Born Into Villain's Family: I Have a 200\% Rebate System-Chapter 479: Anton’s Past

Without hesitation, Peter guided Adriana away from the crowd and toward a private café.

Normally, they would have gone to the canteen without a second thought, but today the very idea of being around people made their tempers flare. The lingering anger clung to them, sharp and restless.

The café was dim and quiet, carrying the faint aroma of roasted coffee beans and warm pastries.

They entered a reserved private room, shutting the door behind them as if sealing the outside world away.

After ordering their food, silence stretched between them, thick but not uncomfortable.

Adriana walked over to the window. Pale moonlight spilled into the room, brushing softly against her face and pooling across the table.

She stared at the glowing reflection on the glass, her fingers curling against the window frame.

"I shouldn’t have been so soft-hearted," she muttered, her voice low. "That’s why he took advantage of us."

Peter watched her quietly for a moment before responding, his tone steady and restrained.

"I’m not going to scold you," he said. "But there’s something you need to understand."

He paused, choosing his words carefully. "The moment you backtrack even a little, others will push forward without hesitation, just to gain more advantage."

Adriana turned to look at him.

"You shouldn’t listen to the surrounding voices," Peter continued. "And you shouldn’t act soft-heartedly anymore. Take your steps more carefully."

Hearing this, Adriana nodded slowly. Then she looked at him with a sheepish, slightly guilty gaze, her shoulders drooping a little.

"I’m sorry," she murmured. "I shouldn’t have acted on my own. I should’ve discussed it with you before asking you to quiet down."

Peter chuckled softly, the tension in his expression easing.

"It’s alright," he replied lightly. "In our relationship, you’re the one who makes the decisions anyway."

As the food arrived, the clinking of cutlery and the warm steam rising from the dishes softened the atmosphere. They began to eat, and the earlier heaviness slowly loosened its grip.

Midway through the meal, Peter suddenly spoke, his tone casual.

"So... how did you get together with Anton?"

Adriana froze, her chopsticks hovering mid-air. She stared at him, eyes wide with shock.

Peter immediately realized his mistake and corrected himself, clearing his throat.

"I mean... how did you even attract his attention?"

Adriana’s expression shifted instantly, as if she had been wronged by hundreds of people at once. She put down her chopsticks with a soft clink, her brows knitting together.

"Even I don’t know," she complained, frustration leaking into her voice.

"If I did, I would’ve fixed it immediately. But for some reason, he was hell-bent on pursuing me." She frowned deeply. "Maybe he made some kind of bet again. He always does things like that."

Peter paused. He rarely attended lectures and had graduated long ago, so Anton was nothing more than a name to him.

"A bet?" he questioned.

Adriana didn’t hide anything. She leaned back slightly and spoke without hesitation.

"He’s nothing but someone who play people around," she said flatly. "He sees rich women as challenges. Now that he’s got a chance to ’capture’ me, he probably thinks I’m just a new target."

The words made Peter’s jaw tighten. His fingers curled unconsciously into fists, anger flaring hot and sharp in his chest. ’This is nothing short of bullying,’ he thought grimly.

Taking a deep breath to restrain himself, he looked at Adriana.

"I’ll deal with him secretly," he stated firmly.

Adriana immediately shook her head.

"That won’t work," she replied. "He might look wasteful, but his fan club is terrifying. There are too many people. If we touch him, he’ll ruin our reputation before we can do anything."

Peter frowned deeply.

"There’s no need to preserve this kind of reputation," he scoffed. "Do they even see logic? We’re already in a relationship, yet they accuse me of being overbearing just because he pursued you."

His voice grew colder.

"Does he not see that we’re together? He’s the third party here. If anything, he’s the one crossing the line. But instead, they label me as controlling. It’s ridiculous."

Adriana listened quietly, understanding the frustration simmering beneath his words. After a moment, she spoke calmly,

"Someone like Anton should be dealt with in his own way."

Peter stared at her, momentarily confused. Then his eyes gleamed with sudden realization. A slow smile spread across his face.

He nodded. "You really are the smartest person I’ve ever met."

