Redo of a Romanceless Author’s Life Devoid of Love; Another Chance at Youth

Chapter 425.

Chapter 425. Heading to a Bustling City: Scamming a Doctor. (4/4)

“Please close the door and lock it.”

The doctor picked up his clothes and quickly got dressed, afraid this commotion would draw spectators.

“Right…”

I obliged to his request while I secretly removed the crumpled-up ball of paper that prevented the locking mechanism from engaging.

“What the hell did you come here for?”

“I originally came looking for Dawn’s phone. She misplaced it and the last place she remembered having it was inside this room. Oh, there it is.”

Wisteria remained hidden behind me, as she shot the doctor a menacing glare while I bent down and picked up the phone from under one of the chairs in the room.

I stopped the recording. It’d been secretly recording everything from beginning to end. It was just a bit of insurance. There wasn’t really a need for it unless I couldn’t act things out properly and negotiate peacefully. Plus, if the doctor got out of this situation and thought he could later go back on his word, I’d send him this video. I’d lose all courtesy, threaten to publish it online, and even send it directly to his employer.

With it already leaking into the public, the hospital wouldn’t have any way to cover it up. Public pressure would mount and his employer’s hand would be forced. They’d have no choice but to cut ties with him. After that, there would be a permanent record on his license making it extremely difficult for him in the future. One small slip-up in life could result in a cascading butterfly effect that impacts the rest.

“Bullshit, I’ve been set up. You two know each other, don’t you!”

“Know her? I don’t know her at all. Look, I’m perfectly fine forgetting about all this. I don’t really want to get involved at all.”

“Then leave.”

“But… you know how the world works. If you want to shut someone up you’ve got to pay up.”

“So you’re trying to extort me for money after all. You two are working together.”

“Haaah. I’m not trying to extort you. I’m just an opportunist. I came across this opportunity purely by chance. Dawn doesn’t have health insurance and I just thought I wouldn’t mind maintaining my silence on what I saw here so long as that bill for the MRI becomes zero. Everyone has a price, even I do. And this is all you need to do to buy my silence on this matter. Hell, if this chick tries to claim otherwise to get you in trouble I could even take your side and vouch for you.”

“How could you! He tried violating me but you’d take his side!”

“Well, if you don’t mind paying for my acquaintance's MRI, I don’t mind taking your side.”

“Sure, I’ll pay.”

“What! You bitch! Shut the fuck up! Nobody’s talking to you! Kid, I can take care of it, you don’t need to listen to her. I’ll even pay you a bit of a premium.” The doctor panicked when he heard she’d be willing to pay. He likely realized if he was slapped with a lawsuit from her he’d have to pay a price far worse than simply making use of his inside connections to take care of the bill for an MRI scan which would hardly cost him anything.

“No need to pay me anything more than taking care of the MRI scan. I didn’t come here to extort money from you or anyone. It was purely by chance after all. I prefer to only accept money I’ve worked for myself.”

My naive idealistic words seemingly dispelled the idea I was here to extort him but it seemed he still couldn’t feel completely at ease as he asked, “How can I trust that?”

“If you like… we can sign a contract.”

Though I had the spontaneous thought to try and acquire a soul here, I couldn’t see a way to realistically do so given the circumstances. The idea had only just sprouted in my mind, but even if someone didn’t believe in souls, it didn’t seem likely someone would sell their soul just to keep someone quiet about something of this level.

The only way would be to reveal my identity as a devil, whether they believe it or not, and aggressively push specifically for their soul as an added condition. If I used the video as leverage and threatened his entire future with it by releasing it publically, then there may be enough weight to acquire his soul.

But the only problem was I didn’t want to reveal I was a devil here.

The alternative was trying to randomly slip it into the contract, but I was sure a doctor wouldn’t be careless enough to not thoroughly read through it.

I racked my mind as I tried to think of a way, but there really was none.

Wisteria burst out from behind, “What the hell? Are you an idiot? How can you not ask for anything in return for yourself? You should get some money out of this contract or something-”

“Bitch, shut the fuck up!” The doctor lashed out menacingly and cut her off.

Wisteria continued to run her mouth more defiantly than ever, “He’s so willing to offer, but you won’t take it? Who do you think you are, some benevolent all-forgiving god? Hell, get him to sign his soul away. His life would be ruined if he can’t keep you silent. How can you let him off so easily when he’s in such a disadvantageous position?”

“Who’s talking to you? Know your place, you vile whore!” Wisteria didn’t flinch, she looked at him disdainfully, not intimidated in the slightest.

