Dopamine Addiction - Chapter 69

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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69.
Grandfather spoke as though the matter were trivial. Liam offered no response.
Grandfather glanced up, then furrowed his brow slightly. It wasn’t Liam’s table manners that troubled him.
In fact, his manners were impeccable. They had to be. He’d been subjected to rigorous instruction since childhood, from the moment he first learned to grip a fork.
How else could he describe it?
Grandfather’s eyes, which had been lost in thought, flickered with something unsettled. This wasn’t the Liam he knew. The Liam he knew would have answered that remark with a cutting jab.
So one thing was certain: his spirit was not present in this room.
“Hee-ju, wasn’t it?”
For the first time, Liam lifted his head. In eyes that had held no emotion, a sudden heat flashed—brief, searing.
But it lasted only a moment. Soon, Liam had regained his composure.
“You’re going to rescue that woman?”
“Yes.”
“From a Russian Mafia stronghold?”
“Yes.”
“In your current condition?”
“Yes.”
“And entirely alone.”
“Yes.”
Grandfather exhaled deeply. He’d thought the boy was speaking carelessly, but it seemed he meant every word. Foolish grandson.
Yet Liam remained unmoved. To him, there had never been a choice called “no.”
If Hee-ju was there, he had to go. It was as clear and certain as a mathematical axiom.
Grandfather reached for his wine glass and spoke.
“Is there nothing I can do to help?”
……
The words had caught Liam off guard. His eyes shifted toward his grandfather. Grandfather, however, did not meet his gaze—he simply took a sip of wine.
“My grandson walks into a Mafia nest with a hole through his gut, and you expect me to sit idle? How would I bear the weight of his resentment later?”
Liam studied his grandfather in silence, as though trying to discern whether there was some hidden agenda beneath the offer.
Catching that look, Grandfather smiled bitterly. He knew well that Liam harbored no affection for him. He also knew that he himself had sown the seeds of that disaffection.
If he were to make excuses, it was only that before being Liam’s grandfather, he was the head of the Cloph Family. Given the same circumstances, he would make the same choice again.
Liam Cloph had been Philip’s spare.
“I’ve no intention of making this conspicuous. If word spreads that I’m involved, it will only invite complications. Should we be discovered, you must handle it yourself. I will have no connection to this affair whatsoever.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Then we’re settled. Tell me what you need.”
Liam set down his fork and knife slowly. His shoulder throbbed; his ribs ached. The painkillers were wearing off.
With an unbothered expression, he picked up his napkin and dabbed the corner of his mouth.
“There are a few items I’ll need to procure.”
“Such as?”
“Firearms and a knife. Grenades and an RC car should suffice.”
Grandfather’s brow creased at the peculiar list, but he nodded nonetheless.
“I’ll see what I can arrange.”
“Thank you.”
Liam took up his fork again. The meal proceeded in silence, as before—nothing but the soft scrape of fork against plate and the muffled footsteps of the Secretary somewhere beyond the Dining Room.
“I have matters to attend to. I’ll excuse myself.”
Once he’d finished eating, Liam rose and headed directly to his room. He folded his arms and stepped toward the window. San Francisco sprawled beneath him.
Just days ago, he’d eaten dinner with Hee-ju at a French restaurant somewhere down there.
But now she was not at his side.
“I’ll reclaim her with my own hands, no matter what it takes.”
A knock sounded. The Secretary entered with a coffee. Liam brought the cup to his lips. Hot liquid touched his tongue.
……
His brow twisted sharply. He examined the liquid in the cup. The brown fluid was unmistakably coffee, not water.
“Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped between his teeth.
Hee-ju was his dopamine. His pleasure, his joy, his thrill.
A mind already saturated with Hee-ju could no longer perceive pleasure from any stimulus below that threshold.
A stimulus greater than Hee-ju.
“Is there such a thing?”
‘If headquarters tells you to stay quiet, just shut up, please.’
‘Her name is Hee-ju. Hee-ju An. She’s on the tech team here.’
‘You crazy bastard!’
“There couldn’t be.”
Liam set down the coffee cup with a slight smile, rubbing his temples.
He was already addicted to dopamine. That meant if he didn’t reclaim Hee-ju, his life would remain as colorless as it was now.
A life where he could taste neither the aroma of coffee nor the flavor of food.
The world would remain a gray fog, and no one would ever draw laughter from his lips again.
That would truly be.
“Unbearably tedious.”
