With everything laid bare, there was nothing left I didn't understand.
My mother had been set up by Fay. She wanted me to taste it for myself, that helpless agony of watching your own family be tormented right in front of you.
“Fay, can we talk?”
I was going to take her to the restroom and explain what had really happened that night.
My fingers barely grazed her wrist before she let out a short, mocking laugh and slowly pushed my hand away.
She met my confusion head-on, her eyes full of cold calculation.
“There's nothing left for us to talk about.”
“The night you let Kerry suffer and did nothing, you and I stopped having anything to discuss.”
“If you're so desperate to negotiate, take it up with the manager and the owner of that antique.”
Just as I'd suspected. Fay had brought my mother here to eat solely to settle the score for Kerry.
A few hundred thousand I could scrape together. Ten million was impossible.
“Kerry, come sit over here.”
“Best seat in the house for the show.”
Kerry's face was lit with the thrill of long-awaited payback. Then his gaze landed on me, and it turned cold and hateful.
“Desmond, you stood by and watched me nearly die that night. Now it's our turn to return the favor.”
His friends all fixed me with the same righteous contempt, as if I were something foul.
“Disgusting.”
“Did a dog eat your conscience? You just stood there and watched while they broke Kerry's legs.”
“Now karma's caught up. If he can't pay, then it's his turn to get his legs broken and tossed out like trash.”
My hands clenched into fists on reflex, a fire roaring through my chest.
That night, I'd already found a way to get Kerry out. But he'd gone and run his mouth right back at the bosses, practically begging them to finish the job.
I was afraid he'd keep talking and blow my cover, so I'd had no choice but to punch him in the mouth myself.
And even then, those men refused to let it go. They broke his legs and threw him out.
With that level of arrogance, even without that incident, someone would have beaten him sooner or later.
“Hey, everything's been sorted out, so pay up already. I've got a flight to catch in two hours.”
Victor's demand yanked me back to the present, but ten million dollars on the spot was money I simply did not have.
My mother saw the strain on my face, and the guilt in her eyes only deepened.
“Des, I'm sorry. This is all my fault.”
“If I hadn't invited Fay out to dinner, if I hadn't ordered blindly from a menu I couldn't even read, none of this would have happened.”
I quickly spoke up to comfort her：“Mom, stop blaming yourself.”
“This has nothing to do with you. When the person you trust most turns the knife on you, there's no way to see it coming.”
“But that kind of money, how could we ever pay it back!”
Tears streamed down her face and the pain in her chest flared sharper than before. I reached out and steadied her.
“Mom, what's wrong?”
“Is it your heart again?”
“Are you two done with the waterworks? Because if you're done, it's time to settle the damn bill.”
The words had barely left his mouth before Alfred stalked closer, glaring at us with open menace.
“The nerve. Can't even afford a meal and you waltz into a place like this? Pathetic. Absolute trash.”
“Been running this restaurant for years, and you two are the most worthless deadbeats I've ever seen.”
Kerry watched the crowd pile scorn on us, mother and son, and the satisfaction practically radiated off him.
Fay watched me too, eyes gleaming with vindictive pleasure, then smiled：“Kerry, don't worry. The best part is still coming.”
“I'm going to make sure Desmond learns his lesson. He needs to understand that being cold and heartless comes with consequences.”
