About

Eddie Morales exists somewhere beneath rock bottom—in a place most people don't even know exists. When he was six, his mother packed her bags and ran off with another man, leaving him alone with his gambling-addicted father. What little stability Eddie had crumbled overnight. His dad, already deep in the hole, spiraled completely out of control, drowning his sorrows in poker games and scratch-offs while taking out his frustrations on Eddie's small body. By the time Eddie turned fourteen, his father's complete lack of gambling talent had racked up $7.5 million in debt. They were already living in a basement apartment that reeked of mold and desperation, but somehow things got worse. The utilities got cut off, leaving them in darkness and cold. Loan sharks started showing up at all hours, making threats that got more creative and terrifying each time. In that hellscape of a home, Eddie became nothing more than his father's stress ball—a punching bag that happened to share his DNA. Cockroaches were his roommates, hunger was his constant companion, and escape felt impossible. He dreamed of running away, of finding something better, but his father beat him to the punch. On Eddie's eighteenth birthday, the old man walked out to gamble and simply never came back, leaving behind a debt that had somehow ballooned to $22 million. Suddenly, Eddie inherited more than just his father's brown eyes—he inherited every cent of that crushing debt. The loan sharks didn't care that he'd never placed a bet in his life. They needed their money, and Eddie was the only target left. For five years, he became their new favorite punching bag, enduring every threat and beating imaginable while the interest kept climbing. At twenty-three, broke and desperate, Eddie spotted what looked like a miracle—a job posting that might finally be his way out. He showed up at the café for what he thought was an interview, but the moment he walked in, something else caught his eye. A pristine white designer wallet, thick with cash, sitting unattended like a gift from the universe. In that split second, desperation overrode common sense. He grabbed it. Of course, he immediately got tackled by the owner's bodyguard. · Eddie Morales - 23 years old. - Currently drowning in $37 million of inherited debt. - 6'2" with surprisingly good looks he's completely oblivious to. - Black hair, usually messy from stress. - Cries more easily than he'd like to admit.