“Thirty–five million? We just smashed a car and roughed him up a bit! How can it be that much?”
“I… I could sell my entire family and still not come up with that!”
“Officer, please, check the math again! It can’t be thirty–five million!”
“Yeah, officer, don’t let this guy fool you! It was just a Panamera, right? Even a top–of–the–line one isn’t that much!”
Their understanding of wealth was pitifully limited.
I let out a cold laugh and produced the original purchase contract and invoice for the vehicle. “A one–of–a–kind, custom–built Pana-
mera. Global exclusive. Purchase price, fifty–eight million.”
“I was already giving you a discount for depreciation. Perhaps I was being too generous?”
Faced with the proof, they fell silent.
C
The officer beside me snorted. “You should be grateful. If he charged you the full replacement value, you wouldn’t be getting out of here for less than sixty million. Apex Holdings is one of the top ten global corporations. Mr. Bright is just a private man; he’s not on any rich lists. If he were, he’d be in the top three. And you’re here questioning his assets?”
“And let’s be clear,” the officer continued, his voice like stone, “between the intentional assault and the willful destruction of proper-
ty, we will be respecting Mr. Bright’s wishes. No settlements will be considered.”
The officer’s words were a death sentence. Thirty–five million dollars. How could they possibly pay?
Realizing the financial ruin was unavoidable, some of them tried a different tactic.
“Thomas, come on. We were classmates for four years. You wouldn’t be this cruel, would
you?”
“Yeah, Thomas, you’re a billionaire. A few million is nothing to you. For old time’s sake, just let
it
“Thomas, I know you just wanted to teach us a lesson. You’re not really going to make us pay and go to jail, are you? You know our
situations.”
“We’ll do anything! We’ll work for you for free! Just drop the charges!”
20:15
2015
One started, and the others chimed in. I just sneered.
“Did I not warn you? Or did you just not listen?”
“You had the guts to smash my car and beat me, but you don’t have the guts to pay the price? What happened to all that bravado?”
“Or is it that in your eyes, my being wealthy is a crime in itself? That I deserved to be beaten by you?”
“Let me ask you this,” I said, my voice dangerously quiet. “If I weren’t the chairman of Apex, would any of you feel a shred of remor-
se right now?”
I searched my memory. In four years of college, I had never wronged a single one of them. Yet years later, these so–called classma-
tes had tried to grind me into the dirt.
I am human. I have a temper. My silence was not weakness; it was contempt. But contempt has its limits.
An eye for an eye. That’s my code.
And if I didn’t have the power and success I have today, I might very well have been beaten to death on that street, just another
nameless victim.
11
Seeing that my heart was made of stone, my old classmates panicked.
They knew talking to me was useless, so they turned their fury on the man of the hour, Lary.
“I mean, seriously, Lary? A pathetic freeloader like you trying to act like a big shot? Look at the mess you’ve gotten us into!”
“Turns out the real loser was the one calling everyone else a loser!”
“Lary, you son of a bitch! If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this shit!”
“Talking about taking over Apex Holdings… you’re nothing but a goddamn joke!”
“That’s right! This is all your fault! You can pay the thirty–five million yourself! This has nothing to do with us!”
Lary, already beaten down, saw red. “Fuck you all! You seemed to be having a great time when you were kicking the shit out of
Thomas!”
“And now you’re blaming me? Have you no fucking shame?”
“Every single one of you was kissing my ass earlier! The second you find out I’m not the one with the money, you scatter like stray dogs! What’s the difference between you and a pack of animals?”
“I’m not paying! I can’t pay! If I’m going to jail, we’re all going together!”
Lary, having suffered the ultimate humiliation, threw all caution to the wind and screamed back at them. If the police hadn’t been
there to restrain them, the station would have become their personal fighting ring.
But it was all just a pathetic sideshow.
I watched the dog–eat–dog spectacle with cold detachment. In the end, after reviewing the security footage frame by frame, the police determined each individual’s punishment.
The main culprits, without a doubt, were Lary and his closest cronies. Everyone else who participated was charged as an accompl-
ice.
Some had to pay fines, some went to jail, and some had to pay fines before going to jail.
What surprised me, though, was that even at this stage, Lary still held a pathetic sliver of hope for Isabella.
2015
2015
Chapter 2
“Bella,” he pleaded, his face a miserable mess of tears and snot, “for old time’s sake… for the time we had together… can you plea-
se ask Thomas to show some mercy?”
“Or at least get him to let me pay in installments? Where am I going to get that kind of money right now?”
Isabella hadn’t participated in the violence. She had been standing silently in a corner of the station the whole time. Seeing Lary’s pitiful state, she couldn’t stop herself from speaking up on his behalf.
“Thomas… honey… don’t you think this is a bit too much?”
“You know Lary’s family’s situation. For my sake, could you just sign a letter of forgiveness?”
I crossed my arms, my gaze sweeping over her with icy disdain. “Your sake?”
“Isabella, you can’t possibly think your ‘sake‘ is worth anything to me anymore, do you?”
“You deceived me for three years. And even now, after everything, you’re still pleading for your lover.”
“Isabella… do you really think I’m that much of a fool?”
With that, I turned and walked out of the station without a backward glance.
The case was closed. None of them could pay the restitution. They all went to prison.
I heard later that inside, Lary was beaten so badly he was left paralyzed from the waist down.
As for me, I threw myself into my work, burying any thought of love or relationships. The ghost of Isabella’s false tenderness would sometimes surface, but the feeling was hollow, devoid of any real emotion.
Then, another three years passed. I saw her name in the news.
“Socialite’s Fall from Grace: Cheating Scandal Ends in Penniless Divorce.”
I watched half the clip before turning it off.
It seems some things never change.
A Leopard can’t change its spots.
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