The Villain's Redemption

The smell of the sea welcomed Sienna as she walked out of the car. She held her hair, trying to stop it from the warm breeze around her. Putting her shades on, she started walking towards the group of houses near the coast.

"Where is it?" she asked her secretary.

"The house next to the blue one."

Right now, they are in the south where Mr. Hou, the original creator of the program that Scarlette had, is currently living.

Sienna didn't need to personally come here as she could easily send Jane to talk to Mr. Hou. But she has to— she needs to.

Looking at the state of the man whose confidence was ruined by Scarlette, Sienna knew that she needed to be there. She needed to see the man in person.

"Mrs. Hou?" Jane asked the woman who walked out of a small house made of light materials. Looking at the house, Sienna couldn't help but asked how they survived during winter.

"Who are you?" The woman asked before shushing the small baby on her arm. "Are you from the village?" she had a suspicious look on her face.

"No ma'am, I am here looking for Mr. Hou?"

"My husband?" for a few seconds, Mrs. Hou's gaze turned panicky. "Did his mother owe you something? Are you here to— "

"Mrs. Hou please calm down. We are not here to talk about debt. We just wanted to know if we could talk with Mr. Hou?" Jane said before she handed a card to the woman. While they were talking, Sienna recalled what happened a couple of days ago when she heard about Mr. Hou's location.

Honestly, hearing that the man who was supposed to be famous because of his mind was actually living like this was surprising. She immediately asked Jane to gather all the information she could get and immediately discovered that Mr. Hou and Scarlette used to be friends.

Sienna wasn't sure how their friendship started. All she knew was the fact that Mr. Hou was a silent and hardworking nerd who loves his books and just stay at the library all the time. He loved computers and was already learning to program even when he was still in high school.

Then he suddenly stopped going to school.

Of course, Sienna didn't have any specifics but she knew it had something to do with Mr. Hou's new friend and maybe even lover. That person was none other than Scarlette.

"You are looking for me?"

Sienna turned around and looked at the man holding a pale. The smell of fish assaulted her senses. She frowned and looked at the pale. It was full of dried fish. "Do you need something? I can't pay my mother's debt. As you can see, I don't even have enough money to feed my family."

"Mr. Hou… we are not here to talk about any debts," Jane said. "Would you give us a few minutes of your time?"

After looking at the card that Jane handed, Mr. Hou finally invited them inside the hut.

….

"I don't have a decent tea and the water is not clean. I can't offer you anything." The man's voice was gruff. Actually, it matched his appearance. He was tan and muscular and one would think that he was already in his late thirties despite him being in his late twenties.

He had a white bandana on his face that made him look a little intimidating.

"Mr. Hou… I want to ask you about this woman…" Sienna said while Jane handed them the photo of Scarlette. Sienna decided to just be direct to the point.

For a few seconds, a thick uncomfortable silence blanketed the small room. Mr. Hou didn't say anything as he watched the single photograph of Scarlette on the small table. Slowly, his jaw clenched, his hand balled into a tight fist. "Why are you asking about her?"

"She did something to me," Sienna said. "And my company. I traced her history and discovered a lot of anomalies…"

"You should leave."

"Excuse me?" Sienna lifted an eyebrow. Surprisingly, she didn't see any anger in Mr. Hou's eyes. Instead, all she saw was guilt. What the hell happened to Scarlette and Mr. Hou?

"I said, leave. I don't want to talk to you."

"Sir… with all due respect…"

"Didn't you understand what I just said? I said… leave!"

"Sir! We are trying to help you…" Jane said. However, Mr. Hou was already on his feet.

"Leave before I drag you out of my house!"

"Mr. Hou you are making a terrible mistake. We are just trying to help you!"

Of course, Jane didn't show any signs of giving up.

"Help me? You wanted to help me by asking for information about the person who saved me? Miss whoever you are! I may be poor but I am not a traitor! Scarlette helped my family! He saved me back then and I am not going to tell you anything about her!"

"Mr. Hou…"

"Jane… " Sienna interrupted her secretary. Just like Jane and Mr. Hou, Sienna got up and walked towards the door. "It's enough…"

"But Miss…"

"Mr. Hou… you said Scarlette saved you?"

"Of course." The man lifted his chin, his gaze full of pride.

"Are you certain about that?"

"You— "

"Did you know that the program that you made was already worth millions? Hundreds of millions?"

"You— "

"So, you are telling me that the information of the person who took away what you created was more important than the life of your wife and child."

"I didn't say that!"

"Oh?" Sienna smirked. Again, that confidence that she didn't even know she had, exuded out of her body. It felt refreshing and honestly, good. "And yet here you are… living in a hut without a proper heating system. No clean water and no proper food. It seems that you wanted to see your wife and child die this winter."

"You— how dare you curse…"

"I am stating facts, Mr. Hou." Sienna calmly said. "While Scarlette was enjoying everything that was supposed to give your family a good life, you are here, rotting." With that, Sienna started walking outside. "Let's go, Jane. I have no interest in talking to fathers who could watch their kids die just because of their damn principles. Such heartless creatures are going to rot in hell."

However, before she could take ten steps away from the house, she heard Mr.. Hou yelled. "Wait!"