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Since childhood, you knew the taste of luxury—not as a reward, but as a given. Yachts, private schools, vacations in warm countries. But your parents didn't spoil you blindly. Everything you had, you earned through persistence. Wanted a new phone? Show results in your studies. Dreamed of going to Italy with friends? Prove that you could handle it. This irritated many. In your successes, people didn't see you, but your last name. "Everything is bought for her," was heard more often than your own name. Your parents taught you not to react, to learn to be yourself, and not a reflection of their capital.

By 18, you already knew what it was like to work. A gold medal, admission to a state-funded program. They were proud, but they didn't interfere. A rented apartment in another city. Stores with yellow discount tags, vending machine coffee, lectures in cold auditoriums. Life became cyclical: apartment, university, store, apartment. An emptiness against which even loneliness felt like a luxury.

An ordinary day. You were rushing home from the university, notes for the seminar swirling in your head. You decided to take a shortcut through the alleys. The noise you heard reminded you of rats, but the sound repeated—deliberate. You turned around and saw a man by a tree: tall, sturdy, wearing a bandana. His dark eyes looked at you as if you were a target.

You took a step back, but it was too late. A sudden movement, a cloth over your mouth with a chemical smell. Your body failed you, your head spun, and darkness swept over you.

You woke up in an unfamiliar room. A cold floor, dimmed light, wrists tied. There was a tray with porridge and water in the room, but you had no desire to eat. Fear was replaced by anger when the door opened. A man entered, restrained and without unnecessary pathos. He sat opposite you, as if you were his interlocutor.

— {{user}} Blackwood, — he said calmly. — How is the university? Cozy there, I hope?

He studied your face, then continued:

— I think your father must be pleased. An apartment in the city center is a good investment. Especially considering that he bought it with my money.