Chapter 3 Chloe's Down on Her Luck

• The burly man, Nate Poole, glared at her and fumed, "Chloe Hahn, don't act like I haven't shown you any mercy. When we signed the loan contract, it was clearly stated that you need to pay up by the fifteenth of this month. Well, it's the end of the month now! How can you ask for a few more days? Are you trying to skip out on the loan?"
• "No, of course not, Mr. Poole. I really don't have any money."
• "No money, huh? Hasn't Twilight Bar given out this month's paychecks? Where's yours?"
• "I-I used the money to pay for my father's hospital fees!"
• "F*cking hell!" Nate cursed. "So, you have the money to pay for medical treatments for that d*mn father of yours, but no money to pay me back, huh? Do you think I'm running a charity?"
• "Nate, why are you wasting your breath on her? Let's just go around the house and take whatever's valuable," one of Nate's lackeys suggested.
• Nate paused. His eyes flicked across the shabby room, and his lips twitched.
• Smack!
• "Ouch!" The man who had spoken rubbed his head and asked resentfully, "Why did you hit me, Nate?"
• "So what if I did? Bashing you up won't make up for the grief you caused me. Why don't you take a f*cking look around? Does it look like there's anything valuable in here? Do you know how much she owes me? 50 thousand! Forget about the things in here. Even the selling price of this house won't be enough to cover the debt!"
• "U-Um, Mr. Poole…" Chloe spoke up weakly. "I'm renting this house… so I can't sell it…"
• "F*cking hell!" Nate felt as if he was going to get an aneurysm. He was so pissed off that he nearly choked up blood. Is it your life's mission to make me mad, little girl?
• Chloe seemed to have realized that it was poor timing for her to say something like that, so she took a step back and eyed Nate in fear.
• All of a sudden, Nate's eyes lit up. "Look at how pretty this chick is. Why am I worried about not getting my money back?"
• "Hehe!"
• Nate's men started leering after hearing what he said.
• Clearly, all of them knew what Nate meant. They threw lascivious looks at Chloe.
• "Here's what we'll do. I'll tell the manager at your bar that from tonight onward, you'll start taking clients. I'm sure that with these looks of yours, you'll raise all the money you need to pay me back in a matter of days!"
• "No! Mr. Poole, I—"
• Before she could finish speaking, Nate waved his hand and cut her off. "How's this then? You said you wanted me to give you a few more days, right? Well, I won't be too hard on you. Let's have some fun, and I'll give you a three-day extension. How's that?"
• "No! I don't want to!"
• "Hey, you b*tch! Be grateful when I'm being nice to you!" Nate flew into a rage and slapped her hard on the face.
• "Ahh!" Chloe crashed to the ground from the forceful slap. The corner of her lips began to bleed.
• Nate came over and grabbed her by the hair. "You chose the hard way yourself. You're working at a bar, so why bother pretending to be a class act? You should be thanking your lucky stars that you get to serve me!"
• "I work at a bar because it pays well! And enough to cover my father's medical fees! I'm not that kind of woman!" Chloe declared staunchly.
• "Oh, stop acting tough!"
• "Yeah. Maybe you won't have to pay the 50 thousand back if you give Nate a good time!"
• "It's not like you're losing out on anything by having some fun with Nate. Tons of women in Irieson would kill at the chance of getting with Nate, but he doesn't even spare them a glance!"
• Nate's men all started cackling and kicking up a fuss.
• "Hahaha! Hear that? Come. Let's have some fun!"
• Nate was secretly thrilled at the thought of having his way with this innocent and pretty young beauty.
• Chloe tried her best to escape from him, but she was a weak young woman who didn't know how to fight. How could she possibly stand a chance against Nate, who was burly and muscular? All her struggles were futile.
• In the end, she closed her eyes in despair as tears flowed down her captivating face.
• Why?! Why is the world treating me like this?! What did I do wrong?!
• Just as she began to lament the injustice in her life, she heard a loud sound.
• Crash!
• Chloe felt a gust of air that seemed to have brought dust and splintered wood with it, and the forceful grip that had been holding her down vanished!
• She raised her head in a daze and saw the man that appeared so suddenly.
• He had a khaki jacket on. His stubble, slender frame, and pale complexion made him look like someone who had dispirited with life, but none of it could hide the piercing look in his eyes.
• He had a large travel bag in one hand while the other was holding onto a chair that only had one of its legs intact. All the while, he was staring coldly at Nate.
• Then, Chloe looked at Nate, who was clutching his forehead with both hands. Blood trickled between his fingers.
• Nate was stunned into disbelief. He stared dumbly at Thomas as he hadn't figured out what was happening yet.
• Even his men were all staring at Thomas in shock.
• None of them knew when this person had barged into the house!
• It was almost as if Thomas had just appeared out of thin air!
• Was this what Muhammad Ali meant by 'float like a butterfly and sting like a bee?'
• "How dare you f*cking hit me? Do you know who I am?!" Nate stood up and roared.
• Thomas smirked condescendingly.
• "I don't care who you are. I, Thomas Clifford, won't let anyone bully my sister, and if you do, I'll tear your skin off!"
• "Thomas Clifford? You're Thomas?" Chloe exclaimed excitedly. Although she had never met Thomas, she was very familiar with his name. He was the one that her brother Zachary mentioned the most whenever they talked on the phone!
• "What the f*ck? Get him, guys!"
• Nate's men charged over.
• Crash! Bang! Slam!
• Thomas showed no sign of fear as he took them head-on. Fist after fist, he moved through the crowd of burly men as if he were a fish swimming in water. After all, it was not as if he had gone through military training for nothing. In less than a minute, Nate was the only one still standing.
• Nate trembled. Sweat formed along his brow. Someone who did his business in the underground world couldn't be a total fool. He knew very well that a guy who could defeat six of his men without even breaking a sweat was no ordinary guy.
• "Who are you?" Nate was glaring so hard at Thomas that his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
• All was silent, and the tension in the air seemed to choke those who attempted to breathe.
• "I'm your father." Thomas crossed his arms and cocked his eyebrows.
• Derision. Disdain. His look of condescension made it seem like he was looking at a bug on the side of the road.
• Nate's face twitched as he turned crimson. He took a dagger out of his waistband and charged forward with the blade aimed at Thomas' throat as he roared, "I'll kill you!"
• The blade glinted as it grew closer to Thomas' throat.