The Lost And Forgotten Memories

      Two days later. Time is quickly getting close to three hours, and it’s gloomy outside. To get through the excitement somehow, Natalia and Helene went to Raquelle’s home. They are now with Cassidy, who was brought here some time ago by Daniel. Besides, Blair, Christiana, and Violetta are sitting comfortably with them in Raquelle’s room on the bed , truly wishing everything to end well.       “It’s almost three o'clock…” Cassidy notices with sadness in her eyes, looking at the watch on the wall. “Those scumbags are about to come…”       “I’m afraid that something may go wrong…” Helene confesses with anxiety, keeping a hand on her heart. “Even if they have a plan, it doesn’t mean everything is gonna be at ease.”       “But the men are very determined and afraid of nothing,” Raquelle replies thoughtfully.       “Anything to save Anna and her parents,” Natalia says confidently.       “Excuse me, girls, why are all your men helping Daniel if they don’t have to do with it?” Violetta asks hesitantly. “Is that man so dangerous that he couldn’t do it alone?”       “Daniel tried to change their minds many times, but the men didn’t wanna listen to them,” Raquelle explains. “They don’t wanna let him deal with him alone. They know it would be hard for him. Besides, Potter is gonna be much more furious after his latest loss.”       “We also tried to make Peter, Edward, and Terrence give up on this idea,” Helene confesses confidently. “But they were determined. So, we only had to support them and wish them luck.”       “But on the contrary, I’m quiet that my brother has their support,” Cassidy says hesitantly, fingering over and looking at her hands. “It’s gonna be easier for Daniel if he knows he’s not alone. I don’t wanna lose my brother. I need him…”       “Edward said that Anna was madly scared when she heard about Daniel’s wish to sacrifice himself in a critical situation,” Natalia confesses.       “Yes, yes, Peter said the same,” Helene nods confidently. “The lads noticed that she always looked for a moment to look at Daniel. She looked at him literally every minute. Secretly. She didn’t want him to see it.”       “I think we all know the reason she did it,” Blair replies with a slight smile.       “Ah, Blair…” Raquelle smiles shyly. “It’s not a secret for us that Anna madly loves Daniel. And she doesn’t deny it while he’s not near.”       “You know, girls, I believe everything is gonna get better soon,” Christiana assumes with a slight smile. “If that guy protects Anna again, she will melt away slowly.”       “At first, we kind of doubted it,” Natalia confesses thoughtfully, wrapping a strand of hair around her finger. “But now we definitely have hope… And Anna lets us know that everything is not over.”       “Honestly, I’m surprised that you and Raquelle doubted,” Blair says shyly. “You two went through the same thing.”       “Yeah, you’re right,” Raquelle nods. “But you know, one thing is when you’ve never cheated. And another thing is when a betrayal happens. And when a person saw it.”       “No matter how sorry we are for Daniel, we have to confess that he is guilty,” Natalia adds with sadness in her eyes.       “Agree, cheating is terrible,” Cassidy agrees quietly. “I wouldn’t surely forgive… But you know the situation that Daniel got into. Why he cheated on Anna.”       “Yeah, the foreigner did it…” Christiana says thoughtfully. “She did her best for his girlfriend to see them together and made him fight with his friends.”       “Although we forgave him, it was hard for us to do it,” Helene confesses. “He told us many bad things. We felt too hurt. We wanted to stop speaking to him. But we made ourselves remember that we had a deal with Daniel we didn’t know.”       “Yeah, he’s actually a good guy,” Raquelle adds. “With his shortcomings, of course, but still…”       “Right, he’s always been a decent man and never been caught in dirty actions,” Violetta notices. “Well… Not saying about his conflict with Peter.”       “Blaming him for everything would be wrong,” Helene confesses a little hesitantly. “Peter didn’t behave well, either. And he knows it.”       “Anyway, let’s not forget about Daniel’s dignity,” Blair says confidently. “He’s kind, decent, and loyal to those he loves.”       “And let’s notice that he honestly confessed his betrayer,” Christiana adds. “Someone else would hit their head against the wall to prove that they didn’t do anything.”       “He’s a good fellow in this case,” Helene smiles slightly. “And the fact that Daniel doesn’t bury his head in the sand from shame and doesn’t refuse to make amends is praiseful.”       “But he feels too bad, no matter how hard he hides his feelings,” Cassidy says with sadness in her eyes. “You should’ve seen the condition that he had when Anna was in the hospital. My bro was near her all the time and went home just because the doctors kicked him out by force. I wanted to cry from what was happening to Daniel.”       “We all see it, but we can do nothing,” Raquelle sighs heavily. “And the girls, the men and I are doing our best to make his pain weaker, but it only works while he’s with us.”       “He hasn’t talked to me when he’s home in the past two days. Daniel was in his room that he locked under the key in his free time.”       “Did you try to talk to him?” Blair asks with sadness in her eyes.       “One time. But he asked me to leave him alone. He said he wanted to talk to nobody. And I haven’t dared to bother him. Of course, Daniel left the room to eat, go to a restroom, take a shower, and find out how I was doing. But he was always in his room.”       “Oh, he feels too bad…” Christiana exhales sharply.       “But if someone is worried about his condition, my brother says he’s fine.”       “We know, Cassidy…” Natalia nods. “But he sometimes lets himself open his emotions.”       “My poor bro…” Cassidy sighs heavily and glances aside. “Hey… Do you think… Dan will get better after Anna’s offender is arrested?”       “I think so,” Violetta shrugs. “But it wouldn’t be enough to be absolutely happy.”       “If Daniel doesn’t reconcile with Anna, he will keep suffering.”       “Someday the pain will be gone, and the memories will be less clear. But who knows how much time a person needs to come to themselves. It’s an individual thing.”       “Now everything depends on Anna,” Helene notices thoughtfully. “Whether she can give him a second chance.”       “I wish it happened,” Natalia wishes with sadness in her eyes. “Our friend was so happy next to him. And it’s hurtful for me to see her like that. Anna was never as unhappy and insecure as now.”       “She became like this because of the stinker, who mocked her,” Raquelle notices quietly. “Anna used to never think she was ugly and worthless. She always spread confidence and believed in her beauty. And it got men attracted. They love girls, who know who they are and enjoy themselves. And we’ll have to work hard for Seymour to become confident again. Potter washed her brains enough.”       “Daniel could give Anna self-confidence and belief in her beauty and her talents,” Blair says thoughtfully. “His love would save the girl.”       “And she could give happiness to my brother,” Cassidy replies with sadness in her eyes. “Make him the Daniel I knew somehow. Now he’s become quiet, silent, and empty. But he was the loudest person in any company. To make that crazy and funny guy upset, you should’ve tried so hard. Daniel could find something good in anything. He didn’t care about anything. He only wanted to have the opportunity to hang out with his friends.”       “It doesn’t mean he wasn’t worried,” Violetta replies. “Maybe, your brother didn’t just show it. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that someone may experience a tragedy.”       “I don’t know, maybe, you’re right…” Cassidy shrugs and shakes her head. “Maybe, I didn’t really notice something… Until we lost Father and Mother. Their death changed him. But now Daniel has changed much more… Yes, he laughs, smiles, and jokes, but nobody believes him. Because he is not the real Dan.”       “It’s true,” Helene notices thoughtfully. “Daniel wants to hide his emotions. And he probably did it before, but you didn’t just notice it.”       “Anyway, my brother is different now. He grew up, his emotions woke up, he got a responsibility… And he fell in love like a boy and isn’t ready to accept the fact that he lost his sweetheart.”       “That’s why he needs his friends and sister,” Blair notices with sadness in her eyes. “He needs someone not to let him fall into a deep depression.”       “We’ve said we’re doing our best,” Natalia replies quietly. “But I think he will overcome it somehow. Daniel could easily piss everything off and lie on the bed all day long. But he chose a different way.”       “He just understands that Anna’s life and his relationship with her depend on it,” Christiana says confidently.       “I wish everything ended well,” Raquelle sighs heavily.       “I’m sure it will,” Violetta smiles slightly. “Your men are strong, tough, brave, and fast. They aren’t like weak, unprotected boys. And they always stand for each other.”       “I know, but I don’t feel quiet…” Natalia expresses anxiety, putting her hand on her heart. “I’m afraid to know that something happened to the men. Or that stinker did something to Anna again.”       “Violetta’s right, girls,” Christiana replies quietly. “Even if something gets wrong, the men will find a solution anyway.”       “I pray that what happened during the fight with Wainwright didn’t happen,” Helene confesses and swallows up nervously. “And I’m worried about Sammy… I don’t want anything to happen to him…”       “I think Sammy was craving to fight more than Daniel,” Cassidy laughs shyly. “The fluffy is very determined and is gonna work his teeth to kick the ass of Anna’s offender.”       “Yeah,” Natalia smiles slightly. “Sammy is a very good and funny dog. But when he has to, he can show his teeth, growl, and tear apart.”       “So, as the men found the key to his heart, nothing threatens them,” Raquelle says confidently. “I know that Sammy won't let anyone hurt Anna, her parents, or our men.”       “Dogs are wonderful protectors,” Christiana smiles shyly. “Anna’s offender will not run too far if he gets the command ‘Attack’.”       “I hope Sammy will bite not only the sleeve of that stinker’s shirt but also his ass and balls,” Cassidy chuckles kindly. “So, he knows what it’s like to stand in the way of my brother and his gang.”       “I agree with you,” Violetta replies confidently. “These stinkers must be isolated from people and educated.”       “Anyway…” Blair says thoughtfully, fixing her hair tied up. “We’ll have to wait for a long time. So… We should think about how to spend our time.”       “Maybe, watch a movie?” Helene suggests. “Check out new releases on Netflix and find something interesting?”       “Listen, girls, do you want me to give you the dessert?” Christiana offers. “I’ve recently cooked it for Blair, Christiana, and me.”       “With pleasure,” Raquelle smiles shyly. “I really liked the dessert that you cocked the last time.”       “Yeah, she cooks incredible desserts,” Blair replies confidently.       “There’s something chocolate in it?” Cassidy gets excited. “I loved chocolate in childhood and could die for a little chocolate bar.”       “It’s brownies. Super delicious thing.”       “Ah-h-h, I love them…”       “I don’t control myself when I eat Italian pasta,” Natalia says amicably.       “I think we can forget about diets at such a tense moment,” Helene adds funnily. “And eat tons of burgers and French fries from McDonald's.”       “Oh, girls, what kind of diet!” Violetta sighs tiredly. “You’re all as slim as statuettes! But if you keep eating only leaves of salad, nothing will be left of you.”       “Diets can be different,” Raquelle smiles shyly. “You don’t have to drink water or get a lot of vegetables into you. The key to the perfect body is workouts and little pieces of food.”       “If a man really loves you, he will not care about your weight,” Christiana says confidently. “I’ve suffered from being overweight all my life, but my husband loves you anyway and doesn’t understand those, who constantly keep on diets with the hope of holding a man. If he doesn’t care about you, he will leave you early or late.”       “Exactly!” Violetta agrees. “So, ladies, stop torturing yourself and go to eat brownies.”       “Yes, girls, let’s go!” Cassidy exclaims cheerfully, getting up from the bed sharply and jumping slightly. “Go!”       After looking at each other, Raquelle, Helene, Natalia, Christiana, Blair, and Violetta get up from the bed, leave the room, go downstairs to the first floor, and go to the kitchen, still talking about something that makes them smile and laugh.       

***

      Peter, Edward, Terrence, Anna, Maximilian, Lillian, Victor, Darwin, and Oliver came together at Daniel’s house two hours ago. Before Julian and Norman come, Victor discusses the plan with everybody for the last time, surprising people with his ability to keep calm even in a tense situation. Edward, Terrence, and Peter are standing aside with Sammy, talking about something, and paying attention to the dog. Anna is standing next to the window with her arms crossed over her chest and watching what’s happening outside with dead eyes. And Daniel is talking to Maximilian and Lillian and finishing the tour in the living room.       “Don’t worry, I’ve moved my stuff off,” Daniel says quietly. “And my sister stayed at Raquelle’s home, and I left my car there. The girls will watch her. When everything is over, I will take her out.”       “Did you warm your friends and familiars them not to come and call here?” Lilian specifies.       “Yes, Mrs. Seymour, don’t worry. And just in case, I warned the closest neighbors about what is going to happen here.”       “Great,” Maximilian smiles slightly.       “By the way, did the Potters suspect something when you told them where to go?”       “Who knows. Lillian and I told them that I allegedly bought this house, moved here with Anna, and rented out my apartment. Norman hummed contemptuously, but he agreed to come here.”       “I got it.”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Daniel quickly looks at what surrounds him.       “Well, I have told you where some things are, so you aren’t confused,” Daniel says thoughtfully. “You can feel like home. If you have problems, Anna knows every single corner very well.”       “Thanks, Daniel, we got it,” Lillian nods with a shy smile. “We promise that everything is going to remain safe.”       “And yeah, I have a little plea to you: please, don’t let the Potters go upstairs to the second floor. My friends and I agreed that we’d be there.” Daniel points at the place on the second floor, which is closed with a fence and shows a perfect view of the first floor.       “Don’t worry, Daniel, we will not let them go there,” Maximilian promises. “And they will not have an interest in it.”       “Thanks a lot.”       Two seconds later, Daniel moves his eyes aside and sees Victor, who finishes instructing Darwin and Oliver harshly and confidently. And when he looks at the other side of the living room, the man sees Terrence, Peter, and Edward, who are talking about something, while Sammy listens to them closely.       “I don’t know what about you, but I’m not kind of nervous,” Peter confesses. “Yes, I have some fears, but I believe in the best.”       “And I’m not excited,” Edward replies thoughtfully. “Though, I understand we can expect anything from that man.”       “No matter what, we can do this,” Terrence says confidently.       “And Daniel looks determined.” Edward glances at the side where he sees Daniel talking to Lillian and Maximilian. “Though, I can’t guarantee that it’s not a mask.”       “I think he can do this,” Peter assumes. “At least because he wanna give a lesson to Potter.”       “Oh, Peter, if I were instead of Daniel, I’d hang the balls of that bastard,” Terrence says confidently.       “Just like me,” Edward pronounces in a low voice. “His father and he don’t know what’s waiting for them.”       Sammy barks confidently in approval.       “Soon, buddy,” Peter promises with a slight smile, petting Sammy’s head. “You’ll work your teeth soon.”       “Potter’s gonna have shaking legs after seeing you,” Edward says with a slight smile.       “Eh, Sammy, why didn’t we have you before?” Terrence sighs tiredly. “You could kick the ass of Simon and Uncle Michael…”       Sammy barks quietly again, wagging his tail and letting Edward, Peter, and Terrence pet him with pleasure. They give attention to the dog for a few seconds before Anna comes to them quietly and yanks Sammy by the ears softly.       “I’m so nervous, guys…” Anna expresses anxiety. “I’m afraid to imagine what’s gonna happen now.”       “Don’t worry, Anna,” Edward encourages confidently, caressing Anna’s shoulders softly. “We’ll do our best to help you and your parents.”       Sammy whines very quietly, looking at Anna with sadness in his eyes.       “It’s gonna be okay, friend,” Peter pronounces softly, hugging Anna around the shoulders. “We’re with you. If we act like a team, nobody will suffer.”       “Don’t worry, I won’t bring you down,” Anna promises quietly. “I shall do everything I have to do.”       “You can fear nothing with us,” Edward says with a slight smile. “The Potters will not touch you with a finger.”       “If you save my parents and me from those monsters, I promise I will owe you forever. I shall do anything you ask me about.”       “We’ll help,” Terrence nods confidently with a slight smile. “I promise.”       “Please, guys, don’t let those people harm you,” Anna begs with pity in her eyes. “I don’t want any of you to suffer.”       “They won’t harm us, Anna,” Peter replies confidently. “The lads and I can stand for us. Your offender is gonna apply many efforts to bring us down.”       Sammy barks confidently two times, looking at Anna amicably and wagging his tail.       “Sammy is dreaming of tearing Potter apart,” Edward smiles slightly.       “Trust us, sweetie,” Terrence adds confidently. “We keep our promises like real men.”       Anna smiles shyly and says nothing for two seconds, but then she squats down in front of Sammy, pets his face with both hands, and strokes his hair down.       “Don’t let the Potters do anything to the lads, Sammy,” Anna begs quietly with a part of despair. “Please… I know you can do this.”       Sammy barks quietly.       “And do your best for Daniel not to suffer, as well,” Anna says much quieter with sadness in her eyes. “I won’t forgive myself if something happens to him… Please, Sammy, protect him… Don’t let him die. I won’t bear it…”       Sammy whines quietly, licks Anna’s cheek shyly, and just nuzzles his nose in her face, making her smile slightly.       “Do this, sweetie,” Anna says quietly, petting Sammy’s head and running her hand over his hair. “You can… Can…”       Sammy barks quietly again, and then Anna gets up and looks at Peter, Terrence, and Edward with sadness in her eyes.       “We have a little time,” Anna says quietly. “Those people are about to come…”       “It’s gonna be okay,” Terrence encourages with a slight smile, caressing Anna’s shoulder softly. “This nightmare will end today.”       “I hope, Terrence, I hope…”       Anna sighs heavily and glances at her parents talking to Victor and Darwin about something. And at some moment, Lieutenant Austin looks at her and asks them to come to him by making a gesture.       “Erm, I think the policeman is calling me,” Anna says thoughtfully. “Excuse me…”       Anna leaves Sammy, Edward, Terrence, and Peter alone, not noticing that Daniel watches the girl hesitantly until she comes to her parents and the policemen. And his friends come to their sad friend shortly, along with the doggy wagging his tail.       “For your information, she just begged Sammy not to let you die,” Terrence confesses with a mysterious smile. “She said she wouldn’t forgive herself if something happened to you.”       “I give a fuck about me,” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “The important thing is that she lives a quiet life.”       “I hope you won’t let that bastard bring you down?” Peter frowns slightly.       “No, of course.” Daniel turns himself on his friends slowly. “Letting him get a victory means putting Anna in danger. But I can’t let it happen. My goal is saving her from that asshole and his father.”       “But be careful,” Edward notices confidently. “Potter is now like a boiling kettle after his loss.”       “I’m not afraid, Edward. I have a goal, and I will reach it in any way, no matter how heavy my burden is.”       “Are you so sure about your power that you’re ready to take much more than you can take?” Terrence asks.       “If I have to, I will take everything.”       “You can’t defeat two people alone.”       “I will. I have no right to a mistake.”       “Do what you want,” Peter shrugs. “But since we decided to do it, we will bring this case to an end.”       “I still mind your participation.”       “Oh, Perkins, we’ve talked about it…”       “I know. So, I will do my best for them not to harm you.”       “If we’re together, we’ll have success,” Edward replies confidently. “At least, they won’t hurt the Seymours, while we’re near them.”       “I will break the arms of that sick bastard if he dares to touch Anna again.”       Sammy barks confidently two times, looking at Daniel and still wagging his tail.       “Be ready, Sammy,” Daniel smiles slightly, petting Sammy’s head. “We’re gonna need your sharp teeth soon.”       Daniel scratches Sammy’s hair for two seconds before he glances at the watch hanging on the wall and looks confidently at Edward, Terrence, and Peter.       “Okay, guys, save the talks for later,” Daniel says confidently. “The Potters are about to come here.”       “When they’re here, the policemen will come and surround the house,” Peter notices thoughtfully.       “Did they remind you what you should do?”       “Yes, Mr. Johnson’s colleagues reminded us about what to do,” Terrence replies confidently.       “Great! And I showed the living room to Anna’s parents and moved off everything that say this house is mine.”       “So, we’re ready to meet our guests,” Edward rubs his hands with a sly smile. “The surprise for them is here.”       Sammy barks confidently two times. And when Terrence wants to say something, Victor comes to him, Edward, Daniel, and Peter.       “It’s time to take positions, guys,” Victor says confidently. “My colleagues are on the way.”       “Alright, we got it,” Daniel nods.       “But please, don’t be nervous. We will catch the Potters anyway. When those people come here, they can’t run away. No matter how hard they resist.”       “Well, we aren’t so afraid,” Edward shrugs.       “The guys and I know we can do it,” Terrence adds confidently.       “I remind you of the important thing: don’t attack first,” Victor recalls harshly, raising his index finger. “Your mission is protecting, not starting a trick of battle and finding out who has a longer tongue. You must not do this if you want to stay alive and save your friend and her parents.”       “It’s going to be hard,” Daniel sighs tiredly. “But we will do our best to control ourselves. We promise.”       “Alright, I warned you. But now it’s time to take your positions. I will personally control the situation. Some boneheads must be kept under much closer control.”       “We’re ready,” Peter nods confidently.       “Yeah, your phones are with you?”       “Yes!” Terrence exclaims, takes the mobile phone from his pocket, as well as Edward and Peter. “Here!”       “We will call you when it’s time,” Edward promises. “And then we will leave our phones in Daniel’s room and go down.”       “Great,” Victor nods in approval. “I wish every one of you luck with all my heart. I wish you all were safe and sound.”       “Thank you so much,” Terrence, Edward, Peter, and Daniel thank gently.       Sammy barks confidently.       “Don’t betray us, doggy,” Victor says with a slight smile. “We count on you.”       After petting Sammy’s head, Victor leaves with a quick step, saying something loudly to Darwin and Oliver, who are talking to Anna. And after Captain Johnson goes outside, Lillian and Maximilian come to Edward, Peter, Terrence, and Daniel.       “Excited?” Maximilian asks.       “A little,” Daniel confirms.       “Please, guys, do your best to save our daughter,” Lillian begs with pity in her eyes. “Become a shield and a sword for our Anna.”       “Don’t worry, Mrs. Seymour, with us, your daughter will be completely protected,” Peter promises confidently.       “We will owe you if you save her,” Maximilian promises. “You will be able to ask us anything if Norman and Julian get arrested.”       “Maximilian and I don’t care about what would happen to us,” Lilian adds. “But please, don’t let our daughter suffer again.”       “We will be protecting not only your daughter but also you, Mr. and Mrs. Seymour,” Terrence replies confidently. “The Potters will not dare to harm you.”       “Anna’s salvation is more important to us. We will get through it somehow.”       “It’s going to be alright,” Edward promises amicably. “We have a goal to protect you and will do this.”       “And don’t suffer yourself,” Maximilian says. “We don’t want any of you to become a victim of those snakes.”       “Trust us, Mr. Seymour,” Peter replies confidently. “And fear nothing.”       Sammy barks very quietly, and Maximilian and Lilian pet the dog on his head by one.       “Don’t leave them, Sammy,” Lilian says with a slight smile. “You protected my daughter the last time. Do this again.”       Sammy makes a quiet sound, and Lilian and Maximilian look at Daniel with sadness in their eyes.       “Don’t betray us, Daniel,” Maximilian says, clapping Daniel on the shoulder. “Prove that we trusted you for a reason.”       “Save our daughter and do not suffer,” Lillian adds. “Anna will be devastated if something happens to you. And we don’t want it.”       “I swear on my life,” Daniel replies confidently and puts his hand on his heart. “It’s my duty.”       “We believe Daniel can do this,” Peter flashes a smile.       “And we are sure it’s going to be worth it,” Edward adds. “Your daughter will not leave this act unnoticed.”       Daniel says nothing, cracks a smile, and glances aside.       “But now we better focus on our goal,” Maximilian adds much more confidently. “Protecting Anna.”       “Maximilian and I wish you luck,” Lillian truly wishes.       “Thanks, break a leg,” Daniel nods.       “Damn it!”       Lillian and Maximilian turn around and leave hand in hand, while the men watch them.       “Go to my room, lads,” Daniel says confidently. “I’ll come now.”       Two seconds later, Daniel goes somewhere, inclining his head slightly. Edward, Terrence, and Peter watch him, and then they turn around and go to the stairs. And they do not go even one stair up because Anna calls them, locking her fingers tightly:       “Peter… Edward… Terrence…”       All the men turn to Anna and look at her questioningly.       “Good luck,” Anna smiles shyly.       “Thanks a lot, Anna,” Terrence smiles slightly. “Same to you.”       Anna hugs Terrence, Peter, and Edward amicably and pets the head of Sammy wagging his tail. Then the men smile shyly at the girl and go upstairs alongside the doggy that follows them obediently. Meanwhile, Daniel is standing near the window with his arms crossed over his chest, watching Victor, Darwin, and Oliver talking about something. But some time later, Perkins exhales quietly and sharply, pumps air into his lungs, and steps back from the window. And when the man takes his phone from the coffee table and puts it in his pocket, he suddenly hears Anna’s voice behind him:       “Be careful… Don’t let them do anything to you. I don’t want you to become their victim.”       Feeling that his heart stops for a moment, Daniel tenses all his muscles and rounds his eyes. But then he exhales quietly with closed eyes and turns to Anna with a confident look.       “I will,” Daniel pronounces quietly.       “I will be grateful if you do your best for this nightmare to end,” Anna replies a little hesitantly.       “It’s gonna be fine. This is the last day of your mockery. I will do what my coincidence and heart ask me about.”       “Don’t think I don’t see anything that you’re doing. I memorize everything. And your actions haven’t made me much more disappointed in you.”       “I’m glad to hear it,” Daniel cracks a smile. “It’s nice to know I’m doing this for a reason.”       “For a reason.” Anna looks down at her hands for a second with a slight smile. “Just keep doing the same.”       “I’m trying.”       “Please, don’t let Julian harm you,” Anna says quietly with sadness in her eyes.       “Don’t worry, Anna. While you are with me and the men, nothing will happen to you.”       “Don’t move your eyes off him. Watch every single movement of him. If you yawl once, he will strike you down.”       “I will show up shortly after he starts threatening you or your parents,” Daniel promises confidently.       “If he’s got a gun, the first thing you should do is take it. Without it, Julian is nervous and feels insecure.”       “Yeah, I remember. But thank you for your advice.”       Anna glances aside, feeling as embarrassed as Daniel does, who shifts his weight from one foot to another and pulls the sleeves of his black denim coat nervously.       “I wish you luck,” Anna wishes truly. “Great luck.”       “Thanks, same to you,” Daniel thanks with a slight smile. “Your father and your mother are not alone. Terrence, Edward, Peter, Sammy, and I will protect you.”       “I know. I believe in you.”       Daniel nods, flashing a smile and swallowing up nervously as he looks around hesitantly.       “Erm, okay, I will go…” Daniel says thoughtfully. “The Potters are about to come… And the lads are waiting for me. We’ll be standing near the fetch on the second floor.”       Daniel turns around quickly and goes to the stairs. Anna watches him with wet eyes full of pity, struggling with a wish to press herself to him closely and being surprised that it was so easy to come to him and truly wish him luck. Meanwhile, the man goes upstairs and stops a few steps from the door of his room, feeling motivated to bring this case to an end after this short but super embarrassing talk with the girl.       “I’ve gotta go ‘till the end,” Daniel thinks with his head proudly raised. “Her words make me sure that my close people may be right. I shall prove that I love that girl with all my heart and can do anything for her. At least, to myself.”       Two seconds later, Daniel exhales sharply, imagining the way the tension leaves his body, and goes confidently to his room, where Edward, Peter, Terrence, and Sammy are waiting for him. The first is sitting on the bed, the second is leaning on the wall with his back, and the third is just standing near the writing table and looking at something, and the dog sniffs everything on the floor with interest.       “So, we’re waiting for the birds to get into a cage,” Peter replies confidently with his arms crossed over his chest.       “Yeah, waiting,” Daniel says confidently. “Anna and her parents are waiting for the Potters in the living room.”       “By the way, our ‘welcomed’ guests are a little late,” Edward notices thoughtfully. “It’s more than three, but they haven’t come.”       “It’s ten minutes after three, to be clear.”       “Mr. Seymour said they never came to meetings in time,” Daniel replies quietly. “If the Potters said they would be here at three o'clock, add a half hour or one hour to this time.”       “Hey, can’t they change their mind?” Peter expresses anxiety. “What if they came up with a new idea? Or did they decide to meet the Seymours on another day?”       “No, blond, hardly! I think the Potters would call the Seymours.”       “So, we’ve gotta just wait,” Terrence shrugs.       Edward, Daniel, and Peter shrug and go to other sides of the room, looking at something from Perkins’ stuff, each other without emotions, or around. Sammy examines something he can reach, sniffing and touching something with his paw. The young men walk around the room and do nothing for some time before Rose comes to the window slowly and watches what’s happening outside. But at some moment, the blond sees a very presentable black jeep that arrives at the house and stops opposite it.       “Hey, guys, look!” Peter exclaims. “An expensive car has arrived at the house!”       Daniel comes to the window quickly and sees the car that Peter means immediately. And when Edward and Terrence stand near the window, they see Julian and Norman, wearing dark clothes and looking as confident as never before, leave the black jeep proudly.       “That’s Potter!” Daniel smiles slyly.       “So, is that man his daddy?” Edward hums with both arms crossed over his chest.       “Likely,” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully.       “I think that’s not Potter’s car,” Daniel says. “He also had a black one, but it looked different.”       “Is that the car of his father?” Peter frowns slightly.       “Norman was in the driver’s seat. He left it on the side of the driver.”       “But why didn’t he drive his daddy in his car?”       “Oh, I give a fuck who became a driver! The important thing is that our goal is in sight.”       “Oh, oh, one more pompous turkey,” Terrence throws with his head proudly raised. “He doesn’t cost a cent, but he’s walking like someone’s ready to pay one billion dollars for him.”       “Yeah, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Edward agrees.       “And the way they leave the car! They lack a red carpet, a lot of photographs, and a three-level crowd.”       “I wish you, bastards, suddenly feel and hit your heads,” Daniel hisses through his teeth.       “I wonder, we should bow to them?” Peter chuckles quietly. “What if they consider themselves aristocrats!”       “If it was true, I’d split at their faces.”       “I’d give them a rat poison,” Edward adds.       “Okay, they’re kind of going inside.”       Meanwhile, Norman and Julian go confidently to the door of the house after looking around, take off their dark glasses with their heads proudly up, and leave them in the car that Potter, Sr., locks with a key. When they hide, Terrence, Peter, Edward, and Daniel step away from the window, and the latter turns on everybody and looks confidently at them and Sammy.       “Peter, Edward, Terrence, Sammy…” Daniel pronounces confidently and nods. “It’s time.”       Sammy barks quietly but very confidently, showing that he is a fearless dog, and Peter, Terrence, and Edward look at each other, nod confidently, and move their eyes to Daniel.       “We’re ready,” Edward, Peter, and Terrence pronounce.       “Good luck, guys,” Daniel wishes with a slight smile. “Be careful.”       “Same to you,” Peter replies amicably.       “Take care of yourself,” Edward adds.       “We can do this,” Daniel assures.       Daniel, Terrence, Peter, and Edward clench their hands into fists and hit each other's chuckles. And Sammy gets their attention with a quiet bark and gives them a paw that every one of them shakes.       “Did you mute your phone?” Daniel asks.       “Don’t worry, buddy, we’ve already done that,” Terrence replies confidently.       “Great! Let’s go then!”       Daniel pushes his friends out of the room, waits for Sammy to leave, closes the door, and catches Peter, Edward, and Terrence for a few seconds. Two or three moments later, the four men come to the place where they have a perfect view of what’s happening on the first floor and see Lillian and Maximilian welcome Norman, while Julian is standing aside with his fingers locked tightly, and Anna says nothing with both hands folded in front of her.       “Gosh, Max, it’s been so long!” Norman exclaims happily after stepping back from Maximilian, whom he hugged tightly. “It’s hard to remember when we met the last time!”       “Yeah, work steals so much strength and time that we can’t think about meeting our friends,” Maximilian says with a slight smile.       “That’s right, my friend!”       Norman moves his eyes to Lillian, who smiles shyly as if nothing happened and shows perfect manners too hard like a good student.       “Oh, Lillian, hello, darling!” Norman exclaims with a much wider smile.       “Hello, Norman,” Lillian pronounces amicably. “I’m so happy to see you.”       “How happy I am to see you!”       Norman hugs Lilian amicably and kisses her hand. While the woman’s smile seems too false, and she barely holds herself down not to step away.       “You are becoming more beautiful every day,” Norman expresses admiration. “You will never obviously be dependent on age.”       “Oh, Norman, come on!” Lillian waves a hand with a shy laugh.       “I always tell the truth, my darling. Your secrets of beauty work perfectly.”       “Thanks a lot. I’m flattered.”       Lillian fixes her hair shyly and smiles cutely while Daniel, Terrence, Edward, and Peter, standing on the second floor, hum quietly and roll their eyes up.       “Hey, I think we’re having a deal with the professional on pulling one over on people,” Edward smirks evilly.       “Yeah, but he’s thinking about how to deal with the Seymours as soon as possible,” Terrence assumes gloomily.       “The places in hell are reserved, assholes,” Daniel throws confidently. “You’ll go there soon.”       While the men keep watching what’s happening, Norman moves his eyes to the tense Anna and smiles at her falsely with his thirty-two perfect teeth, on which a good dentist worked.       “Anna!” Norman exclaims happily. “My girl!”       “Good afternoon, Mr. Potter,” Anna replies quietly. “I’m glad to see you.”       “Hello, my darling. Come to me, so I can hug you.”       Even if the burring coldness squeezes her whole body, and fear makes me slouch strongly, Anna finds the strength to hold on and smile at Norman by force. And she puts in much more effort to survive his tight hug and amicable kiss on her cheek. But when the man steps back, the girl smiles shyly and locks her fingers tightly, trying so hard to control her breath.       “Oh, gosh…” Norman pronounces, holding Anna’s hands and looking at her from head to feet. “You have grown up! Although your parents and I often met, I saw you when you were a teenager.”       “But you don’t change,” Anna flashes a smile. “You’re still confident, masculine, and unflappable.”       “Thanks, darling,” Norman laughs amicably. “And you do not yield your mother to beauty. I’d say you are more beautiful than she.”       “Yeah, my parents’ genes did good things. My parents are beautiful and smart.”       “I have always said that your mother and father did a good job. They raised such a wonderful girl. A smart, beautiful, and talented one… Just a daughter of a dream!”       “Oh, Norman, you flatter us…” Maximilian shakes his head with a slight smile.       “It’s true, my dear friend… Everyone knows that women love what they hear. That’s why I always say that we should often tell our beauties about their beauty and talents.”       “Oh, c’mon, my sweetie, stop before Anna and I get blushed from shyness,” Lillian says with a laugh, hugging Anna around the shoulders.       “But we can’t deny that Lillian and I really got the daughter of our dreams,” Maximilian adds with a slight smile, coming to Anna and caressing her cheek. “We will never stop being proud of Anna and everything she has reached.”       “Oh, Max, I’m proud of her as if she is my daughter,” Norman replies confidently with a wide smile. “Your sweet Anny has always been a close person to me. And I love her endlessly.”       “We know, Norman,” Lillian smiles shyly. “You’ve always been very nice to our daughter.”       “Ha, as if you know everything about women and what they love,” Peter smirks contemptuously with both arms crossed over his chest. “If you know so much about it, you could teach your sonny to be gentle with women.”       “Too late, it won’t work,” Edward throws gloomily.       “Listen, their talk just started, but I already want to throw a brick on his head,” Daniel says irritably. “And not only on his head, but also on the head of his sonny, who is standing like an innocent girl and saying nothing.”       “Indeed, why’s he silent? He left the car so proudly, but now he is acting like a virgin!”       “I guess he swallowed up his tongue,” Terrence assumes. “Or his father made him play the role of the innocent man, who was suffering.”       “Likely,” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully. “And I’d watch this fucking actor excuse himself for the Seymours.”       “It’s okay, buddy, the show is just getting started,” Peter smiles slyly. “We’re gonna see many interesting things.”       “The most interesting things will start when I put the dick of that bastard in his ass.”       Sammy barks very quietly, while Maximilian notices that Julian is standing aside and shifting his weight from one foot to another with widely open eyes.       “Oh, listen, Norman, doesn’t your son want to talk to us?” Maximilian says thoughtfully, looking at Julian gloomily.       “Does he want to say something to us?” Lillian wonders, rounding her eyes.       “Of course, he wants,” Norman replies confidently, looks at Julian, and asks him to come by a gesture. “Julian, come to us. Don’t be afraid, sonny. Come to me.”       Julian hesitates for two seconds, then comes to Norman very hesitantly and slowly and looks guiltily at Lillian and Maximilian looking at each other and Anna breathing heavily.       “H-h-hello, Mr. Seymour, Mrs. Seymour,” Julian greets in a shaking voice. “Anna…”       “Hello, hello,” Maximilian crosses his arms over his chest, frowning strongly.       “Hello,” Lillian greets coldly.       “So what?” Maximilian wonders, barely holding himself down not to get wild. “Do you want to say something to us? Huh, Julian?”       “Mr. Seymour, I…” Julian pronounces with pity in his eyes, inclining his head guiltily.       “I think we should not explain – and you understand – that we are disappointed in you after what happened to Anna,” Lillian says with her arms crossed over her chest.       “Mr. Seymour, I can explain everything! I did not want it! I swear! It was my mistake!”       “Wait, Julian,” Norman pronounces coldly, taking Julian by the shoulder. “You will have a chance to explain to Mr. and Mrs. Seymour your disgusting behavior, which was the reason the innocent girl suffered.”       “No, Father, I want to do it now! I must!”       Julian comes sharply to Lillian, Maximilian, and Anna, who is tightly hugged and does not even have to pretend that she is scared.       “Mr. Seymour. Mrs. Seymour, I swear I did not want it!” Julian jabs with despair. “Please, forgive me! I did not want it!”       “Julian, how could you?” Maximilian resents. “I trusted you! Trusted you to take care of my daughter! That’s what you did to her!”       “You know that I treat Anna very well and take care of her!”       “Yeah, I see! Because of you, Anna almost died! Thank God, my daughter survived and got well quickly. Though, everything could have been much worse.”       “I know, Mr. Seymour, but…”       “Why? Why did you do that to my girl?”       “It’s all my job!” Julian excuses himself excitedly. “I got terribly nervous and overworked! I have lately been unlucky! I have failed everything!”       “That’s not an excuse for your disgusting act!”       “I was out of my mind! I did not understand what I was doing! But when I came to myself, I got shocked and wanted to shoot myself down! I swear! Swear on my mother’s grave!”       “Somehow, you screamed at Anna, who did not get used to this,” Maximilian says coldly, hugging Anna tightly and pressing her to himself, while she looks down. “And you swore you would no longer let you show aggression toward her.”       “I am really very sorry!” Julian excuses himself with pity in his eyes. “Everything happened at the wrong time. Anna stood in my way… She got me wild and…”       “Do you dare to blame her for ending up in the hospital?”       “No, no, come on! I…”       “I didn’t expect it from you, Julian. I did not. I thought you would help my daughter come to herself, but you drowned Anna much more.”       “I know, Mr. Seymour, but…”       “My girl is suffering from a breakup with her boyfriend and cannot come to herself because she still loves him. But you hurt her like this. You made her feel worse.”       “Please, let me make amends again to you and your daughter and prove that it will no longer happen! I swear I shall not let myself take it on Anna anymore.”       “We do not believe you, Julian,” Lilian says coldly. “After you beat my girl so cruelly.”       “If you do not believe me, I shall prove it. You… You… I can even get down on my knees! Yeah!”       Julian falls to the knees of Lillian, Maximilian, and Anna, who is holding tears down and pressing herself to her father with the hope of being protected.       “I’m begging, forgive me!” Julian begs with despair.       “Julian, stand up, please,” Lillian says coldly.       “No, no, I must stand on my knees for you and beg for forgiveness. And I will! I will do it until you give me the last chance to prove that your daughter will no longer suffer because of me.”       “Julian, stop it,” Maximilian says quietly. “Get up now!”       “No…” Julian sharply shakes his head, takes Lillian’s hand, and looks at her with despair and pity in his eyes. “Mrs. Seymour, I’m begging you, forgive me. I have never deserved to speak to such a wonderful woman like you. But I really want to prove that I can be better than you think. Give me a chance, at least for my father and mother. Mr. and Mrs. Dickman treated us so well!”       “You disappointed us, Julian,” Lilian says coldly, getting her hand out of Julian’s grip. “Anna, who trusted you and thought you could help her come to herself. And Maximilian and me.”       “Please, forgive me! I did not want it!”       “Are you trying to be good after you did such a bad thing?”       “Don’t say that, please…”       Julian throws a look full of pity on Anna, takes her hand, and pulls her on himself slightly. That’s why everything turns upside down inside the girl, she cannot speak due to the fear, and the coldness squeezes every single muscle of her shaking body.       “Anny, sweetie, my sweetheart…” Julian pronounces with despair. “I have always adored you and appreciated you endlessly, as well as my father and your wonderful parents. Please, forgive me. I am sorry for taking it out on you… About getting wild because of your attempts to say something to me.”       “Do you think you can fix everything by just saying ‘sorry?’” Lilian wonders.       “I swear to my mother that I am madly ashamed of what I did. I am ready to apologize a thousand times and make your daughter rich, so she forgives me.” Julian looks at Anna with pity in his eyes again. “Please, Anna… I shall die if you don’t forgive me! I will not be able to live quietly!”       “Alright, Julian, stop!” Norman throws coldly. “Do not get shame on you and get up now! Get up, I said!”       Norman takes Julian under an arm and pulls him on himself, but the man refuses to do it, holding Maximilian tightly by the sleeve of his shirt and looking at him with pity in his eyes.       “Mr. Seymour, please, do something!” Julian begs loudly, with despair. “Do not let your wife and daughter hate me!”       “Why do you think I don’t hate you?” Maximilian wonders. “It’s disgusting for me to see you after what you did to my daughter.”       “Please… I don’t want you to ignore me and think I would dare to mock a girl. Please, Mr. Seymour… Please… I do not want to make my relationship with you worse… I do not want to end up in prison if you wish to punish me. Don’t let it happen, please!”       “Julian, stop this circus now!” Norman cries. “You are an adult thirty-year-old man, who acts like a little, capricious girl!”       “I am ashamed, Father, get it, ashamed!” Julian shouts with despair literally having tears. “ASHAMED! I WANT TO DIE FROM SHAME!”       “Stop screaming, brainless idiot!” Norman claps Julian on the head. “At first, you did a bad thing, but now you start having hysterics!”       “Mother is probably watching me from heaven and cursing me. She hates me for doing such a terrible thing to the innocent girl.”       “Stop making me ashamed of the people!”       “Please, Dad, please! DO SOMETHING!”       “Fuck, STOP IT NOW! You have given me a lot of problems! If your mother were alive, she would immediately bring you down!”       “I AM ASHAMED, DAD… ASHAMED! A-A-A-A-A!”       Julian starts to scream loudly, tightly grabbing the leg of Norman, who sharply tries to get it out of the grip of his son.       “Hey, let me go!” Norman demands and makes more effort to push Julian off himself. “Let me go, I said! JULIAN!”       “I FEEL BAD!” Julian screams at the top of his lungs. “YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I WAS AFRAID TO COME HERE! I CANNOT LOOK INTO THE EYES OF THE SEYMOURS! I CANNOT!”       “Stop getting me ashamed, hysterical man! STOP!” Norman hits Julian on the head again. “I am done with the hysterics you started for your brother and me. Ryan and I are sick of hearing you screaming all day and rolling on the floor! We have our own problems, but we have to calm you down!”       “DAD!” Julian shouts like a baby.       “GET UP, I SAID!”       While Norman tries to calm down Julian, who pretends that he is about to cry, Daniel, Edward, Terrence, and Peter cannot hold their chuckles down.       “Oh, gosh,” Terrence moans quietly, running his hands over his face. “I’ve never met such a talentless actor before.”       “Aha, I kind of believed in his regret briefly!” Peter smirks ironically.       “Yeah, a pacifier wouldn’t be enough to calm down this forty-year-old baby,” Edward adds.       “And it wouldn’t be enough to have a pack of liqueurs, so we don't go insane from his psychoses,” Terrence throws gloomily.       “His mother must be rolling in her grave because of what her son has become and what he is doing alongside his father.”       “Interesting, did Norman make his sonny start this drama?” Peter asks with both arms crossed over his chest. “To distract the Seymours and make them lose any vigilance!”       “I don’t doubt it,” Edward pronounces in a low voice. “But this retired man is overplaying.”       “You better hold me tight, guys,” Daniel says confidently. “Or I will kill that rat much earlier. For daring to hold the hands of my Anna!”       Meanwhile, Norman barely takes control of Julian and makes him stand up, even if the man keeps having hysteria and showing great shame for the Seymours.       “Oh, Max, Lilian, forgive us for Christ’s sake,” Norman apologizes, putting his hand on his heart. “After what happened to Anna, my son became uncontrolled.”       “I WANT TO DIE FROM SHAME!” Julian screams at the top of his lungs, as he grabs Norman’s arm tightly.       “Close your mouth, bonehead!” Norman hits Julian on the back of his head. “You will speak when you are allowed!”       “At least, we are happy he is regretting it,” Lillian replies quietly, crossing her arms over her chest.       “You see what’s happening to him! Seriously, he got me exhausted. And Ryan complains that he cannot focus on his studies because of his brother’s hysterics.”       “You know that our family has always treated Julian and Ryan very well. But what happened to Anna may make our good relationship much worse.”       “Oh, no, Lillian! Fear the Christ, what are you talking about?” Norman puts his hand on his heart. “I don’t want everything to end like this! Our families have been friends for ages. Your parents and Maximilian’s parents knew my parents and the parents of my late Genevieve.”       “It does not have to do with the case of my daughter.”       “Do you really want to break our connection after what we have experienced together?”       “Not you, Norman, but Julian,” Maximilian says confidently. “He made a horrible mistake that we are not going to forgive.”       “You see, Dad!” Julian exclaims with despair. “I did say they would not forgive me! They would not love to speak to me and would ban me from getting close to Anna! YOU DID NOT BELIEVE ME! YOU SAID EVERYTHING WOULD BE ALRIGHT!”       “Anna, say just something!” Norman exclaims. “Why do your parents always speak, while you are silent? Tell me your opinion and let me know what you feel.”       “Excuse me, Mr. Potter, but my parents are right,” Anna replies hesitantly. “I’m not sure if I can start to trust Julian again after I nearly died.”       “Anny, baby…”       “You cannot even imagine how terrible it was…” Anna pronounces in a low, shaking voice with tears in her eyes and swallows up nervously. “I thought I’d die. Julian didn’t pity me. I felt a very strong pain. Every single hit made me scream…”       “I understand it, sweetheart, and I am categorically resented by the act of my son. And I am very happy that there was someone, who calmed Julian down.”       “Yeah, thank God… Thank God, someone saved me… If not for them, I would have been dead.”       “If I met that person, I would thank them with all my heart.”       “I am madly disappointed in your son…” Anna sighs heavily, as she looks down. “I naively thought I’d get his support after breaking up with the man I loved so much. But I did not get what I needed. I felt even worse.”       “I get it, sunshine, I get it…”       “I swear I did nothing bad to Julian and did not try to make him mad,” Anna sniffs quietly. “I just asked him about one thing – support. The love I needed so much. But instead, I was beaten to half-death. And your son had screamed at me before. Even though I did nothing for it.”       “Anna, my sweet girl…” Norman expresses sympathy. “I completely understand that you’re hurt and scared. But please, try to understand Julian. You have known him since childhood. And you know that he is not too quiet. And his work is nervous. That’s why he got angry at you accidentally.”       “But I’m not the one to blame for the fact that he has problems with his work!”       “Of course, you are not!”       “A nervous job can’t be an excuse for violence,” Maximilian says coldly. “Imagine one of your sons instead of my daughter. Would you pretend that nothing happens?”       “No, Max, I would never speak to the one, who hurts my children. You know that I would cut a throat for them. And if I had a daughter, I’d obviously protect her from the one to wish to hurt her.”       “I think you understand that we may go to the police and report Julian,” Lillian says coldly. “And if he is arrested, he will serve a great term.”       “No, no, I’m begging you, Mr. Seymour, Mrs. Seymour!” Julian jabs with despair. “Don’t do this! Please! No! I don’t want to go to prison! I will die there! They will kill me!”       “We are not going to leave your action unpunished, Julian,” Maximilian says coldly.       “NO, MR. SEYMOUR, NO!” Julian screams with despair. “I DON’T WANT TO PRISON!”       “You should have thought better before taking it out on my innocent daughter,” Lilian replies in a low voice.       “DAD, PLEASE, DO SOMETHING!” Julian starts to pull Norman by his arm strongly. “DON’T LET THEM PUT ME IN PRISON! I SHALL DIE THERE!”       “Lilian and I could forgive you a lot,” Maximilian says confidently. “But when someone harms our daughter, we will not be silent and pretend that nothing happens.”       “Because of you, Anna almost died!” Lilian adds with despair. “And do you want us to forget everything and let you keep speaking to her so easily?”       “Please, Mr. Seymour, Mrs. Seymour, pity me!” Julian begs with despair. “A-A-A-A! PLEASE!”       “Alright, Julian, it was the last drop!” Maximilian cuts off sharply. “We are calling the police immediately.”       “NO!” Julian screams hysterically. “YOU CANNOT!”       “For Christ’s sake, Max, don’t go to the police,” Norman gets horrified, putting his hand on his heart.       “No, Norman!” Lilian pronounces coldly. “Nothing personal, but your son crossed all the lines!”       “IF YOU REPORT ME, I SWEAR I SHALL KILL MYSELF!” Julian says loudly. “I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LIVE WITH IT! I DON’T WANT TO SPEND TWENTY TEARS IN PRISON AND LEAVE IT AT AN OLD AGE! I DO NOT WANT!”       “No, no, sonny, don’t say it!” Norman pretends to be horrified, hugging Julian around the shoulders. “What I would do without you? Ryan and you are the only thing I have.”       “I DON’T WANT TO GO TO PRISON! I DO NOT!”       “I will not bear it…” Norman addresses Maximilian and Lilian. “My son has threatened to kill himself many times. Hurting me so much…”       “What do we have to do with it?” Maximilian asks coldly. “We did not provoke your son!”       “For the Christ’s sake, let’s agree! At least for our longtime friendship! For a great relationship with our children! For the friendship of our late parents!”       “PLEASE, PITY ME!” Julian keeps pretending that he suffers. “PLEASE…”       Meanwhile, Edward, Peter, Terrence, and Daniel look at each other gloomily, and Sammy makes a sound of disapproval.       “I hope Anna will not believe that false bastard,” Daniel expresses hope. “She might watch his hysterics and really believe that he is sorry.”       “After what he did to her?” Edward wonders. “Hardly! Look how Anna is shaking from fear and pressing herself to her father or mother!”       “But I must confess that she’s holding on well,” Peter notices thoughtfully. “And her parents are doing fine.”       “Right,” Terrence agrees, slightly nodding. “I was worried about Anna, but she’s doing fine.”       “She doesn’t have to pretend,” Daniel replies quietly. “When Anna says she fears Potter, she really does.”       Sammy barks very quietly, and Edward pets the dog’s head and puts his finger to his lips to let him know that they need to be as quiet as mice.       “Oh, listen, I think we are all too excited,” Lillian says quietly, exhaling quietly. “Let’s try to calm down, talk about everything quietly, and decide what to do.”       “Lilian is right,” Maximilian agrees. “Let’s drink water or something else first.”       “Of course,” Norman nods confidently. “Julian and I are open for a talk. Both of us want to find a solution to this problem.”       “I want to prove that it will no longer happen more than anything,” Julian says quietly, slouching slightly. “That you can keep trusting me and allowing me to spend time with Anna.”       “Oh, let’s sit down,” Maximilian suggests, pointing at the sofa. “Making our guests stand was bad.”       “Let’s drink something,” Lilian suggests.       “Julian and I wouldn’t refuse to drink coffee,” Norman replies.       “Alright, I shall make it now,” Maximilian nods.       “Erm, let Anna make coffee for us! My son and I love the way she does it.”       “Okay,” Lilian smiles shyly and moves her eyes to Anna. “Sweetie, give us coffee. And we will calm down a little.”       “Sure,” Anna nods without emotions.       “No, come on!” Julian gets horrified with widely open eyes. “I cannot drink coffee with you! Being in your company is a too great honor that I do not deserve!”       “Go, sunshine, go,” Maximilian says quietly.       Anna turns around slowly and goes to the kitchen. And after going aside, the girl glances at her parents and the guests, but then she secretly moves her eyes up to Daniel, Peter, Edward, and Terrence, who nod confidently with shy smiles, as if they let her know that she may not be afraid. It calms the girl down more or less, and she, exhaling sharply, goes to the kitchen with a more confident walk.       “That scumbag is right about honor!” Peter notices gloomily. “Potter doesn’t really deserve to speak to such amazing people like the Seymours.”       “Something tells me that his father is gonna offer something for his sonny’s freedom,” Daniel assumes confidently. “Money, job, wealth, and any other things…”       “Yeah, he believes he can cover the ass of his sonny and pay off with money,” Edward hums.       “It’s okay, let them start the show,” Terrence says confidently. “I mean, continue. At some moment, they’re gonna take off their masks. Potter, Jr., isn’t gonna lie on the floor, scream like crazy, and make himself shed a tear.”       Meanwhile, Maximilian and Lillian suggest Norman and Julian sit on the sofa. When the Seymours turn around for two seconds to put the pillows aside, the Potters look at each other and smirk evilly. The father barely holds his laugh down and shows a thumb up to his son, who smiles widely and puts his index finger to his temple.       “Oh, oh, look how happy they are,” Edward notices gloomily. “Laughing at the way Potter is having hysteria.”       “I would be thrilled if Potter really killed himself right here,” Daniel says. “There would be less work!”       “It will hardly happen,” Terrence assumes thoughtfully. “Those scumbags planned everything.”       “But we’ve got our own plan,” Peter replies with his head proudly raised. “Thanks to which these assholes will put on a fantastic prison robe.”       “That’s gonna look so good on them,” Daniel smiles slyly.       The Seymours and the Potters sit on the sofas conformably in front of each other, and Norman looks around the whole living room with an appraising look.”       “Yeah, let me ask you, whose is this house?” Norman asks.       “Mine,” Maximilian pronounces confidently.       “Yours? But why did you suddenly move?”       “Erm, you know…” Maximilian stutters, stroking his chin. “I just wanted to live far from the city. I am sick of the noisy city…”       “That’s how? And how long did you move?”       “About two weeks ago…”       “Alright… But I must confess that the house is beautiful. You definitely have a taste.”       “Thanks, I love it, too.”       “I would not mind living in such a luxury house. There is so much interesting here…”       Norman looks around again and glances at the railing on the second floor, the side where Edward, Daniel, Peter, and Terrence are hiding. Sammy feels danger much earlier and, pushing the men aside or pulling them by the sleeves and bracelets, makes them hide behind the wall.       “Damn, it was so close!” Terrence exhales sharply.       “Thanks, Sammy,” Daniel smiles shyly.       “Good, long-eared, good boy,” Peter encourages, petting Sammy’s head.       “You’re our salvation!” Edward pronounces amicably.       Sammy carefully shows up out of the corner, rates what’s happening, and barks quietly to let the men know that they can get out.       “I liked this house shortly after I saw it,” Maximilian says confidently. “And I agreed with a previous owner on a good price. He wanted a too high one, but I started to bargain. At first, he was stubborn, but he eventually agreed to sell the house for a lower price.”       “Wow…” Norman locks his fingers tightly. “You get what you want, just like I do.”       “But sometimes we have to give up on something when a wonderful purpose is at stake. Being stubborn is not always good. You should be able to agree.”       “This is a business – you are as stubborn as a tank, or you agree.”       “That’s right.”       Norman smiles kind of slyly and thinks about something for two seconds, looking at Lillian and Maximilian, while Julian is sitting slouched, locking his fingers tightly, and inclining his head guiltily.       “Alright, let’s not change the subject,” Maximilian says thoughtfully. “We did not plan to talk about it.”       “Oh, I’m so worried about what happened,” Norman replies with sadness in his eyes. “And I believe we must do something to solve this problem.”       “Do you think it’s possible?”       “I am sure that we will find a solution. You know that I talked to Julian cruelly and let him know that I did not approve of his behavior.”       “We don’t understand one thing, why?” Lillian asks with sadness in her eyes. “Why, Julian? Why did you do this to Anna? My daughter has never wished you anything bad! She has always said very good things about you and never reproached you for anything.”       “Mrs. Seymour, I swear I also love your sweet daughter and have always treated her like a queen,” Julian swears. “You know that I love her so much and always say I would like to marry her someday.”       “No wedding can happen. Maximilian and I will not give our daughter to the one, who dared to do such horrible things to her.”       “It happened for the first, last time! I swear it will no longer happen!”       “You would’ve better remembered that when deciding to beat my daughter to half-death. Instead of starting a hysteria now.”       “I am really very sorry, Mrs. Seymour. I have never hidden that I treat Anna well and adore her. Father and Mother know it.”       “We could close our eyes to the fact that you screamed at her,” Maximilian says coldly. “Anything happens. All people fight. You can’t live without it. But when a man beats a woman… Excuse me, it’s impossible to forgive it.”       “For Christ’s sake, Mrs. Seymour…”       “You ran away. Ran away like a mean coward and did not find the courage to look into the eyes of Lillian and me and say it was your work. The one, who pulled you away from Anna, told us everything.”       “I was scared! That’s why I ran away! I was afraid to look into your eyes and get closer to your daughter because I was afraid I could hurt her again.”       “A real man never does it,” Maximilian says confidently. “Yes, it’s sometimes hard to confess something. But when someone truly regrets something, they go to confess their fault and apologize anyway.”       “Do not say it, Mr. Seymour…” Julian begs with pity in his eyes.       “Please, Maximilian, do not press on Julian,” Norman says quietly. “My son feels very bad now.”       “Yeah? Don’t we feel bad? Do you know what Lilian and I experienced when our daughter was in the hospital? What would have happened to us if Anna, heaven forbid, had died? We wouldn’t have been able to live without our little girl! She is the meaning of life for Lilian and me!”       “I understand it, Max, but please, understand Julian. He is not guilty of having a hard character. And yes, I confess that I cannot control him. Only my Genevieve could do that. With her, Julian behaved very well. She could keep our son under hard control.”       “The one, who hurts our child, hurts Max and me,” Lillian replies coldly. “We wish our only daughter the best. And we are ready for anything for it.”       “Genevieve would have been enraged if she had been alive. My late wife was doing her best for Julian and Ryan to be decent men. And she did it well. At first sight, she was short and frigid, but she was strong and harsh. Here’s the military education.”       “You are right, Genevieve wouldn’t have let it happen,” Maximilian agrees coldly. “But your son insulted his mother. As well as me and Lillian. And you.”       “I know… I think I’m guilty of it. Maybe, I’m not such a wonderful father if I let my own sonny raise his hand on the innocent girl and beat her to half-death.”       “No, Father, please, do not blame yourself and Mother!” Julian shakes his head sharply. “I am guilty of everything! That’s my fault!”       “Calm down, Julian,” Norman says quietly, clapping Julian on the shoulder. “We will talk about everything now.”       Julian moans tiredly, locking his fingers tightly, doubling over, and looking down with shame.       “Everything is decided, Potter!” Daniel hisses through his teeth with evil, holding the railing tightly and keeping his head proudly raised. “And your father will not save you! And if you die, I will dance on your graves and spit at them.”       Edward, Peter, and Terrence say nothing and just glance at each other, Daniel, or Sammy. Meanwhile, Anna returns to the living room, holding the plate with several cups of coffee, holding on pretty well with the thought that she will be protected anyway.       “Oh, here’s coffee,” Lillian cracks a smile.       Norman takes a cup of hot coffee from the plate that Anna puts on the coffee table, and Julian refuses to do it.       “Drink some coffee, Julian,” Maximilian suggests, taking a cup of coffee from the plate. “You will get better.”       “No, Mr. Seymour, I can’t do this…” Julian jabs excitedly, shaking his head.       “No, Father, don’t make him,” Anna says without emotions, sits on the sofa between Lillian and Maximilian, and takes a cup of coffee. “He will take it if he wants.”       “M-m-m, delicious coffee,” Norman cracks a slight smile, taking a little sip from his cup. “My sweet girl… One of the things you are perfect at is making coffee.”       “Thanks, Mr. Potter.”       While Anna drinks coffee slowly with rounded eyes, Maximilian and Lillian look at each other tensely and put their cups on the coffee table after taking a few sips.       “So, how will we solve the problem?” Maximilian asks, locking his fingers tightly. “Any suggestions? Lilian, Anna, and I are ready to listen to you!”       “Julian and I are ready for anything,” Norman replies confidently. “Anything you want.”       “So, what could you offer for our forgiveness?” Lilian frowns strongly.       “Anything, my dears! If you want money, it’s okay! Any expensive thing – I will buy a few ones! Something else – no problem! I can buy anything!”       “You can’t buy everything in the world, Norman.”       “Don’t think that I want to bribe you. But I could do this to save Julian’s life and status.”       “We know you’re doing this for the best of your child. But we can’t also close our eyes to what happened to our daughter.”       “I know, my sweeties. But please, don’t make Julian's life worse. He’s guilty of nothing.”       “Would you say the same if Anna died?” Lilian rounds her eyes. “That Julian is not guilty?”       “But she is alive, thank God!”       “It would’ve been otherwise if nobody had helped my daughter!” Maximilian notices.       “Alright, you and Lillian can offer me something. What do you want from Julian and me, so we remain friends and forget this little misunderstanding?”       Lillian and Maximilian say nothing and look at each other, barely holding their anger down, which wants to get out so hard.       “You need money?” Norman asks. “Alright, no problem! Just call an amount, and I will write you a check immediately!”       “We don’t need money, Norman, we need a real assurance that it will no longer happen,” Maximilian replies confidently.       “It will not, Mr. Seymour, I swear on my mother’s grave!” Julian jabs excitedly as he chokes. “I’m ready to apologize to you, Mrs. Seymour, Mr. Seymour, and Anna a thousand times, standing on my knees.”       “Alright, Norman, we listened to you,” Lilian says with both arms crossed over her chest and moves her eyes to Julian. “And you, Julian? What are you ready to offer Maximilian, Anna, and me?”       “What you want, Mrs. Seymour! Just tell me what you want, and I will immediately do it. My father will be a witness and will not let me change my mind and assure you that I didn’t say anything like that.”       “No, speak clearly. Your father shouldn't beg us for forgiveness. He didn’t beat Anna.”       “I swear, if you forgive me, I will do the possible and the impossible for Anna to forget the thankless stinker, who dared to leave such a wonderful girl and start to enjoy her life.”       “Ah, so, did I leave her?” Daniel points at himself with a finger, smirking evilly. “I didn’t know it! Thanks for reminding me! Reminding me of my wish to cut your penis!”       “Yeah, that asshole works his job off so hard like a prostitute,” Peter notices coldly with both arms crossed over his chest. “One wrong step before he’s excluded from the list of the beloved sons and ends up homeless with only his underwear.”       “Is it a pleasure for them to pretend to be friends of the Seymours nobody the fuck knows how long?” Terrence wonders. “I am surprised that they didn’t take off masks much earlier.”       “Who knows…” Edward says confidently. “But this actor without an Oscar will pretend to be a victim for his cellmates soon.”       Sammy barks quietly, closely watching and listening to what’s happening on the first floor.       “Maximilian, Lillian, Anna, please, trust Julian,” Norman says with pity in his eyes. “Look how he is regretting. What if he really wants to die! And you will be guilty of it! My son may kill himself because of Anna! Because of her refusal to forgive Julian.”       “You only talk about you and your son,” Lilian notices coldly. “Did you think of Max and me? Think about what would happen to us if we lost our daughter! You know that I barely carried and gave birth to her, and she was fighting for her life for a long time.”       “And we will not have more children,” Maximilian adds confidently. “We’re no longer young guys!”       “And I’m not able to give birth anymore! The doctor said I was at risk when carrying Anna. And my second pregnancy could’ve killed me. So, I protested when our parents told us to give birth to a second child.”       “My dear friends, I understand it,” Norman replies confidently. “But please, get it… It happened accidentally. My son didn’t want to make it happen. It’s just a twist of events.”       “The case of Julian is almost the same as any case of cheating: if you make a mistake once, you keep doing this. These people don’t change and will do this again and again until someone forgives them with the thought that they’ll be different.”       “But Julian did it for the first time! He never raised a hand on a girl before.”       “We know that you’re defending your son and don’t want him to go to prison,” Lilian replies confidently. “While Maximilian and I stand by our daughter and are not going to forgive her offenders.”       “No, Lilian, I am not defending my son!”       “But you say he did it accidentally!”       “Julian was not going to beat Anna. My son is a wonderful man. Hard-working, responsible, confident… It just happened that your daughter stood in his way and… So to say, got him a little nervous.”       “Do not blame my daughter!” Maximilian resents, raising his index finger up. “Anna is the most innocent and most holy person I have ever known!”       “For the sake of Christ, let’s agree,” Norman begs with pity in his eyes. “Do it without the police and all of these proceedings! Why would we sue because of what happened accidentally and ruin the life of my son? You don’t need all of this hell, do you?”       “Right,” Lilian nods. “But the case is about our daughter. Our own daughter.”       “Please, Mr. Seymour, Mrs. Seymour…” Julian pronounces with despair. “Don’t put me in prison… I don’t want it…”       “Didn’t you think about it when beating my daughter?” Maximilian resents.       “He was in a state of affectation,” Norman replies.       “That’s not an excuse!”       “Please, forgive me…” Julian begs with pity in his eyes and shakes his head. “I didn’t want it…”       Julian moves his eyes to Anna, who is silent.       “Anna, sweetie, please, pity me,” Julian begs with despair. “I promise it will no longer happen. Please… I will not be able to live quietly if you don’t forgive me.”       “Forgive him, Anna,” Norman says softly. “Give my son a chance. Julian has always wished you the best. Don’t ruin your relationship with the one you have known for ages. Longer than your ex, who left such a wonderful girl for another girl.”       Barely holding themselves down and being mad because of how hard Norman is trying to whitewash his son, Lilian, and Maximilian say nothing for a few seconds and look at each other and Anna.       “Lilian and I will do what Anna wants,” Maximilian says confidently. “As Julian hurt her, let my daughter decide it. If she wants to forgive Julian, her mother and I will do nothing. And if she does not, we will not leave the offender of our daughter unpunished.”       “What do you think, darling?” Lillian asks softly, hugging Anna around the shoulders. “Your father and I will not argue with you and will accept your decision.”       Anna says nothing and just fingers over nervously, breathing a little heavily. At some moment, Lillian hugs her daughter tighter, presses her to himself, and whispers carefully in her ear:       “Tell them you agree. We need it now.”       “Daughter…” Maximilian pronounces quietly, embraces Anna, presses her to himself, and tenderly caresses her head, while she looks down and locks her fingers tightly without emotions. “Don’t be afraid, sweetie, tell us what you want. Your dad and I will support you.”       Maximilian presses Anna closer to himself and kisses her on the temple, wishing to whisper something in his daughter’s ear:       “Keep silent for a while and say you agree to forgive Julian. And don’t resist if he wants to kiss you.”       Anna blinks at her parents slowly, as if she says she understood it all, and does what she was told.       “I hope she understands she mustn’t believe that bastard,” Daniel expresses hope. “Looking at her, I think Anna is really ready to believe him.”       “Don’t worry, buddy,” Terrence says thoughtfully. “Anna understands that she can expect nothing good from that psycho.”       “Although Anna is not vindictive, she’s got pride,” Peter says confidently. “She will not let anyone keep mocking her. One time was enough.”       “I’m surprised that she had actually agreed to spend time with him,” Edward confesses. “Anna did know what type of man he was, but she accepted her father’s suggestion.”       “I guess she wanted to punish me,” Daniel assumes confidently. “Although she and her parents never said it, I’m sure that Anna wanted to take revenge on me for cheating on her with Blanca.”       “Maybe,” Terrence nods. “Anna said Potter always spread coldness and never seemed good, and… Warm.”       “But Anna hardly knew what happened between the Potters and her parents.”       “Who knows…” Peter frowns slightly. “But she never said anything about some fights between the Potters and the Seymours.”       “Right… But it doesn’t matter now.”       A few seconds later, Anna looks hesitantly at Maximilian and Lillian and then at Julian and Norman, while they look at her and impatiently wait for her answer.       “I think Julian didn’t really want it…” Anna says hesitantly. “I mean… I… I… I don’t want to believe the man, who has known me for so many years, may be so terrible.”       “I didn’t really want it,” Julian replies with despair in his eyes.       “But I’m not going to hide that it was madly hurtful. I am deeply disappointed. And I feel spat and betrayed.”       “I understand it, my sweetie…”       Julian takes Anna’s hand, while Daniel gets tense enough and starts literally tearing apart from jealousy and anger.       “You cannot imagine how bad I felt all those days,” Julian says in a low, shaking voice with pity in his eyes. “I am ashamed of the hysterics that my father and brother tolerated. But I could do nothing to me. I couldn’t show my pain in any other way.”       “But I felt much worse,” Anna replies quietly without emotions. “My whole body still hurts…”       “Please, Anna, forgive me. Don’t make your parents put me in prison. I am really very sorry about what happened, and I promise I will no longer hurt you again. I swear, I will become your best friend. Or maybe, something more, if you want. Just give me a chance. I will change. I will become different. I promise!”       “My parents said everything for me. I don’t want to repeat.”       “For Christ’s sake, my girl, don’t ruin my son’s life,” Norman says confidently. “Julian is really sorry about what happened and does not sleep because of you.”       “I’d like to believe it…”       “I promise, I shall personally make sure that Julian learns to control himself. I know how to make women feel like queens! Remember, how happy Genevieve was next to me. How he took care of our wonderful sons and me.”       “Yeah, I remember…”       “Forgive Julian, sweetheart. You will feel better if you let the offense go. You should be able to forgive and forget. Especially, when someone asks you for forgiveness.”       Anna says nothing for a few seconds, being happy that she does not have to lie. Maximilian and Lillian try to support her with hugs and let her know that everything depends on her with just one look. Before saying something, the girl glances down, sighs heavily, and looks at Norman and Julian hesitantly.       “I forgive Julian,” Anna says without emotions. “And I give him a chance.”       “R-r-really?” Julian pronounces in a shaking voice, rounding his eyes. “Are you f-forgiving me?”       “This is the last time I trusted you. If it happens again, I will not make my parents sure not to go to the police.”       “I can’t believe it…” Julian pretends to be happy with a wide smile. “Gosh… Is that true? You forgave me? Really?”       “Yes,” Anna confirms quietly, moving her eyes to her hands. “And I hope you understood it all.”       “Yes, yes, I got it,” Julian jabs in a little shaking voice. “It was the last time! I s-swear on my mother’s grave. You, Father, her, Mr. Seymour, and Mrs. Seymour – nobody will be disappointed in me.”       “Last time, Julian. I’m giving you the last chance.”       “Oh, Anny, honey… Thank you so much. I adore you, adore… My sweetie… My sweetheart…”       At first, Julian pretends that he does not know where to put his hands and gesticulates actively or touches some part of his face. And then he takes Anna’s hands and kisses every one of them several times. That’s why the girl feels the coldness getting through her body and the disgust from his dry and rude lips, making a lot of effort not to start to resist it. While Daniel, being literally green, is burring with anger and hate as much as never before.       “That asshole is gonna make me enraged,” Daniel hisses through his teeth, tightly holding the fetch, while his nostrils are inflating strongly. “Move your hands off her, bastard! She is the fuck mine! You have no fucking right even to look at her!”       “Calm down, Daniel, calm down,” Edward says quietly, clapping Daniel on the shoulder. “Hold down.”       “Do you think it’s nice to stay here and watch that bastard touch her hands and kiss them!”       “Trust me, Perkins, Anna doesn’t feel better,” Peter replies confidently. “Look! Look at her face! She also barely holds herself down!”       “Fuck, I want to throw a brick over his head so badly. Or something heavier!”       “Wait, brother, you’re gonna have a chance to kick him. But now we can’t show up. It’s too early.”       “Damn, why did they do it so soon? They could’ve played time for a little longer! Maybe, Potter would’ve wanted to make us happy.”       “Hold yourself down, Daniel,” Terrence says quietly. “This show will last for a long time.”       “Ar-r-r, fuck, I’m burning from anger!” Daniel growls quietly, holding the railing tightly. “And jealousy! I would break the neck of that motherfucker for daring to put his eyes on what belongs to me.”       “It’s much harder for Anna than all of us.”       “We shouldn’t have organized this meeting! We couldn’t start this fucking operation and could just deal with him somewhere in a desert place.”       “Hey, hey, Perkins, don’t get wild,” Peter replies quietly. “If you show yourself earlier, you can mess up everything.”       “I know, Rose, I know!” Daniel throws irritably. “Don’t remind me of that!”       “Okay, okay, calm down. Potter has moved his hands off Anna.”       While Daniel growls irritably with rolled eyes, Julian really moves his hands off Anna and smiles widely, pretending that he is madly happy.       “Thank you, Anny, thank you,” Julian expresses relief. “You saved me. You brought me to life. Thank you, thank you! I love you so much! You’re the best!”       “I’m thanking you with all my heart, Anna,” Norman says with a slight smile. “You have always been nice.”       “I did it for you, Mr. Potter,” Anna confesses a little hesitantly. “Because I respect and appreciate you for always being nice to me.”       “How could I not be nice to such a wonderful person!”       “Can I count on you if I have problems with Julian?”       “What kind of question, my girl? Of course! You know that I’ve always treated you like my daughter and would do anything for you.”       “Thank you, Mr. Potter,” Anna smiles slightly.       “So, as our daughter forgave Julian, Maximilian and I will do nothing,” Lillian throws her hands up with a slight smile. “Your son can calm down, Norman. Thanks to Anna, prison does not threaten him.”       “But if something similar happens again, we will do something, despite our daughter’s wish,” Maximilian adds confidently.       “You will not have to, my dears,” Norman replies with a little sly smile. “We will always be friends.”       “We’re glad we agreed,” Lillian smiles slightly and moves her eyes to Anna. “Right, Anna?”       “Yeah, right…” Anna flashes a smile. “You’re right… We’ve been friends for ages… My grandparents knew the Potters and their late relatives. No wish to ruin such a long relationship.”       “We’re very glad we’ve solved it, too,” Norman replies amicably.       “And how happy I am!” Julian smiles much wider. “Anna’s forgiveness literally brought me to life!”       “I hope you will finally be back to work and help me.”       “Yes, Father! I will start to work tomorrow.”       “That’s good. I can’t solve all the questions on my own.”       “Thank you so much. Anna… Mr. Seymour… Mrs. Seymour… Thank you for showing your generosity! You are angels!”       Anna, Lillian, and Maximilian smile a little falsely, while Julian and Norman look at each other. And the latter winks at his son slightly, while the girl’s parents kiss their daughter on the temple. At some moment, Potter, Jr., looks around with a sly smile and throws a glance at where Daniel, Edward, Peter, and Terrence are hiding. But the men, feeling something bad, manage to squat down or hide behind the wall.       “I hope they won’t catch us earlier,” Edward exhales sharply, as he presses himself to the wall with his back as well as Daniel does it.       “They can do it,” Daniel throws coldly. “So, we deal with those scumbags sooner.”       “Patience, guys,” Terrence replies confidently. “This bullshit is gonna happen for a long time.”       “So, we will wait,” Peter says determinedly, squatting down.       Sammy barks quietly, wishing to deal with the bad people or letting the men know that they can show up again, because Julian moves his eyes to Anna, Maximilian, and Lillian.       “So, as we solved everything, we can talk about something,” Norman suggests cheerfully. “Tell me how are you doing? What changed for the time we did not see each other?”       “Well, nothing special…” Maximilian shrugs. “Not saying that Lillian and I divorced.”       “Seriously?” Norman rounds his eyes. “You divorced?”       “We filed a long time ago, but we just recently got divorced.”       “Gosh… But why? Max, Lillian? You fit each other so well! Such a beautiful couple!”       “Anything happens,” Lillian shrugs. “Max and I realized that we’d better live apart. A marriage, so to say, got us tense.”       “Did you have problems?”       “Yeah, we didn’t have a very good relationship some time before the divorce. But to be honest, we were never too close.”       “Wow… But you seemed happy at first sight.”       “Alas, Norman, our marriage was not as strong as the marriage of you and Genevieve.”       “So sorry… So sorry you got divorced…”       “It would be better for us. Maximilian and I still work together and have a good relationship. But… I must confess that we started to get along much better after divorce than we did when we were married.”       “Alright…” Norman pronounces thoughtfully. “But I’m glad you at least kept a good relationship. You lived together for so many years and raised a daughter…”       “Wait, didn’t you know it?” Maximilian frowns slightly. “I thought Julian told you about it!”       “Oh, excuse me, Mr. Seymour,” Julian apologizes, touching his forehead. “But I was so busy with my work that I forgot about the news about your divorce.”       “Oh, Anna, darling, it was probably hard for you to accept your parents’ divorce,” Norman assumes with pity in his eyes.       “No, it is alright,” Anna says quietly. “I wasn’t shocked and accepted their decision.”       “Children always consider their parents’ divorce a tragedy. I know a couple, whose child barely accepted the divorce of their mother and father. They cried a lot, suffered, and tried to bring them back together. They categorically refuse ‘new’ fathers and mothers.”       “I know, but I am really not upset. If people stop loving or don’t love, why should they be together? And I was kind of… Ready for that. I saw that my parents… Didn’t love each other.”       “Anyway, we are very sorry,” Norman shows sympathy.       “I am surprised by your quiet, Anny,” Julian shakes his head. “I wouldn’t have accepted the divorce of Father and Mother and even cannot imagine how children of divorced parents can live.”       “Life doesn’t stop after it,” Anna says quietly. “Even if my parents are divorced, they didn’t stop being my father and mother.”       “I still cannot believe that my mother is not with us anymore. Yes, I barely accepted it, but… It’s hard to get used to life without a close person.”       “I’m even afraid to imagine what I would do if my parents died someday,” Anna says quietly. “I will not take it.”       “Anyway, I shall always be with you and help you overcome this pain. I have enough experience with it. And if you feel terrible because of your parents’ divorce, I will be happy to comfort you.”       “Thanks, but I don’t feel bad. I don’t feel that they broke up. Everything is the same. The only difference is that my parents aren’t living together and have documents about their divorce. It’s alright. Really.”       “That’s good when people can establish their relationship and remain friends,” Julian notices. “I would be happy to remain friends with my ex-girlfriends. But sadly, they did not wish to have anything in common with me. Too hurtful. Proud. They did not appreciate everything I did for them.”       “But I kept a good relationship with many men. But I don’t actually speak to anyone now.”       “Do you date someone now?” Lilian asks with a slight smile.       “No, Mrs. Seymour, I haven’t had a relationship for a long time. I don’t have time, and girls don’t aim to speak to me. Though, I don’t know why. I work, earn enough money, can provide for my family… Any girl wants to be with a provided man, who could buy her good gifts.”       “Don’t worry, Julian. Someday you will meet the one to love you with all your heart.”       “I am starting to doubt it. You know that girls need young guys, but I am no longer a boy. Thirty-five years is a great age.”       “Oh, sweetie, that’s not so much! Men at this age are like gold!”       “Oh, Mrs. Seymour, don’t say!”       “I’ve always been sure that young girls need an adult, provided man,” Norman confesses confidently. “They could only hang out and make love with young boys. But if a girl wants to have a serious relationship and a stable life, she must look for a provided one at an adult age. The one, who could turn a girl into a woman.”       “I agree with you,” Maximilian says thoughtfully. “You’d better live with a provided, adult man than with a young guy without money, a job, or a home.”       “Your Anna is a very young girl, who does not know life yet. She needs an adult man, who would be five or ten years older.”       “Yeah, but my girl still cannot forget her ex,” Lilian says confidently. “The young guy, who promised to golden her but later cheated on her with another girl before the eyes of my daughter.”       “It’s alright, Lilian. Your daughter will surely meet a decent man, who will make her forget the thankless pig.”       “Ah, Norman, you know how hard it is to get the love for a person out of your heart,” Maximilian sighs tiredly. “Especially, a young girl, who believes in love at first sight and wants to get married once and forever.”       “I understand everything, dear friend,” Norman says quietly, taking a sip of coffee, wincing slightly, and putting his cup on the coffee table. “Nevertheless, you need to move on. Anna must forget that stinker. The young beggar, who would never give her what an adult, provided man can give her.”       “As far as I know, he is not a beggar,” Maximilian says thoughtfully. “The guy was raised in a provided family that bought him a house. Yes, he had a hard time after the death of his parents, but he got through it and is living quite well.”       “Oh, Max, don’t you understand that he just showed off? That stinker knew that Anna was raised in a well-provided, intelligent family. He understood that he could not openly tell you that he was a beggar, whose property was only his underwear.”       “I don’t know…” Lilian sighs quietly. “Though, he seemed decent. Smart, educated, gentle… That’s what I thought when I managed to talk to him.”       “But I think you saw what that stinker is,” Julian says confidently. “He only needed your money.”       “Exactly!” Norman exclaims. “Forget him! Your daughter is so young and beautiful. She should think of her personal life. Her beauty and youth aren’t forever. Time is running. While Anna is young, she will have many fans, but the older she is, the fewer fans she has.”       “I know, Mr. Potter,” Anna pronounces quietly. “You are right.”       “I say it just because I wish you happiness. And I want you to marry a decent man and give birth to at least one child. That’s the duty of any woman.”       “Yes, but I haven’t come to myself after the breakup with my boyfriend and… I’m not ready for a new relationship.”       “Nobody makes you look for a boyfriend. Just speak and meet new people. Maybe, you will like someone.”       “Maybe, later… Now I don’t want to think of men. I still feel pain. Because my beloved man… Put a knife in my back.”       “My girl, I completely understand you. But trust me, nothing will be changed if you are worried. You are smart and beautiful and deserve much more than that deadbeat. A girl from a decent, intelligent family with money must find a man of the same status or higher.”       “Yeah, but… I will hardly find someone like him.”       “You will find someone to be much better. The one, who would not force you to save money for everything.”       “I don't care about money at all. Love and care are more important to me.”       “My girl, it’s not the most important thing about a man. Yes, you are young and need romance and love now. But the older you get, the less you need it. You will think of stability first.”       “Any woman needs it. Even an adult one.”       “If you want to live a whole life with a man, you should choose the one to give you confidence about tomorrow. Not beggar pretty boys with a model appearance, who lie to you openly, and forget about their promises. A real man should not be handsome and caring. He must be able to provide for his family. Just like my Julian.”       “I don’t know, Mr. Potter…” Anna sighs quietly. “Maybe, you’re right…”       “I’ve lived enough and know what I say. And if you listen to me, there will never be a question like ‘Do we have money for this or that?’ at the home of you and your husband.”       “Someday, I shall start a new relationship… But not now. My wounds are still bleeding…”       At this moment, Daniel frowns slightly, not knowing how to react to Anna’s words, and his friends watch him closely but say nothing.       “Alright, Norman, don’t persuade her,” Maximilian says confidently, embracing Anna around the shoulders. “When she is ready, she will start meeting men.”       “That’s right,” Norman agrees. “Anna will meet a man, who will golden her and her future children.”       “God will help us, Norman,” Lillian smiles slightly. “That’s what we wish for our daughter.”       Norman says nothing and smiles kind of slyly, looking at what’s around him. Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which everybody drinks some coffee and puts their cups on the coffee table.       “Listen, friends, I would like to smoke a cigarette,” Norman says thoughtfully, strokes his hair down, moves his eyes to Julian, and nods with a sly smile, as if he gives him a sign. “What if we go outside? Huh, Max? Lillian?”       “Do you still smoke?” Maximilian frowns slightly.       “Yeah, you wanted to wean yourself from it,” Lilian recalls.       “I don’t have a will,” Norman nods. “And I blame myself for giving a bad example to my children. Julian also loves smoking.”       “Now I smoke rarer,” Julian notices. “Though, I didn’t use to let a cigarette go.”       “I hope that Ryan will not wish to smoke,” Lilian expresses hope.       “No, no, come on!” Norman exclaims. “Ryan does not even touch cigarettes.”       “Listen, you can do this right here,” Maximilian suggests. “I don’t have an ashtray, but I can find something for ash.”       “No, no, Max, let’s go smoke outside. And Lilian can join us, too.”       “Oh, you know that Lilian and I don’t smoke,” Maximilian replies amicably. “We live a healthy life and eat healthy food.”       “At least just stand with me! So, we talk about something, while our children stay here. I think they have something to talk about.”       “Of course,” Julian smiles slightly. “Go to smoke, but Anna and I will stay here and talk. Right, darling?”       “Eh-h, yeah, you probably have something to talk about,” Anna replies tensely. “Without… Us…”       “So, let’s go to the back of the house, then,” Maximilian suggests quietly.       “Show us a whole house later,” Norman says, taking a big sip of coffee from his cup and putting it on the table. “I wonder to see what there is here.”       “With pleasure. Now I can show you an incredible poll on the back of the house. Excellent place for barbecue.”       “Wow, I cannot wait to see that beauty,” Norman smiles widely.       “Come with me, Norman, come. Lillian, join us.”       Maximilian, Lillian, and Norman get up from the sofa, while Julian gloats silently and rubs his hands happily, Anna starts to shake much more at the thought that she will stay alone with her offender, and Daniel, Terrence, Edward, and Peter, frowning slightly, look at each other.       “We will be back soon,” Lillian says amicably.       “Don’t rush,” Julian replies with a sly smile.       While Norman takes a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his coat, Lillian and Maximilian carefully move their eyes up to Daniel, Peter, Edward, and Terrence and blink at them. Then the men nod confidently with their heads proudly raised.       “Okay, it’s getting hotter…” Edward pronounces thoughtfully. “Anna is gonna stay with Potter.”       “Now we’re watching super closely, lads,” Daniel says confidently.       “That bastard is now gonna reveal the real side of him,” Terrence assumes.       “But I’m warning: if that bastard dares to beat her again at my house, I will immediately go to hang his dick on his ears.”       Sammy barks quietly, and Terrence squats down in front of him and pets the dog’s head.       “Be quiet, buddy,” Terrence says quietly. “Now it’s a very important moment. We can’t mess up everything.”       Sammy makes a quiet sound and puts his paw on Terrence’s hand.       “Good,” Terrence smiles slightly, yanks Sammy softly by the ears, and gets up.       “Okay, the Seymours went to the back of the house alongside the Potters,” Edward announces.       “The show is getting started,” Peter says confidently.       When she stays with Julian, Anna immediately starts shaking and feels that her heart starts beating much faster. But she calms down a little because Daniel, Terrence, Edward, Peter, and Sammy are near. However, her fear is much stronger. Because his cold, contemptuous look is burning the pale girl, and his sly, smug smile makes her think of the worst and craziest things. Potter silently looks at Anna, who puts her head on her shoulders, for a few seconds, and then he smiles evilly, getting pleasure from being in front of the one, who is afraid of him to death.       “The plan is working well,” Julian says in a low voice. “As I dreamed.”       “It’s not a secret to me that you will never change,” Anna replies coldly with her arms crossed over her chest. “And all your hysterics are the show for my parents.”       “You are doing this right.” Julian hums contemptuously. “You are doing at least something right in your life.”       “I’ve always known you’re terrible, but I didn’t think you’d be so terrible. I thought you were just hiding your emotions, and that’s why I were cold. But I was deeply wrong.”       “Yes, yes, you naively believed I would distract you from the thoughts about that fucking deadbeat. You wanted to take revenge on him. Revenge for licking another woman before your eyes. Fate and ugly, as you said.”       “Yes, I wanted to forget him by spending time with you.”       “I knew it from the beginning. But something tells me that you do not want to revenge him after he heroically saved your skin along with his pals and their dirty dog. It bribed you.”       “You really care?”       “That freak wanted to become a hero for you. And he was sure he could do that. Women like you could be seduced by heroic actions very easily. A little bit before taking off their clothes and spreading their legs.”       Daniel grabs the railing tightly with both hands, literally trying to kill Julian with his burning look, as he breathes heavily.       “The deadbeat knows you admire stupid tales about princes and princesses and wear pink glasses. So, that asshole decided to play the role of a fucking prince for you. With no crown and horse. But with the dirty dog. And the nasty bastards, who dare to call themselves men just because they’ve got a tiny whistle between their legs.”       “Don’t dare to insult my friends, Julian,” Anna demands coldly. “They did nothing bad to you.”       “They did not. But anyone, who surrounds the ass of that nasty beggar, becomes my enemy.”       “All of my exes were beggars for you!”       “You only chose them! You checked out some trash and fucked assholes! You do not care about mature and well-provided men. You want young, hot beggars. Yeah, sucking them is much nicer than a forty-year-old rich man.”       “I chose a character, not a thick wallet!”       “I am really surprised that you have not fucked too young boys. Women, who get lovers, who are five or ten years younger, have been a trend lately. Though, it’s clear… You cannot have a twenty-four-hour sex marathon with an adult man. He does not need it and doesn’t have time.”       “If I speak to someone and start to date them, it means I like them.”       “Yeah, why did you like that deadbeat? He is a king of sex? He makes you scream from pleasure?”       “Don’t be jealous of those, for whom everything is okay with it.”       “It’s alright, girl, when you grow up, you will regret dating only beggars. My father said the right things. Though, I am not sure if the little girl with a snail’s brain will be smarter in ten years.”       “Yes, almost all my exes were not rich, but the deadbeat, as you call him, had everything I was looking for in a man.”       “Ha, what does that bastard have?” Julian smirks contemptuously. “A sultan castle? A female harem? Lots of servants? An airplane? Or a yacht?”       “He had what you will never have.”       “If he had money, your ex would put on good, expensive clothes. Not some shit bought on a sale at a cheap shop or a fucking second-hand store!”       “Yes, he does not buy stuff at stores of luxury Italian or French clothes! But I did not care about it!”       “Or that shabby cat checks out trash and steals the clothes from homeless folks. The nasty bastard, whose neck I would break with pleasure. Who ruined all my fucking plans!”       Daniel breathing heavily steps back from the railing, comes to the walls, and hits his fist against it with evil.       “No, motherfucker, I shall break your neck…” Daniel hisses and walks nervously in circles in front of his friends, grabbing his hair. “You will know who Daniel Perkins is. I shall bury you in the ground!”       “Ha, as if his clothes cost a hundred dollars,” Terrence scoffs contemptuously with both arms crossed over his chest. “And they are from all the famous brands in the world.”       “I saw the same coat in a cheap shop,” Peter confesses. “At a low cost, by the way.”       “And I have similar jeans!” Edward exclaims. “Which I bought for a little money.”       “I do want to add strong poison to his cup of coffee and watch that scumbag die,” Daniel hisses through his teeth with his head proudly raised.       “It’s all just the beginning, buddy,” Peter notices quietly. “Bloody hell is gonna happen later.”       Sammy barks very quietly, looking at everybody quickly.       “I will say one thing, Anna Seymour,” Julian says thoughtfully. “This time, you and your parents will be dead. Now, nothing and nobody will help you. No money from your daddy will save you and them from what Father and I want to do.”       “You say it every time we meet, Julian Anthony Potter,” Anna throws coldly.       “Now everything is serious! Nobody is going to fuss over you and your parents.” Julian gets up with a proud look and starts walking in circles in front of Anna sitting with her head inclined. “It’s your time to pay for what you did to us.”       “Trying to terrify me again?”       “Did you not get it, brainless chicken?” Julian stops sharply. “Your parents and you will be dead! You all will die!”       “I understood it when you said you and your father would kill us for the first time.”       “Yes, we played time. We made pleasure longer, so to say. But now the game is over. No more mercy.”       “We will see it,” Anna says confidently.       Julian laughs evilly at first, and then he stops and looks at Anna contemptuously.       “Why did you start to be sassy to me?” Juliana asks. “Huh, girl? You were so quiet, scared… Pressed yourself to your mommy and daddy… You were shaking from fear… Literally crying… You were afraid that I would hurt you to death…”       “You will no longer hurt me!”       “Why do you think so? Do you think that fucking deadbeat will come to save you again?” Julian shakes his head with a sly smile.” No, Seymour, it will not happen! That half-hero and his bastards are far and do not know what is going to happen now.”       “If they knew it, they would punish you!”       If one of them shows up, I shall bury them in the ground. And I highly recommend that you close your fucking mouth and remember how ANY woman must behave!”       “Or what?” Anna asks loudly. “Will you beat me to half-death again? Can you do something else except beat weak girls and put your tail between your legs in front of confident men?”       “Relax, girl, I will not beat you this time. I’m not very interested in it now.”       “Come on? So, the next station is Death?”       “Exactly,” Julian smiles slyly. “And this station is the last one.”       Julian starts walking slowly in front of Anna again, locking his fingers tightly and keeping his head proudly raised.       “Your father has always been too stupid to bite Father and me through. He believed that I was an angel, and my father was his best friend. It was super easy to play the fool with Maximilian. I didn’t have problems with that simpletons. That stupid idiot, who understands everything too slowly.”       “My father is not stupid!” Anna resents. “Do not dare to hurt him!”       “But everything is harder about your mommy. She disliked Father and me from the beginning. Lilian is much smarter and more discerning than your dad. A typical honor student with a red diploma. A woman, who is much smarter than a man, is a real shame for my father and me.”       “Yes, Mother knows people very well.”       “I must confess that she is smart. Very smart. So smart that she tried to meddle in everyone’s business. She tried to ruin your wedding with me.” Julian hums with contempt and turns sharply on Anna being as quiet as a mouse. “Lilian always resisted this marriage and tried to avoid it in any way.”       “Because she saw what you were! And she has always wished me the best, even if she doesn’t say too much about it.”       “She has always preferred Ryan,” Julian adds coldly. “Your mother was sleeping and dreaming of seeing my pathetic brother as your husband. To get it, she risked going against her parents’ wish, who wanted me to be the fiancé of her daughter. Me, Seymour. You should have been mine.”       “I never wanted to marry you and would have resisted this marriage much more than the marriage with Ryan.”       “Your mommy has such a good tongue that she magically made everybody think that it would be better. Ryan became your fiancé. Though, he did not want it. My brother was only interested in his studies. He feels good without women. He is married to his books.”       “I didn’t want to marry Ryan,” Anna confesses without emotions. “Your brother is just my friend, no more. And I did not want to marry by someone’s order. I wanted to decide who could become my husband.”       “I did not ask you if you wanted to marry that idiot, who goes crazy from the studies and is attracted to his mommy.” Julian hums again and crosses his arms over his chest. “Your opinion will never be important. Because you are a woman. A creature without rights that does what you are told. SILENTLY.”       “I would do anything for freedom, Julian. To not lose half of my life as well as my parents. They could’ve been happy if they had chosen who to live with and with whom to live.”       “I do know that you went loose and thought you could do anything. For your information, my father was terribly mad when your mother told him about her wish to see that mammy’s sonny as her son-in-law. And I was furious. I was sure you would be mine!”       “But I wanted to do my best not to become a family member of the Potters,” Anna says confidently. “It would’ve been a catastrophe for my family!”       “That’s what I am going to say, Ms. Seymour… Even if my father accepted your mommy’s suggestion, it wouldn’t have been a problem for my father and me. You know why?” Julian bends closer to Anna and looks at her coldly and contemptuously. “Because we would’ve gotten what we wanted. No matter if you got married to my brother or me. The important thing is that Father could get benefit from uniting our families and become much richer. And take everything your father and mother stole from us insolently one day.”       “You’ve got a two-star Michelin restaurant that gives you a lot of money. Yes, you don’t earn as much as my parents, who own a five-star restaurant. But you and your father are not beggars!”       “It’s easy, girl. Father and I do not forgive offenses and always revenge on those, who go against us.”       “What do I have to do with that? If my parents made a mistake, do I have to pay for that, too?”       “You are not as innocent as you think,” Julian throws a cold, contemptuous look aside for a moment and looks at Anna again. “You cannot be called an angel.”       “Should I be judged for wishing to decide how to live?”       “You can decide nothing!” Julian shouts irritably. “Since you were born as a woman, you must obey a man! Father, brother, or husband! Nobody has cared about your ‘want’ and ‘do not want!’”       “You have never cared! There are those, who do care about what I feel!”       “Those, who listen to the opinion of a woman without rights, are women or weak people. Such mammy’s boys like my brother.”       “You never said these things before. When did you turn on the wrong side? When did you start to treat girls with this disgust? Your father taught you?”       “My father always says the right things! Including what women are. I have always thought that his point of view is right. But after all your tricks, I got a greater hatred for such disenfranchised chickens like you.”       “It sounds like discrimination! Sexism, the hell!”       “I don’t care about what you blunt. A fact is a fact – my plans of marrying you were ruined. You ran away. Ran away with that poor motherfucker. That asshole, who stole you from me! If not for that bastard, you would’ve gotten married to the one, who was chosen as your husband!”       “Never!” Anna cuts off sharply. “I tolerated a lot and was a good girl, who studied well and spoke to decent people for a too long time. But deciding who I should’ve lived with, when I should’ve given birth, and what I should’ve done was too much!”       “If you were a daughter of my father, he would keep you on a leash. Since your family missed the moment, he would’ve slapped you on your ass every day and wouldn’t have let you eat and drink after any bad thing.”       “You’d understand me if you were under harsh, permanent control,” Anna replies with a hint of despair. “I ran away for my happiness! For independence from my parents, who decided everything for me. I chose to be happy and free! I didn’t want to waste the years of my life for nothing!”       “They did the right thing. Because you get attracted to some stupid chickens and bastards without money. You don’t the fuck know people and surround yourself with shit! You are acting like a whore by jumping from one bed to another and sucking any milksops.”       “Don’t insult me, Julian! I am not a whore! I have never slept with everyone! And just communicating with men and choosing someone is a natural search for a partner.”       “You are an idiot, Seymour, just an idiot! Why are you not ashamed of messing up with some sheep like that beggar and his gang of shabby dogs? Did you get wet shortly after you saw those bastards?”       “Any girl wants to be with an attractive man! He doesn’t need an ugly, rude monkey!”       “Any little kid thinks this way! Remember how many little girls had a crush on your pal, Terrence MacClife, in the 00s! That fucking actor, who was literally pronounced a God of beauty. You had probably also drooled over him before you met the poor deadbeat. You didn’t get the actor, but you hooked up with his pal. One of his pals. I wouldn’t be surprised if you tried to seduce that little puppy and that blond freak.”       “Nobody should care about what I think!” Anna cuts off sharply. “If I want, I can love a pretty boy! If I want, I can love an old man!”       “You can hook up with anyone!” Julian smiles slyly. “But due to your blindness and belief in tales, you forgot something. For example, the fact that a tale would end early or late. Or that you didn’t run away from your parents, my father, and problems, and me. You ran away from a payday.”       “I don’t have to do with the problems of my parents, Julian,” Anna says coldly. “If your father had problems with my father and mother, I’m not guilty of that. I don’t work at their restaurant and know nothing about it. And I’ve never been interested in their work.”       “Yeah… At first sight, you’re so sweet. It seems like you would immediately do anything. But when you look deeper, you get overwhelmed by what you see inside.”       “What you have inside would get anyone overwhelmed. You can only scream and beat. It’s fine for you.”       “Ah, Anna, Anna… You were told, ‘Be a good girl! Listen to those, who know what would be better for you!’ Your daddy, mommy, grandmothers, and grandfathers – everybody was so happy that you were so quiet and obedient. But then something went wrong, and you started to behave like a savage!”       “Not all men threaten women with fists and see nothing bad in insulting her and beating her strongly behind closed doors. Not all girls are afraid to say something and move without permission.”       “I am not a milksop, Seymour! I am Julian Potter! The man, who cannot tolerate a rebel woman and would not bend under her!”       “M-m-m… How hard you lick the ass of your father. How hard you use the knowledge you got from him. He hates women, you do. You were beaten regularly in childhood, and you think it’s fine. You beat women, he supports you in it.”       “I think your tongue has become too long,” Julian notices coldly and crosses his arms over his chest. “You speak, and nobody can the fuck stop you. And nothing is left of your fears… It’s suspicious, you know.”       “I’m sick of tolerating the way you treat me!” Anna says loudly. “Sick of this discrimination! I do deserve respect! Just like any other woman! I’m sick of being silent and letting you and your father mock me! Stop, Potter! Eno-ugh! I am not your toy!”       First, Julian laughs evilly, but then, he comes closer to Anna, grabs her tightly by the chin, and raises her face, making her shake with a quiet gasp under the view of his icy eyes.       “Do not snap at me, you, nasty gal,” Julian hisses through his teeth in a low voice. “I can take my words and beat you to death.”       “Don’t dare, bastard,” Daniel hisses with evil, holding the railing tightly and literally shaking from the tension. “You will not dare to do anything to her! Especially, in my fucking house!”       “Listen, I don’t like she’s behaving like this,” Edward expresses anxiety, grabbing his throat with a hand. “It won’t be good for her.”       “It won’t be good for him, Edward! I promise you! I shall turn that sick bastard to dust!”       “You are going to kill me anyway,” Anna recalls confidently. “Why would you waste time? Kill me so that my death is instant! I don’t want torture.”       “So, girl, can’t you want to die?” Julian smirks evilly and pushes Anna off sharply. “Sick of living? Everyone wants too much from you! The deadbeat left you! I beat you! I know, your life seems shit to you.”       “You are crazy, Julian. Just crazy.”       “And yeah, even your escape with that bastard did not stop Father and me from working on our revenge,” Julian says confidently. “Yes, nobody could find you for a long time, but my father and I weren’t sleeping and were watching your parents. Everything they did. While you were happy and positive, pleasing your beggar.”       “I’m surprised that you and your father did not kill them much earlier.”       “No, we revenged slowly. Carefully. We didn’t want to do everything immediately. Moreover, they had enough problems. Your grandparents died, and your mother and father started to talk about divorce more and more. Father guessed about their problems but said nothing. Though, both of us didn’t really know that the divorce really happened. I heard it from Maximilian, but my father heard it from me.” Julian smirks evilly. “And Father and I knew that Lilian and Maximilian started to fight a lot after your escape and could not speak. And they also had problems at work. It made their relationship much worse.”       “Didn’t you and your daddy work on it?”       “Yes, we did!” Julian confirms without regret. “My father gave the Seymours problems. He sent multiple letters on behalf of clients to some instances, in which he complained about a complete lack of sanitation, overdue food, and insects at the restaurant and on dishes. He said so much that it could’ve lost its stars and actually been closed down. Some people went there with verification for a few months. And it’s amazing that they really found so many violations. And some workers added fuel to the fire. In short, your parents had a good time!”       “You hoped everyone would come to you?”       “Many people really did it. And your parents were trying to solve everything for a very long time. At first, they denied all the claims, but they immediately changed their minds when they understood their business was about to be taken down. As it turned out, they also should’ve paid a lot of taxes. The Seymours did everything they should’ve done and barely saved their business. But bad rumors were spread about their restaurant, and many people refused to come to them for a long time. Father and some of his friends wrote tons of negative reviews on the Internet, which also impacted it. Maximilian and Lilian suffered losses, spent a lot of money, and almost took their restaurant down. They even had to dismiss some workers because they weren’t able to pay a salary. But just recently, these people started to get up, and clients came back to this place again.”       “I quickly realized that it couldn’t happen without you. The restaurant was very popular and gave my parents a lot of money.”       “But I forgot to say that they lost a couple of stars.” Julian glances at the side of the kitchen and locks his fingers, walking in circles in front of Anna. “My father was sure that they’d have no brains to get up from knees to feet. But they surprised us. I don’t know if they are really not so brainless, or your mommy and daddy found some rich sponsors. But the result was good for them.”       “To your sadness. And the sadness of your father.”       “Right, we were disappointed. But I think our work was worth it. The problems at work became the reason why your parents' marriage was ruined. Their relationship did not get better. As I see, they get along well now. But I do not exclude that they did it for you. If not for their daughter, Lilian and Maximilian would’ve pissed each other off a long time ago. But they can't! Because they’ve got a daughter. Who made two unloving people tolerate each other.”       Anna moves her sad eyes to her hands and swallows up nervously, inclining her head.       “It hurts?” Julian smirks evilly. “Although you say you aren’t upset by your parents’ divorce, I see it hurts you. You are hurt that your mommy and daddy speak just for you. You blame yourself for not being able to live as they wanted.”       “That’s why I didn’t want to give half of my life to the one I would never love by force,” Anna says confidently. “Who I would just respect in the best case.”       “Nobody has ever cared about your wishes. The older people told you to marry me – you must have shut up, forgotten about your ‘I do not want’, and become a perfect wife. As your late grandparents said, you must not go against older people, you must obey them.”       “I will not speak for my grandparents. But my parents have always cared about my wishes. They didn’t just say it and were afraid to go against the older people. Mother wouldn’t have persuaded them and your father to agree to the marriage of Ryan and me if she hadn’t cared about me.”       “Yeah, I could call it an attempt to rebel a little. Quite successful, I must confess. In the worst case, your mother would’ve gotten her ass kicked so that she would’ve shut up forever.”       “There is not a worse punishment than you and your daddy,” Anna says coldly. “The Potters are our curse! The heavy burden on our shoulders!”       “That’s what we wanted,” Julian smiles slyly. “My father and I wanted to become your nightmare. Which would’ve made you wake up with a cold sweat. After your escape with that fucking deadbeat, this wish got stronger. And trying to bankrupt your parents was not enough to get satisfied. We wanted to give your mother and father much stronger pain and drive them crazy.”       “M-m-m, seems like I’m starting to guess how.”       “Yeah? Let’s check it out!” Julian says nothing for two seconds and glances aside. “On the day of my first meeting in a few years with you, I told Father that you showed up and got on well with your daddy. Then, he came up with a genius plan, which I liked immediately. And what happened between you and that deadbeat was good for us. We were sure that the bastard wouldn’t meddle in our business because he forgot you and all of his pals and licked another woman. He stopped being a threat to us.”       “And what was your ‘genius’ plan about?” Anna crosses her arms over her chest.       “I was supposed to mock you, shorty. Mocking you so that you didn’t have a wish to resist me. Father knows that you’re very sensitive to what you hear. He was sure that if you were educated very well, you would do anything you were told. And he asked me to deal with you and hurt you as hard as possible. And I agreed with pleasure. I took pleasure in mocking you. I enjoyed the way you were shaking in front of me and looked so vulnerable when you had your face slapped for a reason and screamed from getting your bones literally broken.”       At this moment, Daniel, Peter, Edward, and Terrence look at each other with widely open eyes, and Sammy whines quietly and inclines his head slightly.       “Fuck, it’s all his father…” Peter shakes his head. “Because of him, Anna suffered!”       “For nothing!” Terrence exclaims. “Anna isn’t guilty of their fights because of the restaurant business!”       “Yeah, what does she have to do with their stars that a common person doesn’t care about?” Daniel wonders.       “Potter’s dad knew that if something happened to Anna, her parents wouldn't bear it. Norman does know their weakness and pressed it as strongly as possible.”       “And I could not protect her,” Daniel shakes his head. “She ended up in their hands literally because of me.”       “And we knew nothing…” Edward exhales sharply. “We could’ve avoided all of that…”       “I know… We had a real chance to put those bastards in prison much earlier. I could protect Anna. I could!”       Edward, Peter, and Terrence do not answer to Daniel because Julian starts to speak after a short silence with a sly smile:       “So, as you started to live with your father, I was much happier. Because I could visit you every day. Besides, your naive father pushed you to me. That idiot believed I was the only one to be able to help you forget your fucking beggar. Who gave a fuck about you because another gal sucked him.”       Being surprised by what she has heard, Anna says nothing and looks into the distance without emotions, inclining her head and folding her hands in front of her, while he is walking in front of her with an arrogant look.       “So, I completed my mission only for a few days. I really made you forget the deadbeat. You only thought about how to save your parents. Because I told you that my father and I would kill them if you were rebellious and decided to tell someone about what happened.”       Julian smiles slyly with all his thirty-two teeth and laughs evilly.       “You know how much pleasure I got from humiliating you and letting you know that you were less important than me!” Julian exclaims with his head proudly raised. “I imagined you standing on your knees and looking at me like a lord. Sometimes you really did. When you, clumsy cow, could fall without a reason.”       “Yeah, you’ve never known anything else but humiliations and insults,” Anna throws gloomily in a low voice.       “When I insulted you once and slapped you on your back with a belt, I could not stop and wanted more and more.” Julian laughs evilly. “I called you worthless and ugly – you became the one. I said you could do nothing – you lost all of your talents and forgot everything you could do. Even when I called you sloppy and clumsy, you lost your grace. You stopped watching your feet, stepped over something constantly, let something go, or broke it… You could hardly be called a lady in high society. You would get ashamed if you ended up there. And humiliate your company. I get goosebumps on my back when I imagine everyone pointing at me and laughing at me because of you.”       “Do you think you’d get better if you humiliated someone? Those, who know who you really are, will never believe you are an angel. I have always seen you through!”       “But you didn’t think about when you decided to get in touch with me to make the deadbeat mad. You thought you’d use me and make him jealous. But I bit you through immediately and prevented it quickly. I took the situation under my personal control. You thought you would play with me, but I eventually played with you.” Julian laughs evilly, looking at Anna with his head proudly raised. “You became an alive but dead doll. You stopped feeling yourself. That sanguine and smiling Anny died. She was replaced by the terribly insecure girl, who truly believed that she was ugly, worthless, and talentless.”       “Right…” Anna agrees. “You did a great job.”       “I had a mission to hurt you – I did it.” Julian smiles slyly. “I mean, I overdid it. Because you became obedient. As obedient as never before. My insults, hits… You agreed with everything. Yes, sometimes you resisted and showed your claws. But I immediately showed you where you belonged. You are guilty of being constantly beaten. You always provoke and irritate me. If you were a good girl, your ass would not burn so much.”       “You beat me for a reason and without! I said something, you beat! I said nothing, you beat me! I looked at you wrongly, you slapped me! I broke something, and I heard tons of insults and humiliations! You always liked nothing! Even if I were dead or unconscious, you would be mad. You would keep beating and insulting me.”       “Anyway, I got what I wanted. I quickly found levers of influence and made you obey the man. And if I had wanted to throw you on the bed, undress you, and get my penis into you deeply, you wouldn’t have made a squeak. My lessons on education did lead to some results. And my regular threats of killing you or your parents shut you up shortly.”       “If you dare to get your dick out of your pants and show it to her, I will castrate you without anesthesia,” Daniel hisses in a low, rude voice, clenching his hands into fists.       “Fuck, how many assholes there are in the world!” Peter resents. “Ringer, Wainwright, Michael, Potter, his daddy…”       “I swear if that motherfucker says he has already raped her, I shall kill him. With my own hands.”       “It’s okay, he’ll go where all bastards end up someday. Potter and his father are next in line to hell.”       While Julian falls into silence, Anna feels how a tear rolls down her cheek, doubles over, and closes her face for a few seconds, not believing what’s happening is not a nightmare. But later, she slowly moves her dead eyes to the man being satisfied and confident and looking at her contemptuously with both arms crossed over his chest.       “Why?” Anna pronounces in a quiet, low voice and shakes her head. “Why, Julian? Why do you hate me? What did I do?”       Anna sniffs quietly, barely holding her tears down.       “Because of you, I forgot who I was before,” Anna breaks into a cry. “I can’t remember who I was before! You killed the previous me! I am not a little happy girl, who found something good in everything and rarely cried! But now I can’t live without tears! I can’t believe in me again! I feel ugly! A talentless freak, who should’ve died before birth!”       “It was the goal of Father and me,” Julian says confidently. “Make you obey our rules. Do what we say. Forget your opinion. Remember that there is no other opinion but a man’s opinion.”       “I’m guilty of nothing! Why should I pay for the mistakes of my parents for your father?”       “I also have reasons to hate you as much as Father hates your mother and father,” Julian says insolently, turning on Anna sharply, coming closer to her, and looking deeply into her eyes. “My father hates your parents because he could’ve lost his restaurant and become a beggar. But I hate you.”       “Why?” Anna rounds her eyes. “Why do you hate me?”       “As if you, bitch, don’t know!” Julian sneers contemptuously. “As if you don’t know what you the fuck did to me!”       “We’ve always had a good relationship!”       “I see you forgot how you somehow deeply hurt my feelings and insulted me as much as other girls did not!”       “It’s not true!” Anna protests in a shaking voice. “I never hurt you! Yes, I was afraid of you because I thought you seemed very cold and terrible. But I swear I never said a bad word about you and was always gentle. Even if you didn’t always treat me well.”       “You got me wrong, brainless chicken,” Julian says in a lower, rude voice. “Did you forget what you did many years ago? Did you forget how you rejected my feelings?”       “What?” Anna rounds her eyes. “You’re serious?”       “Yes, shorty, I hate you because you refused to be mine!”       Being shocked by what they heard, Daniel, Peter, Edward, and Terrence look at each other, and Sammy, moving his head, makes a very quiet sound.       “Seriously?” Peter wonders. “Is that why Potter mocked the poor girl like that?”       “I was sure that the case was about it,” Daniel confesses. “Potter suggested his sonny mock Anna, and he considered it a chance to revenge her for the rejected love.”       “Yeah, the man definitely got insane…” Terrence crosses his arms over his chest.       “Or our pensioner isn’t used to getting rejected,” Edward adds. “He got much wilder than Terrence did when Raquelle rejected him.”       “I doubt that Potter was popular among girls,” Daniel assumes confidently. “They’d prefer to be with a nerd or non-attractive guy than the bastard, who wouldn't get anything even for a lot of money.”       “Yeah, not every girl would like to become a disenfranchised bird in a gold cage,” Terrence replies thoughtfully.       Sammy barks shyly, and Edward pets the dog on the head and puts his finger on his lips, so he stays quiet.       “Gosh, Julian…” Anna shakes her head. “But… But it’s been so many years… It’s been a while!”       “Yes, a while!” Julian throws rudely. “And I have hated you all those years. Hated you for hurting me like that! Humiliating me! Insulting! I shall NEVER forgive you for that!”       “But you never hinted that it hurt you.”       “Right. But I did not forget. I forgot nothing about that fateful day when I got hate for you and made much more sure that women were a curse for men!”       “You said you understood everything! You suggested we remain friends!”       “I should have kept you under the radar and revenged when the time came!”       “Listen, Julian…”       “You ruined my dreams!” Julian sharply takes two steps forward and turns around Anna with a heavy breath. “You ruined my dreams of marrying the girl I loved! I wanted to live with you! I wanted a son from you!”       Julian says nothing for two seconds and, frowning strongly, raises his head.       “I still remember the day we met. You were eleven, but I was twenty-two. You were a child, but you stood up against the others. A sympathetic, smiling girl with dark, thick hair. You wore a very beautiful pink dress and a pink headband. It was like an angel came from heaven! So good… So obedient… Your parents proudly noticed that you were well-educated and did everything they wanted after the first command. It was the perfect variant for me! I was sure that you’d obey me in everything and wouldn’t dare to resist me! And when Father and I went home on that day, I said I liked you. He was madly happy. Father said it would be easy for me to keep you on a short leash. He always told me that if a man didn’t show where a woman belonged, she would hang on his neck. And on that day, he promised that you’d become my wife. Moreover, our grandparents always wanted to become a family. And Father seriously thought about starting a common business. With a better benefit for himself, of course.”       Anna says nothing and sets her dead eyes into the distance, unconsciously remembering the events of the past that Julian is talking about.       “As our families spoke much, you spent a lot of time with me and Ryan, who you met a little earlier,” Julian continues, clenching his hands tightly into fists, and exhales slowly. “The pastime with my brother was more interesting for you because you are of the same age. Though, you showed respect to me and listened to me. You were always obedient, quiet, shy, and educated. And every year, you were getting more attractive. When you became a teenager, you began to attract me sexually. It was hard to resist the wish to have you. But I knew I would have problems if I accosted a girl of an illegal age. That’s why I waited. I was sure you would pay attention to me as a man. But…”       Julian turns sharply to Anna.       “At some moment, you began to change for the worse. You stopped being the good girl that I liked. You started always being a rebel and refused to obey older people. Got in touch with some stupid gals and fucked some boys, whom your parents always chased down. Yes, you did not forget about your studies, but there was no sweet and good girl. You stopped being the one, who could become a wise girl, who would obey her future husband and not dare to argue with him. You were far from it. Far from the one, who I imagined.” Julian crosses his arms over his chest. “But it’s alright. I was ready to close my eyes to that. You were at an age when everyone was hormonal. I thought you’d grow up, get enough of it, and calm down. Get sick of hanging out with your stupid friends and meeting rejects, who did not fit you. And understand that a girl from an intelligent family must’ve found a partner from her circle.”       Julian throws a contemptuous look aside and looks at Anna with a greater hatred.       “But I will never forgive you for rejecting me. I will never forget how ashamed and discouraged I felt. When I decided it was time to make a confession of love and invited you on a date. I was tender and good for you. I was fighting with me. Because I do not know those tender feelings. But I tried. Tried to do my best for you to feel good with me. But my efforts were not worth it! You did not appreciate what I did. You did not even try to pretend that you liked it. You said directly that you would never fall in love with me. You did not want to give me a chance. And it would’ve been alright if you had dated someone. But you were single. You just went to the university and moved to New York along with your parents.”       Julian says nothing for two seconds and moves his eyes aside for a second.       “You know how hurt I felt! After the girl, with whom I fell in love at first sight, drove me into the dirt! How many years I waited for the day I’d tell you what I felt and got a hit on my balls. I did my best for you to like me, but you never noticed me. You liked beggars much more. And you gave a fuck about guys from provided families! You literally ignored them and rejected them on purpose. That was a protest! A protest against your family’s wish to marry you to a provided man.”       Julian says nothing for two seconds and shakes his head, not moving his eyes off Anna.       “I loved you, Anna,” Julian says in a little shaking voice, with anguish. “Very much. I thought I found the one, who would live with me until old age and give me many children. But you ruined all my dreams. You killed all the good feelings I had for you. My love was immediately replaced with anger and hate. I wanted revenge. I literally craved it. You know how hard it was to hold myself down and tell you I got it and would remain your friend. YOU KNOW THE FUCK? Though, you never said you and I were friends. NEVER! You TOLERATED me!”       Julian glances at the window with a heavy breath.       “I didn’t know how to kick you. And I was thinking of it for hours, drinking strong alcohol and smoking packs of cigarettes. But alas, I thought up nothing. But I was getting more obsessed with a wish to hurt you strongly. But I did not do that AGAIN!”       Julian comes closer to Anna and looks into her scared eyes with a cold look.       “At first, your mother made Father sure to marry you to Ryan. And later, that poor bastard stole you from me. He stole what belonged to me. It was impossible to find you. That’s why I started to lose hope of kicking you. By that moment, I decided I’d wait for you to get married to Ryan. Your family would’ve given you to us and wouldn’t have cared about your life. I would’ve mocked you and stayed unpunished. Nobody would’ve considered the angel, Ryan, or me guilty. Father would’ve never said a word and blamed you for everything. And my brother would’ve hardly meddled in it. Because he is a coward. A coward that has always been afraid of us. Especially since the death of his mommy, who always protected him and never let us touch him with a finger.”       Julian clenches his hands into fists tightly, while Anna swallows up nervously, looking at the man nervously.       “I could do what I want right now,” Julian says thoughtfully. “You are at my mercy, and nobody can defend you… Your parents can change nothing. The fucking deadbeat and his bastards will not also run to save you. You are unprotected. You can do nothing to me.”       Julian raises his head proudly, looking at Anna with arrogance.       “But I don’t want it. I don’t want to marry you. Such a worthless, ugly, and brainless freak like you. My wedding with you would’ve made me forget about a happy life. I would have had a liability. The liability that wouldn’t have loved me, respected me, and obeyed me. And knowing that your mother barely carried you and gave birth to the half-dead girl, I don’t doubt that you’re also a reject, who wouldn’t be able to give birth to children. I don’t need a stupid, clumsy, and ugly gal, who can’t give birth to at least one child. If you got pregnant from, for example, the deadbeat, you’d give birth to a sick child. Lilian has already given birth to one reject. Though, they should’ve let you die. Shit should not take place on this planet.”       