Right here.
Rhode stepped out of the vehicle and gazed at the modern apartment building which was common in the city. However, this particular building had a special meaning to him.
“Are you sure, Canary?’
Rhode asked, turning around to gaze at Canary, who put up a pale and complicated expression. At that moment, the young lady bit her lower lip, while her eyes wandered to the surroundings. Even though she had made up her mind, she realized that not only did the pressure not decrease, but it also grew heavier as soon as she arrived at this place. She also felt as though she were carrying a large boulder on her back. She extended and placed her hand on her chest, but her heart pounded even quicker. She didn’t think that she would return to this place she deemed as the source of her nightmares. But now, as she stood in this place, she felt unprecedented fears and uncertainties swarming back at her. There was an instant when she wanted to just turn away as though she had never returned, tossing everything to the back of her head and leaving this world forever.
But…
“If you don’t wish to meet them, I can do it myself.”
Gazing at the young lady, Rhode stretched out his hand to caress her silky hair. He wasn’t Canary; he couldn’t fully understand just how much pain she was in right now. But he sensed her hesitations and worries deeply. It was apparent that it was a torment for her to be back here. If she weren’t willing, Rhode wouldn’t force her. After all, it was his responsibility and now, he had to assume it. But Canary…
“No, Rhode.”
Upon hearing his concerned words, Canary gnashed her teeth, pondered for a few moments, and lifted her head.
“I will go. I’ve made up my mind. No matter what, this is something that I have and need to go through…”
“Okay.”
Rhode answered plainly, nodded in agreement, and sauntered toward the apartment building. Canary gazed at his back and followed him quietly into the home that she thought she would never return to.
Judging from its appearance, this place didn’t seem too different from ordinary apartment buildings. The corridors were clean and the windows were shining and clear, where the sun spilled through to cast light upon the smooth flooring effortlessly. Rhode strolled ahead while Canary followed. None of them spoke a word because at that moment, Rhode was also at a loss for words. After all, the source of this unfortunate event was entirely an accident. Canary didn’t expect herself to get pregnant and neither did Rhode expect to transmigrate to another world. If Canary weren’t pregnant or if Rhode didn’t transmigrate to another world, perhaps the situation would have developed in an entirely different direction. But it was a pity that they were only ‘ifs’. And now, they couldn’t change the reality.
This is the place.
Rhode stood by and stared at the seemingly sturdy door. Upon realizing his reaction, Canary gaped but eventually didn’t say a word. At the same time, Rhode reached his hand out and knocked lightly.
Knock knock knock.
“Who is it?”
Shortly after, the door opened. A fashionable, middle-aged woman who wore a pair of spectacles stood behind it. She couldn’t help but knit her brows to reveal a dubious expression. As soon as she saw Canary, she pulled a long face instantly. Her elegance vanished from the face of the Earth, only to be replaced by a gloomy and twisted malevolence.
“You sure are shameless enough to return. What are you doing here? Get lost! We don’t have a worthless daughter like you! You slut… why didn’t you die alongside that bast*rd in your stomach…!”
“Good afternoon, Auntie.”
As the middle-aged woman was about to point her finger at Canary, Rhode took half a step forward, just in time to get between them. He gave a respectful bow before standing straight to gaze at the woman. Upon realizing his presence, the middle-aged woman was instantly bewildered. She sized up the man who donned a luxurious suit and seemed as beautiful as a woman. Then, she let out a snort.
“Who are you? What business do you have with us?”
“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rhode. I’m this young lady’s boyfriend and also…” Rhode stole a glance at Canary and the corners of his lips perked up into an attractive smile. “… the one she entrusted her life to. From today onward, she will be living with me. So I thought of introducing myself to you and her father. No matter what, she is also your daughter.”
“This is not necessary for the trouble, Sir.”
Even though the middle-aged woman sounded polite, her tone was filled with annoyance. Without taking another glance at Canary, she shifted her gaze away and clutched the door handle.
“We don’t have such a shameless daughter. We have no intention of having anything to do with her. I don’t know who you are, but you can do anything you want. As long as you two don’t bother me or let me see that disgusting face again!”
The middle-aged woman said and attempted to close the door on them. But at that moment, Rhode stuck out his foot to stop the door from closing. The middle-aged woman was enraged. She looked up and glared at Rhode.
“What do you want? Go away, or I will call the police!”
