I sat alone in my condo, the dim city lights spilling through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The silence pressed in on me, thick and suffocating. The place was expensive with sleek furniture and a modern design, but it wasn’t a home.
Nothing ever was.
My fingers tightened around the glass of whiskey in my hand, the ice clinking softly. I took a slow sip, letting the burn spread through my chest, but it did nothing to drown out the storm raging inside me.
The Atkins.
Just thinking about them sent a firestorm of rage through my veins. It wasn’t just the way they looked down on people like me, like my father. It was what they had done. They built their empire on the backs of hardworking men like him, only to discard them when it suited their greed.
I still remember the day my father came
