Chapter 3
"Touch him and see what happens! I'll fight you all today!"
Like a crazed beast, I broke free from the bodyguards' grip and bit down hard on the head bodyguard's wrist.
The taste of blood instantly filled my mouth.
The bodyguard cried out in pain and backhanded me with a punch, knocking me to the ground. My mouth hit the edge of the coffee table, blood seeping from the corner of my lips.
"What are you waiting for? Lock these two paupers in the backyard. No one opens that door without my permission!"
Marcus shrieked furiously.
The two bodyguards stopped being polite. They dragged and hauled me and my father-in-law to the outdoor pool in the backyard.
With a heavy thud, the thick double glass door was locked tight.
It was December in the capital. Outside, heavy snow was falling, and the temperature was near ten degrees below zero.
My father-in-law was only wearing thin house clothes. Now he was curled into a ball, shaking like a leaf in autumn wind.
"Nathan, my... my chest hurts so much..."
My father-in-law weakly extended his bony hand and gripped my clothes tightly.
His voice was so faint it was barely audible, his breathing growing more rapid.
I hurriedly stripped off my down jacket and wrapped it tightly around my father-in-law.
"Victor, hang on. I'll call an ambulance right away!"
I fumbled with trembling hands for the phone in my pocket. It was empty.
I jerked my head up. Through the transparent glass door, Marcus was smugly waving my phone.
Inside, the heat was set to seventy-nine degrees. He wore designer house clothes stolen from my closet, lounging comfortably on the sofa.
"Want your phone? Beg me."
He pressed the intercom button. His mocking voice rang out over the backyard:
"Nathan, where's that backbone you had when you hit me? Didn't you say Isabelle would kill me when she got back? I'd like to see who freezes to death tonight."
I rushed to the glass door and pounded on the frame:
"Marcus! Please, I'm begging you! Give me the phone! My father-in-law really has heart disease. He'll die!"
I pounded until my hands were red.
Marcus leisurely peeled an imported cherry and popped it in his mouth:
"Heart disease? Pretty convincing act. You old bastards from the sticks are tougher than cockroaches. One night in the cold won't kill you."
My father-in-law's face had turned from dark blue to deathly pale. His eyes were rolling back.
His hand clutching his chest gradually loosened, his body sliding down limply.
"Victor! Victor, wake up!"
I completely broke down. I turned to the intercom and screamed:
"Marcus! The medicine is in the black bag on the living room sofa! Give me the medicine! Whatever you want, I'll agree to it!"
Marcus paused for a moment.
He walked to the sofa, pulled out the black bag, and took out a white medicine bottle.
"Well, well. There really is medicine."
He shook the bottle through the glass, his lips curling into a malicious smile:
"If you want the medicine, it's not impossible. Kneel down now. and shout 'I'm a country bumpkin' three times. Then I'll slide the medicine through the door crack."
I looked at my dying father-in-law. Without any hesitation, I dropped to my knees on the freezing tiles.
My knees hit the hard ice, the pain piercing. But I couldn't care about that.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"I'm a country bumpkin! I'm a country bumpkin! I'm a country bumpkin!"
I shouted at the top of my lungs, my voice especially desolate in the wind and snow.
"Can you give me the medicine now?" I stared hopefully at the medicine bottle in Marcus's hand.
But Marcus suddenly clutched his stomach and burst out laughing. He laughed so hard he was nearly in tears:
"Nathan, you really are an obedient dog. Too bad---I suddenly changed my mind."
Right in front of me, he unscrewed the cap of the medicine bottle.
Under my confused and horrified gaze, he poured the entire bottle of life-saving emergency heart pills into the nearby trash can.
"Oops, my hand slipped." Marcus covered his mouth affectedly. "You country people are tough. You can survive a night in the cold, right?"