Chapter 132 – Punishing Caroline (Double Length)
"Hold on."
Max raised a hand and began rebutting Caroline with complete seriousness.
"First of all—"
"That gentleman who was just zipped into a body bag with a giant hole in his head would strongly disagree with your use of the word 'only.'"
Caroline pressed her lips together.
"Second—"
Max pointed toward Oleg, who was still unconscious after Ethan's treatment.
"And then there's this brave warrior here, who charged into battle and got taken out before accomplishing literally anything."
She looked Caroline up and down before delivering the finishing blow.
"You just peed your pants."
"One guy died."
"One guy got a concussion."
"Objectively speaking, you're the biggest winner here."
Caroline froze.
Then she slowly exhaled.
"…Alright. I take back the word 'only.'"
"But I still want to clarify one thing—"
She lifted her chin, trying to salvage a shred of dignity.
"What I suffered was emotional damage."
Max nodded immediately.
"Yes. The entire planet is aware of that now."
At that moment, Ethan finally spoke.
"To be honest, after what just happened, I'm a little surprised you two are already this relaxed."
"In this place, seeing a dead body barely qualifies as an after-dinner mint."
Caroline immediately turned toward him like she'd found her last lifeline.
"Ethan…"
Her voice lowered, desperate for reassurance.
"I need to ask you something."
"What happened earlier…"
"…is that some kind of medical condition?"
"I personally don't think so," Max immediately cut in.
"In future emergencies, we can probably use her as an emergency sprinkler system."
"Stop talking!" Caroline snapped before quickly turning back to Ethan.
"I'm serious."
Ethan thought for a moment.
"From a medical standpoint? No."
Caroline visibly relaxed.
"You're perfectly healthy. Your urinary system is fine, and your nervous system is functioning normally," Ethan explained calmly.
"You just reacted to extreme stress a little faster than most people."
Max narrowed her eyes.
"Please translate that from Doctor Language into Poor People English."
"It means," Ethan said while looking at Caroline, "her body is more sensitive to stimulation."
Caroline swallowed nervously.
"…That doesn't sound entirely bad."
Max slowly lowered the things in her hands.
"…Doctor, did you just use medical terminology to say something wildly inappropriate for public discussion?"
"I merely stated that it's a healthy physical response."
"So…"
Caroline asked carefully,
"You mean there's nothing wrong with me?"
"Quite the opposite," Ethan said gently.
"Your body is just… very honest in how it reacts."
Caroline had just begun calming down, ready to mentally classify the whole thing as an embarrassing but survivable life event—
when Max suddenly narrowed her eyes and looked between the two of them.
"Alright, I'm just gonna ask directly."
She spoke at machine-gun speed with absolutely no shame.
"Does that mean she's one of those girls?"
Caroline's face exploded red instantly.
"MAX!!!"
"Relax," Max waved her off.
"This is a serious medical discussion."
"Besides, your dignity is already lying on the same level as that corpse earlier."
Then she turned back toward Ethan.
"So, Doctor—does this make her some kind of hidden treasure?"
Caroline looked seconds away from digging a hole through the floor and burying herself alive.
Ethan paused briefly.
"If what you're asking is whether her physical condition is more favorable for… certain reactions…"
He looked at Caroline and chose his words with extreme care.
"Her body's natural condition would be considered… a bonus."
Caroline's eyes widened.
"What kind of bonus?"
"Fast nervous responses, good muscular coordination, and heightened sensory perception."
Max nodded like a scientist concluding an experiment.
"So she's not malfunctioning."
"She's just high-performance equipment."
By this point, Caroline's face had become so red she looked close to spontaneous combustion.
Thankfully, Max finally rediscovered a fragment of humanity and decided to let her live.
Partly because it was time to go home.
And partly because she had temporarily exhausted her supply of pee-related jokes.
Back at the apartment, Max and Caroline fed Chestnut a few carrots together.
Then Max immediately began emotionally unloading onto the horse.
"Chestnut, you know something?"
She stroked his mane dramatically.
"You were the only emotional support keeping me alive during that robbery."
