Chapter 39: How not to beat a ceo.

The heavy click of the apartment door unlocking echoed sharply through the quiet living room.

Miss Vera stiffened against Karl, her breath catching abruptly in her throat.

Karl turned his head toward the entryway.

A man stood in the foyer, pushing the front door shut behind him with the casual arrogance of someone who owned the building.

He was tall, dressed in a sharply tailored charcoal suit that screamed old money, and he was casually smoking a lit cigar. The thick, acrid smoke immediately invaded the pristine, perfume-scented air of the apartment.

As Karl stood up, he immediately went to confront the man, stepping directly into the path between the intruder and the living room.

Karl kept his face completely blank, his mind rapidly calculating the situation. He did not know if this man had a weapon, or if he had brought guards waiting out in the hallway.

"You must be the ex," Karl said, his voice entirely calm and devoid of intimidation.

The man blew a cloud of grey smoke into the air, his eyes narrowing as he took in Karl’s plain street clothes.

Karl took another step forward, deciding to test the waters. He wondered why the man was being so aggressive right out of the gate, thinking that perhaps they had simply gotten off on the wrong foot, and even stretched his hand out for a handshake to de-escalate the rising tension.

The man sneered, his upper lip curling in absolute disgust.

Without a single word of warning, the man violently slapped his hand away. The loud, sharp crack of flesh against flesh echoed off the high ceiling of the apartment.

"Send him out, Vera," the man ordered, looking past Karl completely to point a manicured finger directly at her. "Send this trash out right now, or you are going to deeply regret it".

Karl slowly lowered his hand. He did not rub the stinging skin. He simply turned his head slightly to look back at the couch.

For the first time since Karl had met her, he saw her be completely helpless and lost.

The confident, untouchable school nurse was entirely gone. In her place sat someone who looked profoundly broken, her shoulders drawn inward, her hands trembling where they rested on her lap.

She looked genuinely scared even to breathe too loudly.

The sight of her fear sparked something cold and absolute in the center of Karl’s chest.

’He has been doing this to her for years,’ Karl thought, maintaining his calm exterior. ’He uses her life as a bargaining chip.’

Karl shifted his stance, placing himself slightly more between the man and the couch.

"It is your apartment," Karl said gently, keeping his eyes locked on Vera. "Do you want him to stay, or should I? Either way, I will respect your decision".

Miss Vera looked up at him, her dark eyes wide and swimming with panicked tears.

The man let out a harsh, barking laugh, tossing ash onto the expensive hardwood floor.

He smiled, a wide, predatory grin that showed entirely too many teeth, knowing there was absolutely no way she would pick a random side piece over him.

"Do not make me laugh, kid," the man scoffed. He looked at Vera with complete ownership. "Who would run the dying family business then, Vera? Who is going to keep the funding flowing and the lights on if you throw me out?"

The man opened his arms slightly, adopting a mocking, forgiving posture.

"Come towards me," he commanded her, his tone leaving absolutely no room for debate. "Come here, and I will forgive you for this pathetic little stunt".

The room fell completely silent. The only sound was the faint hum of the city traffic through the thick glass windows.

Karl did not push her. He simply stood there, serving as a solid, immovable barrier between her and the man ruining her life.

Miss Vera slowly walked forward from the couch. Her silk dress rustled softly in the quiet space. She took a shaky breath, her eyes darting between the two men. She thought about it for a long, agonizing while, weighing her family’s legacy against the suffocating reality of her daily life.

Then, she moved.

Vera nervously walked past the center of the room and stepped directly behind Karl.

She reached out with trembling hands, gripping the back of his jacket and hiding there as if using him as her physical shield.

The reaction from the entryway was instantaneous and explosive.

The man was visibly angered by this defiance. His smug smile vanished, replaced by a dark, ugly flush that crept up his neck and consumed his face.

He opened his mouth, drawing in a massive breath, clearly about to yell his mouth off and tear into her with every threat he possessed.

