Born Into Villain's Family: I Have a 200\% Rebate System-Chapter 500: Looking Down

’What if there’s some chemical, some trigger mechanism?’ she thought sharply. ’One wrong move and it could spread onto my skin.’

The stalker seemed to panic at her refusal. "I-if you want," he rushed to say, "I can open it myself."

Olivia laughed again, this time softer, almost amused.

"Since you’re so desperate to show me your face," she replied, eyes gleaming, "then go ahead. Do it."

With trembling hands, he slowly pulled the hood down. Under the dim alley light, his face was finally revealed.

Olivia froze for a split second, her brows knitting together. "You..."

"Miller," he said eagerly, his eyes lighting up. "You remember me!"

His lips curved into a wide, almost giddy smile.

"I knew it. You truly loved me back then. Otherwise, you wouldn’t remember my name after all this time."

Her frown deepened. "Loved you?" she repeated flatly.

"What exactly are you doing, Miller?" Her grip tightened again. "Why are you following me like a stalker? Are you trying to cause trouble?"

Miller shook his head frantically, strands of hair sticking to his sweaty forehead.

"No, no, you’re misunderstanding me," he insisted. "I followed you because I don’t have any other way to contact you."

Olivia’s eyes hardened. "And you didn’t think," she retorted coldly, "that the reason you don’t have a way to contact me is that I don’t want you to?"

At that, Miller’s expression twisted as if genuinely hurt.

"I stayed single all this time," he said earnestly, voice quivering. "Just for you. I wanted to remain pure for you."

Olivia rolled her eyes so hard it almost hurt.

"Pure?" she scoffed. "You slept around during high school. Half the grade knew about it. Why are you pretending to be innocent now?"

Miller straightened suddenly, his tone turning bold, almost defensive.

"From the moment you distanced yourself from me," he declared,

"I realized how much I loved you. From that moment on, I stayed pure. It was all for you."

Olivia rolled her eyes and took a step back.

"If you want to talk about being devoted to a single lover," she remarked coolly, her tone edged with impatience, "you can keep that story to yourself. I don’t want it."

Her words struck Miller harder than any physical blow.

He froze, clearly taken aback.

In his mind, he had imagined a completely different scene... Olivia softening, walking toward him of her own accord, maybe even feeling touched or excited by the idea that he had ’kept himself’ just for her all these years.

Yet now, faced with her indifference, reality crashed down on him.

’People change,’ he thought bitterly. ’Time changes everything... and Olivia has changed too.’

For a fleeting moment, regret filled his chest.

The Olivia standing before him now was nothing like the girl he remembered from high school.

Back then, she had looked poor and unremarkable, someone who didn’t mind wearing hand-me-down clothes, someone easy to overlook.

But the woman in front of him now carried herself with effortless elegance, her presence noble and distant, so much so that most people wouldn’t even dare approach her.

Even he had hesitated before deciding to follow her, convincing himself that this tactic, becoming her shadow, might be the only way to catch her attention.

When he recalled the time he had seen her through the glass door of her studio, quietly painting, completely absorbed in her world, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

’I’m late,’ he admitted to himself. ’Maybe far too late.’

Still, unwilling to give up, he lifted his gaze and blurted out,

"Then tell me... what can I do to get you back?"

Olivia paused, then smiled faintly.

"There is indeed one thing," she replied, her voice calm and measured.

Miller’s eyes lit up instantly, hope surging through him like a spark.

But her next words poured cold water over every fantasy he had nurtured.

"Never approach me again," Olivia continued evenly. "If you do, I’ll press charges. If I don’t see you anymore, then maybe, just maybe, I might reconsider."

He heard the rejection loud and clear. His shoulders sagged, his excitement draining away as disheartenment settled in.

Seeing his reaction, Olivia let out a quiet sigh of relief.

’I’m really not in the mood to deal with people like this anymore,’ she thought wearily. Without another glance back, she turned and walked away.

This time, Miller didn’t follow.

Not far from there, another man was being tormented by his own thoughts.

Anton.

Ever since his own past actions had begun to resurface, he realized just how foolish his plans had been.

