Of course I dared.
When a person was pushed to the edge, there was nothing left to fear.
Clutching Miss Zabel's greasy, $350,000 check, I rushed straight to the meeting spot.
A few rough-looking men surrounded my mother, cursing and spitting as they stood over her.
My mother was curled up in the corner. This woman, who was once so proud and confident, now had streaks of gray in her hair and a face hollowed by exhaustion.
When she saw me, a flicker of light appeared in her cloudy eyes. "Sebastian, why did you come here? Run! It's dangerous here!"
"Mom, I came to pay back the money."
I handed the check to the scar-faced man leading the group. My voice trembled slightly from fear.
"Here's $350,000. Please give me a few more days for the remaining $150,000."
The scar-faced man spat and sneered. His eyes were full of contempt.
"A few days? Do you think we run a charity? Three days was the agreement. If you're even a second late, your mom's leg will stay here even after you head home!"
Then, he drew a gleaming steel pipe from behind him.
My mother's face went pale with terror, clutching her leg protectively.
I leapt forward, spreading my arms in front of her. My legs were shaking, but I refused to back down.
"I will pay you the money! If you lay a hand on my mom, I'll fight every last one of you!"
"Fight us? You think you're capable?" The scar-faced man sneered as he closed in.
"Well, your mother is still quite the beauty. How about this? We'll forget about the remaining $150,000 if she spends one night with us instead. How's that?"
I trembled all over, and my stomach churned.
I spat at him. "In your dreams!"
The scar-faced man, enraged, was about to bring the steel pipe down on my head when several black cars screeched onto the scene, slamming to a halt right in front of us.
The doors swung open, and a group of bodyguards in black charged out, taking down the thugs in seconds.
I was still reeling, eyes wide, until the rear door opened, and a familiar figure stepped out.
It was Jasmine.
She walked up to me, and my shame was laid bare.
"Sebastian, selling yourself to some scum for money? Do you actually enjoy getting entangled with people like this?!"
I snapped my head up, meeting her cold eyes, which reflected my sorrow back at me.
"Jasmine, you have the nerve to talk to me?"
I roared, "I swallowed my pride and begged you for $500,000 to save my mom's life! I waited for you all day like a fool, yet what did I get? I had to watch you throwing money away at an auction for another man!
"How many times did I call you? Why didn't you answer? Do you realize that if I'd been even a minute later in coming here, my mother could've lost her leg? You pushed me to the edge, yet now you turn around and blame me? Who do you think you are?!"
My questions came out in a hysteria of desperation.
Jasmine's expression shifted. A flicker of guilt flashed across her eyes.
She remembered my plea and her promise.
Just then, Lionel stepped down from the car, looking fragile. He linked his arm with hers and gave me a pitiful look.
"Sebastian, please don't blame Jasmine. I liked the painting so much that I insisted she bid on it. That's why she forgot for a moment…"
He paused for a moment, shot a glance at the debt collectors on the ground, then shifted his tone.
"But Sebastian, even if Jasmine was hurrying to get the painting for me, you shouldn't humiliate yourself over money like this! Don't you remember Jayden…"
"Shut your mouth!"
Jasmine cut him off sharply, but the anger she had just suppressed flared back to life.
Her gaze locked on me. Hatred burned in her eyes.
"Sebastian, you really are as despicable as ever!"
She ground her teeth. "Ten years ago, you ruined someone's life because of this. Who else are you going to destroy now?!"
A cold bitterness spread through my chest, turning into a silent ache.
I opened my mouth to explain, to tell her that what happened ten years ago was not what she thought…
However, the words died on my lips, turning instead into powerless self-mockery.
In her eyes, I was already guilty.
"Jasmine."
My voice was calm. "You've never believed me."
I said no more. I lifted my shaken mother into my arms and staggered away from that suffocating place.
