hotmtlnovel Chapter 228 How sorry are you?
Chapter 228 How sorry are you?
As Tristan sat in that chair, his aura expanded around him like a shroud of pure terror. It alone could've been enough to make people with a weak will to fall and cry.
Mr. and Ms. Hayes weren't the strongest people. Although they would tell anyone that they had to fight for what they got, in reality, their fights were small and simple. Most of what they earned came to them from the privilege of having generational wealth or pure luck of making the right connections at the right time.
Both of Tristan's parents could do nothing but fall to their knees and stay frozen in their places there.
Tristan let his aura of terror dim a little—enough that his audience could listen.
"Norah Hayes started her career as a singer and model. But she was never truly successful until she married Harry Hayes. It's an open secret in the industry that all your successes as a singer are built on money provided by your husband and his family."
Tristan smirked venomously when he saw how his mother flinched.
"That's right. You are a shitty singer, and your looks... average for model standards. Is that why you retired to raise a family as soon as you could? So you could raise stars out of your children where you yourself failed? You were lucky both me and Daniel are actually into it."
He let out a mirthless laugh and turned to his father.
"And the Hayes family. It got its wealth not by entirely legal means, didn't it? Horse betting business you own IS legal, but what about the business of my dear grandfather? Not the nice one, the one I've only met a few times in my life for Christmas."
Tristan's father shook his head.
"You can't—"
"Yes, I can. Excuses like these won't fly with the inspectors when they find how much money your business launders for the less savory businesses of the Hayes family. Since you chose to give me none of that money when I needed it the most, it could as well burn."
Tristan was bluffing here—but only slightly. He didn't have solid proof about the money laundering thing, but from the information and clues he found earlier, he was 99% sure.
However, in the way he spoke, his bluff was nothing but 200% self-assurance. Nobody would even think to wonder if he was lying—no, even if Tristan said the sky was green, they wouldn't consider looking up before believing his words.
The desperation in his father's eyes proved Tristan right.
"Just that little push can destroy you all. Daniel will be caught in the backlash, too... Fuck him." Tristan sneered. "The more I think about it, the more I think I should do it. Convince me otherwise."
"But... But Tristan, we are your parents!" Norah protested weakly.
Tristan looked at her like at the most pathetic and dumb creature of them all.
"Are you really talking out of your mouth and not your ass, mother? You think that would convince me, when you were barely convinced of this just earlier? Despite obviously recognizing my face?"
"Tristan, you have done well for yourself, haven't you? We always knew you would thrive, no matter what! Please, find in yourself to forgive—"
Tristan shoved him aside as well.
He stared at his parents—still covered in leftover burns, with tear-covered faces and eyes full of fear and desperation. Remorse was there as well—but in trace amounts.
It was a shameful amount of remorse. It was a remorse aimed less at what Tristan went through, but more at what the consequences were now for themselves.
"You both are terrible people. No wonder your children are so awful as well," Tristan said. "If I was a person who cared for the wellbeing of the world, I would've let you burn together with your mansion."
Tristan stood up and rolled his shoulders.
In his head, he had just made a decision, and he felt strangely at ease with it.
'Perhaps now, a burden will fall from my chest at last.'
Harry and Norah swallowed in fear, shifting closer to each other in search of safety from Tristan's gaze. Blood was dripping on the polished wooden floors from Harry's leg. Norah opened her mouth to speak, but closed it immediately after.
"I'm not such a great person, though, so instead I will only destroy you. If you avoid going to prison, you will be out on the streets after this. These money laundering schemes, your every dirty secret—they will find the person most hungry for them. I will make sure of it."
Tristan's parents gasped in disbelief.
"But Tristan! We-we have apologized! All the humiliation—don't you believe how sorry we are?!" Norah cried out, wringing her arms. "Please! Don't be so cruel to us!"
"Think! Think about your grandparents—you still care about them, right? They don't live with us, but they will be implicated in this too, if you do it!" Harry shouted desperately.
Tristan walked around them toward the exit, stopping only to pick up his knife. His voice was entirely nonchalant as he spoke.
"Oh, I had enough of your meaningless pleas and of your 'sorries'. It doesn't matter how much you say—all your words are just hot air."
He closed the door behind him with a bang and walked downstairs.
Tristan's heart was at ease.
In a week or two, Harry and Norah Hayes were going to go bankrupt. Tristan was going to hack, coerce and trade for their secrets—ones he didn't have yet—and do exactly as he promised.
He was also going to keep watching over Norah's parents from a distance. They were barely in contact with the main family by now. It would be easy to keep them separate from the overall shitshow.
'This will leave only Daniel for me to deal with,' Tristan thought. 'But not right now. He deserves more than just being crushed—he needs to stew first. Daniel will find out what happened to his parents, become a part of it—and when he thinks he is finally escaping his problems, I will bring him down for good.'
Tristan waited for so long, he could wait a little more. Besides, he was very curious how Daniel would react—and would he act any better than Tristan's parents when he finds that they are in trouble.