Born Into Villain's Family: I Have a 200\% Rebate System-Chapter 237: Discord

Henry screamed again, his voice hoarse and broken. He could barely speak, but he forced out a shaky question.

"W-What... did I do to you?" he cried, blood dripping from his lip. "Why... are you doing this to me?"

His voice wasn’t even clear anymore. It was just pain, soaked in every word.

Peter, who had been calmly sitting on a chair like this was in some boring school play, finally moved. He looked at Henry with blank, tired eyes.

"If you can tell me what your crime is," Peter said, tapping his fingers slowly on the armrest, "maybe I’ll be kind enough to not punish you so much."

Henry’s eyes widened a little. His heart beat faster.

Did... did that mean Peter would stop?

Was there hope?

After all, for the last two hours, Peter hadn’t let him say a single word. First, Peter had punched and kicked him until he couldn’t stand. Then, his scary bodyguards had joined in, doing even worse. Now, they were pulling out his hair strand by strand. His skin burned, his head throbbed, and for a second, he really wanted to cry like a baby.

Henry swallowed hard. He could barely move his tongue.

"I-It’s... is it b-because... Lucy burned the chem lab?" he asked, his voice shaking like paper in the wind.

Peter actually laughed.

He laughed like someone just told him the funniest joke in the world.

"Oh, please," Peter said, waving his hand. "Why would I care about a silly little chemistry lab? Let it burn. I don’t care."

Henry blinked in confusion.

How can he be so calm? That a chemistry lab! A whole freaking lab! It may cost more than $500,000 to be fixed completely and Peter was talking as if it was nothing.

’Stop! Think Henry! Think! Now is not the time to be envious of somebody’s wealth.’

If it wasn’t the lab... then what?

Peter’s smile faded.

"What I care about," Peter said quietly, "is what you hurt today."

Henry blinked again. Then... his brain clicked.

Could it be...

"Is it... Adriana?" he asked carefully, as if he was stepping on thin ice. "Is she... your fiancée?"

This was the theory, he and Lucy had come up with.

For a moment, everything stopped.

Peter’s eyes flashed.

He raised a hand, and with just one small wave, the bodyguards instantly stepped away. No more hair-pulling. No more pain.

Peter stood up slowly, cracking his neck and smiling like a cat who caught a mouse.

"Yes," he said softly. "Adriana is my secret fiancée."

Henry’s whole face went pale.

His mouth dropped open. "W-What?!"

He thought—maybe they were dating. But... engaged?!

This was so bad. So, so bad.

"I-I didn’t know!" Henry shouted, shaking his head fast. "I swear, I didn’t know she had a fiancé! If I knew... if I even guessed... I would have never dated her!"

Peter didn’t speak. He just watched.

Henry kept going, panic flooding his voice now.

"It was my fault! I messed up, I get it!" he said quickly. "But Adriana... she gave me hints, I swear! She smiled at me, talked to me sweetly... she never said anything about being engaged! Maybe she doesn’t care about you, maybe she—"

SMACK!

Peter’s hand hit Henry’s face like thunder. It wasn’t even that hard, but in Henry’s broken state, it felt like a hammer.

Peter leaned down, grabbed Henry’s jaw, and forced him to look into his cold, unreadable eyes.

"Are you trying to make me hate Adriana?" Peter whispered.

Henry gulped.

Peter’s smile returned. But it was scary now. Cold. Dangerous.

"You know what’s funny?" Peter said softly. "She’s not my fiancée. Not yet."

Henry blinked again, confused.

"But..." he mumbled. "You said—"

"I said future fiancée," Peter corrected. "That means I will be her fiancé. Not yet. But soon."

Henry’s lips trembled. "B-But..."

Peter didn’t let him talk.

He stood up straight, brushing off imaginary dust from his sleeves.

"You tricked Adriana. You manipulated her," Peter said firmly. "She didn’t cheat on anyone. She didn’t lead you on. You just wanted to blame her because it’s easier than accepting your own ugly truth."

Henry opened his mouth to protest, but Peter laughed again.

"Save your breath," Peter said. "I already know everything. I got every detail about Adriana’s life long before tonight. So don’t even try to talk badly about her in front of me."

