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London, UK.

Years 2017

John Alan is a hard-working man who has an 80-hour work week. In the afternoon, he works as a storekeeper for six hours, while the rest of the hours, he works as a waiter in a small bar until it closes at nine in the evening.

It s not for no reason that Alan did that. The 28-year-old man with a tall, skinny figure of about five feet nine inches and a tired face was forced to do it for economic reasons. He was so broke that he had to work hard to support his parents.

Alan's problems began with a fraud case that trapped his parents. They were so tempted by the promise of a quick investment that they dared to sacrifice everything. However, a disaster happened to the family. The person in charge of the investment disappeared without a word, carrying Alan's parents' money.

The amount reached one million pounds. Of course, this loss made Alan and his parents' lives so bad that even their food depended on Alan's work.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the number of bar customers was less than usual. Alan wasn't as tired as yesterday, who had to close at ten at night.

"Are you free tonight, Alan?" asked a woman, a regular customer at the bar where Alan worked.

"I have to go home soon. Someone is waiting for me," Alan replied.

The man began to take off his apron as he walked toward a room where the waiters kept their things. The woman continued to follow Alan. Some employees knew she was Sersi, a name as pretty as the woman looked.

The door to the locker room opened, revealing three male employees who had changed their clothes into casual suits. The eyes of the three men fell on Sersi; their red faces flushed with eyes widened in shock.

"I was going to invite you out for a drink," Sersi replied, Alan chuckling.

The man stood right in front of his personal locker. He opened it and started putting things like id cards, hats, and aprons.

"You know, I'm sick of the smell of bourbon," Alan said, looking annoyed that Sersi wouldn't give up on him.

"We can have something that—"

"Don't you understand?" asked Alan, interrupting Sersi rudely.

The atmosphere became so tense. The three men, none other than Alan's coworkers, had never seen the young man angry like that. As far as they knew, Alan was known for his friendly service and was full of smiles.

But what Alan was showing at the moment was far different from what they knew. Alan realized the conversation with Sersi was going to be long, so he asked his three partners to leave the locker room.

"What do you mean?" asked Sersi, her eyes turning sad from their initial enthusiasm.

"We've talked about a lot of things. You know how I am right now, don't you?" asked Alan, speaking in a high tone.

"I know. You don't have to worry. I'll pay for it this time," replied Sersi, turning sad into excited.

"I can't leave them unguarded. The increasing debt is making them depressed. I even saw my father about to commit suicide with a rope in his room," Alan explained.

He picked up his bag and looked at Sersi, cold and ignorant. Alan realized that Sersi had a crush on him, judging by her responses.

He was happy someone liked him, but Alan didn't have time for that. Debt, bank loans, and online loans had to be done in order to be free from the dangerous circle.

"So, you're not leaving because you must look after your parents?" asked Sersi. Alan nodded slowly.

He started walking towards the exit, opened it and stopped for a while beside Sersi. Their eyes did not glance at each other this time.

"I'm glad you always ask me out. However, this time. I apologize. I can't accept your invitation," Alan replied.

He quickly walked out of the locker room and said goodbye to all the bartenders who were still there. Sersi looked down sadly. She followed Alan's directions to return to her residence.

The distance between the bar and Alan's residence was not that far, only a few minute's walks. While walking, he kept thinking about what he had done to Sersi. In his opinion, Alan's words to that woman were quite rude to say.

Alan bought two of his parents' favorite hotdogs on the way home. They were always happy when they got food from Alan, especially his mother, who loved meat.

Alan kept walking until he saw the appearance of the apartment where he lived with his parents. He chose an apartment with full facilities because he wanted to save on daily expenses, such as cooking, bathing, etc.

Alan needed to do things like that in the meantime as he worked hard to pay off all the debts his parents had. It was only a few hundred pounds until Alan could be completely free.

He walked up the stairs, as he lived in a small apartment. It took about ten minutes to reach the sixth floor; Alan lived in a sixth-floor apartment.

"They sure like the food I brought," Alan whispered.

Alan stood right in front of his apartment door. However, he felt something unusual coming from behind the door. Alan didn't hear anything; it was as quiet as the midnight hour.

He immediately opened the door and saw that his apartment was so dark, like no one in this place.

Alan tried to find the light switch in the darkness until he finally found it and started to turn it on. What a shock! Alan found his parents lying limply on the floor with pale faces and foaming at the mouth.

"DAD? MOM?!" shouted Alan.

The man's loud shout attracted the attention of Alan's apartment neighbors. They came out and entered Alan's apartment, seeing the terrible condition of the young man's parents.

"I'll call an ambulance," replied one of the women, the wife of Alan's neighbor.

Alan smelled an unpleasant scent, like a chemical. He tried to find the source of the scent until he found a bottle of rat poison lying on the ground with the lid clearly open.

"They... died by suicide," Alan said softly.

"Don't touch that, Alan. The police will detect your fingerprints there," replied the man next door.

Alan nodded as he sat listlessly. His eyes looked sadly at his parents, even though Alan had bought their favorite food.

The man next door immediately covered his parents' bodies with a cloth he got from his apartment. Right after their faces were covered, Alan burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, Alan," said the neighbor, grieving.

He walked over to Alan and patted him on the shoulder, trying to encourage him. The deaths of Alan's parents were caused by one thing: depression due to economic pressure.

All the problems in Alan's life were caused by those fraudsters. In Alan's mind, he wanted to take revenge on the fraudsters who had ruined his life.

"I will kill those people!"