"Graham!" Lionel exploded with rage. He stormed out of the room and jabbed a finger at Graham's face while shaking from head to toe with fury.
"What kind of son are you? What has Colin ever done to you? All he did was take a tiny bit of our attention and a tiny bit of Holly's concern! Everything else is yours! Why can't you just let him be? Do you really have to see him dead?"
Joyce came out after him in tears, looking at Graham with disappointment and heartbreak. "Graham, what happened to you? We always thought you were just a little headstrong and a little jealous of Colin. We never imagined you could be this cruel!"
Holly stood behind them and looked at Graham. Her gaze was cold and full of disappointment, as though this was exactly what she had expected of him, and beneath it all was a faint weariness.
Graham coldly watched this spectacular performance. He took in their angry, disappointed, heartbroken faces, and the last numb flicker of feeling inside him went still.
He could not even be bothered to say the words "I didn't do it" one more time.
"So?" His voice was frighteningly calm. "How are you going to punish me for him this time? Make it quick. I want to go home and sleep."
His complete indifference, and the fact that he was even rushing them, sent every one of them into a rage.
A loud slap cracked across Graham's face.
It was Lionel.
His face had gone livid with anger, yet the moment the slap landed, he froze. A flash of regret and panic crossed his eyes.
The force of the slap had snapped Graham's head to the side. His cheek quickly swelled red and burned with pain.
He slowly turned back and wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. The skin there seemed to have split, and he caught the faint taste of blood.
He looked at Lionel, his eyes still calm and almost questioning. "Are we done with the punishment? Can I go home now?"
"You—" Lionel was so furious at his attitude that he could not get the words out.
Holly stepped forward, her chest heaving. He had clearly provoked her too.
She looked at his swollen cheek and his frighteningly calm eyes, and a blinding rage shot straight to her head. She lashed out without thinking.
"Punishment? Graham, Colin has 108 injuries on his body! If you had the nerve to do it, then you can take what's coming to you. You're getting every single one of them back!"
She raised her voice and called over the bodyguards who had been waiting nearby. "Take him to the hospital entrance and start handing out cash! Tell everyone walking by that they get 50,000 dollars for every hit they land on him! Keep going until he's taken all of them!"
The moment she said it, even Graham's parents were stunned. They stared at Holly in disbelief.
Graham's head snapped up, and he looked at Holly.
There was no fear in his eyes and no pleading. There was only a dead, barren emptiness and a deep, knowing sorrow.
That look pierced Holly's heart like an ice-cold blade, catching her completely off guard.
Something inside her lurched violently, and a powerful wave of regret and panic seized her at once.
What was she doing?
She took it back almost immediately, her voice trembling slightly. "However, if you're willing to admit you were wrong, apologize to Colin, and promise it'll never happen again, I can take back what I just said."
Graham only looked at her quietly. After a few seconds, the corner of his mouth lifted in a slow, mocking twist.
He did not say a single word.
That silence made Holly angrier than any cutting words could have.
She could see at a glance that he had no intention of backing down. The last trace of panic and pity drained out of her, and humiliation flared into fury. She waved at the bodyguards and snapped at them.
"What are you standing around for? Take him away!"
Two bodyguards stepped forward and seized Graham by the arms from either side.
He did not resist at all and simply let them drag him out.
As they passed the door to the hospital room, he saw that his parents had already gone back to Colin's bedside and were comforting him tenderly, as though nothing happening outside had anything to do with them.
Graham suddenly let out a low laugh. It was soft, yet it was full of endless bitterness and scorn. Tears slid down his swollen cheeks and dropped silently to the floor.
They dragged him to the open plaza right outside the hospital entrance, where everyone could see.
The bodyguards really did start throwing money around. Stacks of crisp hundred-dollar bills were scattered carelessly across the ground, drawing a curious, restless crowd.
"Hit this guy once, and you get 50,000 dollars! Cash on the spot!" one of the bodyguards shouted.
At first, the crowd only watched and pointed. Nobody dared to step forward.
Then a man in shabby clothes with greedy eyes darted out and gave Graham a tentative shove. When he actually received a thick wad of cash from the bodyguard, the crowd erupted.
"It's real! They're paying!"
"Fifty grand for one hit!"
"Let me go next!"
People surged forward like a tide. Fists, feet, slaps, and shoves rained down on Graham's thin body.
He was knocked to the ground, where he curled up and shielded his head and face. Pain came at him from every direction. It felt as though his bones were about to be smashed and his insides were about to burst.
His ears rang. All he could hear was the frenzied shouting of the crowd and the flutter of bills flying through the air. His vision began to blur as red bled across it.
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