The fragile peace was shattered by the shrill ring of a phone. Mike flinched, his tear-filled eyes locking onto the caller ID: "Father."
I picked up with trembling hands, my breath hitching. The voice on the other end wasn't my father's, but the nauseating chuckle of the CEO—the man who should have died in Mike's blue flames.
"Hime... did you think that demon brat could protect you forever? Do you know why your father owes my conglomerate so much that he had to sell his own daughter into this prison?"
My heart stopped. Mike saw my face turn ghostly pale and lunged for the phone, his killing intent flaring up again. But the CEO was faster:
"Don't be reckless, Mike. If you kill me, Hime's father will be the next to 'disappear.' And Hime, do you want to know the truth about your mother's accident years ago? The driver wasn't some random drunk... it was your father, killing her for the insurance money to pay me back."
The phone slipped from my hand, shattering on the floor. My world collapsed. My father—the man I worked tirelessly to support, the man I idolized—was the murderer of my mother and the one who sold me out.
"Hime..." Mike tried to hug me, but this time, I shoved him away.
"Get away from me!" I screamed in agony. "All of you... you're all just demons!"
Mike froze, his pitch-black eyes bleeding into a desperate, intense crimson. He wasn't angry at me; he was enraged by the truth tearing me apart. Mike stepped toward the wall, punching it so hard the bricks shattered, blood dripping from his knuckles.
"If he makes you suffer this much..." Mike turned back, his smile no longer holding a shred of humanity, "Then I'll help you find 'freedom' from that father of yours, okay? I'll give him an end... that even Hell itself would fear."
Mike turned to the door, his killing intent ready to incinerate everything in his path, but I lunged forward. I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist from behind, pressing my face against his back, which still reeked of smoke and blood.
"Mike! Stop... please, don't go!"
Mike's body went rigid. He didn't turn around, but his voice was as cold as a tomb:
"Why? He killed your mother. He sold you like a piece of property. Why do you still want to protect a piece of trash like him?"
"Because he's the only family I have left!" I screamed, my tears soaking through his shirt. "No matter how vile, how terrible he is, I can't just stand by and watch you murder him. Mike, if you do this, I will hate you for the rest of my life!"
The words "hate you" were a lethal blade driven straight into Mike's heart. He spun around, his crimson eyes locking onto mine. He grabbed my shoulders, gripping so hard I felt my bones might crack. He roared, a mix of agony and fury:
"You'd choose a murderer who sold his own child over me? I stained my hands for you, I became a demon for you, and you'd hate me for him?"
Mike laughed—a twisted, broken sound. He abruptly let me go, stepping back with a shattered expression.
"Fine... you love him that much? Then I'll bring him here. But I won't let him die easily. I'll cage him, let him witness exactly how madly I love you. If you want to protect him, you'll pay for it with the rest of your life. Do you understand, Hime?"
Mike didn't leave to kill my father, but the way he looked at me had changed. It was no longer the whimpering of a "puppy," but the morbid possessiveness of a demon wounded by the one he loved most.
I stood in the chaotic room, looking at Mike's trembling hands—hands filled with rage and hurt. A cold thought flashed: if I didn't extinguish his hope now, my father wouldn't stand a chance, and I'd be drowned in this mad love forever.
I took a deep breath, wiped away the last of my tears, and made my gaze as cold and ruthless as possible.
"Mike, stop this delusion."
Mike froze, his crimson eyes searching mine for comfort, but all he received was a bucket of ice water. I smirked, a cruel sneer on my lips:
"Did you really think I loved you? Look at yourself. You're just a cold-blooded monster, nothing more than a psycho. I stayed with you, let you touch me, only because I needed a loyal dog to protect me in that rotten prison."
"Hime... what are you saying?" Mike's voice broke, his breathing becoming ragged and pained.
"It's the truth! You killed Simon, you killed the captain... did you think I was moved? No, I was disgusted. Every time you hugged me, I felt sick. Who do you think you are to compare to my father? Even with his flaws, he's human. But you... you're just an outdated tool that I'm finished using."
I stepped closer, staring into his shattering eyes, and delivered the final blow:
"I have never loved you, not for a single second. Don't let me see your face again, you monster."
Mike stood as still as a stone statue. The red in his eyes didn't burn anymore; it turned grey like cold ash. He didn't scream or break things; he just silently backed away. The heart of the genius butcher had officially shattered into a thousand pieces at the feet of the only woman he ever worshipped.
He bowed his head, letting out a soft laugh that sounded more painful than any sob.
"So that's it... A loyal dog... A tool..."
Mike looked up, his eyes completely hollow this time—no love, no hate. He turned and walked out into the pouring rain, leaving behind a sentence that chilled me to the bone:
"If you've decided I'm a monster... then from now on, I'll live exactly as you wish..."
The door slammed shut, and the sound of Mike's footsteps faded into the torrential rain outside. The moment that lonely figure vanished, my legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the cold floor. I pressed my hand over my mouth to stifle the agonizing sobs breaking free.
Every word I'd just spat out felt like a serrated blade, shredding not just Mike's heart but my very soul.
It turns out playing the villain hurts this much.
I stared into the void where Mike had just stood with eyes greyed like cold ash. Of course, I regretted it. I hated myself for using his purest love as a weapon. I knew I had wounded him in the cruelest way a human could wound another. But if I hadn't, Mike would have killed my father. And if he died by Mike's hand, this relationship would be nothing but blood and hatred.
"I'm sorry... Mike... I'm so sorry..."
I whispered into the darkness, tears streaming down my pale face. I hoped he would hate me, loathe me to his core. Only that hatred would be strong enough to push him away from the mire of my family, away from my sinful father and a coward like me. It was better for him to live as a lonely demon than to carry the title of the man who murdered his lover's father.
I sat there amidst the debris, letting the midnight chill consume me. I had pushed him away, but why did my chest feel so hollow that I couldn't breathe?
On a dark street corner under the pouring rain, Mike stood still. He didn't wipe his tears; the rain did that for him. But in those empty eyes, a new seed of madness was sprouting—not out of love, but out of absolute despair.
The chapter ends with a roar of thunder, signaling a storm far more terrifying yet to come.