“Please don’t be in such a hurry, Auntie, I haven’t finished speaking. I’ve only introduced myself and I’m just getting to the real topic,” Rhode said with a vibrant smile. Then, he bowed elegantly to the middle-aged woman. Upon seeing his expression, Canary hid behind him and couldn’t help but reveal a smile. Of course, she knew what kind of person Rhode was and a smile from him definitely wasn’t a good sign. The fact that he smiled so gracefully proved that he had some schemes in his mind. Gazing at the exasperated middle-aged woman, Rhode’s expression didn’t change at all. Instead, he continued to speak with a smile: “In fact, to tell you the truth, the child that your daughter bore was mine…”
“What?!?!”
The middle-aged woman who barely kept her cool jumped up like an infuriated lion. She grabbed Rhode’s collar and glared at him with wide-open eyes. Her well-maintained and seemingly young face turned twisted and sinister instantly.
“So it’s you!?! You bast*rd, it is all your fault! Look at what you’ve done! You destroyed our painstaking efforts! You bloody bast*rd!”
The woman’s voice was so resounding that neighbors along the corridor opened their doors curiously, peering out to check on the situation. Looking at this scene, they couldn’t help but widen their eyes in astonishment. As a matter of fact, Canary’s family was highly-reputable around the neighborhood. They received higher education and were gentle and kind toward others. But now, the neighbors were bewildered to witness that the woman who displayed warm smiles all day had turned ashen and was grabbing a young man’s collar. She seemed like she was about to strangle him to death!
“What’s going on?! Who is it that makes you cause a ruckus!”
At the same time, another stern voice sounded. Then, a burly man strode out of the door and was flabbergasted to witness his wife’s frantic behavior. He shifted his gaze to Canary, who stood at the side, and grimaced instantly.
“You shameless child. Why have you returned?! You slut! Why aren’t you dead yet!”
“D-… Dad…”
Upon detecting his gaze, Canary couldn’t help but shiver. Even though she was no longer that weak, powerless young lady in the past, but was a mage who possessed powerful strength and could manipulate storms and flames at a single switch of a thought, she still felt intimidated by that familiar and solemn gaze of her father’s. At that moment, Canary had as though returned to the past. She placed her hands on her chest and gazed at her father timidly. Meanwhile, the middle-aged woman gnashed her teeth and lifted Rhode’s collar.
“It’s him! This is that man! Dear, he said that child was his!”
“What?!”
The man turned ashen instantly. He shifted his gaze away from Canary and glared coldly at Rhode. Upon detecting his gaze, Rhode continued to seem relaxed. He extended his left hand and held the woman’s hand gently. However, the woman instantly felt as though her hands were clamped by an iron pincer and couldn’t help but let out a miserable shriek. She loosened her grip and at that moment, Rhode skillfully reached his hands out to adjust his collar and nodded at the couple with a smile.
“Good afternoon, Uncle. I’ve told Auntie what happened. This time, I would like to inform both of you that your daughter will be living with me from today onward. That is a-…” However, Rhode was interrupted by that ashen man before he completed his sentence.
“W-Who… do you think you are? How dare you speak to me with that tone after committing something so atrocious?! You… get the hell away! Or I will call the police!” The man snarled, raised his walking stick, and swung it at Rhode.
Bam!
But at that moment, he witnessed a flash and the heavy walking stick in his hand broke into segments all of a sudden. The man stared blankly, took two steps back, and stared at Rhode in uncertainty. With his IQ and poor eyesight, of course he wasn’t able to comprehend what Rhode just did.
However, Rhode apparently had no intention of explaining to them either. On the contrary, he smiled and gave them a solemn bow.
“Of course, I empathize with your feelings. After all, she is your daughter and what I did was inappropriate. But…”
Rhode said. before pulling out the suitcase beside him and opening it. Upon witnessing what was inside the suitcase, the furious couple goggled and couldn’t make a noise as though one were strangling them. The only thing they could do was to gawk at the bundles of money. Even though the paper notes weren’t gold coins, they seemed to emanate a mesmerizing and dazzling radiance in the couple’s eyes. They stooped over in agitation, stretched out their trembling hands, and stared at the bundles of money.
“T-This is…”
“This is a small compensation on my part. No matter what both of you have done to her in the past, you are her parents, after all. Without both of you, I wouldn’t have been able to meet her. This is just a token of my appreciation to make up for your loss.”
Rhode spoke with an incredibly vibrant and sincere smile like a representative of great youths of the new century.
At that moment, the couple’s gaze toward Rhode finally changed. After making sure that the money was genuine, they closed the suitcase and stood to their feet. Passionate feelings surfaced on their malevolent expressions as they displayed thoughtful and polite smiles as though Rhode were a guest who came a long way.
