I Control Life and Death

Chapter 008

Bang!

"Stop right there, boy!" Soren slammed a hand against the conference table.

I raised an eyebrow at him and kept walking.

Kevin had insulted my mother one too many times. This time, he did it in front of all her relatives. Did he really think we were such easy targets?

"Boy, I told you to stop!" Soren roared from behind me, more urgently this time.

I ignored him, intent on carrying Kevin's punishment fully through.

Kevin was scared shitless. "Don't come near me!" he shouted. "Dad, dad! Help me!"

"Stop that boy from doing anything foolish!"

Soren's latest assertion was directed at the nearby muscle. Four men interposed themselves in my way.

"Move aside," I said, "or you will suffer as well!"

"How dare you!" Soren screamed. By now, his throat was hoarse with anger.

"You have no right to use violence on Gleeson property! Has your mother taught you no manners, you animal? Then I'll do it in her place myself!"

"Beat him!" This last part was directed at the guards.

"No!" my mother cried out. The four men in the Gleesons' service, predictably, ignored her words.

One of them was already charging at me with an outstretched fist, aimed squarely at my face.

I tilted my head in a nimble dodge.

My adversary attempted to follow up with his other hand, but I stopped him in his tracks with a kick to his guts.

Thud!

The dampened sound of impact remained surprisingly explosive. The man was sent flying like he had been hit by a truck, his back slamming into the wall behind him.

Boom.

The whole conference room trembled. Dust visibly scattered from the ceiling.

The three other guards were slack-jawed with awe at my exploit—just as I was, really!

I had become stronger somehow.

Was this related to the expansion of my golden mist?

"Stop him! Hurry, stop him!" Kevin's voice was more cracked than usual. The force of my kick had crushed any shred of courage he had left.

The three guys in front of me exchanged apprehensive looks with each other, then slowly backed away.

A wise decision! This was definitely above their pay grade.

The warpath I walked toward Kevin was inexorable. Nothing anyone did could convince me to stop carrying out my vengeance.

The blood drained out of Kevin's face.

"Y-you… you c-can't… or… or… or…" At this point, he was too incoherent to form complete sentences.

"Or what?"

The plaster on his hand caught my interest.

Kevin gasped, then tried to hide both of his hands behind his back. "Or… my dad… no, the whole Gleeson family will p-punish you!"

"Ha!" I sneered. "The Gleesons, huh? Didn't your dad just say my mother and I were rejoining the family? But I guess this is the kind of welcome we should expect already. How very considerate of you."

"I… I…" Kevin was speechless. He did not know how to defend himself.

His father Soren strode over with a cold look. "Enough, William! Kevin is still a child. Don't take what he says so seriously."

"A child?" Blinking, I gestured to Kevin's six-foot-tall stature with sardonic cheer. "Why not. Children need to be taught some manners, right? And since you haven't done such a good job with that, why don't I do you both a favor!"

My words echoed what Soren had said moments earlier.

"How… how dare you!"

Soren's face was ruddy with anger. At this point, he sounded like a broken record.

I turned away from him and back to the star of the show. "You have two choices, Kevin. Either you kiss my mother's feet and apologize, or I'll break your entire hand. You've got ten seconds to choose, starting now."

The countdown started right away.

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight…"

A teary-eyed Kevin looked pitifully toward his father. "Dad, I…"

Soren gritted his teeth noisily. "William Floyd! If you lay your hands on Kevin, I promise you—you and your mother will never set foot on Gleeson property ever again!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Time's up."

I was unfazed by Soren's threat.

Was he really so self-important as to think that our lives revolved around the Gleesons?

Personally, I had no interest in my maternal relatives whatsoever in the first place.

After gaining my newfound abilities and seeing the way they had treated us here, my desire to interact with them had dropped to the negatives.

Who cared about the Gleesons, anyway?

Not me, that's for sure.

Anyway, these people would regret the results of their decision in no time.

"It seems you've made your choice, Kevin."

I crossed my arms with a smile.

"How… how… how… you… brute!" Soren was having trouble staying rational. He looked like he wanted to come forward, but was unsure about getting physical with someone of my prowess.

"Yeah, that's right. Keep standing there, uncle." I shook my head with an exaggerated sigh.

"You… I…" My mother's brother was choking at this point. His face had changed color from red to black.

I curled my lips in satisfaction.

Soren Gleeson had not said a single nice thing to me the entire day. The nicknames he called me showed how little he thought of me.

He probably never expected me to be so blunt in front of all the relatives, though.

Not to mention, these guys were important enough to attend this meeting!

This was way better than just physically beating him. This was psychological humiliation!

Uncle, you think you're so high and mighty?? That my mother and I are no good?

Why don't I show you what kind of mistake you made in crossing us?

Like you said so many times, I do dare!

Casually passing Soren by on my way to his son, I was already in the process of carrying out my threat when Kevin unexpectedly broke down.

"I… I'll apologize!" he sobbed.

He wobbled toward my mother with the last dregs of his strength. "I'm sorry, auntie. I'll never say anything bad about you again." His head touched the floor. "Please forgive me and let me turn over a new leaf."

My mother bit her lip. Her whole body shook with emotion as tears flowed from her eyes.

"I… Soren, you shouldn't…"

My mother tried to pull a few words together to mediate, but I took over the discourse.

"I'll be waiting, uncle. Please, surprise me with your cunning and expertise. I'm sure you have a lot of experience in the matter."

This was probably the end of any proposed return to the Gleesons.

It may not have been a big deal for me, but my mother was likely saddened by the development.

I went back to her and put a reassuring arm on her shoulder. "Grandpa's all better now, mom. We don't have a reason to be here anymore. Why don't we head on home instead?"

"Mm."

My mother nodded in acquiescence, so I escorted the both of us out myself. No one tried to stop us—or ask us to stay, for that matter.

We saw Mr. Faulkner at the mansion's door.

The butler offered to have someone drive us back, but my mother refused him and called a taxi instead.

When we got off in front of our house, I saw a blonde woman standing outside through the car window. She wore a white one-piece dress and carried an expensive-looking beige handbag.

"Friend of yours, mom?"

I pointed through the glass pane.

"Nope." My mom shook her head. She looked just as puzzled as I was. "I actually thought she might've been a friend of yours."

"Maybe she has the wrong house. Let me get off and ask her."

I paid the fare for the cab and opened the door.

As soon as I did so, the woman turned her head toward me.

She looked absolutely captivating, with snow-white skin and a cool, pristine aura. In truth, she was possibly a bit too cold for comfort. That didn't stop me from ogling her a few more times, though.

She frowned a little at my blatant staring. "William… Floyd?"

"You know me?" I asked rhetorically.

She looked rather familiar, but I could not recall where I had seen her.

Considering how stunning she was, there was no way I could have forgotten about ever meeting her before…

I just simply could not put my finger on who she was.

Is she an actress, maybe?

That was the only logical explanation I could come up with.

"I'm Eirwen. Eirwen Penrose."

My eyes widened with realization.

No wonder she looked so familiar!

We had not seen each other in a very long time. She had turned into quite the pretty lady.

"Ah, you're little Eirwen! You've grown so much that I had a hard time recognizing you at first. Why don't you come inside for some drinks and snacks?" My mother became quite animated after hearing the girl's identity. She clearly remembered a lot more about her than I did.

"It's all right, Ms. Gleeson," Eirwen shook her head. "I'm here today to discuss something important with William."

"Oh… well, all right then. Go ahead and have your talk. I won't stick around to bother you two."

Smiling, my mother unlocked the door and headed inside, cheered up by the interaction.