Ambition

By the third day at Dan’s apartment, reality had settled in completely. Breathing in that city practically cost money.

And I had none.

Dan tried not to make it obvious, but I noticed the way he calculated prices before we could buy anything. We reused tea bags twice. The overdue bills stacked carelessly near the television. He was struggling too yet somehow, he still made space for me.

And it bothered me so much.

“You’re thinking too loudly again,” Dan said from across the room.

I looked up from the couch.

“What?”

“You get this weird serial killer stare whenever you’re overthinking.”

“I do not.”

“You absolutely do.”

He pointed his spoon at me dramatically before returning to the instant noodles he was eating straight from the pot.

I watched him quietly for a moment before saying,

“Dan”

“Hm?” He looked up from the pot

“I need to work.”

Dan snorted softly.

“I’m serious.”

A weak breath escaped me.

Dan leaned back slightly.

“I can ask around.”

I immediately shook my head.

“No favors.”

His expression flattened instantly.

“Ethan.”

“I mean it.”

The room became quiet. Dan studied me carefully before sighing.

“You really hate depending on people now, huh?”

Now? Wow

As if I had ever truly depended on anyone except my mother.

“I just need money,” I said calmly.

Dan stared at me for a little longer before nodding.

“Fine. There’s a night market downtown. One of the meat vendors keeps looking for extra hands.”

Meat.

The irony of life almost made me laugh. I really went from the son of a powerful family to selling meat in the market?

Life clearly had a sense of humor.

I ate some fruit, changed into clothes Dan handed over to me and strolled out of the house to find a job. The night market was really chaotic. Smoke filled the air while voices overlapped endlessly from every direction. Bad taste of music blasted from old speakers. And there was me who felt barely alive.

Everything except me felt alive. I stood beside a long roadside grill wearing an oversized apron while sweat gathered at the back of my neck from the heat. The owner didn’t ask questions. He handed me an apron, told me the pay for night work and asked if I could work in the day too. And just like that, I became a meat vendor.

“Don’t burn it,” the owner barked without looking at me.

He would pay daily as long as I do it well. Meaning I might work but if he doesn’t think it is “well enough” I wouldn’t get paid.

No wonder he keeps looking for more hands.

I turned the skewers carefully.

“I know.”

“You don’t look like someone who knows.”

The man squinted at me suspiciously before walking away muttering under his breath.

Dan nearly choked trying not to laugh. I had never grilled meat before since I was born.

“You sound offended that he underestimated your meat abilities.”

“No!”

“Yes!” He laughed.

“Dan”

“Hm?”

“I hate you” He laughed.

“No you don’t”

Unfortunately, he was right, he was in fact the person I loved the most.

I got better with every bark of correction from the owner. Dan helped too and it had been hours.Smoke clung to my clothes and oil burned occasionally against my skin. It was around midnight and business had slowed slightly. I leaned against the stall briefly, exhaustion creeping into my muscles. From where I stood, I watched a black car park across the road. Rain water reflected city lights beneath it. I watched the rear door open.

I hoped it was a customer but Victoria Cole stepped out. My body straightened immediately.

What in the world was he doing here?

“Why does that man look richer than my entire bloodline?”

Dan’s voice came from the other side of the stall and I ignored him.

Victor approached the stall slowly, he looked calm as ever, his eyes scanned the market before settling on me.

“You disappeared,” he said.

I wiped my hands slowly with a cloth.

“I was busy.”

“With grief?” he asked plainly.

He had heard about my mother.

“Did you bury her?” I nodded

His gaze lingered briefly before shifting toward the grill.

“Your survival instincts, that is what it was?”

“I don’t follow”

“That was what I saw in your eyes”

People moved around us loudly while smoke drifted through the air. I turned to look at Dan and he pretended he wasn’t listening

“What are you doing here?”

“My daughter likes meat”

I knew better than to believe that was the reason he was in the slum.

I reached into my pocket unconsciously, touching the card.

He studied me quietly.

“Why didn’t you call immediately? Pride?.”

“Pride” I admitted it.

Dan suddenly appeared beside me holding skewers.

“Should I pretend I’m witnessing something important?”

I closed my eyes briefly.

Can Dan ever get serious? He blinked.

“You are that friend?”

Victor had someone tail me. But why?

“That was terrifyingly accurate.” Dan joked

“Who are you though?”

“Victor Cole.”

Dan nearly dropped the skewers.

THE Victor Cole?”

Even outside the business world , Victor Cole’s name carried weight.

He turned back to look at me,

“You are different”

I frowned slightly.

“They are different, less afraid.”

“What?”

“Your eyes”

He might be right. I was too exhausted to be afraid. The worse had already happened and fear required believing someone could still take something from you. And I had nothing to lose

Victor glanced at the grill again then at my burned hands.

“You learn quickly.”

“Survival teaches fast.”

A second passed in silence before I heard him say,

“Come work for me.”

Dan choked instantly beside me and Victor ignored him completely.

“You’re wasting yourself here.”

My jaw tightened slightly. I knew what that was.

The easy but dangerous part. The powerful people never gave without purpose.

“What exactly would I be doing?” .

“Learning.”

I was disappointed. Or maybe I was terrified. I escaped correction and if just “learning” came next. I’ll pass.

He stepped slightly closer afterward, lowering his voice enough that only I could hear.

“The world that destroyed your mother is built on power, Ethan.

He paused

“And powerless people,” he continued calmly, “do not survive inside it.”

Smoke curled between us slowly. He reached into his coat pocket and handed me another card.

It was a different card. It had house address.

“Come tomorrow morning,”

Then he turned to Dan,

“Pack what is left of the meat” He dropped a bail of money.

Then he turned and walked back toward the car. He didn’t persuade me, he didn’t pressure me, he pitied me.

And I want to be useful, needed.

Dan stared after the car as it disappeared into the night.

Then slowly turned toward me.

“What the hell just happened?”

I looked down at the card silently.

My reflection stared faintly back from the black surface. But beneath my scattered emotions, something else had started growing quietly inside of me.

It was ambition

For the first time since leaving the Montgomery estate…

I could see the possibility of becoming something more than what they made me.

And it terrified me as much as it tempted me.