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Chapter 31: Counterfeit Feelings?
🕑 Added 2025-07-23 10:54:58 +0000 UTC‘Enough waiting… I can’t take this anymore!’
The voice in Owen’s head roared as he floored the accelerator of his new white SUV. The car, which once felt smooth, now roared aggressively along with the driver's emotions. It tore through the streets of Titan City, heading for a single destination… Jessica’s coffee shop.
His once playful eyes were now cold and hard like polar ice. The rage he had accumulated for days had been simmered down into a cold resolve to drag that bastard named Cole from his counterfeit throne.
The aroma of coffee that once made him feel warm now felt like the smell of rusted blood. Owen parked in the alley of the shop before getting out quietly. Every step he took was as smooth and silent as a predator stalking its prey. He didn't go in through the front door as usual, but chose to enter through the back of the shop instead.
Owen opened the back door quietly, his body radiating an uncontrollably chilling, murderous aura. The atmosphere inside the storeroom was damp and dim, lit only by the faint glow of an old light bulb. Shelves reaching to the ceiling were filled with bags of coffee beans, crates of milk, and cleaning supplies.
And in a corner of the storeroom… the sight before Owen made the smoldering fire of vengeance in his heart erupt like a volcano.
Jessica stood with her back against the cold concrete wall, her body trembling slightly, but her eyes were vacant and empty… devoid of the spark of life he had once been so captivated by. Cole stood in front of her, using his body to trap her against the wall, a disgusting, lewd smile plastered on his face.
And most importantly… one of his hands was already deep inside her tight jeans. His fingers were roughly grinding inside her tiny panties, violently invading her swollen pussy lips and sensitive clitoris, which was now unwillingly hardening, while his other hand squeezed her rounded buttocks furiously, kneading it like a toy piece of flesh.
“Mmm~ Just standing still and being a good girl for me to play with is so cute, Jessica…” Cole whispered hoarsely next to her ear, the faint scent of coffee on his breath washing over her fair neck.
“Look… your pussy is all wet… Do you have any idea how much you need my cock? After I wasted weeks using my power on you, you’re finally ready to be fucked by my big cock without you waking up…” he continued in a vulgar tone, as he slowly began to unzip his pants.
A single, clear teardrop silently trickled from the corner of Jessica’s empty eyes. And that was the last straw…
Owen would not tolerate it anymore!
Suddenly, everything around him slowed down in Owen’s eyes. His heart pounded like a war drum. The muscles, trained and evolved, exploded with sudden power, launching Owen’s body from the dark corner like a released shadow. Cole’s position with his back to the door made him a perfect, stationary target!
Owen’s body twisted in mid-air, fast and violent. Immense rotational force was transferred to his right leg as it swung, striking the side of Cole’s neck and face with full force! It was a perfect martial arts kick, one that Nova had relentlessly drilled into him.
THWACK!!!
The impact thudded loudly, like large objects colliding at high speed!
“!!!” Cole, caught completely off guard, his eyes widened in shock. He gaped, but no sound came out, only dizziness and an onslaught of pain that nearly knocked him unconscious. Cole’s face contorted grotesquely. His body flew sideways before slamming hard into a shelf and the concrete wall!
CRASH!!!
The shelf collapsed. Sacks of coffee beans and various jars shattered across the floor. Dust filled the entire room.
“Urgh! Cough! AGHH! M-my… my face! Ahhh!!!” Cole’s body fell in a pathetic heap on the floor. He curled up, clutching his face while coughing up blood and crying out in pain.
If Cole hadn't been an Awakened with ‘Mana’ constantly reinforcing his body, his cheekbone would have been fractured, or his neck would have been broken, and he'd be dead.
Owen didn't even glance at his condition. He rushed to support Jessica's body as she was about to collapse. His touch was as gentle as a feather, a complete contrast to the violence from moments before.
“Jessica! Jessica! Snap out of it!” He shook her gently, calling her name over and over, his voice laced with a pained concern.
Jessica’s once-empty eyes began to blink rapidly. Light was returning to her gaze. She looked at Owen's worried face, then shifted her confused gaze to Cole's body, writhing and screaming on the floor. Her last memory before everything blurred was Cole asking her to talk in the back of the shop…
“Owen…? What… what happened? Why… why is Cole…”
“Don’t worry about people like him, Jessica…” Owen said in a flat voice, filled with the pain he felt on her behalf. He knew that what he was about to show her would make her feel terrible, but she needed to know the truth. He took out his phone and played the video he had recorded for her. “Look… this is what that piece of social trash did to you when you weren't aware.”
