THE GREATEST REVENGER SYSTEM

Breaking Point

Thenma paced outside the emergency room, his heart racing, his mind swirling with dread. The white walls of the hospital felt cold, sterile, and suffocating as he waited for any news about Adeline. His hands trembled, clutching Adeline's phone tightly. Every second felt like an eternity, the weight of guilt pressing down on him harder with each passing moment.

As the doctor emerged, Thenma rushed forward like he was running for his life, his voice shaky. "How is she? Is she… Is she okay?"

The doctor looked grim. "She overdosed on tranquilizers. We’re doing everything we can, but she’s in a critical condition. You need to prepare yourself for anything."

The words hit Thenma like a punch to the gut. His knees buckled slightly, and he caught himself against the wall. "No… no, please… she has to be okay," he whispered, eyes red and glossy with unshed tears. His hands clasped together, fingers digging into his palms as he muttered prayers under his breath.

“Please… please, don’t take her from me.”

Time felt like it had stopped. He lowered himself into one of the cold chairs, staring at Adeline's phone in his hands. His eyes scanned through the newest notifications, and then he saw it. A group message—no, a forum post. There was a forum made for all of the college students, it was made for helping students, making friends or just gossiping about hot news.

But when Thenma opened it and he instantly regretted it. The forum was in a chaos after an anonymous account shared a video, and when Thenma knew what video that was, his blood boiled.

There it was, the video of Adeline at the club. His breath caught in his throat as he watched, unable to look away. The footage showed her in a vulnerable state, her private parts exposed. The comments were worse, filled with cruel, filthy lies. And the caption—God, the caption!

-This naughty girl was causing a huge mess, so papa gonna give her some lessons-

Thenma clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. He knew exactly who was behind this. Penelope.

Thenma gave Penelope a mercy and chance to ease her punishment, but seemed like Penelope still holding her pride higher than her fear of fall down.

"So this is your choice, Penelope...," Thenma said, his voice deep and dread, full of determination. When Thenma thought about Penelope, he only wanted a festive down fall of her so he would make it true.

But wait a minute, Thenma need to stop a second and look at his sister—who was lying weakly on the emergency room's bed. Because too focus preparing his revenge, Thenma didn't taking enough care on his sister and this is the result. The desire he had been following for Adeline's justice, was the reason why she ended up like this.

If something worse happened to Adeline, Thenma didn't think he would forgive himself.

But then, Thenma's head snapped up as footsteps approached. It was Collin, looking as worried and frantic as Thenma felt. His attentive green eyes that used to look calm, now showed a huge worry and also drew it with his fast steps when he was heading to Thenma.

"Thenma, how is she? What’s happening?" Collin asked, breathless.

Thenma shook his head, eyes dark with pain. "They don’t know… She’s in critical condition."

Collin sank into the chair next to him, hands trembling. "Oh God... it can't be worse than this. How could this happen?"

"I don't know... I don't know when she buy the pills, but I know what pushed her to did this."

Collin didn't say anything; still covered in worry and he didn't want to talked about the hot video of Adeline in forum. Of course, he knew; the forum was big and was the main forum for students. Everyone knew about that, and that was the bad.

"I’m so sorry… I should’ve been there. I should’ve take a good care of her but my Mom called me to home. I'm sorry, Thenma."

"You don't need to sorry, Collin," Thenma said, his voice low but firm. "It’s not your fault. You did everything the best for us and I'm blessed for having you by my side. That's not your fault, and if anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I’ve been so caught up in my revenge… I wasn’t there for her."

Collin shook his head. "But I… I didn’t even notice what was happening. I failed her too."

Thenma sighed heavily, staring at the floor. "None of us knew. But it’s my responsibility. I left her alone… I didn’t even know she had access to those pills."

Collin thought about Penelope, the one behind the video. And sure Collin still remembered how wide his eyes opened when he read the disgusting comments and captions. "This… this is sick! Thenma, we can’t let her get away with this."

