001 - The Pauper's Naivety

“Hey, young man! Is your problem so big that you don't want to be kind enough to give alms?”

  

Those harsh words from the beggar shake Dean’s attention, and his face immediately turns so sour. Not because he is stingy. But he himself is just a poor person who lives in someone else's house.

  

“If you help the needy, someday the universe will help you when you need it the most,” continues the old beggar.

  

Dean sighs once, and starts rummaging his pocket. He takes out a few pieces of coins, the only thing he has at the moment.

  

“Here! That’s all I have,” says Dean, intending to put the coins into the beggar’s empty can. “Maybe you should start helping others too, so the universe helps your situation.”

  

“I did! And now the universe repays me through you. Hehehe,” replies the beggar half joking.

  

But then, the beggar’s attention is attracted to Dean’s unique bracelet.

  

“The heavenly stone?” he mumbles.

  

“What?”

  

“This bracelet! How did you get it?”

  

“Don’t you start accusing me of being a thief now, old man! I may be poor, but I still have my pride!”

  

“No, no! I don’t accuse you as a thief.”

  

“Look! I still have some problems to fix. Let’s see if the universe is going to help me,” says Dean as he walks away.

  

“Then pray to heaven that the stone on your bracelet will break soon.” The old beggar chuckles by shaking his head. “Sometimes, to fix something, you may need to break something else. That’s just how causality works.”

  

Dean scrunches his face. But he can’t stay there for too long listening to the beggar’s jokes, because there’s a heart he needs to protect.

  

He has someone he loves, Monica, a girlfriend from childhood life. Well, the girl betrayed his feelings by dating another guy recently. Just another cliche romance story you often find in life, right?

  

But the problem now, he just learned that he lost his girlfriend to a womanizer who liked playing with prostitutes. Some people will be happy with that karma. But not Dean.

  

A while ago, he found the guy cheated with another girl in a bar, and he tried to ignore it. But due to his honest concern for Monica, he can’t simply ignore it and decides to go back to that said bar to confront that bastard.

  

He accidentally runs into the said man right at the entrance. And somehow, the man recognizes Dean, and immediately puts on a clown face with an arrogant smile.

  

“Aren’t you that dirty pauper who lives in Monica’s house?” That man insults Dean openly, which makes Dean so annoyed because of it.

  

The bastard himself has a scarface like a genuine thug, with a greasy hairstyle resembling a dirty pirate. Apart from the fact that he is damn rich, there is nothing else good about him.

  

“I still can't understand what Monica sees in you,” grumbles Dean full of hatred.

  

His words only make the man's smile turn into an amused grinning. Even the prostitute in that man’s arm laughs with amusement.

  

“He is quite funny. Jay, who is this clown?” she asks.

  

“You don’t need to know. Why don’t you go back inside? I’ll come to you later after I finish with this one.”

  

“Just make it quick,” utters the girl as she turns away.

  

The man slaps the girl’s butt before she leaves. This only makes Dean's chest swell even more with anger.

  

“How dare you?”

  

“What?” That man named Jay taunts him with a cold gaze.

  

“You are dating Monica, yet you still play with prostitutes. That girl might be just looking for your money, but not Monica. Monica is a good girl from a noble family, with a good heart. How could you treat her this way? You better apologize to her now!”

  

“Ckckck!” Jay shakes his head. “I know you are just jealous. What a pity, for a man asking this much to another man. Look, when you deal with another man, you should use your fists, not your mouth.”

  

That man sends a huge swing. Luckily for Dean, he is not too ignorant with self defense. He ducks down, and delivers an uppercut. It lands accurately on Jay’s chin.

  

It makes the man falls to the back, and attracts some people’s attention from inside the bar. Some of them are actually that man’s four bodyguards, and of course they immediately come to his rescue.

  

Those four bodyguards are all big and muscular like professional bodybuilders. With just one kick from one of them landing in Dean’s abdomen, is enough to drain all Dean’s life force out of his body.

  

“How dare you lay your hand on him? Don’t you know who he is?”

  

Another one of those big dudes grabs Dean’s shoulder, and easily lifts him with one hand, forcing Dean to get up on his feet.

  

“He is the son of Maverick Watson, the Mayor of Dildior city,” utters the man before sending a huge knuckle on Dean’s face.

  

Jay gets up and tells his man to stop from his assault. But not to spare Dean’s life, but to bully him with his own two hands.

  

“Hold him there!” he issues.

  

That big dude holds both of Dean’s arms from behind, making Dean’s entire torso all open like a sandbag. And so, Jay begins to hit him for fun.

  

“You should be grateful that Monica let you live for free in her house! When I marry her, I’ll make sure to make good use of you. But today, let me teach you the real meaning of life.”

  

He says those words while sending punch after punch in Dean’s belly and rib cages. A few of Dean’s ribs have already cracked, which is clearly seen by the blood that comes out of his mouth.

  

Noticing that, only then does Jay stop his torture. But then, he notices a tattoo in Dean’s right hand, citing Monica’s name in it.

  

“What the? Are you this desperate? You even tattooed her name without her concern? Bozo! Cut his hand!”

  

One of the big dudes named Bozo takes out his big army knife. He looks so serious with it, making Dean’s face so pale in fear.

  

“No! I made this tattoo with Monica’s concern!” Dean tries to retaliate. “We’ve been together since the orphanage, and we created this tattoo together. She also has my name on her hand too.”

  

“Bullshit!” Jay denies.

  

Right at that moment, Monica appears, and rushes to Dean’s rescue. “Jay! What are you doing to him?”

  

“I’m just giving him a lecture. How dare he tattoo his hand with your name in it? His naivety just makes me sick! He even said you also tattoo his name in your hand.”

  

“Monica! Listen to me!” Dean interferes, trying to warn his childhood crush. “This man doesn't deserve you. He's just trying to play with you this whole…”

  

Plak!!!

  

That cute girl named Monica immediately slaps Dean’s face. “How dare you lie to people, telling that I tattoo your name in my hand? I never knew you were this naïve!”

  

“But…” Dean mumbles with his stupid face.

  

“Look at my hands! There’s no way I would dirty these beautiful hands with your ugly name. Wake up already! You should be grateful I let you live for free in my house. But you can’t humiliate me this way!”

  

Dean starts doubting his sanity. He is so sure that Monica also tattooed her hand using his name. It was Monica’s idea in the first place when they were still kids living in an orphanage, expecting him to never abandon her.

  

But now, after she finds her true family, who happens to be a wealthy family, she treats him like a sugar cane that has been squeezed out and wasted.

  

Still in that confusion, Jay hits his face so hard in front of Monica. And that one hit drops him to his knee. His face looks so blank, finding it hard to stomach everything, both Monica's lies and also the humiliation.