Chapter 3

Judith was taken aback by the sudden appearance of those six men, and she hurriedly said to them, "Okay, okay. Wait right here. I'll go in right away to get the money." Judith immediately ran into the home and came out soon after with a somewhat aged plastic bag in her hand. She opened it to reveal money consisting of one, two, and five dollars, along with a whole bunch of quarters. As for dollar bills in bigger denominations, there are only seven or eight of them. "F*cking change? Again?!" The scar-faced man became impatient and said to a guy next to him, "Count them!" "It's going to take ages to count seven hundred bucks' worth of change." The underling was a little unhappy, but he walked over here anyhow. "Hold it! When did my mother owe you money?" Severin shielded Judith after seeing the entire situation and asked with a sullen expression. "Well, I'll be damned! I thought you were some beggar who came here to ask for food. I wouldn't have recognized you if you hadn't defended your mother. Aren't you that loser who hit Mister Easton with a beer bottle five years ago?" The scar-faced man took one step forward and looked carefully at Severin. He then scratched his head with a smirk and said tauntingly, "You've been released? Well, I have to admit that I do admire your courage. I can't imagine how you got the guts to hit Mister Easton when everybody knows that he's from an influential family." Severin said calmly, "The past in the past, and I don't regret anything!" Having said that, Severin walked over, looked straight at the scar-faced man, and pointed to the plastic bag full of money on the ground. "What's the deal with all this money?" The scar-faced man sneered and said, "What's there to explain? Don't you have a brain? Did you think that you wouldn't have to pay any compensation for beating up Mister Easton? The Loughs demanded two hundred thousand, which your fiancee paid by selling your matrimonial home to Mister Easton for a hundred and fifty thousand. As for the remaining fifty thousand, you were allowed to pay the sum back in installments." Then, the scar-faced man touched his chin and said, "Your parents have paid back a little less than half in the past five years, so there's still about twenty-six thousand remaining. In any case, it's a good thing that you were released early. At least you can help to make the payments!" The younger brother who squatted on the ground and counted money complained, "Yeah, your momma always gives us a pile of small change. It's a waste of our time to count it all!" "You don't need to count. The total is five hundred and seventy-six!" Judith said tremblingly. "F*ck this sh*t! It's short again!" The man who squatted on the ground had tattoos all over his shoulders. After hearing Judith's words, he tossed the money in his hand to the ground and stood up to glare at Judith. "You trying to get yourself killed, old bag?! You're short of the correct amount every single f*cking time!" "I think you guys are the ones who are trying to get yourselves killed." Severin looked angrily at the men in front of him, for it was obvious that the money had been painstakingly saved by his parents. "You wanna get beat up, don't you, kid?" The six people immediately surrounded Severin and Judith. The scar-faced man remarked viciously, "It just so happens that my fists are itching for a fight. It's been a while since they've seen blood!" "No! D-d-don't hurt my son!" Judith was so frightened that she hurriedly pulled Severin back. She then immediately opened the envelope in her hand. The contents included a letter and several 10-dollar bills. Judith counted them at once and fearfully stuffed the money inside the plastic bag that was on the ground. "T-t-there! I put in a hundred dollars. Now it's six hundred and seventy-six dollars! It's only short by twenty-four dollars now!" "That's interesting. You were hiding some of your money, didn't you? I don't suppose you'll take out that hundred bucks if we didn't threaten to beat you up?" The scar-faced man sneered and said angrily, "Are you trying to play some kind of trick on us?" Severin's heart was burning with anger, and a cold glimmer flashed across his eyes. However, he suppressed that anger when he looked at Judith standing in front of him. In order to prevent Judith from worrying, he smiled at the other guys and said, "You there, with the scar. Yeah, I'm talking to you. we still owe twenty-six thousand, right? Well, don't get yourselves all worked up over it. Twenty-six thousand is a small sum, and I can pay it to you in full. There's no point causing a ruckus here." "A small sum, huh? Can you believe it? This dirt-poor guy actually said that it's a small sum. If that's the case, then you'd better hurry up and pay it back!" Scarface looked at Severin in amusement while the thugs began to laugh. Severin walked over, picked up the plastic bag on the ground, and handed it to the shocked Judith. "Wait for me in the house, Mom. I've got money, so I'll bring them to the bank and withdraw the money for them." "Where did you get that kind of money, Severin? Please don't lie to your own mother." Judith looked worriedly at her son. "Don't worry, Mom. It'll be fine. Come on, let's go in!" Severin helped Judith up and ushered her into the house. Moments later, Severin exited the house work a bank card in hand and waved it at the people in front of him. "See this? Don't look down on me, you know. Come with me if you want your twenty-six thousand." "Is this kid for real?" "Who cares. Getting the payment in one lump sum will save us trouble of having to come here all the time. What's there to complain?" The thugs followed Severin away, and they finally came to a big banyan tree at a far corner. "What's the meaning of this? I thought you were going to bring us to the bank?" Severin's smirked as he turned around and said with a sneer, "Are you people honestly still expecting me to hand over the money when you guys roughed my mother up and call her an old bag all the time? In your f*cking dreams!" "F*ck you, kid! Are you trying to play some kind of trick on us?" The scar-faced man was so angry that the veins on his forehead were bulging. "You're asking for it, kid!" The other thugs were all riled up as well, and they surrounded him immediately. Seconds later, when everyone's fists were about to land on Severin, the latter simply frowned. A strong pressure then surrounded the entire area in an instant, causing the dry leaves all around to begin fluttering several inches above the ground. The temperature seemed to have dropped considerably as well. The six thugs, including the robustly-built scar-faced man who was an experienced fighter, knelt on the ground. "GRAAAH!" Everyone howled in pain. The stone slabs beneath some of their knees had shattered, and blood was flowing from their knees too. "Forgive us!" "We won't do anything to you parents anymore!" They all looked at Severin in horror and were genuinely frightened by what happened. Severin looked at the passers-by and finally said in a deep voice, "I'll let you off for now, but if any of you ever cause trouble with my parents ever again, I swear I'll kill all of you! Now f*ck off!" The tremendous pressure disappeared instantly after Severin's warning, allowing the scar-faced man and his gang to flee. Severin clenched his fists and muttered to himself, "You really are a ruthless woman, Lucy. Like it or not, we have a three-year history with each other. Cheating on me is one thing, selling the matrimonial home for half the value that I bought it is another. How could you sell it off to Easton for one hundred and fifty thousand when I bought it for three hundred thousand? Bunch of schemers!" After mumbling that, Severin thought to himself, 'I'll make you return every single thing you took from me! I never intended to hold grudges with worthless people like you two, but you have both crossed the line!'