04. A Warning

Van felt disgusted by the Wilson family. Sending him to fifteen years in prison wasn't enough, they had to be compensated as well?

"My question still stands. How much?" He said with a frown.

"They demanded a sum of four hundred grand. Your wife was so generous, she offered to pay half of it by using her house, and your mother was supposed to raise the rest, but everytime we come to collect, all she gives us is f*ucking change! We're not beggars you know."

Four hundred thousand, if Bianca really wanted to pay for the compensation, the cost of the house would have covered it. Since he bought it for five hundred thousand.

"How much has my mother paid so far?"

"It's really pitiful because your mother hasn't been able to raise up to forty grand in the space of five years. The Wilsons are already tired of receiving change, they want the rest of their money."

"Well at least the son is back from prison now," one of the henchmen said, eyeing Van. "He can help her with the payment, unless he wants to lose his mother."

"The total money there is one thousand dollars, you can count it if you want but I can assure you that it's complete." Van's mother said, holding on to her son's hand.

"One thousand eh? So that means your total payment is now thirty six thousand. You still have a long way to go granny, are you sure you'll be able to pay? Or maybe we should just end your miserable life for you right now."

"If anyone lays a hand on my mother, they'll be sorry." Judging by the house she was living in and the way his mother looked so unkept, Van could only guess the strenuous things she must have done to gather such an amount.

"Seems like five years in prison still didn't teach ya to manage that temper of yours, hmm?" The bulky man approached Van with a menacing look in his eyes. "Maybe I outta teach you a lesson then. Been a while since I beat up a punk, I'm sure your mother wouldn't mind if I painted her floors with your blood."

“No! D-d-don’t hurt my son please!” Van's mother, overcome by fear, quickly got between her son and the other man. "Just take the money and go. I'll have your next payment ready."

Van was sure that he could easily take out all three men without breaking a sweat, but he didn't want to have to resort to violence in front of his mother.

He needed to reassure her, to ease her worried mind, so he forced himself to relax.

"You," he pointed to the bulky man. "You said my mother still owes one hundred and seventy thousand dollars right? Well I'm ready to give it to you.

Just clear up your thugs and leave this place."

"Ooh? Somebody's trying to sound tough. You, a low life ex convict, is willing to pay the sum of a hundred and seventy thousand? And where do you plan on getting it from?" The man mocked.

"Are you going to take the money? Or are you going to get the hell out of our house?" Van had no time to waste with low life thugs like them.

"You better watch your mouth kid, I'm not a generous man."

Van rolled his eyes at the poorly given threat. He handed the black bag back to his mother and smiled. "Mom, I'm going to take these guys to a bank to withdraw, then I'll come right back. Okay?"

"But- but where will you get such an amount?" The frail woman expressed her concern. "Talk to me, you know you can confide in your mother."

Van smiled. For five years he didn't have anyone to worry about him or look after him. "You don't have to worry mom, I would never engage in any illegal business. I'll explain everything once I'm back. Okay?"

The woman nodded, even though her worries were still sky high.

"You, if you want that payment, then come with me." Van said coldly and walked out of the house, intentionally bumping into the bulky man with his shoulder.

They reluctantly followed Van to the nearest ATM, but rather than stopping there, Van increased his pace and kept walking until he came to an old alley.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" The man screamed as they caught up with him. "You said you were going to pay up, so what the hell are you doing her-" before he had the chance to finish his sentence, Van had landed a single blow to his nose.

The bone cracked under the impact and blood spilled out.

"Argh!!" He screamed out in pain.

His henchmen rushed to his aid but Van launched an attack at them as well, sending both of them flying with just a single hit.

"Did you really think that after all you had done to my mother, I'd just hand you the money? I mean, you can't really be that stupid." Van had an evil glint in his eyes as he spoke and all three men were terrified.

"Y-You have no idea of the consequences your actions will cause." The bulky man said, still holding on to his broken nose.

"Consequences? Are you talking about the Wilson family? Don't you worry about me. If I were you, I'd be concerned for my own safety." He leaned closer to the man, giving him an even more intimidating look. "If you think of coming anywhere near me or my mother ever again, that'll be the end of you. Do I make myself clear?"

“Y-Yes. We won’t go anywhere near your mother anymore!”

They had all grown scared of Van, and what he might do to them if they actually defied him.

"Good. Now, get the hell out of here before I change my mind." He ordered, and all three men scrambled away.

Once he was alone, Van looked up at the clouds, a tear drop on his cheek. While he was away, so many things had changed. His mother had to live a hard life without him or anyone else to look after her.

"Bianca Hartley, I can't forgive you for what you did." He said with clenched fist. It wasn't enough that she cheated on him and even got him to go to prison. She had the guts to chase out his mother from his own house. The house he had bought with his sweat and hardwork, and on top of that, she claimed she sold it off to the Wilson family for two hundred thousand dollars, a price that wasn't even half of what he had bought it.

He couldn't just let it go.

She had to be punished.

For all the tears his mother shed, for all her sweat from working tirelessly to raise the compensation money. For all the times she probably had to go hungry because she was saving up. For every time those goons threatened her and raised her blood pressure. She had to be punished.

They all did.