Chapter 2

Everyone froze for a moment, then the whole room erupted in laughter.

"Man, you sure know how to talk big! Finn's been out of the game for ages, and you're still here trying to scam us?" someone snickered.

"Yeah, seriously," another person said, catching sight of my name tag. "This wannabe even went and changed his name."

"Too bad he got it wrong—wrote Finnley Stone instead of Finn Stone. What a joke," someone else cackled.

What they didn't know was, Finn Stone was just my stage name—my real name was Finnley Stone. The joke was on them.

Just then, my girlfriend, Lila Dawson, walked over, her face stormy.

I was surprised. I'd called her to come with me, but she said she was busy. So why was she here now?

But what really threw me was that she walked right past me and went straight to Adrian, asking him if he was okay. I couldn't believe my eyes.

When Adrian said I'd ruined his painting, Lila went off on me, telling me to apologize.

I couldn't understand. "Lila, why are you taking his side?"

"Shut up! Do you even know who Adrian is? He's way out of your league! Apologize, now," Lila snapped.

I could barely believe my ears. "Are you crazy? He was the one who ruined my painting first. This painting of mine is worth at least a hundred of his."

Adrian's face went dead red. He lunged forward, snatched the painting from my arms, and sneered, "Worth a hundred, huh? Fine. I'll tear it up and see you try to trade for a hundred then."

He didn't waste a second—he ripped it to pieces.

Watching my painting get ripped apart right before my eyes, it felt like someone had torn my heart out.

I'd poured everything I had into this piece, all for the sake of raising more money for the kids.

I'd put every ounce of skill I'd ever learned into it—spent three months just planning out the background.

Every single brushstroke carried my passion. I painted it as if it were the final piece of my career.

And now it was torn to pieces on the ground.

I dropped to my knees, clawing desperately at the scattered scraps like a lunatic, hoping against hope I could somehow piece them back together.

But my hands closed on nothing. I could only watch my life's work scattered across the floor.

In that moment, I hated Adrian Knight with every fiber of my being.

I staggered to my feet, rage boiling over as I lunged at Adrian, ready to tear him apart.

But Lila stepped in, blocking my way.

Her expression was colder than I'd ever seen.

"You've had enough. I know you're embarrassed you failed to keep up the act, but losing your temper like this isn't the answer," she snapped.

I was shaking with rage. I shoved her aside.

"He did it. He destroyed my painting. I'm gonna see him put behind bars!" I yelled, my voice trembling with fury.

Adrian was totally unfazed, staring at me with nothing but contempt in his eyes.

"Yeah, I did it. Here, take this five bucks for a cab. Now get lost and go chill somewhere else," he sneered.

With that, he whipped out a five and threw it right at my face.

He still didn't get how serious this was.

Just then the event manager showed up with a group of security guards.

I heard people in the crowd snickering, saying I was in for it now.

Adrian just looked at me like I was totally screwed.

I ignored them. When the organizer showed up, I told him the whole story—didn't hold anything back.

But instead of listening to me, he just shot me a cold look and walked right past me, with a fawning expression as he hurried over to Adrian.

"Mr. Knight, is someone causing trouble?" he asked, practically groveling.

Adrian flipped the script, claiming I was the one who ruined his painting and told the organizer to throw me out on the spot.

Without a second of hesitation, the manager called over the security guards and had them haul me out.

"Let me go! He started it. Why are you kicking me out?" I yelled.

"Why? Because he's Mr. Adrian Knight—the young boss of our group!" the maneger snapped.

The message couldn't be clearer: Adrian was the top dog here, and I was nothing in their eyes.

My face was red with rage as I spat, "Pah! Bootlicker. You think you're better than me, huh? Go get your boss, Caleb Winters, and tell him to get his ass out here to see me."