Desire Me If You Can Novel - Chapter 108

“In any case,” Ashley asked, his tone still cool and interrogative, as if cross-examining Dane, “dating Grayson is your own free will, right? It’s not because he coerced you or because of some unfortunate accident.”

“……Yes, it is my will.”

It was true that it was his own choice. As Dane reluctantly admitted this, Ashley continued.

“He was confident that you taught him emotions. Do you agree with that?”

“With what?”

Dane frowned at the question, and Ashley narrowed his eyes.

“Do you think Grayson is truly capable of feeling emotions?”

The man’s voice was full of disbelief, as if he were absolutely certain that such a thing could never happen to his son. Seeing that reaction, a spirit of defiance surged within Dane.

“Of course. I don’t know why you think otherwise. Though, they say the people who know their children least are their parents.”

The last part was clearly a taunt. A subtle wrinkle creased Ashley’s brow. His displeasure was obvious, but of course, Dane didn’t care at all. All his life, he had lived without caring whether others liked him or not. He had bought snacks or made coaxing sounds to gain the favor of animals, but he would never do such a thing for a person.

Looking down at the omega with the stark blue eyes staring straight back at him, Ashley slowly opened his mouth.

“Is that so? You seem to pride yourself on knowing a lot about my son.”

“I may not know as much as you, but I believe I know sides of him you don’t.”

Ashley Miller narrowed his eyes. It was clear he was displeased, yet, unexpectedly, the pheromones lingering in the air were stable. Dane was secretly surprised that he wasn’t angry at all. He had expected the man to be furious upon meeting someone who dared to contradict him so directly.

Was this man unexpectedly cool-headed, or was the matter not worth getting angry over?

“Is that all you have to say?”

At the sudden sound of Ashley’s voice, Dane returned to reality. He took a case from the inside pocket of his suit jacket, selected a cigar, and said, “It’s fortunate to have someone who knows my son that well by his side. Although I don’t know how long you’ll last.”

Dane watched silently as he clipped the end of the cigar and lit it while he spoke.

“Well, it’s good to have hope.”

Contrary to his words, he twisted the corner of his mouth into a cynical smile. Dane couldn’t help but frown at the face that seemed to be mocking him. He felt as though he had suddenly overheard the thoughts Ashley hadn’t bothered to voice.

It probably doesn’t mean anything, though.

“I have a question.”

The words tumbled out before he could stop them. Facing Ashley’s unchanging, cold gaze, Dane spoke.

“Did you ever abuse Grayson?”

Ashley, who had just taken the cigar from his mouth, froze mid-motion. Far from being flustered or apologetic, Dane waited for his reaction, his brows knit together, as if daring him to speak.

A chilly tension hung between them. Ashley slowly lowered his hand. He was silent for a moment, his emotionless gaze fixed on Dane, before he slowly moved his lips.

“Did Grayson tell you that? That I abused him?”

His low voice sank even deeper. A shiver ran through the air, yet Dane answered without flinching.

“No, he didn’t even know if what he experienced was abuse.”

“And?”

Ashley brought the cigar back to his lips and asked, “Why do you think I abused him?”

“I saw and heard it directly.”

Dane answered without hesitation.

“Grayson said he was once locked in a basement. But he didn’t know if it counted as abuse.”

Only then did Ashley seem to understand the situation, and he let out a short, scoffing laugh.

“Do you believe him?”

“Why don’t you tell me directly? Did that really happen?”

Dane pressed him relentlessly. He felt a pressure to resolve this doubt. As he waited for Ashley’s answer, he felt an unknown sense of urgency. But the other man merely frowned, seemingly annoyed, and shot back a question.

“Are you accusing me of hitting him?”

“That, too.”

“……Ha.”

Ashley let out a sound of sheer incredulity. For the first time, his indifferent expression wavered. He stared into the distance with his mouth agape in genuine bewilderment, and when he finally turned his gaze back to Dane, his face was full of near-contempt.

“Go ahead and report me, if you want. That would be amusing.”

Ashley’s mouth twisted, but he was certainly not amused. Rather, in his cool demeanor of suppressed anger, Dane sensed the truth: this man would not easily reveal his inner thoughts.

In that case, he should retreat now.