Adriana laughed softly, the earlier tension finally easing from her shoulders.

"I learned it from Aurora."

The next day, when Anton entered the department as usual, he instinctively scanned the classroom, his gaze flicking from corner to corner in search of Adriana.

Time passed, yet she was nowhere to be seen. His brows knit together briefly.

’Late?’ he thought, mildly annoyed but not overly concerned.

He dropped into his chair with a lazy slump and began scrolling through his contacts, his fingers moving automatically across the screen.

Just then, a shadow stretched over him, long and unfamiliar. At first, he didn’t pay much attention to it. Student passed by all the time.

Then suddenly, warm arms wrapped around him from behind.

Anton stiffened.

This wasn’t a casual brush or an accidental bump. It was intimate, deliberate. And worse... soft.

In an instant, he struggled and snapped irritably, "Who the hell... "

The moment he turned, and their eyes met, the words died in his throat.

He froze.

It felt as if cold water had been poured straight down his spine. The woman in front of him smiled brightly, her fingers still resting on his shoulder, her perfume heavy and cloying, invading his senses.

"Anton," she greeted sweetly, her voice dripping with familiarity. "You’ve grown so much. It’s been such a long time since we last saw each other."

Horror crept into Anton’s eyes.

*No... not her.*

She was a ghost from his past. No... worse than that. She was a nightmare he had spent years trying to bury.

Anton’s past was never clean, never bright. It was filled with hunger, resentment, and desperation... things he wanted to forget so badly that he had chosen to hurt others instead, gaining a twisted sense of satisfaction from watching their lives crumble the way his once had.

But now, standing in front of this woman, fear flooded his chest for real.

She grinned wider, clearly enjoying his reaction. "What’s wrong?" she teased. "Aren’t you going to greet me?"

Anton remained silent, his throat tight, his fingers trembling faintly against the edge of the table.

Molly didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. She casually pulled out a chair and sat beside him, crossing her legs leisurely. Her gaze was deep, sharp, and knowing.

"From the look on your face," she murmured, "it seems like you’re planning to pretend I don’t exist." Her lips curved upward. "That’s fine. I still have our chats. And the transaction logs."

The words hit him like a blow. Anton’s heart turned ice-cold.

"What do you want this time?" he demanded grimly, forcing his voice to steady.

Molly smiled, utterly unhurried. "Not much. I just want you to return to the position you used to be in."

Anton frowned deeply, unease churning in his gut.

At that moment, Adriana entered the room.

She paused at the doorway, her eyes flicking from Anton to the woman beside him.

One brow lifted slightly. ’So this is it,’ she thought calmly. Of course, she knew this was Peter’s doing.

She had only hinted that he should find someone who would make Anton feel just as disgusted as she once had. She hadn’t expected this.

From the conversation alone, it was obvious that this woman wasn’t just a random acquaintance. She was deeply entwined with Anton’s past.

’He’s done for,’ Adriana concluded inwardly.

What Adriana didn’t know was the full weight of that past.

Years ago, when Anton was at his lowest, exhausted by his parents’ endless arguments, he had left home altogether.

Alone and desperate, he struggled just to survive. Days blurred into nights, hunger gnawing constantly at his stomach.

With no other options, he found work at a bar, where male models were common, and boundaries were rarely questioned. Even with a forged ID, hardly anyone spared him a glance.

It took a long time before he finally caught the attention of a wealthy woman, Molly.

She was forty-two, divorced, rich, and bored. Thrill-seeking and indulgent, she treated Anton like a novelty, a possession she wanted to keep entirely for herself.

From the moment she noticed him, she decided he would belong to her.

From fifteen to eighteen, Anton stayed by her side. When he finally left, he didn’t go empty-handed. He took a considerable amount of money, carefully transferring it into his own account before disappearing.

He returned home, hoping, desperately, that his parents would finally accept him.

His mother did. His father didn’t.

Instead, his father seized nearly everything Anton had, leaving him with barely twenty percent of the money.

That betrayal shattered something inside him. Anton’s view of life darkened completely. ’I should’ve never come back,’ he thought bitterly. ’Family is nothing but a curse.’