Chapter 519: Look, Who Am I? (Large Chapter) (4/4)

Chapter 519 Look Closely, Who Am I? (Extended Chapter) (4/4)

"To tell you the truth, I didn't feel any profound sense of personal investment in what you did down there beneath the cinema. Had that been your only transgression, I would have apprehended you, I would have seen you tried, but I would never have descended here myself.

But I remember with absolute clarity the words you spoke to me just a few days ago in the interrogation room.

You said that if I hadn't been residing there, you would have subjected Mrs. Lyke and Dora Dorin to all manner of vengeance and degradation. You compared them to a pack of...

...dogs.

My reverence for Mr. Pavaro has always been buried deep within my heart.

And so, I am sorry. Though tormenting you offers me little in the way of fulfillment, I must ensure you die a wretched death."

Karen's words drifted like the intimate whispers of a demon, sending tremors through Vicolai's entire frame, leaving him with no recourse but to cradle his head and shake it in ceaseless denial.

"In truth, Pavaro was never as grand as you imagine. He wasn't nearly as noble as you believe him to be! If he were truly spotless, he should never have accepted my coupons in the first place, he should never have agreed to help conceal my deeds!

You misjudged him, truly, you misjudged him! He was just another man capable of fear, of dread, of shifting with the wind, of acting out of self-interest, really!"

"Ah, he wasn't. But I am."

"No, he was!"

"Oh? Then how about I tell you a ghost story first?"

"What?"

Karen gently brushed the silver ring upon his finger,

smiling as he spoke in a voice of soft, soothing warmth:

"Raise your eyes now and look closely. Who am I?"