Chapter 45

Santiago's father mumbled in a trembling voice as if dumbfounded. "So," Greyson continued.

"I took the punishment instead of Santiago. Since you opened the basement door yourself, it's all over, right? You opened the door because the punishment was complete. To take the child out. It's done now, everything's over, happy ending!"

Greyson seemed genuinely happy, but no one was sympathizing with him.

"You son of a bitch, stop talking nonsense and tell me where my son is!"

Santiago's enraged father shouted. Fortunately, he was so focused on Greyson that he didn't notice anything else. Not missing that opportunity, Dane approached the man one step at a time. Unaware of this stealthy movement, the man shouted while waving his gun.

"Tell me, where did you hide my son! If you don't speak, I'll blow your head off!"

It was a critical moment. If there was even a slight mistake, the bullet would be fired, and everything might end.

It's okay. Dane was confident. He had trained for situations like this thousands of times and had experienced them several times in reality. With a civilian as the opponent, it was no different from dealing with a child. As long as he was careful about that gun, the only thing to be careful about was that gun...

That's when Greyson made eye contact with Dane. Dane quickly brought his second finger to his lips.

You shut up.

It was the universal language for "be quiet," but unfortunately, it didn't get through.

"Wait, you shouldn't come now."

Greyson said out of nowhere. Dane's face crumpling miserably and Santiago's father turning his body and pulling the trigger happened almost simultaneously.

* * *

"You bastard!"

Dane shouted as he threw a punch. With a full swing that showed no mercy, Greyson staggered greatly. If the tree behind him hadn't supported him, he might have rolled on the ground ungracefully. Toward him, who was wiping the blood flowing from his split lip with the back of his hand, Dane continued to shout mercilessly.

"What the hell were you doing there? I took the child out, why did you keep staying there?"

That wasn't all. Dane had almost died, because of this damn bastard. Why did he have to make himself known there? Even a three-year-old would have better sense than that. If Santiago's father hadn't accidentally swung the gun barrel widely as he hurriedly turned his body, Dane would surely have been struggling to choose a coffin that fit his tall frame by now.

"You crazy bastard, if you don't give me an explanation I can accept, you'll die today! Do you understand? Huh?"

Dane shouted wildly, his anger rising to the top of his head. Without an acceptable explanation, he couldn't let this go. Of course, even if the explanation was acceptable, he still planned to half-kill him.

To Dane, who was roaring like a wild beast, Greyson opened his mouth.

"I was just helping Santiago, why are you angry?"

He looked down at Dane with a frown. For a moment, the fist that was about to fly toward his face hesitated in mid-air.

...What? This bastard.

Dane blinked in confusion. This insane statement was absurd enough, but the problem was that Greyson's expression was too serious right now. It wasn't a misplaced joke or an absurd excuse he had made up. Greyson Miller was serious. He truly believed he had helped the child. He even looked wronged. Ha, a dumbfounded sigh escaped from Dane's lips.

"You're actually saying that? You must be crazy."

Dane ground out through his teeth, but what came back was still just Greyson with a frowning face. This time, as he tilted his head in the opposite direction, Dane ground his teeth and lashed out.

"Why were you there in the first place? Didn't you hear why that child was in the basement? Are you going to say you thought they were playing hide and seek there?"

The story that this man had been imprisoned due to unavoidable circumstances was nonsensical gibberish. It was clear that he had stayed there voluntarily, and if so, there was only one thing to hear here.

What the hell were you doing there with an abused child?

To the sneering, demanding question, Greyson blinked and shook his head.

"Of course not. Santiago said he was being punished for doing something wrong."

"And you just left him there? Even going inside yourself?"

Dane groaned through clenched teeth. Greyson watched with puzzlement as his blue eyes darkened with anger. There was no need to listen anymore. Now it's time to beat him to a pulp, Dane thought as he clenched his fist.

"He couldn't come out because he was being punished. So I stayed with him?"

The fist that was about to swing stopped abruptly in mid-air. Dane remained motionless, staring at Greyson as he opened his mouth.

"...What?"

To the question that came after a pause, Greyson answered nonchalantly.

"I stayed with him so he wouldn't be lonely. That's fine, right? What's the problem?"

He seemed genuinely unable to understand. Dane slowly lowered his hand and said with an incredulous expression.

"Couldn't you have just taken the child out from the beginning and ended it? Why did you have to go in there?"

Dane glared at him intensely, waiting to hear what nonsense he would spout next. Greyson answered again with a smile, as if it couldn't be helped.

"If he came out on his own, he'd get in more trouble, right? It wasn't time yet."

"...What?"

Again, Dane had the same reaction. Greyson added a supplementary explanation as if it was nothing.

"Time, I mean. When you're being punished, there's a set time. Rather than coming out arbitrarily without matching that time and getting in more trouble, it's better to just quietly fill the time. Then the punishment ends after the initially set time."

After saying that much, Greyson looked down at Dane with a face full of smiles. It was the smiling face he always showed, but Dane stared at him with a confused expression, as if he had been hit somewhere.

No way, it can't be. Dane repeated to himself. I must be imagining something absurd. Such a thing couldn't really happen, this guy is a Miller. Never, absolutely...

"Did Ashley Miller abuse you?"

Dane abruptly asked him. Dane himself was startled by the words that came out before his thoughts, his mouth opening regardless of his will. What did I just say? How could I say such nonsense...

Looking down at Dane, who was flustered and had closed his mouth, Greyson blinked his eyes without moving, his smiling face unchanged.

"Abuse? Me? Being abused?"

He stared at Dane as if he genuinely didn't understand. Dane looked at Greyson for a while without saying anything, with a face he had never shown before. There was no trace of embarrassment or feigning ignorance on Greyson's face. He truly thought that way. That he had merely been punished, and it wasn't abuse.

With such an innocent face.

After a silence between them, Dane slowly opened the fist he had tightly clenched to hit him. He still couldn't think of what to say. With a face as frozen as his mind, he looked at Greyson. It was only after a few more seconds of emptiness that he spoke.

"Then, at that time, did you wish someone had been there for you?"