I gathered information from various sources and confirmed that the one responsible for my father's death was the general manager of the contracting company. Seizing the opportunity when he was on vacation, I infiltrated his vacation villa by the seaside. I killed the couple who were vacationing there. Just as I was preparing to leave through the back door, I stumbled upon their son coming down the stairs.

I wore a mask and gloves at the time, but I couldn't avoid getting bloodstains on my body. Moreover, the strong smell of blood couldn't be concealed. I think that the child instantly understood what I had done.

We stood in the hallway, locking eyes with each other. I hesitated whether to kill him, and he must have been trying to figure out how to escape from my grasp.

Then, the sky outside brightened as a lightning bolt streaked across it. I instinctively closed my eyes and tried to cover my ears. Seizing the opportunity, he immediately ran into a room. I could have shot him or chased after him to cut his throat, but I didn't do either. Perhaps his dark eyes looked genuinely innocent, or maybe the fulfillment of my revenge left me undecided. I left the house, took a night bus to a small town near the border, and used a prepared fake identity to enter another country, starting a new life.

Ten years have passed, and although I've earned some money during these years, I still feel incredibly lonely in this foreign land. Perhaps it's due to my dark past that I can't establish stable relationships with others. The longest and most meaningful relationship I had was with Carolyn, whom I even considered proposing to. However, we eventually parted ways. Before she left, Carolyn told me she regretted wasting her time with me because I never truly loved her. She always felt there was an invisible barrier separating us.

This experience with Carolyn left me deeply frustrated, and I even prepared myself for a lifetime of loneliness. However, that's when I met Charles.

How can I describe Charles to you? Well, his arrival felt like a missing piece being placed under a wobbling table. He never questioned my past, but that didn't leave us with a shortage of conversation. We discussed Sunday games, the players Miami spent a fortune on, and the Yankees' baseball match on Wednesday. With him, I saw that same grayish feeling Carolyn described. He often stared out the window late at night, making international calls. As a response, I kept my secrets hidden as well. To satisfy each other, I tried submitting myself for the first time in my life. I'm sure I'm not gay, and I don't find pleasure in such affairs. Even if he were to cheat on me, I doubt it would bother me. Can you understand that when someone is too lonely, they can lower their boundaries limitlessly?

But in the end, I discovered his secret.

One evening, as usual, we finished in the bathtub. I took another bath inside while he lay on the bed, naked, with his eyes closed, apparently resting. When he heard a sound, he opened his eyes and glanced at me.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

That glance felt somewhat familiar, as if I had seen it before but couldn't remember where. Even as I went to bed, I still thought about it.

Then, fragments of memories flooded my mind at that moment. I suddenly recalled the eyes of that child from many years ago.

It felt like an electric shock coursing through my nerves. I froze in place, but I tried to comfort myself with the possibility that I might be overthinking things. I hardly slept that night; every time I closed my eyes, various images of corpses flashed before me. My father hanging from the ceiling, my mother tortured to the bone, and the couple shot dead with their eyes wide open.

The next day, almost immediately after waking up, I started collecting information. I couldn't go back, so I contacted friends who were still in the country and asked them to investigate that boy's background. The days waiting for their reply felt like an eternity. Finally, the email arrived, and one glance confirmed my suspicions; it was Charles.

The person I had been together with day and night turned out to be the son of my sworn enemy, and for Charles, I was the killer of his entire family.

I'm not sure if Charles knows about this. If it was a mere coincidence, it would be too much of a coincidence.

So, I began to calm down and carefully recollected every event that occurred since I met Charles. However, everything he did seemed normal. When I was stuck in this dilemma, I suddenly remembered a small incident.

Once, while we were making love and it was raining outside, a lightning bolt streaked across the sky. Instinctively, I closed my eyes and was about to cover my ears, but I noticed that Charles had already done so. He gazed at me with a gentle smile and said, 'Is it better for you like this?'

At that moment, my hair stood on end.

I initially thought his actions were just considerate, but looking back now, he probably knew about my identity long ago... No, perhaps his appearance by my side was also planned.

Since Charles knows my identity, his intentions are clear; he seeks revenge. For him, merely shooting me would be too easy. I imagine he wants to wait until I completely fall in love with him, then reveal his true purpose, watching me suffer before killing me. This kind of revenge would inflict more pain on me than ordinary retaliation and aligns better with his personality.

After understanding everything, I strangely found myself calm. Ten years ago, I might have chosen to escape or kill him before he acted. But now, after a decade, I'm tired.

I'm too tired. I used to make revenge the sole purpose of my life, but achieving it didn't bring me satisfaction; instead, it left me feeling empty. My enemy is dead, but my loved ones won't come back, and my life hasn't improved. Hatred feels like throwing punches in the air; there's no real target.

Perhaps this is not a bad ending. Let Charles take my life and put an end to this long cycle of revenge.

With these thoughts in mind, I buried this matter deep in my heart and wholeheartedly enjoyed what I consider to be my last moments.

Haha, who would have thought that the first call I received would be so complicated, just like a novel. Regardless of its truth, we'll provide comfort to you. But it seems you've already sorted things out yourself and don't need our advice.

Actually, the trouble I wanted to talk about isn't related to this.

Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting you earlier. Please continue.

No, it's just that I was hesitating about how to share it properly... The thing is, I actually discovered his true identity three years ago. During this time, I've been waiting for him to take my life, but he hasn't done it yet. So, I assumed he hadn't found the right moment until today...

Has he acted now?

No, it's not about that.

Oh? Then what is it that troubles you so much?

Here's what happened: after we finished, as usual, I was going to the bathroom to clean up. When I pushed him away to get up, he suddenly grabbed me from behind and pinned me down. I was taken aback, thinking he was finally going to make his move. I didn't resist and let him hold me...

And then? Did he do something?