DM Chapter 57

It was obvious that he’d deliberately kept Owen away and called for Sarin. Yuri hoped the conversation would end quickly, thinking that Owen would be turning his car back to this place by now. Yuri’s gesture to call Sarin made her more anxious.

She soon approached.

Her white, tired face looked like it could collapse at any moment.

The sound of a roulette ball rolling was heard. Watching the round wheel spin dizzyingly, Sarin approached Nikolai. Then she sat where Yuri had pulled out a chair and faced straight ahead. Nikolai was right next to her, but for some reason, she couldn’t turn her head.

“Bet down, please.”

As the dealer’s words to place bets rang out, a few chips were thrown onto the numbers frighteningly.

“Where would you like to place your bet?”

Looking at the number board, Sarin couldn’t answer the seemingly casual question directed at her.

“I’m not good at these kinds of games. I have no luck.”

With that, Nikolai tossed another handful of chips at the numbers, as if he had never asked for an answer in the first place. All the chips he threw were aimed at only one set of numbers. He only made straight bets. Just like when Sarin first came here and bet her fate on a single number,.

“No more bets.”

The dealer said, and the ball landed on a single number.

Unfortunately, all five of Nikolai’s bets were off. He chuckled as he watched.

Creak.

The chair he was sitting in turned back to Sarin, who was facing straight ahead. As Nikolai raised his hand, the dealer stopped the game. It was only then that Sarin realized that people didn’t pass by on either side of the roulette board.

“Pretty lady. Yes, my great-grandson’s savior, right?”

The man spoke directly to the child. Sarin barely managed to turn her head to look at Nikolai.

“Yes.”

As Nikolai gestured, Yuri took out a cigar from the cigar case and cut the end before handing it to Nikolai.

Sarin’s first impression of him was of a rocky man. His black hair and face were wrinkled, but his golden eyes shone brightly. Owen and Hayan had the same eye color. Despite his tall stature and being a great-grandson, his robust physique still seemed capable of commanding Russia.

Nikolai took a long drag on his cigar and held out a hand to Sarin.

Without hesitation, she shook his hand gently, and Nikolai smiled.

Although he hadn’t made any threatening remarks yet, her mouth felt dry.

It felt just like when she first met Owen. She felt the same intimidation from the man in front of her.

“To come all this way. Fearless, young lady.”

“Because I had to.”

Sarin said as bluntly as she could. She was afraid to meet his golden eyes, but she didn’t avoid his gaze. This was her last chance.

“Yeah, I’ve even gone to Ireland to bring Owen back. It was a very long journey.”

Nikolai chuckled, seemingly pleased with Sarin’s answer. And the smoke from his cigar disperses in front of his face.

“Is the child sick?”

“…Yes.”

“It seems pretty serious. Didn’t they say there’s not much time left before she needs a liver transplant?”

Nikolai deliberately dragged out the last part of his sentence to confirm the situation with Yuri, who was standing next to him. Yuri’s expression fell for a moment. Nikolai brought up what Owen had told him not to tell Sarin.

“Yes, sir.”

Yuri answered matter-of-factly, checking Sarin’s face. Surprisingly, her expression hadn’t changed much. She was still pale, but maybe she was just stunned.

“It’s going to cost a lot of money, and we’ll have to find the right liver.”

That’s why she needed money. Hayan’s illness wasn’t getting better.

At some point, she would need a liver transplant, Sarin was in urgent need of the money for the surgery. She had explored the possibility of donating her liver to the child, but it didn’t match.

Money was one reason for coming this far, but if by any chance the child’s biological father showed even a hint of compassion, she planned to discuss the transplant issue together.

It wasn’t a shocking story at all.

Still, Nikolai’s slowly spoken words struck a chord in Sarin’s heart.

“Sick children are useless, useless.”

Nikolai clicked his tongue low.

Sarin could see the contempt that flickered for a moment in his golden eyes. However, he had never looked at her with such eyes before.

Owen had said Nikolai cared about his blood. That he would ensure the child’s safety.

Something was wrong with the story.

“I heard you cherish bloodlines.”

