Doberman

Chapter 54

Everything was done with Nikolai’s permission. Nikolai liked healthy children. He called for sturdy grandsons, healthy and capable of continuing the lineage, by his side. Sick children, due to congenital diseases, were useless to him.

That’s why Nikolai liked Pavel.

Moderately wicked and healthy, he was a grandson who thought it was natural for those with wealth and fame to indulge in drugs. One of his sons also passed away due to excessive drug use. It was inevitable that anyone under Nikolai would eventually tamper with drugs.

Owen and Kirill were exceptions.

Kirill, who caught Nikolai’s eye late in life, after being sick since childhood, and Owen, who entered Nikolai’s care near adulthood.

When Pavel met Owen, he sensed danger from the same face as his. He felt that one day he would lose the affection he had received from Nikolai.

“Fucking psycho bastard.” His teeth ground.

As the anesthesia wore off, pain flowed through his nerves. Pavel’s face became angry with rage at the thought of living without even a finger.

Owen, who grew up without learning proper language in a dump, without knowing anything, except for the look in his eyes that seemed like he would kill anyone, came to mind.

At the sight, Pavel wrinkled his nose at the stench emanating from his body.

Within a year, Owen grew into a perfect figure, and the gap between him and Pavel began to widen quickly.

He never forgets his damn manners anywhere. He didn’t even seem to try to discard the past when he lived like a dog, wearing clothes, hair, and face as if he were going to die without a single hair sticking out, even if he died.

“Grew up vulgar.”
That was the only thing Pavel could say to gain superiority over Owen.

Even if they were born on the same boat, their starting points were different, born in Russia under his father’s hand and enjoying everything, and the kid who grew up like a beast under a whore’s belly.

It was maddening to see Owen gradually taking everything he had enjoyed as if it were his due, to the point of acting as the king of Eden City in his absence.

It happened with Nikolai’s tacit consent. Nikolai was testing. It was a test of who between Owen and himself was suitable to be king.

Pavel, who naturally liked women and hesitated at nothing for pleasure, ultimately had to taste humiliating defeat.

Knowing that if he made another mistake, there would be no one to stop him, he had stayed away from Eden City for a while, but something interesting happened.

A child born from his mistake. And Owen, keeping the woman who carried that child by his side. It was an interesting situation.

Blood always pays in blood. It’s not just Owen who learned that from Nikolai. Pavel smiled sinisterly. His face illuminated by the night window stretched long.

****

Sarin struggled to rise under the pressure of the scissors. When she opened her eyes against the feeling of being pressed and pushed, she found a strange chest in front of her.

Slowly exhaling and lifting her head slightly, she saw Owen closing his eyes.

She tried to figure out what had happened, but only now did she realize that the man’s black eyelashes were quite long and that his face, as if dead, was very neat.

She glanced down slightly and saw a hand tightly gripping her waist. It must be because of this that she felt pressed against the scissors.

It was the first time for Sarin to lie down so close to someone, exchanging body heat like this. It was uncomfortable. Yet she felt a strange desire to continue feeling uncomfortable.

Sarin gently pulled Owen’s wrist away from her, as if she were carrying out a mission, very slowly and cautiously, so as not to wake the sleeping beast.

Only after finally breaking free from Owen’s embrace and rolling her body to the edge of the bed did she let out a rough breath.

Her thighs were completely slippery. As soon as she stood up, it was clear that this would all trickle down where she had sat and walked.

“…you bastard.” Sarin whispered softly only after she had distanced herself from the sleeping Owen.

Owen’s sleeping face looked so perfect that Sarin wished she could just watch him sleep all the time, while she struggled to stand on her wobbly legs.

Thinking that Owen might wake up at the sound of the door opening, she thought it would be better to go into the bathroom on one side. If his room’s layout was similar, there would be a bathroom past the dressing room, so the sound of running water would be less audible.

With slow steps, Sarin stepped onto the marble and passed Owen’s dressing room. Neatly packed suits caught her eye briefly. As she approached, the sensor lights came on.