"The entire time, all I could think was—"
"'If I die, who's gonna take care of you?'"
She glanced sideways at Caroline.
"Because obviously, you can't rely on this selfish blonde."
"She used me as a human shield."
"And she peed herself."
Caroline covered her forehead helplessly.
"Max, please stop telling Chestnut I wet myself."
"He's the only one from my old social circle who still talks to me."
Max ignored her completely and continued lecturing the horse.
"As I was saying, Chestnut…"
"I would take a bullet for her."
"But in her heart?"
"She only thinks about herself."
Then she casually added,
"But it's fine."
"I'm not upset."
Ethan sat on the couch watching the whole thing and couldn't stop himself from laughing.
It was rare seeing Max complain this much in such a petty, nonstop way.
Honestly…
…it was kind of adorable.
As long as you weren't the one she was mad at.
"Max, I genuinely didn't realize this bothered you so much," Caroline said in confusion.
"Haven't you told me before that you've basically been getting shot your whole life?"
"I distinctly remember you saying that."
"I said," Max corrected irritably, "that I've been used as a scapegoat since infancy."
Ethan followed Max back into her room.
The moment she entered, she kicked off her shoes and flopped onto the bed face-up like a starfish, radiating pure I'm annoyed energy.
Ethan stood beside the bed watching her sulk, struggling not to laugh.
"You're not seriously still mad at Caroline, are you?"
He sat down beside her.
"At this point, you sound more upset with her than with the actual robber."
"The robber at least didn't hurt my feelings!" Max muttered bitterly.
"Do I not have the right to be angry?"
"She literally shoved me forward and told the robber to take me hostage instead!"
Ethan recalled the scene for a moment.
"Caroline had already reached her limit."
"Mentally and physically."
Max turned to look at him.
"So what? Being scared gives her the right to use me as a shield?"
"I'm not making excuses for her."
Ethan placed a hand gently on her back and began massaging slowly while secretly layering a healing spell underneath.
"I'm just saying that when death is staring people in the face—when there's a gun pointed at them—"
"Rich, poor, educated, uneducated…"
"All those distinctions disappear."
"In that moment, everyone is just an ordinary human being terrified of dying."
Max let out a quiet laugh filled with self-mockery.
"You know, spending time around you people sometimes gives me the illusion that you live in a completely different world."
"A world with manners. Education. Class."
Ethan shook his head slightly.
"Manners and class were always luxuries."
"When survival is on the line, people revert to their most primitive state."
"It's like terminal illness."
"Money can buy better treatment."
"It can buy more time."
"But in the end…"
"A billionaire and a homeless man don't really die differently."
He said it calmly.
But somehow, his thoughts suddenly drifted to The Avengers.
Tony Stark.
A genius billionaire in a high-tech suit.
Maxed-out firepower.
Still dead after using the Infinity Gauntlet.
And somehow, among all those superheroes, not one dedicated healer existed.
Ethan couldn't help complaining internally.
If I were in the Avengers, I'd be completely broken.
One person wears the gauntlet.
One person heals.
If healing fails, revive them.
Then do it again.
Thanos probably wouldn't even get to finish his entrance music.
Max stayed quiet.
She simply looked at him.
Whether it was the massage or the hidden healing spell working its magic, the tight knot of anger in her chest gradually loosened.
Her body relaxed too.
Whenever she was around Ethan, both her body and mind somehow felt lighter.
Even her bad luck seemed to temporarily avoid her.
The moment that thought surfaced—
she suddenly realized something.
Her head snapped toward Ethan as she stared at him intensely.
Ethan immediately grew nervous.
His hand instinctively stopped moving and slowly retreated from where it had started wandering slightly too far.
"…What?"
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I just realized something," Max said slowly, unusually serious.
"When I'm around you…"
"…things get better."
"When that robber walked in tonight, I genuinely thought this was it."
"Every single time my life starts improving, something even worse usually happens immediately after."
She paused.
"But tonight, it didn't."
Ethan smiled faintly.
"So now I'm your lucky charm?"
"If that's true, you should probably keep me on you at all times."
Max didn't laugh.
