Chapter 334
Hearing someone echo his words, Boss, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them wide. Looking at the ugly expressions of the brothers he once trusted with his life, his heart turned cold.
“What do you mean by this? Didn’t I ask for your opinions before I took this job? I only accepted it after you all agreed. And if I recall correctly, you were happy during the payout back then. So why, now that there’s trouble, do you push all the blame onto me as if it’s all my fault? I’m telling you, if there’s a mistake, we all made it together. It’s impossible for me to take the blame alone while you all get off scot-free!”
Boss felt betrayed by his brothers, and the words he spoke contained no solace; instead, they aimed right at their wounds, stripping away the facade they tried to hide behind.
“Among us, you’re the most eloquent. I won’t listen to your excuses. The fact is, we are trapped here, and if we can’t escape, you won’t either. That person we encountered is a demon, a psychopath. If you had told us about him, we would never have taken this job. So, all the fault lies with you. Our biggest mistake was trusting you too easily.” The man’s face twisted with terror and anger.
He was completely frenzied.
The doubts sown by Boss’s words were being reinforced, pulling at their thoughts. They couldn’t help but think, if you hadn’t hidden the danger of this mission from us, we wouldn’t have agreed to take it. So, all of this is your fault.
Those who were hesitant moments ago now looked resolute once more.
“He’s right. If you had been upfront, we would never have taken this job. We trusted you, yet you pushed us into the fire and now try to shift the blame onto us. We’ve known each other for so many years, and I never thought you were this kind of person.” Another man spoke with an expression of heartbreak. His natural demeanor won him the trust and favor of the others, and Boss could feel the hostility in their gaze.
Boss, who was relaxed moments ago, now tensed his limbs in a defensive stance, bracing his muscles tightly, prepared to react at the first sign of danger, determined not to become a helpless victim.
“Don’t make it sound so bad, as if I pushed you into a pit of fire. You jumped in for profit, what does it have to do with me? I thought of you as brothers for life, but it seems that when disaster strikes, even brothers are no different from strangers. From today on, we go our separate ways, and if we escape, don’t ever contact me again.” Boss’s mocking expression deeply wounded their fragile hearts.
“Since you say we’re not related, shouldn’t we settle the score? You dragged us into this, and without paying a price, you expect to leave us behind? How could that be possible!” One of the men spoke menacingly, lunging at Boss like a ferocious tiger.
Boss immediately kicked him away.
“He reacted so quickly, he must have been on guard against us. Perhaps he planned to kill us all. We can’t let him get away with it,” said one of the people holding Boss down. He then bit down on Boss’s ear and ripped it from his head with a fierce shake, eyes filled with rage.
“Ah!” Boss screamed out in pain.
He wanted to refute the man’s words, but he had no opportunity. Once someone takes the first step, others are quick to follow. They turned their fears into furious actions, and soon, Boss was left a bloody mess, with some wounds so deep the bone was visible.
The once-calculating Boss now barely clung to life, his breaths shallow, on the verge of taking his last. The previously crazed attackers realized their actions only after seeing the blood-soaked scene, mutually recognizing the horror in each other’s eyes, leaving them stunned.
They had only intended to vent their emotions. How did it come to this?
Now, each of them was at a loss.
Soon, the stillness was shattered by a loud noise, and though Boss still clung to life, he lay silently bleeding at a distance from his former brothers who sat, arms folded, ignoring his existence.
He wanted to say something, but his mouth could only move, unable to produce any sound.
No one came to check his injuries, nor to bandage his wounds. The light in Boss’s eyes dimmed, and yet he clung to life with terrifying tenacity.
“I’m hungry,” someone remarked.
With his words, several stomachs growled in the garage, echoing in the silence.
“Damn it, when are they going to bring us food? Are they planning to starve us to death here?” the man asked in frustration, but no one responded, as if they were all deaf, making him feel embarrassed.
Soon, he wasn’t the only one feeling the hunger, and more stomachs began grumbling, reviving the earlier conversation.
“They wouldn’t really starve us to death like this, would they?” someone muttered quietly.
“Maybe. We didn’t get anything to eat today. They might not bring us food tomorrow either. Are they really just going to starve us to death?” another whispered.
The words struck them with fear; the silence in the garage was punctuated only by Boss’s labored breathing, loud in the quiet space, drawing their attention to him once more.
Lying there, Boss not only felt a chill in his heart but cold all over. The meaning in their glances was unmistakable, causing his battered body to shiver involuntarily.