I honestly wanted to jump for joy right now. Wisteria had truly read me like a book in terms of what I was internally struggling about and provided a wonderful opportunity. If I wasn’t the one who brought up the idea of selling his soul and I treated it like a sort of joke, it could possibly work. The way she brought up his life being ruined was too perfect.

“Hmm… I’m really not interested in money though.”

“What do you want then? An arm, a leg? Or maybe a soul like this bitch suggested?”

“I don’t really believe in souls… so how about we just go with that?”

“Huh? My… soul?”

“Yeah, sure, why not? You’re not really losing anything. It’s not like you could really sell something like a soul anyway. That sort of stuff is just nonsense you see in fictional stories, right?”

“Certainly…”

“Would that make you feel more confident I won’t mention a word of this?”

“It’s rubbish.” The Doctor shook his head and continued, “If it has no value to you, in what way would it act as a deterrent for you to keep your mouth shut?”

“I see. If that’s the case… and you really insist it has to be something tangible… how about a million dollars?”

“Pfft! Where did you come up with that absurd number from? First you want nothing, and then you want everything? Get lost!”

“I’m not pulling it out of thin air. That should be around the median net worth of a doctor, right? So if we were to put a value on your life it should be equivalent, should it not? As she said, that’s what you have to lose here. According to you, the only way you’d have peace of mind is if you traded something of equal value.”

“Like hell I’ve got a million dollars to just hand out. Set a reasonable price.”

“How about $999,999?”

“If you don’t know how to negotiate just take my soul and be gone, you moron. You could have had a bit of money but you’re leaving with nothing. What a moron.”

“He’s not leaving with nothing. He’s taking your soul.” Wisteria childishly stuck her tongue out and taunted him.

“Shut the fuck up. Was anyone talking to you, you brain-dead cunt? A soul? The fact that you even seriously believe such a thing exists shows how much of an idiot you are.”

“Who are you calling an idiot? You’re the idiot, idiot.”

“Talking to a dirty whore is only a waste of breath.” The doctor, frustrated, with veins bulging on his forehead, and teeth gritted, averted his eyes away. He proceeded to ignore her presence and acted as if Wisteria didn’t exist.

Wisteria’s immature provocations had successfully riled him up and clouded his judgment. Overall, it worked out perfectly. Now confronted by my absurd proposition, he’d easily fallen back on the much cheaper alternative that cost him no money.

“Then, Dawn’s MRI bill in addition to your soul will be included in the contract we sign. Is that fine?”

“Sure. Whatever.”

I approached the desk in the room and opened a drawer where I found a notebook with carbon copy paper.

“What are you doing?”

“We obviously need paper to write up the contract.”

“Tsk. Hurry up.” The doctor was in a foul mood and clearly wanted this to be over.

“Right.”

I wrote up the contract and handed it over to him. It wasn’t particularly long, only a single page. It was a very simple and rudimentary contract that didn’t take him long to read through.

In summary, I was sworn to secrecy but I’d take his side and vouch for him should Wisteria try to make any unfounded claims. In return, Dawn didn’t need to pay anything for the brain MRI she just had, it was free. He’d also sell his soul to me.

He didn’t voice any complaints about the conditions after he finished reading the terms outlined in the contract. 

While the doctor was preoccupied with the contract, he had his back to Wisteria and the door. As he wasn’t paying attention to her movements, she had the chance to discreetly retrieve her phone without his notice.

After he signed the contract, tore out the original from the notebook, and handed it over, he immediately exclaimed, “Where’d that fucking bitch go!”

Yes, Wisteria had not only retrieved her phone, she’d also used the opportunity to slip out undetected. The door was currently wide open and she was long gone.

With the undetected retrieval of her phone, her clean-up was done and she was free to make her escape.

“Oh. Huh? You’re right, she really made a run for it as soon as things weren’t looking good for her.”

“That fucking slut. I’m going to fuck her brains out for all the trouble she’s caused me.” The doctor briskly rushed out of the room and completely forgot about his signed carbon copy of the contract on the desk.

How careless of him. It wouldn’t be funny if someone came in and saw it.

Naturally, when he’d signed the contract that oh so sweet addictive taste lingered in my mouth. It was the taste of a soul earned through a good deal. It was quite nice when the contract was favorable to me. I really should only make these types of contracts. I didn’t get to taste it often, but it really does taste so much better.

I tucked the notepad away in the drawer I pulled it out from and took my leave.