His Perfect Wife Strikes Back

58 58 Give You A Choice You A Choice

"You once told me their names were on your death list, didn't you? If I remember correctly!"

His voice was low and grave, like that of a priest about to give a service. I'm not sure if he can talk like that. But I knew very well that what was to come had something to do with the ritual.

"Answer me." He looked at me calmly.

"Yes," I said, and before I knew it, my voice was becoming like his. There was something magical about his body, and it affected me. This made me feel a little uneasy, so I tried to keep my mind clear. I couldn't help but take a step back. Maybe I should leave this place at once.

"Have you ever thought about killing them yourself?" He asked. "Tell me, what is your motive for wanting to kill them?"

I glanced at the Karr brothers, their heads bowed and their eyelids drooping, bound to the gallows. The sound of breathing from their noses is as low as a dying man's.

"They traffic women and force them into p.rostitution," I said, staring at them, my mind playing with images. I saw the woman they had beaten and scolded on the freighter. I saw Fiona's twisted face as she lay dying, and the last frame was of me hanging naked from the mast.

I was so humiliated, and I hated them.

"They beat women like dogs for fun. They killed my friends. They deserve to die!" The anger that had been pent up inside me finally exploded. I even wanted to pick up a knife and stab the Karr brothers. I wanted them to feel the pain.

"Do you think it would make you feel better to just kill them?" He approached me, a hand caressing my cheek. His eyes became gentle, like a priest looking at a devotee in prayer.

He wanted to touch my hatred with an invisible force.

"If I don't kill them, I can't sleep at night. They always appear in my dreams," I said naturally.

"Do you think you can truly free your mind by simply killing them?" He smiled faintly. "Everyone makes mistakes. Only a truly repentant soul can be saved. We're all the same."

I looked at him quizzically. Did he think I was wrong?

"If a person hurts you, do you want to get back at him the way that person treated you, or would you rather hear his confession first?" He asked, "If a man truly repents of his sins before you, do you consider forgiving him, at least in your heart?"

"I don't know. It depends." I noticed that my volume was getting lower. I wonder if some mistakes can really be forgiven.

The warehouse fell silent and the older Karr's head shook. He blinked his eyes. After trying for a long time, he finally opened his eyes. His brother next to him woke up almost at the same time.

"It is time for them to repent of their sins!" He turned to the Karr brothers.

Daley ripped the yellow tape off the older Karr's mouth and I heard a tear. The older Karr's eyes widened, and a ring of tape indentation appeared around his mouth.

"Son of a b.itch!" The older Karr shouted at Daley, then looked around when he found him tied to the gallows. The anger in his eyes immediately subsided into shock and, finally, fear.

"Daley, let's talk," the older Karr said, pleading. "I can give you your money back. We don't have to do this."

"I've got my money." Daley smirked. "It looks like you're going to die today. I'm afraid that's non-negotiable."

"No. You can't kill me."He panicked, "If you kill me, my people will surely seek revenge on you. You are not a native of this island, and they will never accept your rule. Daley, we can work this out. You can make me an offer, and I won't refuse."

"Your people?" Daley said in the most frightening of terms, in a calm voice. "But they're all dead, in your house, including your father."

The older Karr froze, his eyes showing great grief, but only for a moment. Soon he said, in a dog-like manner, "Daley, I'll work for you. I'll give you all the money I have for selling women. Just let me live. Please!"

"Would you be willing to lick my toes every night before I go to bed?" Daley walked up to the older Karr, who stared at him. "Would you be willing to p.rostitute yourself if I asked you to?"

The older Karr realized he was being played. He stared at the man in front of him for a moment, then he laughed at Daley. "You son of a b.itch, just kill me!"

Daley turned to me, "Did you see that? The worst fear of wicked and shameless is death. They would do anything to survive for a while. But as soon as they get the chance, they will fight back and they won't remember you forgiving them. This is pathetic human nature!"

"Maybe we should just kill him." I looked coldly at the older Karr, who was also staring at me, as if trying to remember who I was.

"I'll give you a choice," Daley said to the older Karr, "If you truly repent to the lady before you of the mistakes you have made, then you shall have the easiest way to die. The pain of hanging will be much better than my next plan!"

The older Karr glared at me and said viciously, "I only wish I had f.ucked her in the ass. You are worse than a dog to me!"

"Is it true?" He looked at the older Karr with some disappointment, and all the piety and compassion that had been in his eyes disappeared in an instant.

"Then you go to hell!" He picked up the tape and put it over his mouth again. Then he went to the other side in silence. He returned with a plastic bucket and a scalpel.

I held my breath. What the hell is he doing?

Then I saw him slit the older Karr's neck with the knife in his hand. His movements were quick and precise. Blood flowed from the older Karr's neck into a plastic bucket on the floor, dripping as sweetly as a raindrop.

The older Karr struggled, but even though his hands were stained with blood, he could not break free. He shook his head, trying in vain to shout.

"I gave you a choice, but you failed me." Daley shook his head as if to a hopeless child. "I'll cut off your flesh and put it in a meat grinder and bury it in my garden as fertilizer. You broke my garden, remember? But before you do, you have to see for yourself what your heart looks like. I bet you haven't seen it!"

As he spoke, he aimed the knife at older Karr's heart.