Nightmare Revenge

"Hohoho, let the revenge begin," the man chuckled.

The scene continued from before, with Alex and Laura eating at a fancy restaurant. A dark, misty shadow drifted towards Alex and entered his body through his ear. Alex gasped, his body trembled for a moment, but he continued his dinner. After they finished eating, accompanied by the melodies of a violinist nearby, "Thud!" Alex suddenly put down his glass with a little force.

"Alright, Laura, our game ends here," Alex said.

"What do you mean, babe?" Laura asked with a smile.

"Tonight, please take Laila and leave my house and never come back, okay? Let's end this game. You've divorced your husband and got custody of Laila. I've got my position at the office. Our cooperation was excellent and resulted in a win-win solution for both of us. So, it's over now because our contract has ended," Alex replied, smiling.

"What are you saying, babe? Are you drunk?" Laura asked.

"No, I'm not drunk, and I'm sober. I want to end everything and move on. Our game is over, isn't it? Everyone's happy. I'm happy, you're happy, and your family is happy too. The only one who's not happy is your ex-husband, hahahaha," Alex said.

"A-are you kidding?" Laura asked, still trying to process Alex's words and not believing what he was saying.

Alex leaned his face towards Laura and looked at her with a serious expression, no smile.

"Do you think I'm kidding? I'm serious. We're ending our relationship because we got what we wanted," Alex stated.

"Wh-what? Th-that can't be! Laila is your child, and now I'm pregnant with our second child! I won't accept you just ending it like this! You have to take responsibility! I did everything for you!" Laura screamed.

"It's true, you did it for me after I laid out my plan. But honestly, I never expected you to be able to do all that without feeling anything, not even remorse, and that scares me a little. So, I'm choosing to end everything, understand?" Alex said.

"I did all that for you! It was all your plan, I dirtied my hands for you, and there's no way I'd do the same to you!" Laura cried.

"Haha, says the woman who betrayed her husband so cruelly without batting an eye or feeling remorse. How could I risk myself for making you my wife?" Alex sneered.

Laura fell silent, tears streaming down her face. Suddenly, "Dring!" Alex immediately answered his smartphone.

"Oh, you're here already. Just come straight up," Alex said.

He hung up his smartphone and then opened a message that had just come in. Alex smiled broadly and showed his smartphone screen to Laura. Laura's eyes immediately widened as she saw her parents' house on fire, live.

"Y-you killed my family?" Laura asked.

"Don't be silly! This just happened to be sent to me. Oh, right, everyone's still inside, huh, hahaha! That's what the reporter there said!" Alex laughed.

"Ding!" The elevator opened. A woman stepped out of the elevator and walked with a sexy sway, approaching Alex, then sat on his lap.

"Finally, you're here, Sil," Alex said, putting his arm around Silvia's waist.

"Hehe, sorry I took so long. Still busy at the office just now, dealing with the accounting because of that case," Silvia replied.

Silvia turned to look at Laura, who was frozen, unable to do anything but cry and hang her head.

"Oh, is that her? Mr. Dean's wife? It's a shame Mr. Dean has a wife like her. Mr. Dean should've been with me, but sorry, I wouldn't want him. Even if he's rich, his looks are just average, not my type, hehe," Silvia said.

"Yeah, that's why. Now everything's over. Let's go," Alex suggested.

"Okay, babe. Where do you want to spend the night?" Silvia asked.

"On an island, of course," Alex replied.

Both stood up, but suddenly Laura grabbed Alex's wrist. They both turned to see Laura standing, her hand outstretched.

"I won't let this happen! I'll report everything to the police! If I fall, you... no, you both have to fall too!" Laura screamed.

"Go ahead. You forgot, didn't you? The lawyer who handled your divorce and your ex-husband's trial, Robert, he's my cousin. We'll see who wins if you report everything to the police. Don't forget, you're alone. Oh no... you still have an ex-husband in prison... who knows if he's dead or not, hahaha," Alex laughed.

"Please... don't do this... remember Laila and the baby in my womb!" Laura pleaded.

"Hmm? Those are your children, not mine," Alex replied.

"They're your flesh and blood!" Laura screamed.

"Haaah, how many women have said that to me? You know, I have kids everywhere," Alex said.

"Come on, Mr. Dean's ex-wife, just accept it. (Turning to Alex) Let's go, babe," Silvia urged.

"Okay, let's go," Alex replied.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Laura grabbed a knife from the table and lunged, stabbing Alex in the neck. All the restaurant guests gasped and stood up, running in terror, even the waiters were frozen. "Thud!" Alex fell face down. Laura immediately sat on top of him and rained knife thrusts onto Alex's back until he stopped moving.

"Crash!" Laura's head was struck from behind by a chair wielded by Silvia. But Laura stood up and immediately stabbed Silvia in the stomach. Silvia instantly fell, and Laura showered her with knife thrusts.

"You too... you too... you too... you too!" Laura screamed.

After she stopped stabbing, "Clang!" Laura's knife fell to the floor. Her head, struck by the chair, was bleeding and cracked. She looked up while sitting on Silvia's blood-soaked corpse, tears streaming down her face, mixing with the red. The projection in front of Dean showed Laura's thoughts, reminiscing about herself and Laila.

"Forgive me... Dean... forgive me... I hope you're still alive and get out of prison. Please take care of Laila..."

"Thump!" Laura fell to the floor and took her last breath. The sound of police sirens echoed outside the building, and the projection ended. Dean stared, stunned, at the screen, tears streaming down his face. But suddenly, his eyes widened and his mouth began to open.

"Ha...haha...hahahahahahahaha... die... wuahahahahaha," he laughed loudly, tears still flowing.

"Hohoho, you seem pleased with the outcome," the man said.

"I'm satisfied. A good ending for all of them," Dean replied with a wide grin.

"Excellent. So, the cost is ten million dollars," the man stated.

"Huh?" Dean asked, surprised.

"Didn't you hear? The cost is ten million dollars," the man replied.

"Cost? All of that costs money?" Dean asked.

"Of course! Did you think revenge was free? There's no such thing. Now, pay up," the man said with a slightly raised tone.

"Huh, pay? I'm in prison, all my assets are gone. What am I supposed to pay with?" Dean asked, smiling wryly.

"I expected as much. Alright then, just give me your soul. I'll employ your soul to pay off your debt," the man replied.

"So-soul?" The smile on Dean's face immediately vanished.

"Yep, soul. Oh, don't worry, I'm not asking you to sacrifice your soul. In fact, I'm giving you a life after this, but you have to work until your debt is paid off. Otherwise, well, I'll have no choice but to keep your soul as my collection, and you won't be able to return to heaven or reincarnate," the man said with a terrifying smile.

"Wh-who are you, really?" Dean asked.

"Me? I'm a system. But I'm not a typical system that grants wealth or power to avenge injustice in its host's life. I'm the Nightmare System. I'm helping you for my own sake, because I'm trying to meet my quota, hohohoho," the man replied.