Chapter 713

The boy trembled, his mouth snapping shut instinctively. When he came to his senses, he immediately looked to his father for help.

The burly man, having lost face with Marico, decided to take it out on his son.

“I told you to watch the movie quietly, but you wouldn’t listen. Fine, then we’re not watching at all. Let’s go home!” the man said, yanking his son’s arm and dragging him toward the exit.

“No, I wanna watch!”

“Shut up! I’m about to throw you out myself!”

With the annoying pair gone, the theater was finally quiet. Kristin secretly gave Marico a thumbs-up.

Marico snorted. “Don’t you forget how awesome I am.”

After the movie, Marico took Kristin out for a late dinner. They went to a very famous restaurant, where Marico ordered a kids’ meal for her. He didn’t have much of an appetite himself, so he just ordered a glass of red wine.

Kristin loved the movie and chattered on and on about the plot.

“It’s just a shame I missed that part in the middle.”

She hadn’t been able to see much with the boy causing a scene.

“I’ll take you to see it again sometime,” Marico said, placing the steak he’d cut for

her on her plate. “Eat slowly. I’ll take you home in a bit.”

“I asked Mommy,” Kristin said, her voice suddenly sad.

“What?”

“I asked Mommy if you were my daddy. She said you weren’t.”

Marico raised an eyebrow. “So why are you sad?”

“Because I really like you. I want you to be my daddy,” Kristin said earnestly.

Marico froze for a second. It was rare for someone to like him. Even his own parents…

“Actually, I’m pretty unlikable. My own mom and dad don’t even like me.”

“Why?” Kristin didn’t understand. “How could parents not love their own child?”

Marico paused. “How do I explain this… It’s like they disliked me from the moment I was born. I have a cousin who’s only a month younger than me. When he was born, he was all fair and chubby, really adorable. I was dark and skinny and always crying. My parents would al always say, ‘Look at Theo, he’s so

well-behaved. Then there’s you,

crying all day long.”

They had told him these stories themselves, sometimes when they were scolding him, sometimes when they were in a good mood, telling it like it was some kind of joke.

“Later, he learned to talk and walk before I did He loved to read, got good grades, excelled at sports, and won first place in every competition. The whole family adored him, especially my grandfather, who started grooming him as the heir from a young age. Even my own parents preferred him, always telling me how I couldn’t measure up.”

UT

“Back then, I felt invisible at home. No one paid attention to me, no one loved me. So, to get their attention started causing trouble. And it worked. They finally saw me, but only to call me a bad kid. refused to accept that, so I caused bigger trouble, more trouble, until eventually… someone died.”

“But that girl jumping off the building had nothing to do with me. We weren’t even dating; the other students made that up. But after she jumped, everyone said it was because I had bullied her.”

“I tried to explain, but my parents didn’t even listen. They just gave the girl’s family a sum of money to make the problem go away. I thought maybe that meant they still cared about me, that they still loved me. But not long after, they shipped me off abroad and had me locked up.”

As Marico spoke, the resentment buried deep in his heart threatened to erupt.