The light from the phone screen illuminated Jessica's pale face. It was a light that should have guided her, but instead, it dragged her deeper into a dark abyss she never knew existed.
The image on the screen was of herself… with eyes as vacant as a soulless doll, while Cole's hands disgustingly molested her body. The video changed to the footage Owen had secretly filmed at Cole's house… revealing three other women in a similar state. They were all being violated by Cole as if they were sex toys, no different from the soulless slaves imprisoned in that house.
Jessica's eyes widened. Her trembling hand rose to cover her mouth in disbelief. The phone fell from her hand, hitting the concrete floor, but it was meaningless compared to her entire world, which was crumbling before her. Tears began to well up in her eyes uncontrollably.
“No… not true…” she shook her head slowly, her voice hoarse and trembling. “Cole… he’s… he’s a good person… He’s a gentleman…”
She was in severe shock. The memory she "thought" was real was fighting frantically against the evidence before her. In her head now were only the good memories she had with Cole…
The image flashed back to the day Cole first walked into the shop to apply for a job… He was wearing a clean white shirt, smiling warmly, and introduced himself politely. After the interview, he took out a beautiful pocket watch to show her. It was a silver watch, intricately engraved.
“It was my grandfather's. He passed away a long time ago, so I like to look at it to calm my mind,” he said, swinging it back and forth gently… Jessica's eyes unconsciously fixated on the swinging watch… and from that moment on… her world changed.
She started to feel better and better about him, for reasons she couldn't explain… Everything he did seemed charming, whether it was making coffee, telling a lame joke, or even when he "accidentally" touched her hand. A warm feeling would spread through her heart. She had even imagined a future… a picture of her walking beside him in a wedding dress… a picture of a small house with their children running around…
“Not true…” Jessica mumbled to herself, tears streaming down her cheeks. She collapsed to the floor, completely drained of strength. “He… how could he do this to me?...”
Her mind was in violent conflict… between the ‘cruel reality’ Owen had shown her and the ‘counterfeit good feelings’ Cole had built and deeply rooted in her mind for weeks… What should she believe?
…..
[Jessica's POV]
I feel like my whole world has collapsed… Everything I believed, every feeling I ever had… was it all fake?
It feels like my body is slowly sinking into a swamp of filth and disgust… My body isn’t mine anymore. It’s like a shell he used for his fun… His fingers… his touch… it’s still imprinted on my body. The feeling of disgust is rising up so much I want to vomit.
How did I not realize it? How could I let him molest me with that disgusting look on his face? I remember laughing at his jokes… I remember looking at him with warm eyes… Was it all just the result of his power? I didn't even know he was an Awakened until now…
God… what if Owen hadn’t come to save me… That thought made my heart lurch. I would have definitely become like those women. Become a soulless doll for him to play with day after day, living only to satisfy his lust…
That makes me so angry at myself, and it’s slowly turning into hatred… until I hate myself for once being fascinated by that handsome face and that counterfeit smile!
But at the same time, when I look at the tall figure of the young man standing quietly before me, his eyes filled with pain on behalf of a foolish, worthless woman like me… it makes another feeling rush into my mind.
It’s a feeling that is warm and soothing to my battered soul. I can only feel incredibly grateful to him…
I want to throw my arms around him and cry my heart out. I want to apologize to him… for pushing him away, for ignoring him because I thought Cole was better, for overlooking his concern for the past several days… But I know full well that a filthy, worthless woman like me has no right to do that. He deserves a better woman by his side, which isn't me…
And the most terrifying part is… deep down… I still feel the pain of losing those 'good feelings'… The counterfeit good feelings Cole created for me to believe in… That counterfeit warmth… It makes me feel even more filthy and disgusting…
…..
Jessica sat huddled on the cold, dirty concrete floor, her body trembling nonstop. Her heart was on the verge of shattering. Real and fake feelings clashed until her entire mind was in agony.
“...Owen... I...” She looked up at him, her gaze trembling like a frightened baby bird. Her lips quivered as if she wanted to say something, but all the words were stuck in her throat.
As Owen faced the woman whose mind was breaking into pieces, he wanted to go to her, hug her, comfort her, but he didn’t know what to do… What kind of words could heal this invisible wound? In a situation like this, how could the Choice System not display its power to save this fragile situation?