When he recalled how gently Peter treated Adriana and how Adriana often seemed distracted during class, her eyes unfocused as if thinking of someone far away, a bitter realization dawned on him.

’She already has someone in her heart,’ he admitted. ’How could she ever think of me?’

Regret gnawed at him.

If he had never approached Adriana, if he hadn’t foolishly tried to see her as some replacement... some twisted reflection of his own mother... perhaps he wouldn’t be haunted by his past now.

Yet his reluctance was shallow, because buried beneath it was a strange flicker of excitement.

His past had finally caught up with him.

The woman he had cheated out of money had indeed been furious, just as he had expected.

But instead of punishing him outright, she had chosen something worse... humiliation. She made him feel constantly submissive, constantly small.

He hated it, despised the loss of dignity, and yet a dark part of him felt thrilled.

Somewhere along the way, all these experiences had awakened a twisted side of him that he couldn’t deny.

Meanwhile, Adriana felt a rare sense of freedom.

No one was bothering her anymore, no shadows were lurking nearby, and for the first time in a long while, she felt light.

’Maybe I can finally live peacefully with Peter,’ she thought, a small smile forming.

That illusion shattered the moment her phone vibrated. The screen lit up with a verified caller ID, confirmed by caller app itself.

Mr. David Richardson.

Her breath hitched. Panic crept in instantly. She knew that name all too well... it belonged to Peter’s father. With trembling fingers, she answered the call.

"Yes?" she responded softly.

A cold, emotionless voice came through the line. "Adriana. I want to meet you within the next five minutes."

Her heart pounded as he continued,

"I’ll be waiting across the university, at the café. If you arrive on time, I won’t bother you further. If you refuse..." His pause was deliberate. "I might do something unpleasant."

Adriana stiffened at his tone. "I’m coming," she replied, her expression turning grim.

After hanging up, his final warning echoed in her mind. ’Don’t contact Peter. Otherwise, the consequences won’t be something you can handle.’

But Adriana wasn’t the same girl she used to be.

After learning about her sister’s true identity, her family’s wealth, and after stepping into internships with major fashion companies, she had long since abandoned the fragile safe zones she once hid in.

With Peter’s support and her own gradual growth, confidence had taken root within her.

’I can handle this,’ she told herself firmly.

Still, she left Peter a brief message before calmly exiting the classroom.

Anton noticed her leaving and narrowed his eyes.

’Where is she going?’

Curiosity stirred within him. Even though he had given up on Adriana, he couldn’t deny the lingering interest.

Quietly, he followed.

Soon, he saw her enter a café and sit across from a middle-aged man and woman.

The moment he caught sight of the man’s face, his brows furrowed.

’He looks a lot like Peter,’ he thought.

He couldn’t hear their conversation, but what he saw next unsettled him. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Adriana left the café with tears in her eyes, her fingers hurriedly deleting messages on her phone.

From Anton’s perspective, the scene was clear enough to make him frown deeply.

’Did David Richardson convince her to break up with Peter?’ he wondered, an uneasy feeling settling in his chest.

In fact, the Anton’s guess was right. The moment Adriana stepped into the café, David Richardson confronted her directly.

Adriana smiled on seeing, even though she was nervous as hell, and greeted, "Hello, Uncle!"

David ignored her and went straight to the point, sparing no effort for pleasantries. "Why don’t you say something about this café?"

Adriana paused, fingers curling slightly against the strap of her bag before she nodded with a polite smile. "It’s... quite nice."

"If you want to open a cafe like this, how long would it take?" David asked in a calm voice.

"Maybe... 10 years or so?" Adriana said hesitantly.

"Oh? You mean you will own this cafe by the age of 31?"

His lips curved faintly. "I gave this place to my son as a small gift when he was seven."

Her smile faltered. Adriana’s gaze dropped slowly to the polished tabletop, the words sinking in like cold water.

"This was just a trivial present," he continued evenly. "Tell me, are you planning to open a startup in the future?"

She looked up, startled, then corrected him calmly. "Not a startup. I plan to open my own fashion brand."