Thenma stood abruptly, his face set with a dangerous calm. "She won’t. I’ll make sure of it."

Collin grabbed his arm. "What are you going to do?"

"I’m going to take them down," Thenma said through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing with determination. "All of them. Evan, Penelope, and anyone else involved."

Before Collin could said a word, Thenma turned and stormed out of the hospital. He had a mission, and nothing was going to stop him.

Thenma drove his car through the city streets, his mind racing just as fast as the engine. He pulled up in front of the police station, the towering building casting long shadows in the moonlight. He stared at it for a moment, his jaw clenched. He was ready for this.

Inside, he asked to meet with the town’s cleanest detective, a man named Detective Miles. After a short wait, the detective appeared, a tall, stern-looking man in his thirties.

"Hello, young man. What can I do for ya?" Detective Miles asked, had no clue while his eyes sharp looking at Thenma. Of course, he didn't want any nonsense to hear and didn't have time for a joke, but Thenma came with a reason.

"I have a big project for you, Detective Miles. And I'm sure you'll like it since you have a passion in cleaning the dirty elites."

***

Meanwhile, at a private party in the most exclusive part of town, Penelope Eldridge was the center of attention. She wore a glittering silver dress, her perfect smile plastered across her face as she mingled with her close friends. They toasted her and Evan's recent engagement, a victory for her reputation in high society. She basked in the admiration, drinking in the attention like it was the finest champagne.

It was not an ordinary party to celebrate her engagement only, but also an agenda when she could showed her followers something; a thing of pleasure, and with a little bit of her influence, she was sure they would follow her like they used to do.

"What a hungry dogs," she muttered, walked towards the center of attention. She smiled coyly as she discreetly handed out a few small packages—samples from Julian Corbin’s family business. The drugs were just a side hustle for her, something to keep her powerful friends happy. She thought she was untouchable.

But as the party reached its peak, the doors burst open, and uniformed police officers stormed inside. Leading them was Detective Miles.

"Penelope Eldridge," he announced, "you're under arrest for drug distribution and possession."

The room fell silent. Penelope’s heart dropped into her stomach. "What? What are you talking about, sir?"

Detective Miles showed her the photos, the evidence that she couldn't deny. Penelope drowns in her fear.

"No, there must be some mistake!" she said, her voice trembling, only need seconds till she cried out, backing away.

The police officer grabbed her by the arm, but she twisted out of his grasp. "No! You can’t do this to me!" she screamed, but her protests fell on deaf ears. "Don't you know who I am?"

"I know who you are, Lady," Detective Miles said, "and that's why you should be nice or what will come this morning will only worse your reputation."

"No...no...no! Let go of me! You can not do this to me, you cheap officer! I'll tell Evan Clauster about this!" Detective Miles didn't care.

As Penelope was dragged outside, she saw Thenma standing in the distance, watching her with cold, satisfied eyes.

"You!" she shrieked, struggling against the officer. "You did this! You pathetic loser! You’ll regret this! I’ll ruin you!"

But Thenma didn’t respond. He just watched, his expression unreadable, as Penelope was hauled away.

She tried to run to Evan, who stood with Julian and Kato at the edge of the scene, they were just arrived after hearing that the police were heading to Penelope's party.

"Evan! Help me, please!" she cried, falling to her knees in front of him, her voice desperate.

But Evan just looked down at her with cold. Without any words, he stepping back as the police pulled her away.

Penelope’s world shattered in that moment. The man she thought would protect her had turned his back on her. She screamed, cursed, and sobbed, but no one came to her aid.

Then Evan turned to face Thenma, his expression shifting to one of smug confidence. "You think you’ve won something here? What a pathetic nerd playing in a world hr don’t understand."

Thenma met his gaze with quiet determination. "This is just the beginning, Evan. You’ll get what’s coming to you."

Evan chuckled, shaking his head. "We’ll see. You have no idea what you’re up against."