INFINITE MONEY - I Will Buy Everything

"No… no, I wasn\'t. What I just said was a figure of speech. Don\'t dwell on it too much," Adam replied, his tone growing more serious as he asked, "Are you sure you don\'t want to surrender to me?"

"No, I can\'t."

"It could have been so much easier for both of us if you had just surrendered, you know," Adam said.

Carl began to sense that Adam wasn\'t deceiving him, and indeed, he felt a strong urge to just give in. It seemed like a far better option—one that would spare everyone from getting hurt. Right now, all he wanted was for this ordeal to end, to be granted a second chance. If surrendering meant there was even a sliver of possibility for that, it might be worth considering.

"So… if I surrender now, will he forgive us?" Carl asked, his voice teetering between doubt and a desperate hope.

"No," Adam answered bluntly, causing Carl\'s expression to darken.

"But it could be better for you. Who knows? The boss might even let you go after putting you through a bit of torture."

Carl wanted to laugh off his words, to dismiss them as ridiculous, but he was exhausted—both physically and emotionally. "If that\'s what he wants, then—" He was about to continue, but another voice suddenly cut through the tension.

"STOP!"

Both Carl and Adam turned toward the new voice and saw the real culprit stepping out of the car, advancing toward Carl. She called out, "Don\'t listen to anything he says, Carl. He\'s just lying to make it easier for him. There\'s no way your boss would ever forgive you."

Carl tried to reassure her, "Maybe he would, Carly. You haven\'t seen my boss… He\'s… The kid is a good person. He wouldn\'t kill someone so easily or be so ruthless… He has decency in him."

Adam, hearing this, wanted to laugh at Carl\'s naivety and tell him just how misguided he was. Not that Carl\'s words were entirely untrue, but the fury consuming William at this moment was so overwhelming that it eclipsed any sense of reason.

Adam could see it plainly: the kid was so enraged that nothing Carl said would change his mind—if anything, it would only make him angrier.

"Maybe there\'s a chance for us… not now, or even in a few years, but maybe somewhere down the line. And not only would that save me, but it would also save you from this predicament."

Hearing this last part, Adam wanted to interject, but someone else was quicker. Carly stopped him, raising her voice, "Are you really sure about that, Carl? Are you absolutely certain that he would let you live… let me live… and then allow us to be together after a few years? Because if that were true, then…"

Carly turned to Adam and said, "You should take me, not him… I\'m the one who\'s the real problem. He shouldn\'t have to bear the blame for this alone. If you\'re going to do something to someone, it should be me."

Adam was about to respond, but this time Carl interrupted, "NO, CARLY! I can\'t let you go. I can\'t let you endure any more pain. You\'ve already suffered so much; I can\'t stand to see you hurt again. I love you too much to let you do this."

"If everything comes crashing down, then I\'ll just have to fight for both of us and win… so don\'t do that." Carl said as Carly looked at him with eyes filled with love, though they also held a deep well of pain. In that moment, they forgot about everything else and were about to kiss.

But Adam stopped them.

"YAWN," Adam exaggerated his yawn, which snapped them out of their moment, drawing their attention back to him. He then put on a slightly dramatic expression, covering his mouth as if stifling the yawn, his eyes watering from the feigned boredom.

"Are you two finished? Because I think the drama club is looking for their backup actors," Adam said, then seemed to recall something as he added sarcastically, "Oh yeah, I remember you telling me you were once part of a drama club, right, Carl?"

"And an actor too," Carl added.

Adam waved his hand dismissively, "Yeah, same difference. But seriously, what\'s with all this melodrama, Carl? Do you think this is some play where you can just act out your feelings, and then the audience will forgive you for your worst offenses?"

"No, it isn\'t. And seriously Carl, Really?" Adam said, pointing at Carly. "Of all the women you could have betrayed the kid for… it had to be a two dollar whore from the streets?"

"You could have chosen from so many other women—ones who were much more beautiful and actually had some common sense. I know you don\'t have the looks I do, but at the very least, you could have picked a better bitch—at least someone with a little more to offer in that department," Adam said, his eyes lingering on Carly\'s chest, which barely filled a B cup.

Carly, having been called out in such crude terms, didn\'t let it get to her. She had lived a life far different from most and had heard much worse than what Adam had just said. Carl, on the other hand, was incensed by the insult to her character. He snapped at Adam, "Don\'t you fucking talk about her like that. She is beautiful and amazing.

If you knew even a little about her, you\'d understand how special she is and just how much she\'s truly worth."

"You want to lecture me about her worth?" Adam shot back. "Do you even know how many men she\'s slept with?"

Carl was disturbed but quickly retorted, "I don\'t, but—" He wasn\'t allowed to finish as Adam interrupted, "Do you know that she\'s even slept with… what\'s his name again… yes, Him. Hin He, I think."

Carl was stunned when he heard this and turned to Carly for confirmation. He got it as Carly looked away in shame. He wanted to scream at her, to curse her, but now was not the time. "So she did. It was something she had to do."

"Something she had to do almost every time they met?" Adam asked, and Carl was once again stunned, left at a loss for words.

He took a deep breath, trying to push down the anger that was boiling up inside him. "Yes, I get what you\'re saying… she\'s a whore… a bitch… someone whose worth isn\'t even a dollar."

Carly looked down in shame, while Adam smiled, thinking he was finally getting through to Carl. But both were wrong as Carl suddenly shouted, "AND I DON\'T FUCKING CARE!"

"So what if she\'s like that? What if she\'s slept with a hundred guys, or even more? What does any of that matter? When you love someone, you love them for everything they are, for everything they\'ve done, not for—"

Carl was cut off by a brutal kick to the face. He was sent flying into the car, hit it, and then tumbled across the street before coming to a halt.

"CARL!!!!!" Carly screamed as she rushed over to check on him, finding that he was only unconscious.

"Finally, that guy shuts up. I couldn\'t take another minute of his self-righteous rant. If only he could hear himself spouting such cringe-worthy nonsense," Adam muttered as he retrieved a sword from the car.

"So, are you coming with me willingly, or are you al—" He paused, noticing Carly was already running away. With a sigh, he quickly caught up to her, knocking her out with a swift chop to the neck. Carly collapsed to the ground like a lifeless doll.

"To think, you really betrayed us for this bitch."