Free Web NovelChapter 117: I am Done
Nico
Anderson gritted his teeth beside me, his jaw clenching so hard I could hear the bone grind, ready to unleash hell.
But I beat him to it.
"I know that’s exactly what you’ll do," I whispered, my voice dripping with pure disdain. "You’ll just bury it again."
"I am trying to protect the image of this family! What do you think the world will think if they find out about this?!" my grandfather suddenly yelled, his composure completely breaking as he hit his heavy cane violently against the ground.
The wood struck the floor with an echoing crack. He pointed the tip of the cane directly at me, Alaric, and Sophia. "Is this your plan? To bring your friends into my home and then talk about family matters to them! I want them out of my home right this moment! The Park family will not be subjected to public opinion, so get the foreigners away!" ƒгeewebnovёl.com
I clenched my free fist so tightly my nails dug deep into my palm, drawing blood. I looked at Alaric again, but he was still staring back at me with that same total lack of emotion on his face. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
My heart began to pound erratically against my ribs, suffocating me, as I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of judgment was forming behind those cold eyes. I was dying for his suggestions, dying for him to speak, to say anything that would tell me he wasn’t about to abandon me.
Anderson didn’t let the silence last. He stepped directly into my grandfather’s line of fire, his voice shifting into rapid, biting Korean words as they began arguing.
"If you are sending the guests away," Anderson hissed, "then I am leaving this house right now."
My grandfather gripped his cane tightly, standing up from his chair as his face turned a dangerous shade of purple. "Are you truly leaving because of some strangers, Anderson? More than your own family? You are going to leave your own mother’s memorial ceremony over this!’’
"I would have gladly done that for you, Father," Anderson shot back, his words dripping with a cold, absolute hatred. "But as for Mother, she didn’t do anything wrong. She doesn’t deserve to be disrespected by your cowardice. I am not staying under this roof. I am taking them to Mother’s private villa around the street. We are staying there."
Anderson turned his head sharply, his eyes locking onto me, Alaric, and Sophia. "Come with me. Let’s get out of this garbage." He looked back at my grandfather one last time, a bitter, dangerous smile curling his lips. "Leaving this godforsaken house back then was the absolute best decision I ever made in my life."
Before he could even take a step toward the door, Geum-ho let out a pathetic, whimpering cough, wiping the blood from his forehead with a trembling hand. "Anderson, you can’t just walk out... you’re letting this crazy boy ruin our family name... it was nothing... he’s lying..."
The word hadn’t even fully left Geum-ho’s mouth before Anderson turned on him like a predator.
"Shut your pathetic mouth, you disgusting, vile piece of trash," Anderson growled, his voice dropping into a tone that made everyone at the table freeze in terror. "You are a shameless, predatory pedophile. A sick parasite who destroyed a child and hid behind an old man’s coat strings."
Geum-ho’s eyes widened in sheer panic, his hands flying up to defend himself as he tried to stammer out another lie. "I am your elder brother! You can’t talk to me—"
Anderson didn’t give him another word. He stepped forward, winding back his massive arm, and delivered a brutal, crushing punch straight into the center of Geum-ho’s face.
The force of the impact echoed loudly through the high-ceilinged hall like a gunshot. The blow completely shattered Geum-ho’s nose, the bone breaking instantly under Anderson’s knuckles.
A fresh, violent spray of blood erupted across the white linen tablecloth, splattering over the expensive porcelain dishes and the crystal wine glasses. Geum-ho let out a pathetic, gurgling shriek as the momentum lifted him slightly out of his chair before he crashed heavily onto the floor, clutching his ruined face as blood poured through his fingers.
"You are a disease to this world," Anderson growled at the groveling man, his knuckles covered in Geum-ho’s blood. He turned his fierce gaze back to my grandfather, his chest heaving as he barked out one final, devastating sentence that tore through the remnants of the family’s dignity.
"You ruined this house, shibal!"
With that final roar, Anderson turned on his heel and walked out of the dining hall, his heavy boots slamming against the marble floor in an angry rhythm.
The silence that followed was suffocating, heavy with the sharp metallic tang of blood and the broken pieces of our family.
My throat felt entirely tight, my lungs starving for air. I squeezed Alaric’s hand, feeling the solid, grounding warmth of his fingers, and looked between him and Sophia.
"We should leave," I muttered. "Let’s go."
"Seo-jun! Wait! Stop right there!" my mother’s voice screamed after me as she watched me begin to step away from the table.
I stopped for a single second, the sound of my name pulling at my weighted shoulders. I didn’t turn around to face her. I couldn’t bear to look at the family table anymore. I just kept my eyes locked on the exit, my jaw tightening until it ached.
"Not now, Mother," I said, my voice echoing coldly over the quiet room. "You should have paid this much attention to your son all those years ago, instead of leaving me entirely alone in the dark."
I didn’t wait to hear her reply. Keeping my grip tight on Alaric’s hand, I pulled him along with me as I walked out of the suffocating dining hall with Sophia trailing behind us.
’’Geum ho!’’ my mother screamed as she attacked my uncle but I was too done to look back at them.