Instead, the man snapped. He threw the lit cigar directly at Karl’s face.

The burning tobacco bounced harmlessly off Karl’s shoulder, scattering gray ash across his jacket.

Before the cigar even hit the ground, the man lunged forward and landed a straight, heavy punch directly onto Karl’s cheek.

The impact cracked loudly in the quiet room. A dark bruise instantly began to form on the skin.

Karl did not flinch on impact despite the forming bruise on his cheek. After all, his skills were entirely reactive, and the passive Steel Nerve absorbed the worst of the kinetic shock.

A pale blue translucent screen suddenly unfolded in the direct center of Karl’s vision, illuminating the dim space with digital light.

[Quest Alert: Put him in his place.]

[Objective: Neutralize the immediate threat and establish absolute dominance. Protect your territory.]

[Reward: Hidden until completion.]

Karl read the floating text, the glow reflecting faintly in his dark eyes.

He let out a long, tired sigh as he saw the quest pop up, telling him to put the man in his place for yet another reward that would not be revealed until he was completely done.

’The system really does have a terrible sense of timing,’ Karl thought quietly.

He reached up, casually wiping a small drop of blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb. Then, he looked at the executive.

The man was massaging his knuckles, his eyes wide with sudden, dawning terror. Hitting Karl had felt exactly like punching a brick wall.

"Do forgive my outburst," Karl stated simply.

"Uhn?"

Karl did not use his system skills. He did not need to drain this man’s stamina or use a charged punch. He just used his own two hands.

He stepped forward, grabbing the man by the lapels of his expensive charcoal suit, and drove his fist directly into the man’s stomach.

The executive folded completely in half, all the air leaving his lungs in a violent, wet gasp.

Thus, he did exactly as the system asked. Karl beat the man down, delivering heavy, methodical punches, one after another, systematically dismantling the arrogant CEO right there in the entryway.

He hit him until the man’s nose shattered, spraying crimson across the pristine floorboards.

The fight was not a contest. It should show exactly how pathetic the man truly was beneath his corporate armor.

The executive collapsed onto the hardwood, desperately throwing his arms over his head to protect himself. He completely broke down.

The man started crying, loud, ugly sobs tearing from his throat as he dragged himself backward toward the door.

"Vera is going to regret this!" the man screamed, his voice cracking hysterically through his tears. "You hear me? You are going to lose everything for this!"

He did not wait to see if Karl was going to hit him again. The man scrambled to his feet, slipping frantically on the polished wood, before turning and running out of the room like a terrified child.

The heavy door slammed shut behind him, leaving the apartment echoing with the sudden, jarring silence.

Karl stood perfectly still in the entryway. He slowly unclenched his fists, rolling his shoulders to release the tension. He was not really phased by anything that had just happened. Not in the least.

He turned around to face the living room.

Miss Vera was peeking out from behind the couch. She was still terrified, her chest heaving with residual adrenaline, and she was not shy to show it, needing the space to process the sheer violence she had just witnessed.

She looked at the blood on the floor, and then slowly looked up at Karl’s bruised face.

A shaky breath escaped her lips, and then, entirely to his surprise, her lips curved upward.

Vera was quite happy about this outcome. Very happy, in fact.

She stepped out from her hiding spot, walking slowly across the room until she was standing right in front of him. She reached up, her soft, trembling fingers gently brushing against the forming bruise on his cheek.

"He is going to destroy my family’s company," she whispered, her voice carrying a mixture of absolute dread and overwhelming relief.

She looked deeply into Karl’s eyes, a genuine, radiant smile breaking through her fear.

"I know I could suffer for this," she mentioned, her thumb tracing his jawline. "But it was completely worth it just seeing that cocky bastard like this".

Karl looked down at her, feeling the soft warmth of her hand against his skin. He had just brutally assaulted the CEO of a major software company linked to his only source of income, but as he stared into her grateful eyes, he knew he did not regret a single second of it.

The pale blue screen flickered back to life in the corner of his vision.