Heavy Rain Chapter 42

The moment Lyle recalled Haejin’s face—pale and trembling as he was grabbed by the collar—he could no longer suppress his rage. His pheromones, released from all control and laced with murderous intent, lunged at the former butler.

“Ack, kuh-heck!”

Lyle loathed manipulating others with pheromones. At times, it made him feel like nothing more than a savage animal. Nevertheless, in this moment, Lyle abandoned himself to instinct. He directed it at the man who had intimidated Haejin like that over a mere, pathetic lie.

The butler, whose face quickly turned purple as if he were suffocating, collapsed onto the floor. Seeing the saliva trickling onto the carpet made a surge of revulsion rise within Lyle.

“Did you think that because I left you be, you had somehow become the master of this mansion?”

Most of the servants replaced this time were those who had worked here since before his late father died. Except for those who had resigned of their own accord back then, Lyle had continued to employ them. He had even raised their annual salaries significantly.

It was a form of hush money and special treatment—to hide the shame of his parents, who had died ignominiously in the garden. More than anything, since he had no affection for a place like this mansion, he had found it too bothersome to hire new people.

“Ku… sa… save me…”

Lyle sneered as he used his pheromones to completely throttle the man’s windpipe. It seemed they had collectively lost their minds after receiving that special treatment. Perhaps they had deluded themselves into thinking he couldn’t easily discard them. They might have even thought they held a significant weakness over the Vermouth family.

And while manipulating such a group, the former butler’s delusion must have grown until he felt as though he were the master of this house. On the surface, he would have acted as if he were doing it for Lyle’s sake, rationalizing everything with all sorts of ridiculous excuses.

The power Lyle held now was different from back then. If they were the type to arrogantly covet the master’s seat, it was time to tear them out by the roots.

“And watch your mouth. From now on, your treatment will depend on Jin.”

His own legal team would handle the butler directly, rather than outsourcing it to another law firm.

Lyle had no intention of framing himself as a victim, but it was true that he had been exploited in this matter. Using drugs to forcibly induce a heat cycle in an Omega was a serious crime. Raping such an Omega was, of course, a grave offense, as was plotting to involve another Alpha in the scheme. He would ensure the man received a heavy sentence on a completely different dimension than mere embezzlement.

Perhaps the butler had thought Lyle would pressure Haejin to cover up this incident once again, hoping to grasp the Vermouth family’s weakness in his hands once more.

Whether the man had acted with that awareness or truly deluded himself into thinking this kind of act was for Lyle’s sake remained unknown. Lyle didn’t want to know, either.

“Heh-hook, keck!”

It was uncertain whether that prison sentence could ever truly offset the butler’s sins. One thing was for sure: Lyle had no intention of letting this end easily.

“Clear him out.”

The man’s excuses were exactly as expected, so there was no need to listen further. At his cold command, a bodyguard entered, grabbed the former butler by the scruff of the neck, and dragged him out. As a fellow Alpha, the guard had a look on his face that suggested he was overwhelmed by Lyle’s massive pheromones.

As the unpleasant pheromones brushed past his nose, Lyle habitually thought of Haejin. His body grew heated with a yearning to draw close to that faint scent, which was like winter air. However, instead of rushing out of the room, Lyle slowly covered his face and leaned deep into his chair.

In the first place, the reason that man was able to act to such an extent was ultimately because Lyle had provided that opening. Because he himself had treated Haejin that way for the past five years. Because he had used him as if he could be toyed with at will without any consequences.

The fact that he and that man were not much different was, in the end, horrific to Lyle.

“Are you experiencing any discomfort, Mr. Bright?”

“…”

A soft-spoken servant asked Haejin as they brought him his meal. Unfamiliar with that gentle tone, Haejin merely lowered his gaze and inspected the food. He saw a thin soup and salad suitable for a patient.

