First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude for the numerous responses from the readers, and therefore, I extend my heartfelt thanks.
Returning to the main issue, I am aware that there may be some individuals who disagree with the decision I made in chapter 14, and I can only say that I am delighted with such responses because such criticism helps me recognize areas where I may have fallen short in my writing. Of course, I am grateful to those who can provide constructive criticism.
Regarding my decision in chapter 14, I can only acknowledge that it was not the best course of action. I am well aware of that. However, I deliberately took that step to illustrate the unstable mental and emotional state of our main character, Daniel.
Do you believe that a man who has experienced bankruptcy, infertility, divorce, and eventually depression can become a normal person without mental issues, even if he gets a second chance? I believe that's unlikely. Furthermore, if you carefully read chapter 1, I vividly portrayed Daniel's highly unstable mental state by depicting his strong desire to kill someone on the other end of the phone call. So, let me clarify here that Daniel is not mentally or emotionally stable; he is a depressed individual and a scoundrel who engaged in an illicit relationship with his mother. Certainly, a mentally healthy person would not engage in such a relationship after getting a second chance, right?
But will Daniel remain a scoundrel like he is now? Absolutely not! He will evolve and grow as time passes.
That's all I wanted to say. Once again, I express my gratitude, and I will continue to look forward to cultured readers' feedback and constructive criticism in the future.
***
I don't know how many times I slapped her head.
Probably up to a couple of dozen.
She tried to resist, but her head was bowed, she couldn't move, and she didn't look like she was crying when she was slapped.
She spoke words quietly, softening her voice.
"Do you understand what you did wrong?"
"Sorry… I was wrong. Sorry..."
With Chloe's voice soft and sobbing, she replied.
"I couldn't hear clearly. What?"
"Sorry."
"What have you done wrong?"
I asked Chloe, bringing my ear closer to hers.
"Your mother... I cursed..."
"And again?"
"Um... I don't even know... I didn't... I cursed..."
"Okay. I know. But did you still dare to stand there before even after knowing that you made a mistake?"
I pressed my arm down with her hair.
Chloe tried to hold on for a while, but her head hurt too, and she knelt on the floor as if she couldn't stand my strength.
"Now I'm ready to talk. Don't make me angry If I get really upset, I can kill you and that bastard."
Chloe bowed her head, and she stood still, crying and sobbing.
"You're ready to answer questions this time, right?"
"Yes, yes."
"Don't cry. I just hate crying. Not because I cry but because I'm nice. Fuck off. Are you going to cry and scream after doing something wrong? Don't cry. Understand?"
"Yeah, yeah."
I let go of Chloe's head, picked up the plastic cart chair that was lying on one of my sides, and sat right in front of Chloe who was kneeling.
As I sat closer, it was as if Chloe was sandwiched between my crotch.
When I let go of her head, I took my hand and rubbed it on her head, smoothing her hair.
"Hey, shit. Your name is Chloe, right?"
Chloe looked at me after hearing my question.
All the venom in her eyes had disappeared, and she looked terrified.
Chloe finally got a good look at the man sitting in front of her right now.
He was muscular and solid-looking, he was taller than most adults, and his hair was cut short like a sports athlete's.
Fear welled up from the bottom of her chest as she recalled her previous foolish decision to attack this horrible man.
Chloe felt trembling involuntarily as she recalled her previous stupid decisions.
She was so scared that she asked what she should say, but she couldn't answer.
"Oh shit. It pisses me off can't you answer quickly?"
While I was angry, Cho Young-hee was surprised and answered, "Yes."
"How old are you?"
"I'm nineteen."
"What? You're not even twenty yet?"
"Yes."
"Why answer like that? Do you think it's embarrassing to answer a young man respectfully?"
"No... No..."
As my voice grew cold, Chloe, startled by my anger, straightened her posture and shook her head vigorously.
"Hey, Chloe. Looks like you know my name. Brandon, what did that bastard say?"
