(Warning: I forgot to tell you this before, but these scenes of his childhood carry both physical and mental violence, which might even traumatise the weaker minds, so I’m already telling you to skip these Chapters if you don’t like it.
Just a concern of mine, which I forgot to address before.☜(ﾟヮﾟ☜))
*************************
A few more days quietly passed after that.
After undergoing several routine checkups, speaking with the doctors—though the child barely answered any of their questions—and completing the remaining formalities, Aiden was finally discharged from the hospital.
After that...
Both Aiden and his father returned home.
Inside the car, unlike the first time when Lucian had been resting in Seraphina’s lap...
This time...
She wasn’t there.
There was no motherly warmth gently holding him like before.
Only his father, the man who sat beside him in a neatly tailored coat, looking no different from any respectable businessman.
Beside him, a short distance away, sat the little child—his clothes changed into something more casual, with a clean new bandage wrapped around his injured hand.
’...It hurts.’ Aiden thought, staring at his hand for a few seconds before nervously looking around the luxurious interior of the car.
Truthfully, he had rarely ridden in a car, and if this had been a normal occasion, he might have been looking around with eyes filled with wonder and curiosity.
But right now...
There was only fear in his dark black eyes.
His gaze unconsciously shifted toward Damien more than once, and the instant the man noticed him looking...
Aiden immediately lowered his head.
His shoulders shrank.
His tiny body stiffened, and he didn’t dare look at him again.
’...Where is Mom?’
That same question echoed through his mind again and again, even after the long drive finally came to an end and even after they reached the main hall of their house.
He walked behind Damien, maintaining several wary steps between them, moving carefully, almost on tiptoe—too afraid to accidentally make a sound.
Damien didn’t speak, merely glancing at the phone in his hand every now and then, occasionally typing something.
After reaching home, Damien finally stopped walking and turned toward the little child.
"Aiden."
The kid’s body instinctively shivered ever so slightly before slowly raising his head, almost lifting only his eyes rather than his head completely to look at the man.
But instead of the furious expression he had been expecting to see...
Damien was calmly looking at him with a neutral expression, and there was even a faint softness hidden within his eyes.
The unexpected sight immediately confused the child, causing him to tilt his head in puzzlement.
Damien, not knowing what he was thinking, slowly walked toward the child before lowering himself onto one knee, bringing himself almost to Aiden’s eye level—though he still remained taller.
"Aiden..." he called out with unexpected gentleness, instinctively causing the child to fully raise his head.
"W-What?" His voice trembled as the reply barely escaped his quivering lips.
Seeing the obvious fear in the child’s eyes, Damien quietly watched him for several long seconds, his gaze lingering on the frightened little face before him.
His behaviour made Aiden even more confused.
What was happening?
What was his father trying to do?
Then...
Damien finally spoke.
"I know you hate me," he said in a low voice, and for a brief moment, Aiden actually thought he sounded guilty, making the child feel a strange knot tighten in his chest.
But Lucian...
He immediately understood what was going on, remembering clearly what was about to happen.
’Ugh... yuk! Disgusting.’ He inwardly shivered at the gentleness on the man’s face, finding it so repulsive that he almost wanted to throw up.
"And...
I’m not asking you to forgive me... since I’m not asking for it.
Because..."
A short silence followed.
Then...
His voice abruptly grew colder, and his expression instantly turned indifferent.
"I’m the one who had been deceived by that woman. So... don’t think I’ll ever forgive either of you."
Damien slowly stood back up, the movement alone causing Aiden to instinctively flinch backwards.
Before he could retreat, his large hand rested atop the child’s head.
Aiden’s heartbeat instantly accelerated.
His tiny body froze.
"So... prepare yourself for the punishment you will receive in your mother’s place.
She’s already gone after all."
"Huh?" Aiden let out a confused mumble, blinking repeatedly, unable to understand.
Seeing the coldness in Damien’s gaze and feeling the pressure of the hand resting on his head, Aiden’s heart pounded so violently that Lucian could almost feel the frantic rhythm of the child’s heartbeat.
’Mom... gone? What does that mean? Where?’
"W-Wh—"
The word barely escaped his lips before he immediately shut his mouth again, fear tightening around his throat.
He wanted to ask.
He wanted to know where his mother had gone.
Why she had left him alone with the man standing before him.
But...
He couldn’t.
He was too afraid.
"Pft...!" Damien let out an unexpected chuckle, clearly enjoying the fear and helplessness filling the child’s eyes.
"Good... just keep quiet like that, and... I might even leave you alone."
With those final words, he slowly removed his hand.
But before he could say anything else...
Aiden’s legs moved almost instinctively, and before he could even think, his small feet rushed forward, carrying him straight toward his—and his mother’s—room.
Reaching the bedroom door, his trembling hands immediately grabbed the doorknob.
His injured hand and smaller height made it difficult to grip properly, and as panic rose inside his chest, he struggled desperately until...
The handle finally turned.
The door swung open.
Hurrying inside, Aiden immediately slammed the bedroom door shut behind him.
"H–Haahhh... hik—haa–haahhh..."
His breathing became ragged as his small body shook uncontrollably.
His chest rose and fell so violently that every breath felt painful.
Outside the room...
Damien, who watched the child run into the bedroom, indifferently looked at his retreating back for a brief moment.
He didn’t bother chasing him.
Instead...
He simply turned around and walked toward his own room.
After all...
Where exactly could the naive child run to?
...
And from that day onward...
Lucian’s—or rather, Aiden’s true nightmare had finally begun.
For the first few days...
Almost nothing happened. Damien barely paid any attention to the child.
He also hired several new servants to work inside the mansion, since there wasn’t anyone who would take care of the house from now on.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter