Money was God to Adam. He didn’t care when everyone called him the villain, because they had no idea what he had gone through before reaching his position. To escape from poverty, Adam became a violent and ruthless businessman.
He really believed he would not change.
"Please! I'll pay you soon! Please, Sir! Don't do this to me," the old lady begged Adam while she was on her knees.
Her hands, covered with wrinkled skins that witnessed decades, grabbed the hemline of Adam’s pants. When she bowed down, big droplets of tears fell on the ground.
“I beg you, please,” she pleaded, crying in her throaty voice.
Usually, Adam would not feel empathy toward borrowers who failed to pay their debts. However, he could not stop thinking about what happened yesterday in the coffee shop.
Yesterday, Adam went to a coffee shop to meet a business partner. While waiting, he suddenly heard a familiar voice. He tilted his head and saw Agatha talking with a friend.
[“I am sure that’s not the only thing you heard about me. Yes. Mikhail and I broke up. My dad was arrested for tax evasion. We lost the authority to run the company. We had debts to pay, and we sold our house. Then, my father died. Now, I am broke.”]
Adam heard everything and saw it when Agatha cried so hard.
When he first saw Agatha, she looked like a tough woman. But whenever they met coincidentally, he always saw her crying.
‘I said I would devour you once I saw you again, and yet you only showed me your vulnerable side,’ Adam thought before looking back at the old woman begging on her knees.
Perhaps, Adam didn’t realize that he was slowly gaining his sympathy back, all because of the woman he sold as a slave.
“Stop it.”
His men stopped kicking and ruining the old lady’s fruit store, and they looked at their boss.
“How can she pay us if you will smash everything in her store?” Adam asked his men.
The scary-looking men send gazes at each other. This is the first time Adam showed pity to their borrower.
Adam peered down at the old lady. He offered his hand as if to ask her to stand up.
Though confused, the old lady reached for his hand and stood up.
Adam felt her trembling through her hand and wondered if Agatha also felt this frightened when he first appeared in her life.
“Why did you borrow money from us?” Adam asked.
Pulling her hand back, the old lady lowered her head and answered, “My son needs surgery as soon as possible, S-Sir. No relatives wanted to help us. I… I c-can’t l-lose my child.”
Adam bit his red lip. He looked around the store. There were scattered boxes and wasted fruits on the ground, and the huge rainbow parasols were broken.
Despite her age, the old woman was struggling to work just to pay them on time. But life was hard.
“Pay her back.”
His next command shocked his employees!
“She needs to work so she can pay back. Ruining her store would only make the matter worst.”
“But boss…”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. Just do it.”
When Adam left the store, he was clenching his fists and cursing inwardly.
‘What the f*ck am I doing?’
He got no answer.
Days passed.
Adam really wished he would not see Agatha again. The more he pities her, the more he might change.
But destiny was evil.
When he and his men were waiting for their client in a narrow alleyway, Adam saw Agatha passing through.
He was so surprised to see her again, and he cat-called Agatha out of instinct.
‘Wit-Wiw~”
Agatha stopped walking and looked at the men in the alleyway. She frowned when she saw Adam waving his hand.
“We met again,” Adam cursed.
Yes. It was a curse. He hated to see her, but he was happy at the same time. Pretty weird.
Agatha pretended that she didn’t see him and was about to continue her pace.
“Hey! You have a debt to pay!” Adam reminded.
Agatha recalled the candy she received from Adam. Oh, how does she despise owing debt from him? It only brought bad memories.
Therefore, Agatha dragged her feet on the way to the alley and stood in front of Adam. Her eyes were lifeless.
Adam inhaled his cigarette one last time before he threw it away and crashed on the ground with his shoe.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
Agatha looked at the men surrounding her. She wanted to say: ‘I will go somewhere definitely not to your side.’
Yet, she knew she can’t be sassy, not when she was surrounded by Adam’s scary-looking men.
“I was on my way home,” she answered.
“To that Mr. Lanceil? Your deal with Mr. Holmes hasn’t ended yet?” Adam asked worriedly.
But Agatha would never know what he was feeling. In her eyes, Adam would always be a villain. Well, she did consider that there was a good side to him when she received the candy.
“Yes. So, if you excuse me, I must go back,” Agatha said.
“What about your debt?” Adam asked, grinning.
“How much is the candy?”
The smile on his lips vanished. He wasn’t asking her to pay for the candy back. He only wanted to…
‘What do I want? What am I expecting?’
Even Adam doesn’t know what he was expecting from Agatha. He just… like to see her more.
“That,” Adam started. “You…”
“Mr. Adam. Nice to see you here.”
Another group entered the small alley, and soon, it became packed.
Agatha saw trouble. She could sense it.
‘But I can’t run away. All paths were blocked!’ Agatha protested in her head.
“Mr. Hamburger. What a pleasant day to meet you,” Adam greeted.
“You piece of sh*t. My name is Hamborgor! Not HAMBURGER!”
Adam shook his ear with his index finger and complained, “It sounds the same though. Hamborgor. Hamburger. But when I am looking at your face, you look like French fries. Your parents gave you a weird name.”
Agatha stared at the man and looked at his appearance. He has yellow skin and a long face.
Despite the severity of the situation, Agatha found this encounter very funny.
‘You can’t laugh here. Never,’ Agatha told herself while biting her lower lip.
“Bastard! Who gave you the right to diss my parents?! Let’s settle everything here!”
One of Adam’s men went to Adam and whispered, “Boss, they outnumbered us. It is better to run away.”
Adam tilted his head and whispered, “Yeah. Let’s do that.”
Agatha’s eyes widened when she heard that before she met Adam’s gaze.
[“Run at the count of three”] Adam mouthed.
Agatha gulped.
[“One”]
[“Two”]
“Three!”
Adam held Agatha’s wrist and pulled her for a run.