Chapter 6
708words
Irving stared at me in silence for a long moment. Then, he suddenly laughed.
He said, "Since Lucian insists that I was the one driving, then let's just say it was me. Nat, even if I wasn't the one who caused your paralysis, I'm willing to make it up to you."
With that, he rushed straight into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. He stabbed his own leg without hesitation.
Four figures flashed past my eyes as blood splattered everywhere. Natalia and the other three women had reached out with their bare hands to grab the blade.
Seeing the cuts on their hands, Irving teared up and started sobbing. "Is it really worth hurting yourselves for me? You're the most important people in my life. I don't want you to hate me. I'm willing to lose both my legs if that would prove my innocence.
"Nat, I wasn't the one driving the car that day."
Ignoring the wounds on her own hands, Natalia pulled Irving tightly into her arms.
She said in a comforting voice, "Irvy, how could I not believe you? Please don't do anything stupid, okay? If anything happens to you, I can't go on either."
Irving's gaze shifted to me. "But as long as I'm alive, Lucian will keep getting into trouble to draw your attention. No matter what, he and I share the same father. I don't want anything to happen to him."
Hearing this, Natalia picked up the knife from the floor and walked over to me.
"Didn't you want to die? I'll grant your wish. But will you really do it? Weren't you just trying to get our attention and make us hate Irvy by doing all that? I can disregard what you did to paralyze my legs, but I will never allow you to hurt Irvy again."
The knife glinted with an icy gleam. Without hesitation, I took it and stabbed it toward my own heart. But the moment the blade touched my body, a powerful force of resistance pushed it away.
It was the system stopping me.
I didn't know its intention. I could only turn the knife another way and slash my wrist instead.
Blood poured out in a steady stream. Mavis stumbled over to me instantly with reddened and panicked eyes. She tried to stop the bleeding, but Natalia and Kimberly held her back.
"Mavis, if he really wanted to die, he wouldn't have cut his wrist. He's just doing this to make us pity him," Natalia said.
Kimberly sneered in agreement. "Let's make a bet. If we ignore him for a few minutes, he'll probably run to the hospital on his own. After all, he made sure to call the firefighters even before jumping off the rooftop."
As my consciousness began to fade, a satisfied smile appeared on Irving's face.
"Congratulations, Lucian. Mavis' affection toward you has reached 50 points. You get 500 reward points. Would you like me to exchange them for clear video evidence from the car accident scene?"
"Yes…"
After that, complete darkness devoured me.
When I opened my eyes again, a worried face came into sight.
It was Mavis.
She looked at me with a gaze full of complicated emotions. I could tell that there was guilt and regret in her eyes.
"I know you weren't the one driving that day," she said softly.
Of course. To keep me from fighting with Irving over the car, she had already confiscated my driver's license long ago.
And to get onto that particular road, one had to pass a checkpoint that required showing one's license. If I had been the one driving, I wouldn't have made it through at all.
"But back then, you framed Irvy for sleeping with someone else because of Kimberly. You destroyed his reputation. You owe him one for that, so I hope you won't expose him. You and Irvy are both my younger brothers. I won't neglect you anymore from now on," Mavis said.
"Mavis has reached 60 out of 100 affection points. Would you like to restart the mission? I can help you," the system asked.
"No need," I replied in my mind.
