Chapter 4 - Dustin Expected an Angry Old Father
When he punched me in the gym, Dustin believed he had won before anything began.
He expected one of two reactions.
Fear.
Or rage.
If I backed down, he could laugh.
If I attacked him, he could say:
See?
Lauren’s entire family is unstable.
Instead, I lowered my hands after his punch.
The room stayed silent.
Dustin frowned.
“Come on, Sergeant.”
I wiped a small smear of blood from the inside of my lip.
“No.”
He blinked.
“What?”
“I said I trained Marines. I didn’t say I came here to entertain you.”
The coach stepped forward.
His earlier confidence had disappeared.
“Dustin, back up.”
Dustin ignored him.
“You walk in here threatening me—”
“I haven’t threatened you once.”
That stopped him.
He looked around.
Everyone had heard it.
I pointed toward the security camera mounted above the cage.
“You punched a sixty-seven-year-old man who hadn’t touched you.”
Dustin’s face changed.
Just slightly.
I continued.
“And you did it in front of twelve witnesses.”
The coach looked up at the camera too.
That was the exact moment Dustin understood the problem.
I had not come to prove I could beat him.
May you like
I had come to let him prove he couldn’t control himself.
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