built Hayes Global from the ground up. He'd clawed his way into boardrooms that were never meant for men like him, men without a silver spoon. He had sacrificed sleep, relationships, his soul for success. And the people he brought closest? They used him like a ladder and kicked him down the second they reached the top. The bailiff pulled him roughly by the arm. Adrian didn't resist.
As they led him down the aisle, past the cameras and whispers, he caught one last glimpse of Naomi. She met his eyes. No remorse. No fear. Just… satisfaction.
That was when something inside him died.
****
Prison wasn't hell. Hell had more dignity. The first night, someone tried to break him.
The second night, they tried to own him.
By the third night, Adrian had learned, no one protects you unless you become someone worth fearing. And that's what he did. He read. Trained. Watched. Waited. Plotted.
Years passed. The world forgot Adrian Hayes. And in return, Adrian Hayes stopped being a man.
He became a weapon.
Until one rainy afternoon, in the middle of a prison yard fight he didn't start, a blade found his ribs. The pain was sharp, immediate, familiar.
His knees buckled. The sky spun. Blood soaked through his shirt. Cold air rushed his lungs. And as the world faded, he thought of one thing:
I shouldn't have trusted them.
**"""
Then came the voice.
Low. Calm. Unfamiliar.
"Do you want to do it differently this time?"
His eyes fluttered open.
But there was no prison. No pain. No blood.
Just the smooth scent of Italian leather, the low hum of air conditioning, and the panoramic view of a city skyline at sunset.
Adrian blinked. He was sitting in his office. His old office. He scrambled to his feet, heart thudding. The desk. The wall art. The untouched glass of bourbon. The ticking Rolex on his wrist. He knew this day. This exact moment. He remembered walking out of this office to meet Naomi for dinner, right before everything began to fall apart.
He looked into the mirror. Young. No scars. No prison weight. Clean-shaven. Hair sharp. This wasn't a dream. This was a second chance. His hands clenched into fists. His breath came hard.
And this time?
He wasn't the same man they destroyed.
This time, Adrian Hayes wouldn't be trusting anyone.