Chapter Four: Worthless
The hall was silent.
Not the peaceful kind of silence, but the heavy, suffocating kind that pressed down on everything within it. The grand room, filled with polished wood and expensive ornaments, stood in stark contrast to the events that had taken place just hours before.
At the center of it all sat Frank.
Leaning back in his chair, one leg crossed over the other, his expression calm, almost indifferent. His fingers tapped lightly against the armrest as he looked down at the figure kneeling before him.
Damion with his head lowered and back straight.
Waiting.
"Why did you kill him?"
Frank's voice was steady, devoid of anger, devoid of emotion. It wasn't the question of a grieving man. It wasn't even the question of someone seeking justice.
It was just a matter of inconvenience.
Damion didn't respond immediately. A faint smile lingered at the corner of his lips before he lifted his head slightly.
"Because he disrespected me," he said. "And attacked me."
The room remained quiet.
Frank's eyes rested on his son, studying him for a brief moment before he sighed softly, as though mildly disappointed.
"You should have broken his leg," he said.
Damion's smile didn't fade.
"It didn't cross my mind," he replied smoothly. "I'm sorry, father."
Frank leaned forward slightly, resting his elbow on his knee as he looked at him more directly.
"Slaves are not yours to kill as you please," he said calmly. "They are property. If they die, they must be replaced. Replacement costs money."
He was not worried about Li Shen's life,
It was not morality it was just the cost.
Damion nodded obediently.
"I understand."
A brief pause followed.
Then Frank waved his hand dismissively.
"Leave," he said. "And tell the guards to dispose of the body. Take it far from the city. We don't need disease spreading."
His gaze shifted slightly, as if remembering something insignificant.
"And have the nurse tend to the girl."
Beth.
"She's more useful alive than dead."
Damion stood.
"Yes, father."
There was no hesitation in his tone, no guilt, no remorse.
He turned and walked out of the hall as if nothing had happened.
As if a life hadn't just been taken.
As if it had never mattered.
Outside, the night air was cold, carrying with it the distant sounds of the city. Damion walked with steady steps, his expression unchanged as he approached the guards stationed nearby.
"Take the body," he said simply. "Dump it in the forest. Far from here."
The guards exchanged brief glances but said nothing.
Orders were orders.
Moments later, Li Shen's lifeless body was dragged out, thrown carelessly onto a wooden carriage. His limbs hung loosely, blood dried across his clothes, his face pale and still.
No one looked twice, no one cared.
The carriage moved.
Wheels creaking softly as it rolled through the darkened paths, away from the mansion, away from the city, away from everything Li Shen had ever known.
Time passed.
One hour.
Then two.
The city lights faded behind them, replaced by dense trees and the sounds of the wild. The forest loomed ahead, dark and endless, its shadows swallowing the path as the carriage came to a stop.
"This is far enough," one of the guards muttered.
They didn't get down carefully.
Didn't show respect.
They simply grabbed the body and tossed it aside.
Li Shen's body hit the ground with a dull thud, rolling slightly before coming to a stop among the fallen leaves and dirt.
"Done," another guard said.
No burial, no marker, nothing.
Just a body left behind as food for the beasts.
They returned to the carriage and left without another word, their presence fading into the distance as the forest reclaimed its silence.
The wind blew softly through the trees.
Leaves rustled.
Somewhere in the distance low growls echoed.
Back at the mansion, the atmosphere was no less heavy, though it was masked by forced order and routine.
Beth sat on the edge of a bed, her body wrapped in thin cloth as two nurses worked around her. Their hands moved carefully, tending to her wounds, cleaning the blood, applying medicine.
"Stay still," one of them said gently.
Beth didn't respond.
Her eyes were empty, distant and unfocused.
They spoke to her, tried to comfort her, but their words barely reached her ears. Everything felt muffled, like she was underwater, like the world had been separated from her by an invisible barrier.
"He's gone…" she whispered suddenly.
The nurses paused briefly.
"…Rest," one of them said softly. "You need to recover."
The word meant nothing.
After they finished, they helped her lie down before stepping away.
"Try to sleep," they added before leaving the room.
The door closed quietly behind them.
And then silence followed
Real silence.
The kind that pressed in from all sides.
Beth sat there for a long moment, unmoving.
Then, slowly her body began to shake.
At first, it was subtle barely noticeable.
Then it grew.
Her hands trembled, her breathing became uneven.
And suddenly
It broke.
"Li Shen…"
Her voice cracked as the first tear fell.
Then another.
And another.
"Li Shen…"
She clutched the thin cloth around her tightly, her entire body trembling as the emotions she had been holding back came crashing down all at once.
"Why…"
Her voice rose, filled with pain, confusion, and something deeper.
Something has shattered inside.
"Why did you leave me…?"
Tears streamed down her face as she curled into herself, her shoulders shaking violently.
"You said… you said you would protect me…"
Her voice broke completely.
"You promised…"
The room echoed with her sobs, raw and unfiltered, carrying the weight of everything she had lost in a single night.
Her fingers dug into the fabric beneath her as if trying to hold onto something that was no longer there.
"Didn't you say… you'd always be with me…?"
Her voice dropped to a whisper, barely audible, filled with a quiet desperation that made the silence around her feel even heavier.
"I was waiting…"
She buried her face into her arms, her cries muffled but no less painful.
"I was waiting for you…"
But you never came.
And now, you never would.
The night stretched on endlessly, the darkness wrapping around the mansion, around the forest, around everything.
In one place a girl cried for someone she had lost.
In another, a body lay abandoned, left to be forgotten.