"He just said that he was beaten up by someone named Daniel."
"Then did you hear about why that bastard was beaten up?"
"NO."
"What? That's ridiculous. You don't even know why she was beaten up? And then you insult my mom? What a bitch wants to die."
When I raised my hand as if to slap her, Chloe was afraid of being slapped again, and in an instant, she buried her face in my crotch and fell face down.
The distance between the two of them was so close that she unconsciously put her hand on my crotch and pressed it down.
I was dumbfounded by the current situation, so I just stared at the back of Chloe's head.
When I didn't slap her after a long wait, Chloe raised her frightened face and looked at me.
As I sat with my legs wide open, not realizing her hands were currently still resting on my crotch, Chloe looked up at my face.
"Hi! What are you doing now? Are you teasing me now? It's out of my mind."
The hand that I was going to slap earlier reached forward and grabbed Chloe's face, stroked her smooth cheek, and patted her cheek with the opposite hand.
"Hey! Snap out of it. Can't you figure out the situation now? You insulted my mom, so now I'm really angry. Does this look like a joke? Huh?"
Chloe who I stroked her cheeks couldn't answer, just shook her head vigorously from side to side with a face of confusion and embarrassment.
"Hey! Take your hands away. I can't be bothered to understand the atmosphere."
It was only then that Chloe realized that her hand was stuck in my crotch, and she quickly pulled both hands to her chest.
Even so, she lowered her head, her face flushed as if she was embarrassed.
"Listen. I'll explain why I hit that bastard."
I reached out my hand and grabbed Chloe's chin, and I looked into her eyes with mine.
Brandon hits people with shovels in gang fights, gets friendly with the school bully seniors and does stupid things, steals money from kids and drinks, smokes, recently beat up my friend and stole his money, etc. I explained all the bullying things Brandon has done over the years. I explained all the bullying things Brandon had been doing all these years.
And, as a person who got perfect grades in all subjects and was ranked first in the whole school, I was on a different level than Brandon, and since Brandon dared to touch my friend, so I stepped forward. I explained all that to the girl in front of me.
Although Chloe was older than me, she was now just a naive woman with no social experience, she was only 19 years old.
As my explanation continued, Chloe's eyes shook violently and she couldn't look me in the eye, as if she was shocked.
"Hey, Chloe. Don't you know that your little brother is acting like a bully?"
"Y-Yeah. I don't know. He was just a good little brother to me all along."
"Hey, you asshole. This is all your fault. If your little brother lives like an asshole, then you should fix him. Does it make sense that you didn't pay attention and didn't know until he became such trash? Is that kid smart? Or are you stupid for not realizing that?"
Although I shouted angrily, Chloe didn't say anything and just lowered her head.
"Hi. Chloe. I have no intention of forgiving that bastard Brandon. He's not good enough, he's a bully bastard who always hangs out with his bully seniors. I'm going to keep beating the shit out of him so he doesn't do that shit again. Okay? Every time I see that bastard from now on, I'm going to beat him up, so you should know that. The little brother you thought was good should run away when he sees me now. Whenever I see him on the street or at school, I will beat him to death."
I spoke very harshly.
When Chloe saw me like that, her face turned blue and her body trembled.
I meant to do that to Brandon.
Of course, Brandon was the one who would try to get back at me by telling the seniors that he couldn't deal with me.
So, I thought of making him tremble with fear to the point of urinating when he just looked at me.
Chloe, who was trembling, suddenly started rubbing her hands together and begged me for forgiveness.
"Please, I won't let him do anything bad again. Don't do that to my brother Brandon. I don't know if it's wrong of me to experience this. But I'm going to beg you like this, so please forgive my brother."
"Fuck. Please? What did you do wrong? Ah! Didn't you insult my mom before? You're also dead wrong."
"A-Alright. I was wrong. I will do whatever you ask me to do. So please forgive my brother."
