Chapter 13 On the Verge

• Her eyes were filled with murderous intent, as though the fire was raging within them. It was apparent that Thelma wished me dead.
• Nevertheless, I could catch a hint of gentleness and fear in the depths of her eyes, and that made me feel excited.
• I couldn't wait to strip off the facade she was putting on and expose her gentleness.
• …
• "No!" Thelma let out a shrill scream.
• Her eyes widened, and her body could not stop trembling while my expression became more twisted due to excitement.
• Despair seemed to have seeped into her eyes as intense fear rose up within her.
• From the corner of her eyes, tears streamed down uncontrollably.
• Just when I was about to insult her, I accidentally saw the tears on her face.
• At that instant, I felt as though a dagger had pierced through my heart. The thick despair on her face, which was completely void of hope, was like a hammer slammed into my thoughts, making me unintentionally stop my actions.
• W-What am I doing?
• My body jolted, and a cold sweat broke out. The mirror on top of the huge wardrobe by the bed reflected how I looked at this moment.
• I was even shocked to see my own reflection in the mirror. The look on my face was so twisted and savage that I looked like a beast with reddened eyes, while Thelma looked beautiful and meek, as though she was a lamb that was about to be devoured by me.
• Is the person in the mirror really me? Isn't that a devil? Since when have I become like this? Even though I'm a jerk, I have never done anything to force a woman against her wishes.
• I seemed to have drowned in the deep abyss of rage and humiliation moments ago.
• Hence, I raised my right hand and gave myself a good, hard slap to wake myself up.
• Then, I moved my body away after lowering my head to look at her.
• She was confused about what had been going on, and she did not understand why I suddenly pulled away at such a crucial moment.
• Nevertheless, she seemed to know that she was temporarily saved.
• Almost instinctively, she retreated from me until she reached the top of her bed. Her eyes widened in trepidation as she looked at me.
• I looked at her again and realized that her clothes were torn. Almost all of her body was exposed, so I grabbed a blanket and threw it to her to cover her up.
• Unexpectedly, she went into a frenzy upon seeing that and screamed.
• Immediately, she grabbed something and waved it at me to defend herself.
• "D-Don't come near me!" She shrieked.
• Upon taking a closer look at what she had been holding, I could not help laughing.
• I was sure she was thinking, "How could you bring yourself to laugh at this moment?"
• "Hey, do you think you are holding a knife?" I asked.
• She froze for a moment before realizing that she was holding the stocking that I was grabbing just now.
• The fear and anger within her immediately fizzled out like a deflated balloon as she threw the stocking aside weakly.
• "I'm sorry. I seemed to have lost control of myself just now." After taking a deep breath, I found a cigarette and lit it up as I sat on the edge of the bed. My lungs and nose felt the burn of the cigarette as smoke slowly surrounded me.
• "It's my fault this time, and I would have accepted it no matter how much you scolded or hit me. But I won't allow anyone to insult my grandfather," I explained softly.
• At this point, she had calmed down slightly. "Does your grandfather… love you a lot?"
• I never expected her to ask this question.
• After a moment of silence, I replied, "Yeah. I would have been dead if it weren't for him. My parents are addicted to gambling – you know that. Ever since I was born, my grandfather had been taking care of him. It was him who raised me."
• "W-Where is he now?" she asked with a frown.
• "Dead. He passed a long time ago," I replied bitterly.
• Thelma's heart sank, and her expression changed.
• "It's because of lung cancer. He liked to smoke, but he suddenly quit smoking when I was six. In the beginning, I had no idea what had happened. I only found out about it when I was nine years old. It turned out that he already knew that he had lung cancer, but we were so poor that we could not afford the treatment. Hence, he just kept putting up with it for three years. Finally, his body could not take it anymore, and he collapsed. He raised me until I was nine, and I told him I would quit school to work. I would gladly collect scraps and leftovers to provide for him. But he secretly bought sleeping pills and killed himself…" I explained in a low voice, as though the topic was completely unrelated to me. Regardless, I could no longer control the tears that were welling up in my eyes.
• "After some time, when I was tidying up the place, I found out that he had saved thirty thousand for my education over the past three years. Unfortunately, my parents gambled it away. In less than three days, all the money was gone."
• Thelma finally understood why I went berserk when she insulted my grandfather.
• "I-I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have insulted him…" she apologized in a small voice.
• Upon hearing her apology, the resentment that I felt was completely assuaged.
• Taking a deep breath, I stood up. "Alright. It's time for me to go, but don't worry – I won't let your mom know about this. But you will have to find a new guy to be your fake husband."