Chapter 1

After three years on a top-secret mission overseas, I was finally back.

Before I left, my superiors strongly urged me to take a dedicated security detail, a whole unit just for my safety.

But the first call I got when my boots hit American soil wasn’t from my wife. It was from Brad, my old college class president.

“You loser,” he sneered, his voice dripping with condescension. “Heard you’re down and out. Perfect timing, actually.

I’m getting married, and I’m feeling charitable. Come see how the other half lives.”

Then he dropped a wedding invitation into our old group chat.

But when I saw the photo of my wife on the invite, I froze. My stomach twisted into a knot.

To prevent a colossal misunderstanding, I quickly typed back, “Are you *sure* that’s your wife?”

Brad lost his mind. He bombarded the chat with a string of angry 60-second voice messages.

“Whose wife do you think it is, you moron?! Yours?! What kind of trash are you to question me? My wife is the heiress of the Lu family, the absolute powerhouse in this city!”

“In this city, the Lu family *is* the law. If you get down on your knees right now and beg me like a dog, I might just be in a good mood and let you off the hook.”

“Otherwise, I’ll make sure you can’t even *breathe* in this city!”

I scoffed, a cold sneer twisting my lips.

“You want me to kneel to you? You’d better make sure you’re even *worthy* of it first!”

The leaders of the most influential families in the country bow to *me*.

I'd like to see if this 'Lu family heiress' he's so proud of dares to disrespect *me*!