“Me? Haha, yes. I cherish healthy children who will follow in my footsteps. The chances are high that healthy children will give birth to healthy offspring in the future.”

Sarin barely succeeded in not showing her expression crumbling as she watched Nikolai say that Hayan could not succeed.

Her heart pounded painfully. She tried hard to remain calm. In the end, there were only Hayan and herself in the world. Hadn’t she come here without any expectations? Owen was just a straw she desperately tried to grasp.

Maybe if I go back, Hayan’s medical bills will be taken care of.

Sarin tried to remember the strange toys in Hayan’s hospital room that she had never seen before. She had seen efforts to alleviate the child’s anxiety with toys. That would be enough. Sarin thought Owen hadn’t lied to her for no reason.

She doesn’t know when she started to trust him, but between Nikolai and Owen, she’d choose him in a heartbeat.

Because Nikolai was this type of man, he didn’t tell her right away.

“She’s not sick because she wants to be sick, and she’s going to receive treatment.”

“You came here looking like a beggar, without a penny, and now you want to talk like a decent person after being dressed, fed, and given money. Just because you can dress up and speak doesn’t make you a human being.”

Nikolai still smiled kindly as he spoke to Sarin. It was a stark contrast between his chilly voice and warm expression.

Sarin couldn’t help but laugh at his remark that not everyone is considered human just because they talk like one.

He was right. She had a similar thought as she checked herself in the mirror before heading out today. She laughed at herself for always wearing clothes that didn’t suit her.

“I had to come this way because Owen gave me what I needed the most.”

Nikolai’s eyes instantly turned cold. Her heart skipped a beat, but she managed not to tremble. Being with Owen must have made her more resilient. When you’re with such a man, you sometimes become unintentionally brave.

How can one not be a beast in the face of money?

What she needed most was that. There was nothing left for Sarin in terms of pride, human dignity, or anything else. After losing everything, could there be something important left?

“Well, miss. How about this? I’ll take responsibility for the child’s surgery and future. She’s our blood, after all.”

Nikolai carefully observed Sarin’s pale face, which looked as if she could die at any moment. Her words were quite audacious. Her fingertips trembled, and her eyes held a deep longing. This is how the eyes of a man who has hit rock bottom usually look. Even in the face of death, they don’t waver much. Once you’re dead, that’s it.

“I saved Owen, Mr. Nikolai, the man you brag about so much, and what you just said is something Owen could do for me, so tell me something else.”

Her heart felt like it would jump out of her mouth. Feeling a slight nausea rising, Sarin deliberately took a deep breath. Yuri, who had advised her to use this as leverage, looked at Sarin with a stunned expression on his face, as if he hadn’t expected her to be so openly combative.

“Hahaha, very bold. Very interesting, miss. Isn’t that why we’re here, because I appreciate it? Hmm?”

In such a bright place. She clenched her fists at her explicit language, which suggested that he wanted to talk to a living Sarin, not a corpse.

Now, what should she say? As Sarin held her breath, his golden eyes flickered through the cigar smoke. When Nikolai gestured, the dealer resumed the game as if waiting.

The ball rolled.

“Bet down, please.”

Nikolai held out one of his playing chips to Sarin.

“Let’s get a kiss from the goddess of luck, and maybe this old man will get lucky too.”

The chip was pressed to the corner of her mouth. When Sarin held still, Nikolai tossed the chip under his breath onto the number board. It rolled and landed on 13.

The ball continued to spin chaotically on the round number board.

“If you wish for the child’s safety, it would be best to leave. I’m a man of my word. The child will be safer than anyone else, and if you want, you can walk out of here with a very large sum of money for Owen’s life.”

“I….”

“Hush. The old man’s not done talking, is he? Should brothers fight at this age over a woman?”

That was the price for Pavel’s finger.

Yuri closed his eyes tightly as he listened. He’d given up his favorite grandson’s finger in exchange for his life because Nikolai’s painting had already been done.

If Owen had to take Pavel’s finger by force, Nikolai was thinking of getting rid of the woman his grandson was so infatuated with. It was a clear message that he wouldn’t tolerate using the child as an excuse to manipulate Owen.

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Translator Note: