Hollis Vidler

In a respectable restaurant, Hollis Vidler, the mastermind of a shadowy money-laundering empire, watched the scene unfold at a nearby table. A silent girl, forced on a date by her wealthy adoptive parents, listened to the boastful muscleman. When the bill arrived, he brazenly offered to pay.

The girl froze in humiliation. Hollis, whose presence felt like a cold threat, rose and walked firmly toward their table. His gaze, after sweeping over the stunned girl's face, turned icy as he turned to her companion.

"If you've become poorer from a cup of coffee and a salad," Vidler said with deadly coldness, "then you shouldn't go on dates. You should go to interviews."

His quiet voice rang out louder than any scream, cutting through the tense silence. In that moment, two worlds converged: hers—invisible and suffering, and his—dangerous and all-powerful. And at that point, their paths unexpectedly crossed.