Chapter 114

"Back when we were still living with the kids, he would always have some dumb muscle guys there as well. Their instructions were to kill my children if I made a run for it. Aria, Damian, and Lux are allowed to live in their lonesome without being watched because I moved out, and every single move of mine is carefully observed to ensure I don't speak with them or the police without his knowledge."

"… Things are finally starting to become clear. So the relationship between you and the gangster kept worsening until just this morning he got fed up or bored with you, at which point he told you to make him some money with your body?" Kaiden asked.

"Yes…" Julia nodded with ashamed features. "I'm not a drug addict, I don't gain any joy from snorting that horrible stuff. I've been pretending to be hooked on it so he thinks he has complete control over me. I once tried not taking it for a month straight when he wasn't watching, and I had no problems. I even felt better about myself."

"I'm no doctor, but I think you need immediate medical attention, so it's no wonder you felt better. It's likely some cheap, horribly diluted product."

Julia simply nodded at his words.

Although Kaiden was happy he finally managed to get to the bottom of things, the overwhelming emotion swirling in his mind was not joy nor relief but a pure, unadulterated need to kill.

He wanted to end the life of another human being.

Ever since his awakening and forming his grandiose plans, Kaiden knew the day would come when he would have to shed human blood. He was a normal, 21st-century guy who didn't think he would gain any semblance of joy from murder, but it simply needed to be done. Either he would kill his enemies, or he and all who he cared for would be killed.

Kaiden had no personal enemies besides that Maximilian bastard, but the CEO of ChronosX was entirely out of his reach for now. Other than him, he had no vendetta against others that would justify killing a human, but if Kaiden was being honest, he was hoping to gain one.

A personal, moral justification to end a fellow human's life.

Kaiden felt he'd finally gained what he was looking for. "Tell me more about this man."

His words were cold and stated as if they were orders. Julia suddenly felt like she had no power to reject him, so she gulped nervously and began. "He is called Andre, a low-caliber gangster in the grand scheme of things, but he is one of the bigger fishes in the neighborhood. Please, I don't like the terrifying look your eyes have! Tell me you don't want to do something stupid!" her detailing quickly turned into pleading.

"I'll kill him and free you of your shackles," Kaiden decreed, eliciting a pained cry from Julia. "Don't! You'll just ruin things! I kept obeying him for all this time, you'll destroy all of my efforts!"

Kaiden merely eyed the woman without uttering another word—his cold gaze told her all she needed to know. Her opinion on the matter wasn't asked.

Before she could muster another torrent of begging, they were interrupted. The door was kicked in, and two men walked in confidently.

Julia yelped from fright as she jumped out of Kaiden's lap and asked, "What's going on?!"

"You know you can't have visitors, right? That dumbass forgot about the rule."

"He's a paying customer!"

"Is he? You've been in the same room for dozens of minutes, yet all of your clothes are still on. He also told the receptionist he was here to have a chat with you, nothing else."

Julia turned toward Kaiden, who was still sitting on the sofa, oddly calm. She wordlessly asked for confirmation. He nodded. "Yeah, they're right. I didn't know you were a pitiful little bird in a cage, so I said something I shouldn't have, it seems. Is Andre one of them?"

"N-no, but that doesn't matter! You're in big trouble, you have to make a run for it! I'll plead with him to forgive you!" Julia shouted as she begged him to escape. Although she didn't know much about him, their short interaction told the mother all she needed to know. He was a great man who took good care of her daughter.

"You'll do no such thing…" Kaiden announced in a low, cold tone as he slowly rose to his feet. Both the enforcers and Julia felt confused as to why he was so calm.

Kaiden's voice was low and controlled, but there was a weight to it that was hard to ignore. It wasn't anger—no, it was something far more unsettling: a cold, calculating certainty that these men would soon regret crossing him.

Kaiden eyed the two men as he walked up to Julia and placed her behind his back. "You two are wielding weapons that were made with the main intention to aid in killing another human being. If you're ready to kill, then you should be ready to put your life on the line..."

He tilted his head to the side as his eyes began gleaming menacingly. He only said two more words.

"Are you?"

As the words left Kaiden's lips, his aura suddenly shifted from that of an eerily calm man to that of a bloodthirsty predator who presented a grave threat to their lives. The two men gulped involuntarily, and a chill was sent through their bodies. They shook for a moment.

But then, they remembered it was two against one and that they had weapons while he was unarmed. "Big words for a nobody! You watched one too many action movies, son!"

The other continued, "Come with us without making a fuss, and we'll give you no trouble."

Kaiden sighed for a moment before the already gut-wrenching pressure he emitted toward the two was amplified tenfold. His dark eyes shifted in color, turning an ominous crimson red. He only uttered two words.

"Mode: Wrath."