Chapter 41

41

Chapter 4

Lee Myeon-Seong stood beside a large window, smoking a cigarette. He had always enjoyed the view from this building. He could see the river from here, and all the other buildings were below him. The view was like a masterpiece.

In here, he felt that he was some sort of king.

His son was a successful man who could influence the whole world. He had never helped the child, but he had biologically made the boy. That was enough for him. He deserved some kind of reward for that, right? That was what Myeon-Seong believed.

At first, he had been surprised that his son let him back into his life so easily. Despite the fact that he was an irresponsible and violent father, Lee Ho had welcomed his father back.

Their relationship started quite simply, from trivial conversations. During those times, Myeon-Seong instinctively realized that his son was lonely. He immediately knew that he could use that to his advantage and siphon some money from his child. He appealed that he was Lee Ho's loving father and asked him for money.

As he had expected, his son actually gave him money. And that was how he took advantage of his son. He knew no to cross the line so that he could continuously ask for more.

Since then, six years had already passed. He had taken a lot of money from his son but had lost everything, spending most of it on his gambling addiction.

It was common knowledge that his man was not worthy; that was why even reporters had lost interest and stopped writing news about him. Despite those circumstances, Myeon-Seong still came after Lee Ho's money, and, in fact, he was here in the Cheon-Myeong building today to ask for more.

When he arrived, he had been told that his son, Lee Ho, was not here. He was a bit disappointed, but he was satisfied with the treatment of the employees. These S-rated Hunters, the strongest people in this country, were bowing politely to him. That put a smile on his face. He felt as if he were a king.

Lee Ho was his weapon and shield. That was what he thought.

However, he was surprised to see a familiar face open the door to Ho's office.

The man who appeared in front of him was a person he never expected to meet.

"You... Are you... Hwan?"

***

I heard that my brother was in Jeju Island with Mr. Hong and that they would be returning today. They were doing some cleaning up work, but I knew that they could manage it well.

I opened the door to Ho's office and came face to face with a man.

Lee Myeon-Seong.

My father.

It had been a while since I last saw him, about twenty-four or twenty-five years, and he looked fine.

"You... Are you... Hwan?"

It was the same voice from my memory.

Children remembered memories from their past that had truly impacted them. I still remembered everything he did to our family.

"You punched our mother, kicked me around, and slapped Lee Ho's face. He was only two years old back then."

Gi-Hoon silently closed the door as I slowly stepped forward. As soon as I saw his face, the memories rushed up in my head and became clear.

"You were cheating on our mom, don't you remember? I can still recall that you were doing something inappropriate."

Lee Myeon-Seong immediately froze.

"What? Didn't want to hear that? But that is the truth."

"...Arrogant child. Don't speak like that to your dad!"

"I don't have a father, old man." I continued. "Who is my father, anyway? You? Fucking bullshit."

Myeon-Seong laughed out loud.

"Haha... Fucking brat. You have never grown up. Arrogant as always."

As I mentioned before, children's memories lasted for a long time. That man did have a part in making me, but he was never my father. My mother had to bear a lot on her own. What he did was just horrible, but my mother thought that it was a better choice for us.

Back then, she thought that it was better for us to be with both of our parents. She didn't want us to grow up without a father, and that was why she endured his abuse and did not ask for a divorce. However, Myeon-Seong was much worse than she had thought, so she had no choice but to ask for a separation.

The reason for that was me. One day long ago, I told him that trash like him deserved to die. I was just five years old. That same day, I was rushed to the emergency room with a broken arm and leg and had to get major surgery.

Interestingly, Myeon-Seong was also thinking about that incident.

"You were not like a normal child. I hit you so hard, but you never begged me to stop."

He was right; I never asked him to stop. Even if he had planned to kill me, I never begged. I would rather curse him until I died. Now, my body had recovered. I had to endure a lot of pain, but every injury he caused was cured.

I glared at him as he continued to nonchalantly smoke his cigarette. I rushed forward and took the cigarette from his mouth. Of course, due to my speed, he could not react fast enough.

He was surprised when he noticed that I had been able to get his cigarette in an instant.

I ignored his reaction.

"Gi-Hoon."

"Yes, sir."

"How long has he been taking money from Ho?"

"About six and half years, sir."

As I asked, Gi-Hoon answered my questions immediately.

"He has been taking money for that long."

"..........."

"Please make it short. What did he do with it?"

Gi-Hoon had been with Cheon-Myeong for five years. As part of the secretary team, he must have seen this man's actions firsthand.

"This is the report of his actions..."

