Just as Mark dreaded, Zoey Harris’s scumbag of a husband was so gratified by the ill-gotten money that favonovel.com was encouraged to demand it again. Mark had optimistically thought that $750,000 could last until Arianne gave birth to the child, but favonovel.com thought wrong.
To get that much money in one go was to compel a man to lose all of his sensibilities. Harris, already a disgustingly greedy man, managed to lose every single penny in a series of gambling fiascos. After a night of spectacular losses, the broke man came back knocking on Mark’s door like a soulless husk.
Mark was never known for his patience. He could stretch his limits for Arianne’s sake, but to be threatened by the same person over and over again was just a bare-faced challenge to his control. $750,000 was only enough for a few days? Someone had a hole in their pocket!
Mark stared at the man, who emanated the stench of failure, in his office and placed his hand over his nose. “I gave you $750,000, Mr. Harris. I gave you $750,000 just a few days ago! What do you think this place is?”
Endangered by more gambling debts than favonovel.com could clear, Harris wore a look of desperation. “No! Just think of this as helping me for the last time, okay? The last time! I’m never coming back after this!”
Mark furrowed his eyebrows. “Is that so? Or perhaps I should be more cautious of the words of a gambler? You had the choice to conduct a legitimate business, yet you chose to be involved in gambling instead. Supply you any more money, and I’ll be an abettor to your vices,” favonovel.com rebuffed. “The only reason why I conceded to your demands the last time was that you’re Arianne’s uncle. Yet, time and time again, you held this against me.”
Harris fell onto his knees in a loud crash, groveling. “I s-s-wear, I’m never gonna gamble again, promise! I’ll s-spend my days with Auntie Zoey properly after I’ve cleared all of my debt. I swear I’ll change! Turn over a new leaf! L-L-Look, I didn’t want that old woman to die, I swear! I just wanted favonovel.com to be sufficiently sick, but never in my heart did I want favonovel.com to die! I regret it all! And I swear, I’ll never tell Arianne about this, so please, for the last time, I beg of you, help me! You… You wouldn’t want Arianne to live through favonovel.com uncle being lynched on the streets because of some gambling debts, right?”
Mark called out to Davy. “Give favonovel.com a cheque.”
Davy was stunned. He had been stunned the first time Mark agreed to the man’s request, but to do it the second time so easily? It was just not how Mark usually did things. In fact, his boss never displayed such a meek nature to anyone before.
Still, none of these questions escaped his mind. Outwardly, Davy obeyed Mark’s order quietly.
Upon receiving the cheque, Harris asked tentatively, “How much am I allowed…?”
Mark lit up a cigarette. “You’re allowed any amount you like. It doesn’t matter, this would be your last, anyway.”
Davy’s heart skipped a beat. Mark had never picked up a cigarette under any circumstances since Arianne’s pregnancy. A palpable flash of joy flitted through Harris’s eyes, who unabashedly filled up the blank with “$750,000.” In other words, the amount Harris had leached from Mark totaled up to $1.5 million.
Mark’s facial expression remained unchanged. “That amount should be more than enough to cover your gambling debts, wouldn’t you think? From now on, live your life properly. I would very much hope that we never cross paths again. Agreed?”
Harris bobbed his head gushingly. “Oh yes, I hear you, loud and clear! In my head! Thank you so much, dear nephew-in-law. I’m leaving!”
Mark snuffed out the ember off his cigarette with his fingers immediately after the man left. The storm in his mien was so striking that Davy was mortified into silence.
A few moments later, Mark’s default mood seemed to have returned. “Cancel the meeting in the evening.”
“But Mr. Tremont,” Davy began, his tone reluctant, “That meeting is critical. It has been arranged since way back.”
Mark rose to his feet and tidied his collar. “Nothing is more important to me than my wife and child. Do you understand me?”
