"Who's this clown?" Margaret Merrick asked with a condescending tone, her face stiff and unable to express any emotion due to the extensive plastic surgery she has undergone. One of her minions stepped forward and handed her, her husband and child each touch-screen tablets containing information about me, all of which I suspected had been meticulously detailed by the system, leaving no room for errors. "Based on this information, your reputation is quite remarkable. Strangely, why am I only now learning about you? It's as if you were created out of thin air," Tom Merrick questioned this time, an old man with the soul of a devil. His face wasn't much different from his wife's, leaving me wondering about the fate of the plastic surgeon who had worked on them – were they still alive, or had they vanished? Their work was a joke. "Because I chose to be so. Of course, I had to be careful, especially when it concerns all of you. Look at what happened to these people, all ending the same w

"You! What do you want?" Anne shouted at Bash. *Whoosh.* Bash forcefully pulled the cloth covering Anne's head, not knowing why he had covered the face of this arrogant woman in the first place. "Surely, you desire me, you promiscuous harlot. You've been pretending to be high and mighty all this time, haven't you? Tsk tsk, it's a shame to waste such a beautiful face and body on that uncouth man. After this, you'll learn what it's like when I take you! Hahaha, don't crawl back to me begging for more later, understood?" Bash taunted, followed by laughter from his two friends. "Ugh! You wish!" Anne spat directly in Bash's face, making Bash slap her so hard that her lips bled. He wiped Anne's spit off his face. "Let's see if you can still talk big after what we're going to do to you," Bash threatened as he choked Anne's throat tightly. "Dude, dude, hey! You can kill her; we haven't tasted her yet!" Lyan pulled Bash's arm, freeing it from Anne's nearly suffocated neck. *Cough* "You

*Cough* Dr. Bertha sputtered his drink upon hearing Alex's unfriendly statement. He glanced at me again nervously, gesturing for me to sit and not respond to Alex's sharp remark. "How long are you staying here? You're not welcome here, and one more thing, be careful how you speak to my guests. You have no manners, acting like you own the place," Mr. Rocky retorted coldly to Alex, who had just swallowed his last bite of grilled meat slices. "Pops!" Anne interjected, clearly upset. "What? Why did you let this traitor in? You know they're going to demolish our house, don't you? You're letting me live my last days in unrest by associating with him, Anneke Zane." It was the first time I had seen Mr. Rocky angry, and it made the atmosphere awkward. I wanted to stand up and leave the room, but Mr. Rocky patted my hand to keep me seated. "We've discussed this, Pops! Alex is not like Tom Merrick." "He's still a Merrick! That will never change. You! You always make my granddaughter and m

'That was quite surprising.' [Yes, humans and their lusts.] 'I'm human too,' I protested. [Exactly, and that's what strengthens my point.] 'Are you jealous of my feelings for Anne?' [I don't possess emotional intelligence, dummy.] 'But from your tone, it doesn't feel that way?' [It's just your feelings. Anyway, don't forget to prepare your performance this evening; you need to be convincing.] 'Of course... Wait, are you avoiding my question? Again?' [...] 'Haha,' I chuckled inwardly at it. How could I find happiness just by teasing an AI? *** "Is everything ready, Zhar?" "Yes, Sir. These are the documents signed by the court," Zhar said as he handed over the necessary files. "Good, we can begin the execution. I can't wait to see that old man beg and kneel before me. Prepare the vehicle." "Yes, Sir." Zhar bowed and left the office to prepare all the necessary arrangements. Tom called Bash, who he hadn't seen since morning. "Where is that boy? Just because his parents o

"Your grandpa is fine now, just a minor injury, Anne," replied Dr. Bertha. I didn't want to hear any more of their conversation, so I left the room feeling anger and disappointed, unable to contain my emotions. 'What about that?' [Quite surprising.] 'From now on, create a schedule that doesn't involve me with her.' [Alright, Danzel, leave it to me. Don't forget the shareholders' meeting schedule at Merrick Corp tomorrow morning.] 'Of course.' From that moment on, I tried to avoid Anne. I even felt reluctant just seeing her. I went home only to rest and looked for excuses to leave the house as often as possible to avoid meeting her. I cursed myself for involving my feelings from the beginning. *** "Judge Harrold, how could you cancel my proposal? Have you forgotten how much it's worth? Even your porch could stand firm, I'm sure, because of that project," Tom spoke to Judge Harrold over the phone. [What do you mean by that, Tom? Are you accusing me of taking a bribe?] "Not at a