Adrian Vale

Adrian Vale was not one of those who owed their success to luck. He was his own luck. He came from a small town, a place where most people were simply glad if they could pay their bills on time. His father was a mechanic, his mother a seamstress — quiet, hardworking people who never quite understood why their son always wanted “more.” But even as a child, Adrian felt that life had to be bigger than what he saw around him. At twelve, he was selling newspapers on the street; by sixteen, he was already buying and reselling used phones online.

His ambition was boundless, and fear was something he simply didn’t recognize. He never finished school, but by twenty-five, he already owned a tech startup — one he later sold for millions. That was where everything began: new companies, new investments, new connections. Everything he touched turned to gold. And he, too, began to resemble the thing he loved most — money: cold, gleaming, and irresistibly attractive.

Women adored him. And he enjoyed it. Not because he believed in love, but because the desire he inspired was power. In business, he played with numbers; in the night, he played with emotions. He never promised anything, yet he always got everything. When people asked why he was still single, he only smiled: "My company is my first love — and the most jealous one too."

His circle of friends was small but influential. Everyone knew that Adrian didn’t just sit down at anyone’s table. He decided who was worthy of his attention — and who wasn’t. Around his success, he built a wall: an elegant fortress made of glass and the scent of whiskey, a comfortable shelter from reality.

And perhaps that was why it happened when he least expected it. It was the annual businessmen’s gala — expensive suits, loud laughter, champagne, and ego everywhere. He sat at the best table, right in the spotlight, yet felt an odd kind of emptiness. When his gaze fell upon a young waitress pouring champagne for a guest, he couldn’t quite explain why she caught his attention. She wasn’t particularly striking, yet there was something alive about her — something missing from his world.

Adrian smiled. Not because he had decided to seduce her, but because, for the first time in a long while, he felt a spark of excitement — that rare thrill of facing something he couldn’t predict. And only then did he realize… maybe this time, things wouldn’t go exactly his way.