Chapter 139

How to Tame My Beastly Husband — Chapter 139. Raphael’s Mother (3)

Bella closed her eyes sadly. Ben looked miserable, as if he had already taken several beatings. Because Bella had refused to pay his debts, to try to somehow save him from his addiction.

Today was his last chance to pay. Behind him, the thugs from the casino were smiling.

If she didn’t pay his debts, then he would be dragged away and sold into slavery, or they would kill him and sell his organs. She couldn’t abandon the only person of her blood. Especially when Ben had fought so many times to protect her from being assaulted when they were young, and she was a pretty child.

Finally, she went inside and came out with a bag, tossing it to the thugs.

“Take it. And don’t let my brother come in the casino again.”

“We’d like that too,” they laughed as they picked up the bag. “But how can we stop him from crawling in like a dog?”

They had no doubt that they would be taking another payment from Bella next month. For a gambling addict like Ben, even if they slashed his wrists, he could have found a way to roll the dice with his toes.

Having received the money for this month, there was nothing more for them to do, but one of the thugs paused and then turned back to Ben, as if he had just remembered something.

“Your sister is getting difficult,” he whispered, slipping something into Ben’s pocket. “Won’t you be in trouble if she won’t pay, next time? You can use this to persuade her. Get me?”

Ben’s eyes widened as he saw the object the other man had pushed into his pocket. The bright white powder in a folded piece of paper looked familiar.

It was a cheap but addictive drug. Anyone who consumed it gradually lost their mind, until all they could do was seek out the drug like a beast, until they died.

It would be truly evil to use a drug like this on his sister. Especially when Bella had just finished weaning her son.

This is too much.

Ben, who still had some conscience left, pocketed the folded papers. He would just sell it to the next drug addict he found.

But this resolution didn’t last long.

“Damn it, I’ve lost again! Why am I the only one doing so badly?”

“Ben. That’s enough for today,” said the dealer, smiling as he retrieved the cards in front of Ben. “If you want to play again, bring some cash back.”

Ben had already borrowed the limit set by the casino.

Rising from his chair, Ben swept back his greasy hair. He would have to get money from Bella to pay off the casino loan before he could play again.

His steps home were heavy.

It’s going to be pretty noisy this time, too.

Bella never gave him the money right away. She would scream and cry, hit him, offering lectures and pleas for him to stop. Ben ground his teeth at the thought of what was about to happen.

The deeper he got sunk into gambling, the less his conscience troubled him. The boy who had fought to protect his sister had been buried beneath the gaming table.

Ben no longer cared about anything as long as he could gamble. Even Bella had become just a means to enable his gambling.

I’m sick of begging her, he thought as he approached her house. Selfish bitch! I took care of her so well when she was a kid, and now she says it’s a waste to give me money.

The human heart was a complicated object. Soon enough, Ben had forgotten his gratitude toward his sister, and had begun to twist toward malice.

If he hadn’t protected all those years, she wouldn’t have had anything to sell to the King. She would never have met him if she were as disease-riddled as most prostitutes in the slums. Therefore, Ben was entitled to a share of her good fortune.

It’s not my fault. I didn’t want to do this, but she made me.

Ben’s eyes gleamed as he pulled the powder from his pocket.

From that day on, he started dosing Bella with the drug, a little bit at a time.

Until she couldn’t live without it.