Ting!~
The translucent blue screen of the Choice System flared to life before Owen. It appeared like a raindrop in the middle of a desert, offering a way out of the most fragile situation he had ever faced.
…..
[Emergency Situation: 'Jessica's' mind is about to collapse from the effects of the mind-control power. Please choose an action to salvage the situation!]
[1. Gently help her up, tell her everything will be okay, and that you will always be by her side. (Affection +10, Angel Path +10, Her mind will remain unstable and may be periodically overwhelmed by Cole’s counterfeit memories.)]
[2. Tell her to accept the harsh truth directly, that she was deceived and controlled all along, and order her to be strong to get over it. (Affection -10, Her mind will shatter and may lead to severe depression in the future.)]
[3. Lean in and kiss her passionately, making her stop thinking about Cole. Let her know she still has self-worth, and you will make her yours, no matter how much she might want to refuse you. You will eliminate Cole’s filth from her tainted body yourself. (Affection +20, Demon Path +10, She will finally be able to overcome Cole’s power and return to her true self.)]
…..
Owen quickly scanned the three options, his mind working furiously. He understood instantly that Jessica’s mental wound was too deep for ordinary words of comfort to heal (Option 1).
And forcing her to face the truth right now was no different than pushing her off a cliff (Option 2).
Cole’s power was like a poison deeply rooted in the mind… To cure it, he needed to fight it with a stronger medicine!
He glanced at Jessica’s trembling lips and reddened eyes… The decision was made.
Owen chose the third option without hesitation. He stepped forward and knelt in front of her, using his fingertips to gently but firmly lift her chin, forcing her trembling eyes to meet his blazing ones.
“Jessica… look at me,” his voice was deep and powerful.
And before she could utter a word, he pressed his lips onto hers, quick and passionate. It was an uninvited kiss… a kiss full of the desire to possess, a desire to assert that she was his!
Smooch! Mmmph!!!!
At first, Jessica flinched, trying to turn her head away, but her strength was no match for Owen’s. He slid one hand to the back of her head, forcing her to accept this hot, savage kiss. His tongue expertly slipped past her trembling lips, chasing and tangling with hers. He could taste the saltiness of her tears mixed with the sweetness in her mouth.
Smooch Mwah Mwah~
Schlick Schlick Schlick~
Mwah Mwah Mwah~
Araaahh Mmm Mmm~
Aaaaaah~
It wasn't a sweet kiss… it was a declaration of war against the shadow of Cole that still gnawed at her mind!
He ground his lips against hers harder, sucking so intensely she was almost breathless. The wet, lewd sounds of kissing echoed in the silent storeroom. Jessica's body, which had been trembling with pain, now began to shudder with a different emotion…
When Owen slowly pulled his lips away, leaving a thin string of saliva connecting them, he whispered huskily next to her reddened ear. Every word of his was like a brand seared onto her soul.
“Listen, Jessica… Forget it… Forget all about that bastard.”
“You’re not filthy… You’re not worthless… You are still a beautiful and valuable woman in my eyes.”
“And I will make you mine… no matter how much you might want to refuse me. I will eliminate his disgustingness from your body… myself~ Understand? My dear Jessica~”
The words, both comforting and commanding, pierced deep into her broken heart. It was like a bright light shining in to drive out the darkness. The counterfeit memories Cole had built began to crack and crumble, replaced by Owen’s intense desire.
Jessica looked up at him again, tears still streaming, but her eyes were no longer empty. They were filled with confusion, gratitude, and a certain spark that had just been ignited… She raised her trembling arms, wrapped them around his neck, and pulled his face in for another kiss… This time… she started it.
But just as the two were about to merge into one amidst the silent storeroom…
“...You son of a bitch!!!”
A crazed roar erupted from the pile of debris! Cole, who had been lying on the floor, slowly propped his battered body up. His handsome face was now covered in blood and bruises, making it hideous. His eyes were bloodshot with rage and humiliation at being so utterly defeated.
“You… You dare do this to me!”
He no longer cared about the injuries to his face. Rage had consumed everything. He pulled out a hidden pocket knife. Its blade reflected the light and glowed with a faint blue aura… This was no ordinary knife, but an Awakened's weapon used for hunting monsters in dimensional gates!
“I’ll kill you!!!”
Cole screamed, then charged at Owen, who was still kneeling and holding Jessica!
—-------
