CHAPTER 1 — "THE BOY WHO SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN IN THE RING"
The entire arena erupted with laughter.
More than twenty thousand people watched as the tiny ten-year-old stood only a few feet away from the largest professional wrestler anyone had ever seen.
The difference between them was almost unbelievable.
The Iron Titan looked like a moving mountain.
The boy looked as if a strong wind could knock him over.
People pulled out their phones, already expecting the funniest moment of the evening.
The commentators couldn't stop smiling.
"Well... this certainly wasn't on tonight's schedule."
The giant folded his massive arms.
"So..."
he said with a grin.
"You really think you can beat me?"
The boy didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he slowly removed his blue jacket.
The crowd laughed even harder.
Underneath wasn't expensive sports gear.
Just an old gray T-shirt.
But then...
people noticed something unusual.
His arms...
were covered with dozens of tiny scars.
Long white scars.
Old surgical scars.
Some stretched from his shoulder almost to his wrist.
Others crossed his chest.
The cameras zoomed in.
The laughter slowly became quieter.
The Iron Titan frowned.
"Kid..."
"What happened to you?"
For the first time...
the boy smiled.
"I survived."
The arena became strangely quiet.
His mother outside the ring covered her face.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
The commentators stopped talking altogether.
The boy slowly reached into his pocket.
Everyone froze.
Security instantly rushed toward the ring.
Several guards thought he might be carrying something dangerous.
Instead...
he pulled out...
a faded hospital bracelet.
He handed it to the referee.
The referee looked confused.
Then his eyes widened.
"This..."
"This is from Saint Michael Children's Hospital."
The cameras focused on the bracelet.
Date after date.
Operation after operation.
The bracelet wasn't from one hospital visit.
It represented years.
Years of surgeries.
Years of fighting.
The referee quietly handed it to the announcer.
The announcer read the name aloud.
"Ryan Carter."
Silence.
Then he continued reading.
"Thirty-two major surgeries..."
The audience gasped.
"...bone cancer."
No one laughed anymore.
Even the Iron Titan's smile disappeared.
Ryan calmly looked at him.
"I've already beaten something much bigger than you."
The giant's expression completely changed.
For the first time in over ten years...
fear wasn't on his face.
Respect was.
But nobody yet understood...
that Ryan hadn't come here for applause.
He hadn't come to become famous.
He had come...
for someone sitting in the very last row of the arena.
Someone who had disappeared from his life five years earlier.
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And that person...
had just stood up.
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