"Ah, my son is finally back. I have heard of all kinds of glorious deeds of yours, all earning me great pride, no doubt, ahahaha…"
With the number of contacts Mr. Black had at the party, how could no one have informed him of the absolute disaster of a performance of his son? Forget about making any new contacts or gaining prestige, if he had just stayed as he was, that would also have been fine.
But no, he just HAD to fuck things up no matter what task was given to him.
Mr. Black was generally a patient man. He always silently waited for the perfect opportunity to strike, and when he did, he made sure his prey couldn't escape.
And the reason for that was obvious. If he had been able to do things as he always did, the White Deer corporation wouldn't even know what hit them before it was too late. Unfortunately, the prey had somehow been startled, and Mr. Black was still investigating where he slipped up.
But when it came to Amos, his only son, Mr. Black found that his patience was being tested again and again. It was like every time they faced each other, his son would find another matter to disgrace him with.
If he wasn't off having a fling with some boy, he was off causing a public disaster instead. Of course, Mr. Black was well aware that someone must have laid a trap, and Amos fell right into it, but that only made him blame the boy more.
The hero's anxiety only grew the longer his father remained silent.
"D-Dad, I can explain—"
"Save it. Let's talk in the study."
Amos could feel his heart beat rapidly in fear as he hesitantly followed his father to the study. For him to be led there could only mean that whatever his father was about to say, he didn't want to risk the servants overhearing.
Mr. Black signaled for Amos to get in first before following him inside, and then locked the door after him.
Just as Amos was about to take a seat, however, something fiercely latched onto his hair, and flung him into a bookshelf.
A miserable scream tore out of his throat involuntarily, but his father ignored all his pleas as he rained down kicks on the fallen hero. He didn't even care for some of his precious book collection being stomped as well.
"D-Dad! Stop! It hurts! STOP IT!"
"You piece of shit! Motherfucker! I should have known that whore couldn't give birth to a good son! Fuck! To think I wasted so many years of my life teaching garbage like you, only for you to fuck up every single thing!"
The combination of mental and physical abuse caused the hero to break out into sobs even though he tried his best to control himself.
But even as he sobbed, all his grievances combined with his hatred, and he swore to one day tear out the throat of this vile monster with his own hands.
Mr. Black only seemed to calm down once he felt that he had doled out an 'appropriate' amount of punishment.
"Get up."
It took almost a minute for Amos to realize he was being spoken to, and he shakily got up while supporting himself against the bookshelf he had been flung against.
He hid his hatred as best as he could before looking up, but what greeted him was not his father's stern face, but a sturdy fist.
Even as the back of his skull rang with pain after crashing into the bookshelf, and his vision momentarily went dark, Amos had a feeling of déjà vu.
'T-These motherfuckers… dare look down… on me!'
He didn't know where it came from, but Amos felt a huge rush of both courage and patience fill his body.
Even with his left eye swelling shut, he looked up into his father's startled gaze.
Mr. Black couldn't help but be a little impressed. If nothing else, this bastard son of his was quite tenacious at least.
"Take a seat, now we can talk."
==========
Emilia and Dixie were startled to spot their driver heading into the venue right as they were exiting.
"Ah, young miss, your friends called earlier—"
Dixie gnashed her teeth in anger as she took the phone from his hand. If they'd been here earlier, surrounding her princess along with her, wouldn't the adults find it too awkward to approach them?
That alone could have greatly reduced the annoyances tonight and made her princess more comfortable. But these idiots didn't even show up! If they didn't have a really, really good excuse…
"Which one of the three idiots am I talking to?"
"I-It's me, Jenna…"
"Jenna… why the hell are you only calling me just now? I expect this kind of idiotic behavior from that idiot Lara, but you—"
The person on the other hand hastily interrupted her. "A-Ah, Dixie, don't go on a tirade yet, y'see… we might need your help first."
Dixie could feel a headache coming. 'Oh no no no… don't tell me they're going to disgrace myself even further in front of Emily now, right?'
"… What did you do?"
"Um, well, y'know what Lara is like. She spotted this hunk of a man on our way to the party, and since we were a little early, she decided to, you know, do the usual."
Dixie gritted her teeth in anger. "If you mean she was wasting time seducing the guy only to reject him as soon as he showed interest, I'm gonna have to ask you to smack her across the face for me first!"
After a momentary silence, her friend cleared her throat, as if slightly embarrassed.
"I don't think I need to. Her face is already pretty swollen now, after all."
Dixie blinked.
"Excuse me, what? Did she fall down face first while flirting?"
Jenna rolled her eyes, though Dixie couldn't see it from the other side of the phone.
"I wish! Y'see, the guy she was trying to seduce had a girlfriend who came back just in time to spot her, while the guy looked uncomfortable. Long story short, the two of them got into a fight. The hair pulling, nail scratching, heel kicking kind."
Dixie suddenly had a bad feeling. "Jenna… where the hell are you talking from?"
"Uh… the police station?"
"Fuck!"