Chapter 24: Hatred Left to Ferment

After several days of settling, hatred had not easily left the news boss’s inner world. Instead, with time, it had fermented into something even more bitter.

Every time he got drunk, he remembered the humiliation, the injury, and the control Michael had imposed on him that night.

He had only wanted to have a soul companion like most normal people. In truth, he had done nothing. The girl herself had not objected. Then Michael had suddenly appeared.

Michael had kicked the news boss and stepped on his most precious thing. He had not even allowed him to put on clothes. All of it had happened in front of his adopted daughter.

Later, his adopted daughter had gone somewhere unknown, and he had finally ended up with a pile of leverage in Michael’s hands. Every time he thought of Michael beating and cursing him, even taking the money off his body, his hatred grew sharper.

Especially this time. Losing several thousand dollars made him feel once again that he had been savagely humiliated, and it had already touched on his dominance over those children.

Now every child in the little building knew that a man named Michael had taken the news boss’s money. He was being roasted over the fire. The older children had begun looking at him differently.

He had gradually started losing control over these children. Especially last night, after he got drunk and prepared to beat the children to release the emotions pressing inside him, the two oldest children had actually snatched away his whip and pushed him out the door.

The environment beginning to slip out of control frightened him even more. Everything he had was built on absolute control over these children. If he did not change something, he would soon become one of those failures in his own eyes, dust in history’s garbage heap.

“Will it fire?” the news boss asked.

The man hiding in the dark corner across from him was counting the cash in his hands and showed no reaction to the question.

Only after quite a while, when he had finished counting one roll, did he nod. “No problem. I already tested it. You can try it too. There are four rounds in it. If you want more...” He took a handful from his pocket. “Two dollars a piece.”

The news boss’s face twitched. Without a word, he stuffed the pistol into his pocket. A handgun modified from a starter pistol like this had no serial number. Even if something happened, it would be very difficult to trace back to the source.