Caleb was sitting on a park bench after losing his money, his home, and his dignity—just because of one camera flash that caught the moment his hand accidentally grabbed a woman's butt. He was thinking about how the hell he was supposed to keep living.
"Just because I accidentally touched her ass on the train?" he muttered, staring at the hand that had made contact with the butt of a woman from some elite family.
"Mom... I followed all your advice, but... my life got wrecked over something this stupid..." He leaned back on the bench, memories flooding in—big house, maids always around, and a dad who actually loved his family.
"All because of your kindness, Mom..." Caleb thought about Melisa, his mom. Too kind to that woman—Maya—one of the employees at his dad's company. The woman who took everything. The woman who was apparently way better at making Caleb's dad's private Glock fire its white bullets.
"Our lives went to shit…"
A bit of that old pain showed in his eyes, thinking about how all the luxury just disappeared—like someone flipped a switch and killed the lights. They moved into a tiny apartment. His mom started working. From being spoon-fed by pretty maids whenever he didn't feel like eating… to instant noodles being the highlight meal of the day.
Caleb's life was like some smut web novel on a platform that really supports authors who write from the deepest part of their hearts and not just chase money—complete with a top-tier lewd cover. Then the cover got mass-reported by pure hearted, gentle, lovable, skilled (also hate AI) divine writer, replaced with a boring color and plain font... and suddenly, no one clicked anymore. (Unless the title sounded absolutely unhinged.)
----
"And all because of your advice…" Caleb smiled a little, remembering what his mom always said.
"Caleb, remember... don't waste your kindness on just anyone. Choose the ones who deserve it."
He exhaled.
"My life was getting better…" A cold wind suddenly swept through the park. A crow flew across the sky.
Ding…
An old lady in a cloak, holding a staff, started walking toward him. There was a weird little bell at the tip of her stick.
"Sonny, give me a coin, and I'll give you the power to play with human common sense!" she said with a creepy laugh.
Caleb flinched, weirded out. He clenched his fist. I've got nothing left…!
Ding…
The old woman shook her bell again.
"Tch... whatever, here." Caleb, annoyed, gave her a coin.
She took it and raised her staff.
'Ugh, what's this crazy old hag gonna do—'
SMACK.
The tip of her staff slammed into Caleb's head like a pro baseball swing—knocking him out cold.