I nodded for him to start, and Gi-Hoon told me everything about him. The total amount of money he had taken and how he had lost every single cent. He told me the story of a jackass.

Gi-Hoon summed it up well. The story ended exactly when the cigarette was used up.

"You haven't changed at all."

"........"

"Did you ever visit my mother?"

Lee Myeon-Seong frowned. When he heard of my mother, he responded as if he was hiding something before giving me a big, fake smile.

"I know what you think about me, but I've changed. I visited your mother every day, you know."

I glanced at Gi-Hoon. He looked up from the file he was reading, noticing that something was not right.

"...According to our records, what he said is correct."

If he was telling the truth, then I was the one who should take the blame.

"But the times he claimed to have visited your mother are weird."

"Why?"

"...Do you remember the day you fought with your brother?"

"I do. Why?"

My brother and I had fought at the mountain nearby. I wasn't a fool that picks fights where I shouldn't. To be honest, I didn't see how it mattered, but...

"According to our records, he was there with us."

I laughed out loud.

"I never saw him there."

"Me too."

And that was not all.

"In fact, very few people were there. Cheon-Myeong staff had been guarding the cemetery but never spotted this man."

That only meant one thing.

"He manipulated the records. I think he hired someone to edit your files."

Lee Myeon-Seong immediately froze, and a laugh came out of my mouth.

"You were always like this, you junk-head."

"...Junk-head? How dare you speak like that to me! I'm your father!"

"Every word you say is a lie. You never visited our mother when she was sick."

".........."

"You never even came when she passed away."

"........."

That already showed that he was a liar.

"Gi-Hoon..."

"Yes, sir."

"I bet Lee Ho was lonely."

"........."

"He was raising a lapdog. I guess he was feeling isolated."

Lee Myeon-Seong did not show his anger; he knew that something was not right. To his credit, he even noticed it faster than Gi-Hoon.

He tried to smile and make excuses.

"Um... Yes, sorry about everything. I'll behave better. I have an errand to run, so I gotta go."

He tried to run away, but who told him that he could go?

I grabbed his neck and effortlessly threw him at the window.

"Wha—what?"

As he collided with the glass, his face paled. The glass window cracked slowly, the loud sound reverberating throughout the room. He stood up, but he couldn't do anything else. I was right in front of him.

"When I was in Valhalla, I thought of you as well."

I extinguished the cigarette I had been holding. Gi-Hoon lighted a new one and passed it to me, and I put it in my mouth. I inhaled a breath of smoke.

"Seriously, I thought you would be there when our mother died. I thought you would at least visit her funeral. That was the least you could do."

"...Hwan, this is a misunderstanding. Trust me!"

"I hate you. I loathe you. But I only wished that for my mother. For her, you might be a different person."

"........."

"Even after everything that happened, you two loved each other. That's why you married her. Mom always told me that you changed a lot."

I crushed my cigarette in the ashtray before continuing with what I had to say.

"She was ill, and you were just smiling and enjoying your life."

Myeon-Seong tried to run away again, but he couldn't. I stopped him with my aura. A snap of my fingers was enough to suppress him.

"Don't run. I didn't tell you to."

He couldn't do anything. His eyes were shaking with fear.

"You were using Ho's money to gamble? You have done nothing for him!"

".........."

"Were you planning to burden him as you did to my mom? Even animals don't do that!"

Jeong Gi-Hoon knew what I was about to do.

Yes, that was correct. I was not like my brother.

I didn't have a hobby of raising lapdogs. I never forget my vengeance.

"How did it feel when you were hitting me?"

"............"

"I was five, and you broke my arms, legs, and teeth. Oh, the scars you left are now clean. I had to undergo the process of breaking my body and rebuilding it to make it stronger."

I showed him my mouth. The teeth he had broken were now restored.

I then laughed out loud.

"If I get hit, I make sure to pay it back. That's what I'm doing now."

Lee Myeon-Seong's eyes were telling me to stop. Why should I?

I ignored it.

"P—please don't..."

A miracle just happened. I had used my aura to suppress him completely, but he had managed to break that hold and speak out loud. I was impressed.

"I hope a miracle happens again."

But, of course, it wasn't going to happen.

I kicked the man right at his chest, pushing him back. He collided with the window and the glass finally shattered. As he was falling to his death, I made sure that he could see my smile.

It was so gratifying.

After a moment, a loud crash was heard from below. Myeon-Seong had fallen in the parking lot, his entire body bloody and broken.

Let me tell you this again.

It was extremely gratifying.