Chapter 142: Pivotal scene
This scene was a pivotal scene in the drama, a massive plot point in the drama’s lead, Klis Ether’s life.
Klis was a pharmaceutical genius and had been researching a medicine formula for three years while studying at Sun University.
Finally, he managed to develop the medicine that could revolutionize the medical world. He could finally end his family’s suffering and become rich.
He even received offers of enormous amounts to sell the medicine formulas to those pharmaceutical companies; however, he refused all of them, having a plan of his own.
He knew he could help improve the citizens’ lives and become rich simultaneously.
However, before he could get the formula patented under his name, he gets betrayed.
Naturally, he had shared his accomplishments with his mother and younger sister, his only family.
And one of the pharmaceutical companies approached his family instead of him, offering an amount that made both his mother’s and sister’s eyes widen.
They had been poor all this while, and now faced with the opportunity to receive so much money, his mother and sister agrees to their offer and steals the formula from his personal belongings, selling it to the company without Klis’s knowledge.
After he comes to know about it, he obviously becomes furious and comes home to confront his family, the ones he loved and trusted the most in the world.
Getting betrayed by them was the changing point in the male lead’s life, and Aren had to portray those emotions perfectly.
The feeling of being betrayed. Being furious at his mother and younger sister, while also being unable to do anything to them. He loved them too much to hurt them.
He was helpless.
To shoot this scene, Aren currently stood in front of the door to his house, ready to barge in and confront his mother and younger sister.
"Lights!"
The director yelled as the set’s ambience changed.
"Camera!"
The lens focused to capture the upcoming scene.
"Action!"
Clap—!
The sound cracked through the set.
And then—
Silence—!
As if everything in the surroundings had come to a halt.
Everyone’s eyes focused solely on one man right now—Aren.
Even Lisa, Tyler, June, and other actors from the cast were watching intently, already aware of the difficulty of the scene.
Aren stood before the door.
For a fraction of a second, he did not move.
Then, he slipped into the character thanks to immersion.
He now believed he was Klis Ether, and this wasn’t any shooting but reality.
He believed he had really been betrayed by his family, just like how he had been betrayed by his daughter and Amelia.
Through this scene, he could finally get rid of those emotions.
He could let them out and express the storm inside.
Right now, he wasn’t the genius everyone assumed him to be.
Nor was he the indifferent man who accomplished everything with ease.
He was just a son.
A betrayed son... and a betrayed brother... someone who had been betrayed by the very people he loved the most in the world.
He gritted his teeth, letting out the fury he had been suppressing as he slammed the door open.
Bang!
The door made a loud noise, causing his mother and sister to come into the hall to check.
As soon as they saw him, their eyes widened.
He didn’t say anything, only staring them down.
"K-Klis, you’re back. H-How was college?" His mother asked with a forced smile, unable to hide the guilt and shame she felt under his gaze.
They knew he would’ve found out eventually, but now that he had, they couldn’t face him.
His sister tried to escape as she made an excuse. "I have a test tomorrow. I’ll go study."
"Stop. Right. There." Aren’s voice was icy cold, barely holding himself from yelling out in anger.
His sister immediately stopped in place, unable to move an inch after his command.
She turned around, noticing his expression as her eyes widened in surprise.
His eyes were teary and his jaw clenched.
It was difficult to know if he was sad, hurt, or furious.
His gaze was mixed with emotions, and under those emotions, his sister had seen love.
He still loved her despite what she and her mother had done to him.
"Why?" He asked, his voice cracking as he took a step forward, his expression resembling a wronged child. "Why did you do this to me?"
He swallowed hard, calming down the emotions that were threatening to surge.
"Wasn’t I doing all this for you two? The money you received by betraying me... I would’ve earned a hundred or a thousand times more in the future, but..."
He clenched his fists, pressing his trembling lips as he continued, "You clearly didn’t trust me."
At this moment, his mother let out an annoyed breath.