Seeing Chloe being so contemplative and begging not to beat up her little brother anymore, it seemed like I slapped her too hard before.
She was now on her knees begging, saying that she would do anything while shedding tears.
Suddenly, I felt something like a strange pleasure in her pitiful appearance.
'This is why people want to have power and stand above others.'
Now Chloe was completely weak and begging me for mercy.
A sense of triumph flowed through my heart, and seeing Chloe's weak figure sitting in front of me and begging was strangely erotic.
As she rubs her hands together in front of me while begging, I stare at Chloe's swaying breasts.
My heart pounded for a moment, and I thought, 'Fuck how...?'
In my 40+ years of life, I've never been in a situation like this.
By the way, the current situation is like a situation seen in Japanese porn.
It's a Netori situation where a bad guy who threatens a woman with power and strength demands a woman's body, gets into a relationship with her, and eventually steals the woman.
But, that was porn until before, but isn't this the reality now?
Anyway, I was in a good mood and was currently trying to recite the pornographic lines that I still remembered from before.
"Are you going to do whatever I ask you to do?"
"Yes. I will do whatever you ask me to do. So please don't hit my brother again."
In response to my absurd sentence, Chloe also recited a clear pornographic sentence.
"Good. Then what are you going to do for me? I will decide whether or not to forgive you based on what you do."
"Money. Do you want money?"
Chloe hesitated for a moment, then she stammered and answered.
I was dumbfounded and laughed.
"What money? Am I a robber? Yes, how much will you give me? It looks like you don't have much money."
"I have about a million won in my bank account. Even-...."
"Are you serious? This is crazy. If I get that money, I'm a robber. Do you think that you would give me money to make me a robber?"
"Ah... No... Never. No."
There was silence between each other for a while.
"Good. Then do what I say."
Chloe looked at me with wide-open eyes.
"Honestly. I like you. Let's do it."
"Yeah-… Eh?"
Chloe looked at me as if she was dumbfounded.
"Why? Let's have sex with me Then, I won't touch Brandon in the future."
"NO. How. That's-..."
Chloe just stammered as if she was surprised when I spoke shamelessly.
"Why? NO? It's not like I'm asking for money for difficult household matters."
I didn't push her anymore, I was still staring at Chloe who was currently staring at me dumbfounded.
The silent conversation is a method of asking another person a question, staring at them in silence, and forcing the other person to answer. This psychological trick is known as a conversation stopper, and I've used it a lot in the past as a show of power to the weak.
Chloe couldn't answer, and her pupils were trembling at what I was saying.
There was no answer from Chloe even after several minutes had passed.
"Okay. I see you don't like it, I understand. I have to go. Tell Brandon to take care of himself if he sees me. See you again when things get better. Ha ha."
I stood up from the chair as Chloe spoke in a whisper.
Then, "No..." Whispering, Chloe hugged my legs and looked at me.
"That's... It's... If you leave... What should I do?"
When Chloe finally started crying again, she stammered.
"What? You said you didn't like it, so let go."
"I... When... When... I... said I didn't like it?"
"Okay? So, are you going to do it with me?"
I squatted in front of Chloe, grabbed both her wrists, and lifted her off my feet.
Chloe turned her head slightly to the side, and she didn't answer, avoiding my face.
I grabbed her smooth chin and turned her to my face and looked at her as I spoke.
"Answer me. Do you want to do it with me Or should I continue like this?"
"Can I... Just... Give you money? I will never report it."
"Are you crazy? And, I don't need money."
I paused again and looked at Chloe.
"Are you not going to hit my brother again?"
After a moment's hesitation, Chloe looked at me and asked the question.
"Of course. Even so, I kept what I said. Also, when Brandon gets better, I will help him."
"Really? How?"
"Wow, why don't you do that first? When we're done, I'll tell you everything."
"Okay."
Chloe answered me in a low voice as her face turned red.
***
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