Chapter 15 : Payback Is Coming

The air inside the warehouse smelled like sweat and cheap detergent. Payday always had the workers in a better mood than usual, their usual grumbling softened by the promise of cash in their hands.

Dev stood in line, waiting for his turn, hands shoved in his pockets. Marty stood beside him, humming some off-tune melody while rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Finally it's payday, I was getting broke," Marty said, nudging Dev with his elbow.

Dev shot him a questioning glance.

Marty grinned. "The day we celebrate. A full paycheck, my guy. We've earned it."

Dev just nodded, his thoughts elsewhere. He had been saving bit by bit, barely spending, barely eating more than necessary. Maybe, just maybe he had enough to finally get a decent place. Something small, but his own. Somewhere he could stop feeling like a burden.

Marty accepted his paycheck from the supervisor with a dramatic bow. "Pleasure doing business with ya, boss."

The supervisor rolled his eyes and handed Dev his envelope. Dev muttered a quiet thanks and followed Marty out of the warehouse.

As soon as they stepped into the daylight, Marty ripped his envelope open and whistled. "Ohhh yeah, we are getting wasted tonight."

Dev shook his head with a small chuckle. "You are. I have something to do."

Marty narrowed his eyes. "Bank stuff?"

Dev hesitated. "…Yeah."

Marty let out an exaggerated groan. "Look at you, being all responsible and shit. Fine, fine. Go count your riches. Just don't forget who your friend is when you become a millionaire."

Dev smirked. "You'll be the first person I avoid."

Marty gasped dramatically, clutching his chest. "Betrayal!"

Dev just shook his head, pocketing his paycheck. "I'll see you later."

The bank was crowded. Dev stood in line, gripping his paycheck as he eyed the tellers working behind the glass. He had never had a proper bank account before. His father never taught him much about that kind of thing.

Maybe this was the start of something different.

Then it happened.

He bumped into someone.

At first, it was just an ordinary, small collision. But when Dev looked up, time seemed to stop.

Jack.

Jack Grayson.

The name itself made Dev's blood boil. The reason his life was ruined. The reason he lost everything. The reason he spent twenty-five years in a cage.

Jack looked irritated, brushing off his suit like Dev had contaminated it. "Watch where you're going."

That voice. The same arrogant, condescending tone.

Dev's fists clenched.

Jack frowned, shifting uncomfortably as Dev just stared at him.

"…What's your problem?" Jack muttered. Then he scoffed, shaking his head. "Weirdo."

He turned and walked away, his expensive cologne lingering in the air.

Dev's eyes followed him, burning holes into his back.

Jack was dressed in a sleek navy-blue suit, the fabric too pristine, too perfect. He was clearly doing well. Of course he was.

And then there was her.

A tall, slender woman walking beside Jack, holding a clipboard. Her suit hugged her curves, the skirt cut just above the knee. Black silhouette heels clicked against the polished floor as she matched Jack's pace effortlessly.

She wasn't just his secretary. That much was clear.

Dev's hands curled into fists at his sides.

He never forgot about Jack. Not for a single day.

And now, seeing him again, seeing him thriving while Dev was still crawling through the dirt, something deep inside him reignited.

A fire.

A purpose.

As Jack disappeared out of the bank doors, Dev exhaled slowly.

It was time to stop surviving.

And start getting even.

*************

Dev sat on the floor of his new apartment, the glow from his laptop screen casting sharp shadows on his face. The place was small, but it was his. A modest one-bedroom with a clean kitchen and a bathroom that didn't smell like mold. It wasn't much, but after years in a cramped prison cell and months on Marty's couch, it felt like a goddamn mansion.

But comfort wasn't why he was here.

He leaned forward, fingers moving over the keyboard with practiced precision. Names. Addresses. Social media accounts. He had spent weeks gathering every piece of information he could find on the people who destroyed his life.

And now, it was time to put it to use.

He had all of them.

Ian Carter.

The one who started it all. The head of the high school news club, the one who spread the rumors that painted Dev and Cole as more than just friends. The one who whispered poison into people's ears and turned them against him.

Ian had built a career off his lies. Now, he was a respected news anchor, his face plastered on TV screens across the city. He spoke with confidence, pretending to be some beacon of truth, but Dev knew better.

Behind the suit and the polished image, he was still the same coward. Unmarried, no family, but doing well for himself.

For now.

Dan Miller.

The muscle. The brute. The idiot who got into a fight with Dev in high school, only to run back to his friends and let them do the real damage.

And now? He was still Jack's lapdog. Nothing had changed.

Dan was Jack's driver, still living in his shadow. When Jack was around, Dan played the loyal servant. But when Jack was away, he would take Jack's car, drive to the clubs, and pretend he was someone important.

Pathetic.

Eli Harper.

The drunk. The liar. The one who laughed while Dev was dragged away.

Eli was working in a small company, barely scraping by. He had a pregnant girlfriend, but no ring on her finger. He smoked and drank whenever she wasn't watching, drowning himself in cheap whiskey and regret.

Work wasn't going great for him either. He was slipping. Losing control.

Easy target.

Chou Wang.

The guilty one. The remorseful one.

Chou had been different. He had visited Dev in prison for a while, but then he disappeared. Now, Dev knew why.

He had a wife. A baby. A life.

It made sense. He had something to lose now. Maybe that's why he never came back. Maybe he was scared Dev would remind him of the past.

Too bad.

Jack Grayson.

The real enemy. The one who started it, the one who finished it. The one who took Cole's life and smiled while doing it.

Jack was thriving. The manager of a prestigious bank. A wife. Two kids. A picture-perfect life.

But Dev saw the cracks. Jack wasn't faithful. The secretary at the bank wasn't just taking notes, she was in his bed. His wife, blissfully unaware, spent her time running a successful jewelry store, thinking her husband was a devoted family man.

Jack was a fraud. Just like always.

Dev stared at the screen, the rage in his chest simmering into something colder. Sharper.

These people ruined everything.

They took his best friend. They stole his future. They threw him in a cage and left him there to rot.

And now?

They were happy.

Families. Careers. Comfort.

While he was still clawing his way back from the grave they buried him in.

Dev's fingers tightened into fists. His breath was slow. Measured.

They weren't getting away with it.

He was back.

And he was back for them.

Dev shut his laptop and leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. The weight of his past pressed against his chest, heavy and suffocating.

A plan was forming. Slowly. Carefully.

One by one, he would take them apart.

Make them feel what he felt.

Make them suffer.