“Oh-no… how should we put it… Mr. Rhode… we…”
The woman put up a smile and was at a loss for words. She turned to her husband with a complicated expression. Upon realizing her gaze, the man put away the suitcase quietly before revealing a smile and nodding to Rhode.
“Erm… Sir, I suppose we felt your sincerity. We… had some misunderstanding with our daughter in the past. How about this? Why don’t you come in and have a good chat with us? Frankly, money isn’t the most important thing to us. We only hope for our daughter to find a worthy and qualified man who she can entrust her whole life to. Erm… Mr. Rhode, may we know which prestigious company you are employed at? To be honest, our daughter is an outstanding child. Don’t you agree that we have to pay particular attention in ensuring that our families are an appropriate match?”
“Yes, yes.”
Upon hearing her husband’s words, the woman quickly bowed and scraped, before gazing at Canary benevolently as though she were a work of art carved perfectly by her. Upon detecting her mother’s gaze, Canary didn’t say a word and lowered her head, at the same time forcing an inward smile. Her father hadn’t changed at all. They didn’t treat her as a human, but as merchandise instead. All she had to do was to grow and live in accordance with their expectations and thoughts. And this was their final goal—to sell her off at a good price and they would reap the rewards.
This was what Canary couldn’t accept the most. Her hopes and everything were dashed and destroyed entirely due to this reason.
“No, it’s fine. Thanks for your hospitality, but it isn’t necessary.”
Despite the couple persuading Rhode to stay, he took a step back with a smile.
“Just like I said. From today onward, your daughter will be with me and that will be the end of the relationship between us and the both of you. From today onward, we will not have any form of relationship.”
“This…”
The couple’s expressions changed slightly. They gazed at Rhode in hesitation before looking at Canary, who remained silent. Then, the woman stepped forth and looked anxiously at Canary.
“My dear daughter, is this what you want? You won’t be that heartless, right? I admit what your father and I did was wrong. But we did that in consideration for your future. You…”
“Sorry, Mom.”
Facing her mother’s persuasion, Canary took a step back this time. After witnessing her parent’s reactions earlier, Canary discovered that the fears, uncertainties, and her longing for affections turned into ashes instantly. She felt so calm as though both of them had no blood relationship with her at all.
“Hey, you…!”
The woman puckered her brows and screamed when suddenly, her husband pulled her back and hinted to her to not annoy the ‘customer’. After figuring out her husband’s intention, the woman shut her mouth despite feeling angered. At that moment, the man let out a cough and said to Rhode.
“I understand, Mr. Rhode. I admit we went overboard last time, but I hope you can understand our feelings as parents. After all, we had our reasons back then…”
“I understand, but please stop speaking about it.”
Rhode interrupted with a smile on his face. Then, he turned to Canary.
“Time to take that out.”
“… Okay, Rhode.”
If it were in the past, Canary would definitely be more hesitant. But now, she felt extremely calm. Without any hesitation, she handed the suitcase in her hand over to Rhode. Rhode took it and opened it in front of the couple. Looking at what was inside the suitcase, the couple opened their eyes wide. What was lying quietly inside was a diamond the size of a fist!
This diamond alone was priceless!
“This diamond is my present for both of you. Please keep it safe.”
Rhode said without fooling around, handing the suitcase over to them and nodded with a smile. At that moment, the couple was completely mesmerized. They held up the suitcase with both hands and stared at the massive diamond as though they were indulged in its beautiful splendor. Looking at the result, Rhode’s eyes glinted in an ice-cold flash. He turned around and patted gently on Canary’s shoulder.
“Alright, all settled. Let’s go.”
“… Okay, Rhode.”
Canary responded. She lifted her head again to look at the man and woman who were once her parents. After a few moments of hesitation, she spoke softly.
“Goodbye… Mom, Dad.”
However, no one responded to her. They didn’t even hear her voice. As Canary and Rhode entered the elevator, the former turned around and the only thing she saw was them returning home in high spirits with the suitcases in hand.
At that moment, Canary closed her eyes.
Meanwhile, it was an entirely different scene inside the house.
“Look, there’s so much money… Dear.”
The woman cupped her hands on the diamond and gazed at the other suitcase full of money. Beside her, the man showed a satisfied smile and counted the money.
“I didn’t expect our daughter to be able to find such a rich man… Sigh… If we knew this would happen, we wouldn’t have made her abort the child. How nice it would be if we were able to gain some child support payment…”
Upon hearing his remarks, the woman grunted.
