For the first time in twenty years, Arthur called a man he had once promised himself he would never need again.

“Vincent?”

A gravelly voice answered.

“Arthur Bell? Well, I’ll be.”

Arthur looked toward the snow beginning to fall outside his kitchen window.

“I need a lawyer.”

Vincent Hall chuckled.

“After watching that video, I figured you might.”

Arthur closed his eyes.

“You saw it?”

“Everybody saw it.”

“Then you know.”

“I know a lot of things, Arthur. One of them is that you’re the last man on Earth who’d start a fight with a stranger in a Santa suit.”

Arthur let out a tired breath.

“Can you help?”

Vincent’s tone changed.

“Tell me where to be.”

Chapter 7: The Son His Father Was Willing to Sacrifice

Derek Sloan watched himself being thrown for the seventeenth time that morning.

The video was playing on a wall-mounted television inside his father’s private gym.

Every replay made him feel worse.

Not because of the physical impact.

He had been knocked down plenty of times.

He had lost fights.

He had suffered broken fingers, sprained ankles, and more bruises than he could remember.

This was different.

He hadn’t simply lost.

He had been made ridiculous.

By an old man.

In a Santa Claus costume.

Millions of strangers were laughing at him.

Derek turned off the television.

His manager, Miles, was sitting on a leather couch scrolling through analytics.

“Seven million views,” Miles said.

“Stop talking about the views.”

“Bro, you don’t understand how big this is.”

“I said stop.”

Miles looked up.

Derek wasn’t joking.

Across the room, Graham Sloan stood near the windows overlooking the training facility.

His suit was expensive.

His expression was unreadable.

“You embarrassed yourself,” Graham said.

Derek turned toward him.

“What?”

“You went into a mall, picked a fight with an elderly man, and lost.”

Miles cleared his throat.

“Graham, the engagement numbers are actually—”

“Shut up, Miles.”

The room went silent.

Graham approached his son.

“Do you understand what people are saying about this family?”

Derek’s jaw tightened.

“You told me to do the promotion.”

“I told you to create attention.”