The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 29
Resolve was not something most people could summon out of nothing. Only when they were pushed to the brink did it take shape.
That shot the boss fired last night had made the children, gathered from all over, realize that things were slipping out of control.
Before, no matter what they did, at worst the boss would hang them up and beat them, or starve them for a day or two. After all, they were still children sent from orphanages or poor families to “work.” The boss never quite dared to go too far.
But yesterday, he had fired a gun at one of them. The bullet had gone straight into the boy’s thigh. He had not taken the child to a hospital, only grabbed a piece of wire and dug the bullet out himself.
The bleeding had stopped, but from the second half of the night onward, the boy had begun to run a fever. It had lasted the entire day, growing worse instead of better.
The children in the dorm all agreed, he had to go to a hospital. But they had no money. Even pooling together everything they had “saved,” it came to less than five hundred dollars. Not enough. Not even close.
Faced with that, the oldest among them finally gave birth to something new, the thought of killing.
“He looks like he’s in trouble...,” one of the boys trailing behind the boss murmured to his companion. These children were not necessarily more naive than young adults just entering society. If anything, they were more mature, or more cunning.
From the boss’s panicked expression, and the fact that he had not come into the dorm with his whip to indulge his usual need for control, it was clear. He had gotten himself into something serious. And now, judging by the way he carried everything he owned, he was running.
Originally, they had planned to talk to him when he returned. If he was willing to pay for their companion’s treatment, things could go on as before.
If not, tonight would be the night he went to meet Jesus.
They had not expected things to unfold like this.
Another boy gave a soft grunt. “Good. Once we’re farther out, we do it.”
They said nothing more after that, following him closely. The boss remained oblivious. He would never have imagined that the children he beat, humiliated, and controlled would trail behind him now, with murder in their hearts.
The surroundings grew emptier. Buildings thinned out. They had already passed beyond Sabine City’s urban edge. Ahead lay open wilderness, intersected by intercity and interstate roads.
Long-distance buses passed through here every day, bound for other cities. There were always a few kind souls along the way. The boss did not worry about being stranded out here.
At that moment, the killing intent in the children’s eyes was no longer restrained. They lowered their bodies and surged forward.
The sound of footsteps behind him snapped the boss’s already frayed nerves. He spun around, but saw nothing but darkness, and a few indistinct shapes. Fear jolted through him.
He shouted threats over his shoulder as he ran. But he was carrying too much, and age had begun to catch up with him. A life of comfort and indulgence had dulled his body. He could not outrun children who had survived by their wits and their legs.
The silent shadows closed in.
In desperation, he pulled out his gun and fired at one of them.
The shot cracked through the night, a brief flash tearing the darkness. Terror twisted across his face, set against the cold resolve on theirs.
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