Surviving In This Filthy World As A Novel Villain

"Tell me, Henry... is that really enough for you? Is that the kind of justice you're after?"

Henry hesitated, the struggle plain on his face. "But the law says..."

Alex cut him off sharply before he could finish. "Forget the law," Alex snapped. "I'm asking what you want deep down. If there was no legal trouble to worry about, how would you really get revenge? Would just seeing the man who killed your father locked up actually satisfy you?"

Henry was still trying to process it all, looking utterly lost. "Wh-what... what are you saying?"

He wasn't sure he truly understood Alex's point—or maybe he did, and that's what scared him.

Revenge without thinking about the law? This wasn't some wild, ungoverned place. How could they just ignore the rules?

Alex got up and strolled over to the window. "If you give the word," he said coolly, "Eric Vaughn's suffering will get worse every single day."

"Ah!" Something clicked inside Henry's head with the force of a small explosion. Suddenly, he felt alert, buzzing with a strange energy.

His gaze locked onto the security monitor, focusing intensely on Eric Vaughn lying face-down on the hospital bed, his rear end almost invisible beneath thick layers of gauze and bandages.

To make the point clearer, the hospital director kindly handed Henry Eric Vaughn's medical files – the ones from when he first came in, pictures included, and the most recent ones, laid out side-by-side for comparison.

He hadn't grasped the full picture until he looked. What he saw made his stomach churn. After only a few seconds, Henry felt an uncontrollable twitch in his eyelid.

It was honestly the first time Henry realized hospitals could do more than just heal. He'd always seen them as clean, almost holy places, filled with skilled doctors and caring nurses. But looking at these reports shattered that image completely.

Originally, Eric Vaughn had just collapsed from terrible diarrhea that left him weak, plus a small tear near his backside needing a few simple stitches.

With some rest, he should have been fine in a week or two. But since arriving at this hospital?

That area had been sewn up, cut open, and sewn up again, over and over, treated more like a piece of old cloth than part of a person.

Even crazier, some damn doctor had actually sterilized him! As far as Henry knew, Eric Vaughn wasn't even married!

Okay, so maybe not having his own kids was one thing, but it didn't stop there. Maybe it was the drugs, maybe the doctor messed up, but Eric was now permanently unable to get an erection.

And the truly sick punchline? The hospital records clearly stated Eric Vaughn was still a virgin. What kind of twisted person does that? The guy had never been with anyone, and they destroyed his ability to ever be?

If Henry were in Eric's place, he'd have completely broken down by now.

What Henry didn't know was that Eric was breaking down constantly. He was trapped in a non-stop nightmare of suffering.

A dark thought crossed Henry's mind: he almost wanted to know which doctors did this, maybe send them a 'thank you' card or something.

Alex nodded slightly, then took a small, fancy wooden box from his pocket, the kind you'd put a ring in. He tossed it onto the desk near Henry.

"There's a pill in here," Alex explained. "It's called the 'Exploding Dick Pill,' more or less. Don't worry about what it's supposed to do. Just know the side effect is exactly what the name suggests."

He made a little exploding motion with his hands for effect. "When the moment feels right," Alex added, a smirk playing on his lips, "you can even feed it to Eric yourself."

"But... why?" Henry stammered, feeling a mix of shock and fear. He couldn't understand why someone as powerful as Alex would help him like this. Sure, Henry was the head of the Wade Family now, but Alex had already wiped out two other families just as big.

Kleinberg Industries still existed in name, but Henry knew the truth. It wasn't really Kleinberg's anymore; it was just another branch operating under Alex's Reid Industries.

Alex pulled a chair over and sat down, raising one finger. "Someone wants to discuss business with you."

"Whatever you arranges, I'll agree to," Henry said quickly. He knew how to play the game.

"No, no," Alex waved his hand. "I don't force anyone into things they don't want." He paused, then called toward the door, "Come on in."

The office door opened immediately, and Ashley Dawson stepped inside.

Seeing Ashley, Henry's mind blanked for a second. Then, almost instantly, it all made sense.

'So, Alex lets his personal feelings guide him too…' The thought flashed through Henry's mind. He stood up quickly and shook Ashley Dawson's hand.

They made the usual small talk you'd expect. The real details of their business deal could be sorted out later, back at their offices.

Seeing the miserable state of the man who'd caused his father's death lifted a huge weight off Henry's shoulders.

….

After days of feeling low, Henry mood suddenly soared. He found himself humming a little tune as he left the hospital wing and headed downstairs.

Henry got into the car. His younger brother was driving and started the car. Seeing the huge grin that hadn't left his older brother's face, he had to ask, "Brother, why are you so happy? What happened in there?"

Henry then told his brother everything that had gone down in the hospital office.

After hearing the whole story, he still looked confused. "Brother," he asked, "so you agreed to the Miss Ashley deal because Alex helped punish this Eric Vaughn, the guy who killed Dad?"

He knew the main reason Henry had turned Ashley Dawson down before was because her family helped Eric Vaughn get out of trouble, which really angered the Wade Family.

Henry just shook his head. "It's got nothing to do with Eric Vaughn," he said flatly. "I would've agreed even if none of that happened."