madnovel Chapter 534: Pick Up The Phone
Chapter 534: Pick Up The Phone
A noise from the living room broke the quiet air of the evening, making Camila whip around in concern. She had just finished setting the table, the aroma of the freshly made pasta filling the house, when the sound of something—or someone—hitting the floor reached her ears.
Frowning, she quickly wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and walked toward the living room, her brows furrowed.
"What happened?" She asked, her voice carrying an edge of worry as she stepped inside.
But the sight in front of her made her stop in her tracks.
Bella was slumped on the sofa, her posture completely limp, her phone still loosely clutched in her trembling fingers. Her eyes—normally sharp and filled with expression—were glazed over, as if her mind had completely left the room. Her lips were slightly parted, but no words came out.
And then there was him...Her husband.
He wasn’t in his seat. No, he was on the floor—his knees bent, his body slouched as if the weight of the world had just come crashing down on his shoulders. His fingers gripped Kafka’s phone too tightly, his knuckles white, and his expression—
Camila had seen many expressions on his face before...Arrogance. Pride. Irritation.
But never this.
His eyes were wide, his mouth slightly open, and his face was pale. He looked like he had just seen something that shattered him. Something that defied every ounce of logic he had ever built his beliefs upon.
The room was heavy, so eerily silent, that Camila felt a prickle of unease creep up her spine.
"...What the hell is going on here?" She demanded, her gaze flicking between Bella’s blank stare and her husband’s ghostly complexion.
Her voice cut through the silence, snapping the stillness of the room.
Kafka, however, remained completely unbothered. He stretched slightly, before letting out a lazy sigh.
"Nothing serious." He said casually, too casually, as if this were just a mundane inconvenience. He waved a dismissive hand in the air. "We were just trying to find the TV remote. Got a little tired in the process."
Camila blinked.
"...What?" She said flatly.
"Yep." Kafka tilted his head toward Bella. "Isn’t that right, Bella?"
Bella, who had barely moved, still looked lost in her thoughts. Her mind was still trying to grasp reality. Trying to process the numbers she had just seen. Kafka’s words barely registered, but somehow, she nodded.
Camila eyed her skeptically, while Bella looked shell-shocked.
"...The remote?" She repeated, now eyeing Kafka suspiciously.
Kafka smiled. "Yep." He said casually. "Just a remote."
Camila exhaled sharply, rubbing her forehead. "You all are way too dramatic." She muttered before letting her gaze sweep over the room.
Then, within seconds, she spotted the remote sitting right there on the nearby shelf.
She grabbed it effortlessly, turned, and held it up.
"Seriously? This wasn’t hard to find at all." She said, shaking her head as she walked back toward them.
Kafka grinned, reaching out to take it from her. "Ah." He mused. "What would we do without you?"
"Clearly suffer." Camila deadpanned, rolling her eyes.
Kafka didn’t deny it. Instead, he simply gave her an amused look before gesturing slightly with his hand.
"Come a little closer." He said as he gestured towards her.
"Why?" Camila frowned.
"Just for a second. Come here." Kafka only smiled.
Camila hesitated, glancing at him warily. But eventually, she sighed and leaned in slightly, bending down to his level.
And then, before she could process it, Kafka reached up. His fingers, cool to the touch, grazed the corner of her lips.
She froze, her heart suddenly skipping a beat. She felt his touch—slow, deliberate—as he wiped something from her lips.
And then, she saw him bring his finger to his mouth.
And taste it.
Kafka’s gaze flickered slightly, amusement dancing in his eyes as he deliberately swiped his tongue across his fingertip, tasting the sauce he had just taken from her lips.
"Sweet." He murmured, which made Camila’s face erupt in heat.
Her breath stalled, her mind momentarily short-circuiting as she realised exactly what had just happened.
"Wha—" She sputtered, immediately stepping back, her hand instinctively covering her lips.
Kafka simply leaned back comfortably, watching her with an unreadable look.
Camila’s heart raced in her chest. She whipped her head around, her body tensing in panic, afraid her husband had seen.
But, he wasn’t even looking.
He was still frozen. Still gripping the phone like a lifeline. Still staring at the numbers on the screen as if they had just shattered everything he ever believed in.
Camila exhaled sharply, pressing a hand to her chest, trying to steady her breath.
But as the initial relief settled, irritation flared in its place.
