Meant to hate.
He had expected that he'd come, but seeing him step out of that car hit him hard. He looked so cold and lifeless. His eyes were dead. Not the same eyes he found comfort staring at before.
In only a couple of days, he had grown so cold and mature. He was only seventeen. What had he done?
Regret crept up on him. His mischievous look was instantly replaced with shame. He lowered his head to the ground and didn't dare to look up.
Chen Kamman also overestimated his ability to hate Dian. Earlier, he was full of rage. All through the car ride, he thought of the most cruel ways he would torture him. He recounted how he would kill Dian with his own hands in his mind until he was satisfied. That was the agenda for tonight.
The moment his eyes landed on him, badly bruised and so bloody that he could not recognize him, his heart wrenched. At that time, he resisted every urge to rush over and hold him in his arms and check on his bruises.
His protectiveness came back without him even noticing it. The kind that he usually had when someone touched Dian or Gwen. He chuckled miserably to himself. He was hopelessly miserable. The man who killed his father, who took from him the only living parent he had, was right in front of him, but he couldn't even stand it when others hurt him.
How could he bring himself to hurt him?
Chen Qishan, his uncle, had noticed this too and had dragged him back away from Dian. He had underestimated their bond. He sighed in disappointment as he got his men to hold him steady. They made him sit and had him sandwiched between them.
Dian could feel eyes boring holes into his body. He couldn't care about the others' attention. There was one particular look that he could feel the most, though. It was like it tore into his skin and burnt him.
What was worse was that Kamman did not say a single thing. He just sat there among all these big men and stared at his sins and shame, completely exposed. Like a courtroom, they judged him with words and stares.
Chen Kamman was not always a man of many words. Most of the time, he let his silence speak for him. When they first met, Dian had a difficult time understanding him. As time went by, he had found comfort in his ability to act like a complete statue. It brought him extreme peace and tranquility. Tonight, he was like the statue he usually was, but a bit different. He had a cold calmness that was truly unsettling. Ironic.
Kamman sat there, mainly due to shock. Things were not going as he had thought them to go. He was having difficulties breathing. His heart was racing, and his entire body was so chill that his teeth rattled. The weather was not cold, but the feeling he had in his chest was worse than ice.
The elders around him got themselves busy questioning Dian. Occasionally, he would hear steel metal fall on skin. They were hitting him with steel rods and sharpened edges of metal. He winced every time they landed a blow. He could not bear it and shut his eyes and ears so tight until they hurt.
Dian tried to make it seem as painless as possible. But how could one feel painless when his skin was being shredded bit by bit? Still, he tried. He had great control of his emotions. He was especially good with pain. He was raised that way. So he held out really well.
In the end, all that tolerance was for nothing.
When they couldn't get anything out of him, they dragged Kamman before him, shoving a gun into his hands, and he could see his entire body visibly shaking.
He felt all his strength and self-control abandon him the moment he looked up and met that good-looking face, staring back at him with shock and terror.
"Avenge your father's murder!" Master Fang yelled.
Chen had hoped they wouldn't drag him into it, that he wouldn't have to face him directly. Turns out he was asking for too much. This confrontation could not be avoided.
The hand holding the gun started to shake so violently that Rei had to hold his hand firmly to stop it. His other hand itched to move closer and brush against Dian's bruised lips. Rei must have noticed it since he pulled him back and held him firmly in place.
"Young master, focus!" He desperately whispered in his ears.
Meanwhile, his head was caught in a heated debate. To move closer and wrap his injured body in his arms, or to put a bullet in his head and avenge his dead father.
In the end, he raised his hands and pointed the rifle at him, pressing it against his forehead.
Everyone looked on with high expectations. This was the most climactic revenge of the century. Two pillars of the Chen empire, usually untouchable together, were standing on opposite sides for the first time.
One was on his knees, seemingly at his last breath, and the other had a gun pointed at him, not wanting to know the outcome at all. The audience was heated.
"Show him the Chen family's power! Avenge our master!" One man from the audience yelled.
"If he walks scot-free after all he's done... nobody will respect us anymore!" Another said.
"Let's see if he takes after his father." Others gossiped amongst themselves, putting bets on somebody else's life.
Kamman was petrified. It was no secret. This event would determine whether he would be the next leader of the Bronze Orchid or if his family would be pushed aside for another to take over. Understandably, his aunts and uncles were putting a lot of pressure on him. He did not care.
He felt that Dian did not care either. He did not give a damn about his family or him.
If he did, he wouldn't have put him in that situation, and the thought of it hurt him terribly.