Henry’s whole body shook with fear as Peter stared down at him. He could feel the cold sweat running down his back. He didn’t know what would happen next, but he knew it wouldn’t be good.

"I-I’m sorry!" Henry cried suddenly. "I really am! I didn’t mean to—please, Peter—"

But Peter didn’t even blink.

He raised one finger.

Just one.

And the bodyguards rushed forward like they’d been waiting all night. One of them grabbed Henry’s arms, and the other started pulling his hair again. Another kicked his side, and Henry let out a terrible scream.

"I’M SORRY! I’M SORRY! PLEASE—STOP! I’LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN!" he shouted again and again, his voice cracking and shaking.

But Peter had already turned away.

He was walking toward the door slowly, calmly, like this was just a boring meeting.

Henry saw that and something inside him snapped.

Even in his broken state, he couldn’t hold it in.

He shouted after Peter, voice full of rage and hate, "SHE’LL NEVER LOVE YOU!"

Peter stopped. free𝑤ebnovel.com

"You think you can force her to be yours?! Adriana is too broken to love anyone!" Henry laughed weakly, bitterly. "She couldn’t even hold my hand after one whole week of dating!"

Peter still didn’t turn.

Henry spat out more poison.

"She’s already a second-hand bi—!"

SMACK!

Peter spun around and hit him.

It was so fast, so strong, that two of Henry’s teeth flew out of his mouth. Blood dripped onto his chin. He started crying out in pain, whimpering, holding his jaw as tears ran down his bruised face.

Peter looked down at him with ice in his eyes.

"If you ever say one more word about Adriana," Peter said quietly, but with enough force to freeze Henry’s blood, "I will erase your name from this earth. Do you understand me?"

Henry nodded fast, too scared to say anything.

Peter leaned in closer, voice low and cruel.

"You’re lucky I’m letting you live tonight. Do you think that’s mercy?" he whispered. "No. I’m doing it because I want you to feel more pain. I want you to remember this night every time you breathe. Every time you look in the mirror and see your ugly face. You hurt Adriana. That’s a sin I’ll never forgive."

Then he stood straight and waved his hand again.

The bodyguards got back to work.

Henry screamed.

Peter didn’t look back. He left the room, footsteps calm and sure. Henry didn’t dare to call out again.

He understood now.

Peter was different. Stronger. Scarier.

Untouchable.

The next morning at university, Peter stood near the entrance, his hands in his pockets. His eyes searched the crowd until he saw her.

Adriana.

She walked slowly, her face pale. Her eyes looked at the ground. Around her, students whispered, stared, and stepped away like she was some sort of disease.

She felt their eyes. Every single one.

Her heart hurt. Her chest felt tight.

"They all hate me..." she thought, shame crawling up her spine. "I’ll never be normal again. My university life... is over."

But before she could sink deeper into her thoughts, a loud ding echoed through the schoolyard.

An announcement began.

The voice of the student council president came through the speakers, clear and serious.

"Good morning, everyone. I have something very important to say," the voice began. "Yesterday afternoon, a student named Adriana was publicly humiliated. There has been a full investigation."

Adriana’s eyes shot up. Everyone stopped walking.

The voice continued, steady and proud.

"The reports from the police and the university security team have confirmed one thing—Adriana is the victim. Not the criminal. She was targeted unfairly, and she deserves our respect, not hate."

The crowd started to murmur. A few students exchanged shocked looks.

The voice went on.

"This announcement was made at the request of Peter Richardson, the nephew of the principal and the official owner of this university."

Now everyone gasped.

The name Peter Richardson made people freeze.

"He asked me to remind you all," the speaker said, "that Adriana is his friend. If anyone dares to bully or spread lies about her again, the matter will be taken seriously."

The speakers turned off.

But the silence that followed was even louder.

"What the f*ck? Am I hearing things... or is it true that Peter Richardson is truly a friend of Adriana?"

"Don’t ask! Even I am stunned!"

"Indeed. Now that I think about it... Adriana’s drama wasn’t the only one that had happened in front of the university gates. There was also a case involving Peter’s so-called girlfriend that was exposed, but not once did Peter come to support her."

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