Chapter 120

Frank added, "I couldn't understand when you said you didn't want to be a screenwriter and wanted to find a regular job. Your talent shouldn't be wasted at the Forestry Bureau. You are an excellent spiritual leader, but being a spiritual leader and a leader are different. You are not suited to be a leader, even Nancy is more suitable than you. So, I can't understand what your purpose is. To get a salary? To work? To just get by?"

Frank had been in business for many years and had seen all kinds of people. He was confident in his ability to judge people and had a masterful grasp of human nature. He could even tell a person's character from an unintentional small gesture.

But he couldn't understand Alan and why he did that.

Carrying so much hatred and repression, he should be like a spring compressed to the extreme, bursting out with earth-shattering power, not living the life of a minor character.

Fate didn't give him the chance to be ordinary. He couldn't just lie there motionless, wasting his life like a useless person.

Frank continued, "I thought you would become a great screenwriter, a famous writer, with your name known throughout Silverlight City and even nationwide. You would be the prodigy of this era, a brilliant star in the history of literature. You always remember the past shame and disgrace!"

Frank became more and more excited, clenching his fist tightly. His jaw clenched and his face contorted as he said, "Then, you would take back everything that fate took from you! Every single thing, with interest!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Frank started coughing violently. Perhaps it was due to his excessive emotions, his pale face flushed with some color, but it was not a sign of health. On the contrary, it seemed he was really nearing the end of his life.

He had started coughing up blood.

Alan's face was full of sorrow and pity as he watched his old friend suffer, his heart aching.

Alan asked, "Stopped the medication?"

Frank coughed and nodded shakily, and it took him a while to catch his breath and speak smoothly again.

Alan said, "Frank... stop it, there's still a chance to turn back. The murder case at the Entertainment Club, there's still a chance for everything."

Frank retorted, "What are you talking about? Surrender? Who? Me? Why should I surrender?"

Frank said incredulously, pointing at Alan and then at his chest, his eyes wide open.

Frank shouted, "You, me, Tom, Joseph, Lally, Laura, Bob, Duke, and Mike who was killed a few days ago, what did we do wrong? Why were we born without parents, why did we live in the old steel mill being sold like goods? We are human beings!"

"Did those people ever give us a chance? When we begged, when we cried, when Tom had an eye gouged out and screamed, when Bob was tied up like a dog for drug testing, when Lally was gang-raped by a group of men, when Duke was lured into drug addiction, did they ever show any mercy?"

"Mercy... forget it... Alan, you've read too many books and become foolish. Even being a good person has its limits. Open your eyes and look, this is a world where the strong prey on the weak. Your so-called love and peace, your so-called mercy, will only get you eaten! Haven't you learned enough from your experiences?"

"Why should we let them go? Forgiving them is God's business, I'm responsible for sending them to meet God!"

Frank looked at Alan incredulously as if he was meeting him for the first time today. How could words like forgiveness and forgetfulness come out of his mouth? He wanted to stand up and grab Alan by the collar and beat him up, just like when they were young.

But he couldn't get up. He was a cripple, a dying man. But he knew that the flames of hatred would consume all evil. He didn't care whether it would backfire on him.

Alan said calmly, "They're already dead, we've seen their heads."

Frank replied, "They're dead, but what about Ronald and the people behind him? Do you think the old steel mill was blatantly operating in the suburbs without anyone noticing? That area was under Ronald's jurisdiction when he was a cop. Ronald had long been in cahoots with these people. What help? Someone thought that the old steel mill was no longer important, so Ronald killed those people."

Frank added, "How did George die? Laura was only seven or eight years old back then, just trying to survive. What did she do wrong? Why do these people only know shallow revenge and not look at the real evil in this world!"

Frank waved his fists, baring his teeth in the wheelchair like an old wolf about to die.

Alan said, "Hatred can blind you, and so can love. Frank, when Laura and Douglas cooperated with Ronald to frame Mr. Thompson, didn't you know?"

Alan slowly closed his eyes and continued, "You knew that you always liked sticking to Laura since you were young. When talking to us, you couldn't go three sentences without mentioning Laura. You haven't given up that naive love for over twenty years."

"Back then, to frame Mr. Thompson, Douglas went first, then Laura. It was Ronald's test for them. Laura won and lured Mr. Thompson over, didn't she?"

"Laura hid the fact that she framed Mr. Thompson from everyone. Everyone thought it was Douglas, and you naturally believed your plan could continue. Douglas was killed in the fire, and you had arranged witnesses and prepared all the testimonies. Everyone's alibis were confirmed, leaving no loopholes. But you didn't expect Tony, Mrs. Thompson, Tom, and Lally to change their minds and report Laura."

Frank trembled with anger, his face gradually becoming contorted, gritting his teeth. "It's all because of you! You told them about Laura!"

"Frank..."Alan was about to say something but was interrupted by Frank.

Frank shouted, "Shut up! What do you know? How much suffering Laura endured, how much pain she went through. Do you think she wanted to become what she is today?"

Frank pointed at Alan, his lips trembling, his face twitching, and shouted with a sobbing voice.

"We were more miserable in Shadow City than in the old steel mill! You ran away, free and easy, and now you come here pretending to be a good person! Ronald didn't save us, he trained us to become what he wanted. Tom and I desperately learned to make money, and Laura learned to dance and perform, not as a hobby, not as a talent, but to serve those people. Do you know that? Joseph's estrogen medication never stopped until it ruined his body! What do you know? Looking at you makes me want to puke! Pretending to be a righteous person!"