Chapter 2

2

The air in the living room seemed to freeze solid.

Kyle’s words dropped like a bomb, shattering whatever composure Mandy’s parents had left.

“An armed robber?”

Mrs. Davis shrieked, grabbing a porcelain plate from the table and hurling it straight at me.

“You filthy degenerate! I wondered why Mandy would ever settle for a security guard. You were just trying to use our family as a cover!”

The plate struck my shoulder, splattering warm gravy all over my shirt.

I did not flinch. I simply kept my eyes fixed on Mandy.

“Do you really believe I’m an armed robber?”

Mandy cowered behind Kyle, refusing to meet my eyes.

“Wyatt, appearances can be deceiving,” she stammered, her voice shaking with cruel finality. “Kyle knows people from all walks of life. His judgment is never wrong.”

Every word felt like a deliberate stab.

“Just leave,” she whispered. “I’m doing you a favor by not calling the police myself.”

A profound sense of absurdity washed over me.

Three years of devotion were undone by the reckless rumors of a neighborhood lowlife.

I turned around to grab my coat from the rack.

“Did I say you could move?”

Kyle slammed his palm against my jacket, a sadistic grin spreading across his face.

“Now that you’re here, don’t be in such a rush to leave. Consider this my good deed for the community. If I let you walk, who knows who you’ll rob next?”

He tapped a number into his phone and brought it to his ear.

“Hey, Brock? Bring the boys over to my aunt’s place right now. Yeah, we caught that wanted felon.”

I turned around, staring at him with cold detachment.

“Kyle, fabricating charges carries serious legal consequences. I suggest you stop while you’re ahead.”

“Oh, you’re threatening me now?”

Kyle ended the call and grabbed an empty wine bottle from the table.

“I’ve seen plenty of scumbags like you. You never learn until you’re six feet under! Let’s see how tough you talk once my crew gets here!”

Mr. Davis backed him up from behind. “Kyle, don’t waste your breath! Tie him up before he gets violent and hurts someone!”

Mrs. Davis darted into the kitchen and returned brandishing a heavy rolling pin.

Just moments ago, they were playing the roles of welcoming hosts. Now, they were a pack of rabid wolves.

Watching them, the final trace of warmth in my heart vanished entirely.

“Fine. I won’t leave,” I said.

I pulled out a dining chair and sat down deliberately.

“I’ll sit right here. Let’s see who you brought, and let’s see who the police actually arrest when they arrive.”

My calm demeanor momentarily unnerved Kyle.

He quickly recovered, pointing at me to reassure Mandy. “See that? That’s the mindset of a hardened criminal. Shameless to the core!”

Mandy bit her lip, her expression curdling into utter contempt.

“Wyatt, drop the act. If you’re truly innocent, why don’t you show us your military discharge papers?”

“Exactly! Show them!” Kyle chimed in loudly.

My discharge documents were classified under top-secret security protocols, bearing encrypted clearance codes that civilians were legally prohibited from viewing.

I said nothing.

In their eyes, my silence was the ultimate proof of guilt.

“Lost your tongue, haven’t you?”

Kyle weighed the heavy glass bottle in his hand, a cruel smirk playing on his lips.

“In a minute, we’re stripping your shirt off to see what kind of gang ink you’ve got hidden. Mobsters love their dragon tattoos, and I bet you’re covered in them!”

Within ten minutes, the roar of motorcycle engines rattled the front windows.

The front door was kicked open with a loud bang.

Five thugs with bleached hair and heavily tattooed arms swaggered into the house.

“Kyle! Where’s the guy?”

The leader was a burly man gripping a steel pipe, his face scarred with street fights.

Kyle’s confidence surged. He pointed straight at me. “That’s him! The drifter robber! He just tried to assault my uncle!”

“Causing trouble on Kyle’s turf?”

The burly man spat on the floor and signaled his men to encircle me.

Mandy shrieked in terror, scrambling into the farthest corner of the room.

Her parents backed away as well, terrified of getting caught in the crossfire.

I rose from the chair and rolled my shoulders.

I had hoped to avoid violence today.

Yet it was clear that without breaking a few bones, I would not be walking out of this house.

“Final warning,” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous chill as I swept my gaze over the thugs.

“Get out now, while you still can.”

Kyle burst into mocking laughter, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

“You hear that, boys? Dead meat talking tough! Take him down! Break him!”