NOVEL NEXT Chapter 91: Not backing down
Helen tilted her head, studying him as though he were a puzzle. A deputy inspector couldn't just say yes to a stranger, yet something about his boldness, his ease after everything that just happened, made her hesitate longer than she normally would.
"Okay," she said after a pause, her voice calm but decisive. "But not right now, it'll have to be another time. I'm heading to work."
"Sure," Yohan replied quickly, hiding his disappointment behind an easy smile.
Helen opened her car door, then reached inside and retrieved a small card from her bag. With a practiced motion, she handed it to him. "You can call me later."
Her eyes lingered on his for a moment as he accepted it, the faintest curl at the edge of her lips
Yohan turned the card over in his hand, reading her name printed in bold: Deputy Inspector Helen S. Carter. The title alone sent a little jolt through him. She wasn't just confident—she was official, the kind of woman who carried authority everywhere she went.
"Deputy Inspector, huh?" he said, smirking as he slipped the card into his pocket. "Guess I should watch how I behave around you."
Helen gave him a knowing look as she slid into the driver's seat. "That would be wise."
The engine purred to life. Before closing the door, she added, "And Yohan? Don't keep me waiting too long. I don't hand out cards to just anyone."
He blinked, caught off guard by the faint playfulness behind her words. Then the door shut, and with a smooth motion, she pulled out of the lot and disappeared into the traffic.
Yohan stood there a moment longer, hands in his pockets, grinning to himself.
'Damn, I think I just met my type'
Yohan got home after a while, when he entered he was surprised to see his uncle and aunt hadn't gone to work yet.
"Yohan you are back," his uncle said with an usual cheerfulness. They were sitting comfortably on the couch as if waiting for him
"Yeah?" He didn't know what to think of with this much excitement from his uncle, so he just continued to his room.
"Yohan, wait," his uncle stopped him. "Your Aunt here told me you've decided to pay off the debt?" A wide smile stretched across his face.
"Yeah," Yohan replied flatly, his tone stripped of any warmth.
"Well, I just wanted to say thank you, and to let you know you're doing the right thing for the family."
But it didn't feel like that to Yohan. Watching his uncle beam with excitement only deepened the knot in his chest. The man looked too relieved, too happy, as if the burden had been his all along.
Dissatisfaction soured Yohan's stomach. Part of him wished he'd let the bastard drown in the weight of his own mistakes, to make him pay for the way he had treated him but he couldn't do that because of his aunt and Cassie.
"But if I do that, the house would have to be transferred to my name," Yohan said, his voice steady but edged with steel. It was the only way he could think of to at least get some sort of revenge out of this.
His uncle's smile faltered, draining into a look of shock. In an instant, his face went pale. "What… what do you mean?" he stammered.
"I mean, I'm the one paying, right?" Yohan smirked, his tone calm but cutting. "It's only fair that the house becomes mine."
His uncle sprang up from the couch, standing toe to toe with Yohan. Though shorter, he puffed out his chest, trying to meet Yohan's gaze head-on.
"What the hell did you just say, you little brat!" he roared, his voice louder than his frame could carry.
His Aunt hurried to her feet as well, slipping between them. "Honey, calm down for a moment," she urged, hands pressing against his chest to keep him from lunging forward.
"That's my only condition," Yohan said firmly. "Otherwise, you'll have to find another way to repay your debt."
"You really are an ungrateful piece of shit!" his uncle spat, his face red with fury. "After everything I've done for you—this is how you repay me? By trying to steal my house?"
"Funny you should say that," Yohan said, voice flat as stone. "That's exactly what you did with my parents' house. I never even got to know where the money went."
His uncle's jaw clenched so hard a vein stood out at his temple. He knew Yohan spoke the truth, the look in his eyes gave it away, but pride and panic wrestled harder than honesty. He forced a laugh that sounded like a cough.
"Well, just know your plan's never going to work. I'm not going to let you take my house from me." His voice trembled with fury and something like fear, as he jabbed a finger at Yohan as if that proved the point.
Yohan watched the finger, then the man behind it: a shorter man trying to look large. There was no flinch in him now, only a calm that felt colder than any shout. He let the silence stretch, patient as a winter.
"Then find another way to keep it," Yohan said finally, small and certain. "Because I'm not backing down."
He continued to his room.
The aunt hovered at the edge of the room, hands clenched above her chest, her mind caught between panic and disbelief.
She hadn't expected Yohan to demand something like that. On one hand, it felt cruel, heartless even, to strip her of the only home she had left. But on the other hand, she couldn't bring herself to say he was wrong. Not after what his uncle had done with his parents' house.
Back then she had advised her husband that what he was doing wasn't right, that he should at least consult Yohan before selling the house but he wouldn't listen. He sold it and used it to pay off some other debts he was owing.
Who knew that action would come back and bite them in the ass like this.