"Stop making us the villains, Klis. Yes, you would’ve earned a lot of money, but what’s the guarantee you would’ve given us anything? Aren’t you in love with some rich bitch named Elise of your university? You just planned to marry her and leave us to rot behind, right?"
She scoffed.
"I just took the opportunity to get my hands on money before you had the chance to throw us out. Now we don’t need to depend on you. We have enough to spend the rest of our lives in luxury."
Klis remained standing, hearing her accusation.
His expression didn’t change.
Neither his body language nor his face showed any reaction.
The only thing that changed were his eyes.
That hurtful gaze... a kind of gaze that reflected unbearable agony in the eyes that carried it.
His eyes remained unblinking throughout.
Only after she finished did a broken smile form on his face.
"Do you really... believe that?"
"Of course," his mother said in a matter-of-fact tone.
As soon as she said this, Aren’s eyes shed tears.
And then he turned his gaze to his sister.
"What about you, Lily?"
His voice was heavy with emotions; still, he never blinked or looked away.
"B-Brother, I’m sorry. Seeing you getting close to Elise, I was afraid you’d become selfish. I acted out of fear."
She broke into tears, falling to her knees and covering her face with her palms.
She basically admitted that she was the one who stole his formula and gave it to their mother, who in return sold it to the pharmaceutical company.
He clenched his fists, pressing his quivering lips together as he raised his head to stare at the ceiling with an empty gaze.
This was the first time he took his gaze away from them. Then, he soon returned his hurtful gaze, looking at them with those furious yet helpless eyes.
"Did you both never realize..." he said, his voice hoarse, "How much I love you two?"
"What haven’t I done to help us survive? I did odd jobs every day, sleeping only for four hours."
His lips quivered.
"To send Lily to college, I’ve been saving money, eating only once in a day."
Tears fell from his eyes.
"And even after all that, you both never believed me? You never considered me your family? Was I only an ATM to you? Just a fool who worked hard every day to make your lives better?"
His voice choked, unable to even speak anymore.
Klis looked at his sister again.
Her eyes were wet.
Fearful.
Guilty.
And that—
That hurt more than the betrayal itself.
Because he still cared.
That was the problem.
He still cared.
His fist trembled again.
Stronger this time.
He raised it slightly—
As if he might slam it onto the table.
As if he might break something.
Anything.
But...
He stopped.
Mid-air, his hand hovering there.
Then slowly, it lowered.
Because he couldn’t... he couldn’t hurt them.
Not even now.
And that realization of helplessness...
Crushed whatever was left.
His shoulders dropped.
Just a little.
But it was enough...
Enough to show that he had lost.
Not the formula.
Not the money.
Something else.
Something far more important.
"...You chose money over me."
He said it quietly.
Not accusing.
Not questioning.
Just stating it.
A fact.
His gaze moved away from them.
For the first time since he entered.
He looked around the house.
The walls.
The furniture.
The place he called home.
And suddenly—
It didn’t feel like home anymore.
"I see."
Two words.
Flat... Empty.
But his eyes conveyed enough for those two words to seem enough.
Then, he turned around.
No shouting.
No breakdown.
No dramatic exit.
Just—
Silence.
As he walked toward the door.
Each step steady and final.
His mother’s voice came from behind—
"Klis—!"
He stopped.
But didn’t turn.
For a second—
It felt like he might.
Like he might go back.
Like he might forgive.
Like he might still be that person.
But then—
His fingers clenched.
And then, his voice came.
Cold and Unfamiliar.
"...Keep that money. I don’t want any of it."
And then—
He walked out.
The door closed behind him.
Softly.
But the sound echoed like something breaking.
"Cut!"
The director’s voice rang out.
But no one spoke immediately.
Because for a few seconds—
No one moved.
The air still carried the weight of what had just happened.
And at the center of it—
Aren stood outside the door.
No longer Klis.
But not fully himself yet either.
Because something from that scene... had helped him resolve his inner turmoil.
----------------------------------
(A/N -Thanks for reading. ^..^)