“Nobody Can Beat Me,” the Black Belt Boasted — Until a Single Dad Entered the Ring
Chapter 7
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Trent didn't stop. He unleashed a barrage of punches against the ropes: left, right, left, right. William's head snapped back. A hook caught him behind the ear; another dug into his liver.The pain was no longer background noise; it was a siren. His legs felt like wet cement. The overhead lights of the parking lot spun in sickening circles.Just fall down, a voice in his head whispered.Just lie down. It's over. You tried.William looked through the blurry gap in his gloves, past Trent's flying fists, past the ropes. He saw Maya. She was crying—silent, terrified tears rolling down her cheeks as she watched her father take a beating.The image hit William harder than any kick Trent had thrown. It ignited something ancient and ugly deep in his chest: a profound, simmering rage. Rage at the radiator that woke him up. Rage at the transmission that was failing. Rage at a world that forced a man to get beaten half to death in a parking lot just to afford a school field trip and keep a roof over his kid's head.Trent stepped back to admire his work, waiting for William to drop.William didn't drop. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the canvas. He lowered his gloves just a fraction. He locked his tired, bruised eyes onto Trent's clean, unblemished face.And William smiled.It wasn't a cocky smile. It was the grim, cynical smile of a man who realized that Trent's punches, as fast and hard as they were, still didn't hurt nearly as much as the fear of failing his daughter."Two minutes left, kid," William wheezed, his voice sounding like two rocks grinding together. "You better hit harder than that."Trent's face twisted into a mask of pure, ugly frustration. The influencer charm was entirely gone, replaced by the panic of a predator that suddenly realized its prey was too dense to chew. He hated that smile. He hated the blood on William's teeth. Most of all, he hated that his lungs were starting to burn."You're dead," Trent hissed, his voice cracking slightly.He rushed forward again, but the explosive spring in his step was dulling. The heat radiating from the black asphalt was trapped under the canopy of the ring, creating a suffocating microclimate. Trent was used to air-conditioned gyms and perfectly timed rest periods; he wasn't used to a heavy, immobile object that refused to stay down.Trent threw a right hook. William absorbed it on his left shoulder, stepping into the blow rather than leaning away. The impact sent a shockwave down William's collarbone, but it robbed the punch of its snapping power. Before Trent could retract his arm, William lunged. He didn't throw a punch; he simply crashed his entire body weight against Trent, wrapping his thick, heavily taped gloves around the back of Trent's neck in a crude collar tie.They slammed into the ropes. The thick cables groaned under their combined weight."Get off me!" Trent yelled, his voice muffled against William's sweaty, dirt-stained shoulder. He threw short, frustrated punches into William's ribs.Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!