Saving the Villain

"Asher Quinn and Maynard Quinn… so, Mister Devilsin is right, huh?"

Asher laughed in ridicule, running his fingers through his tousled hair. He leaned forward against the desk, breathing through his mouth at the tightness in his chest. The paper in his hand trembled, crumpling.

Pain dominated Asher's face, unsure of what to feel about this discovery. How could he? All his life… Asher dedicated his entire life to the Quinn Family.

To discover that everything was a lie… that he and the man he called father wasn't his father… just how could Asher face such a thing?

"Hah… haha!" another wave of laughter slipped past his lips and continued until the document fell on the table.

How Asher came to this all started that night. That night, he followed Maynard just because he was worried that his father was drunk, only to overhear his father calling another woman's name. Asher saw the portrait his father hid like a treasure, and behind the picture was a name written on the back.

Stella Cloven.

Cloven.

That surname wasn't rare. To be fair, the family name Cloven was common. If Asher didn't know a particular person with the name Cloven, he wouldn't snoop around. Asher knew it wasn't important to know more about this woman Stella that his father couldn't forget, even after all these years. But he still did.
Until one night, Asher received a call from a man named Mister Devilsin.

It wasn't Asher's nature to talk to a stranger, especially if the other person emanated such a dangerous aura. However, Mister Devilsin spoke something that Asher couldn't turn down.

"Maynard Quinn… I heard you've been snooping around your father's past. You'd get hurt, kid," were the words that piqued Asher's curiosity, holding the phone while standing in the middle of his room. "This is an advice an adult can give to a poor kid like you."

"What do you know?" asked Asher with a deep frown. "And who are you?"

"Just a concerned guardian angel."

Asher's frown deepened, not pleased at the lack of sincerity in the voice of the man. "Whoever you are, don't call me again if you don't want to face consequences."

"Haha. How scary." The man on the other end of the line humored. "Don't worry. I am simply warning you… or maybe I saw an opportunity to give Maynard some problems without directly causing one for him."

"Don't call my father —"

"Kid, that man you call father… are you sure he is your father?" the man cut him off mid-sentence. "I'm not the one to speak, but you wouldn't poke your nose in your father's past if you weren't curious about something. Am I right?"

"I am a man who held a deep grudge against your father. Even if the man you call father dies a thousand times, it is not enough. What I am saying is, I hate him so passionately that I would do everything to hurt him the worst way possible," the man continued while his tone grew solemn. "That being said, everything I'd tell you might be true, but it would hurt you, kid. Curiosity kills the cat."

"But try it. DNA." the man named Mister Devilsin smirked. "Take a DNA test to confirm if he is your father. The truth hurts, though. That's the reason your father never tried to take the test. After all, your mother messed up his life — she and your father messed up everyone's lives. It'll be a slap to his face if he confirmed you aren't his in the first place."

"Haha! I'm excited to see his reaction —"

Asher hung up while Mister Devilsin ramble on and on in delight. His heart thudded while his hand trembled, staring at the phone in his grip.

"What nonsense…" he whispered, shaking his head.

All the hair across his body raised, recalling the chill he felt the more he listened to that stranger. Asher immediately blocked the number used, but even so, Mister Devilsin already fulfilled his goal. The latter managed to instill this seed of doubt in Asher's heart.

Mister Devilsin talked as if he knew Maynard and everything. Asher never talked to this man before, and this call was their first. Still, the way Mister Devilsin didn't hide his abhorrence to Maynard and his constant warning to Asher to stop poking his nose, only to encourage him, was a good tactic to pique Asher's curiosity.

Asher had grown conscious of the things that he hadn't noticed in the past. The little details that weren't used to be worthy of his attention, such as how he didn't resemble his father that much. Although Asher had these physical qualities Maynard and the Quinn family had, he felt different.

Unlike his little brother, Luke, that one look and one would immediately tell he was a Quinn, Asher's face wasn't like that. If not for Asher's upbringing and mien, one would think he came from a different family, since his resemblance to the Quinn family was just too little. He thought that was because he took after his mother, but then again, Mister Devilsin's words played with his head.

Asher tried his best to get that thought out of his head, burying himself with tons of workload. But in the end, Asher still succumbed to his curiosity to end it once and for all. He only did so to prove that Mister Devilsin was simply playing with his head like a real devil.

But the result that returned to him was… enough for him to remember Mister Devilsin's words. Curiosity kills the cat. The truth was too painful for him to bear. Not just that, but just earlier, the investigator he hired to dig up about Stella Cloven came back.

Stella Cloven had a child and that child's name was Maxen Cloven.

What a small, small world.

Asher snapped his eyes at his phone when it lit up, seeing an unknown number on it. Even so, Asher already guessed who it was, since Mister Devilsin seemed to have eyes everywhere. Asher reached for his phone, answering the phone without a second hesitation.

The moment he placed his phone on his ear, he heard Mister Devilsin saying, "so? Did you like the result, boy?"