Night in Tokyo was loud—cars honking engine humming, vendors shouting.
But the alley behind the Street was silent.
Silent because Emma had just beaten silence into five grown men.
Her knuckles stung. Her breath burned.
But the last thug finally dropped, face-first into the dirt.
Emma wiped blood from her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Idiot," she muttered. "Next time, don't touch my bag."
She swung the bag over her shoulder—inside it were painkillers for James and a new textbook Sam needed.
Everything she fought for, bled for, was always for them.
As she stepped out of the alley, a black SUV glided to a stop in front of her—smooth, expensive, and silent like a shadow.
The window rolled down.
She froze.
A man sat inside.
Not a regular rich man.
He had the kind of presence that made the air feel colder.
Sharp jaw. Steel-grey eyes. A suit that probably cost more than her entire street.
Mr. Darrick Hellsing.
He glanced at the unconscious bodies behind her, then at her bruised knuckles.
"You finished quickly," he said calmly.
Emma frowned. "Do I know you?"
"No. But I've been looking for someone like you."
"Wrong girl," she snapped, trying to walk past.
The car door opened.
Darrick stepped out—tall, powerful, and completely unbothered by the dangerous neighborhood.
He held out a metal suitcase.
"₦30 million," he said.
"Take it. It's yours."
Emma blinked. "For what?"
"For a job."
She hesitated. Everything about him screamed trouble.
But 30 million…
That was more money than she'd ever seen.
"What kind of job?" she asked slowly.
Darrick's eyes darkened.
"To guide me on a trip. A very dangerous one."
"Guide?" she scoffed. "Why me?"
"I've seen you fight. Your strength. Your reflexes. Your willingness to break the rules."
He stepped closer.
"I need someone like that. Because someone wants me dead."
Emma's heart thumped.
"So hire bodyguards."
"They betrayed me."
His voice dropped low.
"I need someone who has nothing to lose."
Emma felt the words punch her in the chest.
She had everything to lose. James. Sam. Their future.
But she also needed money more than anything.
She swallowed hard.
"If I say no?"
"Then I will drive away," Darrick said simply.
"And my enemies will kill me tomorrow."
"…and if I say yes?" she asked.
Darrick opened the suitcase.
Cash. Stacks and stacks of it.
Her knees almost gave out.
"Then you leave with me tonight," he said.
"And from that moment on… you and I will be hunted."
Emma closed her eyes for a moment.
She saw James in his wheelchair, smiling at her.
She saw Sam studying by candlelight because they couldn't afford electricity.
She saw her parents—gone, taken by the same darkness that now followed this man.
When she opened her eyes again, her voice was steady.
"I'll take the job."
Darrick nodded once.
"Good," he said quietly.
"Because the hunt has already started."
Suddenly, a sniper bullet shattered the streetlight above them.
Emma dropped into a fighting stance.
Darrick didn't flinch.
"Get in the car," he said.
And just like that—
Emma's life changed forever