The Urban Sovereign Returns

Episode 3

The remnants of the morning dew still clung to the leaves of the gazebo when Ethan took a deep breath, letting the cool air fill his lungs. After a night communicating with the outside world via his gold coin, the gaze that was usually dim now held a controlled sharpness. He folded his thin blanket, then picked up a twig broom lying in the corner of the garden.

The scraping sound of the broom on the asphalt of the Thorne family driveway became the only rhythm in the quiet morning. Ethan deliberately stayed outside the house. He knew Martha wouldn't tolerate seeing him in the kitchen before she’d had her coffee.

Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a deafening roar of a car engine. A sapphire blue supercar sped into the grounds, braking abruptly mere inches from Ethan’s feet. Dust flew up, dirtying Ethan’s already somewhat worn shirt.

The car door opened upwards, and Jasper Wang stepped out. His appearance was a stark contrast to the residential neighbourhood; a slick designer suit and dark sunglasses perched on his sharp nose. He looked at Ethan as if he were observing dog mess on the pavement.

"Well, look who’s up bright and early to show his devotion," Jasper chuckled, his laughter dry and condescending. "You really are the loyal servant type, aren't you, Ethan?"

Ethan did not stop his movement. He continued sweeping as if Jasper were merely empty air passing by. "The gate is open, Jasper. If you're looking for my Mother-in-Law, she’s inside."

Jasper stepped forward, blocking the path of Ethan’s broom with his thousand-dollar loafers. "I'm not here to see the old woman. I'm here to offer you a chance at life."

Ethan stopped sweeping. He slowly looked up, staring at Jasper with a flat expression. "A chance at life?"

"Don't play dumb." Jasper reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a chequebook. With a slow, deliberately prestigious movement, he scribbled some figures onto the paper. "Five billion rupiah. Sign your divorce papers with Clara today, take this money, and disappear from this city forever."

Ethan looked at the paper in Jasper's hand, then back into the man's eyes. Only five billion? This man measured Clara's dignity and my very existence with money that wouldn't even buy a single wheel of my private jet back then.

"Why so quiet?" Jasper pushed the cheque closer to Ethan’s face. "That figure is more than you could earn in a lifetime sweeping up dead leaves. With this money, you could live like a minor king in your hometown. You wouldn't have to sleep in a gazebo and eat scraps anymore."

"You are very generous, Mr. Wang," Ethan said softly, his tone containing sarcasm so subtle that Jasper failed to catch it.

"I am. I hate seeing something beautiful like Clara dragged through the mud by a parasite like you," Jasper sneered. "Leave her. Tomorrow, I will take over Thorne Corp's struggling logistics supply. I will be the real hero, while you... you will just be a shameful footnote in her history."

Ethan smiled faintly. Very faintly. "Jasper, do you really think Thorne Corp's logistics are struggling due to natural factors?"

Jasper flinched slightly, but immediately normalised his expression. "That's none of your business. The business world is cruel. Only those with power survive. And you... you have nothing."

"In that case, keep your money," Ethan replied, resuming his sweeping motion. "Five billion is too small. I worry you yourself will need it soon to pay off your company debts."

Jasper's face flushed instantly. His arrogance felt slapped by the calm reply. He felt like a god offering salvation to an insect, yet the insect responded with an insult.

"What did you say? My company debts?" Jasper burst into laughter, though his voice sounded slightly shaky with anger. "Wang Corp is at the height of its glory! Who are you to dare speak about my company's finances, you piece of trash!"

"Just an observer," Ethan answered nonchalantly.

"You ungrateful wretch!" Jasper crumpled the cheque and threw it onto the ground. "You prefer living as a dog in this house? Fine! If that's what you want, don't blame me if tomorrow you have to beg on the street with a ruined Clara!"

"Clara will not be ruined," Ethan cut in, this time with a slightly heavier tone, making Jasper instinctively take a step back. The aura that momentarily emanated from Ethan felt like a heavy weight pressing down on his chest.

However, Jasper, blinded by arrogance, immediately dismissed his fear. He reached into his trousers pocket, grabbed a handful of loose change—perhaps leftover from last night’s parking—and stared at Ethan with pure hatred.

"If you don't want the cheque, maybe this is more appropriate for your level," Jasper hissed.

With a sharp flick of his hand, Jasper threw the coins hard towards Ethan’s face.

Clink! Clink! Clink!

The copper and silver coins struck Ethan’s forehead and cheek, clattering onto the asphalt he had just cleaned. Several rolled into the drain by the roadside.

"That's your wage for sweeping this driveway," Jasper spat beside Ethan’s shoe. "Remember this day well, Ethan. When Thorne Corp falls, and your wife crawls to me begging for help... I'll make sure you watch it all from behind bars or a gutter fouler than this one."

Ethan stood frozen. One of the sharp coins left a thin red scratch across his cheek. A single drop of blood appeared there, tiny yet intensely dark. He did not move to wipe it away. His eyes were fixed only on the coin that had fallen near the tip of his shoe.

Jasper laughed cynically, got back into his luxury car, and sped away with a screech of tyres that left black rubber marks on the road.

Ethan slowly reached into his pocket, pulling out his old mobile phone. His steady fingers showed no sign of anger, but his gaze went far beyond the Thorne house fence.

"Blood has been spilt," Ethan whispered into the phone speaker, which had just connected.

"Ready to execute the order, Sovereign," a cold male voice replied from the other end. "Should we eliminate Jasper Wang immediately?"

"No," Ethan wiped the blood on his cheek with the tip of his thumb, then looked at the red smear in the sunlight. "Eliminating him is too easy. I want him to feel what it's like to be the person he calls trash. Decimate Wang Corp’s supply chain. All their investments in the port sector... make it all vanish within three hours."

"As you wish. Anything else?"

Ethan glanced at the front door of the house, where he saw Clara had just emerged with a pale face and swollen eyes.

"Prepare untraceable funds for Thorne Corp. Clara needs to breathe today. And make sure she never knows where the money came from," Ethan ended the call just as Clara ran towards him.

"Ethan! Are you alright?" Clara gasped, her hands immediately gripping her husband’s shoulders. Her red eyes looked at the scattered coins and the wound on Ethan's cheek. "I saw Jasper's car just now... did he do this? Why is your cheek bleeding?"

Ethan quickly hid his cold gaze, replacing it with the faint smile he usually gave his wife. "Just a bit of flying gravel when his car sped off, Clara. I'm fine."

"Why didn't you fight back? Why do you let them constantly do this to you!" Clara sobbed, bending down to help pick up the coins, her hands trembling. "I can't stand seeing you humiliated like this just because you're protecting me!"

Ethan held Clara's hand, stopping her movement. "Don't pick them up. Just leave them there."

"But this is an insult, Ethan!"

Ethan pulled Clara into his embrace, offering warmth in the angry morning. Over Clara's shoulder, he looked at the coins on the asphalt with the gaze of a sovereign awaiting his opponent's destruction.

"Sometimes," Ethan whispered into his wife's ear, "the coins they throw away today are the nails for the coffin they will carry themselves tomorrow."

Clara did not understand her husband's meaning; she only wept on Ethan's chest. She did not know that within the next few hours, the entire economic foundation of this city would tremble just because a handful of loose change had struck the face of the man before her.