It was easy to find the bathroom. As she entered, the first thing she saw was the mirror above the sink. It was unfamiliar to see her naked body in the mirror.

“Uh…”

Her body was bruised all over, with bruises that looked like they were made when the tea was boiling, and marks on her lips that were almost like Owen’s bruises. It was beyond belief.

Sarin’s palm covered her head.

She suddenly remembered how Owen had hugged her tightly in the car, protecting her head with his entire body.

Feeling as if Owen’s large hand was still on her head, she glanced at the mirror and quickly wiped it as if she were wiping away bad thoughts when her eyes met her reflection.

It was then that a familiar face appeared in the open door behind her. Surprised, she slipped and fell on the bathroom floor.

“Ahh!”

It wasn’t because her buttocks hurt, but because she was startled by the person entering, that she screamed, causing Owen’s eyes to close.

Owen, looking down at Sarin, who was sitting on the floor with one foot stretched out, looked at her with a face that seemed to see a ghost, as if she were the most surprised person in the world.

“Why are you in such a state?”

Because of you.

Sarin couldn’t bring herself to say the thought in her head, and she just stuttered. As she struggled to stand up with her tired legs, Owen, who had bent down with his upper body, put his hand under Sarin’s armpit and effortlessly lifted her up.

“I was just surprised.”

At her screamed response, Owen chuckled lightly. In fact, he had been alert since Sarin began to cautiously slip away from his embrace.

Facing him naked in the bright bathroom was beyond awkward. Sarin hesitated at the door, shifting her weight from one leg to another, creating distance between them.

Owen’s gaze swept over her pale face, slender neck, and the faintly blushed chest where blood remained pooled beneath her navel. Seeing Sarin visibly tense up, gripping the door handle tightly, as Owen chuckled slowly at the situation of her gauging when and how to make her exit.

“You want to wash up, right?”

“I can wash up somewhere else.”

Despite feeling uncomfortable standing there with the owner blatantly present, Sarin replied calmly, her legs trembling even as she stood.

Seeing her clinging to the door as if ready to flee at any moment irritated Owen, his lips twisting slightly. Tilting his head to look at Sarin, he pointed between her legs with his finger.

“You plan on leaving like that?”

“If I go to my room, my clothes…”

“If you go out, the dogs will come running. They’ll go crazy with my scent.”

His tone was monotone. Sarin’s thighs tingled with each step, each slight exertion causing discomfort.

“Ugh…”

“As long as you can keep yourself from dripping, you can walk out.”

Safely, without incident.

He had clearly stated earlier that she would stay in his own room from now on, but it was evident that this was not in her mind at all. He didn’t like it. It was as if he had to endure the sight of her clearly uncomfortable face, her lips trembling with embarrassment.

Her hand weakly fell from the door.

Finally, Owen gestured with a satisfied expression. Sarin felt relieved at the prospect of him approving her presence once again. The subtle discomfort that had settled in just moments ago gradually dissipated.

“You’ll have to get used to it from now on.”

He wanted her to become accustomed to his territory.

“Why do I have to?”

“Because this is where you need to be.”

His words sounded ominous. With her own room just across the hall, why did she have to get used to being here? Owen’s gaze lingered persistently with each step Sarin took. As she passed him and entered the shower booth, she could feel his gaze trailing her like a shadow.

After lifting herself out of the water, something felt wrong.

Even as Sarin turned on the hot water in the shower, she couldn’t shake off the thought. Though the transparent glass booth offered no concealment from Owen’s gaze, it felt like a barrier, a futile one. She hoped the rushing water would obscure her from his view, preventing him from seeing her.

As the hot water poured over her body, Sarin filled her palm with water and splashed it on her face. It was only then that she felt a sharp sting on her chapped lips. She pretended to casually wash her face and shower, but her attention was entirely focused on the man beyond the glass. It felt like he could enter the booth at any moment and pierce through her back with his gaze.

Glancing sidelong, Sarin saw that Owen was still standing there, watching her.