The city never slept. It pulsed with life—neon reflections on wet pavement, sirens wailing in the distance, the endless hum of traffic. To some, it was a place of opportunity. To others, it was a machine, swallowing people whole and spitting out whatever was left of them.

Daniel was one of the swallowed.

For years, he had wasted away beneath the cold fluorescence of a corporate office, his dreams of artistry buried beneath spreadsheets, deadlines, and mind-numbing small talk. His hands, once meant for painting masterpieces, now clacked away at a keyboard, creating nothing but numbers and graphs. The suffocation had been slow, creeping—until the day Richard finished the job.

Richard had always been the worst kind of corporate parasite—charismatic, predatory, and utterly soulless. He never built anyt ...