Chapter 63: The Execution

Jeff's lower body was tightly wrapped in a large mass of white bandages. Due to the anesthesia and ice packs, he couldn't feel any pain, but the sight of the blood-dripping knife directly in front of him made it clear to him and the onlookers that the castration was complete!

Joel Graham, who had been dozing off earlier, now widened his eyes as he watched the innocent and adorable little girl discard her bloodstained gloves. Unconsciously, he squeezed his legs together, feeling a sudden chill between them, as if he had lost control.

"This... this..." he didn't know what to say, but after a while, a thought emerged, "If all the girls in the world were like this Haley, how would men live?"

Seeing Haley castrate Jeff, most of the men in the room instinctively crossed their legs, checking if everything was still intact.

But the women saw it differently.

Jones-Butler burst into laughter, feeling more refreshed than eating an ice cream on a hot summer day!

However, she didn't stop writing, adding a line: "The plot is violent but intriguing, appealing more to female viewers."

Bill Ross had seen a rough cut before, but it lacked the refined cinematography, fitting music, and precise editing that the final version displayed. Now, nodding repeatedly, he realized that just this scene alone could attract a lot of people.

Similarly, he believed female viewers would prefer this film. He even summed it up: "Women enjoy it secretly, men squirm in discomfort!"

Like Tony Gusman, who was already feeling uncomfortable, he stood up, relieved to find everything intact between his legs. He silently sighed and then walked to a vacant seat in Murphy's row.

The film seemed to have reached its climax, but Tony Gusman noticed something: Haley seemed exhausted from the castration, visibly relaxing her guard. Meanwhile, Jeff, who temporarily couldn't feel pain, glanced around, his gaze finally settling on the bloodstained surgical knife, and his ropes seemed a bit loose after his earlier struggle.

Although Jeff felt some discomfort from the castration, it was clear to him that the story wasn't over yet, especially with so many girls' pictures piled up there. Even if only a portion were victims, Jeff couldn't wash away the guilt of his own actions.

Due to the gender factor, castration indeed evoked sympathy from men, but it didn't completely change their perception of Jeff.

Murphy also noticed this, his mind spinning, especially when he saw several men grimacing, realizing he had overlooked something, such as the feelings of male viewers.

It's not an exaggeration to say that many adult men in North America have some Lolita complex. This film was definitely not going to please them.

Shaking his head lightly, Murphy stopped dwelling on it. He was just an ordinary person, and even with careful planning beforehand, he couldn't cover all bases.

While Haley was showering, Jeff freed himself from the ropes. He first reached for his phone but chose not to call the police. Instead, he grabbed the bloodstained surgical knife and staggered to find Haley.

As explained earlier, when he was bound, he went through denial, shifting blame, admitting to pedophilia but not murder, but his words seemed utterly unreliable compared to the explicit photos stacked before him.

Jeff's decision not to call the police but to opt for the knife made several viewers nod slightly. Calling the police would've indicated a problem with his mind, potentially causing issues with the film.

Killing Haley would solve all his problems; calling the police would lead to a more dire situation.

If Jeff hadn't been injured, dealing with a girl like Haley, despite the intelligence gap, would have been relatively easy for an adult man. But for someone just castrated, even if temporarily pain-free, his physical abilities were severely compromised.

With little suspense, Jeff was once again subdued by Haley and tied back to the original chair.

At this point, Jeff still denied his guilt, and after psychologically breaking Haley once more, she conducted another thorough search. Eventually, she found a hidden compartment under the living room floor, filled with videotapes recorded by cameras.

Each tape had a corresponding name. After flipping through them, Haley finally found her target. She turned on the TV and VCR, and the opening scene of the film appeared on the screen.

She ejected the tape, replaced it with others, each showing Jeff molesting or violently mistreating girls.

Seeing this, the audience automatically sentenced Jeff to death, as did Haley.

This guy could no longer deny it. Seeing Haley take out a rope from her backpack and starting to plead desperately, imagining he could still survive, his final hope vanished.

However, Haley's last bit of compassion had dissipated in the face of his evil deeds, and any sympathy from the audience due to the castration was gone.

Haley fell silent, her room filled with Jeff's pleading. Daisy looked at his sniveling appearance, feeling nothing but disgust.

"Kill him!" she screamed in her mind.

Jones-Butler had watched many movies, but she had never felt such a strong urge for a character to die, especially in the most gruesome way.

Even though there wasn't a conclusion yet, Tony Gusman flipped through his notebook to a specially marked page. In the "Intended Purchase" column, he quickly wrote down "Hard Candy" and marked it with three stars.

In his five-star rating system, this indicated a purchase-worthy level.

Not only those who had found the film intriguing from the beginning but even Joel Graham, who had only started watching seriously since Jeff was subdued, had his eyes wide open, completely focused on the screen.

Jeff continued his pitiful pleas, while Haley had already made up her mind. She looped one end of the rope around Jeff's neck and threw the other end over what appeared to be a sturdy chandelier. Then, she moved all the picture frames behind the chair, one by one, tying them to the end of the rope.

One frame, one girl, limited weight, but numerous in quantity. More and more frames were tied to the rope by Haley, causing it to gradually tighten. Jeff could only stand on tiptoes as the rope tightened.

"Please..." he begged.

But after the entire film had shaped his character, no one felt sympathy for him anymore.

As more and more picture frames were tied to the rope, Jeff's face turned increasingly red, gasping for breath as if a fish out of water, his mouth wide open.

At this moment, Haley uttered her final words, tying the frame of the opening girl to the rope. Jeff kept kicking his legs, but because he was bound, he couldn't exert any force. His glasses, which had concealed his true identity, had long fallen to the ground, revealing only a pair of wide-open eyes with white irises...

Haley packed up everything, put on a red coat, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and walked out of the door, taking one last look before putting on a red hood and walking away without looking back.