The Unbreakable Rise of Raymond Stone

Raymond Stone pushed the mop across the marble floor of Sterling Industries, one of the most prestigious companies in the city. His hands were rough and calloused, his back bent from years of hard labor. Nobody looked at him. Nobody cared about him. He was invisible, just like the dirt he cleaned every single day. The truth was, Raymond had not always been this way. His father had walked away from the family wealth when he married Raymond's mother, a simple woman from a poor neighborhood. Love, his father said, was worth more than money. But love did not pay the bills. Love did not keep a roof over their heads when medical expenses came calling. When Raymond was just ten years old, his mother died from an illness the family could not afford to treat properly. His father, broken by grief and debt, followed her five years later. Raymond was left alone at fifteen with nothing but the clothes on his back and a name that meant nothing to anyone. The years on the streets were brutal. He learned to survive, to fight, to accept the cruelty of the world. But he never stopped trying. At twenty-five, he finally got a job as a janitor at Sterling Industries. It was not much, but it was honest work. That morning, everything changed. "Hey, you!" a voice called out from behind him. Raymond turned to see his cousin Derek walking toward him with four men in expensive suits. Derek worked as a senior executive at Sterling Industries. He was tall, handsome, and dripping with the kind of wealth and arrogance that comes from never having to struggle for anything. Derek and Raymond shared the same grandmother, but that was where the similarity ended. While Raymond had been abandoned and left to rot, Derek had been raised in luxury by the family that had rejected Raymond's father. "Get up," Derek said, his lip curling in disgust. "You're making this place look bad just by being here." Raymond straightened slowly, keeping his eyes down. He knew what was coming. Derek loved to humiliate him whenever he could. "I work here," Raymond said quietly. "I was hired like everyone else." Derek laughed, a harsh sound that echoed through the hallway. He stepped closer, invading Raymond's space. "You were hired because they needed someone stupid enough to do the dirty work. Someone like you belongs on the streets, not in a building like this." The four men surrounding Derek laughed along with him. They were his friends, rich boys who had nothing better to do than follow Derek around and join in on his cruelty. "You know what?" Derek said, snapping his fingers at his friends. "Let's teach this garbage disposal a lesson about respect." Before Raymond could react, the four men grabbed him. He tried to fight back, but he was outnumbered. They threw him to the ground and forced him onto his knees. His mop clattered across the floor, forgotten. Derek stood over him, looking down like Raymond was an insect. "You see, cousin, I have power here. Real power. I could fire you right now and you would have nothing. You would be back on the streets where you belong, begging for scraps like a dog." Raymond's jaw clenched, but he said nothing. Saying anything would only make it worse. "Lick my shoe," Derek commanded, holding his expensive leather shoe near Raymond's face. "Show me you understand your place in this world." "No," Raymond said, his voice steady despite the rage burning in his chest. "I won't do that." Derek's face turned red with anger. He pulled his leg back and kicked Raymond hard in the stomach. The air left Raymond's lungs in a painful rush. But Raymond had endured worse on the streets. He took the kick without crying out. "Again," Derek said, and the men holding Raymond forced him down harder. Derek kicked him again and again, each blow landing with brutal force. Raymond's mind drifted to better days, to the memory of his father's face, to the promise he had made himself that one day he would rise above this. The office door suddenly burst open and a woman walked in. Her name was Sofia Chen. She was the company's newest executive, a stunning woman with sharp eyes and an even sharper mind. She had arrived at Sterling Industries just three weeks ago and was already making waves in the boardroom. Sofia's face went pale when she saw what was happening. "What in God's name is going on here?" she demanded, her voice cutting through the hallway like a knife. Derek quickly released the men holding Raymond and stepped back, trying to compose himself. "Oh, Sofia, I was just having a little fun with our janitor here. You know how it is." Sofia's eyes moved from Derek to Raymond, who was still on the ground. Without saying another word, she pulled out her phone and started recording. "Security!" she shouted. "I want security here immediately!" Within seconds, uniformed security guards appeared at the end of the hallway. Sofia pointed at Derek with fury in her eyes. "This man just assaulted an employee. I want him arrested. Now." Derek's face went white. "Sofia, wait. This is just a misunderstanding. We were just joking around." "Joking?" Sofia stepped closer to him, her voice dripping with contempt. "I just watched you kick another human being. That is assault, and it is a crime." As the security guards surrounded Derek, forcing him to the ground, Raymond locked eyes with Sofia. In that moment, something shifted. The universe was about to change. [Ding!] A strange sound echoed in Raymond's mind, and a blue screen materialized in front of his eyes. Words appeared in glowing letters: [BINDING THE ELITE SYSTEM...] [10%...] [50%...] [100%...] [BINDING COMPLETE!] [Welcome, Raymond Stone. Your new life begins now.] But there was no time to understand what was happening. As Derek was being dragged away by security, he pointed at Raymond with pure hatred in his eyes. "You just made the biggest mistake of your life," Derek hissed. "I will destroy you for this. Mark my words, I will ruin everything you touch. And when I'm done, I'll come back and finish what I started." What was this strange system? And what did Derek mean by his threats?