20 years ago, the streets overseas were cold.

    In the winter, people in slums died every day.

    They wore thin gray clothes, and when someone died, they''d strip the rotting coat from the body. Even if it wasn''t cotton but just straw, it was enough to keep off a bit of the chill.

    His mother took Drake there illegally. She''d held him in her arms and squeezed into the bottom of the ship''s hold, dreaming of reuniting with a man she''d once spent a few months with.

    But life there was far moreplicated than they''d imagined. Drake still remembered how his mother had never even met his father. She''d been roughly shoved out of the gates by security.

    The vi was opulent, but those cold iron gates separated them from the life inside. That was not a ce for people like them. They wouldn''t even spare them a single dor.

    Unwilling to give up, his mother yelled at the well-dressed woman inside, "Your husband and I have a child. He has the Lowe family''s blood in his vines."

    She thought the woman would be ashamed or jealous because of those words, but thetter remained expressionless. She didn''t even look at them.

    That was when Drake understood that his mother had been living in an illusion all along. As he grew older, he understood more about society.

    In the world of the rich, everything had a price. The wives wouldn''t go crazy over their husbands'' love affairs. They were clearer-headed and more rational than anyone else.

    To them, marriage was just about mutual benefit. Most of the time, the husbands and wives had their own lives and didn''t interfere with each other. As long as their positions were secure, they didn''t care about what their husbands did.

    And love? It was just the dopamine that came with spending time together. Over time, that feeling would fade. Love was the most fleeting thing.

    The wealthy didn''t hold onto illusory things. They were practical and knew exactly what they wanted.

    The winter his mother froze to death, Drake wiped away his tears and told himself not to cry.

    He both loved and hated her. He hated her selfishness and stupidity. He swore he''d never follow in her footsteps. Instead, he would live his life with dignity and seize every chance to climb higher.

    One day, he would live in a rich area and be one of them.

    He didn''t want to go hungry, get bullied, or beg anyone again. Finally, the chance

    came.

    When Shawn came to the slums to

    recruit new members, everyone jumped at the opportunity like death-row inmates in prison, as if

    thank

    was the only chance to escape.

    They desperately reached out from their cages, longing for Shawn''s favor.

    Shawn was like a god, ruling over them all. He looked down and casually picked them likemodities.

    Marion and Robert were immediately noticed, but Drake was overlooked.

    He didn''t know where he found the strength, but somehow, he ran up and blocked Shawn''s path.

    The bodyguards wielded their stun batons

    up

    3.

    sto:

    drive him away. But

    ut he

    I ran back tone

    belongs to

    got side.

    "Sir, I can do both what they can do and what they can''t," he stated.