Chapter 2

Warren ground his shoe harder against my face. Then, he lit a cigarette and pressed the burning tip into my skin.

As I screamed in pain, he said with a smile, "Seems to me you have a bad memory, Mr. Cole."

Warren had a younger sister, Catherine Parker, whom he loved dearly.

Two months ago, she confessed her feelings to me, but I turned her down. She went home and cried for days.

Everything that had happened to my family was part of Warren's revenge plan—the price I paid for making his sister cry.

Catherine was a kind and gentle young woman. She was wonderful, but I liked men. Was it wrong for me to reject her?

I was so badly beaten that I couldn't even crawl on my feet. When my head was shoved into a flushing toilet bowl, I thought I was going to die.

After much difficulty, I finally had the chance to call the police. But when they showed up, every single security camera in the company had "malfunctioned" for exactly one hour. There was no footage of Nelson beating me up under Warren's orders, and not a single person stepped forward to testify on my behalf.

I tried to contact the media to expose Warren's reprehensible actions. However, the headlines that were plastered everywhere mentioned something else entirely.

"Sean Cole, an incorrigible gambling addict, ended up putting himself in massive debt. To pay it off, he violated company policy and leaked patented information to a rival tech firm. When his boss caught him, he tried to frame him using the injuries that had been inflicted on him by his debt collectors."

The tabloids exposed Mom's "mental illness" and my siblings' "wrongdoings".

My entire family was now pushed to the center of public controversy. Seth and Sadie were too scared even to leave the house.

Because of my suspected gambling, my bank accounts were frozen. I couldn't even fork out the money to cover my family's food and living expenses.

I didn't want to concede defeat so easily. I made multiple police reports, but since I didn't have any evidence, the officers couldn't do anything either.

…

I stumbled out of the police station like a zombie. After endless hesitation, I called Warren.

"If you're displeased with me, Mr. Parker, I'll do whatever you want. But can you please spare my family?" I pleaded.

Mom had to work long hours for many years to raise three children by herself. She was in poor health. Now that she'd been forcefully admitted into a psychiatric hospital, I was worried it'd be too much for her.

Seth and Sadie were twins, both high school seniors, and they were about to take the SATs soon. Their lives couldn't be put on hold like that.

Warren agreed to my request and told me to come to his office.

I'd nearly been beaten to death at his office before. Who knew what else would happen to me this time? Still, I did as he said. I rushed over in fear, only to see my siblings there.

"What are you two doing here? Hurry up and go home!" I urged as I anxiously grabbed them and tried to shove them out of the office.

However, Warren chuckled and said, "You're a valuable asset to the company, Mr. Cole, and your siblings show just as much promise. I'll let Tom have a proper chat with them. If we can find a suitable opening, they can come work for the company as soon as they graduate."

As I was worried about scaring Seth and Sadie, I never told them just how terrifying he was. They didn't know his true colors. They simply thought that he was genuinely trying to help us out, and they felt extremely grateful to him.

I felt sick with dread. It was only after the secretary had led them out that I finally snapped back to reality.

"Everything is my fault, Mr. Parker. They have nothing to do with it. Please spare them!"

Warren lit up a cigarette before remarking, "Is that how you beg someone?"

My hands trembled. I fell to my knees with a loud thud.

"Please, I beg you."

When he first began his revenge, I thought that even if he had money, there had to be limits to what he could do. There had to be someone who could stop him.

Back then, I only felt anger. I was never afraid of him.

But in just two months, he'd shown me how laughably naive my perspective had been.

Warren walked up to me and grabbed my jaw. He tilted my head from side to side, as if inspecting an item up for sale.

"You are pretty handsome. It's no wonder Cathy took a liking to your face. As it happens, I haven't tried it with a man before."

He exhaled a smoke ring right in my face, his fingers brushing my cheeks suggestively.

I'd considered over a dozen possibilities before this, but not this one.

The color drained out of my face. Instinctively, I backed away from Warren, but he grabbed me and slapped me twice before pressing me against his desk and ripping my clothes off.