Something stirred in his belly. A hunger he’d never allowed himself since learning he was a spare began to creep upward.
He’d resigned himself to having nothing. Everything belonged to Philip.
But now there was something he refused to yield. Even if it were Philip himself, he would not let Hee-ju be taken from him.
Liam glanced at his watch and pulled on a jacket.
“Time to meet the kid.”
***
Hee-ju examined the room once more with meticulous care, though she’d seen it so many times it had begun to blur together. The rectangular space contained nothing but a bed and a single chair.
She rose from where she’d been sitting listlessly and walked to the window. She pushed open the closed pane.
“Ugh.”
She twisted her body and stifled a groan. A fierce wind rushed into the room.
She opened her eyes slowly and looked down. Whoosh. Splash.
Below the sheer cliff face, she could see white foam shattered against the rocks.
“Could I climb down?”
A large man stood guard at the door. Even if she somehow got past him, slipping away from this Mansion—with dozens of Mafia members roaming about—was nearly impossible.
“This window is the only way out, but……”
The problem was that this route looked equally impossible. One misstep and she’d plummet into the abyss below.
“I’d die on impact against the rocks.”
Hee-ju shuddered.
“But I can’t just sit here and wait for death.”
She dragged a chair over and tore the Curtain from its rod. She ripped it with her teeth. Shreeee.
She twisted the ends of the Curtain together into a tight coil, creating a length of makeshift rope.
Hee-ju lowered the Curtain out the window. Gazing down, she muttered in disappointment.
“It’s nowhere near long enough.”
But then she shook her head.
“Don’t give up just yet.”
She looked around the room, then approached the bed. In one motion, she tore off the Bedsheet and ripped it with her teeth. Rrrip.
Click. The door opened.
……
Hee-ju, a piece of Bedsheet still between her teeth, turned her eyes toward the uninvited visitor.
She was tall, lithe, with abundant blonde curls and blue eyes. A striking Western beauty.
A beauty that seemed entirely out of place in this location.
“Hmm.”
A confused sound escaped Hee-ju’s teeth.
The woman took in the wide-open window, the strips of Curtain hanging below, and the Bedsheet clenched between Hee-ju’s teeth. Her expression hardened as she understood the situation.
“You’re trying to escape with that?”
“Mm.”
Hee-ju’s confusion deepened. She cast a sidelong glance at the partially open door. The large man stood just outside, his gaze fixed on his Cell Phone.
“Who are you?”
“It’s impossible. Stop wasting effort and just stay put. Either way, it’s meaningless struggle.”
“Whether it’s meaningless or not—I guess we’ll see.”
The woman’s brow darkened at Hee-ju’s retort. She tapped her crimson-lacquered fingers against her temple.
“Do you have no sense? Or can’t you understand what you’re being told? Tearing up Bedsheet to escape? What is this, a movie? The length won’t be enough anyway. The knots will come undone. You’ll smash against the rocks and shatter every bone in your body. But that won’t even matter—you’ll be caught by Sergei’s men before you ever make it out the window. Take my advice: don’t provoke them. Stay quiet. It’s better for your health.”
Hee-ju stared at her for a long moment. The words sounded like something the woman was telling herself.
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because someone is waiting for me.”
……
“Besides, doing what I’m told feels like a blow to my pride.”
“Pride.”
The woman murmured the word quietly, studying Hee-ju. Based on her clothes, she wasn’t staff. Most likely, she was one of Sergei’s close associates.
Hee-ju met her eyes, hoping against hope. Warmth in her gaze.
Then the woman spoke, her voice cold.
“Take off your clothes.”
“What?”
“I said take them off.”
Wait, what happened to that warm moment we were sharing a second ago?
Hee-ju’s lips pouted in protest, but the woman’s expression remained glacial.
Hee-ju glanced toward the door. The large man was absorbed in his Cell Phone.
“Could you at least close the door?”
“No. I know what you’re capable of.”
Recognizing the futility, Hee-ju sighed deeply and slowly began to unbutton. By the time she finished, she stood before the woman in nothing but her undergarments.
Again, she cast a glance at the door. The man’s eyes remained fixed on his Cell Phone.
“Spread your arms.”
The woman rifled through Hee-ju’s discarded clothes, then began running her hands across her body. As she reached inside Hee-ju’s bra, she paused.
She withdrew a small object trapped between her index and middle fingers. A USB.
“What’s this?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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