"H-Hello?" He rasped, his throat dry, his stomach churning violently. "Sir, I—why are you calling so late at night?"
For a brief second—
There was silence.
Then—
It erupted.
"WHY THE HELL DO YOU THINK I’M CALLING YOU AT THIS HOUR, YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT?!"
The voice on the other end boomed through the speaker, shaking the walls with its sheer fury.
Bella’s father flinched so violently that he nearly dropped the phone, his skin breaking out into a cold sweat.
"W-What—" He stammered, his voice trembling.
"WHAT?!" His boss screamed even louder, so loud that it felt like the phone itself would explode. "YOU TELL ME, YOU DAMN IDIOT! YOU THINK I’D BE CALLING YOU AT MIDNIGHT FOR A CASUAL CHAT?! YOU THINK I’M JUST BORED?!"
Bella’s father felt his pulse skyrocket, the wrinkles on his face twitching.
"S-Sir, I don’t—"
"YOU DON’T KNOW?! YOU DON’T KNOW?!"
A loud bang sounded on the other end—something had been slammed down violently, maybe a table, maybe a phone—maybe a chair had been kicked across the room in blind rage.
Bella’s father squeezed his eyes shut, his lips quivering. "P-Please, sir, just tell me—"
"TELL YOU?!" His boss roared. "HOW ABOUT YOU TELL ME WHY MY ENTIRE COMPANY IS GOING TO HELL BECAUSE OF YOUR DAMN NAME?!"
His breath stopped.
What?...His name?
His hands turned ice-cold. "I—"
"YOU USELESS WASTE OF SPACE!" His boss spat. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF NIGHTMARE I JUST WOKE UP TO?! I WAS RELAXING IN MY DAMN POOL, DRINKING MY DAMN COCKTAIL, LIVING MY DAMN LIFE—WHEN SUDDENLY, OUT OF NOWHERE, I GOT A CALL FROM MY INVESTORS SAYING THEY’RE ALL PULLING OUT!"
All the investors?...Gone?
His boss wasn’t done.
"ONE AFTER ANOTHER! BAM! BAM! BAM! ONE CALL, THEN ANOTHER, THEN ANOTHER—EACH ONE TELLING ME THEY’RE PULLING THEIR FUNDING, THEIR ASSETS, THEIR EVERYTHING—UNTIL MY ENTIRE COMPANY IS COLLAPSING BEFORE MY EYES!"
His voice was hoarse with fury, but it only grew wilder with every word.
"AND YOU—YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO ASK ME WHAT’S WRONG?!"
Bella’s father was frozen, his face turning pale as death, his throat so dry that no words came out.
He felt terrified. This couldn’t be real. This was a nightmare. But then, his boss’s next words shattered him completely.
"AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE BEST PART IS? DO YOU?!!"
His voice turned ragged, as if he had been screaming for hours.
"THEY ALL TOLD ME THE SAME DAMN REASON!"
Bella’s father stiffened, his breath stopping short.
Kafka’s words from earlier rang in his ears—
"And when the owner realizes their downfall, make sure they know exactly who caused it."
His boss took a ragged breath, his fury boiling over into something purely unhinged.
"THEY SAID IT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Bella’s father felt his soul leave his body. His limbs went numb. His lips parted slightly, but no sound came out...And his boss wasn’t done.
"AND YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT ELSE?! I PANICKED SO MUCH I PEED MY DAMN PANTS!"
Bella blinked, caught off guard by the statement that came out of nowhere
Kafka chuckled softly, thinking that the person on the other end of the phone was rather hilarious.
But the man on the other end of the line was still going ballistic.
"AND EVERY CALL I GOT ONLY MADE IT WORSE! EVERY CLIENT I HAD, EVERY CONNECTION I BUILT—ONE BY ONE, THEY ALL STARTED PULLING BACK! NO EXPLANATION, NO NEGOTIATION—JUST GONE!"
His father felt his head spinning, his stomach twisting into knots so tight it hurt. His breath came out in shallow gasps, his hands shaking as reality crashed into him.
This was real...Kafka had actually done it.
He had single-handedly erased the entire foundation his father had been leeching off for decades...And he had done it like it was nothing.
His eyes slowly, slowly, lifted toward Kafka, who was watching him with a casual, lazy smirk—
Like this was just another evening for him.
Like this was just a game, destroying another man’s life just because of a little disagreement.