Anna inclines her head with a heavy breath caused by excitement, looking at her shaking hands with sad eyes.       “Anyway, I mocked you enough and made you tolerate all these insults and hits. Now I’m done with it and don’t want to play this game anymore. It’s time for something more interesting.”       After hearing what Julian said, Daniel, Terrence, Peter, and Edward look at each other and shake their heads in disapproval.       “Damn, Anna can feel bastards from afar!” Edward exclaims. “She immediately understood what he was.”       “Yeah, she’s a smart girl,” Peter agrees confidently. “Potter is a motherfucker, who can’t tolerate those, who reject him.”       “As I understand, he got a perfect picture in his mind,” Terrence adds thoughtfully. “Anna is servicing him all day long, pleasing him, and tolerating his humiliations and hits, and he’s ordering her something like a king.”       “Bastard…” Daniel hisses through his teeth, clenching his hands into fists tightly. “High Highness was hurt! He could not take it! Girls reject hundreds of men every day! And it’s alright, they’re safe and sound! But this one is special, you know!”       “Yeah, his tender soul was hurt!” Peter hums with both arms crossed over his chest. “And the innocent girl suffered because of him. Though, she was honest and told him not to have illusions.”       Sammy barks very quietly and looks at all the men, and Anna tries to accept what she heard for a few seconds and shakes her head, while Julian watches her with contempt, keeping his arms crossed over his chest.       “That’s why…” Anna pronounces quietly. “That’s why you hate me… You were hurt that I honestly told you about my feelings for you.”       “Hurt?” Julian loudly wonders and sneers contemptuously. “Ha, yeah! You humiliated me and drove me into the dirt! I had never felt as split and insulted as then. All the dreams of the young boy of a wedding with a beautiful girl were ruined!”       “You know that I never loved you and spoke to you for respect.”       “Oh, yeah, you were always indifferent to my compliments, stories, and surprises. You accepted a little bouquet of flowers for granted. With a gloomy face.”       “I kept myself far from you because of your arrogant behavior and coldness that I had to feel when being next to you. When you’re near, I shake. I wanna run. And I was horrified when I thought you could be my husband.”       “But you could give me a chance! I could’ve gotten better! For you! I wanted to make you happy and give you much more than your father and mother.”       “No, Julian, you wouldn’t give me what I wanted.”       “You could live in luxury, Anna. I could’ve golden you and bought anything for you! Your life would have been an endless paradise! You would’ve had money, jewelry, gold, and expensive clothes from the best brands. Lived better than any sultan or queen and looked like one billion. I wouldn’t have made you work. I would’ve given you as much as you needed. Every day! You would’ve had the best servants, stylists, nail masters, cosmetologists, and doctors. The entire world could’ve been at your feet, thanks to me! Thanks to my money! Nobody would dare to say I am a lazy idler or a fucking beggar. I worked! Worked very much!”       Julian takes Anna’s jaw tightly and looks at her with a much more furious look, while Daniel is watching his prize like a hunter.       “But you refused all of that!” Julian throws with evil. “You refused to be a rich queen! Rejected a luxury future! Even if something had happened to me, you would’ve gotten everything. You and our children. You would have had everything if your head worked, not your heart! Though, I’m not surprised because you are a worthless shell.”       “Have you ever asked me if I need it?” Anna asks confidently and steps back from Julian sharply. “Whether I want all of that? And what I really need?”       “You would’ve wanted it early or late! You would’ve spent enough time with pathetic rejects and realized that you should’ve looked for more perspective and provided men!”       “Can’t love exist for something else except money?”       “Any woman would sell her soul for a mink coat or a necklace with brilliants!”       “A brilliant is just a gemstone. A cold, gemstone, the only dignity of which is its high value and attractive appearance. When a girl dates a man for his money, it can’t be called love. It’s consumerism. A girl will sing him praises and imitate a wild orgasm in bed until he's got money. But when he becomes a beggar, she will immediately disappear.”       “But those women can just be fed with a bag of money, so she doesn’t stand in your way.”       “But I’m not one of them! I can’t be bought with gifts and money!”       “I got it! Knowing that you only have a crush on beggars. You have dated no rich major guy – deadbeats only! And you dared to reject me, a perspective man, for a beggar, who has nothing. I bent the fuck under the gal for the first time in my life and REGRETTED it!”       “How do you know he has nothing?” Anna wonders loudly. “How? He told you that??”       “What would he earn if he sang his worthless songs along with three pals of him!”       “Musicians earn a lot of good money!”       “Alright, maybe, your ex will get a few million dollars by releasing a couple of albums and performing a few shows. But it will be over someday! This year, your schedule is scheduled for several months in advance, but the next one, you only have performances at cafés or weddings.”       “What do you know about it? You have never been interested in the show business, and you hate music and movies!”       “Much more than you, shorty without brains! The only thing he could give you is unrealistic hopes. You would’ve remembered your careless life at home with your parents a million times. When everything was done for you. Besides, you can do nothing! With you, any beggar would die from hunger and have to take care of him!”       “But thank God, my ex is alive and healthy.”       “Sorry! I would dance on his grave!”       “I think he’d be happy to dance on yours,” Anna says confidently, literally guessing the thoughts of Daniel, who thinks the same and throws a surprised look at his friends.       “It will remain his dream that will never come true! As well as your dream about living with him happily after. That deadbeat would have left you early or late and started to look at more interesting, obedient, and talented girls. Though…” Julian looks at Anna from head to foot with contempt. “A stooge like him does not deserve anything better than this. The chicken that can do nothing: cooking, washing, and giving birth to children. You only have enough brains to suck men!”       “He loved me, Julian!” Anna gets up sharply and looks at Julian with a cold look full of hate. “That man always treated me like a queen and gave me everything I needed!”       “Oh, yeah, that bastard without money could only get his dick deeply into you!”       “Don’t treat poor people like something disgusting! They are not worse than rich people!”       “I cannot stand them! Especially, those, who love to pick up rich daughters and sonnies to turn from a beggar to a rich guy. Your ex didn’t the fuck need you: he only loved the money of your parents.”       “He doesn’t care about which family I was born: poor or rich!”       “Oh, yeah, that bastard told you some shit, and you, idiot, believed it,” Julian scoffs contemptuously. “You thought someone would really love such a worthless and ugly gal not for the money of your family.”       “I think you and your father need the money of my parents so badly. If you’re so worried about it.”       “And you still hope that someone will need you.”       “Unlike you, my ex is not materialistic! He doesn’t need anything that belongs to other people! Because he can provide for himself and his future family.”       “M-m-m, I see you are still defending that deadbeat.” Julian shakes his head with a sly smile and laughs evilly, taking two steps back from Anna. “Do you still love that scumbag? Or did you change your mind because he played a hero and saved your fucking skin with the help of his pals?”       “None of your business, Julian!” Anna replies irritably, crossing her arms over her chest.       “You love, I know it,” Julian nods confidently. “Did you forget how you begged me to leave him alone and told him to get out? You would’ve hardly done it if you were indifferent to that deadbeat.”       “I asked you to leave him alone because I didn’t want anyone to suffer or die.”       “Are you afraid that you will be charged?”       “I am afraid to lose my close people! My parents and my friends, who mean much to me.”       “Well, you will lose your parents. But I shall think of the future of those bastards. Father let me decide what to do with the deadbeat and his company. Trust me, I shall get that asshole off the ground. And you, girl, stop thinking that he did it to come back to you. He was just afraid that your parents would kick his ass.”       “He did what any decent man would do.”       “I want to remind you that the deadbeat has been dating another girl, and he gave a fuck about you a long time ago. He does not need a worthless chicken, who does not know the simplest things.”       “What should she know? How not to say a wrong word, so her offender doesn’t get wild?”       “I am surprised that some hopeless and stupid gals with chicken brains can sometimes show their knowledge.”       At this moment, Daniel growls irritably, shifting his weight nervously from one foot to another, pulling his hair with a heavy breath, and barely holding down the hurricane that is about to get out and destroy everything in its way.       “Listen, I’m sick of hiding here like a coward and hearing all of this!” Daniel says irritably. “Hearing that bastard insult Anna and me at my own house!”       “Wait a little, Perkins, we can show ourselves soon,” Edward replies confidently. “Something tells me that Potter is on edge.”       Sammy barks quietly in approval, while Peter glances at the door leading to the back of the house.       “Hey, guys, when were the Seymours and Potter’s father supposed to come back?” Peter frowns slightly. “I kind of forgot about them.”       “Right!” Daniel rounds his eyes. “They haven’t come back! And… I don’t have a good presentiment…”       “I don’t exclude that Potter, Sr., is now revealing himself to the Seymours,” Terrence assumes.       “I dunno… Maybe…”       “Eh, Anna, Anna…” Julian says with a smug smile, walking in front of Anna. “You refused luxury I could have given you. A guarantee… I could have bought you gold, silver, brilliants and everything you would’ve wanted. Any woman would have envied you. I would have made you a queen. But you, stupid gal, chose to live with some beggar.”       “I chose love,” Anna says confidently. “When you love someone, you can’t even think about any benefit.”       “Yeah… I see that my lessons in education did not teach you anything. You, brainless shorty, understood nothing.”       “Gosh, Julian…” Anna shakes her head, squinting her eyes and looking at Julian questioningly, as she comes closer to him. “How heartless you are! Heartless…”       “You are guilty of it!” Julian throws rudely. “You made me like this! I am what I am because of you!”       “No, Potter, you are guilty. You and your father, upon whom you dance attendance like a doggy.”       “My father made me a real man! Not a fucking milksop, which that moron Ryan became thanks to my mother!”       “I’m sorry for you…” Anna shakes her head. “Really sorry. That you’ve never gotten love. You’ve never been taught to feel it. This sense is unfamiliar to you. You despise it. Hate it. Consider it a weakness. But it’s not true. Loving and showing kindness shouldn't be a shame.”       “Oh, you’ve read so many books! Listened to the lectures of psychologists and stole a couple of clever phrases from them!”       “No, I get it all. I am not surprised that you are so cruel. But it’s never too late to discover what it is. There is just one answer to the question about when you’d better love and do kind things. Always. You’ll never be too old or too young to give happiness to someone and feel it yourself.”       “Alright, shut up!” Julian raises his hand sharply. “I don’t care what you say! Don’t pretend to be sorry after you rejected me!”       “I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m not trying to change you.”       “You better change yourself. Learn to behave the way any woman must behave.”       “And you better learn to behave the way any decent man must behave.”       “As any weak guy, do you mean?”       “You always call my ex a deadbeat or redneck, but he is way better than you. A well-educated man, who never treated me like a worthless thing. Who takes care of those, who mean a lot to him.”       “That bastard should find a gal in his circles of beggars, not among rich, intelligent people, who must be ashamed of talking to the dirty trash.”       “Rich and poor people are different just because of one thing – it’s the number of banknotes. The banknotes that have become much more valuable for some people than an ability to love and respect for someone, whom you must not give a moral and physical pain.”       “I do know you get excited from milksops, who bend under a woman and dance attendance upon her!”       “A man must be ashamed of calling himself a man if he thinks that respect for a woman is a shame and considers her a creature without rights, which he should regularly beat, insult, and make her a mockery.”       “Women must constantly be educated! Get slaps in the face for a reason and without, so they don’t forget where they belong. Otherwise, they will become the same rebels as you. Certain princesses, who don’t want to do homework, give birth to children, and please a man.”       “When a girl loves a man, you don’t have to make her do something. She will get a wish to take care of her sweetheart.”       “Oh, yeah, because of your fucking love, the gorgeous princess wanted to become the dirty Cinderella when that poor bastard stood in her way.”       “My life with that man was a tale! I had the pleasure of cooking for him, cleaning his house, and washing his clothes! If he had wanted, I would’ve given birth to a child! Ten children from him! And I never cared about how much money he had or what kind of job he had. Even if he was a homeless beggar, I would’ve stayed with him.”       “Stupid things!” Julian hums loudly. “After living one week with a poor man, gals start to complain that they lack something. Your sweetheart never had money to buy you something. You would’ve envied women, whose husbands bought them a lot of gold and brilliants.”       “For me, happiness is not sitting in the elite penthouse, wearing a lot of gold and diamonds, and wiping the tears caused by loneliness off with a one-hundred-dollar banknote.”       “You are wrong, stupid gal! Without a bag of money, you are a creature without rights that will never be listened to.”       “You’re just afraid to become a beggar…” Anna shakes her head. “For you, it’s a nightmare. You care about your family status much less. But if you lose your good salary, you’ll prefer to shoot yourself down.”       “Yes, I am afraid! To death!” I don’t want to have only ripped underwear, live in a small apartment with rats and cockroaches, and be horrified at not having enough money for a loaf of breed!”       “You’ve never been a beggar! Why do you hate poor people? Why are they worse than rich and provided ones?”       “I’ve always despised them! For me, those people have always been dust! And you did like hanging out with those stooges!”       “I spoke to those I wanted! Not those I was made to speak with so hard! Those, who I felt terribly bored with! Those, who I could not talk about my feelings, emotions, and wishes with!”       “Ha, did you have something to talk about with your brainless deadbeat?”       “Not about me having to behave like a servant of him!”       “Fuck, how could the girl from the educated family go so far? How she could speak to some stooges, who she was so far from! It was alright that you hung out with them when you were a teenager, but now! Twenty fucking four years! You must become smarter and stop acting like a teenager, who is at war with the whole world and does not know what he or she wants to do!”       “You’re not only surrounded by rich people, Potter. You and your father work with ordinary people, who get a little money.”       “They work where they must be and do not go where only powerful people are allowed to go. But if there are some brave people, they get kicked out immediately.”       “Damn, you’re discriminating everyone! You don’t respect women and girls, despise poor people, consider ordinary people dust… You pretend to be a lord, who you can’t come to before getting tons of permissions!”       “If you were a little smarter, you’d be a queen, whom everyone would love and respect. You had a chance to make your life better. But you refused it by rejecting the one, who loved you since the first day we met, and starting to protect against your family that wanted to marry you off to me!”       “I’d rather be poor and lose everything I have than surround myself with those, who don’t know what true love is. Who can’t show their feelings and show care. Who always seem like cold, heartless robots that are programmed to do something that someone thinks is right.”       “Idiot! You must think of your future, not about a wish to get pleasure and hear compliments you don’t deserve!”       “Do you think a person will be happy if they didn’t hear that they’re loved? You think you can shut them up with a bag of money?”       “If you had agreed to give me a chance, you would’ve realized that you made the right choice in your old age!”       “I am madly happy I didn’t agree to waste my life on the one, who would’ve humiliated and beaten me for any innocent thing.”       “I loved you, Seymour!” Julian breaks into a cry. “LOVED, THE FUCK! LOVED! I was ready to give the whole world to you! I WORKED AS HARD AS FUCK FOR YOU TO LIVE THE FUCK WELL! AND I EVENTUALLY GOT THE FUCK NOTHING! NO THANKS!”       “Love can’t be the synonym of pain, Julian,” Anna says confidently. “Everyone can be rejected a hundred times in life. But they find the will to accept it and keep moving on with their heads up.”       “I do not accept refusals! I DO NOT! NO WOMAN HAD DARED TO REJECT ME! NO WOMAN!”       “Yeah? Why haven’t you still gotten married and had children? Do girls run away from you after being scared by your frightful appearance?”       “BECAUSE THEY ARE STUPID CHICKENS, WHO DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY MISSED!”       “You know…” Anna crosses her arms over her chest. “I hardly believe that you loved me. Since you said you got a crush on me because of my appearance, there was no love. You needed me just to be satisfied. You saw a little and went insane! Though, I’m really surprised that you didn’t try to rape me when I was just eleven or twelve.”       “I don’t care if you believe it!” Julian throws rudely. “Now it doesn’t matter! Because I don’t love you anymore, I hate you to death. And everything you do makes me much angrier. It makes me wish to destroy you. SO, YOU, BITCH, DO NOT POISON MY LIFE AND HURT MY EYES!”       “I will never love such a nasty and terrible man like you,” Anna says confidently. “Even if I hadn’t met my ex. If you were the only man in the world, I would prefer to be single.”       “Now I’d say the same about you. I’d better die alone than with such a worthless idiot like you! A fucking coward, who will never get what you want.”       “For my goals, I should not kill, rob, or mock people.”       “I’m sorry that none of your worthless goals will come true. Because you will be dead!”       Julian comes to Anna sharply, takes her by the collar, and looks at her with his bloodshot eyes, making the girl feel how a frost runs over her whole body and breathing heavier due to the attack of panic.       “Tonight, you, your father, and mother will pay my father and me for what you’ve done to us,” Julian hisses through his teeth. “And this time, nobody will stop us.”       “Don’t dare to hurt my father or mother,” Anna clenches her hands into fists tightly. “I swear if something happens to one of them, you and your father will pay.”       “Yeah, but how?” Julian sneers contemptuously. “Would you threaten us with a finger with a fake nail?”       “Don’t dare to hurt my parents!”       “Talk to my father about it. He is choosing their fate. While I am choosing yours.”       “I will not let you harm Mother and Father!”       “Stop pretending to be a hero, bitch!” Julian demands irritably, taking Anna painfully by the elbows. “You will not save your parents!”       “And what will you do to me?” Anna wonders loudly. “Beat me again? Come on, bastard! Revenge on me for the hurt honor!”       “Do not make me wild, shorty! YOU ARE TOO YOUNG TO BE SASSY TO ADULT PEOPLE!”       “Have you ever wondered why you haven’t gotten married and gotten no children by thirty-five years? Because you are nasty! Cold, heartless, vindictive, and cruel! Girls want love and tenderness, but you don’t know what it is, and you’re sure that anyone will be charmed if you give her many dollars. Even if you were incredibly rich, no girl would tolerate your disgusting character. Life is too short to spend it on being a servant and incubator of the tinker, who will not be loved even for jewelry.”       “Close your fucking mouth, bitch!” Julian hisses through his teeth. “Or I SHALL KILL YOU!”       “You will always be alone, Potter,” Anna says confidently. “Your destiny is to live with your dad until the end of your life and go to get a retirement pension together.”       Breathing like an aggressive bull, Julian looks at Anna with evil in his eyes for two seconds, while she is trying to stay brave with the thought that she is not alone now. But then the man slaps the girl in the face as strongly as possible with an irritated groan. That’s why she sharply turns around and grabs her cheek, which starts burning immediately. Daniel almost screams out, but Terrence standing next to him closes his mouth tightly with a hand. Then Perkins goes aside and sharply hits the wall with a fist.       “Alright, I’m done!” Daniel says irritably. “I shall kill that bastard!”       “That’s what I meant!” Edward exclaims excitedly. “Potter lost his temple!”       “Fuck, why is Anna the fuck doing this? What does she want? She wants that bastard to put her in the grave?”       “She’s acting like this because she knows we’re near,” Terrence assumes.       Daniel wants to say something, but he is stopped by Sammy’s quiet whining and then Peter looking down or at the men.       “Guys, guys, look!” Peter jabs excitedly with horror in his eyes. “He took a knife!”       Daniel comes to the railing less than for a second, and Terrence and Edward end up next to him. Two seconds before Julian takes the knife, he grabs Anna painfully by the elbow and hisses with evil in his voice:       “Say ‘goodbye’ to everyone, Anna Charlotte Seymour.”       Julian takes the knife from the inside pocket of his coat and points its end sharply at Anna’s throat, grabbing her tightly by the hair and raising her head slightly. The girl immediately gets white and shakes sharply with horror in widely open eyes, feeling how a burning coldness is paralyzing her body, and tears start rolling down her cheek. Daniel also shakes with an open mouth, understanding that his heart stops for a moment, and a fear of losing his sweetheart at any time literally deprives him of oxygen. While Peter, Edward, and Terrence grab their heads, close their mouths with their hands, and watch what’s happening with horror in widely open eyes, Sammy whines with greater pity, dreaming of protecting the innocent girl as soon as possible.       “Now it’s time to show up,” Daniel says in a little shaking voice. “Otherwise, that scumbag will kill her.”       “And it’s time to call the police!” Terrence adds.       “J-julian, what are you d-doing?” Anna asks in a shaking voice with tears in her eyes, while Julian keeps his knife against her throat and makes her frightened with his sinister smile.       “What I have dreamed of for ages!” Julian laughs evilly.       “Please, don’t do it… Please…”       “Even if you had been obedient and done anything I would’ve told you, it wouldn’t have saved you and your fucking parents. I just played. I pressed some buttons and played with you as I wanted.”       “Don’t do it, I’m begging you…” Anna begs in a whisper full of despair and sniffs quietly. “Let’s forget the past and live in peace! I forgive you, and you forgive me!”       “Are you crazy, stupid chicken?” Julian puts the knife closer to Anna’s throat. “WHO DO YOU THE FUCK THINK I AM? REMEMBER, BITCH, I DO NOT FORGIVE THOSE, WHO HURT ME! I WANT TO STAB YOU TO THE FUCK AND WATCH YOU DIE! IT WILL BE MY REVENGE FOR MY REJECTED LOVE!”       “But I couldn’t lie to you!” Anna makes a quiet sob. “I couldn’t lie that I loved you! It would have been meant on my part!”       “Giving me no chance was mean! I DESERVED IT AND HAD THE RIGHT FOR THAT!”       “Listen, I’m really sorry about hurting you. But I couldn’t do it differently. I don’t want to lie to anyone and doom you and me to an unhappy life.”       “SHUT UP, BITCH!” Julian roars. “I WANT TO HEAR NOTHING! I DO NOT WANT!”       “Please, Julian, don’t do stupid things,” Anna begs with pity in her wet eyes. “I swear nobody will know what happened. I will not blame you for beating me and will persuade my parents not to do anything to you or your father. We’ll forgive you for everything. Just don’t kill us… Please…”       “NEVER! Hear me? I, Julian Anthony Potter, will NEVER give up on what I have been waiting for so many years!”       “No, Julian, please!” Anna begs loudly with despair and tears.       “Alright, I’m done with you!” Julian glances at the back of the house and smiles evilly. “You have a few minutes to say farewell to your mommy and daddy.”       Two seconds later, the door that leads to the back of the house opens. Then Lillian, who is white and scared to death, and Maximilian, who is tense but cold, enter here. Norman follows them, pointing a pistol at them with his head proudly raised and glancing at Julian, who answers him with a wide smile.       “Oh, my God!” Anna shouts in horror, closing her mouth tightly with both hands. “Mom! Dad!”       “The game starts now,” Daniel pronounces with his head proudly raised.       Daniel turns sharply to Terrence, Peter, and Edward.       “Go to my room and call Mr. Johnson.”       While the men quickly go to Daniel’s room, and Sammy follows them, Norman threatens Lillian and Maximilian with a pistol, and Julian keeps a knife pointed at Anna’s throat. The Potters are rejoicing silently, and the Seymours look at each other with horror in their widely open eyes.       “No, Julian!” Maximilian shouts excitedly. “Get off her now!”       “The time has come!” Norman pronounces with a smug smile, pointing his pistol at Maximilian and Lillian. “We can finally stop pretending to be good and do what we have dreamed about for ages!”       “Please, pity at least my daughter,” Lilian begs with despair and pity in her eyes. “She is guilty of nothing!”       “This gal is not an angel, and you know it well!” Julian says confidently.       “Mr. Potter, please, don’t hurt my parents!” Anna begs in a shaking voice with tears in her eyes. “For God’s sake!”       “Don’t worry, my girl,” Norman replies confidently. “You will not suffer from losing your mommy and daddy because you will die along with them.”       “Snake!” Maximilian shouts loudly with evil in his eyes. “Stinker! How could you do it to us?”       “We’ve known each other for ages!” Lilian exclaims.       “I can’t believe we’ve smiled at you and called you our friends!”       “Ah, Maximilian…” Norman shakes his head. “Did you really think I would forgive you and Lillian for almost depriving me of what I had? Because of you, my restaurant almost went bankrupt!”       “My daughter doesn’t have to do with it! What happened then is our business, not hers!”       “Right, your daughter doesn’t have to do with her parents’ tricks. But she is guilty of my son. She hurt his honor and dignity. Anna rejected his love when he told her about his feelings.”       “Ah, how vulnerable your sonny is! He could not accept a refusal! He is the fuck special!”       “No woman dared to reject me!” Julian says rudely. “NO WOMAN!”       “With such a disgusting character like yours?” Lilian wonders. “Have you met at least one?”       “Do not insult my son, Lilian!” Norman demands coldly. “Julian is well-educated! I made him a real man! Who knows how to keep his woman on a short leash!”       “You raised a bastard!” Maximilian shouts. “A shameless bastard, who doesn’t respect girls and treats them like shit!”       “When a woman gets kicked, she is guilty of it! She annoyed a man! She asked for trouble! She was too stupid, stubborn, and lazy!”       “What a bastard you are, Norman Donald Potter…” Lillian shakes her head with evil in her eyes. “You were raised in a good family that didn’t give you terrible examples. But you got a hate for women and made your son do it.”       “Women are the reason for any problems!” Norman throws rudely. “Those creatures without rights, who must know where they belong! Who must be beaten strongly if they think they can do anything.”       “So, scumbag, did you think you could bribe us? Make us close our eyes to what this bastard did to our daughter?”       “I wasn’t going to bribe you and this naive sheep!” Norman sneers smugly. “Julian and I just needed an excuse.”       “We will not betray our daughter for any wealth! We’d better be poor than give ourselves to someone to pay well like prostitutes.”       “You know, I wouldn’t give a cent for this shorty. I don’t want to spend my money on the lover of a poor ragamuffin.”       “Close your mouth, freak!” Maximilian bellows. “You will pay me for everything! I will MAKE you and this bastard pay for what you did to my daughter.”       “What will you do to me, stupid donkey?” Norman sneers contemptuously.       “I can do a lot! Especially now, when you dared to attempt the holiest thing. MY DAUGHTER!”       “Oh, I am so scared! Max Seymour decided to turn the man mode on for the first time in his worthless life.”       “Do not make me wild, Potter, or you will regret it. Pay a lot for the fact that Lilian and I almost lost Anna.” Maximilian glances at Anna, whom Julian is still threatening with a knife. “Look what you the fuck did to her! LOOK! I DON’T RECOGNIZE MY DAUGHTER! DO NOT RECOGNIZE HER AS THE SANGUINE GIRL THAT SHE HAD BEEN BEFORE GETTING IN TOUCH WITH YOU!”       “It would’ve been better if she had died. She was born sick and defective. The doctors should’ve spent no time on that worthless freak.”       “Do not dare to say these things with my pretense,” Maximilian threatens with a finger. “I WILL NOT STAND IT! As well as the tricks of your sonny, who’s already made me wild! I do want to strangle him for turning Anna into an alive corpse and almost beat her to death! Do you know what Lilian and I felt when she was unconscious? WE ALMOST WENT CRAZY! AT THE THOUGHT THAT SHE COULD’VE DIED!”       “I am sorry that she didn’t die,” Julian throws rudely. “I would’ve done it if one bastard, his pals, and one dirty dog hadn’t messed up everything!”       “This is how you adored Anna!” Lillian exclaims. “Insulted, humiliated, beat… My daughter has become a half-alive corpse! I stopped recognizing her!”       “I was getting pleasure from seeing her scream from pain. Knowing that Seymour is experiencing the pain that I got when she dared to reject my love.”       “Thanks to all Gods! God saved her from the worst things!”       “Nobody but you and that deadbeat will suffer if she dies.”       “Stinker!” Lilian shouts loudly with despair, pointing at Julian with a finger and not trying to hold her tears down. “I hate you! Because of you, Max and I almost lost our daughter! You, cad, almost put her in a grave!”       “Your daughter chose her way,” Julian says confidently. “I could’ve golden her and made her a rich and powerful woman. But she preferred the poor bastard over me. Who actually left her. He realized that he didn’t need such a talentless and brainless chicken, who CAN DO NOTHING!”       “Don’t dare to call my daughter like this!” Maximilian breaks into a cry, literally getting red from anger. “I wish you and your father choked with your money and wealth!”       “Quiet, Max, quiet,” Norman pronounces with a proud and insolent look. “I understand that you’ve finally woken up and started to protect your beloved daughter. But it will not help you. Whatever you do, your family will not avoid what we are going to do to you.”       “BASTARD! You will pay me for everything! I am not going to close my eyes to what’s happening to my daughter. NEVER!”       “It’s too late to wave your wings when you’re about to get your head cut,” Julian laughs evilly.       “Julian, Mr. Potter, please, don’t do this…” Anna begs with tears and despair in her eyes. “Don’t hurt my parents…”       “Relax, baby,” Norman smiles slyly. “You will no longer help your beloved mommy and daddy. I mean, you didn’t help them, even if you did everything my son and I told you.”       “How do you get so much anger?” Anna sniffs quietly. “Why are you revenging on my father and mother for what happened many years ago? It happened accidentally! My parents didn’t mean to rob you on purpose! They apologized to you and even paid some money.”       “Your mother and father have always stood in my way! And to be honest, I have never liked them.”       “But you were friends!”       “Yes, but first, for our parents, who got on well and wanted to do their best to become a family. And second, some events made me disappointed in these people.”       “Do you actually know what it’s like to love and befriend?” Lillian asks coldly. “You are a snake, and you made your older sonny the same!”       “Oh, Lilian, you better be silent! You taught your daughter nothing! Though, your duty was to make her a quiet and obedient gal. What kind of mother are you if this worthless freak went loose and began to take some beggars to your home? Maybe, Max and you gave a good education to her, but she did not memorize that she must’ve obeyed the older people and then her husband.”       “We taught her everything we thought she needed! And Anna learned some things by herself, without anyone’s help.”       “Yeah, was it worth it? This gal is worthless! I don’t actually understand why she is living! She doesn’t work, is not married, is without children, is fed by her parents, and aims nothing…”       “Maybe, your sonny doesn’t have any goals?” Maximilian asks rudely. “The man is going to turn forty soon, but he has reached nothing good in his fucking life. He is still living with his daddy and doesn’t even think of moving!”       “My son has gotten much more than your daughter! Julian works hard and earns money to provide for his future family. But this gal hangs out with her stupid friends, picks men up, and changes them like a fucking whore!”       “Do not dare to insult my daughter, Potter! DON’T THE FUCK DARE!”       “I told you the truth!” Norman replies confidently. “The truth about how Anna made you ashamed!”       “We educated our daughter well and are proud of her!” Lilian replies with her head proudly raised.       “Oh, yeah, be proud of the gal, who always hangs out with some bastards and falls in love only with beggars that only have underwear from the property. Who are looking for provided girls like your daughter. And she lived with one of them. That nasty bastard, who ruined my plans of making Julian’s personal life better. For whom it’s time to get married and raise children.”       “No, Potter. I will not give my daughter to this snake. Julian is not the husband that I wished for her.”       “Relax, Lilian, I don’t need this brainless shorty anymore,” Julian says rudely. “Because I hate her for rejecting me. And because she ran away with the deadbeat, on the grave of whom I’d be happy to dance.”       “I am happy that she ran away with that man!” Lilian says loudly. “Thank God! I am proud of my daughter, who is much smarter than her father and me, and quickly realized that she wouldn’t have a quiet life next to you.”       “Yeah, I thank God, for sending that guy to us, so he saved our daughter from this bastard!” Maximilian exclaims, raising his hands. “Even if she’d become Ryan’s wife, you, two snakes, would’ve made her life a real hell.”       “Ryan is the same worthless piece of shit as your daughter!” Norman says rudely. “A mammy’s boy, whose birth was a real mistake! If I’d known that this kid would become a shame of mine, I would’ve done my best for Genevieve not to give birth to that bastard.”       “Shame on you for saying these things about your son!” Lilian exclaims coldly. “The son, who was lucky to remain good after living with two snakes.”       “I wish I never had that snotty. Ryan is my curse! He always stands in my way and ruins all my plans! If your family hadn’t met him, Anna would’ve become Julian’s wife and lived by his rules.”       “Never!” Lilian shouts. “I wouldn’t have let my daughter get married to this stinker!”       “Since when have you cared about your daughter’s personal life? Huh, Lilian? You are so brave after your parents’ death?”       “Yes, I didn’t go against my parents and give my opinion! But it doesn’t mean I didn’t have it! I always knew we couldn’t expect anything good from your family. But I was silent. Because nobody would’ve listened to me.”       “You better keep being silent! You forgot that you were born as a woman, who couldn’t bark without a man’s permission.”       “Do not dare to command!” Maximilian demands rudely. “Show respect for my daughter and her mother with my pretense.”       “Huh, seriously?” Norman sneers evilly. “Are you defending your ex-wife, whom you have never loved?”       “If you touch Lilian with a finger, I shall kill you!”       “Fuck, it’s so funny!” Julian sneers evilly. “The stupid bonehead is now pretending to be a frightful dude!”       “Close your fucking mouth!” Maximilian gets wild. “I am older than you, and you, milksop, must respect me.”       “We will decide what to do!” Norman throws rudely. “You better watch your daughter well! Your gal went out of your control!”       “You are surprised why Anna didn’t want to get married to a member of the Potters,” Lilian shakes her head. “Look at yourself! You make a person feel fear, horror, and panic! My daughter has always kept herself far from your son and been afraid of him to the shake in her legs! My heart is squeezing at the thought that she would’ve had to live with this stinker. Anna wouldn’t have tolerated that life and would’ve found any reason to run away and get divorced.”       “If she hadn’t humiliated me, she would have had everything,” Julian says confidently. “Your daughter would’ve had a lot of brilliants and fur coats! She should’ve just not shown off when such a perspective man stepped on his throat and tried to show tenderness.”       “Choke yourself with your jewelry gotten through tears and hits on the body!” Maximilian throws rudely.       “Don’t pretend that you know something about it! Lilian was not happy with you and just tolerated you. If not for your parents, you would’ve gotten divorced much earlier. Even your daughter wouldn’t have stopped you!”       “I have never treated Lilian the way YOU treated Anna! Our family had a mutual respect!”       “For your information, you let me educate your daughter,” Julian says rudely.       “I just asked you to help her come to herself after the breakup with her boyfriend! Not beat her, get her exhausted, and terrify her!”       “You told Anna to spend as much time with me as possible. You begged me to make her forget that deadbeat. You asked – I did it! Your daughter didn’t think about that beggar and thought about her parents’ salvation! She tolerated everything I did to her because she believed it would save her mommy and daddy.”       “If I had known what an asshole you are, I wouldn’t have let my daughter come to you!”       “Your daughter gave you the signs that you ignored so hard, thinking your sweetheart should’ve just forgotten the deadbeat. Even your ex-wife couldn’t make you believe that your daughter was right. You woke up only when I put a knife to your throat.”       “You and your father just played the roles of their best friends too truly,” Anna says confidently. “But I’ve always known what a stinker you are. And it was one of the reasons why I rejected you and your feelings that I hardly believe with no regret.”       “And it became your great mistake, dear,” Norman says coldly. “You could’ve had everything. Julian could’ve given you money, jewelry, fur, silk, and anything else you wanted. But you humiliated my son several times. By rejecting the one, who confessed his love for you with all his heart, letting himself become more sensitive and tender. When you exchanged such a wonderful man for the dead bastard.”       “Do you think you can buy love with money? That a person would love and respect you if you gave them gifts, money, and gold?”       “Who needs this fucking love?” Norman scoffs contemptuously. “It only gives problems! You must choose a partner with your brains turned on! Look for a profitable partner!”       “You say it because you’ve never truly loved anyone. That sense is strange to you and your son. Though, it’s magical. The most beautiful thing that can happen to you.”       “You must stop reading all these stupid love tales, dreaming of a prince on a white horse, and looking at the world through pink glasses! Yes, Anna, you are no longer a little girl. You must grow up. Adult people don’t dream and believe in tales and magic.”       “A child is living inside any adult person.”       “Wake up, girl! Open your eyes! Money and power rule the world! Nobody needs your feelings and love. Only sentimental idiots, who will never get anything.”       “Anna said the right thing,” Lilian says coldly. “If you and your sonny loved at least someone, you’d speak differently. And if you learned to accept refusals and failures, you’d live better.”       “Father and I do not accept refusals and do not forgive offenses,” Julian says confidently.       “Gosh, how did you get so much anger? Why are you so aggressive? Why do you despise poor people? Why do you hate women? Why do you consider them dust or dirt?”       “Women were just a disenfranchised addition to men at all times,” Norman throws rudely. “Just recently, some chickens became rebellious and thought they could decide something as well as men.”       “Do you think women don’t have any other rights and responsibilities than sitting at home, keeping silent, cooking, giving birth to children, and raising them? And tolerate the man, who beats them for a reason and without?”       “ANY woman must be the one! ANY! If a man slaps her in the face or breaks a couple of bones, she is guilty of it. She should not the fuck be so stupid and deaf!”       “With such greedy people like you and your sonny, a girl would look like a beggar! Hungry, cold, undressed… And if she got some money from you, she’d have to get a full report.”       “I do hate women, who act like they rule the world,” Norman says rudely. “Their duty is to be silent, take care of a man, and raise children. AND NOT TO MIND WHEN THEY GET ORDERS!”       “A woman is a human, too!” Anna resents.       “Oh, you better shut up, shorty! You’re as stupid and naive as your father and as stubborn as your mother! You are probably also not able to carry and give birth to a healthy child. While Lilian got the defective you, you may actually give birth to someone with Down syndrome.”       “When a man loves, he never leaves. Even the one, who is not able to make children. And it’s not a problem at the present.”       “Yeah, when you have money. But when you have no cent, you must not give the fuck birth to beggars.”       “You give too much attention to poor people.”       “If you don’t turn your brain on and keep jumping in a bed with ragamuffins, you will become one of them. Though, why do I expect from a worthless idiot with a snail’s brain? I am surprised that you graduated from school and got a high education. How do they study if they even give those papers to defective people?”       “You actually have no education!” Lilian recalls rudely. “You were dropped out of school due to your terrible scores! And your older sonny barely got a general education certificate! Though, he was about to be dropped several times.”       “And what? It did not prevent me from opening my own restaurant! I started it all from the beginning! I had nothing! It was very hard, but I managed to end up on top of the world. And I am doing my best not to lose everything and become a poor beggar with one cent in my pocket.”       “It was much easier to be because Father taught me everything,” Julian says with his head proudly raised. “As his right hand, I am earning a lot of money.”       “Don’t pretend that you do everything,” Maximilian replies confidently. “You have many members of the staff, who do everything for you. You only give orders, have conferences, and have fun at corporate events.”       “Yeah, you better keep silent about the success of my daughter, who graduated brilliantly!” Lilian replies confidently.       “Yeah, does it make sense? Your daughter learned nothing and doesn’t show talents, which would REALLY do something good for people! Who is she? What is she doing? She is swimming like shit in a pool! She can only hang out with her friends and change men!”       “My daughter has many talents!”       “Ha, there’s nothing special about the fact that she plays a piano and sings! Nobody the fuck cares! Nobody would love to listen to the disgusting play of this stupid gal! Voiceless, stupid gal!”       “As if someone needs your airplanes, tanks, and cars! The only person, who may admire your works, is your daddy.”       “May your daughter make at least one airplane from the beginning!” Norman replies confidently. “So, my son and I rate the work of this armless chicken.”       “Don’t dare to insult my daughter, bastard!” Maximilian demands loudly.       “I’m telling you the truth. And I don’t care if someone dislikes it.”       “Go to hell with your truth! I will beat your face so that you forget everything!”       “Don’t dare to hurt my father,” Julian threatens coldly and points the pistol at Anna sharply. “Or your daughter will die first.”       “I shall cut your throat for her, rat.”       “Oh, come on! Do you have enough strength? And bravery? You are as cowardly as your daughter!”       Maximilian sharply goes to Julian, who immediately prevents the attempt of an attack and points the knife at the man, while Anna shouts with horror in her eyes, closing her mouth with both hands.       “Easy, Maximilian, easy,” Julian pronounces coldly and confidently. “Do you want to die first before the eyes of your ex-wife and daughter?”       “Do not terrify me!” Maximilian throws rudely. “It will be easy for me to decorate your face for what you did to Anna!”       Maximilian fearlessly tries to attack Julian again, tightly grabbing him by the hair and pulling his daughter’s offender by it painfully. But two seconds later, Norman sharply pulls Mr. Seymour away from his son, while Lillian and Anna hug each other and watch what’s happening with horror in their eyes, barely holding their tears down.       “Get off me, Maximilian Nigel Seymour!” Norman demands rudely, pointing his pistol at Maximilian.       “Bastards!” Maximilian shouts with a heavy breath. “YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! ESPECIALLY, FOR ALL THE PAIN OF MY DAUGHTER!”       “Come on?” Norman sneers contemptuously. “Since when have you taught a fish how to swim?”       “You better not make me wild, asshole. You and your sonny were laughing at us for many years and pretending to be innocent angels, who were actually poisoned snakes.”       “You will do nothing to us. And nothing can stop us from sending you and these two chickens!”       “Don’t dare to hurt Anna and Lillian,” Maximilian threatens with a finger. “Or I will do what I would never do! AND I WILL NEVER REGRET IT!”       “Come on!” Julian sneers contemptuously. “Will the sheep, Maxie, kill us?”       “Gosh…” Maximilian puts his hand on his forehead. “I don’t understand how my parents could believe the cad? Why didn’t they bite through you? And tried to bring my daughter to death!”       “Our late parents wanted to become a family, and I wanted to find an obedient wife for Julian,” Norman throws his hands up. “I swore that everything was decided! Anna was literally engaged to Julian since childhood!”       “We did believe that you really wished us the best. We considered you friends. We respected you for our parents. But that’s how you betrayed us.”       “We betrayed?” Julian wonders loudly. “You did want to go against us! We offered friendship to you and Lillian, and your daughter could’ve become my wife and a provided woman. But you put a knife in our back. You and Lilian almost bankrupted our restaurant, and Anna rejected me shamelessly!”       “If she hadn’t done it, she would’ve lived with you in a lie!” Lilian says confidently. “You would’ve lied that you loved and respected her and made my daughter pretend that she was attracted to you. And she would’ve suffered from living with someone, whom she did not love, and who would beat and humiliate her constantly.”       “Thank God, she didn’t give birth to a child from you!” Maximilian adds. “It would be terrible if the nasty bastard was the father of my grandchild!”       “Relax, freaks, we are no longer interested in a wedding or friendship with you. You chose your fate, people. And it will be easy for us to get rid of you.”       “No, don’t do this!” Lillian begs loudly with tears and despair, and sniffs quietly. “Please, at least pity my daughter! For God’s sake, Norman, Julian…”       “It’s too late to pretend to be innocent lambs, Lillian,” Norman replies insolently, taking the pistol in his hands tightly. “You will not wing my son and me with the hope of saving your pathetic daughter and this brainless idiot, Maximilian.”       “Please, don’t kill us!” Anna begs with tears in her eyes in a strongly shaking voice. “Let’s forget everything and forgive each other!”       “Ha, are you kidding me?” Norman smirks contemptuously. “Who are you suggesting it? Us, the Potters?”       “I swear, my parents and I will not go to the police and blame you for nothing if you do nothing to us.”       “You have been there! I mean, your mother and father have been! When they tried to report on my son. To charge him for mocking you. But Lilian and Maximilian met my old friend, who turned them around, saying that they didn’t have clues about that, and told me everything.”       “And then you told your sonny to beat my daughter to half-death!” Maximilian says rudely, clenching his hands tightly into fists.       “No, Max, I didn’t tell Julian to beat your daughter. I am going to say more, I never asked him to beat Anna. That was his wish.”       “And you did approve of his actions and did NOTHING to stop the violence toward Anna!”       “Julian did what he thought was right. If he thought he should’ve slapped Anna in the face and hit her head against the asphalt, she was guilty of him.”       “ASSHOLE! I would’ve killed you if I’d known you were such a motherfucker! I would’ve given a fuck about what my parents, mother-in-law, and father-in-law said and pissed you off and protected my wife and daughter!”       “It’s too late, Maximilian,” Julian replies confidently. “You can’t become a hero for Lilian and Anna. As well as the fucking deadbeat, with whom this stupid goose ran away. But who decided to save her with the hope that she might forgive him.”       “That guy doesn’t pretend and stays what he is!” Lilian says confidently. “He is a thousand times better than you are and never did what you did to my daughter! With him, Anna was very happy. She was a positive and sanguine girl, who we always knew.”       “But that beggar left your daughter eventually,” Norman replies confidently. “He did forget your beloved Anna and found a better gal.”       “Lie, he didn’t forget her!” Maximilian protests coldly. “And he wants my daughter to forgive him more than anything!”       “The deadbeat can save your daughter and say he loves her as much as he wants. But it will change nothing.”       “Yeah, what did he want to get when he came to save her alongside his pals?” Julian smiles slyly. “When I was educating this brainless shorty!”       “And Maximilian and I are madly grateful to him for saving our daughter from death!”       “I’m sorry that those guys didn’t beat you to half-death!” Maximilian throws rudely. “I’d be happy to watch you roll on the ground in pain and scream.”       “Ha, if that bastard stands in my way again, I shall kill with my own hands! THIS TIME, I WILL NOT LET THAT BASTARD BEAT ME SO EASILY! I SHALL KILL HIM! KILL!”       “Do you think he will?” Lilian wonders. “He will not give up, and his friends will stand by him.”       “I shall deal with those scumbags if they dare to meddle. And kill their dirty dog! If I have it, I will even reach their gals!”       “But alas, you will not see it,” Norman laughs evilly. “Because you will die. Tonight.”       “Catch us, first, bastards!” Maximilian sneers evilly. “I will not give up and let Anna and Lilian do the same.”       “Nobody is going to make you and your family give up. Killers don’t ask their victims for permission to murder them.”       Norman takes off the safety catch and points the pistol confidently at Maximilian, while Anna and Lillian shout with dumbfounded eyes and close their mouths with their hands.       “No!” Anna screams with despair. “Don’t hurt my father!”       “For God’s sake, Norman, don’t do this!” Lillian begs in a heartbreaking way.       “Julian, deal with these two chickens, and I will deal with this idiot,” Norman orders, keeping the pistol pointed at Maximilian.       “Don’t dare to come to them, scumbag!” Maximilian bellows. “I SHALL CUT YOUR THROATS!”       Maximilian tries to attack Julian again, grabbing him sharply by the collar and striking him down, along with the shouts of Lilian and Anna. That’s why Potter, Jr., hits his cheek against the corner of the coffee table and winces from the strong pain. Meanwhile, the only man from the Seymour family, comes to his daughter and ex-wife and hugs them tightly.       “Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay,” Maximilian says confidently. “They will do nothing to you.”       “GET OFF THEM!” Norman bellows, keeping his pistol pointed at Maximilian. “Nothing will help you and these two crying gooses.”       “Please, stop!” Anna begs loudly with greater despair.       “Fuck, Father, stop fussing over them!” Julian says irritably, as he gets up. “Just shoot at this idiot and these two crying chickens!”       “You’re right, as always, sonny!” Norman smirks contemptuously. “Smart. Took after me.”       Norman points his pistol at Maximilian, Lillian, and Anna and smiles evilly, while the women press themselves close to the man with bitter tears, and he stays amazingly confident and is determined to protect his family until the end.       “Say farewell to each other,” Norman yells through a loud and evil laugh. “You’re living the last seconds of your life.”       Julian smiles smugly and widely and keeps his head proudly raised while watching Norman wishing to pull the trigger and shoot at Maximilian. But at this moment, Daniel comes to the stairs with his head proudly raised, gets two stairs down, and, holding by the railing, lets them know about himself loudly:       “You’re living the last seconds of your careless life!”       While Anna, Maximilian, and Lillian exhale with relief, Julian gets kind of green from anger and, showing his contemptuous grin, growls like an aggressive dog.       “WHAT?” Julian screams. “YOU AGAIN?”       “So, didn’t you wait for me, bastard?” Daniel smirks evilly and starts to go downstairs confidently, keeping his look full of hatred on Julian. “I did say we would meet again.”       “What kind of stooge is this?” Norman gets wild. “HOW DID HE COME HERE? WHO IS THIS A BASTARD, WHO DARED TO RUIN MY PLANS?”       “This is, Daddy, the deadbeat, who stole this brainless shorty from me,” Julian replies in a low, rude voice.       “The only brainless people here are you and your daddy,” Daniel throws rudely. “Who didn’t magically become her relatives.”       “Ha!” Norman scoffs contemptuously. “So, are you the beggar, who this gal had a crush on?”       Norman comes closer to Daniel with a proud and arrogant look and looks at him with disgust from head to foot.       “Look… You’re really a fucking deadbeat wearing clothes from a second-hand store!”       “Do you mean you and your sonny?” Daniel smirks contemptuously, crossing his arms over his chest. “Two bastards, who must be in prison or a mental hospital!”       “WHAT DID YOU FORGET HERE, ASSHOLE?” Julian screams at the top of his lungs, waving his hands. “WHAT ARE YOU THE FUCK DOING HERE?”       “I did not end you the last time. Though, I do not like leaving any case uncompleted.”       “Did the Seymours hire you as their permanent bodyguard? If you, bastard, ARE LIVING WITH THEM!”       “I’m ready to be next to Anna and her parents all day long,” Daniel says in a low voice. “So, none of you hurt them.”       “Listen, cockerel with a naked ass, I give you five seconds to get out of this house,” Norman replies rudely and glances at the hall door. “The door is there!”       “Or what? Will you wave your hands and scream?”       “You better don’t get me wild, bastard. You are ruining all my plans. AGAIN.”       “You know, I’m also too lazy to spend my time on you and your sick sonny. But I can’t stand aside when some bastards dare to mock the innocent girl and threaten her parents.”       “If you don’t want to die alongside these scumbags, you better get out.”       “Oh, no!” Julian throws rudely. “He will not leave! This time, I will obviously make him a piece of meat!”       “Maybe, you will take your stuff, get out of here, and leave the Seymours alone?” Daniel suggests, pointing at Norman and Julian. “So, I don’t have to get my hands covered with your dirty blood!”       “You definitely want me to beat you strongly. So that the doctors aren’t able to help you.”       “You and your daddy want it.” Daniel hits his fist against his palm. “You know, I am allergic to bastards, who dare to attempt the innocent people.”       “In this case, you signed your death sentence. The last time, you were lucky, but now it will be different. This girl is going to watch her beloved deadbeat die with torture.”       “Do not make me furious, Potter!” Daniel comes much closer to Julian, being literally ready to kill him with his cold look. “If you don’t want problems, close your fucking mouth and get out of here.”       “Listen, you, half-hero, this gal is not yours anymore,” Norman says confidently. “You have no right to her!”       “Who has? Your sonny? Who is acting like Anna is his wife!”       “She should’ve been mine!” Julian exclaims. “MINE! Seymour was promised to me!”       “Anna is not a flag to be given to one or another person! She is not anyone’s property!”       “Don’t you give a fuck about whose property she is?” Norman smirks contemptuously. “You left her and are now fucking another woman! So, go to her and do not meddle in our business!”       “I left nobody, honorable!” Daniel says confidently. “Anna was, is, and will be my girlfriend!”       “Hear, bonehead, did you lose your memory again? If you think you are still dating the one, on whom you cheated?”       “It’s none of your business!”       “Go to your gal!” Julian throws rudely. “Alright, I will give you a chance to get out of here! If you do it, I will let you live!”       “No, Potter!” Daniel raises his head proudly. “While danger is threatening this girl and her parents, I shall not leave!”       “Alone?” Julian crosses his arms over his chest with a smirk. “Where are your pals, who run after you like a tail? Where is the dirty dog that tore my shirt? Did they leave you? Or did you decide to play a hero again and fight with me alone?”       “With them or without, I shall show you where you belong and teach you to treat girls well.”       “Oh, oh, I am so scared!” Julian rolls his eyes with a contemptuous sneer and grabs Norman by the arm. “Daddy, protect me! The rooster decided to peck me!”       “Don’t worry, sonny, he will do nothing to you,” Norman says confidently with a sly smile. “He will not bring us down alone! And with his fucking gang.”       “To be honest, I was waiting for this day,” Daniel confesses. “To beat your son strongly again.”       “So, deadbeat, cannot you want to die? Life hasn’t been good for you since you broke up with this gal?”       “I cannot wait to take revenge on you for every day that she suffered. Every hour. Every minute. Every second. After what happened the last time, I want it much more.”       “It’s going to be otherwise this time,” Julian replies confidently. “I will not let you beat me shamelessly! I WILL NOT!”       “We will see it!” Daniel raises his voice. “You were madly lucky that Anna stayed alive. Otherwise, I would’ve skinned you alive and buried you in the ground.”       “Listen, deadbeat, get out of here while we’re giving you a chance,” Norman demands rudely. “Maybe, this brainless gal appreciated that you showed yourself as a hero for her and saved her. But now you can do nothing.”       “If you touch them with a finger, you’ll be dead,” Daniel threatens with a finger. “The snakes, who must be put in a mental hospital.”       “Bite your tongue before I cut it.”       “Close your mouth before I sew it!”       “Oh, how much you want to play a hero for this brainless shorty,” Norman laughs evilly. “One more naive idiot, who believes in tales.”       “You can do anything you want to me, but I will not close my eyes to your insults toward this girl,” Daniel replies quietly but very coldly.       “We are not going to shower this idiot with compliments for nothing and say that she is talented, beautiful, and good,” Julian replies rudely. “A worthless, defective chicken, whose only achievement is a high theatrical education that nobody needs.”       “A long list of beggars, whom she has ever hung out with,” Norman adds confidently. “You can be proud to be the last one on the list. But how many men she had before…”       “Stop insulting her, Potter!” Maximilian demands rudely. “Even if a girl rejects you, you don’t have the right to humiliate her!”       “I am used to getting what I want! And I HATE to get refusals. Especially, when a fucking gal rejects me. Seymour must have been happy that at least someone agreed to marry! But this idiot showed off and kept sucking beggars!”       “She is a human!” Daniel says confidently. “She has feelings and wishes! Anna is not a robot. Not a toy that you can do anything to!”       “She is a disfranchised creature that must obey men and be silent! And if a gal gets hits, she is guilty! She must behave better!”       “Even the meanest and nastiest woman in the world doesn’t deserve to be beaten and deprived of the right to her own opinion.”       “THESE CHICKENS HAVE NO RIGHTS!” Julian roars. “Their duty is to listen and obey! And nobody cares about their wishes!”       “You and your father don’t care! But good men do listen to women’s wishes and do not make them do what they don’t want!”       “Did you the fuck come here to read us a lecture?”       “I came here to do my duty. Since your daddy beat you in childhood and told you being a bastard was good, I will tell you how real men must behave.”       “If you want to keep acting like a milksop that bends under disenfranchised women and rubs against them like cats, it’s your matter. But I am a man! I will never stand on my knees for a woman AT MY WISH!”       “Come on? How did you step on your throat and fall at the feet of the Seymours when you pretended that you suffered?”       “Alright, I am sick of hearing this bullshit!” Julian waves his hand sharply. “Either you get out, or I, motherfucker, bury you in the ground.”       “After you, bastards!” Daniel throws in a low, rude voice. “If you want to defeat the Seymours, you need to end me first.”       “So…” Norman pronounces thoughtfully, looking at the pistol in his hands. “If you want to die as well as these idiots, my son and I are giving you a chance. Killing you would be very good for us.”       “Let me deal with this victim of amnesia,” Julian says confidently with a sly smile. “I would be thrilled to bury him alive or give him to dogs as food.”       “No!” Anna screams out in despair with widely open eyes. “Don’t hurt him, Julian, I’m begging you!”       “Oh, no, Seymour,” Julian shakes her head with an evil smile. “This poor beggar will die first, so nobody can stop me.”       “Please, Julian, I’m begging you!”       Lillian and Maximilian hug each other first with fear in their widely open eyes, then embrace Anna and try to comfort her, while she starts crying bitterly at the thought that she may lose Daniel, who is holding on as confidently as never before.       “Catch me if you can,” Daniel raises his head proudly. “Meanwhile, I will kick you two enough. For all the sufferings of Anna and her parents. So, you, bastards, howl from pain. The one that made my girlfriend wreck her cords.”       “Are you going to pretend to be a hero alone or with your pals?” Julian smirks contemptuously. “C’mon, bring those bastards here!”       “Aren’t you afraid to lose, cowardly boy?” Daniel smiles slyly. “One against four? I mean, two against four! Your pants are gonna be wet, but your daddy didn’t take diapers for his old maid at the age of forty.”       “KILL YOURSELF AGAINST THE WALL, ASSHOLE!” Julian grabs Daniel sharply by the collar and shakes him strongly, while Anna shakes strongly and closes her mouth with both hands with dumbfounded eyes. “ANSWER, BASTARD, WHERE ARE YOUR PALS? I WILL FIND THEM! GET THEM FROM THE GROUND! AS WELL AS THEIR DIRTY DOG!”       “Ha, we see, you can’t wait to lose to us!” Terrence’s confident voice sounds.       Julian turns around sharply and sees Terrence, Edward, Peter, and Sammy, who just went down the stairs.       “Here we are,” Edward says confidently with his head proudly raised. “We’re ready to give you another lesson in manners. It’s clear that it was not enough for you the last time.”       “Don’t worry, the doggy is with us,” Peter adds confidently, holding Sammy tightly by the collar. “To bite what you’ve got between your legs.”       Sammy roars contemptuously, showing his sharp, tough teeth, while Norman and Julian look at each other, getting wild because their plans were ruined again.       “THREE MORE?” Norman resents loudly, being red from anger. “AND THE DOG IS HERE?”       “So what, will you leave the girl and her parents alone at your wish?” Peter asks confidently. “Or will we have a different talk?”       “Oh, look, the blond-haired nerd is in!” Julian laughs evilly. “Yeah… I didn’t beat you and your pals enough. NOT ENOUGH! I should’ve killed all of you to death!”       “Okay, our bonehead understood nothing from what we told him,” Edward exhales sharply. “Oh, damn, how it’s hard to have a deal with idiots, who have a snail’s brain…”       “And the snotty boy is up!” Julian sneers contemptuously. “Instead of being next to his mommy and sucking her breast, the baby decided to show off.”       “Since your daddy didn’t teach you to respect women, we will fix it,” Terrence promises confidently.       “Oh, the six-foot-tall column is not silent!” Julian applauds loudly with an evil laugh. “I knew you’d come with the deadbeat. This coward is afraid to fight with me alone! He can do nothing without his pals.”       “Get ready to lose, Potter!” Daniel throws rudely. “This time, you will pay for everything.”       “So, all the protectors of the kid are here!” Julian throws a sly look at Anna barely holding her tears down. “Dying together is better, huh, freaks?”       “Afraid… You’re afraid to die… To be beaten. You understand that you will have to take a much stronger pain this time. That we will not pity you this time.”       “Ah, idiots, why couldn’t you do your thing?” Norman sneers ironically and starts walking in front of Peter, Edward, and Terrence slowly but proudly, looking at every one of them from head to foot with disgust and contempt and pointing his pistol at every one of them. “You didn’t want to sing your worthless songs. You decided to play heroes. Protect your friend and help this bastard.”       “Ha, I see you know a lot about our band,” Terrence frowns with both arms crossed over his chest.       “Yes, I know a lot! And I even listened to your song for an interest. I am going to tell you that a piano play of your beloved Anna can be much worse than it.”       “We didn’t ask your opinion! We give a fuck about it! We only need to know what our fans think!”       “Who you could count on your fingers! Who had a crush on you because of your pretty appearance!”       “Thanks for the compliment. And yeah, have you checked out the accounts of our band on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook? Have you seen how many followers we have? And how many likes and comments that our photos have received!”       “Don’t be happy, it’s a temporary success! When the peck is over, you will be forgotten!”       “We just started our way. And we will get much more popular and win tens of awards.”       “Oh, come on, fucking one-role actor?”       “M-m-m, you also know my filmography!”       “Ha, I do! Your face was shown everywhere in the 00s! Wherever I looked, I saw the face of Terrence MacClife, who was a God of fucking little kids!”       “I’m happy you liked me.”       “So, MacClife, does nobody invite you to play in movies?” Norman smirks evilly. “Did you decide to sing with the hope of getting your popularity back?”       “Why not? I can do this brilliantly!”       “It will not help you! Because you are no longer a young and hot boy! And nobody drools over you.”       “Oh, come on!”       “It hurts, huh? It hurts that little girls only want young and handsome men! And nobody cares about men at the age of thirty! Only eighteen-year-old, hormonal boys with hot blood!”       “So, do you think your son is old?” Edward snaps with a sly smile, crossing his arms over his chest. “If my twenty-eight-year-old brother is old for you, your thirty-five-year-old sonny must be retired.”       Daniel and Peter cannot hold down their quiet chuckles. And the others smile shyly, while the confused Julian looks at Norman hesitantly.       “Yeah, when your sonny goes to get the proud title of the pensioner, ask him to tell us where we can get it.”       “Close your mouth, snotty boy!” Norman snuffs, looking at Edward with contempt. “You are too young to snap at older people!”       “Older?” Edward rounds his eyes. “So, do you consider your sonny old?”       “Shut the fuck up! You are too sassy!”       “C’mon, your forty-year-old baby may not be worried,” Edward does not get confused. “You know how many benefits pensioners can get! Everyone lets you forward, you get discounts, and there's no need to work… Excellent!”       “I would hit you on your ass, so you watch your mouth.”       “You better watch your mouth. Don’t hurt your sonny. He’s your tender creature – he cannot accept refusals. And he’s trying so hard to hide his insecurity with aggression toward weak women and a terrible fear of men, who can smash a fist against his shabby face.”       “The kid speaks too much, too much!” Norman glances at Julian. “Julian, give me your knife. I want to cut his sharp tongue.”       “You better cut the penis of your sonny,” Peter snaps rudely. “Otherwise, he may get it into a girl after beating her.”       At first, Norman laughs evilly but then looks at Peter as if he is something terrible, disgusting, and nasty.       “That’s what the four-eye guy from a shopping center is,” Norman sneers evilly. “You were literally afraid to speak to my son, but now you suddenly became brave.”       “I cannot stand injustice,” Peter pronounces in a low voice. “I hate bastards that see nothing bad in beating a girl.”       “If you puffed your tail, my younger sonny Ryan may show his teeth after watching you and your herd of bastards.”       “Anything is possible, honorable. Don’t underestimate people.”       “Yeah, I never thought a school freak, whom the whole school put under bullying, could become an arrogant rooster,” Norman smirks contemptuously. “And I am truly surprised what this fucking creature with slim sticks is doing in this gang. He must be with nerds, not this deadbeat and these two folks with the same faces.”       “Hey, stick, weren’t you a fat closet at school?” Julian sneers evilly. “Who ate his stress down with big hamburgers!”       “No, Potter, my body has always been perfect,” Peter says confidently. “What about you?”       “What do you mean, freak?”       “Hey, did I touch your nerve? You insult and beat girls and check out the refrigerator at nights?”       “Shut up, bastard…”       “Sorry, I don’t know what it’s like to be fat. But I guess it was hard for you to fit through the double door, not to see your feet, to hear others laughing at you, and to fight with your love for big hamburgers and oil potatoes.”       “You will the fuck ASK FOR TROUBLE, bastard!” Julian threatens with a heavy breath.       “If you get excited, I hit the bullseye.” Peter puts his hands on his hips with his head proudly raised and a sly smile. “Hey, how did you go so far? Did your daddy constantly beat you with a belt and want something? Didn’t girls pay attention to you? Maybe, the problem is your bad metabolism? Or did you just always love eating well?”       “Shut up, bastard! SHUT UP!”       “Reveal your secret to losing weight? Of course, we don’t need it because we’re all slim and handsome, but just in case!”       The discouraged Julian swallows up nervously, thinking about something from his childhood that does not make him smile and gives him a strong sense of discomfort. And the others’ quiet chuckles make him much more confused.       “What are you doing, bastards?” Norman gets furious. “What insolence! WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO INSULT MY SON?”       “So, is Potter thinking about how people bullied him for being fat?” Edward smiles slyly. “To be honest, it’s a surprise for us.”       “But if we had known it, we would’ve laughed at this ex-fat person enough,” Terrence sneers evilly.       “You, you…” Norman gets boiled. “You all will pay me for it! Apologize to my son immediately! NOW! GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES AND ASK JULIAN FOR FORGIVENESS!”       “Serious?” Daniel scoffs ironically with both arms crossed over his chest. “Why should we apologize to the bastard, who doesn’t respect women and girls? On our knees! Are you kidding us?”       “You will regret this! I SHALL NOT LET YOU INSULT MY SON! HEAR ME, BASTARDS?”       “It’s the truth, Norman,” Maximilian replies confidently. “You told us that Julian was overweight in childhood and adored fast food! That’s why everyone bullied him so hard.”       “I DID NOT SAY IT! IT IS A LIE!”       “And you said your son unsuccessfully tried to lose his weight for a few years,” Lilian adds. “So, you had to visit a dietologist who strongly limited his food. And when we saw Julian for the first time, we saw him slim and tough.”       “And it’s clear that he still has to limit himself strongly,” Maximilian adds. “He categorically refuses sweet and flour… He does not even look at fast food. I guess he is so nervous because he is always hungry.”       “And sweet food impacts your brain in a very good way,” Edward notices. “A lack of serotonin doesn’t lead to anything good. A little piece of dark chocolate doesn’t harm anyone. Or is everything so bad about your metabolism that you may get fat even from a breadcrumb?”       “Just like my ex-schoolmate, who was prone to fatness,” Peter laughs evilly. “And she was afraid of it like fire. But she was terribly furious, looking at those, who ate a delicious donut or a chocolate bar.”       While everybody keeps laughing shyly, Julian exhales sharply, raises his head proudly, turns on his offenders with a sly smile, and laughs evilly with both arms crossed over his chest.       “How nasty it is when some trash tries to be tough,” Julian says contemptuously. “You are like dogs that bark on the corner but are afraid to come and attack.”       “It sounds like you,” Daniel throws rudely. “When nobody was around, you were beating the girl wildly. But when the men and I came to you, you did pull your tail between your legs. Because you knew you wouldn’t have dealt with us alone.”       “Me? Scared?” Julian sneers loudly. “You confused me with someone, deadbeat! I’m afraid of nothing! NO-THI-NG! Including you and these three bastards. And this dirty dog!”       Sammy still being held by the collar by Peter, starts groaning at Julian, showing his sharp teeth and striking a fighting position.       “Shut up, you, piece of shit!” Julian bellows. “You were silent before and don’t open your mouth!”       Sammy keeps groaning with a greater evil, barking loudly at times.       “You were told to shut up, freak!” Norman hisses through his teeth. “DO YOU WANT ME TO HIT YOU ON YOUR HEAD OR SHOOT YOU DOWN TO THE FUCK?”       “Hey, be nice to the doggy,” Maximilian advises in a low, rude voice. “Otherwise, he will tear you apart with his sharp teeth!”       “I hope he will tear one of you! For example, this poor beggar, who brought these sheep here!”       “Relax, he will not listen to you,” Peter says coldly. “But he will listen to me. One word of mine before you and your sonny lie on the floor with no chance to get up. Not only will your shirts suffer.”       “By the way, about shirts!” Julian exclaims and points at Sammy. “This piece of shit tore my shirt! Because of this scumbag, I had to throw it off! Though, it costed A LOT! THE FOUR OF YOU WILL NEVER EARN SO MUCH!”       “Come on?” Terrence wonders. “Where did you buy it? At a marketplace, for a cheap price? Or at a second-hand store?”       “I demand moral damage for the torn thing! UNTIL THE LAST CENT!”       “May this blond freak pay,” Norman replies insolently. “I guess it’s his mutt. If it’s so, may he give money.”       “Are you crazy?” Peter sneers evilly. “I will pay nothing.”       “Ha, then these two black-haired idiots will give us their money if you are the same beggar as your pal,” Norman replies with his head proudly raised, pointing at Edward and Terrence. “This actor has a lot of money! May he pay! if you are all provided by him.”       “You are kidding us, honorable,” Terrence smirks with both arms crossed over his chest. “Does the crown fit you enough?”       “Those, who must pay, are you two,” Edward adds coldly, also keeping his arms crossed over his chest. “For what you’ve done to Anna and her parents.”       “Shut up, MacClife, Sr.,” Norman sneers evilly. “Everyone knows that you act like a king and have hysteria for any reason. You have no right to teach my son how to live and behave.”       “Well, as you didn’t manage to educate your sonny, the other people will do it,” Terrence says confidently.       “Ar-r-r, fuck…” Julian groans irritably with rolled eyes, while Norman claps himself on the forehead. “Some bastards can get anyone wild!”       “When some assholes hurt our close people, we can’t stand aside,” Peter replies in a low voice.       “There’s shit in this world!” Julian shakes his head, throwing an evil look at Peter, Edward, Terrence, and Daniel. “You all are worth each other!”       “These guys are more decent and better than you and your father, bastard!” Lillian replies irritably.       “You, snakes, must learn a lot from them!” Anna adds coldly.       “Wow, easy, women, easy!” Norman smirks evilly. “You are pretending to be ladies. So, act as you must. And yeah, you have no right to open your dirty mouths until men let you. You must stand aside and wait for orders obediently.”       “You and your sonny cannot be called men!” Daniel says rudely. “You are two losers, who are about to choke with their poison. Who ruined the lives of the three innocent people! Though, I’m not sure if you didn’t make someone else your victim!”       “The Potters do not forgive anyone! DO NOT FORGIVE! NOBODY DARES TO GO AGAINST THEM! NOBODY!”       “It’s your problem! Which you must solve with a psychologist!”       “Ar-r-r, you are irritating me more and more,” Julian growls irritably. “I really want to break your neck and bury your corpse somewhere in the woods.”       “Come on, then!” Daniel shouts, throwing his hands aside. “Come on, break my neck! Come on, Potter! Here I am! Standing in front of you! Huh? Are you too weak to beat me?”       “How sassy you are while your pals are with you,” Julian mocks with a sly smile. “You can do nothing without them! You always hide behind their backs and take them anywhere!”       “Do you want to go outside and solve it as men? Come on, Potter! Let’s talk! Face to face!”       “You were lucky the last time just because these cockroaches were with you! Otherwise, I would’ve killed you quietly and kept educating this gal.”       “But this time, I will educate. You.”       “Seriously?” Julian smirks contemptuously, comes closer to Daniel with a proud, arrogant look, and raises his face sharply with a blade of the knife, while Anna shakes her head with widely open eyes. “Are you afraid to fight with me? Face to face! Without this gang!”       “Put on diapers before you do it,” Daniel snaps with a sly smile. “Or you will dirt your pants from fear.”       “This time, you, motherfucker, will not get off me easily. I swear I will do my best to turn you into a big piece of smelly meat. The dog of your pal is going to pee himself from happiness.”       “You shouldn't have stood in my way, bastard.” Daniel sharply moves Julian’s knife off his throat. “I shall show you what may happen when any asshole dares to make me furious and attempt to kill my close people.”       “You should not talk to me like this, deadbeat.” Julian sharply pushes Daniel off himself and throws a contemptuous look at Terrence, Peter, and Edward. “Who messed up with the same ragamuffins.”       “I wonder what you would say if you knew I had a big, gorgeous house and a lot of money?”       “Don’t tell me you’re also a relative of the English queen or the president of the country!”       “Yeah, it sounds hilarious,” Norman chuckles. “If you were rich, this gal wouldn’t have looked at you. She is our lover of handsome beggars that have nothing!”       “I see you call everyone Anna has ever dated beggars. Even if it’s a provided person, they are automatically added to the list of beggars.”       “You can’t choose friends at all!” Julian smirks contemptuously and glances at Terrence, Edward, and Peter. “The first one drank as fuck because of the breakup with his fiancée and fucked another woman. The second one almost went to prison for almost twenty years for the murder of a man but was excused thanks to his family. And the third one wanted to die and made little kids cry at the thought that they could’ve lost the talentless loser, whom they loved for his appearance.”       “Yeah, how could the girl from the educated family mess up with these people?” Norman shakes his head. “She must ignore this type of person, but she decided to befriend them!”       “None of us cares about our mistakes of the past,” Daniel says confidently. “And we rate people by what they’re doing in the present.”       “As for you, we are not surprised. You are not innocent, either.” Julian sharply puts the end of his knife to Daniel’s throat, while the man tries to stay cool but tenses all his muscles. “You are guilty of the fact that your blond pal almost died!”       “It’s not true!” Anna protests loudly. “He is guilty of nothing!”       “Come on? The Internet was full of news about the blond wishing to die! And everyone recently discussed the fact that it happened because of your ex. Who humiliated this freak regularly and did his best to bring him to the wish to die. And his fans eventually bullied him and wanted to dance on his grave.”       “It’s a lie! They always try to slander famous people! They need a sensation! A reason to start a scandal!”       “Are you going to say I lied?” Julian wonders. “You were next to the deadbeat and saw what he was doing to this freak. Who was a spineless milksop and forgave his pal. And he’s now covering his ass.”       “My ex didn’t bring his friend to death! You are lying! Lying about everything you just said!”       “Are you going to say that this snotty boy wasn’t supposed to be in prison for the cruel murder? The six-foot-tall column didn’t drink a lot of alcohol because of breaking up with that talentless board with no boobs and ass, whom the whole world kind of admires? Or the blond wasn’t taken to the hospital after he opened his veins? That there were no witnesses, who published several photos on the Internet?”       “Our personal life is none of your fucking business!” Terrence says loudly and rudely. “And we are not going to excuse ourselves for what happened!”       “It’s great to be friends and relatives of a famous person, huh?” Julian smiles slyly, moving the edge of his knife to Daniel. “Any roads are open for you! No need to work hard to get some popularity and make people talk about you.”       “Do you really like it?” Norman laughs evilly, looking at Peter, Edward, and Daniel, against the temple of whom he puts his pistol. “Are you ready to accept the fact that you will never be individuals? That people will remember you as friends of this actor.”       “Ha, are you and your sonny kind of different?” Maximilian smirks contemptuously. “Don’t you use what doesn’t belong to you? Do you earn everything by yourself?”       “Unlike you two, we worked so hard to get what we have,” Lillian adds coldly.       “Didn’t you and your ex-husband get everything easily?” Julian asks confidently. “Didn’t your beloved daughter live with everything? Did she work on something related to your business? Besides, your parents owned the restaurant! You didn’t even have to work so hard to understand everything because they showed and told you everything!”       “And you jumped so high thanks to our help!” Norman adds. “If not for Julian and me, you and your daughter would now be begging on the streets.”       “And how did you help us?” Maximilian wonders. “You know the fuck nothing about a business!”       “I taught you some secrets, which helped you get your Michelin stars.”       “And if we had opened a common business, we would’ve earned much more money,” Julian says confidently. “Any woman would be jealous of me and a gal, who would’ve become my wife.”       “Listen, I listened to you and could not understand who you reminded me of,” Edward crosses his arms over his chest. “But now I know! My uncle. The same cynic and bastard, who is ready for anything for money and would die for every cent. He almost killed the father of my brother and me, trying to get power at his company!”       “Yes, I heard about that case,” Norman nods confidently. “The man just wanted to live well. But he was put in prison!”       “You and your sonny would get along well with him. You’d become best friends. Vindictive, jealous, heartless, and greedy scumbags!”       “Ha, did you and your brother want to get all his money so badly?” Julian smirks contemptuously. “There would’ve been at least one reason for your Barbie dolls to get a crush on you. Money. If you were beggars, only such a stupid chicken like Anna.”       “I’m sorry if your greatest happiness is a bag of money and humiliations toward girls,” Terrence replies coldly.       “Listen, MacClife, close your mouth and get out of here with your brother, these ragamuffins, and your dirty dog,” Norman demands. “We would have killed the Seymours a long time ago if you HADN’T RUINED OUR PLANS!”       “We are not going to leave,” Peter says confidently with a cold look and his arms crossed over his chest. “Until you, bastards, pay for everything you’ve done to Anna and her parents.”       “So, do you want to die along with the Seymours and this deadbeat?” Julian smirks evilly. “Well! First, I will deal with your incredible four and this shabby dog.”       “Yeah, we should defeat the bodyguards of the Seymours first,” Norman says confidently.       “Come on, bastards, try,” Daniel challenges confidently. “Try to deal with us four together!”       “We’re stronger together!” Edward says proudly.       “So, we will check it out,” Julian says with a sly smile. “See how you will protect the gal THIS TIME!”       Julian runs sharply to Anna, grabs her painfully by the hair, and tries to put the knife to her throat. But Daniel shows an instant reaction, hitting the opponent strongly between his legs, doubling him over, twisting his arms around, taking the gun, and pulling him far from the girl, who shouts with horror and closes her mouth with both hands. And while their friend puts the knife to Potter’s throat and prevents any of his attempts to get out, Edward, Terrence, and Peter come to the girl and surround her, and the blond hugs the girl tightly. And Sammy hides all of them behind himself and starts to bark furiously and growl at the one, whom he is ready to tear apart by the first order of his second owner.       “If you come to her, you’re dead, asshole,” Daniel hisses through his teeth.       “Let my son go now, deadbeat!” Norman demands rudely. “LET JULIAN GO, I SAID!”       When Norman runs to Daniel, the man sharply points the knife at Julian, around whose neck he puts his arm.       “GET BACK!” Daniel shouts. “One more step before I cut the throat of this bastard!”       “I SAID, LET GO!” Norman gets wild and sharply points the pistol at Anna surrounded by Terrence, Edward, and Peter. “Do what I say! Or I will shoot at the head of one of your pals or this gal!”       “If you harm at least one of them, your sonny will be dead! THIS FUCKING BASTARD WILL DIE!”       “Don’t make me wild, plucked rooster! LET MY SON GO AT YOUR WISH!”       When Norman takes a step toward Anna, Sammy starts to bark loudly and growl, as if he says that no bastard will go by him.       “If you take one more step, I will tell this dog, ‘Attack!’” Peter says in a low, rude voice.       “Don’t dare, blond freak,” Norman hisses through his teeth and sharply moves his pistol to Sammy. “I SHALL SHOOT THIS THING DOWN IF HE DOES NOT SHUT UP!”       “Enough, Norman, stop!” Lillian begs with pity in her eyes. “Wake up before it’s too late!”       “Are you crazy?” Norman sneers evilly. “Do you think I can give up so easily and let you win?”       “We are giving you one last chance to change your mind,” Daniel says confidently, tightly holding Julian, who is unsuccessfully trying to get out with an irritated growl. “And if you don’t agree, I will go further in my wish to punish you.”       “You will do nothing to me and my son!” Norman throws rudely. “LET JULIAN GO AND GIVE HIM THE KNIFE!”       “And you give up!” Daniel puts a knife to Julian’s throat. “NOW!”       “Don’t play with the fire, deadbeat.”       “Without a knife, your sonny will do nothing to everybody here or me. He is only tough with a gun. But I have it in my hands. And this bastard is nervous. He is worried about his worthless life.”       “I WILL SHOOT YOU DOWN IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO MY SON!”       “If you shoot your son down, I will be grateful to you.”       “DO NOT TALK FOR NOTHING, ASSHOLE!”       “Stop, Norman!” Maximilian demands. “Stop doing stupid things!”       “Shut up there, assholes!” Norman throws a cold look at Maximilian and Lillian. “We will deal with you when we destroy these four bastards!”       “If you want to deal with us, leave Anna and her friends alone and give all your claims to Lillian and me. Why did you the fuck get our daughter involved in this case?”       “Naturally, I will present two claims to you and Lillian. But your daughter will also get some claims.”       “Anna did nothing bad to you and has always been nice to you,” Lilian recalls.       “She’d better behave the way she must do! As any woman!”       “I did all of that because I wanted freedom and a happy life!” Anna says confidently. “I wanted to decide how to live. And life with your nasty sonny was never a part of my plan.”       “My son would’ve golden you, stupid shorty! You would’ve lived like a queen! All you should’ve done was just be an obedient lady and obey a man!”       “Yeah, but did you ever ask me if I wanted it? If I needed your furs, brilliants, and many servants? I never asked for all of that! The only thing I wanted was a bit of love and freedom.”       “We have never cared about your opinion. Since you were born as a woman, be nice to serve men!”       “I don’t want to be a servant without rights, who can’t show her emotions and feelings! I am human! Not a robot! I have the right to love and respect.”       “Anyone must deserve respect. But you have done nothing good for that. Vice versa, you only rebelled like a teenager.”       “Because I didn’t want to doom myself to suffering!”       “Yeah… You’re stuck in the teenage age when everyone went insane. You refuse to grow up. Your brain did not start to work. You still choose non-perspective beggars. You don’t use your mind, you use your genitals. Instead of living with Julian like a queen, you ran away with this poor deadbeat. And you got us furious.”       “You got mad not because I went to live with him. Because your plans were ruined.”       “Yes, you, little bitch, messed up everything! Your late grandparents had great hopes for you and were sure that you’d meet them. But they’re now twisting in the grave because of everything you’re doing.”       “If my grandparents had known that you were snakes, they would’ve changed their minds as well as my parents. Besides, I am sure that your goal was to bankrupt them. Frame them, so they had nothing. But you eventually had problems yourself. Even if it happened accidentally.”       “You are speaking kind of too much,” Norman notices rudely. “When your saviors showed up, you became suddenly brave.”       “But now it’s clear why she was so sassy after you took her mother and father away,” Julian says confidently. “This gal and her mommy and daddy agreed with these donkeys about everything, and they came in time.”       “Yeah,” Norman agrees with a sly smile. “I was wondering why such a quiet and unhappy girl that was pressing herself to her mommy and daddy with tears suddenly became a shameless hussy.”       “I did know that something was not right… And I will not be surprised if these idiots make one more surprise for us.”       “They will not have time. They will die!”       “We all will have time to beat the faces of you and your sonny,” Maximilian replies confidently. “NOT JUST ONCE!”       Maximilian comes to Norman and hits him fearlessly in the face with a fist so fast that nobody has time to get what happens. The father of Anna, who closes her mouth with both hands with widely open eyes, gives another stronger slap to his opponent and pushes him off rudely with a wish to strike him down. Then, Potter, Sr., gives a strong slap to Seymour and points the pistol at him, making Anna and Lilian shout in horror.       “Don’t get loose, sheep!” Norman bellows. “Or I will shoot at your empty head!”       “Ha, you’ve been threatening to do it for a long time!” Maximilian replies confidently and throws his hands aside. “What are you waiting for? Come on, Potter, kill me! Or did you put your tail between your legs as well as your beloved sonny?”       “Come on, Father!” Julian smiles slyly, clenching his hand into a fist. “Kill this old donkey!”       “I will kill you now, asshole!” Daniel roars furiously and puts the knife tighter to Julian’s throat.       “So, deadbeat, are you licking the ass of your potential father-in-law? Do you want to get forgiveness from this gal and her parents?”       “Shut up and don’t move!” Daniel pulls Julian down sharply. “Don’t move, I said!”       “So, scumbags, can you only bark like cowardly dogs?” Maximilian sneers evilly, looking at Maximilian with contempt. “You can only do dirty tricks when there are no witnesses! But when you got caught, your eyes started to run, and your legs began to shake.”       “Wow!” Norman laughs evilly. “How long ago did you stop being a soft milksop?”       “I am protecting my family! My daughter! Protecting her mother! And I will not pity anyone to mock one of them!”       “Alright, I know why you are worried about your daughter. But why do you care about your ex-wife? You’ve never loved each other!”       “But we’ve always had mutual respect and unity! And I swear on the grave of my parents, we will protect Anna until the end. And you will not have enough money to pay Lilian and me for all of her sufferings.”       “You know what…” Norman says confidently. “Julian and I have wasted too much time on you, even though we could’ve ended this shit a long time ago.”       Norman sharply points the pistol at Daniel, who is still holding Julian and threatening him with a knife.       “Let my son go, motherfucker!” Norman bellows and moves the pistol to Anna, Peter, Terrence, and Edward by one. “Or I shall kill the gal and your pals! HEY? ARE YOU DEAF OR STUPID? DO WHAT I TELL YOU, STUPID!”       “Ha, are you seriously worried about your fucking sonny?” Daniel laughs evilly. “Or do you just need a reason to threaten?”       “Ar-r-r, what a stupid donkey! GET THE FUCK BACK OFF JULIAN AND GIVE HIM THE KNIFE!”       “Kill me! And I will do it!”       “I advise you to listen to my father and move your dirty hands off me,” Julian hisses through his teeth. “Hear me, you, smelly beggar? I spent half the day in a shower on the day when you and your pals beat me! I washed your dirty hands off me!”       “And what would you do to me? I’m holding your gun! And you will do nothing without the one!”       “I WILL TAKE IT!”       “Maybe, I will give it to you when I come to the door and kick you the fuck out,” Daniel replies sharply, rudely. “And before, I will beat you, so that you run away when seeing my girlfriend a mile away.”       “SHE IS NOT YOURS, FREAK!”       “NOT YOURS! You have NO rights to her!”       “I repeat for the last time: either you get off my son, or I kill these freaks,” Norman says confidently, pointing the pistol at Daniel, Anna, Peter, Edward, and Terrence by one. “CHOOSE, BASTARD!”       “No, you will play by MY rules! Now YOU will leave and leave the Seymours alone. ONCE AND FOREVER!”       “Don’t think you’ve won,” Julian hisses through his teeth. “Julian Potter never loses. NEVER! HE DOES NOT LOSE TO SOME RAGAMUFFIN!”       Julian hits Daniel painfully on the underbelly with his leg and pushes him strongly to the sofa, against the corner of which he hits the bridge of his nose. Not managing to keep his balance, Perkins falls down and feels mild pain after a slight touch to the nose. The next second, Potter attacks him with fists, takes the knife from him by force, and tries to get it into his opponent’s heart. But the man smashes his leg against Potter’s chest and gets up shortly, while his opponent temporarily becomes unable to breathe.       “Nice attempt,” Daniel throws contemptuously, grabs Julian painfully by the hair, and gets him down on the knees. “You became so brave shortly after you got the knife!”       “You’re dead, bastard,” Julian smiles evilly. “I will get your guts out and bury your corpse in wood.”       “Don’t force me to get yours!” Daniel sharply takes the knife out of Julian’s hands and puts the edge of the one to his opponent’s throat. “Joking with me is a bad idea.”       “I shall kill you, shabby cat. KILL! SOON, YOU WILL BE LYING DEAD HERE!””       “Huh, is it going to be easy for you to fight? Fat people are always out of breath! And you’re also not a little boy! Who, however, has never been as light as a butterfly!”       “Alright, bastard, I am done with you,” Norman hisses through his teeth. “I will kill you… KILL!”       Norman points the pistol at Daniel confidently and immediately takes a shot, after which Anna screams out loudly with horror in widely open eyes. However, the man jumps aside, and the bullet gets into one of the pictures on the wall.       “Ha, a little bit before you shoot your sonny!” Daniel smirks evilly. “It would be so good!”       “BASTARD!” Norman screams at the top of his lungs. “YOU WILL NOT HIDE FROM ME!”       Norman tries to take a second shot at Daniel, but the man avoids the wound again by falling down sharply and rolling aside.       “Why are you such a twisted donut, honorable?” Daniel mocks. “If you keep doing this, I will not get pleasure again. Just like I didn’t during the fight with your sonny, whom we knocked out immediately.”       “Ar-r-r, FUCKING SNAKE!” Norman gets wild. “AS ALIVE AS THE GAL!”       When Norman tries to shoot Daniel for the third time, Terrence and Edward twist Potter’s hand with the gun around his back, take this thing, put it on the coffee table, and start to hold him tightly. It happens along with the shouts and sobs of Anna, who is pressing herself to Peter and nuzzling her nose in his shoulder at times, while Sammy does not leave her alone. While Lillian presses herself to Maximilian as close as possible, watching what seems a terrible nightmare with horror in her wet, widely open eyes.       “Oh my God…” Lillian makes a quiet sob.       “Get off me now, bastards!” Norman demands irritably, unsuccessfully trying to get out of Edward and Terrence’s tight grip. “Ar-r-r! LET ME THE FUCK GO!”       “So, you’re in trouble!” Daniel exclaims, comes to Norman with his head proudly raised, and puts the knife to his throat. “Now you will not run away from us, gentlemen!”       “Let my father go now!” Julian demands, breathing heavily enough. “LET HIM GO, YOU, TWO PIECES OF SHIT!”       Julian wants to run to Norman and help him, but Daniel, standing in his way, sharply points the knife at him, shouting loudly:       “GET BACK! GET BACK, I SAID!”       “Don’t make me wild, bastard,” Julian hisses through his teeth. “Give me the knife and tell these bastards to let my father go. NOW!”       “Are you worried about your daddy so much? Or you’re afraid that you can’t do this alone, without a gun? Huh, Daddy’s baby?”       “Don‘t palaver me, freak! OR I SHALL MAKE YOU REGRET IT!”       “Yeah, but how? Your gun is in my hands, and you are powerless without it!” Daniel sneers evilly. “After losing weight, you did not learn to fight. Or you get tired too fast. A habit.”       “YOU WILL ASK FOR TROUBLE, CAD!” Norman screams at the top of his lungs and tries to get out of Terrence and Edward’s grip sharply. “LET ME GO! I WILL KILL YOUR PAL!”       “Try! With your hands! Can you do it? Or were you a fat closet and not able to fight psychically?”       “Ar-r-r, you’re worse than any stooge! I WOULD LOOK AT THOSE, WHO EDUCATED A BASTARD LIKE YOU!”       “Well, all of us saw who educated your sonny.”       “Stop palavering us, piece of shit!” Julian replies rudely. “DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD!”       “Come on, Potter, save your daddy,” Daniel says with a sly smile, keeping the knife pointed at Julian. “Show how tough and brave you are. Prove to him that you are not a coward.”       “Alright, bastard, I will kill you! KILL!”       Julian comes to Daniel sharply, takes the hand that is holding the knife, and tries to take it by force. But it turns out to be hard because Perkins squeezes it tightly. But at some moment, Potter hits his opponent on the knee with a leg and, using the moment, takes the knife.       “Oh, yeah, bastard, you are dead?” Julian smiles slyly, pointing the knife at Daniel. “I WILL NOT PLAY GAMES WITH YOU!”       Julian tries to get the knife in Daniel’s back, while his opponent, doubling over, rubs his hurt knee. But the man gets straight immediately, jumps aside, and hits Potter with a leg so that the man falls to the ground. Then Perkins tries to take the knife from Julian, remembering Anna’s tip about his weakness.       “Come on, sonny, hold on!” Norman encourages and unsuccessfully tries to get out of Edward and Terrence’s grip. “I will deal with these scumbags and help you!”       “Quiet, honorable, quiet!” Edward holds Norman down. “Don’t move!”       “You were told not to move!” Terrence throws coldly.       Meanwhile, Julian pushes Daniel off himself so that the man falls to the floor. And while Perkins just wants to get up, Potter sharply points the knife at Terrence and Edward with a heavy breath.       “MOVE YOUR HANDS OFF MY FATHER, BASTARDS!” Julian demands loudly. “OR I WILL KILL YOU!”       “Nervous, Potter?” Edward sneers evilly. “Nervous because your daddy can’t help you kill us?”       “SHOULD I REPEAT EVERYTHING A HUNDRED TIMES?” Julian points the knife at Peter, who is hugging Anna tightly, while she is crying quietly. “AND YOU GET OFF THE GAL!”       “What would you do to me?” Peter raises his head proudly. “Before you run to me, you will be out of your breath!”       “SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DO WHAT I TELL YOU!”       “Don’t scream with the thought that we’ll be scared of you and your sick daddy, get down on our knees, and let you kill us.”       “AH, YOU, FREAK! YOU ARE IN TROUBLE!”       When Julian wants to come closer to Peter and Anna, Sammy stands in front of the friends and starts to bark loudly and growl with evil, showing his sharp teeth and looking at his opponent closely.       “Ar-r-r, you again!” Julian growls irritably. “GET OUT OF MY WAY, PIECE OF SHIT!”       When Julian takes a step forward, Sammy starts to growl and bark at Potter with greater aggression.       “SHUT UP BEFORE YOU GET A HIT ON YOUR HEAD!”       But Sammy is not cowardly at all and keeps standing in his place.       “Alright, cad, you will howl,” Julian hisses through his teeth.       After Julian takes one more step, Sammy wants to attack him with a loud bark. But Potter hits his leg against him as strongly as possible, making the pet get thrown one or one and a half meters aside with a quiet whining. However, the dog gets up quickly and shakes something off himself. While Julian comes to Anna determinedly. But Peter hides the girl behind his back, and then Daniel runs to them two moments later and stands next to him.       “Don’t dare to come to her,” Peter pronounces in a low, rude voice, looking at Julian closely with his icy look. “Otherwise, I shall break your arms.”       “Get off her, bastard!” Julian demands rudely. “GET OFF, I SAID! AND YOU, TOO, DEADBEAT!”       “You get off, scumbag!” Daniel shouts.       “I do not like repeating everything twice!” Julian threatens Daniel and Peter with the knife by one. “GIVE THIS SHORTY TO ME!”       “I said, GET OFF HER!” Daniel pushes Julian off himself rudely.       “MOVE YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF ME!”       “We will not let you hurt Anna!” Peter says confidently.       “Don’t make me wild, fucking reject!” Julian sharply grabs Peter by the collar with one hand and puts the knife to his throat, making Sammy start barking loudly. “I can make your long-time dream come true and kill you right now. EARLIER THAN THIS DEADBEAT!”       “Hey, don’t overuse this thing,” Peter pronounces fearlessly, moves Julian’s knife off his throat, and tightly grabs his hand, in which the man is holding the gun, setting his cold look at him.       “Move your hands off!” Julian demands rudely, trying to get his hand out of Peter’s grip. “LET ME GO, I SAID!”       “Gosh, how much you don’t want to lose! Any loss is even worse for you than getting rejected by a girl.”       “Stop pretending to be sassy, blond!”       “Don’t stand in our way, Potter! We can always find what to say and beat your face enough.”       “We will see it, loser!” Julian hums contemptuously.       “A loser is about you and your daddy, Potter,” Daniel says confidently. “Only a loser can blame them for having a bad life.”       “You ALL are losers and milksops! You, these blond folks, the fucking actor, his snotty brother, your ex, and her mommy and daddy.”       “The one, who insults and humiliates people much more, has usually reached nothing,” Peter replies with his head proudly raised. “You can show nothing but your pathetic airplanes. Though, nobody the fuck needs them. A waste of fucking time.”       “Yeah, getting famous with the actor’s help is such a great achievement!” Julian scoffs contemptuously. “When you and your pals lose the support of MacClife, everyone will forget you. You will become deadbeats and beg outside. Just like the Seymour will when their restaurant is bankrupt and closed down.”       “You’re just jealous of us!” Anna says confidently. “You can only tell how many girls have run away from you because of your character in your old age.”       “Shut the fuck up, shorty! Nobody cares about your opinion!”       “You’ve had to compensate for your weaknesses, because of which everybody mocked you, since childhood. And your father added fuel to the fire and made you his copy that always repeated after him.”       “I am proud of my son, who became a wonderful man,” Norman says proudly, still being held by Terrence and Edward. “I am sorry that women don’t understand which treasure they lose!”       “Did you forget about your younger son?” Lillian wonders. “Is Ryan nothing to you?”       “That kid has never existed to me! I only have one son – Julian. The son, for whom I would move a mountain!”       “It’s amazing that the boy became a decent man, even after living with such a horrible family.”       “Ryan became a milksop because he was a mammy’s boy, who looked into the mouth of Genevieve and listened to her. She was guilty of making him my shame. Because of that kid, Julian didn’t get a wife!”       “How do you dare to love one son and hate another?” Terrence wonders. “That guy did nothing bad to you, but you hate him like an enemy!”       “The fact that he took after his mommy already makes Ryan my enemy.”       “That guy is lonely!” Edward exclaims. “His mother died, and his father gives a fuck about him! Who was next to him at hard times?”       “I give a fuck about him,” Norman replies rudely. “I GIVE A FUCK! If he dies, I will not cry!”       “I do not need that defective one, too!” Julian says coldly. “He can even get hit by a tank! I will be only happy to get rid of that kid! Who became a pain in my ass!”       “What heartless stinkers you are!” Maximilian shakes his head. “Poor boy… How it’s nasty to wish that your child died!”       “I’d be happy to give him to you, so he grows up with the thought that he and Anna are brother and sister,” Norman replies rudely. “But first, he is not a boy and could take care of him. And second, you all will die. And we will the fuck KILL YOU TONIGHT!”       Norman does his best to break free from the grip of Edward and Terrence and does it successfully in the end. Then he rudely pushes the brothers to different sides, grabs the pistol, and points it at Maximilian and Lillian. The woman cries quietly and presses herself closer to the man, who hugs her tightly and caresses her shoulders and head.       “I shall kill you, bastards! I SHALL KILL YOU!”       “No!” Anna screams loudly with despair in widely open eyes. “Please, don’t do this!”       Norman not caring about Anna’s shouts pulls the trigger with no regret. But at this moment, Edward comes to him sharply from behind and raises his hand up so that the bullet gets into the ceiling. The furious Potter wants to shoot at MacClife, Jr., who does not let it happen by hitting his opponent strongly between his legs with a knee and pushing him off rudely. Then Terrence takes the gun from Norman by force and throws it as far as possible, and Maximilian slaps his enemy in the face with great pleasure.       “I fought with boys in my childhood for a reason,” Maximilian scoffs quietly. “My hand got hurt after such a powerful hit!”       “Don’t wave your wings, weak boy,” Norman smiles slyly and unsuccessfully tries to slap Maximilian in the face. “You are a worthless milksop, who naively believed everything you were told!”       “As if you and your sonny are brave without a gun!” Terrence laughs evilly and grabs Norman’s hand when the man tries to slap him.       “Come on, honorable, let’s, solve it as real men,” Edward provokes, clenching his hands into fists and keeping his legs shoulder-width apart.       “Julian, deal with these boneheads and the gal!” Norman orders, avoiding attacks from Maximilian, Edward, and Terrence. “I will deal with them and that crying chicken!”       “Don’t dare to insult the mother of my daughter,” Maximilian gets wildly enraged. “DO NOT DARE!”       When Norman wants to attack Maximilian and Lillian, Terrence and Edward stand in his way and strike a fighting position. While the MacClife brothers are fearlessly fighting off Potter’s attacks, Julian watches them with a sly smile for several seconds. Then he moves his eyes to Anna with his head proudly raised and, wrapping his knife in his hand, comes to her confidently. But Peter and Daniel close her with themselves and strike a fighting position with their hands clenched into fists, and Sammy starts barking at Norman’s older son with evil again.       “Out my way, dog!” Julian throws rudely. “And you, freaks! GIVE ME THE GAL!”       “Never!” Daniel and Peter exclaim loudly.       “You will come to her over our dead bodies!” Daniel says in a low, rude voice.       “Yes, kill us before you get my friend,” Peter adds confidently.       “That’s why I am GOING TO KILL YOU!” Julian screams. “NOBODY TO STOP ME FROM REACHING THIS GAL!”       When Julian takes a step forward with an irritated growl, Daniel and Peter push him off rudely, and Sammy starts barking and growling at him much harder. Hiding behind the men, Anna feels quieter, but she is madly worried that the men may suffer or, heaven forbid, die.       “Don’t relax, Seymour,” Julian says with a sly smile. “I will deal with this gang and give you one more lesson in education.”       “You will do nothing to her!” Daniel says rudely. “I WILL NOT LET YOU, MOTHERFUCKER!”       “Sew your mouth, bastard!” Julian grabs Daniel sharply by the collar and puts the knife against his throat, while Anna screams again with tears in her eyes. “Or I will stab you to death before the eyes of this chicken!”       “No, Julian!” Anna begs with despair. “Please!”       “Let him go now, Potter!” Peter demands confidently, while Sammy barks loudly. “You will regret it if you hurt him!”       “Ha! What will you do to me, freak?”       “Keep dreaming of defeating me, bastard,” Daniel says rudely. “I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU!”       Daniel smashes his fist strongly against Julian’s jaw. That’s why the man shakes but keeps his balance. Then Perkins gives Potter another stronger hit and gets into the bridge of his nose, seeing that his opponent gets blood under his nose. Julian growls furiously and tries to get the knife into Daniel with two hands, but the man grabs the gun that is a few centimeters from his chest and tries to move it aside by force. At some moment, Peter smashes his foot strongly against Potter’s abdomen. While the opponent doubles over in sharp pain, the blond grabs him by the edges of his jacket and pushes him to the coffee table. That’s why Potter hits his temple against the corner of it after he falls to the floor like a stone and lets his knife go. And two moments later, everybody hears the sound of something that breaks and falls down with a bang, As it turns out, Norman takes something glassy from the table placed near the stairs and throws it at Maximilian and Lillian. But Edward and Terrence manage to take them aside in time.       “Enough, Norman, stop!” Lillian begs loudly and desperately. “For God’s sake!”       Breathing heavily, Norman takes something that gets thrown at Edward, who quickly avoids it and jumps aside. Then MacClife, Jr., takes the glass with pens from the table and throws it strongly at Potter, Sr., who dodges in time. In the end, the pens fly on different sides, and the glass falls on the floor with a bang.       “Sorry, Daniel, we will pay damages later,” Terrence says confidently.       Terrence sees a small ashtray, which he throws at Norman as strongly as possible. However, the man squats down and hides behind the sofa, while the ashtray breaks loudly into little pieces. And after a short hand-in-hand fight with Daniel, Julian also decides to throw everything he sees. He grabs an empty cup of coffee and throws it at Perkins strongly, but his opponent jumps aside sharply. And the next half-empty cup gets into Peter and Anna. But the blond dodges himself and covers the girl, along with the shouts of who everything happens.       “Fuck, these bastards decided to destroy the house!” Peter exclaims.       “If they knew it was mine, they’d burn it down,” Daniel replies, glancing at what’s happening on the other side of the living room.       “What do we do?” Anna asks with horror in widely open eyes.       “Sammy, be careful!” Peter warns, glancing at Sammy barking loudly. “Don’t hurt your paws!”       “Alright, scumbags, I’m done with you!” Julian throws rudely. “I’m sick of playing these fucking games! I SHALL REACH THAT SHORTY ANYWAY!”       “Over my dead body!” Daniel says confidently. “Until you defeat me, don’t even dare to touch her!”       “That’s why I want to destroy you! SO, YOU, BASTARD, DO NOT RUIN MY PLANS AGAIN!”       “But first, you and your father will pay me moral damage for destroying half of the house.”       “Ha, why should we pay YOU?”       “Because this house is MINE!”       “Just because the Seymours hired you as a bodyguard and settled you here doesn’t mean you can get the rights to gorgeous houses.”       “Yes, I didn’t buy it and got it from my parents after becoming legal! But I bought everything for my money!”       “Ha, don’t make me laugh, deadbeat!” Julian sneers contemptuously. “I will never believe that it’s your house!”       “I give a fuck! But you MUST the fuck follow the rules that I set! And show respect for those, who you see here!”       “Respect you and all of these bastards? HA! NEVER!”       When Julian wants to try to get the knife into Daniel’s heart again, the man grabs the gun tightly with both hands and moves it off himself by force. Then Perkins gives a slap to Potter as strongly as possible and, using the moment when his opponent turns around, smashes his fist against the small of his back. After Julian falls down, Daniel uses a chokehold, not letting him breathe for several seconds. While Sammy does not stop wrapping around the opponent, barking loudly and growling at him, Anna closes her mouth with both hands and watches this nightmare with horror in her wet eyes, and Peter tries not to leave the girl alone.       “He’s gonna kill him, Peter,” Anna pronounces in a strongly shaking voice. “Julian is gonna kill Daniel!”       “No, no, friend, it’s gonna be okay,” Peter replies in a confident, soft voice. “He’s gonna be okay. And to you, too. While we’re here, you and your parents will be okay.”       “I’m scared… This nightmare is kind of infinite.”       “No, Anna, it’s gonna be okay. Just stay close to the lads and me, and we will deal with these snakes.”       “Hey, why haven’t the police come here?” Anna frowns slightly, quickly looking around. “What’s going on?”       “I dunno, they’re supposed to be here. Mr. Johnson and his helpers were supposed to show up here.”       “But where…”       Anna does not speak her mind because she hears Edward’s loud voice:       “Watch out!”       Peter immediately squats down and takes Anna after himself because something black and heavy does not get into them but gets into the window and leaves a couple of cracks.       “Oh, gosh, when will this nightmare end?” Anna asks with tears in her eyes. “It’s insane!”       Meanwhile, Daniel starts a furious fight with Julian. Slapping on the face, stomach, and legs and trying to use a chokehold, strike the opponent down, and hit him against something as painful as possible… It continues for a few seconds. The power of the fighters is the same, and none of them is going to give in. But at some moment, Julian grabs Daniel by the collar with a furious growl and throws him strongly against the coffee table, on which the man falls. Perkins falls on the floor, rolling the furniture and everything placed on it down. Then Julian comes to Peter sharply and tries to push him aside. But Rose takes him far from Anna crying bitterly and smashes his fist against his yawl, making the man shake from one side to another.       “So, Potter, aren’t you tired yet?” Peter smirks evilly and gives Julian one more hit in a yawl. “I see you can barely breathe.”       “Aren’t your pants wet from fear?” Julian smiles slyly and unsuccessfully tries to hit Peter in the temple. “Do you regret meddling in all of this?”       “Helping my friends is my duty! A matter of honor!”       “Are you still ready to protect this deadbeat, who once almost put you in the grave?”       “I’d die for my close people.”       Meanwhile, Anna helps Daniel get up and wants to ask him something, but the furious Norman runs sharply to them, points at her with his pistol, and takes a shot. But Perkins immediately saves himself and the girl, taking her aside and hiding her behind his back. And then Terrence and Edward run to them, breathing a little heavily.       “Mr. Johnson and the policemen are here!” Edward jabs excitedly.       “Call them right now!” Terrence orders. “We’ll cover you!”       Terrence and Edward sharply take Anna and Daniel aside when Norman tries to shoot at them again.       “Quick, come to the window!”       While Daniel goes aside, Anna follows him, understanding that she may be safer next to him. And Edward and Terrence have to defend themselves and the others from Norman’s shots for several seconds. But after Peter strikes Julian down, he joins his friends and helps them fight with Potter, Sr., Their fight continues for several seconds until Julian comes to himself, gets up, and comes to his father. And at some moment, they start to threaten the friends together: Potter, Sr., points the pistol at Peter, Edward, and Terrence, and his son points his knife at them.       “It’s all over, bastards!” Julian pronounces rudely. “You chose the wrong people to fight with!”       “You waved your wings well, but we won,” Norman adds coldly. “The Potters NEVER lose!”       “Not at all!” Terrence throws rudely.       “Don’t be so confident, brainless donkeys,” Julian replies confidently. “Of course, we highly value your work and unity. But it’s all worthless!”       “Oh, no, bastard!” Daniel pronounces confidently, coming to his friends. “Now everything will be over for you and your father!”       “Stop pretending to be heroes, morons!” Norman smirks contemptuously. “Nothing will help you!”       And while Sammy irritates Norman with his non-stop bark, Julian pays attention to something behind the window and comes closer to look at it better.       “No, honorable, nothing will help you!” Daniel raises his head proudly.       “Do not wait for us to let you kill us,” Peter throws rudely.       “You will have no choice!” Norman exclaims. “If you don’t give up at your wish, my son and I will defeat you by force.”       “We will not give you this pleasure,” Terrence says confidently.       “The Potters will put the Seymours and your four on your knees!”       “We will see it!” Edward smirks contemptuously.       “You will stand on your knees and ask the Seymours for forgiveness,” Daniel adds.       “Play heroes as long as you want!” Norman laughs evilly. “But if you want it, alright! You will die as heroes! The heroes, whose efforts will not be appreciated by anyone but you!”       “Please, Mr. Potter…” Anna begs with pity in her eyes, hiding behind the men.       “STOP TEARS AND HYSTERICS!” Norman bellows. “I will kill you anyway, even if I have to…”       Norman does not speak his mind because Julian stops him, as he looks through the window and sees something that makes him super nervous:       “Father, the police are there!”       “What?” Norman gets wild. “The police?”       “These bastards brought cops here! They are standing there!”       Norman comes to Julian sharply, looks through the window, and sees several policemen standing near the house and talking about something with pistols in their hands.       “Scumbags!” Norman gets red from anger.       “I guess the deadbeat told the truth about owning this house,” Julian concludes. “They deceived us!”       “BASTARDS!” Norman turns sharply on Daniel, Peter, Edward, Terrence, and Anna, who look at each other hesitantly and Sammy looking at them with sadness in his eyes. “BASTARDS! This house does not belong to the father of this gal, and you called the police!”       “Yes, this house is mine!” Daniel confirms confidently. “So, think better before calling me a deadbeat that has nothing.”       “Scumbags… SCUMBAGS!”       “I did know that something wasn’t right,” Julian says coldly. “This sheep, Maximilian, could not move so suddenly. I immediately felt that there was a snag when the father of this gal invited us here.”       “Yes, it was our trap!” Terrence throws rudely. “And now you, scumbag, will go to prison as well as your father! You will pay for what you did to the Seymours! And firstly, you, Julian Potter, will pay for almost bringing Anna to death.”       “You will prove nothing! Nobody will believe you!”       “Oh, come on!” Daniel crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t consider us brainless idiots, who did not think of proving your fault.”       “The cops will not believe the blond if he says he saw this little bitch and me!”       “Wrong, Potter,” Peter says with his head proudly raised. “I shall tell what you did to Anna and show it. Show the video, which will be a wonderful proof of your fault. Your face is clearly seen, and you will not dare to say it wasn’t yours.”       “You are bluffing! To scare me! You actually have nothing!”       “The video is in the police’s hands. And Anna’s parents watched it from start to end.”       “So, your fault is proven,” Daniel says confidently. “And there are many witnesses to your disgusting behavior toward Anna.”       “It’s not a bluff!” Edward pronounces coldly. “My friends, Anna’s parents, and I told the police everything you two did. But we are ready to do this a hundred times. So, you get the punishment you deserve.”       “The Seymours personally reported you,” Terrence says confidently. “So, the Potters, get ready to show off in a prison robe that will be so good on you.”       “MORONS!” Norman screams furiously, pointing the gun at everybody. “YOU MESSED UP EVERYTHING!”       “Did you think we’d be silent?” Maximilian wonders loudly. “We were ready to accept the fact that you attempted us. But the beating of our daughter became the last drop. We were not going to close our eyes to that.”       “We’d tear anyone for Anna,” Lilian says confidently. “And no threats will scare us! The life and health of our daughter are more important to us!”       “SNAKES!” Norman screams at the top of his lungs. “ALL MY PLANS ARE RUINED! GAIN!”       “The only snakes are you and your sonny,” Peter says rudely.       “The deadbeat is the one to blame!” Norman sharply moves the pistol to Daniel looking at him with a cold look, as he keeps his head proudly raised. “YOU! SON OF A BITCH! CURSE YOU! CURSE YOU! I WISH YOU DIED!”       “I can say the same about you and this asshole,” Daniel replies confidently.       “I SHALL KILL YOU, ASSHOLE!” Julian screams with widely open eyes. “THERE WILL BE A LOT OF BLOOD HERE!”       Julian takes the pistol sharply from Norman and points it confidently at Daniel.       “No!” Anna shouts with horror in widely open eyes.       When Edward, Peter, and Terrence want to help Daniel, and Sammy is going to attack Julian with a loud bark, they see the policeman Darwin and the others, who enter the house after Lillian and Maximilian let them in.       “Keep calm, the police!” Darwin announces loudly, surrounding Norman and Julian alongside his colleagues.       “Julian Potter and Norman Potter, you are under arrest for intentional injury and an attack attempt against the people’s lives!” Victor says confidently. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”       “Put your guns on the floor and raise your hands up!” Oliver demands confidently.       “Ha, serious?” Julian smirks loudly. “I will not go to prison! Over my dead body!”       “Especially, me!” Norman throws rudely.       “It’s all over, Julian and Norman!” Maximilian says confidently. “Now you both will pay for everything you have done!”       “Keep dreaming, idiots!” Julian bellows. “Nobody will dare to place handcuffs on me! I WILL NOT GIVE UP WHILE I AM ALIVE!”       “Resistance is futile, Mr. Potter!” Darwin says confidently. “The house is surrounded by the police, and all the exits and entries are closed! Even if you try to run away, you will be caught anyway.”       Realizing that it may really be over for them, Norman and Julian look at each other tensely with a heavy breath. After looking at everybody, who surrounds him, Potter, Sr., takes the knife from his son, grabs Peter by the hair, and puts the sharp against his throat. And his son, preventing Daniel’s attempts to help his friend, grabs him by the collar and puts the pistol to his head, making Sammy bark excitedly.       “No!” Anna shouts, closing her mouth with both hands.       “GET OUT OF HERE!” Norman bellows and puts the knife tighter to the throat of Peter, who seems quiet outside. “OR I SHALL STAB THIS BASTARD!”       “AND I WILL SHOT THE HEAD OF THIS DEADBEAT!” Julian threatens and pulls Daniel down sharply after he tries to break free.       When Terrence and Edward take a step and help Peter and Daniel, Julian points the pistol at them sharply.       “GET BACK, SCUMBAGS!” Julian roars at the top of his lungs.       “Let them go now!” Edward demands.       “You have no place to go!” Terrence adds.       “These bastards will be the first ones to be killed!” Julian replies. “Then, your time will come!”       “FUCK, CALM THIS SMELLY DOG DOWN!” Norman demands rudely, throwing a look full of evil at Sammy, who is about to attack him or Julian. “IF HE DOESN’T SHUT UP, I WILL KILL HIM, TOO!”       The excited Sammy starts barking and growling at Julian and Norman with greater aggression.       “SHUT UP, WE SAID!” Julian screams and points the pistol at Sammy for a moment. “MUCH STUPIDER THAN THIS SHORTY!”       “Please, let them go…” Anna begs with tears in her eyes and despair. “Don’t hurt them…”       “You are in the line to die after your protectors,” Julian says rudely, pointing the pistol at Anna.       “And these two with the same faces!” Norman adds and points the knife sharply at Edward and Terrence, who hide Anna crying quietly behind her back.       “You make it worse,” Victor says confidently. “Let the guys go and give up!”       “OVER MY DEAD BODY!” Julian says rudely and puts the edge of the pistol tightly to Daniel’s temple. “OVER HIS DEAD BODY!”       “C’mon, get out of here!” Norman demands confidently, threatening everybody with a knife and then putting it tightly to Peter’s throat. “We will kill these beggars, their pals, and the Seymours anyway!”       “We will not leave without these guys, this girl, and her parents,” Edward says confidently.       “If you leave at your wish, these scumbags will stay alive!” Julian says coldly. “We need only the Seymour family.”       “You are lost, confess it!” Lillian says coldly. “The police will deal with you.”       “YOU ALL LOST!” Norman screams at the top of his lungs. “WHILE I AM ALIVE, NONE OF YOU WILL BRING ME DOWN!”       “Stop playing these games!” Terrence hisses through his teeth. “Let our friends go and give up on the police!”       “NEVER!”       “A predator will catch its victim if it’s pressed to the wall,” Edward notices. “It might resist as much as it wants, but it has no chance in this case.”       “WE DIDN’T LOSE!” Julian roars and threatens Terrence and Edward with the pistol by one. “WE DID NOT!”       “Stop it, Julian, please!” Anna begs loudly with tears and despair in her eyes and sniffs quietly. “Don’t do this!”       “You, women, can cry and beg for mercy as much as you want,” Norman replies rudely. “But we will get what we want. Even these policemen will not stop us!”       “Please, change your mind!” Lilian begs with pity in her eyes.       “If you want to kill me so much, do it,” Daniel says confidently. “But don’t dare to hurt my friends and the members of the Seymours.”       “Even if you generously decide to sacrifice yourself, it will not save them,” Norman replies.       “I tell you to let my friend go.” Daniel tries to get out of Julian’s grip sharply, looking at Norman, who is still holding Peter and threatening him with the knife. “Let him go right now!”       “Don’t move, motherfucker!” Julian pulls Daniel sharply down and puts the pistol tightly to his temple. “And close your dirty mouth!”       “You did want him to die,” Norman recalls with a sly smile and puts the knife much tighter to the throat of Peter, who swallows up nervously at this moment. “So, I can make your wish come true.”       “Do not dare to hurt him! DO NOT DARE!”       “SHUT THE FUCK UP, BASTARD!” Julian slaps Daniel strongly in the face and puts the pistol to his temple again. “SHUT UP!”       “Stop it, Julian!” Anna begs loudly, with despair.       Meanwhile, Sammy keeps barking loudly, as if he demands to let Peter and Daniel go.       “FUCK, HOW LONG WILL YOU BARK?” Norman shouts loudly and sharply points the knife at Sammy. “CLOSE YOUR MOUTH, PIECE OF SHIT! OR I WILL KILL YOU!”       Sammy starts barking and growling at Norman with greater aggression, being determined to save at least Peter, who keeps calm and does not try to resist even under the threat of dying.       “Bark or whine, you can do nothing, too,” Julian says confidently. “But if you are lucky to survive, you will die from the grief over your owner someday.”       “Hear, blond, calm this barking scumbag down now!” Norman demands rudely, pulling Peter strongly by the hair. “TELL THIS BASTARD TO SHUT UP!”       “Give him a command!” Anna tells Peter with pity in her eyes and blinks at him as if she wants to say something to him.       “Alright,” Peter pronounces with a sly smile in a low voice. “I will do it.”       “SHUT YOUR ASSHOLE NOW!” Julian demands rudely and puts the pistol to Daniel’s temple tighter. “OR I WILL KILL YOUR PAL!”       “Samuel…” Peter pronounces with his head proudly raised, looking at Sammy confidently, while the dog is growling quietly, and glances at Daniel, Terrence, and Edward, who nod at him confidently. “Bite!”       Barking loudly, Sammy immediately runs to Norman, who points the knife at him sharply, and grabs his hand with the gun. The man lets Peter go, starts to scream loudly from a strong pain, and tries to fight off the dog, whose teeth hold his hand tightly.       “A-A-A-A-A, FUCK!” Norman screams at the top of his lungs, strongly shaking the hand Sammy tightly grabbed. “LET ME GO!”       “WHAT DID YOU THE FUCK DO, FREAK?” Julian gets furious. “YOU WERE TOLD TO CALM THE DOG DOWN, NOT MAKE HIM ATTACK MY FATHER!”       “You are next, Potter,” Peter says in a low voice, keeping his head proudly raised and clenching his hands into hard fists, as he watches Sammy shake Norman's hand from one side to another with pleasure.       “STOP HIM NOW!”       “Keep dreaming.”       “Alright, bastard, you are dead!”       Julian points the pistol sharply at Peter, whom he wants to shoot down. But at this moment, Daniel hits Potter in the chest with his elbow, gets out of his grip, slaps his enemy strongly in the face, and doubles him over easily enough. While Rose twists Norman’s free arm behind his back and presses his face tightly to the floor, while Sammy is still holding the hand of the opponent tightly with a growl full of enjoyment. Terrence and Edward do not stand aside and rush to help their friends. MacClife, Sr., takes the pistol from Julian, and MacClife, Jr., gets the knife from Norman. The policemen use the moment and try to place handcuffs on the Potters, while Maximilian, Anna, and Lillian, standing aside, watch what’s happening with horror in their widely open eyes, and do not let each other go of the tight hug.       “They’ll never give up…” Anna pronounces in a shaking voice. “It will never end…”       “No, no, daughter, it’s gonna be okay,” Maximilian protests confidently. “It’s gonna be over soon. The police will be here until they get these stinkers arrested.”       “Gosh, poor guys. I don’t know how they’ll deal with them.”       “But they’re holding on so far,” Lilian notices. “The Potters paid attention to Daniel and his friends. And until these guys are here, they will not hurt us.”       “No, Mom, I don’t want it!” Anna shakes her head with tears in her eyes. “I don’t want to see Daniel suffering… See Peter, Edward, and Terrence suffering… And Sammy… I don’t want it…”       “It’s gonna be fine, sunshine, fear nothing,” Maximilian calms down softly, caressing Anna’s shoulder. “The men will protect us. As well as the police.”       “It’s so hurtful to watch the Potters threaten them. But I feel a much stronger pain because I can’t help them. I’m madly scared… Scared when the Potters threaten you, Dad, or me. When they threaten the men…”       “It’s gonna be okay, daughter,” Lilian smiles shyly. “Your mom and dad will not let anyone hurt you.”       “I won’t bear it all…” Anna shakes her head and sniffs quietly. “I will not… I have no strength…”       “The important thing to us is that they do nothing to you,” Lillian adds. “Protecting you is our main goal.”       “Oh, God, I wish everything ended soon…” Anna, crying quietly, nuzzles her nose in the shoulder of Lillian, who presses her tightly to herself.       “Quiet, baby, quiet,” Lilian caresses Anna’s head softly, while Maximilian watches both of them with pity in his eyes. “We’re here.”       “It will be over soon, firefly,” Maximilian promises softly, caressing Anna’s cheek. “Once and forever.”       It seems like the policemen may finally arrest Norman and Julian because they are being pressed to the floor by Peter, Edward, Daniel, and Terrence. But when someone tries to place handcuffs on them, Julian rolls sharply, hits Daniel strongly on his underbelly with a leg, slaps Terrence in the face, and pushes him rudely aside so that the man hits his head against the sofa when falling. After striking some policemen down, Potter gets up, while Norman hits Edward’s face against the floor without regret, pushes Peter onto the coffee table, against the corner of which he hits his temple strongly, and gets up with the help of his son.       “YOU WILL NEVER CATCH US, SCUMBAGS!” Julian screams at the top of his lungs.       “NOTHING WILL STOP US!” Norman bellows. “NEITHER THIS FUCKING GANG OF IDIOTS, THE POLICE, NOR YOUR DOG! THAT ALMOST BITE MY HAND!”       “It will be worse for you if you don’t give up at your wish,” Maximilian says confidently.       “You don’t have a choice,” Lilian replies quietly.       “THERE IS ALWAYS A CHOICE!” Julian screams. “EVEN WHEN ENEMIES SURROUNDED YOU!”       Not thinking a lot, Norman and Julian try to grab the knife and pistol that Peter and Edward let go of after being struck down. But after guessing their plan immediately, MacClife, Jr., rolls aside sharply, grabs the knife, and points it determinedly at the Potters, standing on his feet with a little heavy breath and not reacting when the others try to tell him about a blood flow under his nose.       “Get back!” Edward shouts frightfully. “If you take a step, I SHALL STAB YOU TO THE FUCK!”       While Anna, Maximilian, and Lillian watch what’s happening with horror in their eyes, Julian and Norman look at each other and start to thrill with a loud, contemptuous laugh, as if they are mocking Edward, who looks not less serious than he did when he was super determined to defeat Eugene Wainwright once and forever.