It would be easier to just buy a knife from a store. [What is wrong with you? is the unsaid line added to the end of that. This man...really doesn't understand how normal life works, does he...?]

[But at the mention of horror stories, Howard's expression instantly sours. Oh. Of course.]

I only wrote a few of those for experimentation. That's not what I usually write, you know. I'm researching shipwrecks, I'm hardly some...horror writer. I don't understand why people like them.

[He feels like Arthur Conan Doyle, who just wants people to shut up about his fictional stuff to pay attention to what he really cares about.]

How much am I? [Is he hearing this right? Howard tosses the apple to the ground, folding his arms with a peeved look.] What, you want to commission me for more stories...?

[This is bizarre. Exceptionally so. Some rich CEO is asking to buy him to write fictional works? What is the world coming to?]