Chapter 4

I used a business trip as my excuse and stayed out playing for two days, deliberately giving Sophie plenty of time to clean up the mess.

When I got home, the woman and the dog were both glaring at me, furious.

It had only been two days, but Sophie and that dog looked like they'd aged a decade.

She grabbed my collar like a lunatic and screamed at me, half out of her mind.

"How could you not check things before you left?"

"That fire nearly burned our whole home to the ground!"

I put on a look of pure innocence.

"Didn't the fire start because the charger blew up?"

"That was the charger you plugged in by the bed."

"I warned you about it plenty of times. You were the one who didn't care."

Sophie had no comeback. She could only hold the mastiff and cry.

That night, they were the ones who couldn't sleep.

She had no interest in clinging to me for affection, so I lay back nice and comfortable on the newly bought bed.

There was no cold draft on my shoulder or the back of my neck anymore. The comatose body that had been hidden under my bed frame was now in the ICU, clinging to one thread of breath.

Drifting in and out of sleep, I could hear Sophie's muffled sobbing.

It was the best night's sleep I'd had in years.

I slept a full twelve hours.

No nightmares, no exhaustion. I woke up clearheaded and refreshed.

Sophie had already gone out, and the mastiff was crouched at the foot of the bed, glaring at me in rage.

I stretched and said to him,

"What are you looking at."

"Beast."

He ground his teeth, a grating crunch, but he didn't dare actually charge at me and bite.

All he could do was hide in the walk-in closet, clawing anxiously at the door.

Over the next few days, Sophie was running around outside nonstop.

Every day there were large withdrawals and transfers on the supplementary credit card I'd given her.

Part of it went to the hospital bills, and the rest all went to paid consultations.

I knew she was searching everywhere for a way to fix things.

A week later, the smile finally came back to Sophie's face.

She went out of her way to cook a whole table of food, leaning against me sweetly.

"Honey, I want to make a trip back home. You have to take good care of Iron Fist while I'm gone."

"I'm going to check when I get back. If Iron Fist has lost any weight, I won't let you off."

She'd found the old mystic and was going to fetch him herself, across the state line.

So she had no choice but to leave the mastiff in my care, and let it drain a little more of my life force while she was away.

"Sure. Be careful on the road. I'll take good care of him."

I agreed with a smile, and even raised the limit on her shared card.

That night, both Sophie and the mastiff slept soundly.

Neither had any idea what was waiting for them next.

Early the next morning, after I'd personally put Sophie on the plane,

I went and found a filthy, run-down kennel out in the suburbs.

The moment I walked in, I tossed down ten grand.

"I've got a mastiff at home. Very aggressive, and it pees everywhere."

"You have any way to deal with that?"

The kennel owner counted the cash with a big smile and said, sounding completely certain,

"It's a male, right? Bring him in and have him neutered. Works like a charm."

"A big dog like that already has a hot temper, and with all the hormones on top of it, of course he's aggressive and hard to manage."

"Once he's fixed and not in heat anymore, his temperament will settle down right away."

I took out my phone and showed him a photo of the mastiff.

"My dog's huge. Purebred. Not easy to handle."

The owner finished counting the money and thumped his chest.

"Don't worry. As long as the money's there, none of it's a problem."

"I guarantee I'll do it clean, and I'll train him nice and obedient for you too."

I brought the kennel owner back home with me.

The second we walked in, the mastiff shot to its feet, on guard, staring me down like a predator.

"This is the dog. Go ahead and neuter him today."

I gave him the signal with my eyes.

The mastiff instantly tore free of its rope and bolted for the door like a madman.

He knew Sophie wasn't home, and it had finally dawned on him that disaster was upon him.

But the kennel owner had brought a tranquilizer gun.

One shot, and the mastiff's legs wobbled a few times before it crashed headfirst by the doorway.

Its body couldn't move, but its mind was still clear.

Its pupils were blown wide with terror, and two tears clung to the corners of its eyes.

I drove my foot into its stomach.

"Don't rush. You'll have plenty of time to cry later."