Chapter 5: The Price of Betrayal

Ivan's footsteps gradually faded away.

I remained seated inside the old guesthouse, staring blankly at the locked door.

Only seventy hours remained.

In the past, I would have panicked at the thought of being locked away. I would have begged Laura, Yuna, or Serena to come and save me.

But now, I felt nothing.

I had already given them everything I could.

My childhood, my time, my health, my inheritance, and even the possibility of returning home had all been sacrificed for them.

And in return, I had become the villain in their eyes.

The system suddenly spoke.

'Refund complete. Ten years of life have been restored to the host.'

I closed my eyes and quietly accepted the notification.

'Additional system points have been restored.'

'Inheritance recovery is now in progress.'

A strange warmth flowed through my body.

For the first time in years, I felt as though a heavy chain had been removed from my soul.

Then I heard the sound of a car outside.

A few seconds later, the door was unlocked.

I opened my eyes and saw Serena standing there.

She looked different from before.

There was no anger in her eyes this time.

Instead, she looked troubled.

"Leon, we need to talk."

I glanced at her and calmly asked, "About what?"

She hesitated.

"About Ivan."

I almost laughed.

"If you came here to accuse me again, you can leave."

"I'm not here to accuse you."

I looked at her in surprise.

Serena lowered her eyes.

"I checked the security footage again."

My expression remained indifferent.

"And?"

"You were telling the truth."

Those four words came far too late.

I stared at her for a few seconds before looking away.

"Congratulations. You finally discovered the truth."

Her fingers tightened around the edge of her sleeve.

"Leon, I..."

"Don't apologize."

She froze.

"Why?"

"Because I don't need your apology anymore."

Pain flashed across her face.

For three years, I had dreamed of hearing Serena admit that she had wronged me.

Now that she finally said it, I realized I no longer cared.

She took a step toward me.

"I know what I did to you was wrong."

"You don't know."

My voice was calm, but every word carried years of exhaustion.

"You don't know how many times I defended you when everyone else doubted you. You don't know how much I sacrificed just to make you happy. And you certainly don't know how many times I begged the system to give me another chance after you chose Ivan."

Serena's face turned pale.

"System? What system?"

I immediately fell silent.

She stared at me with confusion.

I had said too much.

Before she could ask another question, the door suddenly opened again.

Yuna rushed inside.

"Serena! We have a problem."

Serena turned toward her.

"What happened?"

Yuna's breathing was uneven.

"The bank called. Leon's inheritance accounts have been frozen, and the money Serena transferred into our family accounts has disappeared."

Serena's face changed instantly.

I remained completely calm.

The system had started recovering everything.

Yuna suddenly turned toward me.

"Leon, what did you do?"

I smiled faintly.

"Nothing."

"Don't lie!"

"I'm not lying."

I stood up slowly.

"You took what belonged to me. Now it's coming back."

Serena stared at me in disbelief.

"You knew this would happen?"

"Of course."

Her lips trembled.

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

I looked directly into her eyes.

"Because you never asked me. You only listened to Ivan."

Silence filled the room.

Then Ivan's voice suddenly came from outside.

"Serena! Yuna! What's going on?"

The moment he entered, his expression changed when he saw me standing there.

I heard his thoughts immediately.

'No. The inheritance is gone. If Leon gets everything back, I'll lose everything too.'

A cold smile appeared on my lips.

Ivan had finally realized that his perfect life was beginning to collapse.

He looked at Serena and quickly forced tears into his eyes.

"I don't know what Leon has done, but I swear I never wanted any of this."

I almost laughed.

"You should save your tears."

Ivan's face stiffened.

"What do you mean?"

"Because before long, you'll have much bigger problems than my inheritance."

The system suddenly sounded in my mind.

'Warning. Remaining life span: 68 hours.'

I looked at the three people standing before me.

They had spent years taking everything from me.

Now they would have to watch as everything they had taken disappeared.

For the first time, I felt no hatred.

Only relief.

I was finally going home.