"Did you already learn your lesson?" One of the bodyguards asked as he grabbed August's hair and made him look up at the three men standing in front of him.
One was crossing his arms while biting his lower lip, the other one was puffing on his cigarette, and the other one was squatting in front of him as he snapped out of his thoughts when he received another punch from that person.
After Bruce told them that they could do anything about him, a strong punch in the gut was enough for him to scream in pain. Being unable to move as he felt his body was paralyzed, the bodyguards carried him to the parking lot.
The other people didn't care about what they would do to him, even though it would be something horrible.
There, the bored bodyguards made him like a punching bag as he needed to take all the punches and kicks they gave him. August even heard how those men chuckled and laughed in ecstasy as they watched him cough blood while breathing rapidly.
However, instead of letting fear creep onto his body, August showed a merciless smile as he spat his saliva onto the man's face. He suddenly grimaced as he held onto his cheek, slightly disgusted because of what August did.
"Lesson?" said August, smirking. "Damn you."
'There's no way I would be inferior to the people who made me horrible and hurt me when all I did was to love my girl…' August even added at the back of his mind but stopped when he realized something. 'She wasn't my girl anymore.'
Although he felt terrible and he wanted to be freed from these guys' prepossession, his mind says that surrendering will not be the right thing to do. If he showed them a little fear, it would mean for him that he was at fault, even though it wasn't the case.
"Ah, you wanted to be beaten hard, huh?" The man holding his hair snapped his neck and clicked his tongue.
Without a second, August screamed in pain as he felt another punch in his face, followed by a strong kick to his knee.
He couldn't define the pain he felt when he realized that his joint was slightly broken because of that, and all he could do was to let the tears and screams get out of his body as the three men laughed in unison.
He felt weak, but it was because he was powerless. At first, he never dreamed of having a rich life, or a power that can bring authority to everyone.
Thinking that Samantha loved her despite what he could give, his only dream was to have enough money to marry her and give her what she wanted.
This is the time he thought that was so stupid. The three men took their turns hitting him, yet his mind was roaming somewhere else. He couldn't help but laugh hard as he felt the pain in his whole body, especially in his knee.
'This is why they call me a pathetic commoner.' He laughed louder when he realized how stupid he become because of love.
He did it all for love.
He sacrificed his social connections, his money, and his whole being to gain Samantha's approval. It wasn't love in the first place— but manipulation. Samantha wanted to take him as her possession by making him crave her love even more.
"This freak— How dare you laugh despite the punches we're giving you, huh?" The other man, feeling annoyed, gave him a slap yet it wasn't enough for him to stop laughing.
August felt bad for himself. Being pathetic was all that came into his mind.
"Do you still want more—"
"Stop. Boss told us not to kill him. You'll kill him at this point," the other bodyguard said as he stopped his colleague by pulling him away from August.
"You're lucky that we can't lay a finger on you after this," he heard someone say but his vision went blurry.
He can also taste the blood coming from his mouth and nose. Breathing has never been this hard for him as well.
"Never disrespect our boss and his fiance like that again, or else…"
The guard placed his thumb finger on his neck and moved it in a gentle yet intimidating way.
'You're dead.' August knew that it was the message those men wanted to convey before they walked away and left him alone.
"Fuck…" was all that he could say when he realized he couldn't go home at this point.
He was an orphan, and he doesn't have any friends who can help him. He tried calling Samantha but he knows what to expect already. After two rings, the line disconnected and it was out of reach.
With sadness and disappointment consuming his body, he felt unconscious.
When August opened his eyes, his brows furrowed when he noticed that he was in a different place already. His eyes explored the whole place and he wasn't dumb enough to know that he was in a hospital, given that the whole place was white. He looked at his body and noticed he didn't look pathetic anymore— at least, not for now.
August tried to move but groaned louder as the pain in his knee felt like shit. His ragged breathing and sweat falling from his forehead were enough to know that those men gave him a good beating.
It looked like his knee and other wounds were given proper medication, and when that thought hit him, he cursed at the top of his breath thinking that he doesn't have enough money to pay the hospital bills.
"Shit," August muttered. "Do I need to pay using my body instead?"
He looked at his body and shook his head immediately. That won't do. Even if he tries to seduce an ant, it won't even fall for him. He can't even fulfill a woman's needs.
"You're awake." August snapped out of his thoughts as a female nurse went inside the room. "How are you feeling?"
"How did I get here?" Instead of answering her, August bombarded her with another question, causing the nurse to smile a little bit as she stopped walking in front of him.
"Someone brought you here, but he wanted to be anonymous," said the female nurse as she prepared the injection which contained a painkiller for her patient's knee.
"Your bills are paid," the nurse added as she already injected the medicine on August's dextrose. "All you need to do is to let us examine you, rest until you get healed, drink the medicines, and you can go home."
It would be enough to heal his body in a short amount of time and in a painless way. The medicine she gave her was one-of-a-kind, and it wasn't even available in the market yet the effect was already proven and tested.
"Are you sure that there's no hidden motive behind this?" August asked before raising his brow.
He wasn't convinced that someone would help him without any conditions, especially because he was someone no one would try to befriend with. He can't give anything in return either.
The woman didn't answer as she removed the injection from the dextrose. She fixed the things she had brought earlier and stopped for a while when he noticed that August was staring at her in confusion. She smiled subtly but she didn't answer him.
"Have you tried to get the real identity of that person?" August asked another question as he was slightly losing his patience. "What hospital am I in right now?"
"Are you doubting the person who helped you?" the nurse asked and frowned. She placed everything on her tray before continuing to speak. "You should be thankful, isn't it?"
Yet August couldn't answer as he felt dizzy. He leaned on the hospital bed and closed his eyes in force. He didn't feel any kind of pain anymore, but being unconscious after the nurse injected him made him feel uncomfortable.
"It was the side effect of the medicine. You'll heal in no time," the nurse said casually. "Rest well."
After a second, August was already snoring.
"It's been a while since we last saw you, young master," was the last thing she had said before leaving the room.