Even this was still overwhelming right now. Although his swollen throat had subsided, his appetite had not returned. Furthermore, the gaze of the servant watching over him was burdensome. He couldn’t forget the eyes that used to monitor him as he ate.

Haejin had been informed of the situation. A secretary with a familiar face had visited and told him what had happened in the meantime. He remembered seeing Lyle before losing consciousness, but he hadn’t expected the situation to change like this while he slept.

Outside the window, a significantly increased number of security personnel were moving about in pairs. In general, the atmosphere of the mansion had shifted abruptly.

Of course, what he felt had changed the most was the attitude of the servants, who had all been replaced.

“…”

Barely swallowing a sigh, he finally lifted his spoon. Of course, the new servants did not stand over him and monitor him until he emptied the bowl like before. Rather, if it seemed he couldn’t eat much, they told him not to overexert himself.

Instead, they would frequently bring in trays so that Haejin could eat something. This new method was even more pressuring.

His hand trembled slightly. Nausea rose before he could even take a few spoonfuls, but he endured it. The people watching him now were not those people from back then. On the contrary, their gaze was quite worried, even to Haejin’s eyes.

Nevertheless, he simply couldn’t stand it.

“…Stop…”

“Yes. Please don’t push yourself. I will bring more later.”

Haejin covered his mouth and couldn’t respond because he was holding his breath. It felt miserable to have those pitiful looks stabbing into his skin. It was the emotion he was most accustomed to in this mansion, but today it felt particularly nauseating. That soft way of speaking, that gaze.

They said those people were gone now.

As soon as the servant who collected the tray left the room, Haejin exhaled. Then, out of habit, he looked out the window. Discovering the sun shining down on the spot where Lyle used to sit and eat, Haejin was seized by a strange impulse.

After sitting blankly on the bed for a long time, there was a knock.

He flinched and looked toward the door. Unlike before, the newly changed staff did not just throw his door open recklessly.

Even knowing that, Haejin had to answer the outside with a hoarse voice. If he didn’t, that knocking sound would surely ring out again.

“Mr. Bright. Excuse me.”

However, he soon regretted not enduring the knocking. As a person dressed in a butler’s uniform entered, he couldn’t stop the goosebumps from breaking out on his forearms.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, yes. I’m fine.”

Pulling up the duvet, Haejin avoided his gaze. The new butler, whose hair had turned white, was the epitome of an elderly gentleman, unlike the previous butler.

The corners of his eyes were kindly wrinkled along the lines of his smile. His quiet manner of speaking always drifted softly through the room. Above all, since he was a Beta, there were no unpleasant pheromones unique to Alphas.

Nevertheless, Haejin couldn’t meet his eyes because of that black butler uniform.

“The sun is out for the first time in a while today. How about spending some time in the inner courtyard garden?”

Seeing Haejin visibly shrinking back, the elderly gentleman fell into thought, feeling sorry for him.

He was the predecessor to the butler who had been fired recently due to the unsavory incident. Having served Lyle’s parents, he had stepped down from the position after witnessing their deaths and feeling disillusioned.

However, a vacancy for the butler position had suddenly opened up in the mansion, and at Lyle’s persistent request, he had decided to return for a while.

Only, as soon as he arrived, a very unexpected guest was waiting for his care. When he heard a summary of the former butler’s atrocities, he couldn’t hide his wretched heart. After all, the fired former butler was practically a disciple he had raised.

“…That is likely not a place I can go.”

“That cannot be true. The young master requested that Mr. Bright be allowed to move freely within the mansion.”

The elderly gentleman had always felt sorry for his disciple, who, despite being an Alpha, always harbored an inferiority complex because he was a recessive one. Thus, he had understood the man’s desire to be promoted quickly to the position of butler as a healthy expression of ambition.

It just so happened that the opportunity had come early because Lyle’s predecessors had passed away like that. Although that slightly twisted inferiority complex had weighed on his mind, he had believed the man would pull through. Why on earth did he commit such wicked acts?