“What are you talking about? Wasn’t it your decision to abort the child no matter what? Didn’t I tell you to wait for the child to be born to sell it away for money? We would just tell her that the baby was stolen and everything would be fine. It’s the fault of that useless brain of yours. You insisted that giving birth to that child affects her reputation. What a dummy!”
“Alright, alright.”
The man forced a smile to his wife’s grumbles.
“How would I know that she was able to find such a rich man? If you have to blame, blame that brat for not revealing anything to us no matter how we asked. If she said she found a rich man, only an idiot would force her to abort the child. Well, forget it. This stack of money here is good enough too. That’s right. Hahaha, all this money is ours…” The man said, lifting his head and gazing at the diamond in the woman’s hands. A faint light emerged inside the pure, crystal-clear diamond as though it were lighting up the depth of its soul. “Hurry up, let me look at that diamond.”
However, the woman didn’t react at all. She continued to be mesmerized by it.
“No, let me look at it first… this diamond is mine…”
“Give it to me!”
At that moment, the man snarled all of a sudden and pounced over like a wild animal to snatch the diamond away. On the other hand, the woman struggled with all her might, gripping onto the diamond in her hands.
“No! It’s mine! That diamond is mine!”
“No! Let go! You wh*re! It’s mine!”
In an instant, the couple wrestled, kicking and punching each other, while the woman clasped the diamond in hand. At that moment, the radiance within the diamond dazzled even brighter and their vision turned increasingly fuzzy.
“Let go! Let go!”
The woman screeched and at the next moment, she sunk her teeth onto the man’s arm.
“Ahhhhh!”
The man screamed in pain and let go of his hands. The woman held up the diamond with both hands, turned around, and tried to flee. But at that moment, the man caught her hair and snarled like an injured wild animal. Then, he grabbed and slammed her head into the wall.
Bang! Bang!
“Ahhhhhh… ahh…. ah….!”
Along with the deep bangs, scarlet blood splashed in all directions. The woman’s blood-curdling screech gradually became indistinct. She struggled with all her might, but the man didn’t budge at all. At that moment, he was like a robot who clasped and smashed her skull onto the wall repeatedly. After a few moments, the woman finally stopped struggling and collapsed to the ground. She twitched abruptly and all of a sudden, putrid discharge spurted out from between her legs. Her head was completely crushed. The teeth inside her twisted, wide-open mouth were smashed into bits. Her tongue was among the bloody mess of flesh. Her eyes popped out of their sockets and had turned into turbid matter. This was the end of her life.
The man stopped all actions. He looked to the left and right, before kneeling down and lifting up the diamond solemnly. Even though the diamond was submerged in the bloody, foul-smelling floor, it continued to emanate a dazzling brilliance. The man didn’t even glance at the corpse of his wife. He cupped his hands on the diamond and muttered under his breath as though it were the most precious thing in his world.
“It’s mine. Everything is mine. No one can take it away from me. Hahahaha!”
Suddenly, as the man burst out in a mad laughter, he lunged at the table, grabbed the money, and forced them into his mouth. He couldn’t stop chewing and swallowing them.
“It’s mine. These are all mine. No one can take it away from me. All of them shall be with me forever!”
Tearing up the money and forcing them into his mouth, the man let out a crazy bellow. At the next moment, he widened his mouth delightfully, lifted the fist-sized diamond, and pushed it into his mouth. The white radiance of the diamond shone brighter and soon enveloped the entire room.
“All settled, Leader? What did you do? Did you make those bast*rds get down on their knees and beg for mercy?”
Upon seeing Rhode and Canary approaching the vehicle, the impatient Mini Bubble Gum peered out of the window and asked in excitement. Rhode shrugged in response.
“Of course not. I simply visited my in-laws with Canary and thanked them for taking care of her over the years.”
“Tsk, how boring…”
Upon hearing his response, Mini Bubble Gum pouted. Canary revealed a gentle smile, but Rhode apparently was unconcerned.
“By the way, where’s my cola?”
“Here it is, Leader. An iced one!”
“Thanks.”
Rhode caught the cola that Mini Bubble Gum tossed over and gestured to thank her. He hooked the ring pull with his finger and opened the can. At the same time…
Boom!
An ear-deafening explosion resounded. The apartment building behind Rhode was enveloped by a dazzling radiance. Shortly after, flames and billows of smoke emerged from the building. Looking at this scene, Mini Bubble Gum widened her eyes in astonishment.
“Woah! What’s going on? What happened?”
“Hmm?”
Upon hearing Mini Bubble Gum’s response, Rhode turned around, glanced at the blazing apartment building, and shrugged.
“Who knows? Perhaps a gas explosion,” he said.
