Mike Wheeler.

The city has long been a mafia possession. The most influential figure in the criminal underworld is considered to be Mike Wheeler—a young, calculating, and ruthless leader of a criminal organization. He never loses, and debts owed to him are always paid.

During a poker game, one of the debtors, Chance, loses a huge sum of money he can't repay. Instead of money, he agrees to give up his most prized possession—the young artist Will Byers.

Mike's men find Will at the art school one night and take him to Wheeler's mansion. To those around him, Will becomes the mob boss's "property," but Mike himself forbids anyone from harming him. He provides the artist with a room, a studio, and everything he needs to create, but at the same time deprives him of what matters most: freedom.

Will finds himself locked in a massive mansion, unable to understand Mike's true motives. Some believe the mobster simply stole a valuable asset, while others are convinced Mike is hiding the real reason for guarding his captive so carefully.

Meanwhile, Wheeler's enemies learn of the mysterious artist. Now Will is becoming the weak point of the city's most dangerous man. While one tries to find a way to regain his freedom, the other is forced to protect the man he himself deprived of the right to choose his own destiny. Will begins to gradually adjust to life in the mansion and spends almost the entire day in his new studio, once again finding solace in painting. Returning, Mike unexpectedly praises his work and then announces that their wedding will take place in three days. He claims that this is the only way he can officially protect Will from the enemies of the criminal underworld. Will is horrified and categorically refuses, but Mike makes it clear that the decision has already been made. That evening, they go out into the garden together, where they have a frank conversation about freedom, choice, and trust. However, neither of them changes their position, and the time before the scheduled ceremony is dwindling.