She kept staring at him for several long seconds before finally reaching a conclusion.
"I figured something out."
"Everyone has a different kind of energy."
"And some people…"
"…just belong in certain places."
Ethan turned his head to look at her.
"Caroline usually isn't that bad."
"She's suited for safe environments. Everyday problems. A life where disasters only happen occasionally."
She paused, her tone growing calmer.
"But in situations like tonight—where things are already dangerous enough—she only makes everything more complicated."
"It's not really her fault."
"She's just not built for this kind of situation."
Then she looked directly at Ethan.
"You're different."
"In normal situations, you kind of feel…" she searched for the word before stabbing him as usual, "…optional."
"But whenever things truly go bad—every single time you show up—"
"People immediately feel like the worst part is already over."
"After that, all that's left is cleaning up the mess and moving forward."
She clicked her tongue thoughtfully.
"Guess there's still a hierarchy even among rich people."
"And you," she said while glancing at him, "are obviously way above Caroline."
The room fell quiet.
A few seconds later—
Max suddenly rolled over and sat upright on the bed.
Her eyes were glowing with a dangerous level of brightness.
The kind of expression that clearly meant:
I just came up with an idea that's probably immoral… but will make me extremely happy.
Ethan instinctively leaned backward.
"I've decided," she announced cheerfully.
"I'm going to forgive Caroline."
Ethan was just about to relax—
"However," she added immediately, her tone shifting sharply, "before that… she needs to pay a price."
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"Emotionally? Financially? Or your personal specialty—verbal abuse?"
"No."
Max smiled.
That smile immediately triggered Ethan's survival instincts again.
"I'm going to make her…" she said slowly and clearly,
"…unable to sleep tonight."
Ethan blinked.
"…How exactly are you planning to do that?"
The next second, Max pounced on him.
"Simple."
"We make some noise."
"Very loud noise."
"For a very long time."
Then she looked at him with absolute shameless confidence.
"She used me as a human shield today."
"Me making her lose one night of sleep isn't unreasonable, right?"
Ethan fell silent for a moment.
Then nodded seriously.
"…Honestly, I can't find a valid counterargument."
An hour later—
Ethan lay flat on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling, realizing for the first time in his life that revenge was not only emotionally satisfying…
…it was also physically exhausting.
At one point during the night, he couldn't help wondering:
Is Caroline lying awake in the next room right now, staring at the ceiling and deeply reflecting on why using Max as a human shield was a terrible life decision?
Because thanks to one moment of Caroline's panic—
Ethan had ended up paying an unbelievably heavy price.
The most ridiculous part was that Max had apparently stopped being angry at some point during the process.
She even disappeared for a little while midway through.
When she returned, she was visibly smiling.
"Oh, by the way," she announced casually, "Caroline and I made up."
Ethan immediately looked relieved.
"…Then can we finally go to sleep now—"
"No."
Max climbed back onto the bed with complete confidence.
"Just because the victim forgives the criminal doesn't mean the prison sentence disappears."
"No."
"Once punishment has been declared, the sentence must be fully carried out."
She crossed her arms seriously.
"You think this is personal revenge?"
"This is about principles."
The terrifying part was—
her logic actually sounded incredibly convincing.
If the judge and the victim weren't literally the same person, Ethan might genuinely have accepted the argument.
The next morning—
when Ethan finally woke up, sunlight was already pouring through the window hard enough to hurt his eyes.
Half-asleep, he reached toward the other side of the bed.
Empty again.
Cold too.
He stared blankly at the ceiling for several seconds before his brain slowly rebooted.
Then a painfully clear thought surfaced together with the soreness in his waist and back.
Whether Caroline had truly been punished…
…he honestly wasn't sure.
But there was one thing he knew with absolute certainty.
He had been completely set up.
Even more terrifying—
by the end of the night, Max seemed extremely satisfied with this "punishment method."
From her perspective, it perfectly solved the problem of post-argument conflict resolution.
It let her vent her anger.
Didn't damage the relationship.
Created zero emotional aftereffects.
The only side effect was—
it consumed an alarming amount of Ethan.