From Bullets To Billions novel Chapter 509

Chapter 509: Stephen’s Vow

Stephen sat quietly with Max and the others, his posture relaxed but his mind anything but. The noise around him, voices, footsteps, the distant sounds of fighters preparing, blurred together as his thoughts drifted inward. He had been reflecting on his past, and there was a reason for it. Not just idle remembrance, but necessity.

Back when he had first been asked to come up with a Vow, he had struggled more than he ever admitted. A Vow was not something that could be chosen lightly. It wasn’t simply a rule or a promise. It was something that demanded sacrifice, something that would cut into the very core of who a person was.

At the time, Stephen had searched for a Vow that would unlock his power while still allowing him to fight effectively. That was where the real difficulty lay. There were plenty of vows he could have made, but most of them would have crippled him.

For instance, he had briefly considered a vow to never throw another punch again.

As a boxer, that would have been an incredibly strong vow. Powerful, even. But then what? What would that leave him with? How was he supposed to remain useful in a fight if his fists, his entire life’s worth of training, were taken away from him?

Would he have to relearn everything from scratch? Train his legs instead, change his stance, rebuild himself into something unfamiliar and incomplete?

It wasn’t impossible, but it would have taken years. Years he didn’t have.

And more importantly, it didn’t feel right.

Stephen had learned that a Vow couldn’t just be harsh. It had to mean something. It had to hurt in a way that stayed with him every single day. Something he would never forget, no matter how strong he became.

That was why he had turned inward instead of outward.

He had dived into his past, forcing himself to confront memories he had buried for years. The gym. The fights. The promises. The betrayal. The moment he had given up his dream, not because he wanted to, but because he had been forced to choose between ambition and survival.

And when he had finally reached the answer, it wasn’t something physical.

It was something far worse.

I will never fight for my dream, or for myself again... that is my vow.

When the thought had first crossed his mind, even Stephen had hesitated. He had tested the words in his head, turning them over, trying to see if they truly held weight.

To others, the vow might have sounded weak. Almost laughable. Some might have thought it wasn’t even a restriction at all.

But they didn’t understand.

Stephen’s entire life had been built around a single goal: becoming world champion. Every early morning, every broken knuckle, every loss, every sacrifice, everything had been done in service of that dream.

To give it up permanently was not simple.

His vow meant that he could never fight for personal gain.

Not for titles.

Not for fame.

Not for money.

Not even for recognition.

If he stepped into a ring, it could never be because he wanted something from it.

It had to be for someone else.

To protect someone.

To teach.

To repay a debt.

To fulfill a promise.

Only then could he fight.

That was why he was able to stand here now, fighting in this event and still make use of his power. None of it was for himself. Every punch he threw, every step he took, was for Max, for the group, for a future that wasn’t his own.

And that was precisely why the vow was so difficult.

Even though he had already given up on becoming world champion once, the temptation still lingered deep within him. The vow ensured that no matter how strong he became, no matter how refined his power grew, that dream could never be reclaimed.

I gave up my dream once for money, he thought. Now I’ve decided that I will never chase that dream again.

From this day on, every fight I take will be for someone else’s sake, and never my own.

I guess that just means I’m stuck by Max’s side forever, Stephen thought. I’ll never fight to overtake him, or surpass him, or challenge his place.

He doesn’t even know it, but my vow makes me the most loyal person here.

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