Logically, that was the right thing to do. After all, Ashley Miller wasn’t wrong. It was ridiculous for Dane to be meddling in someone else’s family life. Moreover, he and Grayson were nothing more than a casual fling. They had just slept together, and that was all. He should back off. But—

“Does Ko-i know that you hit Grayson?”

Dane’s question was openly provocative. A flash of gold momentarily passed through Ashley’s violet eyes. It was clear that he intensely disliked this insolent omega. The faintly lingering pheromone scent around him had thickened to a surprising degree.

“If I had hit the children, I would have been divorced. Do you think I would do something to earn Ko-i’s hatred?”

For the first time, he revealed his true feelings. Dane immediately noticed what Ashley Miller reacted to.

‘Ko-i.’

“You didn’t hit him? Because Ko-i wouldn’t allow that?”

He brought up the name again and again, without hesitation. The reaction was immediate.

“I didn’t hit him, and I didn’t abuse him!”

His voice finally rose. Ashley took a deep, frustrated breath and inhaled the cigar smoke in rapid succession. After a moment, he seemed to have composed himself, glaring at Dane with a scowling face as he added,

“I was merely teaching the children how to defend themselves. Yes, the methods might have been excessive. But what else was I supposed to do? They wouldn’t learn if I spoke kindly and taught them gently! Grayson was a ticking time bomb from the moment he was born, because of this damn secondary gender!”

Ashley, who seemed to be passionately pouring out his words, abruptly stopped. A sudden silence fell. In the quiet, Ashley spoke in a subdued voice.

“Stryker, you wouldn’t understand.”

Dane just stared back stubbornly, saying nothing. Ashley let out a short ‘ha’ breath, then faced him in silence for a moment. They stood there motionless. After a long pause, during which Ashley stared intently at Dane in the soundless stillness, he finally spoke slowly.

“We live grateful just for the fact that he doesn’t inflict irreversible harm on others.”

He took another drag from his cigar and exhaled the smoke before asking, “In that basement, what did he do? Did he perhaps pull some ridiculous stunt saying he was going to help someone?”

Dane could not answer immediately. Seeing his hesitation for the first time, Ashley let out a small, scoffing laugh, as if this was the reaction he had expected.

“I thought so.”

At the cynical tone, Dane reluctantly gave a brief, factual account of what had happened.

“There was a child locked in the basement, and Grayson chose to be locked in with the child, saying he wanted to help. He said it was better to have someone with you than to be alone in the dark. He claimed he was only trying to help the child.”

Ashley silently inhaled the cigar smoke. Dane immediately noticed his indifferent reaction.

“You’re not surprised.”

Ashley let out a short laugh, though there was no hint of amusement in it.

“Do you think I haven’t experienced things like that once or twice?”

After his irritable response, he simply continued to smoke his cigar for a while. After some time had passed, Ashley spoke.

“You asked if I abused Grayson? Yes, my discipline was strict. Do you know why?”

Ashley didn’t wait for an answer.

“Before he turned ten, that kid almost killed someone, twice. The first time, he did it himself, with his own hands.”

At the unexpected revelation, Dane froze. Seeing him, Ashley said,

“Who do you think the victim was? It was Ko-i. He tried to kill his own family.”

Ashley continued.

“Ko-i can’t smell anything. He can barely taste anything, either. Grayson was curious if that was truly the case. Do you know what he did? He made a cake and put detergent in it. Ko-i almost died after eating it.”

His voice, which had sounded utterly detached, gradually began to tremble. Ashley then spat out harshly,

“If I had arrived even a little later, I would have found Ko-i’s corpse.”

Ashley’s hand holding the cigar was visibly shaking. As Dane watched, Ashley continued.

“My three children were all there, and no one called an ambulance. They just watched with fascination as Ko-i was dying.”

He fell silent for a moment, as if trying to calm his emotions. He merely inhaled the cigar smoke deep into his lungs. After a while, he recalled the memory in his previous low voice, as if he had regained his composure.

“Grayson was, naturally, severely punished. So, after realizing he shouldn’t kill people, what do you think that child did?”

Dane, of course, couldn’t guess. Ashley sneered at his silence.

“He tried to get someone else to do the killing.”

Dane’s blue eyes widened dramatically.